Bullfinches,Hawthorne Buds and Snow
Last Sunday we awoke to find the deepest snowfall that we have had all winter. Our Bullfinches that until then had been eating sunflower hearts decided that the opening buds of our Hawthorne bush were a much better food source.I opened our bedroom window and took a few photos, in poor light, as the snow […]
View To A kill
This week, on the coldest April morning for more than fifty years, I spent a magical two hours filming three hunting Barn Owls. Conditions were absolutely perfect and these were female Barn Owls stocking up with food prior to going down on eggs later this month. I was on my own on a hillside […]
Third Time Lucky
After fifty years of photographing Pennine birds there are only a handful of species that I have not got photographs of. Top of the list was the Black Necked Grebe but all that changed on a perfect morning last week. The last few years I have failed due to bad weather then Covid but […]
50 Years of Long Tailed Tits
March is the month when Long tailed Tits start to build their nests. Last week I filmed a pair collecting lichens and then bringing feathers to line their nest with. Incredilbly it is the fiftieth consecutive March that I have done this but the first time that the nest was in a Blackthorn thicket. It […]
The Night Shift
Over more than fifty years I have met many wildlife photographers but have not met one who has rose to the ultimate challenge of spending a full night in a hide filming Owls (Tawny,Little, Barn or Long Eared). Entering a hide in the evening at 9pm and not leaving it until 5am the following […]
Lockdown Surprises
It is amazing what you can find in your local countryside now that we are still facing travel restrictions. Along my local canal, among the throngs of Canada geese , I came across a Pink Footed Goose happily feeding with them..Had it come from Iceland? We shall never know. Grey Wagtails are now commonplace […]
Breeding Season Commences
Herons are usually the first local birds to start nest-building and this year was no different.In glorious sunshine early this week I paid a quick visit to Queens Park in Heywood and had a lot of action from a pair that had only just started to build their nest. The male was breaking branches off […]
The Last Berries
All winter, in a neighbours garden, there has been a Hawthorne with large red berries on. No thrushes have been tempted to eat them until we had the snow and frost the other week. Then, several Fieldfares appeared from nowhere and began to remove the berries and take them to the field nearby where […]
Sandpiper Surprise
During the frosty and snowy weather of last week I had a nice surprise. I was checking for Jack Snipe along a local stream and disturbed a wading bird with a brilliant white rump. I knew immediately that this was the ultimate winter visitor and only the second that I had seen locally in more […]
Jack Snipe Number 153
Generally this winter has been very poor for Winter visitors with one exception – Jack Snipe. I have several sites where I go to in the hope of finding a Jack Snipe and since the first one I found on the 9th October I have seen 152!! Sadly every one of those found has flown […]