September round-up

Being that I havent posted much in September, I thought I'd give an overall update on whats been happening.

The tawny owls (both are side by side in the second photo, look carefully) are still around in the small copse. I'll have a new improved nest box for them very soon.


































At least 3 juv kestrels are very vocal and active in the area. I'm converting and moving the old owl box to a taller tree for the kestrels. I think these juvs are from a successful nest up near the A59.















At 10 am today with a cold northerly blowing, I saw the first (approx 20) redwing migrating back from Siberia and Scandinavia. This is an early arrival for redwing. Theyve been gorging on hawthorn, sloe and elderberries.
Also saw 5 swallows just beginning their migration south to Africa.


Great tits - have been feeding in the hedgerows. I heard an quiet tapping noise in the hedgerow, expecting a nuthatch or finch to be the perpetrator, it turned out to be Great tits trying to open the large hawthorn berry seeds.
Bullfinch - 1 female also feeding on the haws.
Collared doves - 1 pair visit the bird bath but have been less common than usual.
Nuthatch - has visited the peanut feeder again recently.
Longtailed tits, coal tits, goldcrest and treecreepers have formed hunting parties and are seen daily, once mobbing the owls.
Jays - have been very numerous this autumn. They have also been seen daily and also annoy the owls frequently.
Little owl - seen across the road in the deserted hut again. First sighting for a while although I do hear it calling at night.
Grey Heron - a young bird has been visiting the ponds at dusk and successfully taken a couple of goldfish. Just caught him on infrared as he swallows the evidence!
















Mammal wise, the woodmice are still common in the garden. We also saw one in the beer garden at the De Lacy pub in Whalley. Grey squirrels are hanging around in the owl corner. This is a concern as I dont want them to move into the new owl box. Plenty rabbits around and a healthy population of pipistrelle bats hunting at dusk.

Insect wise, not been a good year for dragonflies. Very few seen flying in September. Red admiral, speckled wood and small tortoiseshell butterflies still seen daily. We found a few Peacock butterflies in hibernation in the woodpile.

Distractions from wildlife blogging

Wow! I havent blogged for a whole month! 2 very good reasons though.
1. the rugby world cup is on and I'm passionate about rugby
2. We are working on our new house in Billington.

I'll have a new patch to report on when we move. This is the view (click photo to enlarge) from our new bedroom window. The river calder in the foreground (not visible), Billington viaduct on the left, Whalley abbey and gatehouse ruins in the middle and Pendle hill on the distant right.








I've not had time for much wildlife watching but I have been recycling the old materials from the house to make robin/redstart boxes, a new improved owl box, a sparrow box, a kestrel box, som bat boxes and a new feeding station.





















The only new bird (in September) for my 2007 uklist is a guillemot, seen at Stonehaven bay whilst on a weekend with my friends in Scotland. My list could be 15-20 species better this year if I had done some coastal birding, but it just hasnt panned-out that way.

This rook below is visiting the garden for food frequently. It comes alone from the rookery at Clitheroe golf club and is less shy and more vocal that other crows. The carrion crow family of 6 only visit the garden in early morning with the magpies. The rook woke me with an alarm call to shoo away another stray cat that has been visiting too. I dont want the cats to take any of my garden woodmice or the voles from the owl field. I'll need to find a good deterrant.