Category Archives: General

Islay is in the top three places in Britain to see breeding Hen Harriers. The display flight of the male is called skydancing and consists of undulating flights, rising and falling and is difficult to film as it usually performed some distance away. The female on the other hand is much more active around the nest and during our three weeks on Islay I acquired some action shots of what is most probably Britain’s most threatened raptor. click here.

In the last week I have spent many hours in the hills looking for nesting birds. Kestrels, Kingfishers and many wading birds all seem to be doing well in the present settled weather so let’s hope it continues. The woodlands are now full of fledged tits, especially Long Tailed Tits and Redpolls which are having a brilliant breeding season.

In the garden a pair of Bullfinches have brought all four of their young to feed. Reed Buntings are now only occasional visitors.

Not many people visit Islay in Summer to watch seabirds. However, the Islay coastline is home to many different species of seabirds and during the last three weeks I have been filming many of them. Click here.

During our last week on Islay there was a huge emergence of Marsh Fritillary butterflies with up to 94 seen on the RSPB reserve on one day. On one small walk on the North West coast we encountered 13 but over the whole area there must have been hundreds. Mid Summer on Islay is a magnificent time to visit and with only five hours of rain one afternoon the weather for our visit couldn’t have been better.

Back home in the garden there are now many juvenile birds from Blue Tits and Great Tits to Starlings, Goldfinches, Redpolls and even a young Great Spotted Woodpecker. Four Woodpigeons together was a garden record.

Last week’s superb weather has had Corncrakes calling from all over the west side of Islay. In one evening alone I encountered eight different birds and whilst I did not see everyone of them some gave me great views. Best of all one climbed up a drystone wall and then stopped on top to preen – just unbelievable! Click here.

Early one morning when I was filming Black Guillemots I heard alarm calls from gulls and looking up an Osprey flew over my head and out to sea towards the rising sun.

Following on from the masses of Bluebells the island is now yellow with the best cover of Yellow Flag we have ever seen.

A week on Islay with fabulous weather and wildlife.

In a newly sown barley field, away from the shore, upto forty one Sanderling were finding an abundant supply of leatherjackets. Many of these birds were now acquiring their Summer plumage and within two days all had left for the long journey to Greenland.

Black Guillemots are delightful birds to encounter in Summer and one spectacular dawn I took some flight shots, against the light,as they enjoyed the sunrise.

This is our ninety ninth visit to Islay and the bluebells are the best we have ever seen. The  first Marsh Fritillary butterfly appeared on the 27th with no doubt many more to follow. Roe Deer are all over the island and we have also seen two Otters one fishing on a fresh water loch which is a first for us. Click here for this week’s gallery

You can only really say that Summer has arrived when the Swifts are screaming through the picturesque Pennine villages, as they were in last weekend’s glorious weather. Most will nest under the eaves of the cottages. Some may breed in the crevices of quarries and in Scandinavia many now nest in the disused holes of Woodpeckers, something that has not yet caught on in Britain.

During the past week I spent an hour with a pair of Willow Warblers that were busy nest building and as usual they were very tame. Click here. Along the canal ten pairs of Canada Geese were nesting with two female geese looking after a creche of thirty one goslings!!

As a professional wildlife photographer I should know that you never go out without your camera and that was more than emphasised last weekend when I didn’t take mine in all that glorious sunshine. I drove up onto the moors and by the roadside were a pair of Curlew with four newly hatched young> Around the next corner was a Snipe on a post and further down the road a Little Owl was looking at me and I am sure it was laughing!!

Whilst looking for Woodpeckers in a Pennine wood I came across a pair of Treecreepers that were feeding their young at less than three minute intervals. As is usual with Treecreepers they were extremely bold and I took many photos whilst I was in their company. I was amazed at the number of prey items that were brought in on each visit.click here

This Spring I have managed to find two pairs of Goosanders nesting, as they do, in hollow trees. It makes an unusual, photograph looking at the ten eggs at the base of a hollow tree. On a re-visit the female was incubating the last eggs with two young around her. Somehow all the young have to climb six feet out of the tree and follow her to the nearest water. Unfortunately that never happens when I am waiting with the camera!

In the Pennine forests most pairs of Long Eared Owls now have young out of the nest. At dusk these young make a hunger call that sounds like a creaking gate. It is an evocative sound on a still Pennine evening.

The recent warm spell has resulted in the emergence of Orange Tip butterflies with several sightings in our garden.