March 27, 2016 at 6:45 pm
There is little doubt that the most exquisite nest of any British bird is that of the Long Tailed Tit. In early March the dome of the nest is constructed and then by the end of March the search is on for feathers to line it. It takes up to ten days to line the nest with as many as two thousand feathers. They particularly like white feathers and some distance is covered during their search for these feathers. I have found five nests this week and the blog and gallery photos rate from one of these pairs. click here
On the 14th March the sunshine brought out of hibernation my first male Adder of the year. During the last week i have seen flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings but only thirty of each which makes it the poorest season ever for these traditional winter migrants.
March 20, 2016 at 7:52 pm
Fifty years ago I visited Iceland for the first time and it made such an impression on me that it seemed the appropriate place to visit to celebrate my 70th birthday last week-end. We were treated to blizzards, gale force winds but no Northern Lights even so it was a delight to see it in Winter.
I expected that the harbour in Reykjavik would be full of Arctic gulls and while we only saw two Glaucous Gulls there were on some days more than a hundred Iceland Gulls present. Also present in good numbers were Eider Ducks, Long Tailed Ducks, Black Guillemots, Fulmars and even Blue-phase Fulmars.
The lakes in Reykjavik were mainly frozen except for one geothermal heated corner which had 50 Whooper Swans that had stayed in Iceland rather than flying to Britain in Autumn. Surprisingly these included a pair with their four young who may never know how to migrate!
A full day Golden Circle tour showed us Pingvellir, Stroker and Gullfoss waterfall all in deep snow and ice. It was dramatic scenery but the only birds seen were thirty plus Redpolls feeding in the warmth of a geothermal spring. Click here
March 13, 2016 at 8:47 pm
An evocative name for the Icelandic Great Northern Diver. We have just returned from an extended week-end in Iceland to celebrate my 70th Birthday and not one Himbrimi was seen. The reason,of course is that they have all migrated south to the British Isles for winter and one young bird has already spent many weeks at Salford Quays. Now I never regard myself as a twitcher but a local Great Northern Diver, even if it was a first winter bird, was too much to resist. This weeks blog and gallery are of this magnificent bird and I had a rewarding three hours watching Himbrimi. It was interesting to note that any alarm calls from the Gulls on the Quays brought an instant reaction of fear from the Diver as would have happened on its breeding grounds in Iceland. Click here
Next weeks gallery will includes photos from our recent visit to Iceland.
February 28, 2016 at 9:12 pm
One of the reasons for visiting Islay in February is to catch up with the many raptors that winter on the island. As only one pair of Merlin breed on Islay in summer the winter sightings are of Icelandic birds that have come south in October with Redwings and like the Redwings they always seem darker plumaged than our British Merlin. This weeks photo is of a female stood in a stubble field looking for potential prey. I was lucky as she was near the road and I was able to take several photos from the car before she was on her way. Moments like that don’t come along too often and if your camera is not out ready you will still be waiting for the next one!!
It took us a week before we saw our first Hen Harrier and then along came five one day and six the next. For some reason most sightings were of males including one that flew over a Roebuck as it hunted. On one day a Golden Eagle flew over the car on a moorland road and on the same road a week later a Peregrine was eating a Redwing by the roadside and flew off still clutching its dinner. Sparrowhawks were seen on a regular basis and on one day the Buzzard total was twelve. With all these raptors competing for prey the poor Kestrel is the one to suffer and not for the first time we saw none! click here
I will include more photos of Islays wildlife in next weeks gallery as they certainly warrant a closer look.
February 21, 2016 at 10:02 am
A week on Islay and a mixture of snow, rain, gales and sparkling sunshine.
A walk around Islay’s beaches resulted in a flock of 80 Sanderlings being encountered in one sandy bay. It was great to watch their rapid feeding whilst uttering low contact calls. One bird had a multitude of colour rings on its legs and was probably ringed on its breeding grounds in Greenland Click here
There are still plenty of Starlings on Islay and we witnessed a fantastic stoop by a Peregrine in its attempt to split the flock and isolate one bird. At dusk one evening a Sparrowhawk was chasing a small group that were going to roost under a pier.
The most unexpected bird of the week was a female Kingfisher that landed in front of us as it fished one of Islay’s largest lochs.
