All posts by mike

Bears & life in BC Coast Mountains

The Bella Coola Valley lies at the head of a 100km inlet in the BC Coast Mountains. Pacific Salmon run up the Bella Coola river to spawn, they also provide food for many animals and birds in the valley including Grizzly & black Bears, Bald eagles and kingfishers. Part of the valley is in the Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and is one of the best places in the Great Bear Rainforest to watch and photograph wildlife.

All of these images were taken in the Bella Coola valley where we stayed for the 2nd time at the excellent Suntree Guest Cottages . Stephen and Cheryl Waugh who run Suntree provide a peaceful base and invaluable local advice. Many thanks!

http://www.suntree.ca/

Ospreys fishing and missing at Rothiemurchus

July and August are critical months for breeding Ospreys in Scotland. If young Osprey chicks are going to be strong enough to migrate back to Africa at the end of the summer they need to be fed constantly by the adults.

The Rothiemurchus Estate in the Cairngorm National Park has for many years encouraged local Ospreys to take fish from their fishing Lochs near Aviemore. Rothiemurchus has a loch that is for the sole use of the Ospreys where the birds can fish undisturbed.

The hides on the edge of this Loch are one of the best places anywhere to watch and photograph fishing Ospreys. All the images on this page were taken over two days in mid July.

To get more information on Osprey watching at Rothiemurchus click on the link below and then click “On Land”

www.rothiemurchus-activities.co.uk/Activities.aspx

Ospreys In the Cairngorm Landscape

Ospreys can now be frequently seen in the skies of the Spey Valley and Cairngorm National Park and there are now well over 200 breeding pairs in Scotland. Ospreys travel north from Africa because the long Scotish summer days allow them to provide enough food for their very fast growing and demanding young.

Ospreys feed on fish, which they catch with spectacular dives into lochs and rivers. Breeding birds have to have a reliable source of fish if their young are going to survive the challenging Scottish weather. Increasing numbers of landowners and Estates are stocking their lochs with fish for fishing and for the local ospreys, this helps more young survive in difficult summers.

The Rothiemurchus estate has had ospreys taking fish from their fishing lochs for many years and have actively encouraged the birds. In 2012 Rothiemurchus opened a small loch exclusively for ospreys and stocks it with fish of the right size for them to catch. This is one the best locations anywhere to watch these spectacular birds diving for fish.

Many of the photographs below were taken at the Rothiemurchus fishery. Visiting the fishery not only gives the chance of seeing ospreys fishing in exhilarating close up it also helps ensure the birds continue to have a reliable source of fish for their young.

To get more info on Osprey watching at Rothiemurchus click on the link below and then click “On Land”

www.rothiemurchus-activities.co.uk/Activities.aspx

Test Impact Article Three

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Test Impact Article Two

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Test Impact Article One

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

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Butterflies in the British landscape

Barn Owls in the the Suffolk Landscape

Suffolk Barn owl population recovery benefits other wildlife

The Barn owl population in Suffolk has recovered to levels last seen in the 1930s. This is providing a boost to other wildlife. Barn owl increases are being driven by Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s community Barn Owl project, together with more environmentally friendly farming practices including an increase in rough grassland and more careful use of pesticides. The community project has installed over 500 nest boxes compensating for lost sites in old trees and barns. This has allowed Barn owls to move back into areas where landowners have left wider field margins and established more rough grassland where voles and mice can be hunted. There are examples where landowners are deliberately linking field margins and grassland which wildlife is using as corridors.

The nest boxes are providing sites for other birds, notably Kestrels and Stock doves. The increase in grassland also benefits small mammals and farmland birds such as Yellowhammers.

How to prepare a presentation

Preparing a new presentation can be difficult and time consuming, but it is possible to make the process easier and shorter. You can download the MS Word or PowerPoint files at the bottom of this page to assist you.

It is vital to think about what you want you your presentation to achieve and produce a structure before opening PowerPoint and producing any slides.

The key to preparing an excellent presentation structure is clear focused thinking; the best way to record your thoughts is on paper or MS Word, which allows you to organize and rearrange your ideas creatively. If you prefer to use PowerPoint to prepare choose the PP download below.

For your presentation to have any effect it vital that the audience remembers your messages, the beginning and end of a presentation are remembered best, these are the parts you should prepare first.

To guide your thinking so you produce a presentation structure with clear messages at the beginning and end you can download our MS Word template. If you prefer to prepare using PowerPoint you can download and use our PP template. When you need to produce PowerPoint slides download and follow these guidelines; PreparingPPslides

Using these templates will enable you to quickly prepare a presentation that is remembered by people and produces results.

If you want to know more about preparing and delivering excellent presentations please email or call Mike Rae using the contact information below.

good pres tempV2

How to prepare a presentationV1

How to prepare a sales presentation

PreparingPPslides

Red Squirrels in the Cairngorm NP

Red Squirrels have one of their last strong holds in the Cairngorm National Park Scotland. All of the Red Squirrel images on this page were taken on one after noon in Caledonian pine and birch forest on the Rothiemurchus Estate.