October 12, 2014 at 5:05 pm
The colours of Autumn are shown no better than in the river systems of the Pennines and my favourite place is Whitewell in the Forest of Bowland. This weeks photo is one I take every year but never tire of the perfect setting and colours.
Migration is now well underway with the first garden Goldcrest appearing on the 7th October. Three days earlier a Redwing passed over as more Skylarks were on the move. In contrast eight House Martins were still present locally and left with the last of the warm weather.
The numbers of Salmon entering British rivers this year is extremely low and this was borne out by my visit to the river Ribble at Settle on the 10th. Not one was seen, it would have been a wasted journey but for a fly past of a Kingfisher.
Local foxes are now becoming more nocturnal as the woodland cover begins to die away. Only their droppings indicate an overnight presence. Click here
October 5, 2014 at 5:59 pm
Once a bird has fledged the nest it is almost impossible to catch up with in the wild and there is little chance of ever filming it being fed by the adults. This difficulty is greatly enhanced with raptors whose young are continually on the move and wary subjects.
An opportunity arose in August to go for some more challenging photos of young Barn Owls after they had left the nest, when my regular pair had a second brood of five young. I noticed that each evening when the young left the barn they would alight on a dry-stone wall nearby and were sometimes fed on this wall by the male. This is the photo I wanted so I placed my hide opposite the wall and in the next four weeks spent twenty one nights hoping for an opportunity to film the food pass. There were many occasions in the pitch black when I could not see whether the young were looking at me or away from me but I persevered and finally achieved the shots I was after. When you look at the gallery the adult male owl is the bird with the darker facial disk. Click here The prey consisted of voles, rats and mice. I hope you enjoy the group shots of what was a remarkable session in perfect conditions.
September 28, 2014 at 8:23 pm
During the week not one but two male Sparrowhawks were chasing each other across the garden only a couple of feet apart. One returned on the 27th to catch a male Greenfinch which is always a sad event to witness but even raptors have to survive, preferably not in our garden. click here.
On the main road the House Martins finally fledged their young on the 28th September, being the second latest date I have ever known.
Over Hopwood this week there has been a passage of Skylarks with two still singing as they headed South West on the 22nd. Two Green Woodpeckers were present plus Chiff Chaffs and a very late male Whitethroat. After a gap of many months I located my first Long Tailed Tits but where are all the others?
Two days spent at Gleneagles watching the Ryder Cup also found birds. Thousands of PInk Footed geese were present in the surrounding fields and at the Westmorland Services on the way home fifty plus Pied Wagtails were going to roost in a single Rowan tree.
September 21, 2014 at 9:23 pm
What a fabulous month September has been with high temperatures and very little rain. This extension to Summer has brought good numbers of Adders into the sunshine. One day alone I had six females enjoying the early morning warmth before their long hibernation ahead. The warmth has also triggered the best display of Autumn Crocus I have ever seen locally. The sad news, of course, is that they only stay upright for a few days before the stalks collapse and they disappear into the leaf litter. Click here
The most surprising event of the week was watching a pair of House Martins still feeding young in their nest on the 21st September. The odds of this family party not making it to their wintering grounds at this date must be considerable. I wish them well.
September 14, 2014 at 7:42 pm
In the hills there is now an exodus of Curlews and Lapwings as they head towards the coast. At the same time lots of Meadow Pipits are on the move together with the last Wheatears and Spotted Flycatchers. On the moorland reservoirs Great Crested Grebes now have their last brood of young following a good breeding season as a result of stable water levels.
During the week along our local canal Grey Wagtails have been present along with singing Chiff Chaffs on two mornings. Click here
September 6, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Whilst walking around the reservoirs of Haslingden Grane this week conditions looked perfect for fishing Ospreys as they headed South to Africa. Like all birding you need an element of luck and while no Ospreys were present on the day that we were there what should turn up on the following day – an Osprey heading South! It reminded me of the glorious day I had filming Ospreys at the nest four years ago so I have included some of the photos in this week’s gallery . Click here
This years incredible breeding season continues and I still have two pairs of Barn Owls that have young in their nest from second broods. There can surely never be another breeding season like this one and in Greater Manchester alone more than 100 Barn Owl young will fledge this year.
