Category Archives: General

One of the most elusive and mysterious of all our Summer visitors is the Nightjar.  In medieval times because of its crepuscular and nocturnal nature and its habits of feeding around goats (because they disturb flying insects on which it feeds) it acquired the name of Goatsucker. This name was further enforced by its enormous mouth and pink fleshy lining, the result of drinking goat’s milk! Today we are more enlightened but none the less it remains a bird of mystery.

In the forty five years that I have been filming birds I always dreamt of sitting in my hide at the nest of a Nightjar and recording on camera what the female did during the day when her eggs had hatched. This Summer it all came to fruition, in a remote Northern forest, as I spent three weeks filming this magical bird. I was able to capture her removing the discarded eggshells, yawning in the hot sunshine and looking after her two young as they remained with her for more than two weeks. The young would also yawn at an early age and the whole family was remarkably camouflage as they lay motionless amongst the young pines. It was an experience to spend the diurnal hours with them. Click here

With the approach of the 12th these Red Grouse had better keep their head’s down if they want to survive to next years breeding season. Along with most other birds this year Red Grouse have had their most successful breeding season for decades. The purple heather is now full of family parties of grouse many of them comprising of more than a dozen birds.

While I was up on the moors this week I came across a late pair of breeding Short Eared Owls. They were visibly feeding at least two young that were well able to fly. In another valley a Tawny Owl was actively hunting for prey at noon.  Normally this exceptional behaviour is only seen in the depth of Winter when there is little prey available. There is plenty of prey this year so I can only think that this pair of Tawny Owls have so many young to feed that they are forced to hunt during the day also. I am already aware that one pair of Tawny Owls this year have fledged five young which is totally exceptional.

The garden is now full of young birds with the latest juveniles to appear being Song Thrush and Dunnock. Click here

After more than forty years in waiting this year I finally filmed Kingfishers copulating. As shown in my blog of 29th June first he passed a fish to the female. He then rises into the air over a foot before landing on her back and balancing in final position for seven to eight seconds. To protect her eyes during copulation a membrane closes over in case there are mishaps. After the event the male launches himself into the air and leaves. He may then bathe. Click here

The sad event of the week  has been the putting to sleep of our thirteen year old golden retriever Robbie. He has been to Islay more than fifty times but never quite mastered the technique of finding a sitting Woodcock. However , one day on Jura whilst we were sat in the car looking for Otters he barked, something he rarely did, and upon checking we found he was watching a female Otter and two young that we had not seen!!

Whilst most people who go to Mull go to see Sea Eagles some also go to look for Otters. After the Shetlands Mull is probably the second best place in Britain to see Otters so last week I naturally spent time surveying the coastline. With losing two days to bad weather I was left with only one day when the tide was right for fishing Otters. I set off on foot to cover a headland and almost immediately encountered a fishing dog Otter. I followed him along the shore for one and a half hours and during that time he came ashore three times, once only ten feet from me and too close to focus! The third time he brought a fish ashore and gave me some good photo opportunities . This week’s gallery, besides Sea Eagle and Otters, also includes butterflies and views from Mull Click here.
Back home the good news is that the settled weather has enabled the three pairs of Kingfishers that I monitor to fledge between them at least twenty five young. This is a record number coming after two poor seasons and a brilliant end to the best breeding season I have ever known.

For more than twenty years I have heard about White Tailed Sea Eagles following fishing boats in Skye and Mull to scavenge fish thrown from the boats. Last week I finally visited Mull to film this incredible spectacle of the world’s fourth largest eagle taking fish thrown from specially licensed boats. As the boat sails into the vicinity of the eagle’s eyrie  the adults recognise it and fly high above to await a fish being thrown out. Then, with a rapid turn of speed, the eagle dives down and removes the fish from the surface of the sea with as little impact on the water as possible. This method of taking  the fish is in contrast to an Osprey that plunges completely into the water then lifts off with its prey. To see these enormous birds carrying out this manoeuvre is something never to be forgotten and whilst the weather could have been better I did manage several sailings and lots of photos. Click here.

It was only my second visit to Mull but where else in Britain is it possible to see six different Sea Eagles and three different Golden Eagles in one day.

See next week’s blog for more news of my visit to Mull.

The pattern of this Spring and Summer’s rainfall has ensured that the Pennine moorlands have never dried out. This has benefitted the moorland waders, especially after their eggs have hatched,ensuring that their young are able to find food at that crucial time of their development. On some moors Lapwings have returned to breed after an absence of many years and one pair of Golden Plover were still incubating eggs at the end of June which is the latest I have ever known. Although the reservoirs have remained largely full, with the co – operation of the local water authority some water has been taken out enabling Little Ringed Plovers to breed successfully. Click here.

Whilst I was in the moorland valleys last week I heard a bird that I have not encountered for a long time and seldom filmed it was a male Grey Partridge and whilst it remained a long way off I did manage to take some photos of a bird that is now very much in decline..