Kes' Brood

This gorgeous trio is half of my resident kestrel's brood. I've been feeding Kes and his mate for years from my bird table and after years of encouragement I've finally persuaded them to nest in my garden.

I made a nest box out of a fallen tree stump which already had a natural hole in it. It makes the perfect backdrop for a future painting.

There are a total of six chicks in the brood and it has been such fun watching them grow.

Well done Kes!

Rock up for Gannets

I went all the way to the Bass Rock in the Scottish Borders to watch gannets for a painting but was unable to land due to poor weather!

This uninhabited volcanic rock island is about 1.5 miles offshore from North Berwick and is very difficult to land on unless it is absolutely calm. So I had to make do with a few shots of gannets taken from the boat as we circled round it!

But all was not lost because I saw plenty at RSPB Bempton.

 As an artist, I love their graphic faces, which look as though they have been drawn on with a fine black pencil.

Read all about my gannet watch in my column in the Ryedale Gazette and Herald this month by clicking here.

Badger's unlikely lodgers

Whilst examing a badger sett looking for signs of occupancy recently, I stumbled across a fox den. The vixen was using part of the sett for her cubs and when I went to watch I managed to get shots of both!

Country foxes are extrememly shy and it is notoriously difficult to watch a vixen with her cubs so I spent several nights at the sett waiting for a showing but I only got this brief glimpse of one of the cubs hunting daddy long leg spiders.

 To read more about my fox cub watching click here to read my column this month in the Yorkshire Post.

Tawny Chicks Loving their Arty Nest Box

These sweet tawny chicks fledged last week from a nest box made from an old sycamore stump.

I hoisted the stump, which I've used before for a family of kestrels, into a large tree and sat back and watched as the tawny owls made it into their new home.

It was such fun watching them take their first flight.

I had to be careful getting up close because their parents were very protective. Click here to read about the story in my June Gazette & Herald column.

Roe Doe at Longdale

I keep seeing this roe doe near the gallery here at Fotherdale. I think she has a fawn stashed somewhere close by.

The cold weather we had in April means she is late moulting into her summer coat

I photographed her here in Longdale, the neighbouring valley where I think the fawn must be.

Wood shed haven

I photographed this robin nesting in my friend Nick Coates' wood shed. Birds like his shed despite the fact that it is very busy and noisy.

In fact his workshop is a haven for all sorts of nesting birds, including this blackbird which chose to raise her brood on top of a strimmer and this mistle thrush pair nesting in the guttering.

Nick is a keen birdwatcher and these birds will put up with any amount of noisy machinery knowing they are safe from predators if they stay close to him.
Click here to read my latest column in the Yorkshire Post on the unusual nesting spots in Nick's workshop.

Summer exhibition opens

My exhibition opens today and runs until 10th June - so hope to see you at the gallery. See all the latest originals at http://www.robertefuller.com/acatalog/Originals.html