16/05/2025 Smithy's Hide, Chorley, Lancashire

Tawny Owl: It doesn't happen often if at all but I've struck gold, 18 karat gold!

With thanks to David Gibson I found a photography hide that not only offers the best views you could ask for of tawny owl but a hide with a really great set up too. Smithy's Hide in Chorley.

 

This Friday was my birthday, turning old, so to cheer myself up and I booked in with Kris. We arrived just before 7pm and after a brief and friendly induction from Sue we were soon joined by the male tawny owl. It perched up in the day light as we were talking to Sue standing outside the hide. 

This was good start, within 20 minutes of waiting in the hide the male tawny returned and put on a super show, we had dozens of visits throughout the night. 

I was blown away by the views of photographic opportunities this hide owl gave us.

Sue Smith who set up Smithy's Hide has worked hard created a unique space to photograph wild birds and tawny owls. Her photography hide is equipped with heaters, access to toilet facilities, double beanbags, scrim netting over the viewing shutters, mobile phone charger, hooks to locate your camera bags and coats and comfortable padded seats. 

Sue has a great set up with the hide overlooking a well constructed reflection pool, lots of natural perches and external lighting. Everything you could ask for, and the start of the show a wild tawny owl that comes within a few feet of the hide and 

Tawny owls are our biggest common owl, familiar in Britain’s woodland, parks and gardens. They are famous for their ‘too-wit too-woo’ call often referred to as being the song of the generic owl.

But it isn’t the call of a single bird, but instead made by a male and female calling to each other.The female makes a ‘too-wit’ sound and the male answers with ‘too-woo’! 

Sue has put in an enormous amount of effort in to gaining the owls trust who come to the hide very night. 

For anyone who has looked into booking or have booked a wildlife photography hide will know the rates can be, well lets say pricey. Well to book into the Smithy's Hide with will cost you £20 per person, that right, 20 quid, peanuts in comparison to some other local wildlife hides. 

I will put a link to the Smithy's Hide facebook page below, here you can join and DM for bookings. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1224753778841421/

Keep the good work up Sue, it's all paying off. 

06/05/2025 Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire

Spotted Sandpiper: Look more closely at these pictures, it's almost like this little wading bird has hearts on it. This bird has been showing well all weekend and I held my nerve for when I was working down this way after the Bank Holidays.

Grafham Water is England's third biggest reservoir nestled in 1500 acres of bucolic countryside, but thankfully the bird kept to a small area of the vegetated bankside called the Plumer Park..

With the exception of its heavily spotted breast, spotted sandpiper are very similar in appearance and habit to our common sandpiper. They have distinct spots on their belly during their summer plumage stage and the adults have yellowish legs, an orange bill, and brown on top with black spots underneath.

The Spotted Sandpiper breeds near fresh water across most of North America where it essentially replaces our Common Sandpiper. It is the most widespread breeding Sandpiper in  North America. They migrate to the southern United States, the Caribbean and South America for the winter and are rare vagrants to western Europe.

Very much like the common sandpiper they also bob up and down, bobbing their tail up and down while feeding. The function of the sandpiper tail-bobbing is unknown with guesses ranging from the mildly plausible such as aiding in balancing on rough terrain to the absurd such as pumping body oils over their feathers to improve waterproofing.

08/04/2025 World's End, Denbighshire, Wales

Black Grouse: Black grouse in Wales are primarily found in the upland areas of North and Mid-Wales, particularly in areas where habitat management and predator control have been implemented. One of the premier location is a stunning places called World’s End.

World’s End is a narrow vale located between Wrexham and Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales and is a very popular destination with walkers and cyclists owing to its spectacular scenery and outstanding landscape.

While their numbers have declined in recent years, ongoing conservation efforts are helping to increase populations, especially in areas like Ruabon Mountain

Black Grouse are a lekking bird and they are very site faithful for their leks. Somewhere around 30 birds gather in what looks like a small disused quarry. 

The blackish blue males have distinctive red wattle over the eye and show a striking white stripe along each wing in flight. The black grouse can be seen throughout the year but are at their most flamboyant and noticeable during the lek.

The lek is when males visit a spot as a group, to display, in the hope of mating. The lek generally begins to heat up in early April, raising to its peak around early to mid-May when the females, known as Greyhens, decide to grace the lek with their presence to select their mate.

25/03/2025 Bourne, Lincolnshire

Dark-breasted Barn Owl: The barn owl which occurs in Britain belongs to the race Tyto alba and is separated into over 30 subspecies, the nearest of which is present in Central and Eastern Europe known as Tyto alba guttata, also described as the dark breasted barn owl.

The barn owl that we have in Britain is unmistakable with its ghostly white Tyto alba guttata plumage shows darker oranges and brown, buff underparts, extending right down onto belly, legs and under tail. 

They have extensive dark markings around the eye, spreading out across the facial disc and extensive grey markings over the entire upperparts, with clearly more grey than buff visible. 

 

The barn owl is not only the world’s most widely distributed species of owl, but is also one of the most widespread of all birds, as it is found on every continent except Antarctica. Though they occur throughout the tropics, they avoid areas with cold winters. Scotland has the most northerly breeding barn owls in the Northern Hemisphere.

The dark-breasted barn owl is a very rare vagrant  to Britain with less then 13 records. This bird has taken up residence ear a small Christmas tree plantation in Bourne. A very nice bird to have caught up with, and one I would urge anyone who hasn't seen it yet to go for it. It's a striking looking bird. 

22/03/20205 Undisclosed Location, Scotland

Capercaillie: First of all let me make it clear, this bird was observed with the upmost respect, off a unrestricted public path that was well used by dog walkers and cyclists during the time we were observing the bird. Also this bird was photographed outside of the the Lek It Be guidance, not to visit capercaillie lek sites during April and May when the birds are lekking (gathered to mate). From the April the 1st to 31st of August, when capercaillie are breeding and raising their young, birders and photographers should avoid capercaillie areas if they can. 

I think it's important to state this, not only to cover my own back in a way from any naysayers and pot stirrers, you know the keyboard worries who don't engage positively in any post, but seek to undermine. But also, to shine a light on the good work that the Lek it Be campaign are doing and to reduce any potential impact on capercaillie, by spelling out their guidance.

These impressive beasts are the largest member of the game bird family and resides exclusively in the pinewoods of Scotland. Male cappers are mainly grey in colour and have reddish-brown wings with a white patch on the shoulder. The head, neck and breast are tinged with blue, and the eye is fringed  by a ring of red skin. Males also have a “beard,” that is most noticeable during courtship displays, and a broad fanned tail. 

This bird was aggressively pumped up with testosterone and with it's wings pointed down, tail flared and beard bristling it was busily charging at dog walkers, cyclists and even a jogger!

We kept our distance, and respected the birds boundaries backing off when it approached.

One thing that struck me was how respectful the other passersby were acting, with most of the dog walkers stopping and moving through the woods the avoid part of the public track the bird was occupying or dismounting and walking past the bird more gracefully and light footed then just speeding by. 

Capercaillie make full use of a varied pinewood habitat. In winter the birds need pine trees for food and in summer good ground cover of shrubby vegetation for nesting and chick rearing. This reliance on, and exacting needs of, a varied but specific habitat led to their extinction in the past when the forests were destroyed by people. Though hunting played a part, it probably only accelerated the inevitable process. 

Today, as detailed above, capercaillie are under threat from various factors but not least because of reduction of their favoured habitat. Research has shown that capercaillie densities are highest in semi-natural woodland. Despite this, 60% of the population are found in plantation type woodlands, because there is not enough undisturbed native pinewood habitat left to support a majority of the capercaillie numbers.

All capercaillie in Scotland are from Swedish stock, as the species became extinct in Scotland in 1785. The population has halved in recent years and a variety of threats including habitat loss and fragmentation, birds flying into deer fencing and chick mortality due to wet and cool weather now face this species.

As part of the Lek It be guidance I will not be including any information about specific site locations in the post and I will not be or sharing any information regarding the birds location.

06/03/2025 Parkend, Gloucestershire

Hawfinch: I had a few days in Chepstow with work event and managed to get out and do a mini twitch for the famous Parkend hawfinch which was around 30 minutes up the raod from where I was staying.

Hawfinch are a declining woodland bird, but do have a stronghold in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. Trees such as hornbeam and wych elm that produce a high amount of seed are particularly important for hawfinch.

These tree species are becoming less frequent within and is creating food shortages, so conservation and woodland management charities have been working to plant more of these seed-rich trees in the Forest of Dean, to be able to give hawfinch better access to food throughout the year and stabilising the hawfinch population across the Forest of Dean.

One of the best places across the whole of the UK to see these birds is at Parkend, a small village, located at the foot of the Cannop Valley. Close to the cricket pitch lies a row of mature yew trees situated close to a road where. you can park, wind down the window and see the birds at close range without disturbing them. 

My main tip is to "stay in your car" there's no need to get out and spook them, you can get some sensational views and photos from the car. 

When I arrived there were  four cars already parked up and positioned and I managed to find a space and almost immediately a male and female hawfinch landed besides the car. 

I've seen dozens of hawfinch in my time, but never like this, never at such a close range. I had five birds possibly six, two females and more male birds with one mighty aggressive male that was chasing most of the other males away from the ground.

The hawfinch has a large, cone-shaped bill that's strong enough to crush cherry stones. Its bill is its most striking feature. The hawfinch's bill is oversized and powerful and can exert a pressure of over 150 pounds per square inch. This is enough to crush an olive stone, and the equivalent of a thousand times its own weight!! crazy!!

22/02/2025 Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, North Wales

Glossy Ibis: For the first time in a long time high pressure dominated and the thick blanket of clouds departed leaving behind wall to wall blue skies.  So having made plans to head out with Gary Edwards we started the morning at Moore Nature Reserve before heading down the road to Denbighshire for the glossy.

When we arrived the bird was no longer at Rhuddlan Nature Reserve and was foraging on the fields opposite. It was great to see it up close, watching it using its long, curved bill to probe into shallow water, wet mud to detect and seize worms and other invertebrates.

Glossy ibis are migratory with the majority European birds winter in Africa. Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. While generally declining in Europe it has recently established a breeding colony in Southern Spain. It is a rare vagrant to the UK.

However they numbers are increasing and even back in 2014, a pair attempted to breed in Lincolnshire, the first such attempt in Britain and the first successful breeding in Britain was a pair which fledged one young in  Cambridgeshire in 2022.