Archive for September, 2020

During all the hot, sunny and calm weather of couple of weeks ago I visited some lakes in Yorkshire to film Herons with mirror reflections. I was a not disappointed and this weeks blog shows one with a small Pike in its bill. Whilst by the waterside I was also able to film some Yellow Wagtails that were migrating south. There were at least a dozen of them feeding amongst cattle and it was a real bonus as I have not seen Yellow Wagtails on my local patch for at least ten years. Click here

This weeks blog photo is of a male Long Eared Owl still actively hunting to provide food for his now fully fledged young. At some point in time he has to moult all his flight feathers and if you look carefully at his fifth primary feathers, on both wings, they are only partly grown. It must be very difficult for him to go through a progressive moult and at the same time to be still providing food for his offspring. It can only be a matter of days now before the young Owls will be on their own and our male can have a more relaxing time – until next year that is ! click here

When Ospreys arrived in Britain this year it was late March and lockdown had just begun. It meant that they could settle down to breed in our countryside without disturbance from human beings. The result has been a record number of 300 pairs breeding this year and most have been successful. Ironically one of the unsuccessful ones was at Loch Garten where the first pair bred in 1954 and where no Ospreys returned to this year.
This weeks blog and gallery photos were taken on a magical day a few years ago when I filmed an Osprey’s nest for ten hours. Incredibly the male came every hour with fish compared to the following day when he only came twice – it was a long ten hour day! Click here

I have never considered myself a twitcher but during the last week I have spent fifteen hours on the Pennine moors looking for an illusive bird called a Wryneck. Its a bird that I have never seen before and breeds in the forests of Scandinavia and sometimes in the highlands of Scotland. Its cryptic plumage and habits of feeding on the ground make it very hard to find especially as it is not much bigger than a Skylark. I managed to find it twice so enjoy this weeks gallery as I am unlikely to ever see one again and yes I still do not consider myself to be a twitcher!! Click here