The blog of the 4th April featured Long Tailed Tits using Woodcock feathers for their nests. More recently have had Wrens in the garden gathering moss to start a nest. The male builds several nests and the female choses one which she then lines with feathers before laying her clutch of eggs. So the bird in this week’s gallery in photos is the female but to our eyes they look alike !!! click here
Todays blog and photos have been taken in the garden during the last seven weeks. The irony has been the unprecedented sunny weather and as a result the wildlife part of the garden at the back was in deep shade – all day! We have never had seven weeks like it at this time of year!
There have been plenty of birds in the garden with twenty four different species seen on one day. One of the photos is of a male Reed Bunting which has adapted to feeding on the fat-ball feeders, something we have never seen before. click here
One of the necessities of the present climate is taking the dog for a walk.The local canal towpath is now full of cyclists and walkers except in the early morning when it is still relatively quiet. For more than fifty years our local canal has produced common birds like Canada Goose, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen with nothing better than a passing Kingfisher or Goosander. All that changed on the 1st May when, at 7.00am, a wading bird flew up from the side of the canal giving alarm calls. It had a white rump and was clearly a Green Sandpiper on its way back to its breeding grounds in Scandinavia. click here
The last seven days has produced over eighty hours of sunshine and warmth which is a perfect combination for butterflies. During my daily walks in the local woods I have seen more butterflies than I have ever seen in the last fifty Springs. These have included 110 Orange Tips, 49 Peacocks, 32 Speckled Woods 28 Large Whites, 6 Small Tortoiseshells one Comma and best of all one Brimstone which I have never encountered before. Photos of some of these are in this weeks gallery but, unfortunately, the Brimstone was too quick to catch up with!! Click here
Just as I was staring at the garden wondering what to do next out of the dense cover popped a Wren with a bill full of moss. For the first time in more than fifty years a male Wren was building a nest in the garage. It was an opportunity not to be missed. Enjoy the gallery and if you wondered how I know it was the male when both sexes are identical, well it is the male who builds several nests then the female chooses one which is then lined with feathers and used. Click here
In 1976 we visited Islay for the first time and I was captivated by one of Britains most spectacular raptors – the Hen Harrier. Since then we have returned to Islay one hundred and ten times and I have filmed breeding Hen Harriers, at the nest, sixty one times – considerably more than anyone else in Britain!
Sadly, of course, our visit this year has had to be cancelled so after forty four continuous years our long-term study may come to an end. To celebrate those years I have included in this weeks gallery some of my favourite recent photos including a food-pass executed in the most perfect late evening sunshine. click here