With more than nine hours of sunshine per day this July has been the sunniest I can remember and with the late breeding season I have never been as busy. I have spent three hours each morning this week filming a male Kingfisher as he fed young that were about to fledge. As we have had no wind all week I was looking for reflections in the water and conditions were perfect producing the best results I have ever obtained. (Click here) I can think of nothing better on a classic Summer’s morning than spending time in the presence of a male Kingfisher.

During the week the three young Sparrowhawks have fledged on Hopwood with the single young Buzzard now ready for its maiden flight – this will make it the first local breeding record during the last century! Also on Hopwood there was a singing Grasshopper Warbler, the first I have heard locally for more than a decade and a bird which is in short supply this year.

In the garden a fledged party of four Robins have appeared – the second successful breeding of our local Robins this year. Reed Buntings, Redpolls, Bullfinches and Coal Tit are all still feeding on a regular basis.

In recent years I have had a licence from Natural England to photograph Little Ringed Plover at the nest on one of the moorland reservoirs. This Spring the birds returned to breed but had a major problem in that the reservoir was completely full of water with nowhere for them to lay their eggs. They remained on site for weeks but the water level did not recede and it looked as if they would have to move on to find a more suitable breeding site. What happened next was unbelievable as the female plover laid a clutch of eggs in the gravel on the anglers car park a good fifty yards from the reservoir. With the co operation of the anglers the car park was closed off and a notice was erected to ask all dog walkers to keep their dogs on a lead as they walked past. Would the eggs survive the twenty three days to hatching and would the young then make it back to the reservoir to feed? Well they did and it was an incredible success story. As the Summer progressed the water level receded and a second pair stopped to breed successfully. This week’s photo and gallery shots illustrate this second success. Click here

On Hopwood the Sparrowhawks and Buzzards now have young ready to fledge. Linnets are breeding successfully for the first time in some years with Chiff Chaffs and Whitethroats still in full song. The Roe Deer now have a fawn and the sun has produced an abundance of dragonflies on the ponds

I have to admire any builder who makes provision for breeding birds when he developes an old moorland property. A pipe was placed in the gable wall leading into a nest box placed in the roof. Immediately a pair of Little Owls decided that was the ultimate Des Res and moved in. I spent five hours over two evenings but only obtained the odd shot of the male and female. I was waiting for the night when the three young would appear at the entrance prior to fledging. It finally happened and in perfect conditions I had a magical two hours in my hide with not only the three young appearing but also the male resting on the wall only ten feet in front of me and it stayed there for twenty minutes!  Click here of view some of the photos taken on that magical night.

Every day this week I have been out in the hills before 7am as there are still breeding birds to be filmed. Six hours of searching has failed to locate any breeding Nightjars and with temperatures with up to 28°C it has been exhausting work. With the exception of the raptors all the birds seem to have had a good breeding season.

It is always a pleasure to film a pair of Redstarts feeding young especially when it is a late pair in July when most others have already reared young. They had chosen an old Tree Creeper nest box and had five young which were six days old. Both adults were very obliging and perched where required during my first two hour session.  For the photos  click here  Two days later I had a second session and all was going well for the first fifty minutes. Then, after a great swish of wings from nowhere, a Buzzard clung to the nest box and somehow took four young from inside. It returned a few minutes later but I managed to frighten it off and saved the last young. I would never have thought it possible that a Buzzard could predate  nesting Redstarts when inside the box but it had happened before my very eyes. There is no doubt that the expansion of the Buzzard in the Pennines is not good news. Already Little Owls and Woodcock have disappeared from their regular sites as a result of the spread. There have also been two sightings of Buzzards killing young Barn Owls on their maiden flights. Last year a friend had two broods of Hobbies predated in the nest by Buzzards.

During the week I have been searching the Pennine forest for Nightjars. Some have been located but finding a nest is almost impossible. Eight hours of hard work resulted in flushing a Woodcock off four newly hatched young which for July is unheard of.

The big event in the garden was the arrival of a Nuthatch which fed for one day only. Still it was the first we have seen for more than a year and would always be welcome back.

After forty three years of filming birds this week I was able to film only my seventh pair of Green Woodpeckers with young. It was in fact twenty five years before I found a suitable nest site for filming so it is always a privilege to spend time with these beautiful birds. The main food source for the young are the eggs of ants. It takes some time to find these so feeds are at thirty to forty minute intervals. However, because the adults carry them in their crop when they feed their young they are at the hole for more than a minute on each visit. Click here to see more photos of the Green Woodpecker including one with ant eggs visible on its bill. The male Green Woodpecker is the one with the crimson moustache.

During the week I went in search of a Sparrowhawk that was reported as breeding along the Rochdale canal I failed to find the Sparrowhawk but did see a Kingfisher which is unusual at the height of the breeding season. Was this Kingfisher breeding in a bank nearby?

In the garden we now have fledged Goldfinches, Robins and Redpolls. It is only the Reed Buntings and Bullfinches that have yet to bring their young to feed. A Willow Warbler was a welcome addition one day as it searched for aphids in the fresh greenery.

Since returning from Islay all week has been spent checking nest sites and searching for new nests. It has become apparent that the Whinchat has now disappeared from many of its Pennine haunts for no obvious reason. In fact I have not seen a local Whinchat all season. This weeks photo and gallery album (click here) were all taken on Islay last week where the Whinchat is still quite common.

What is also apparent this year is that many of the Pennine raptors have not bred or have failed in the early stages of breeding. At present I have no occupied Barn Owl or Kestrel sites and my one breeding pair of Long Eared Owls failed while I was on Islay. The others not even attempting to breed. I suspect last years wet weather coupled with this years cold Spring left the birds in poor breeding condition.

On the plus side the Kingfisher succeeded in fledging its first brood of young and I now have my first ever local breeding pair of Buzzards, which now have small young. A pair of Linnets have taken advantage of the planting of gorse on Hopwood by building their nest. Let’s hope that these will be followed by the return of Partridges. On the down side there are no breeding Sand Martins or Green Woodpeckers this year.