On Tuesday I met Andy at 0600 at Oakenclough for our first ringing session since early spring, an unproductive period for ringing when the weather was predominately cool and wet. We don’t normally head up to the hills until real autumn migration …
Author: Phil Slade
Owls Top And Bottom
The regular Barn Owl wasn’t too obliging this morning. It spent the whole time dashing across and around several fields, hunting on the wing without taking a breather whereby I might picture it at rest. Barn Owls seem to do that at times – whizz arou…
Back To The Barn
Andy and I went back to ring the runt Barn Owl of 11 days ago – Boxing News. It was good to see the four Kestrels we ringed then had now fledged, flying free but still partly dependent upon the adults. The young Barn Owl was now big enough…
One Each
The Sand Martin Saga continues. Even though our catches this year have been very poor, we don’t give up that easily, so I met Andy today for another go at the Sand Martins that live on the high cliffs of Cockerham Quarry. We thought there to be …
Wet My Lips
Local birders are currently animated by the arrival in our area of a number of Common Quail Coturnix coturnix, late migrants from Southern Europe and Africa. With streaked and barred brown feathers and a prominent white eye-stripe, a Common Quail …
Bygone Times
We’re already planning the autumn Linnet ringing so with that in mind I set out to check Richard the farmer’s bird seed plot at Cockerham. Although we like to complain about the weather the year has been a good one for plant growth with a good mix of …
Boxing News
A few weeks ago I mentioned how Andy’s contacts had invited him along to see progress in two nest boxes installed at their home. At that time a pair of Kestrels occupied a box located on a building and a pair of Barn Owls occupied a box not too far aw…
Outsmarted
There was 30 minutes to spare before the meet with Andy at the Sand Martin colony so I stopped off at a place I know. Barn Owl Barn OwlBarn OwlRegular readers will be familiar with our Sand Martin dilemma. “How do we catch martins when the ti…
Curlew Morn
With a slightly better forecast I returned to the hills of Bowland this morning in the hope of more pictures. Curlews are quite difficult to nail down for a picture. They are very skittish and prone to fly off at the slightest hint of danger. No…
Bowland Trip
At this time of year I enjoy time in the Bowland hills to see how things are and also to grab a few photos. The weather has been so poor with rain and cloud on most days that until now there was no point in that forty minute drive. Things were sligh…