Raptor Centre.

October 14, 2025October 15, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / 7 Comments

Photo-heavy post.

Something a little different today, we spent the day at a local Raptor centre. So all photographs are captive birds.

https://www.libertyscentre.co.uk/about-us

Great Grey Owl. This Owl is the world’s largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. The wingspan can exceed 5 ft, They breed in North America.

A smaller Owl, although not much smaller, is the Siberian Eagle Owl. However, they have a wingspan of 6ft.

One of our native Owls is the Barn Owl. Tiny compared to the 2 previous birds, the Barn Owl has a wingspan just over 2 & half feet. Normally, I have to get up at 05:00 hours to watch our local birds!

Barn Owl.

Harris Hawk. They are native to the Americas. However, they are a popular species in falconry and are often used for pest control in the UK,

Hazzard, Hazzards are a very rare hybrid of a Buzzard and a Harris Hawk.

Golden Eagle. I have only ever seen a pair of Golden Eagles once in the Highlands at some distance away, so it was a treat to see this bird today. With a wingspan of nearly 7ft, they are a big bird.

Hunter’s Moon.

October 8, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / 1 Comment

Last night we saw a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth. It was also the first full moon in October, which is also known as a Hunter’s Moon. The name dates back to historic preparations for winter in the Northern Hemisphere, where people would hunt and preserve meat. It’s also called Harvest Moon – recalling a time when farmers would use the moon’s brightness to collect crops in the evening.

First light.

October 7, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / 1 Comment

An early morning walk up the Hamble River. This part of the river is tidal, so it is always good for waders. The light at this time of day presents some challenges in taking pictures with the sun low. As always, lots to see, Curlews and Greenshanks are regularly on the river here, and always a favourite to get photographs of.

Curlew.

Greenshank,

Blacktailed Godwit numbers are increasing on the Hamble as we move towards Winter; they are less colourful this time of year.

This lone Juvenile Ringplover came quite close as the tide came in.

This Curlew took objection to the approaching Godwit!

I have seen reports since the Lockdown of Seals on the river at this point, but until this walk, I had not seen one. Normally, what I think is a Seal turns out to be a mooring buoy.

Walk with a phone!

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

Another fungi walk in the New Forest this morning. All pictures today were taken with my phone, which it edited into a short film -so a bit of fun.

Sadly, too many people are foraging for fungi in the New Forest and spotting edible fungi is now difficult in many areas.

Forest floor.

October 1, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / 3 Comments

#Wordless Wednesday

Glossy Ibis.

September 30, 2025October 2, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / Leave a comment

I have been seeing one or two Glossy Ibis at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve for a couple of weeks. Today, I was able to get some pictures as they came closer to where I was watching from.

Looking at reports on the news and online, there has been a huge influx of Glossy Ibis across Britain and Ireland, with large flocks appearing across a wide area.

The arrival breaks all modern records for the species, which has been increasing across Western Europe in recent years. They bred in Britain for the first time in 2022.

In early September, a minimum of 605 Ibis were recorded across Britain and Ireland.

Sunday.

September 28, 2025 / Andy Finnegan / Leave a comment

An early morning start to look for Barn Owls, but no luck this time. This area had been a good place in the past, but not this week. A good number of Red Kites were taking advantage of the views from the high electricity cables.