Back in Action

It has been four months since I last published a blog.I have been out of action following further hip surgery.I am now bionic having had two new hips since July 2018!! I am making a good recovery and am now able to drive again.This has meant that at long last I have been able to get out and about with the camera to record Lancashire's wonderful wildlife.

I am not yet able to go far and so have made a few visits to the Longridge and Grimsargh areas which are just a few miles up the road.Shown below are some images from the area of a Great Crested Grebe,Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff,local bluebell woods, broods of mallard and greylag geese and a passage of whimbrel.Good numbers of whimbrel are now passing through on their way to northern breeding grounds.The whimbrel were coming into roost at Grimsargh Wetlands a new reserve being managed by the local Parish Council.

The final images show the sunset and moonset.It was very nice to get back to business again and I am looking forward to more days out at this lovely time of the year.

Barn Owls at Christmas

I began the year with an account of a barn owl. I am finishing the year with another account of barn owls.The weather so far in December has been awful with rain on most days and very dull conditions.Hardly conducive to good photography but there have been a couple of days when conditions have been ok.Around the middle of the month there was a sharp frost followed by blue skies and light winds,the perfect recipe for the barn owls to hopefully come out hunting in good light.

It did indeed turn into a perfect afternoon and I was in position around 1pm awaiting the arrival of the barn owl.I have found that barn owls are very regular as to when they appear and not long after my arrival the barn owl came out to hunt.It was the same location as mentioned in my last post and I was able to photograph and observe this wonderful bird from the comfort of the car.It quartered the small field from time to time and did appear to catch something but a kestrel came along and disturbed it. On some of the images below you can see blood on the owl's beak but the vole escaped to live another day.

This will probably be my last posting this year as it is only a few days now to the Christmas festivities.Thanks to all my followers and I wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.I hope to return soon in 2019 with more of Lancashire's wonderful wildlife.

Barn Owls...Brief Encounters

Towards the end of November the weather was settled with easterly winds and dry conditions.I discovered that a local barn owl was coming out and hunting early afternoon on a regular basis.I visited half a dozen times and was rewarded with some great opportunities for the camera.The earliest the owl came out was around 1.30pm.I made sure I was in position around that time and with the camera set up ready.

I had previously placed two posts in the field the barn owl regularly used hoping it might land on the posts giving some excellent opportunities for portrait shots.The barn owl did quarter the small rough field but never stayed long but would return sometimes and a couple of times it did catch a vole and returned to its roost in nearby farm buildings.I was stationed in the car at the roadside and the barn owl ignored the car when it came out to hunt.

I couldn't believe my luck when the barn owl used both my perches long enough for me to get some nice images.I had tried this tactic once before and found that barn owls will regularly use perches if placed in suitable locations.The weather and light throughout my visits was perfect enabling me to obtain some super shots some of which are shown below.It was also ideal for flight shots with fast shutter speeds being the norm with the great light.Hope you enjoy the images below and I have many more which I may post at a later date.Thanks for looking in an hopefully I will return to the owls when the current very wet conditions improve.

Icelandic Visitors

It had been many weeks since I had visited the Pilling area of Lancs.I made a couple of trips to the area recently to catch up on the birdlife.As expected a number of pink footed geese and whooper swans had arrived from their Icelandic breeding grounds.The Pilling area is a traditional winter haunt for swans and geese and a drive around the lanes will guarantee finding flocks feeding on the fields

A favourite food is the leftover potatoes.The swans in particular seem to make for the fields with unharvested potatoes close to or just under the soil.In the images below the whoopers can be seen enjoying the leftovers.A number of juvenile swans were with the adults and were learning the best areas for food.The geese mostly seem to enjoy grazing the grass.It was nice to see these visitors from Iceland back in Lancs.Also evident were numbers of curlews,a declining species but still in good numbers here in winter.Shown below my better efforts with the camera with the swans,geese and curlews.Thanks for looking in and my next posting will be of the red deer rut in Lakeland.