Had the tawny owl gone fishing –or was itwashingits feet?

Just when you think photography and images in these wildlife programmes can’t get any better, they do.

The development of technology, along with the specialist knowledge of everyone involved with the production of the programme, ensures that, along with the stunning images, there is a great insight into the behaviour of species combined with the imperious commentary of Sir David Attenborough.

Some of the footage made for uncomfortable viewing and there was much discussion among my colleagues about the life and death struggle between a young bison and a lone female wolf.

It was a fantastic window into the survival and the dependency between the two species, though it did make you feel slightly voyeuristic watching it, as was the scene of orcas, killer whales, creating waves to dislodge a seal from a floating ice block – you could just see in its eyes that it knew the game was up.

To be able to produce and transmit such a programme obviously requires enormous resources, but the benefit and impact of its transmission will far outweigh the initial cost.

I have come across many people not normally natural history programme devotees who have been captivated by it.

I have been equally captivated by other wildlife filming recently, but this involved far less expensive technology and hasn’t been broadcast on a worldwide television network.

These films have also shown some fascinating insight into behaviour of more familiar species.

Professional wildlife photographer David Plummer, who runs the Sussex Wildlife Trust wildlife photography courses, put out a remote infra-red camera at Woods Mill nature reserve to see what goes on during the hours of darkness.

This is becoming increasingly easier to do, thanks again to developing and relatively inexpensive technology.

One piece of film David showed me took place in our river valley overlooking the stream and showed a tawny owl behaving somewhat oddly.

Like all birds, tawny owls need water for washing, which was what we expected this bird to do, but it started to run erratically in the shallow water and almost looked liked it was trying to catch the small fish in the stream, unusual behaviour, indeed, as they are not known for eating fish – they survive on a diet of small mammals.

The quality of the film is obviously nowhere near that of The Frozen Planet, but, in a way, it was just as exciting, because it was a display of totally natural behaviour of a nocturnal species.

Hopefully, subsequent footage might confirm whether the owl is actually fishing or just washing its feet!

Last summer, the trust’s interpretation officer, Neil Fletcher, was able to fix a camera in our kestrel nest box at Woods Mill and we were able to follow the life of a family of these lovely birds of prey.

Five youngsters were successfully reared and left the nest, a remarkable achievement thanks to it being an excellent year for numbers of voles.

What was so interesting was not just how many voles the parent birds were bringing to the box, but also the pecking order among the young birds. A pecking order is usual in any nest and the order of things is that the earlier hatchers will get the bulk of the food and in a “normal” year it is unlikely that all the chicks will survive, but as this year has been so good for voles there was enough to go round for everyone.

These new innovations in technology are allowing us to view nature in a way that we have never seen before, whether it’s through a grand, multi-million-pound production broadcast throughout the world or by basic cameras you can set out in your garden.

By seeing these images it draws you into their world; you become engaged, interested and, hopefully, want to ensure their survival.

It also helps those involved in conservation to understand behaviour and manage the landscape to help them survive so, in the end, everyone’s a winner.

You can view the tawny owl film on the Trust website at www.sussexwt.org.uk