28/05/2021 St Helens, Merseyside

Red Fox: Back again, and not soon enough as I was eager to spend another evening with the local fox family and wasn't disappointed as I was treated to not one, not two, not three.... but four foxes on show tonight!

Brilliant!

the fisrt vixen broke cover around 6.30pm and by 7.30pm there were two vixens which were coming out into the open to forage on the short grass right in front of me and they were joined by another two a little later on.  

they were getting regularly spooked by dog walkers and dashed into cover before popping their little heads out, their ears up and eyes focused on the yapping yorkie. 

Eventually the dogs would pass and barking would stop and they vixens would reappear back on the hunt for food. Foxes are mainly carnivores but are generally classed as omnivores.

In Britain, the red fox feeds mainly on small rodents such as field mice, voles and rabbits, however, they will also eat birds, insects, earthworms, grasshoppers, beetles, fruit and mollusks and crayfish, amphibians, small reptiles and fish. almost anything it finds, often eating carrion (dead animal carcass) or preying on smaller to medium sized mammals and birds. 

Another great evening in the company of these great animals. 
 

28/05/2021 Marbury Country Park, Cheshire

Spotted Flycatcher: Nice to catch up with Marbury's  spot fly, these are annual visitors to the park breeding in the broadleaved woodlands each year.  

Hearing them before I saw them these smart little birds were perched up in the canopy within  'big wood' close to the stream that runs through. 

The rest of the park was pretty quite with sedge warblers and whitethroats the only birds of note. 
 

26/05/2021 St Helens, Merseyside

Red Fox: What a treat, being able to spend a couple of hours with a local fox family as they lay in the sun, rolled around and foraged in and out of the undergrowth. 

This family has been watched for a few months and they have become habituated to the presence of humans and are bolder than semi rural foxes I've encountered before.

 

The public park that they have chosen to live in is pretty busy too, with dogs, bikes and joggers so they are pretty bold. 

Humans have a love hate relationship with foxes, some folk regard them as nothing more than bin bag tearing, chicken stealing vermin and think they should be exterminated. Some folk even get a kick out of hunting them for sport.

Although other folk see them as a beautiful and wonderful addition to Britain's native fauna. Foxes appear to be one of the few mammals doing well in an landscape which is changing fast, becoming increasingly developed, increasingly polluted and increasingly unwelcome.    

 

Love them or hate them, foxes have an important role in Britain's ecology, some of which we've only recently begun to understand. 

It was a real privilege to spend the evening with these charismatic, beautiful animals I look forward to returning for another session soon. 

21/05/2021 My Garden, Abram, Wigan

Siskin: Yesterday saw non-stop heavy rain in Wigan, it was horrible, but not only did the rain bring some relief to the potted patio plants it also brought down this male siskin.  

The bird came down from the treeline twice before resting in one of the willows for a long while with the rain lashing down. I was hoping it get a sharper, clearer shot but I had o manage shooting through the double glazed patio doors!  

 

A This was my 2rd garden record after a female I had on the 15th of April 2018. 

https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/search/label/Siskin

14/03/2021 Bin Green, Dove Stone RSPB

Wood Warbler: I love wood warblers, these are attractive but unobtrusive Phylloscopus with their bright yellow upper parts, throat and upper chest and white under parts they similar to willow warbler, but with much more contrasting plumage.

 

This bird has taken up residence in the woods just below Bin Green car park at Dove Stone Reservoir, the bird wasn't in showing itself as it foraged low amongst the scrub and rowne trees before flying higher into the canopy to sing.

At times it was pretty close but only for short periods, the issue wasn't the bird but the light, shooting within the woods on a dull like like today made me push my ISO much higher than I would like resulting significantly creamier images.    

Wood warbler also have a brilliant and distinctive call that some liken to a 'spinning coin' with a repetitive, descending metallic sound.

They are spring and summer visitors, wood warblers arrive in the the UK around late April or early May, and generally depart by early September so it's a bird I don't get to see every year so when I do its always a special day. 

Definitely one of my favorite warblers. 
 

13/05/2021 Longham Lakes, Dorset

Whiskered Tern: So this week I've been doing a range of ecological surveys near Luton, and the site was much closer to Dorset then Wigan so I thought I would the for the whiskered tern.

There have been some really gripping images of it sat on a water level post where it was giving some great views. Typically, when I arrived it was hawking above the water and resting on an orange boy way out on the lake.

Whiskered are stout little marsh terns with a slightly forked tail and summer plumaged adults resemble common terns more than black terns due to their black and white heads, but the short, broad wings and tails are typical of marsh terns.

They breed in scattered populations across southern Europe and Asia, in south-eastern Africa and Madagascar, and in Australia and are particularly area visitor to the UK. 

Although the bird refused to alight on the water level post it still came in close and showed extremely well. 

Whizzing right past me at some knotts it was difficult to follow with the camera set to 1.6 crop, but I managed to get these images. 

Tis was the only tern species on the lake but there were hundreds of swifts, swallows and martins, i also heard a cuckoo calling ad there were dozens of spring warblers.  

A nice bird to add to this list and a bird too tempting to pass up. 
 

06/05/2021 Audenshaw Reservoir, Manchester

Red-rumped Swallow: After a quick visit to the office in Bolton, I was quick to move once the news broke of a RRS at Audenshaw.  I have a love hate relationship with this place so wasn't holding my breath regarding my chances of seeing the bird.  

When I arrived there were hundreds and hundreds of swifts, swallows and martins hawking over the water and swarming in the sky. But within just a few minutes of scanning Paul baker picked it out, although I had to wait another half hour or so before getting my bins on it. 

The bird showed well and came close to where we were standing on several occasions before joining the larger flock and disappearing again. 

03/05/2021 Cutacre Country Park, Bolton

Whinchat: I've been looking all over the place and been dipping whinchat locally for weeks, from Leasowe, Garston Coastal Nature Reserve to Cut Lane Lancs.

With a few reports coming out of Cutacre I decided to brave the wet bank holiday weather and try my luck. 

I soon bumped into local birder and legend of Cutacre Phil Rhodes who pointed me in the direction of a whinchat. 

Hot on its heels I picked it up fluttering around a scrubby patch to the north of the site. The bird appeared to be associating with seven wheatear which were in the area. 

Finally my luck changed. 

Wheatear: The weather continued to be bad, with heavier more persistent rain moving in, so after getting my whinchat fill I moved on back to the car. 

Linnet: On the way back the wheatear and whinchat seemed to pop up as if they were following me, spritely scurrying across the pathways and perching upon the reeds I managed to get pretty close to the wheatear while the whinchat kept its distance. 

A Pair of linnet was also showing pretty well close to the horse paddocks feeding on the teasel and smaller herbs on the ground. 

There was also a singing lesser whitethroat halfway down Engine Lane, which showed at time but typically now very well.  

Wheatear: Definitely worth braving the rain and wind and getting wet, very wet actually! With some nice birds. 

Thanks again Phil for the gen. 

02/05/2021 Viridor Wood, Abram, Wigan

Common Whitethroat: Around the corner from where I live is a community woodland, with large open spaces, great views called Viridor Wood. And it's a lovely place to spend a few hours walking with the baby and Dawn. 

Viridor Woods connects to the Three Sisters Country Park and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal so you can explore further afield from here.

I had my fisrt swift of the year, some nice reeling grasshopper warblers and a fly over calling yellow wagtail. 
 

01/05/2021 The River Lune, Lancaster

Common Sandpiper: After a lovely morning with Dawns gran who lives in Carnforth we decided to take a little walk along the Lune. 

The Lune River lies in the Lune Valley, in the district of Lancaster and meanders gently through rolling green pastures and stone Lancashire  villages.

The River Lune derives its name from the Old English word Lon which has its origins in an Irish Celtic word meaning health giving. 

The Lune borders the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Yorkshire Dales and there are plenty of riverside walks that can accessed from Lancaster. 

I was hoping for dipper but only managed a pair of common sandpiper, kingfisher, lesser redpoll and siskin.