The End Of The Day
This weeks photo of a sunset over our local canal is one of the typical Autumn evenings that we have had recently.Special local birds like Green Woodpecker and Barn Owls have all fledged young this summer and now is the time when they have to go their own way.Lets hope that many of them will […]
On Time
On the 11th October I found my first Winter visitors in the form of 3 Jack Snipe feeding in a local bog. Ironically, without the help of an east wind, these birds had arrived only one day later than they did last year! Migration is amazing when you think that these tiny Snipe had left […]
Active Spiders
Autumn is the time of year to arise early and go in search of early morning mists. These will highlight the overnight work of the Orb Spiders.You need a touch of dew to highlight the hundreds of webs in the moorland grasses. So far this Autumn we have had a couple of perfect mornings to […]
Elderberry Feast
Every year the Elderberry is the first of our trees to produce mature berries. These seldom last long as there are always Wood Pigeons and their young awaiting the Autumn feast. There are more photos on my Facebook page of the many Wood Pigeons and their juveniles that cleared our tree in only a matter […]
Chasing Chasers
In late July, when we were in Speyside, the temperature hit a record 31C on two days.It was only then that we realised that from a wildlife point of view not much happens in extreme heat – even the Ospreys stopped fishing! However,extreme heat is good for one form of wildlife – Dragonflies and Chasers. […]
Old Yellow Eyes
Last weeks blog was all about this years orange-eyed Long Eared Owls so this week it is the turn of the yellow-eyed Short Eared Owls. Two different males are included in the gallery photos on my Facebook page and with Shorties the face of the male goes whiter with age and the eyes a deeper […]
Celebration Time
It is now more than 15years since I started the weekly blog in 2007. So here we are 780 entries later and this Spring something happened that I have waited all those years for – to film a hunting male Short Eared Owl in the morning followed by a hunting male Long Eared Owl in […]
Gone To The Wall
Last years survey of breeding butterflies in Greater Manchester claims there are now no Wall butterflies present. It is a butterfly that thrives in hot, sunny weather and last week conditions were perfect to go looking for them. I know a secluded valley to the north of the County where I have regularly found Wall […]
The Great White Egret
Even up to ten years ago it was impossible to ever imagine a Great White Egret appearing locally. So it was a surprise when one appeared recently at Hollingworth Lake and stayed for more than ten days. Early one morning I went along to have a look at the Egret as it made the most […]
Wader Success
While some parts of the country have been suffering from drought here in the Pennines we had plenty of heavy showers in May and the moors were in perfect condition for breeding Waders. Lapwings in particular were very successful along with some Redshank and Curlews.It was only when the moors dried out in July that […]