Category Archives: General

As mentioned in the previous post here is the photo of a rather wet male Little Owl.

We have just returned from six days on Islay and as usual it always provides amazing wildlife events even though it is not always possible to capture them on film. One of the highlights has to be watching a male Razorbill feed and escort his single young from its nesting gully and out to the open sea in the direction of Ireland. They will both spend the next six weeks on the open ocean until the young is independent.

Another unique site was turning a corner on a quiet road and coming face to face with two recently fledged Peregrines that were drinking from a roadside pool. They stayed long enough for us to admire them through the binoculars, whilst sat in the car, less than twenty feet away. It was truly a once in a lifetime encounter. As if that was not enough several hours later we sat in the car along Gruinart and watched an Osprey make several attempts at catching fish less than fifty yards away.

One reason for going to Islay in late July was to see the fledged birds and the late flowering flowers. Two young Cuckoos were encountered plus several recently fledged Hen Harriers with their dark brown plumage. In the sand dunes there were carpets of flowers including Pyramidal and Frog Orchids plus at least thirty Marsh Helleborines which are one of Islay’s rarest flowers.

The three young Sparrowhawks on this week’s photo are about to fledge from five that somehow have survived the days of heavy rain. I have spent two days during the last week filming the female feeding her young on prey provided by the male . At one point prey was captured at the rate of one bird per hour. Sparrowhawks time their breeding so that there is a maximum number of juvenile birds around when their own young need them but this pair must have laid their first egg on the 28th April, which is the earliest I have ever known.

The garden still provides many birds with food especially on the rainy days. Redpoll and Reed Bunting fly in from Hopwood to feed and join the multitude of young Great Tits on the feeders. Two Carrion Crows are also daily visitors but have no young this year.

A one hundred and sixty mile motorway journey recently produced sightings of nine Kestrels and eight Buzzards. It was pleasing to see the Kestrel back on top.

So far Summer has comprised of six glorious days in May. The rest of Summer has produced record amounts of rain, like the six inches that has fallen in June. Upon checking one of my Kingfisher sites I found that last weeks deluge not only flooded the tunnel but covered the bank three feet above the tunnel! The local farmer informed me that two pairs of his Swallows had dead young in their nests due to the adults not being able to find food during the heavy rain.

All week I have been filming the local Green Woodpeckers and their young that are due to fledge today. It was a real privilege and bonus to be able to leave the house and within ten minutes be filming such spectacular birds as Green Woodpeckers. The benefits of a camoufladge cloth are immense and despite the fact that I was only fifteen feet away from a well used path neither man nor beast discovered my presence. In fact on one occasion two country park rangers sat on a bench below the woodpecker tree talking . Suddenly one of them saw the Green Woodpecker in the Oak tree above. The other commented that it must be nesting somewhere nearby. Little did they know that the nest and young were only ten feet above there heads!!

In the garden the male Sparrowhawk has made an unwelcome return. Early one morning he caught a juvenile Goldfinch and took it away to his young in a nest nearby. It is definitely survival of the fittest.

Sorry no photo this week, back to normal next week.

A very hectic week watching amongst other things a pair of Short Eared Owls feeding their young that were almost ready to fly, that is until Friday came along and dropped four inches of rain on their moor. It was the heaviest and most prolonged day of rain I have ever seen in the Pennines and I fear that they will have perished in the deluge. The flooding in the valleys hit the television headlines. Closer to home all the Whitethroats on Hopwood have lost their young. It couldn’t have come at a worst time and I would imagine for Kingfishers it has been a disaster.

On a brighter note a puddle on a farm track caused me to stop suddenly in the car when I almost ran over a male Crossbill and its young having a drink. I returned twice thereafter but they had moved on – just my luck!

The highlight of the week has been filming my first ever local pair of Green Woodpeckers feeding their young. At one point two heads of the young could be seen in the hole as the adult regurgitated food. Next week’s photo should show this event

This week’s photo is one of Scotland’s rarest butterflies the Marsh Fritillery. I was lucky in finding up to ten a day on Islay as it is one of their strongholds.

The only drawback about being away for three weeks is that when you return most of the nests that you found before going away have now fledged their young. However during a hectic week I managed to film a Great Spotted Woodpecker with young about to fledge, Green Woodpeckers with newly hatched young and Kestrels with young just out of the nest.

It is not often I praise our water authorities but this time praise is due to United Utilities. A month ago a moorland reservoir, where I have filmed Little Ringed Plover in the past, was full to capacity and there was no where for them to lay their eggs. I made a phone call and the water level was reduced by a metre . Not much you might think but when I checked the reservoir during the week in the gravel now exposed around its edge Little Ringed Plovers had laid their four eggs. An excellent result and all due to one phone call.

In the garden there are now many recently fledged Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins and even a Wood Pigeon. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers are taking their food away for their young in a nest on the golf course and maybe when they have fledged they will also come to the garden.

Three weeks on Islay has now come to an end and we have had only half a day of rain which is pretty remarkable in view of the poor weather back home in Rochdale.

Having spent some time before going to Islay looking for Dotterel it was ironic that the first birds we saw on Islay were nine Dotterel feeding in a ploughed field. One hour later they continued their journey further North and as they do not breed in Iceland they may well have ended up in Scandinavia.

Unlike the Pennines Islay still has good numbers of Cuckoos and at present nobody knows why they are in decline locally and not so in Scotland. It was only on the seventh attempt that I finally obtained some film of one on its song post/

One day I spent four hours in my hide at a Buzzard’s nest that contained three young and an event occurred that I have waited a long time to capture on film. The male Buzzard, having already brought a vole and then a frog to the nest earlier, alighted with a large Adder that was alive and wriggling about. It was amazing to film the feed and then the young trying to swallow what was left of Adder. As shown in this week’s photo.

Islay is of major importance for Corncrakes and during the Summer there are regular counts to ascertain the number of calling males. Last year they peaked at eighty one and as I was lucky enough to hear nine different calling birds on just one evening it looks like there may be even more this year.

As usual three weeks is never a long enough stay on this magical island.