To look back at my spring and winter selections follow these links: Winter 2018 | Spring 2018. I am now compiling an autumn selection. Follow this link to follow my Autumn 2018 post.
August 31st 2018
Swallow
Wildlife photo of the week
This is the time to watch swallows as they get ready for their epic journey back to South Africa. These birds mass together along power lines before taking off for their 6,000 mile flight along the length of Africa and across the Sahara to spend the winter in the warmth of Africa. You can see them strung along electric and telephone wires, looking like musical notes on a staff, as they group together ready for the trip. It will be March before we see them here in Yorkshire again. Click here to read about the time I watched a pair raise a second brood just in time for the trip back and see the paintings this experience inspired.
https://www.robertefuller.com/swallows-second-brood-in-unusual-nes/
August 24th 2018
Kestrel
Wildlife photo of the week
Wind hovers: you can spot a kestrel by the way it hovers in the air, waiting to pounce on its prey. These falcons ride on air currents to expertly stay in the same spot for minutes at a time, you often see them hunting on road sides. It is worth stopping to watch one. Wait for the moment when it suddenly dives down and snatches an unsuspecting vole or mouse from the ground below. Amazingly they can see ultraviolet light and are able to detect the urine trails of small rodents shining in the sunlight. There is a family of kestrels living here at my home and gallery and I often photograph its members as studies for my paintings. Click here to read about how they settled here and follow their dramatic lives in the following blog post:
https://www.robertefuller.com/kestrel-kicks-at-my-bird-table-wi/
August 17th 2018
Peeping Stoat
Wildlife photo of the week
Averaging just 19cms in length and slim enough to slip through a toilet roll, stoats are among the UK’s smallest predators. And yet, despite their diminutive size, they are amongst the country’s most ferocious hunters. They are said to be able to catch rabbits six times their size, making them, gram for gram, stronger than a lion. But their hunting techniques are not solely based on aggression. They can also be very crafty when on the hunt and have been known to mesmerise their prey by turning somersaults before suddenly pouncing. I have devoted years to studying stoats living wild in my garden. Click here to read about my findings and see my paintings of these fascinating creatures.
https://www.robertefuller.com/weasels-and-stoats-mustelids-and-me/
August 10th 2018
Baby Elephant
Wildlife photo of the week
This Sunday will be World Elephant Day, an opportunity to remind people of how wonderful these great beasts are. I spent an unforgettable week watching elephants in Kenya in 2013. It was impossible not to be enchanted by these gentle giants. The world would be a souless place without elephants! Read about my experience watching this particular group of elephants and see more of my photographs by clicking here to be transferred to an article I wrote about it at the time in the Ryedale Gazette & Herald
August 3rd 2018
Barn Owl Beauty
Wildlife photo of the week
Today is Owl Awareness Day. Barn owls are among the most popular of the UK’s owls. The sight of their gleaming white feathers as they glide over hedgerows at sunset rates as one of the most magical countryside experiences. Look out for sightings now as this year’s young begin to disperse. I have been following the daily lives of a family of barn owls via cameras hidden inside their nest. Click here to read their story.
https://www.robertefuller.com/barn-owl-cam/
July 27th 2018
Buzzard
Wildlife photo of the week
With wingspans of up to 1.4metres, buzzards are mighty birds. You can spot them from miles away, circling high in the sky on thermals. If you see a group of buzzards at this time of year, they are most likely to be the parent birds taking their young on short flights. The buzzard above is a youngster, hatched just this year and just beginning to approach its independence. Soon it will leave the family group to look for a new territory.
See more photographic studies and a painting inspired by watching the bird above here:
https://www.robertefuller.com/coaxing-wild-buzzards-to-pose-for-their/
July 20th 2018
Kestrel Fledglings
Wildlife photo of the week
Kestrel chicks are fledging now. Look out for them as they explore the territory surrounding their nests, slowly venturing in increasing distances each day. They continue to return to the nest each night and roost on branches nearby. The adults still feed them here until they have learned learn how to catch food for themselves. Unusually for birds of prey, there is no aggression between young kestrel chicks, which tend to fly, perch and roost together for some time after fledging. See how the fledgling kestrels in my garden are doing now on my live cameras below:
https://www.robertefuller.com/kestrel-cam/
July 13th 2018
Otter
Wildlife Photo of the Week
At one time you had to get up very early or stay out until night-fall to see an otter in the wild. But these characterful creatures are thankfully now widespread in Yorkshire’s rivers so it isn’t as difficult to see one. Look out for a long trace of bubbles in water – a sure sign that an otter is making its way under the surface. I photographed this one as a study for a new painting. See it here:
https://www.robertefuller.com/welcoming-back-otters/
And read about where you can see otters here:
https://www.robertefuller.com/where-to-see-otters-in-east-yorkshire/
July 9th 2018
Fox Cubs
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Now is the best time to see fox cubs as vixens begin to leave them on their own to go out hunting. Fox families will abandon the earths where the cubs were raised but adopt a new area above ground where the cubs now play and are fed. In a few weeks’ time these cubs will be ready to accompany their parents on hunting expeditions. Click here to read more about what I learned during a week I spent watching a vixen and her cubs in a suburban garden.
https://www.robertefuller.com/why-i-spent-a-week-crammed-in-a-wendy-house-to-watch-a-fox-with-her-cubs/
July 2nd 2018
Tawny Owlets
Wildlife Photo of the Week
These tawny owlets have left their nests and are gathered on nearby branches where they continue to fed by their parents as part of a developmental stage known as ‘branching’. I photographed them as a study for a new exhibition of paintings of woodland wildlife showing at my gallery in Thixendale, North Yorkshire, until July 8th. Click here to see the finished painting and to read more about my exhibition.
https://www.robertefuller.com/see-paintings-of-woodland-creatures-at-wildlife-artist-robert-fullers-summer-art-exhibition/
June 25 2018
Roe Doe
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Look out for roe deer suckling their young on the edge of woods now. This shy species will venture out of its woodland habitat to graze in grassy meadows in summertime. I photographed this pair as a study for a new collection of paintings of woodland wildlife on show at my gallery in Thixendale until July 8th. Take a look at my paintings here and read about how I have also watched the graceful courting rituals of roe deers:
https://www.robertefuller.com/how-i-found-myself-in-the-middle-of-a-roe-ring-the-circular-courtship-dance-performed-by-roe-deer/
June 17th 2018
Badger Boar
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Since it is Father's Day today I thought I would post a photograph of a badger boar who is a father many times over. I've been visiting a badger sett every night for many years now and I feel as though the members are all old friends whose portraits I paint often. Read more about this old boar's character here.
https://www.robertefuller.com/an-evening-with-badgers/
June 8th 2018
Stoat
Wildlife photo of the week
A stoat pauses momentarily to look over its shoulder at three wasps approaching. The wasps are attracted to the smell of the meat on the stoat’s kill, which is just out of sight on the other side of this branch. Stoats are difficult to watch in the wild. They are so lithe, small and fast that all most people see of one is a glimpse as they disappear into undergrowth. I have devoted years to studying a family of stoats in my garden. Read about my findings here:
https://www.robertefuller.com/weasels-and-stoats-mustelids-and-me/
June 1st 2018
Common Blue Butterfly
Widlife Photo of the Week 
Butterflies are important indicators of biodiversity. Their fragility makes them quick to react to change, so when scientists spot a butterfly species in decline, the population drop serves as a serious warning for our environment. Tomorrow is Butterfly Awareness Day. Above is a common blue I photographed on the Yorkshire Wolds. Click here to read about how I turned my garden into a wildlife haven where insects and butterflies thrive.
7 comentarios
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Awesome! its amazing place and all photos very beautiful especially Yellow Hammer. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you
You have a very nice blog. I like owls very much. I liked the owl photo here too. Your writings are beautiful.
I wish you continued success.