White Roe Deer Sighting

A few days ago I was sitting in the woods in my hide, the weather was horrible and I thought I didn't have much chance of seeing anything. Then something white between the trees caught my eye, it was a completely white roe deer, heart pounding with excitement I quickly tried to focus my camera on it. After some research I found that I had witnessed something extremely rare, less than a dozen white roe deer have been seen in the last 60 years. I feel so privileged to have seen such a rare creature!

Grey Seals of Donna Nook

I went on a trip as a member of the Wildlife photographer's society to Donna Nook in Lincolnshire to film the grey seals. This is what I came up with:

Grey Seals of Donna Nook from Ciara Laverty on Vimeo.

A few shots on my new D90

This year began my third and final year as a Wildlife and Media student. I recently bought a Nikon D90 so I could enjoy my wildlife watching to the full. Now I can film :)

This first little shot is of a one-eyed wood mouse, which I spotted when my friend Rachael Laisney and I were walking along the River Pettreil behind our university campus.



I got this short shot of a female sparrowhawk on Beacon Edge outside Penrith. It was the first time I tried out my new one man chair hide which I feel was a great success :)

This shot shows a wood mouse with great speed and agility, jumping into a hole in a tree. Natasha Fraser and Roger Atkins invited me along with them on their mammal trapping experiment. They advised me that the mice usually make for the hole in the tree nearby, knowing this I was able to achieve this shot.

Summer Shots

I've been neglecting my blog over summer so I've picked out some of my favourite images I've captured since I've came home.

A nest of Sparrows

These 2 buzzards were flying high over my back garden 

Little rabbit seen in the grounds of Armagh Planetarium 

Red Deer, Co. Donegal

Declan and I visited Tory Island, where i photographed this gannet.

Wild black rabbit spotted on Tory, there are a few individuals like this on the island.

Meadow Pipit 

Glimpses of Lough Neagh Wildlife

As much as I love my course, while in England I frequently have feelings of homesickness. Now I have a few months of summer in Ireland to look forward to. Last week I took a walk around the shores of the largest lake in the UK- Lough Neagh. It is a haven for wildlife, and the amount I seen in only a few hours has made me very excited for the rest of the summer.

I seen this Irish Hare in a field not too far from the shore.  

 Swallow having a scratch. 

 Juvenile Pied Wagtail

I seen quite a few grey herons on the shore of the Lough.  

 Shelduck

I counted at least 3 pairs of Great Crested Grebes.  

 Black-headed gull. 

 Grey Squirrel

 Moorhen

Black-headed gull taking flight.

Farne Islands

This year at our university, a "Wildlife Photographer's Society" was established, in which we could get together and go places in order to experience wildlife. It was decided that a perfect way to round up the academic year was to visit Bass Rock, a small island on the east coast of Scotland which is home to a huge colony of gannets. However due to strong wind the boat was unable to sail, so we headed down the coast and went to the Farne Islands instead. After the severe disappointment of being unable to get to Bass Rock, the Farne Islands made up for it, with its large variety of sea birds. 

Little Tern            

 Arctic Tern on the nest

 Puffin

 Razorbill

 Shag

 Kittiwakes

Guillemot 

Wildlife of Windermere

Myself and 2 fellow students Cain and Rachael made this 5 minute film earlier this year for one of our assignments.

Long Eared Owl (Asio otus)

Photographed this male Long Eared Owl a few days ago with my friend Cain at an undisclosed site.

Wanderings..

On Tuesday evening after my exam, feeling relieved that I had no more revision to do I decided to take a walk up to campus. It was a beautiful evening, with lots of wildlife around.

 This rabbit froze when it seen me.

 Male blackbird

 Brown Hare

Mink Encounter

While on Expedition in Ardnamurchan we came across this mink. The video is quite wobbly because I was hand holding the camera. 

Memories of Scotland

I've been back from Scotland just over a week and I've barely had time to reflect on what an amazing experience it was. With my animal behaviour exam out of way it feels like I have some breathing space at last, giving me a chance to remember..

 The mysterious Pine Marten, definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me!

 Grey Heron

 A pair of oyster-catchers, challenging to get close to!

 Ringed Plover

 We spotted these seals while on a boat searching for whales, they immediately made for the water when they seen us. 

 Young Seal

 I found seals to be comical characters, a joy to film and photograph

Seals are very curious creatures, I took this picture while sitting on the shore one evening, this individual came very close to investigate.