This weeks photo shows a young Kingfisher that has been out of its dark, smelly tunnel for only a couple of hours. It was one of three that were on a riverside branch and allowed my approach to six feet. Sadly at this stage young Kingfishers are oblivious to the dangers of the outside world and are very easy targets for Sparrowhawk. Lets hope this one survives.

After the success on Islay with Short Eared Owls it must be the bird of the year. As I watched for Kestrels in the hills yesterday I couldn’t believe it when I found a pair of Owls feeding three well grown young.

How times change for I met a team of RSPB researchers last week looking for the nests of Twite. In a week they had found nine nests after many hours of watching. Thirty years ago I could have found that many in a single night around Rochdale – but not any more!

In the Ribble valley today I found a Spotted Flycatcher’s nest over a farmhouse door. These are the first I have seen this year and there is great concern over the dramatic reduction in the numbers of this once common Summer visitor.

One hundred hours of sunshine. Yes, that is how much sunshine we have had in the last week, although there has recently been a coolish North East wind.

If last week was Short Eared Owl week then this week has been Hen Harrier week. It is twenty years since I last filmed Hen Harriers at the nest but I had not forgotten how exciting the female is when she is with her young and looking straight at the camera. A full week has been spent on them and some very good film obtained with five feeds of the young in three hours one day.

In addition to Harriers I have also filmed Terns and a pair of Buzzards.

Painted Lady butterflies are everywhere but very few Marsh Fritillaries.

No Otters have been seen on this visit to Islay but with five hours of video taken on Short Eared Owl and Harriers I am not particularly worried.

Today’s photo of a female Short Eared Owl and her young is the ultimate climax to a week on Islay when we have had to endure every type of Hebridean weather. Early in the week there were strong winds and rain which, when it settles on the camera lens in the hide makes filming impossible. as the weather improved I had two sessions when condensation formed inside the lens which again makes it impossible to continue. If that was not bad enough when the good weather arrived with high pressure the next problem was one I have never had before – midges!!! Two sessions were written off as I could not see through thousands of midges. So many in fact they somehow got into the lens system of the camera making it impossible to remove them. To make matters worse I stood on my glasses as I got out of the hide and had to manage the last few days with them stuck together with tape. However with perseverance I obtained some remarkable film of the female and her young being fed by the male.

It is always good on Islay to see all the male Hen Harriers flying around looking for prey for their partners who are now on well incubated eggs.

As for flowers it is a late season but the recent hot weather will help them catch up. There was however, a good show of one of Islay’s rarest flowers the Narrow Leafed Helleborine.

As a variation from birds we took the opportunity to photograph one of only two Lady’s Slipper Orchids in Britain. The flower heads were just beginning to open and it was a rare treat to see this gem in the Cumbrian countryside.

All week it has rained with a strong wind blowing over the hills and once again it was impossible to consider filming the Golden Plover – today the young fledged. We shall now have to wait until next year!

The highlight of the week was obtaining film of the Ring Ouzels. The female is on eggs but every hour or so the male calls her off the nest to feed her. He then visits the nest, inspects the contents and leaves when she arrives back to continue incubation. Its a long wait for a few seconds of film but it’s the only one I have.

I spent several hours on the only dry night filming Tawny Owls bringing food to their two young in a hole in a Rowan tree. They were nervous at first but the female was quite bold by the time I packed up. It’s a pity I only managed one night at it because of the weather

The good news of the week is that the Long Eared Owls that deserted their eggs because of the campers at Easter have relaid in the same nest. With another Bank Holiday coming up and good weather forecast surely there will not be a repeat performance?

I only took one still shot through the video camera and here it is the male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker about to enter the nest hole to feed newly hatched young. I had a magical three and a half hours filming on a sunny afternoon and the big bonus was that on two occasions the male alighted at the bottom of the tree and searched for food all the way up to the nest hole at thirty five feet!

It has been very windy all week and the Golden Plover and Curlew on the high moorland will probably have hatched their eggs before I get the chance to film them.

A visit to Bowland produced a pair of Merlin on site but as yet not incubating. In the woods nearby three pairs of Pied Flycatchers were located on eggs and Redstarts were singing everywhere. It was good to locate a pair of Ring Ouzels which are now in short supply.

In the sunshine early in the week Orange Tip butterflies were active along with Speckled Wood but the heavy downpours of the last few days have put an end to their flights.

Unfortunately another poor weeks weather has been forecast so this May is following those of the last two years.