A good week for filming
A good weeks weather and a hectic time with two ascents of Pendle Hill inside fourteen hours! On one morning I was at the Trig station on top of Pendle at 6.00am and filmed the sunrise on the way up. It was well worth it with a dozen Northern Golden Plover on the summit but […]
Dotterel on Time
With the wind turning to SW it was time to check the top of Pendle Hill for Dotterel. Unfortunately someone beat me to it and announced on Birdline that there were two present. When we arrived on top of the hill at 8.30am three bird watchers were already there and had already flushed them. Normally […]
Woodcock 0 – Tawny Owl 2
A cold week with strong easterly winds making this years nesting season one of the latest ever. Two full days in Bowland looking for Woodcock nests once again produced none, not even a flushed bird. However, all that time searching the ground cover has produced two pairs of ground nesting Tawny Owls. This is a […]
A Stop – Start Week
Still snow on the hills even as late as the 12th April. This is having a marked effect on the breeding season with one pair of Long Tailed Tits only now lining their nest with feathers, having commenced building twenty two days ago! It has been stop – start ever since. Several days have been […]
Long Tailed Tits and Health and Safety!
At last after last weeks windy weather the 31st March dawned calm and sunny – perfect for filming Long Tailed Tits gathering feathers and taking them into their nests. To save time I provide the feathers for them. Now where do you obtain feathers at this time of the year with no birds in moult […]
We are now in Summer time!
The snow of last weekend remained in places for four days and with the north wind has held back the Summer migrants – only one day of March left and I haven’t seen any yet! In deep snow drifts I walked the moors east of Burnley. Red Grouse were very active and a Woodcock was […]
Signs of Spring
A mixed week with one day of continuous rain and three inches of snow on the 23rd March, being the heaviest snowfall of the Winter or now technically Spring!! A pair of Kingfishers seen locally had a male displaying to the female but unfortunately there are no banks to tunnel into within a mile so […]
Window watching
A wild week with a raging gale and plenty of rain. As a result of having to spend so much time looking out of the window I was able to check on the activity of the male Sparrowhawk and what activity there has been. Last Sunday he caught a Starling which he ate over the […]
Back to basics
After a fortnight on Islay it is now back to basics with the first hide work of the year. I spent three hours on a Heron’s nest hoping for a changeover on the eggs but the male Heron incubated the eggs throughout my stay. However he turned the eggs twice and some good video was […]
Wildlife Gems of Islay – Reviewed
Malcolm Ogilvie in his recent review of the movie for the local Islay & Jura newspaper, the Ileach, wrote: “I sat enthralled through the film and then wished for more. So I watched it again! This by far and away the best film you will have ever seen of Islay and its wildlife, and a […]