Lough Neagh Evening

I consider myself very lucky to have grown up on the shores of the largest freshwater lake in the U.K. - Lough Neagh. Steeped in history and teeming with life, it is a wildlife lover's paradise. 

The other evening before sunset I went for a walk down the shore in front of my grandparents' house. I thought the light was beautiful, it was hard to tell where the Lough ended and the sky began. 

Coney Island, Lough Neagh

Tonight was a crisp, clear night so my uncle Colm and myself thought we'd try our hands at starscapes. It was fun experimenting with different shutter speeds and this image is my favourite from tonight.

Maghery Shore

A few old ones.

I was looking through my hard drive and found these little images and asked myself why I've never uploaded them to my blog. 

 This hedgehog was spotted at the bottom of our garden a couple of years ago. It was a nice surprise to wake up to

 I photographed this otter in Lake Windermere. There were 3, a mother and her two cubs. This family featured in our small documentary  the "Wildlife of Windermere". 

This creature also featured in our Windermere documentary. Though small, the stoat is very quick and extremely agile making it very difficult to capture on film. 

Trying out my Christmas present..

For Christmas this year I got a Bushnell camera trap. The first time trying it out I put it in a wooded area on the shores of Lough Neagh which I loved as a child. I caught footage of a few rabbits and to my delight, a badger!

                                         Badger

                                        Rabbits

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