September 13, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Wherever you go in the Pennines there is an abundance of thistles. It is not long before you hear the calls of Goldfinches and soon encounter charms eating their way through the late summer spoils. They have had a brilliant breeding season this year and ninety per cent of the charms I have encountered comprised of young birds. There are so many thistles around this autumn that it may be some time before all these Goldfiches end up in our gardens. click here
The weather this last week has been some of the best that we have had all summer. I have been checking the Adder site all week in the hope of seeing their young. None have been forthcoming but more than ten female
Adders per day have been enjoying the autumn sunshine before hibernation. A Small Copper butterfly was enjoying the sunshine on the 10th.
September 6, 2015 at 6:11 pm
This is the time of year when this years fledged Kingfishers leave the streams where they were reared. They have spent the last few months learning how to catch fish and avoid such predators as Sparrowhawks. They will now leave the relative security of the streams where they were born and wander the waterways of the country until next spring when they will find a place of their own to breed. Click here
Conservationist Mark Avery has taken it upon himself to bring to the publics attention the plight of our Hen Harriers. I have been asked to provide some photos and discuss Hen Harriers and hides. This can be viewed on his Guest Blog. click here (you may have to scroll down to find it)
August 30, 2015 at 6:26 pm
The hot and cold spells of weather this summer has resulted in periods of activity from the Pennine reptiles. One day I found six Lizards enjoying the morning sun but better still on another early morning I had twelve female Adders out in the open. This is the most Adders I have ever found in one locality in the Pennines and they are obviously having a good season. One of the reasons for this could be the same one that produced the best breeding season for years for Short Eared Owls and Long Eared Owls – an abundance of voles. Adders feed on voles extensively and one vole will keep an Adder going for weeks. click here
Swifts are now migrating south with one over the house on the 18th. In the meantime the local farm still had Swallows feeding five young in a nest on the 29th August.
August 23, 2015 at 8:33 pm
This week’s photo is of a male Sparrowhawk with prey before he presents it to the female at the nest. He had caught this bird in our garden and I followed him across into Hopwood woods where his nest was located. Three young have now fledged and are flying around calling excitedly. Sparrowhawks time their breeding season so that when they need most food there is an abundance of young birds available. Unfortunately that means he hunts our garden regularly to catch the juvenile Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Sparrows that are now feeding.
Over the years I have filmed many different Sparrowhawks in the garden and this week’s gallery shows some of them . Click here
The star garden bird of the week was a female Blackcap feeding on the honeysuckle berries.
The big event of the weekend has been the Birdwatchers Fair at Rutland Water. One day is now not long enough to see everything and I would recommend it to everyone who has never been to go next August when it returns.
August 16, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I have never classed myself as a twitcher but there are some birds that I would travel a few miles to see. One of those is a Sabine’s Gull that normally stays in the high Arctic. My three previous sightings have been in Spitsbergen, Alaska and Greenland so one at Pennington Flash was a bit of a shock especially as I could not see any ice anywhere!
It was a second summer bird so lacked the full yellow on the bill and the red ring around its eye but was still a cracking bird to photograph in perfect conditions Click here. Two days later there was high drama when a Pike grabbed the gull and pulled it underwater to eat! However it hadn’t come all the way from the high Arctic for nothing and fought back to the surface and flew off! It was blooded and nervous for a while but is now back to normal and still coming to bread at Pennington Flash. Good luck to it.
During the week the garden has been full of juvenile birds, including Bullfinches. In Hopwood woods a Green Woodpecker was vocal and three young Sparrowhawks were on their wing. On the 14th more than one hundred House Martins were feeding close to the tree tops.
August 9, 2015 at 7:59 pm
One of the bonuses of visiting the Farne Isles for Puffins is that there are good opportunities for filming Sandwich Terns and other sea-birds. Each year on Inner Farne there is a very accessible colony of Sandwich Terns that you can film from the footpath. Arctic Terns are everywhere and will readily attack so a head cover is essential. One word of warning is that by late August the seabirds have finished breeding and flown back out to sea. Click here
The big event this week-end has been the Hen Harrier day in the Goyt valley. I joined hundreds of other people to give my support to the stopping of the slaughter of this magnificent raptor by gamekeepers. It was good to meet many supporters who have watched my films and DVDs. Chris Packham gave an impressive presentation.
