An early start in the fells

This Snipe had a mate with it in the long grass.

Chipping away on the fence!

Wheatear are common on the moorland!

This male Stonechat was feeding young in the bilberry

Male Whinchat,....... not long back from Africa.

This Tawny owl was located due to other birds mobbing it!

He flew across the road to this Beech tree,weighing me up!

Nice contrasting colours!

He was harrased by 2 mistle thrushes and a blackbird.

This I think is the female,her left eye seemed damaged.

A determined effort to obtain some better images of Hares, was my plan for the next few days,so with the alarm clock set for 4.00am I planned to head up to the trough of bowland to hopefully achieve my aim.Early morning is my favourite time of dayt o be out with my camera,the roads are deathly quiet and I can amble along, casually checking all the likely spots.A few known areas were visited where I`d seen hares before.They were there, but at quite a distance from the lens, so my initial hopes were dashed,however the air was filled with the sound of `drumming` snipe. I spent a good hour watching these displaying birds and managed a few flight shots in the process.Occasionally one would land on a nearby fencepost and a cautious approach would get me within range.I am always fascinated by the noise the snipe make when displaying, it brings back memories of being a small boy out in the fields!The drumming sound is produced mechanically, by the vibration of their modified outer tail feathers,which are held out at a wide angle to the body,in the slipstream of a power dive.I think there is no better sound when your out  alone on the fells, watching and listening to these birds,all against a clear blue sky,fantastic!! On my quest for the brown hare ,I came across a couple of roe deer feeding,as the morning gets on, the deer just fade away into the woodlands and you will be lucky to see them!As I climbed higher into the fells and upper moors,I came across a usually productive site for Whincat and Stonechat.After a twenty minute search, the melancholic sound of a male Whinchat could be heard proclaiming his territory.He would have only returned back from Africa a few days earlier so maybe no females where present yet! A pair of Stonechat were feeding young and I watched as The male flew into the bilberry with a tasty morsel for his chicks,he returned to a rock carrying a foecal sack,making sure the nest was kept clean.I was disappointed to see only 1 raptor on my day out and that was a Buzzard patrolling the scree on the hillside.Not long ago you would be guaranteed sightings of Hen harrier, searching the ridges for food.How times have changed for the worst and yes Gamekeepers are partly to blame for their sorry demise and that is fact!So sad not to have these birds any more on our uplands! My hope of encountering a few Hares was dissapointing, but there will be other times I`m sure. My day was more than made up though, by the fantastic scenery of Bowland and  its inhabitants,some of who, were quite obliging for the camera ,in all a great day in a very special place.Catch up with you soon and take care!!

The outer tail feathers make the drumming noise,a similar noise to when you blow through a comb!

Displaying Snipe ! There was about 7 snipe present ,3 of them being females.One would suddenly make her prescence known and the male would dive down to meet her and then land in the long grass,  to continue courtship!!

Nightingales.Top of the feathered crooners indeed!

With the rain beating against the window and the blustery conditions rattling the trees, I`m sat at the computer catching up on my latest blogs.You wouldn`t think it was May with all this unsettled weather,but hopefully it will all change very soon. I`d been planning a trip out towards Lincolnshire, in the hope of seeing and more importantly hearing Nightingales,which would be fresh in from Africa.The area I knew about was favoured by these birds and up to 12 singing males had been present by mid May last year.An early start and I was on the road for 4.30 am heading east for the M62 then onto the A1.The 130 mile journey was relatively straight forward and I pulled into the car park full of hope.As I assembled the gear, a Nightingale could be heard singing in the distance. I followed the delightful sound and was soon pointing my lens at one of these robin sized songsters.They are the masters of birdsong....top of the feathered crooners.Experts have studied the song and concluded they have a repertoire of 1160 different syllables,compared to 108 of a blackbird and 341 of a skylark, just listen to this amazing song on the clip below!.I took a few images of the Nightingale and one or two of the other migrants that were around,hope you enjoy them and as a bonus I`ve included a video of a Nightingale in full song. Thanks for dropping by and looking in and catch up with you all soon!!


This one was nest building close by!

Great views were had of this male.



Singing his little heart out.



Pretty non descript really with its dull plummage but what a voice!

Usually a rather skulking bird but this one showed very well.

Garden Warblers were also in the vicinity with their scratchy song echoing around.

Adders in the fells!

After posting a few blogs from my recent holiday to the Caribbean,I`ll move closer to home now with an account of a lovely morning up in the lancashire fells.The weather was given to be good with plenty of sunshine which persuaded me to venture out, in the hope of locating our only venomous snake the Adder.Its about this time of year that they start to eme

rge from their hibernation dens.They are also ready to mate at this time of year, so on a warm day there is usually plenty of activity.The youngsters are born in Aug/Sept about the size of an earthworm,so are always likely to be predated by birds of prey and even pheasants!The Adders are masters of camouflage amongst the bracken so you have to be careful where you walk.A bite from one of these can be really painful,causing swelling and a lot of discomfort.There hasn`t been any fatalities from Adder bites in the last 20 yrs,but you do have to take care.I was wearing some strong leather wellingtons just in case! The day started off quite cold for me,so I spent a few hrs trying to get a few images of the brown hares which frquent the moors,there were a few about, but albeit rather distant.As soon as the suns warming rays were felt,I headed to a known spot where I`d previously found Adders before.I searched the hillside bracken keeping out a wary eye and it wasn`t too long before I found a group of 5 Adders all catching the warm sun! With it being early Spring,they are easily approached,unlike summer when they tend to bolt into the undergrowth at the sound of footsteps.I managed to capture a few images of the Adders,then left them to go on with their morning rituals.They seemed to be in the early stages of mating,as one or two were intertwining.I`m sure there were 3 males and 2 females present in the group so hopefully they`ll add to the population.This is one of only 2 sites in Lancashire were Adders are known to inhabit,so they are not at all common.I hope you enjoy the images below, and will catch up with you soon with more tales of nature from the surrounding countryside!!!

Grand Turk (turks & caicos islands)

Killdeer.This wader is similar to our ringed plover that we have in the british isles.Its about 15% larger with a longer bill and strikingly longer tail.Noticeable are the 2 black chest rings.Last year one of these birds dropped into a local wetland causing much excitement amongst the birdwatchers.Its call includes the classic `kill-dee` whence its name derives.A lovely bird to observe with quite a few being present.

Very approachable with the camera!

Blue heron were also quite accomodating.

Iwas surprised to find this Whimbrel amongst the scrub by the lagoon,good numbers are migrating north through the country as I type this blog now.Lancashire was always a good stop off  point for the birds to refuell.The river ribble nr to brockholes nature reserve was a favoured area.

An American Kestrel rests atop a telegraph post.Plenty of insects were available for it to feed on!

The northern mocking bird is similar in size to our blackbird.Its babbling song contains much mimicry and was a constant sound to be heard on the island.

This brief view of a warbler turned out to be a prairie warbler,very common in southern america!Almost in full breeding plummage.There wasn`t too many birds to be seen really on my walk around,but I think that was due to the time of day.Early morning would surely produce many more species.

Well another sunset to finish off the day.always totally relaxing to watch the last embers die down!!!

Tortola (caribbean)

So a few days later we were on another island for the day.It was time to spend an afternoon on the beach.Whilst my wife sunbathed,I went for a short stroll were there seemed to be some bird activity.The brown boobies were diving for fish,so a pleasant hour was spent trying to capture some of the action

It was difficult trying to keep the focus locked on the birds,as they came down like exocet missiles.

A royal tern was joining in the action,trying to catch some food!

At the back of the beach was a small saltmarsh lagoon were this Lesser yellowlegs was feeding.

Back on board ship,I spotted this magnificent frigate bird with wing tag attached.When I returned home,I recearched the internet about the scheme and sent off an e mail with attached photo.A day later I received a reply from the person who actually tagged the bird,telling me that it was a 3 yr old female which she had tagged on a neighbouring island as a chick.These birds wander far and wide so she was pleasantly surprised it was still in the vicinity!

As ever another stunning sunset to savour.I never get tired of watching the sun go down in the Caribbean seas! Again thanks for dropping by and looking in,and I`ll post more images from the caribbean shortly.

Dominica (Caribbean)

I was fortunate to visit the Caribbean holidays with my wife recently,taking a 2 week cruise around the islands.The islands were very varied in habitat and appearance but none the less the birdlife was well worth observing.These sequence of images are from Dominica and show some of the waterbirds that favour the estuarys and lagoons.

The first 2 shots are of Snowy Egret which were wading the shallow waters looking for food.Very similar to our Little Egret that we have in the UK!

The Heron sized Great White Egret was also about,and it was interesting to observe their different fishing techniques.

The Green Heron was sharing the estuary and waited patiently for an opportunity to strike.

This little Heron was an expert fisher and very rarely missed an opportunity to catch its prey.Whilst I watched it took 3 small fish in quick succession!

A really colourful individual,this one took time out to rest in the shade!

A very common wader was the Spotted Sandpiper,they seemed to be everywhere with their trilling call always evident.

A Grey Kingbird was waiting on the wires for any prey to pass,and would drop down to the ground to take beetles and other small insects!

After a hard day seeing the local sights,it was only natural to enjoy a refreshing cocktail.

And of course enjoy the marvellous sunsets that the Caribbean is reknowned for!More from the islands will follow shortly,Thanks for looking in!!!

Waxwings

There haven`t been that many reports of Waxwings throughout the country this Winter,however 4 birds have been present in Blackburn town centre at Weir st car park.This is a reliable site for these arctic visitors, mainly due to the surrounding berry laden rowans.I never miss an opportunity to view these colourful birds as they are quite confiding for the camera.A few shots are shown below,so if you are in the area,go down and make the most of the opportunity, as they`ll soon be heading back to their breeding grounds!!

Windmill casualty

Whilst out walking my local moor  last month,I came across this injured juv Peregrine Falcon!It was sat directly under one of the 12 windmills that were erected,no doubt hit by one of the rotating blades.
Now I`m all for renewable energy but at what cost to wildlife does it come!!

Quickly capturing the bird which obviously had serious wing damage,I noticed that it had 2 rings attached to its legs.Aquick phonecall to a local raptor worker and he informed me that it was a last years male that he`d rung from a nest of 3 in the pennines.He couldn`t believe that the young bird had survived,as it was the fourth Peregrine he`d had back,the other three birds were all adult and were found dead below the windmills,2 from Scotland and one from scout moor.

I arranged to meet my friend back at my home with the injured Peregrine.An hour later we were on our way to a falconer who would check the bird over and administer anti biotics to the bird.We felt confident that he would survive and be able to release him back into the wild!

It was obvious that the bird had a broken wing but seemed healthy enough.A few days went by when Ian the falconer at Wild wings nr Walkden rung me up to tell me that the bird was being collected by an avian vet who specialises in these injuries and could give the bird a proper x ray to determine the damage,the bird was then taken to the vets nr Crewe.8 days went by before the telephone rung again and the news wasn`t good.The bird had been given antibiotics and the wound wasn`t showing any signs of healing up.The vet decided the best course of action was to put the young falcon down.Disaster!I don`t think there was anything else we could have done to try and get the bird fit but we tried our best for it!
Last week I walked back up the moor for a recce,checking the turbines for anymore casualties,luckily there were none to be found.I scanned round with the binoculars before I set off for home and there in the distance on one of the many frnce posts was perched an adult Peregrine.Lets hope he doesn`t suffer the same fate as the young male,and goes on to breed for many a year to come!!!