Welcome to my wildlife advent calendar where I'll be sharing special moments from my wildlife watching year with you every day from now until Christmas. I hope you enjoy these daily glimpses into my secret world of wildlife and don't forget to keep checking in for a daily dose of wonder!
On the First Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Play the video below to see the first wild creature to be featured on my wildlife advent calendar: a gorgeous Christmas robin. Watch as this red-breasted beauty as it poses on top of a stack of empty terracotta plant pots in deep snow. Keep watching to see it dive into an empty plant pot to retrieve its own prize for advent! The robins in my garden are so cheeky. Click here to read about the unusual spots they choose to nest in.
https://youtu.be/Q6d-OM8UEV0
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
On the Second Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
It's time to open another window onto wildlife. Play the video below to see some really cute baby barn owls huddled together in their nest. Keep watching to see one owl spin its head 180 degrees as it follows the movements of a lazy fly in the nest. The rest of the baby owls can't stay awake! My surveillance cameras offer a window onto the secret world of barn owls throughout the breeding season. Click here to see more gorgeous footage from this year.
https://youtu.be/LOfMxbAICb0
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
December 3rd: Third Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
It's time to open another window onto wildlife. Play the video below to see a kestrel tenderly feeding its young in the manger... well nest actually, but you get the Christmas theme I've got going here. This year my hidden cameras recorded this kestrel family inside their nest from the moment their eggs were laid. Click here to see memorable moments from the kestrel year.
https://youtu.be/2hlKIKqrc3o
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
On the Fourth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Watch the video below to see some adorable red squirrels in snow on Day three of my wildlife advent calendar. Red squirrels are such cheeky characters and here a few reveal their individual spirits as they pose in the snow for the fourth day of Christmas. Click here to read my blog post on watching the squirrels featured here.
https://youtu.be/EMbpwJCgOfQ
Music: First Noel (Instrumental) - Jingle Punks https://youtu.be/bQ9258m1q2A
On the Fifth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Play the video below to watch me at work. I'm painting a rare hawfinch after watching a huge flock here in Yorkshire last Christmas. Click here to read about my incredible sighting.
https://youtu.be/RzHVi9QhYsI
Christmas Spirit By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Promotion Video https://youtu.be/iNx3u_wmYxc Music Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Sixth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Press play to see Day #6 window open onto a handsome eagle owl preening itself as if in front of a mirror. Click here to read more about the day I watched this mighty owl in Yorkshire. Keep checking in every day from now until Christmas for more memorable wildlife moments.
https://youtu.be/7xa8WL60Dbs
Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng
On the Seventh Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Play today's video to reveal a cute baby otter and its mother together. This intimate view of them tenderly huddled together and then swimming in perfect synchronicity in a sea loch is so touching. This film was taken during a visit to Scotland this summer. Click here to read more.
https://youtu.be/pvO7S-h2wfo
Santa Is Coming To Town By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Promotion Video https://youtu.be/Mqu43pms3Fo Music Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Eighth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Watch the latest clip to see the advent window open on December 8th on to a barn owl and a tawny owl posturing. The stand-off between these owls lasted quite some time!
https://youtu.be/sE0dSB-fE6c
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
On the Ninth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Today's advent film will make you laugh. It features a very cute little mouse running straight up to a sparrowhawk - it is trying to pinch its food! Watch this formidable hawk. It looks as though it really can't believe what's happening! Keep watching for a new wildlife moment every day until Christmas.
https://youtu.be/u2lR_Pfj4vo
MUSIC: Oh Little Town of Bethlehem (Instrumental) by E's Jammy Jams https://www.youtube.com/watch?Te1VyHpq_qA&index=33&list=PL9Awn3xplT3tdumW66U6J2btZC5uoIFIF
On the Tenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Adent Calendar
Watch the window open onto these cute badgers rolling down a hll - enjoy it's the 10th day of Christmas. Keep watching my wildlife advent calendar for more memorable moments.
https://youtu.be/Ep2GVnQrkl0
Music: First Noel (Instrumental) - Jingle Punks https://youtu.be/bQ9258m1q2A
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Open the window of my advent calendar to see what lies behind window number 11.
https://youtu.be/0OYyEuDTxYc
Christmas Spirit By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Promotion Video https://youtu.be/iNx3u_wmYxc Music Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
The short eared owl behind today's advent window is a delight. Watch it preen its beautiful buff-coloured feathers as it perches on this fencepost. I watched this owl on a very blustery day, watch the wind as it picks up the owl's feathers. Click here to read my top tips on watching short eared owls.
https://youtu.be/Uh-ixJ1fM7c
Keith by Huma-Huma, Source: YouTube Audio Library, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPKF60kbyUA
On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Click on the link below to see today's window open onto an adorable pine marten. This cute critter can't keep still! Watch it leap onto rocks and balance on an impossibly thin branch. Keep watching to see a wildlife moment every day until Christmas. Click here to read about the time I watched this pine marten in Scotland and see the painting this experience inspired.
https://youtu.be/_2UyvqIVHtM
Santa Is Coming To Town By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlasPromotion Video https://youtu.be/Mqu43pms3FoMusic Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Fourteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Watch as Day 14 opens on my wildlife advent calendar to reveal an over-excited weasel playing in the snow. I think it must be pleased about how close it is to Christmas!
https://youtu.be/URhLQNUU8wM
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
On the Fifteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Click on the arrow below to watch today's advent window open onto a film of me painting a kingfisher. See how video I took of kingfishers in their nest last summer provided the inspiration for this painting. Click here to read more about how my footage of these colourful birds caring for their chicks deep in a waterside burrow is the first of its kind.
https://youtu.be/5FjMoThHo1k
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem (Instrumental) by E's Jammy Jams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te1VyHpq_qA&index=33&list=PL9Awn3xplT3tdumW66U6J2btZC5uoIFIF
On the Sixteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Whoo Whoo... Who's the most gorgeous owl this advent! Watch today's window open on these two tawny owl chicks peeping out of the tree nest. Keep watching to see the painting that these chicks inspired!
https://youtu.be/ErxFLgXdyj0
Music: First Noel (Instrumental) - Jingle Punks https://youtu.be/bQ9258m1q2A
On the Seventeenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Can you count how many swans are swimming across this Scottish loch? These whooper swans to our shores here from Iceland each winter and to see them together is a real treat for today's advent! Click here to read my blog post on watching these swans and more stunning wildlife in the Cairngorms this year.
https://youtu.be/H73qBeCZHlk
Christmas Spirit By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlasPromotion Video https://youtu.be/iNx3u_wmYxcMusic Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Eighteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Christmas is all about giving, but did anyone tell these kestrels? Watch what happens behind today's advent window for a smile this Christmas. See the male kestrel bow its head as it pleads for a share of the female's catch. But does she relent.
https://youtu.be/SWNsxjp-Q28
Santa Is Coming To Town By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Promotion Video https://youtu.be/Mqu43pms3Fo Music Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
On the Nineteenth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Watch this painting of a peregrine take shape behind today's advent calendar. I watched this peregrine bring up its chicks on a vast industrial site near Hull. Click here to read about the experience.
https://youtu.be/UVgM4Ml4RCw
Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng
On the Twentieth Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
See how hares courting in the cold inspired a new painting. I watched these hares during a savage storm that engulfed the UK in March 2018 and was known as The Beast from The East. I was amazed to see these hares had time for love during such fierce conditions. When I saw a pair touch noses quite tenderly, I decided that was the pose I wanted to capture in my painting. Watch to the end to see the finished piece. I hope you are enjoying my wildlife advent calendar. Just four more to go! Click here to read more about watching the hares during the Beast from the East and find out why this experience featured on TV.
https://youtu.be/ikiwQjlHP-w
I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix http://audionautix.com/Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-cb52gUaO6w
On the 21st Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
There's a really Christmas moment behind today's window. See blue tits, great tits, green finches and rare hawfinches feeding as snow falls around them. It's nearly Christmas!
https://youtu.be/vwKSqBoGD8o
MUSIC: Oh Little Town of Bethlehem (Instrumental) by E's Jammy Jams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te1VyHpq_qA&index=33&list=PL9Awn3xplT3tdumW66U6J2btZC5uoIFIF
On the 22nd Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Click on the picture below to watch three adorable tawny owl chicks take shape in the painting behind today's advent calendar.
https://youtu.be/0JZT7wCPgJI
Music: First Noel (Instrumental) - Jingle Punks https://youtu.be/bQ9258m1q2A
On the 23rd Day of Christmas
Wildlife Advent Calendar
Watch the stags rutting behind today's wildlife advent window! I filmed these red deer herds during a visit to the Cairngorms in Scotland this Autumn. Click here to read the full story and see the paintings this magical experience inspired.
https://youtu.be/H2akf5th_5w
Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng
And For The Last Day of Advent
Wildlife Advent Calendar
It's the last day of advent and I've saved the very best for today. Click on the image below to open my wildlife advent calendar window and see a stoat in ermine as it slips in the ice. This stoat was filmed in my garden last winter. Click here to read all about this magical experience. Watch the clip below to see it turn somersaults on the ice! Pure joy!
https://youtu.be/PVxuHxxYIh8
Santa Is Coming To Town By Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlasPromotion Video https://youtu.be/Mqu43pms3FoMusic Promoted by Chill Royalty Free Music https://goo.gl/5NfMV4
Happy Christmas to you all and I hope you've enjoyed my wildlife advent calendar. Thank you for following and keep an eye on my site for more wonderful wildlife moments to come!
