All winter I have been waiting for some severe weather to have any chance of filming Jack Snipe. I have several bogs that don’t freeze up in severe frost and occasionally Jack Snipe will remain in situ if you approach cautiously. This happened last week when late one afternoon I spotted a Jack Snipe but there was too much vegetation in the way to obtain a photograph. As it was only one hour before darkness I took a gamble that it would still be in the same bog the following day and it was. It had moved only two feet overnight despite the temperature dropping to Minus 8C! This time it was more in the open and I was able to take my photos. In fact if you look closely you will see that its tail is covered in frost! It will probably be the only Jack Snipe I photograph this winter but what an illusive little wading bird they are.Click here

Well not quite a true Snowy Owl but a Barn Owl hunting in the snow. When this winter started I never thought that I would be in a position to photograph local Barn Owls during the day let alone take photos of one hunting in the snow. Nothing is predictable in wildlife and you never know when they will revert back to nocturnal hunting and my photo opportunities are gone. More recent photos of the Barn Owls are shown in this weeks gallery.
When you are involved in wildlife all your life all sorts of unscripted events occur out of the blue as happened this week while I was waiting for a Barn Owl to appear. I had been sat in a hedge under a camouflage cloth for more than an hour when a brown bird arrived from my right and alighted by my foot. I gingerly looked down and was met by the stare of a Woodcock that flew off as quickly as it had arrived!! Click here

This winter we had our first snowfall on the 18th January making it the latest arrival date for more than fifty years. At long last we have had some classic sunny, frosty days and it was good to be out with the camera, some of the results of which are in this weeks gallery.Click here

Thick cloud and mist negated any chance of seeing the eclipse of the moon last week so I have included, for this week’s blog and gallery, photos taken three to four years ago when we had the last one. Still only two years to the next one but over twenty years to the next Wolf Moon – an optimistic length of time to wait click here

Last weekend I finally caught up with two Waxwings in Salford. The weather was foul and the birds were sub-adults but as they are my favourite birds I could not let another winter go by without seeing them.One is this weeks blog photo and just to remind you how good they can look I have put some more in the gallery from two years ago.Click here
In the last few weeks the mild winter weather has been good for Woodcock locally with one walk producing four birds.

Its always a nice surprise when a Peregrine appears from nowhere and flies past you at breakneck speed. This happened during the week when I was exercising our two dogs along the local canal. It had its sights on a Canada Goose but veered off at the last minute and gave a high pitched call that I have never heard before.
During the last week Lapwings have returned to our local industrial estate to roost on the warm roof. They peaked at 350 on the 8th and this is one of the largest flocks I have ever seen at this site. A few photos are in this weeks gallery.Click here