Peregrines - Scotland, June
| All wild birds are
protected by law, especially so at or
near the
nest during the breeding season. But it is this secret and hidden
aspect of their lives which is so fascinating and potentially visually
so exciting - the intimacy between adults and downy young, the
focused energy and tension of moments when food arrives
contrasting with the sprawled and fidgety wait for the next
feed. So, to legally get as close to as many species as possible, over the years I have 'piggy-backed' on those who have cause, (and all the necessary licenses and permissions), to get close to some wonderful species during the height of the breeding season. I usually trade sketches for the priviledge and so have had the use of photographers' hides on peregrines, kestrels, Imperial eagles, marsh harriers and barn owls; I've tagged along with bird ringers as they shinned up trees to take young sparrowhawks or buzzards from the nest; I've taken a turn on watch to count the food being delivered to the nest as part of a study into the feeding ecology of hen harriers. These drawings are from a session in a photographer's hide placed on the lip of a quarry in north-east Scotland looking down into the nest of a pair of peregrines with three young. |