180
That’s the number of Waxwings in one tree at 8.30am in Hulme, South Manchester on the 24th. Its the largest number of Waxwings that I have seen since the big invasion of 1996 when more than 300 were present in Stockport. I spent nearly an hour watching them feed on a white berried Rowan and […]
D Day
The Waxwing invasion is now under way. Well, in some parts of Manchester it is but a daily search of the thirty Rowan trees that I monitor in the Rochdale, Oldham, Middleton area has produced no Waxwings. In fact there were only three trees with berries on and most of those have been eaten by […]
A Bird For All Seasons
Seven years of filming and four months of editing have been completed and the new DVD is now available. The lives of eighty species of birds are shown through one of the harshest Winters ever recorded followed by one of the wettest Summers. Some birds, like Hawfinch and Nightjar, I have never filmed before while […]
On The Move
I couldn’t resist including a last photo of Barnacle Geese taking off from their feeding ground on Islay. One week is never long enough on Islay and now that we are back home I find that there are Waxwings all over the island. My favourite bird and I have missed them by a week – […]
Geese,Geese And More Geese
There is little doubt that one of the greatest bird spectacles in Europe in Autumn occurs on Islay as 50,000 Geese arrive from their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Added to that the sight of more than 100 Whooper Swans in one field is another spectacle not to be missed. Autumn is a time when […]
Long Tailed Tit Record
On the 14th October we had a record thirteen Long Tailed Tits feeding together in the garden. A Jay has fed and a Red Admiral butterfly visited us also on on the fourteenth. Along the canal have been small numbers of Redwings feeding on the Hawthorne berries with up to ten present. A drive over […]
Injured Pink Footed Goose
During the evening of the sixth Pink Footed Geese called from the darkened sky. The following morning, below some pylons, was a Pink Footed Goose with a broken leg presumably having hit the overhead wires the night before. Whilst it sat on the ground it still fed all around it and several hours later it […]
Redwing Arrives
On Hopwood on the third of October one solitary Redwing was feeding in the Birch woods – the first of Winter and a week earlier than last year.Also present have been Redpolls, Greenfinches, Green Woodpecker and a Reed Bunting. On the Botanical side still in flower are Tormentil, Red Campion, Herb Robert, Foxglove and Autumn […]
A New Bird
This week’s photo is of a bird I have never captured on film before. You can never plan to go out and film a Stock Dove and the photo was taken when I was waiting for the juvenile Hobbies to land in the same dead tree. It would appear that the doves were nesting in […]
Orange Eyes Is Back
Once again we have in the garden a male Sparrowhawk with deep orange eyes. He has visited us for the last few Winters and if his breast feathers were more orange he would be a text book gem. Needless to say he is not very popular when he hunts in the garden and is chased […]