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I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year for 2014

After producing forty one hour cine films and five DVDs in the last forty four years you would have thought it was time for a rest in 2013. Well think again, with good weather for most of the year and armed with a Canon 7D camera and appropriate lenses I have just had my busiest year’s filming ever. Since I was ten I have maintained a wildlife diary of notable sightings and I have just counted up 326 days of entries during this past year which constitutes a record I don’t ever expect to beat.

The year started off with good Barn Owl sightings in North Lancashire and having criticised some photographers for the amount of shots they take I could not believe that in three mornings I had taken more than a thousand! Out of these the fifty I retained were spectacular and it was a species I had always dreamt of filming in flight, so it was a brilliant start to the year.

My lecture tour of South West Scotland in February was a sad end to thirty years of visiting that special area. This being due to the local wildlife groups  having seen all my presentations . I have taken some wonderful film in the area over those years, have met  life long friends and was most humbled by the two large hampers of local food and drink presented to me – I think we have just finished the last of it!!

We had our usual fortnight on Islay in February when the island is free of tourists and the snowdrops are at their best. The bonus was a fantastic series of flight shots of Chough that will take some beating on future visits.

Most people are aware that the Waxwing is my favourite bird so what a treat to be still taking photos of them well into April before they finally left us in early May.

As we are now all aware the Summer was one of the best ever and provided me with more photographic opportunities both on Islay and back home in the Pennines. During late Summer and Autumn I made several visits to Morecambe Bay and Leighton Moss and took great delight in filming Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Bearded Tits all birds I had never filmed before.

The latter part of the year has been typified by a big influx of Redwings, Fieldfares and Bramblings. As a result I have spent many days searching the local hedgerows and obtained some delightful shots.

To view some of my favourite photos of the year please click here.

All five DVDs are still selling well with the Islay one on its sixth reprint. I am showing my cine films at many different venues with this coming March the busiest I have ever been in more than forty years.

Next year’s challenge is Marsh Harrier and Bittern!

For the second time in a week I have succeeded in filming five species of Thrush feeding on  one rowan tree. click here This time there was a bonus for as I was about to go home at 3pm a male Brambling appeared and fed on the ground below the tree for a good ten minutes paying no attention to all the heavy lorries passing by only feet away. It almost made up for missing the Crossbills the other week but not quite!!

The extremely mild weather continues with four different  Robins around the garden in song at dusk  last week accompanied by Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbirds. Even so there were twenty three Goldfinches feeding in the garden together and a record three Song Thrushes on the 25th. A female  Sparrowhawk caught one of the Blackbirds on the 27th but as I rushed out of  the house it could not carry it away so the Blackbird escaped to live another day. The saying “Not in my back garden”  comes to mind.

On Hopwood on the 28th a Woodcock was seen to leave the birches and fly to the field to feed fifteen minutes after sunset.

In forty three years of filming birds I have never filmed all five of our Winter Thrushes in one day, until last week. The last berries on a hawthorne and rowan tree provided food for Blackbirds, Redwings, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and a solitary Fieldfare and in less than ten  minutes I had accomplished that unlikely feat. The Fieldfare in particular is usually a wary bird to photograph but this bird was a star performer. A Sparrowhawk appeared regularly but, thankfully, the Thrushes failed to appear in her diet. Click here

On Hopwood during the week there has been a Woodcock, Grey Wagtail and two Roe Deer. In the garden on the 20th were a near record thirty Goldfinches. Flying over the garden has been a Buzzard and a Kestrel with four Redwings going to roost in our single pine tree on the 22nd. Our annual visit to the garden by a Willow Tit has yet to materialise after six consecutive Winters.

An unusual photo this week of my hide along a forest path and just in front of it is a puddle of water. During the week I spent a boring three hours in the hide staring through the camera at the puddle which remained absolutely bird less . Not one bird came to drink during my long stay whereas four days before eight red male Crossbills dropped down to drink for one minute only. My friend obtained some magical photos of the event and it just goes to show that in the wildlife world there are no repeat performances!!

On the eleventh thirty Redwings alighted in a tree forty yards from the garden but none were tempted by the apples I had put out – too many berries still around. The gorse planted on Hopwood not only attracted breeding Linnets this Summer it is now being used for a roost site for Redwings. All we need now is the return of the Partridges that sadly disappeared some ten years ago.

Rowans on a nearby industrial estate have attracted Bullfinches to their ripening berries. Up to six have fed and in a short period of decent light I managed some photos. Click here.

Spot the Long Eared Owl, for close up click here.  Each Autumn I spend endless hours searching the hawthorne hedges on my local patch for wintering  Long Eared Owls. Scandinavian Long Eared Owls have been using the hedgerows each Winter for at least fifty years that I  know of but they take some finding. The elation when you find one is hard to describe and the skill is obtaining a photo without flushing the owl. If it does fly then there is every likelihood that it will move over night and you will have lost any future opportunity to film. So the message is find your Long Eared Owl but never approach close enough for it to fly and if you do this your Long Eared Owl will become accustomed to you and may stay in the same hedge all Winter giving more photographic opportunities. Always make sure you wear the same clothing  so the owl will recognise you as no threat and you may be able to eventually  approach quite close. Never visit more than once a week.

On the local scene Woodcock are now widespread and most beech woods have good flocks of Bramblings enjoying the beech mast. In the garden the Goldfinches have increased to a maximum of eighteen with a wren visiting daily.