It has been many weeks since I reported on the Lake District ospreys.The good news was that the pair of ospreys had been successful in rearing two chicks and I returned this week knowing that they had fledged.I wanted to see them before they left on their long migration to West Africa.I did have some nice views of the two juveniles as they fed and flew around from the nest site.The parents were still around and were bringing back fish for their youngsters.I wish them a safe journey to Africa.

I have shown below some of my better efforts at photographing the two juveniles on the nest and taking off and landing with fish which will have been left by one of the adult birds.The fish that one of them is carrying is a flounder and will have been caught from the estuary of the nearby River Leven.I have also included some other wildlife seen in the area.It was nice to see a selection of butterflies which so far this year seem to have been in short supply. I also came across a basking adder and a young robin which both posed nicely for me. Hope you enjoy the images and I look forward to the ospreys returning next Spring.More and more ospreys are setting up home in this part of the Lake District and I am aware that more platform nests have been constructed to encourage the birds to stay.The future looks good for these magnificent birds to establish a healthy population and to go on and extend their range into other parts of Northern England.Thanks for looking in.

As promised in my last post I am now showing more images of the gannets taken on the wonderful pelagic trip out from Liverpool.Myself and the other photographers were kept very busy trying to capture the action as the gannets dived close to the boat.The skipper Gary Flint threw out mackerel for the gannets which we had previously caught from the boat.Gary also gave a running commentary as to the whereabouts of the gannets as they circled the boat. It was spectacular action as the birds hit the water at around 60mph to grab the mackerel.

Some of the images shown below capture the moment the gannets hit the water. The gannets wings are folded back just before they hit the water and they look like white missiles as they enter the water with a big splash. It was exciting trying to capture the fast moving action as sometimes a dozen or more gannets were competing and you couldn't be sure which one would hit the water. You can also see the gannets underwater as they pursued the fish.

Hope you enjoy looking at the images below.I certainly enjoyed the experience and it was one of my most rewarding days with the camera so far.Great company and wonderful weather added to this memorable day out from Liverpool aboard "Discovery".I am looking forward to doing it all again when we meet up again next year.

Earlier this month I was very fortunate to be booked on a pelagic photographic trip organised by Richard Steel out into the Liverpool Bay area of the Irish Sea.Last year the trip had been cancelled twice owing to adverse weather conditions.This time the signs were good as settled conditions were forecast and the evening before the message came through to say we were good for go.It was to be an early start leaving Liverpool at 6am and arriving back at 4pm.Paul Foster and I duly arrived at Coburg Dock in Liverpool in good time for the 6am departure.The other photographers arrived in good time and the skipper Gary Flint set sail out into the Mersey in his boat " Discovery "

We motored out at a good speed some thirty miles or so out off the North Wales coast to the vicinity of the Burbo Bank wind farm.It was a bumpy uncomfortable ride out and I was glad when two hours later we dropped anchor and prepared to fish for mackerel.We all joined in the fun of catching mackerel and soon had enough to entice any gannets in the area to come close to the boat.For the remainder of our stay we managed to entice a reasonable number of gannets to the boat so as to photograph them making their spectacular dives.The skipper,Gary threw out the mackerel and as the gannets came close we were all kept busy with the cameras to try and capture the fast moving action.

I have posted images below showing some of the action on board and with the gannets.I will be posting more images eventually showing the spectacular action as the gannets dived in close to the boat.It was a wonderful experience with like minded enthusiasts and a wonderful skipper who provided refreshments and a great commentary as he enticed the gannets close to the boat.The weather was also excellent with blue skies and warm sunshine.We arrived back in the Mersey around 4pm and I have shown images of Gary surrounded by the technology on board Discovery and the magnificent Liver Building as we arrived back safely from our brilliant pelagic expedition out into the Irish Sea.Thanks for looking in and be sure to tune in again for some more action shots from this wonderful day out.

It had been a while since I had seen any flycatchers.I hadn't visited the Bowland area of Lancs much this Spring and so had missed the opportunity to photograph the Pied Flycatcher which once the trees are in full leaf can be hard to see up in the canopy.A couple of weeks ago on a drive through the Bowland area I saw a spotted flycatcher in a location where they had bred in previous years.I returned a day or so later on a nice warm afternoon and sure enough the spotted flycatchers were very busy feeding young in a nearby nest.

They had nested in a garden area close by a country church which is situated in a most beautiful part of Bowland.For the next couple of hours I had a most enjoyable session with the camera and managed to get some nice images of the spotted flycatchers as they caught insects in the graveyard and surroundings of the church.It had been a delightful afternoon in beautiful surroundings and it was nice to catch up again with the spotted flycatchers.Hope you enjoy the images below of these delightful little birds as they went about their business of flycatching and it will be nice to think that they will return again next summer.Thanks for looking in and next time I hope to post an account of a trip this week out into Liverpool Bay in the company of other photographers as we met up for an annual get together and pelagic voyage out into the Irish Sea.

I enjoyed my visit to Bempton Cliffs at the end of June so much I decided on another visit at the beginning of July.The nesting season was coming to a close and I was determined to make another visit before the birds had left their homes on these impressive cliffs.This time I made the journey early morning taking A roads through Skipton,Harrogate,Knaresborough and York to eventually reach Bridlington and Bempton.It took about an hour longer than the motorway and I was caught up in rush hour traffic particularly in Harrogate.I duly arrived in Bempton around 10.30am and spent the next six and a half hours enjoying the sights and sounds of these cliffs and keeping very busy with the camera to record my visit.

On this trip I concentrated on the gannets particularly those at Staple Newk where excellent views can be had from the viewing platform.Many of the gannets had well grown young and the colony was busy with the comings and goings of the gannets.I managed some nice close ups of the gannets sky pointing and establishing their commitment to their lifelong partners.I also managed a close up of the gannet's smart web feet.

Out at sea was a boat load of photographers surrounded by a feeding frenzy of gannets.Something I fancy for next year.The post is headed by a puffin which gave me some nice close up shots as it posed on a nearby ledge.I finish this post with images of the kittiwake with chick and guillemot and razorbill.Finally a couple of images showing one of the many viewing platforms and a general view of these magnificent chalk cliffs overlooking the North Sea.A trip to Bempton is highly recommended.Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with more from my travels.

It had been six years since I had last visited RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the East Coast of Yorkshire.I therefore decided a visit was long overdue.Mike and I arrived around midday after a three hour drive from Preston.It was to be a fine sunny day ideal for photographing the thousands of seabirds that make these chalk cliffs home during the breeding season.We spent around five hours visiting the various viewing points and experiencing the sights sounds and smells of this wonderful seabird city four hundred feet above the North Sea.

I was trying out a new Nikon D500 body coupled with my Nikon 200-500 telephoto lens and was confident of capturing as much of the action as I could.The gannets were the main quarry as they patrolled the cliffs on their way back to their nest sites on the ledges and I was reasonably pleased with the flight shots the best of which can be seen below.Puffins were showing extremely well as they enjoyed the warm sunshine posing on the rock ledges close to their nests which were out of sight concealed in holes in the cliff face.Kittiwakes could be seen everywhere sitting on their nests and protecting their young from any marauding herring gulls.Razorbills and guillemots were also to be seen everywhere and provided some nice images.Fulmars were also in evidence as they glided by in their distinctive stiff winged manner and were not easy to capture in flight.

I visited Bempton again this week and had another super day out with excellent weather and many more images to go through.I will post more from Bempton soon. In the meantime hope you enjoy my selection from my first visit to this wonderful "Seabird City" that is Bempton Cliffs.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the current warm and sunny weather.

I have recently visited the tern colony at the former Preston Docks site.This is now a marina and has become home to well over one hundred pairs of common terns plus a few arctic terns.It is a wonderful place to spend a couple of hours and observe the daily dramas that take place.The chicks are now hatching and there is much activity with the comings and goings of the adults as they try to feed their hungry youngsters.Some of the young are now more advanced and appear to be well fed and being protected by the adult birds.

Some of the very young ones however are in danger of being attacked by other terns and some have been predated by the ever present gulls.The second to fifth images below show one of the very young chicks being pecked to death by an adult.Obviously not its parent and overcrowding may be the cause of this unpleasant way to die.In my couple of visits I have seen this behaviour from a couple of adult terns and it is not very nice to see happening.Other chicks however seem to be doing well and the parents return frequently with fresh fish from the nearby River Ribble.

Also shown below a couple of general views of the marina and some of the pontoons with their nest boxes being used by the terns.It is a great place to meet up with other photographers and discuss equipment and tactics.Frequent visitors to the terns are David and Jackie Moreton from Cleveleys who take some excellent images of the terns and who are shown enjoying the afternoon sunshine.Sunshine has been in short supply this week and it has been unsettled and cool.Hopefully next week we will return to more summery weather.Thanks for looking in and as promised I hope to post some images next time of my visit to Bempton Cliffs.

A recent post showed little egrets at Leighton Moss.I am now posting more images of little egrets and two cattle egrets which were on show at RSPB Marshside.The little egrets were showing well in front of Nel's Hide and made for some nice images.Some nice take off and landing images were obtained as the egrets came in from time to time to fish close to the hide.

A nice surprise was to discover that two cattle egrets were also present but at some distance from the hide.These two cattle egrets have been around at Marshside for some time.They may even be breeding nearby and are part of a recent influx into the country.This is yet another sign of a warming climate and it would be nice to see them here on a permanent basis.The last two images show the distant cattle egrets with their nice orangey crowns and bills.Hope you enjoy the images above and thanks for looking in.This week I visited RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire Coast and enjoyed a fabulous day watching and photographing the thousands of sea birds present at this " Seabird City ".
Tune in again for a full report and pictures from Bempton Cliffs.

I recently visited the tern colony at the former Preston Dock site.This colony gets larger every year and now has well over one hundred pairs of terns,mostly common,but also a few arctic terns.It is a wonderful location to observe and photograph tern behaviour and is especially good when the tern chicks arrive. As yet the birds are still incubating but very soon now their will be much activity as the young terns demand a constant supply of fish.

On this visit the mute swan family were still occupying their large nest on one of the pontoons.This is a regular nesting site for the swans and provides wonderful views of the adults and young.One of the terns also had a nest very close to the swans and was constantly harassing the female on the nest.She shrugged off the constant attacks and eventually the male swan came and took four of the cygnets out onto the marina and presumably they will not now return to the nest.The female meanwhile still seems to be incubating a further three eggs but I would think by now it is unlikely that they will hatch.Hope you enjoy my images from the action down at the docks.Hopefully next week will bring some better weather as currently it is pouring down and has been a very unsettled week.Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with more of Lancashire's wonderful wildlife.

This week has at times been very hot and it has been ideal conditions for observing dragonflies.I visited a local nature reserve where a healthy population of broad bodied chaser dragonflies were on the wing.A couple of males were seen but they were very mobile and I didn't get any suitable images. The females however were very obliging and posed nicely for me particularly on a patch of bramble.I will return at a later date to photograph the males.

I then moved on to another local nature reserve where on a previous visit I had discovered the location of a pair of nesting great crested grebes.The nest and female grebe were very well hidden in bankside vegetation and the male was patrolling and looking for fish in the vicinity.The male came quite close and was posing in amongst the amphibious bistort which was covering the lake surface and provided for some nice images.Whilst I was there he didn't catch any fish but will I am sure be kept busy in the coming weeks when he has chicks to feed.

I will of course be returning to catch up on the progress and will hopefully be able to post images of the delightful baby grebes.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the weekend.