Walking The Dog
One of the necessities of the present climate is taking the dog for a walk.The local canal towpath is now full of cyclists and walkers except in the early morning when it is still relatively quiet. For more than fifty years our local canal has produced common birds like Canada Goose, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen […]
Butterfly Bonanza
The last seven days has produced over eighty hours of sunshine and warmth which is a perfect combination for butterflies. During my daily walks in the local woods I have seen more butterflies than I have ever seen in the last fifty Springs. These have included 110 Orange Tips, 49 Peacocks, 32 Speckled Woods 28 […]
Gathering Moss
Just as I was staring at the garden wondering what to do next out of the dense cover popped a Wren with a bill full of moss. For the first time in more than fifty years a male Wren was building a nest in the garage. It was an opportunity not to be missed. Enjoy […]
Wish You Were Here!
In 1976 we visited Islay for the first time and I was captivated by one of Britains most spectacular raptors – the Hen Harrier. Since then we have returned to Islay one hundred and ten times and I have filmed breeding Hen Harriers, at the nest, sixty one times – considerably more than anyone else […]
Long Tailed Tits and Woodcock
Here’s a wildlife fact that I can guarantee you will have no knowledge of and will not find in any of your bird books. Its all about the close connections every March between Long Tailed Tits and Woodcock. As we all know Long Tailed Tits are one of our commonest woodland birds and widespread around […]
Welsh Crossbills
Ten days ago we had a week-end break at our favourite place “Rivercatcher” on the banks of the river Dee. A visit to the Berwyn mountains produced good numbers of Crossbills, some of which visited Rowan trees in a gully and provided me with some photos of these very colourful and illusive birds with their […]
Boxing Hares and Geese
Any visitor to Islay in March has to be impressed with the numbers of Geese and boxing Hares. Some years ago I counted 68 Hares in one field and when I mentioned this to the crofter he said” Thats nothing there is usually over one hundred”. He then qualified that by saying “I will have […]
Spectacular Jura
This weeks blog photo was taken at Port Askaig and shows the fishing boats, Calmac ferry and on the right the Paps of Jura covered in the deep snowfall of last month. It is a perfect winter scene but would our visit to Jura produce the wildlife to match? It was exceptional and three hours […]
Dinner Time
When we first visited Islay in 1976 we never even saw a Buzzard there were so few of them. Now, more than forty years later, there are more than one hundred pairs. They are so common because on Islay there is no persecution and they will eat almost anything. This weeks gallery includes both Barnacle […]
Rutting Deer
A week on Islay with gales, rain and snow with very little sun. What we did not expect to see was two Red Deer stags that were still rutting. This is normally an autumn activity but these two stags remained together with regular interlocking of Antlers. There were no female Deer anywhere around to impress.More […]