There are some days while watching birds that only come along once in a lifetime, Saturday 8th May was one of those days. I had been out in Bowland all day looking for nests to film in the coming weeks and was quite pleased with such things as, Redstarts, Tawny Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Oyster Catcher. However, when I arrived home at 4.00pm there was a message that there were nine Dotterel on a small hill in Rochdale called Brown Wardle. There was no time to lose so it was on with the boots and a drive up to Whitworth. A quick scan of the hill through the binos showed five people sat together near the top, so the Dotterel were still present; it was just a case of a fifteen minute dash up with my equipment and by now tired legs! When I arrived at the summit the Dotterel were asleep and had been for two hours, so I took some film of them as they roosted out of the wind behind tussock grass. It wasn’t long before some cattle approached and coupled with a too close approach by one of the photographers and the rapid fire of his camera they all flew off in a Northerly direction.

With that all five people descended the hill leaving me sat there to contemplate my next move. Thirty minutes later I was about to leave when there was a quick call as all nine birds landed only fifteen feet away. Immediately they started to feed and within a minute I was surrounded by nine Dotterel feeding up to ten feet away. This continued for nearly an hour and was one of the most magical experiences I have ever had in more than fifty years of wildlife encounters. I left them where I found them, roosting behind tussock grass, as the sun set to the West at 8.00pm. I wished them well in their long journey North.

It is four years since I last filmed breeding Dippers so to film two breeding pairs in the last six days is especially rewarding. The good thing about Dippers is that they feed their young at less than ten minute intervals so you don’t have to wait hours in between feeds as you do with some raptors. The rewarding feature is that they bring different items of prey each time so you never know what will be in their bill on the next feed. At one site the male spent some time singing close to the hide and he had a very varied repertoire. This probably means that he is trying to impress the female again with an eye on a second clutch of eggs. Altogether the time spent on these two pairs was most satisfying especially as they are one of the Pennines most charismatic birds.

A lot of time has been put into finding nests this week and in two days I have found Kingfisher, Curlew, Grey Wagtail, Nuthatch, Willow Warbler and four pairs of Pied Flycatchers – an all time high number of Pied Flycatchers for me.

One of the best birds of the week was a male Black Redstart seen in the high hills East of Burnley. Coincidentally in the same area where I saw a female ten years ago.

There are still plenty of challenges ahead this month and I have yet to find a Golden Plover nest. The search for the Woodcock continues but flushing a roosting male the other day takes me a step closer to finding the illusive sitting female.

Our last week on Islay and after several early mornings the Hares were boxing. There were six chasing around and sometimes would jump into the air but never caught on camera.

With the wind finally turning South West there has been a flood of birds moving through Islay. Flocks of more than five hundred Golden Plover, two hundred and eighty Brent Geese and hundreds of Black Tailed Godwits, with Whimbrel just beginning to appear. Most of the raptors have been seen but following the severe Winter many are breeding weeks later than last year with a pair of Barn Owls laying their first egg five weeks later than last year.

On the sail back to the mainland twenty eight Great Northern Divers were seen from the boat in only one hour watch.

Yes our week on Islay started with a strong Northerly wind and volcanic dust and ended with the usual South Westerly wind and the wet stuff.

Thousands of Barnacle Geese were held up with the wind when we arrived and most only left on the twenty first of April. To get to Greenland they have to fly through the volcanic dust cloud and at present no one knows what the effects might be and whether or not they will make it. Whooper Swans have also been held up and there has been a great passage of Black Tailed Godwits – all waiting to fly to Iceland. Hundreds of Brent Geese have been passing through but as their route is to the Canadian Arctic they have not been affected as much by the volcano.

Despite the North winds we saw our first Cuckoo on the seventeenth and at least one Corncrake has now arrived. Hares were boxing well one morning and we had a good view of an otter on another.

Some good flocks of Golden Plover have been filmed, one flock consisting of five hundred birds. Hen Harriers are back on their breeding sites with all the Buzzards now incubating eggs. THe highlight of the week bird wise has been watching a male Short Eared Owl giving a spectacular wing clapping display over his breeding site. It is twenty years since I last enjoyed this spectacle but I have not forgotten how dramatic it was.

Flower wise it is going to be the latest season ever with most Primroses only just appearing as a result of the severe Winter that Islay has just had.

Whilst in the Ribble valley this week I saw two different white Pheasants and managed to obtain a quick shot of this one – the other was three miles away and a complete albino. Sadly the albino Carrion Crow that has lived by the M65 for more than ten years is missing this year and must have died. Like most albino birds it was always very wary and I never got the film I wanted of it.

On the eleventh in Bowland I saw my first Redstart of the year and on the twelfth on Hopwood both Blackcap and Whitethroat were singing and a Buzzard was present. The Buzzards have been in the area now for more than five years but I have yet to see a successful breeding.

In the hills I have now seen my tenth Long Eared Owl in less than two weeks which must be a record! The first female is now brooding young and hopefully this year most will have survived Easter. Ring Ouzel and Little Ringed Plover are back on their breeding sites with a pair of Nuthatches using an old Green Woodpecker hole in a valley one thousand foot above sea level, which must surely be a Pennine altitude record!

Three times in the last seven days I have walked to the top of one of the Yorkshire Dales three peaks to search for Purple Saxifrage, one of my favourite Arctic plants! This year’s flowers have been exceptional and like everything else three weeks later than normal flowering. On the long walk to the top I saw my first Wheatears and Ring Ouzel of the season with nine Golden Plover on the top.

I continued my search for Woodcock in Bowland and actually flushed two birds together but still no nest. I did see my first Swallows of the year with Willow Warblers in full song nearby.

Today, tenth April, the temperature peaked at 20°C and as if by magic I saw a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, six Peacocks and one Comma. It always amazes me how butterflies appear as soon as there is a significant rise in temperature.

It always depresses me when I see birds as roadside casualties. During the week I saw two dead Tawny Owls only ten feet apart on the M65 near Burnley. I can only surmise that these were two males chasing each other and hit some large vehicle. If this was the case then their respective partners will now fail as a result of this tragedy.

In the garden this week a male Goldcrest was in full song in the pine tree. Could it possibly stay to breed. I have had a request as to how do I attract so many birds to such a small garden. Without going into great detail I would say that you need plenty of feeders around the garden. There should be some good cover nearby for birds to resort to if any Sparrowhawks appear. In addition there should be no cats in the garden (ours is surrounded by a chicken wire fence!) Forty two years of feeding birds in the same garden also helps.