September 17, 2011 at 8:09 pm
On the 12th I received word that the gale had blown a Grey Phalarope inland to Ashworth Moor reservoir on Owd Betts. As I didn’t think I would be able to obtain any film of the bird in the strong wind I decided to wait until first light on the 13th when, in calmer conditions, I might have a better chance of holding the camera steady. It was, of course, a big mistake as the Phalarope flew off at first light and I was left with just a Common Sandpiper and a Charm of thirty Goldfinches for company. So this week’s photo is one I took earlier, much earlier in fact in Spitsbergen when it was in full Summer plumage and completely different to the one this week at Owd Betts. The last Grey Phalarope seen in Rochdale was seen in 1899 so I may have to wait a long time to see the next one!
On Hopwood on the 16th forty Swallows were feeding and resting on one of the fairways. Along Trub Brook was a mixed Swallow / House Martin flock of a hundred birds feeding on insects in the shelter out of the wind.
September 10, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Despite the fact that no food is now being placed in the garden we had a record four Magpies together on one day. Coal Tits and Wren have also been seen but sadly a Collared Dove has died of the disease this week so it looks like it is going to take some time to clear.
On Hopwood a party of sixteen Long Tailed Tits was encountered and a Chiffchaff was still singing. The only sun of the week was on the ninth producing three Small Tortoiseshell butterflies and one Speckled Wood
September is always my quietest time of the year for filming so my attentions have now turned to the new DVD which will be on Raptors. Sixty hours have already been spent on viewing tapes , writing the script and downloading the sequences. The DVD will hopefully be finished by November and will include an in depth look at sixteen species of Raptor filmed in the Pennines, Cairngorms and the Hebrides.
September 3, 2011 at 7:51 pm
This week's photo is of a Heron that I filmed on the Rochdale Canal in Castleton. Normally Herons can be wary birds but this one would tolerate being looked at from across the canal. It was the best day of the week weather wise and the Heron produced some good reflections as it patiently hunted the canal verge.
Whilst I was at Thornham Cricket Club this week I noticed good numbers of House Sparrows dust bathing and feeding in an area of gravel. A quick count indicated at least fifty four present which is the largest number I have seen locally for some time.
With no food going into the garden there is nothing to repost except that the male Sparrowhawk still comes but only a couple of times a day and of course leaves empty handed. A Wren was present one day and a Speckled Wood Butterfly.
On Hopwood charms of twenty plus Goldfinches are present and young Swallows are still in a nest in the golf club buggy shed. A Whitethroat was giving alarm calls so may still have a second brood.
August 28, 2011 at 6:05 pm
The entries for the last two weeks about the record numbers of birds in the garden all pale into insignificance with the outbreak of Trichomonosis amongst the finches. The last straw came with both male and female Bullfinch becoming infected and I was able to pick up the female to save it from being taken by the male Sparrowhawk who is still catching two to three, mainly sick birds, each day. So after forty three years of feeding birds in the garden we stopped putting food out to hope the disease and the Sparrowhawk go away.It was a hard decision to make and the Wood Pigeons still cannot understand why there is no food for them!
The calm and sometimes warm weather last week has been perfect for butterflies and I finally made my way to Norden in search of the elusive Purple Hairstreak. Many Oak trees were scanned but all to no avail, only an abundance of Speckled Woods and Small Coppers, with the odd Comma and Peacock enjoying the conditions.
The big news on Hopwood was that alarm calls from feeding Swallows produced a fast flying Hobby – my first sighting this year. It was gone in a second and with no camera to hand it still remains my most elusive raptor to capture on film. Last week two Peregrines were on the course with one being a juvenile, perhaps spreading out from Rochdale Town Hall.
August 20, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I wished I hadn’t mentioned in recent weeks about the lack of young Sparrowhawks this year as this week we have been plagued by them. An adult male Sparrowhawk has taken up residence and in one week he has been seen to capture six finches from the garden. To make matters worse he was accompanied one day by a recently fledged juvenile female and this was also seen to catch a House Sparrow so he is teaching it very well! If it carries on at this rate the recent record numbers of small birds will have been decimated. On the 20th a young Wood Pigeon sat on the top of my car in the drive and was fed for several hours by the adults. It was a good job it was too big for the male Sparrowhawk!
On Hopwood there are now plenty of Redpolls and Siskins feeding amongst the young trees with one or two pairs of Wood Pigeons still incubating eggs.
This week’s photo of the male Short Eared Owl about to present prey to the female is my favourite shot of the year. Such a photo would have been near impossible before the digital era.
August 13, 2011 at 9:46 am
This week we have had only one decent Summer’s day but at least the butterflies have made full use of it. On Hopwood there were many Speckled Woods flitting about the glades with at least one Peacock for company. The photo above of two Graylings was taken in North Lancashire a little earlier. I have not yet had chance to investigate the sightings of the Purple Hairstreaks in Ashworth Valley with time beginning to run out.
A recent good sighting was a very noisy juvenile Green Woodpecker in Hopwood. Despite forty years of searching I have yet to find Green Woodpeckers breeding locally even though their holes appear on a regular basis in Oak trees!
This Summer the birds in the garden have been exceptional with double figure numbers of Collared Doves, House Sparrows, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Goldfinches. Does this prove that in spite of the current weather they have had a brilliant breeding season, or is it due to the weekly sack of sunflower seeds that we are now putting out?
