I am recovering well following hip surgery and hope to be back to normal activities soon. The tern images below were obtained back at the beginning of June.I visited the tern colony at Preston Marina on the day after some of the chicks had hatched.
There is always plenty of action down at the Marina with the terns constantly on the go attending to  their youngsters.Hope you enjoy the attached images of feeding time for the terns.The final images with the chick and the colourful small carp were taken as the chick tried and tried to swallow the fish but it proved too much of a mouthful and eventually one of the parents ate it.I have not visited the terns since and probably most of them will now have fledged and departed South for Winter.I look forward to catching up with the terns when they return next Summer.
Thanks for looking in and hopefully normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

It is a month now since my last posting.I am presently recovering from hip surgery and it may be many weeks before I am able to get out and about again with the camera.To keep the blog alive I am therefore publishing a few images taken before I went into hospital Apart from the little owl they were all taken in Bowland.The pheasant,red legged partridge,brown hare and roe deer were all taken on an early morning sortie around Bowland's quiet lanes and back roads.The little owl is one discovered near Inskip and one I am keen to see again as it may now have young.The spotted flycatcher was photographed near Abbeystead in Bowland just before going into hospital.When next I visit the area the flycatcher and its young will probably be on their way to Africa for the winter.

Thanks very much for looking in and I hope to be mobile very soon and bring you more of Lancashire's wonderful wildlife.

At this time of the year with plenty of daylight I like to make early morning excursions into Bowland.Bowland's lanes and backroads are very quiet and especially so early on a summers morning.I left home around 4am and before I had reached Longridge I came across two roe deer feeding close to the road.I managed a few shots but my view was obscured I was however pleased with the image of the roebuck in the flowerey meadow. I carried on my usual route over Longridge Fell and into some of the back lanes of Bowland.

Brown hares were very much in evidence and I managed some nice portraits from the comfort of the car.A great surprise was to come across a hunting barn owl and I did  manage a couple of record shots before it vanished.On into Bowland for more encounters with brown hares and the usual waders posing in the fields and on roadside walls.One oystercatcher was posing on top of the well known phone bow at Dinckling Green.A goldfinch was also very colourful posing at the side of the road.

Hope you enjoy some of my Bowland images from an early morning ride into this lovely part of Lancashire.You can be assured I will return soon as the current very hot weather is not good for wildlife or photography during the heat of the day.Thanks for looking in and I may post again before I have to go into hospital.

It has been some time since I last posted.I have some images from previous trips pending and as I will be going into hospital soon I thought I would try to bring the blog up to date.In the middle of May I visited RSPB Marshside to find recently hatched avocet chicks showing very well in front of Sandgrounders hide.The chicks were actively feeding carefully watched over by mum and dad.

At the other end of the reserve it was still quite wet and this is where the black tailed godwits were assembled and again gave nice opportunities for the camera.Some were showing their lovely breeding colours and looked fine in the afternoon sun.On the way I had a fleeting view of one of the two glossy ibis present and managed a quick record shot.

Before arriving at Marshside I called to see the well known little owl at Banks and for once it was showing well as it enjoyed the morning sunshine.Hope you enjoy the selection and I will post again soon. Thanks for looking in.

A couple of weeks ago I visited one of my favourite locations.Rossall Point has easy access and is a favoured roosting site for waders.There were good numbers of dunlin present and most of them were wearing their summer finery.They will have now probably departed for their Arctic breeding grounds with the current warm and settled weather conditions.

On one of my visits they were constantly disturbed by a party of schoolchildren doing a fieldwork exercise on measuring the groynes !! I returned another day to find the birds nicely settled and photographic conditions were excellent.Hope you enjoy my selection and tune in again for more from my travels


















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A week or so ago it was a nice surprise to discover that a black necked grebe in breeding plumage had appeared on a lake at Bispham Blackpool.This is a very uncommon bird in Lancashire and nationally only a few pairs breed in Britain.In breeding plumage it is a stunning looking bird and I was anxious to add some images to my portfolio.

I went with Mike and it was not easy to find Kincraig Lake but we did eventually, tucked away in the middle of a large housing estate in Bispham.It was only a short walk to the viewing area and this pleased me as I was still having troublesome mobility problems.It was a while before the grebe came out of hiding to show itself to the waiting photographers.It was well worth the wait as we saw it in its breeding finery with wonderful golden ear tufts and a hypnotic fabulous red and yellow eye. I obviously filled my boots with images of this splendid bird and vowed to return later in the week.

Fortunately the grebe was still showing well and giving excellent views to it's admirers.Mike and I did return and met up with Graham and Dave and Jackie Moreton.Once more I got my share of wonderful images and it was an encounter that will live long in the memory.As I write this on Sunday I understand the grebe has departed. Hopefully it may return one day to once more delight those fortunate to see this gorgeous bird.

At long last the weather had warmed up and Spring was well and truly on the way in fact for a few days it was more like Summer with temperatures soaring into the seventies!! Nature responded and migrants started arriving and spring flowers were blooming.I decided therefore to visit Bowland where I hadn't been for some time to see if the birds that favour this beautiful part of Lancashire had returned to their breeding haunts on the high moors.

It was very nice to revisit some of my favourite parts of Bowland and good to see that the waders and grouse that breed up there had returned.Numbers were on the low side and I travelled many miles to capture some images for the blog.Lapwings did seem to be in good numbers and I enjoyed myself photographing at close range a male bird which was using a roadside rainwater pool to bathe and drink.A pair of oystercatchers posed obligingly on the roadside walls overlooking their moorland breeding location.Grouse were not easy to find but perseverance paid off with a nice male posing for me in the afternoon sun.Curlews were a bit scarce and I only managed to get close enough to one bird for photographs as I returned home through Calder Vale.

Nice to get back to Bowland again and I hope to do a few early morning visits in due course.Hope you enjoy my selection from Bowland and I am looking forward to see more birds in the coming weeks.It has actually turned colder again as I write this blog and this will hold up the breeding process yet again..














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I haven't done much birding or photography this month.This has been due to lack of mobility and poor weather.I did however manage a few rides in the car to one or two favourite locations and returned with some reasonable images for you to see.

First up is the well known little owl near Southport which was enjoying some morning sunshine.The goldeneye and goosander which follow were from an earlier trip to Glasson Dock Marina photographed on a very cold and windy day.A nice cold and bright day at Rossall was good for the ringed plover and oystercatcher images.Rides into the fell country round Chipping found one or two early curlew returning to the breeding grounds. Finally a visit to a flooded Marshside found Little Grebe and Pintail close to Nel's Hide.Everything else was a long way off out of camera range.It was nice to see a number of avocets had returned.

It is Good Friday as I write this account and it is still very cold and wintry,typical Easter weather!!Hopefully soon it will warm up and the spring migrants will arrive in numbers.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the Easter break.

It is a while since I posted.The weather has not been good and I am currently restricted as to how far I can walk.I did however last week manage a couple of trips to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.I could manage to get to the Discovery Centre where at Feeding Time there was plenty of action from the thousands of birds present.

It was difficult knowing where to point the lens as there was a lot going on as the seed was dished out to the birds.Whooper Swans were very much in evidence and certainly dominated the feeding frenzy.Lots of other waders and wildfowl were present and gave some great opportunities for the camera.I have never seen as many black tailed godwits and ruff joining in the feast.There were many hundreds of shelduck providing colour to the scene and  also a challenge for the camera trying to capture close up flight shots.A number of pochard were also present,a scarce bird these days and nice to see

Hope you enjoy my selection from Martin Mere.I will hopefully be out and about again soon as Spring does at long last seem to be on the way.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the coming Spring.

Three years ago about this time there were a good number of goldeneye duck on the marina at Glasson Dock.I think there were around fifty birds present and I remember having a good day with the camera.A few goldeneye had been reported recently so last week I went for a look.

Sure enough there were around a dozen or so goldeneye consisting mostly of males but a couple of females were also present.From time to tim e they would all make their way to the entrance to the Lancaster canal end of the marina and were busy diving for food which seems abundant in the vicinity of the retaining walls of the yacht basin.I visited on a couple of afternoons and enjoyed a couple of sessions with the camera.

On my first visit it was calm and the males were displaying to the females present and throwing their heads back making for interesting images.On the next visit it was very cold and windy and the goldeneye were surfing the waves and again provided some nice images.The drakes in particular are handsome birds with bottle green heads and striking black and white plumage.This first post was on the calm day and next time I will post images from the my second visit and also show images of a male goosander present on the canal. Thanks for looking in and despite today's snow I hope Spring is not too far away.