Cuckoos on Conwy mountain

While walking up one of the hills on Conwy mountain I heard a Cuckoo and after listening to it's cuckoo call we managed to pinpoint it's location. We found the male bird in an area of trees close to a farm and after 5 minutes of waiting the bird flew out and headed up to higher ground. It returned 10 minutes later being mobbed by another male bird.
I managed to get 2 flight shots and this one seemed to be the best one

 Mobbed

Only the male Cuckoo calls with the Cuckoo call and the female uses a bubbling call so it was quite interesting to see them competing for any females in the area. The 2 males kept getting mobbed by pipits that did not want them any where near there nests. It was great to hear my first Cuckoo and to see 2 on my second visit was a great result. Now I know there up there at this time of the year hopefully I can get back there next year or maybe in July before they leave as I would like to photograph one perched in a tree. 
I spotted this Pipit with food in it's mouth so it must have had a nest nearby

 Buzzard chased by a Crow

 This Fox was hunting in one of the fields near to where the cuckoo called

The views from Conwy mountain are beautiful as you can see by the photographs below

As this is my second and last visit on this trip it was nice to get a few photographs of a bird I've never photographed before and to find a new wild location to relax is a bonus for me. Since returning home I have heard my first Cuckoo on my local patch down by the river.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

Collecting the Buzzard skull

Earlier in the year I found a Buzzard I had been photographing had died and you can read more about it on the link here.  A few days ago I decided on going to see if the Buzzard had rotted away down to it's bones. Hopefully all the worms, maggots and other crawlies had done there job. I easily found the spot where I buried the Buzzard by the river using GPS, although grass had grown over the area I had to dig quite deep. The cotton bag had rotten away and the skull could be easily seen although it needed a clean to get the dirt and the last bits of yuk off. It was quite lucky I buried it by a river as I could easily clean with a tooth brush in some shallow fast water that flowed by the area. I covered up the rest of the bone and planted some English Bluebell bulbs to mark the spot of such a beautiful bird that gave me the privilege of getting some wonderful close ups as he hunted in a small woodland by the river Dane a few minutes away from my home.

 Below is a photograph of the cleaned up skull and now it will be put into my Nature collection on my book shelf with a few others I have found while out on my Nature walks on my local patch and I will tell more about those in future blog posts.

 I often look at the skull and imagine the heights and  sights this Buzzard reached and saw as it soared high over the towns and countryside of Cheshire as it lightly hanged on the breeze epically calling as rose higher into the clouds....

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

A sad find indeed....

If you have been reading this blog lately and have followed my Buzzard posts then you might be upset to find out that unfortunately a few days ago we found the Buzzard looking worse for wear. I managed to catch the bird as it had no energy to move and after examining they were no signs of injury or poisoning. The Buzzard quickly deteriorated and passed away in my arms which was sad to witness. The Buzzard was very underweight and must have hit the nearby power cables as it's flight feathers were very damaged. A few Swans each year fly into them at this site and die nearby due to the area they are located over a small body of water. 

The Buzzard seemed to only be eating worms instead of hunting or scavenging especially over the last few cold weeks plus staying in the same quiet area and not going very far to hunt Rabbits that feed in the nearby field. We buried the Buzzard under some very heavy rocks at one of our kayaking spots down on the river.  We have named the spot Buzzards rest and hopefully in a few months once the body decomposes we will have a complete Buzzards skeleton which will be amazing to see. Every time I go to Buzzards rest now I will always remember the days that I was let to get so close to this stunning aerial predator that have become a favorite of mine on my local patch.
Here's one last photograph I took of the Buzzard a few weeks ago when it was full of energy and hunting for worms at my feet.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

With luck and paitience comes reward....

A few weeks ago my brother stumbled onto the Buzzard that's been hanging around catching worms by the river. We managed a get about 10 meter's away from the Buzzard while it hunted and it was not bothered by our presence in the slightest. I got quite a few photographs of this beautiful bird as it would perch on a branch and look down onto the ground then with pin point accuracy it would dive and catch a worm sometimes it would miss it's prey but what a wonderful encounter.

It has to be my best bird of prey encounter on my local patch ever..

When I left I was concerned for the Buzzard due to the area it had chosen to hunt is a popular dog walking area where people let there dog off a lead. The other day nearby we were nearly attacked by a dog who's owner could not control it. We have had to report it to the authority before someone or another animal gets servilely attacked as it has been left unreported before and a local jogger got his leg bittern while running. This recent issue got me thinking about when the Buzzards running around on the ground worm charming in the thick brown vegetation. As it could not see any dogs coming near it would have no time to escape and therefore a high chance of the Buzzard being injured which I hope does not happen. I will keep an eye on the Buzzard over the next few days to see what happens as I think this may end badly due to the amount of dogs off leads in the area.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Buzzard, Snow and sheltering with the Swans

Over the past few weeks while walking around my local patch we have been seeing a Buzzard near one of the Roman historical areas by the T&M canal. It seemed to be not bothered by us getting close to it and over the next few days I pushed even closer right up to it's circle of fear. The Buzzards here always come close to the towns when we get winter snow and the ground freezes. I guess it's because it gets harder to feed in the countryside and they come to the warmer areas to search for food, so I new it would be around for a while and over the week I found it was feeding on worms in a small and quiet woodland area by the river.
Buzzard perches on a Roman Middlewich information board

Hunting on the river

The local Cemetery covered in snow

I also photographed Flash and Whisper during a snow storm while we sheltered under a canal bridge to wait out the wind that came out of know where and the pair joined us to shelter to. I was only happy to share some of my lunch with them as we were both snowed into this cozy little area.

Before the wind and snow began.....

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Next time -Closer to a stunning bird of prey- Next time

Buzzard in the river!?!?

Another slightly autumnal day here today with strong winds and crispy leaves beginning to fall from the trees still with there emerald green glow of summer. Due to the weather being unpredictable I waited till the wind and rain stopped and in the early evening in the last rays of sun we set off to a place 5 minutes from my door to see if I could get an unplanned Otter encounter and having not been to this spot for a while I had no clue what I was going to find but what I did find was unexpected as I got a surprise of the bad kind.

 I climbed down into a narrow gulley where a shallow rippling stream flows past an unused Badger sett down into a faster flowing river and this is where I found a young Buzzard floating on the surface with an injury under it's wing.

Luckily the Buzzard was reachable so I grabbed the bird from the water and took it off into cover to examine the bird as I had no idea if the bird was shot and as it felt warm I guessed it happened recently. I checked the bird and I think it was a fledgling and possibly attacked by an adult and not shot but I could not be 100% positive. My theory is this younger bird flew into an adults territory and got into a scrap high above and was injured then fell into the river and drowned. I put the Buzzard in a tree stump to let it decompose for the skeleton and skull. I will be checking this area every few days to see if there are any more signs of shooting but hopefully the Buzzard will still be there and if the bird was shot a pellet will be left behind once the flesh has rotted away. If this is the case I will be having a word with the owners of the woodland on the opposite side of the river bank as they are wildlife lovers and will be happy to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior.

Thanks for visiting

 

Mike

Kestrels and Buzzards by the sea

While walking the sea bird cliffs I noticed the Kestrels on the updrafts hunting small birds possibly Rock Pipits that nest in the smaller crevices of the cliffs and feed on the boulders below once the tide goes out.

I managed to get a shot of a Kestrel hovering in front of the offshore wind farms which was an usual shot

 I also managed to get a photograph of the Kestrels wings and there flight feathers which allow them to hover and In high winds, the kestrel’s job is easier, and flapping is reduced to a minimum. In even stronger winds, they may not have to flap at all and opening their wings and gliding this is called “kiting.”

 After watching the Kestrels on some days we would also see the Buzzards but they would stick to the farmland and woodland next to the sea bird cliffs but one day we ended up seeing a Buzzard hunting and catching a Rabbit up on the coastal cliffs.
 
We could hear the Rabbit calling in the distress as the Buzzard picked up the young Rabbit and flew to a lower ledge so we quickly got in a position to where the Buzzard began to eat it's furry prey to watch and get a few shots. Unfortunately some walkers disturbed it so it flew off to a quieter part of the Orme but i did get a few flight shots with the Rabbit lifeless in the Buzzards talons. Later that day we found it's leftovers and I did not take a photo as was quite gruesome but what an amazing thing to watch.

Thanks for visiting 

Mike

One of the glorious views from the Little Orme at Llandudno

April trip to N.Wales - Cormorants over a Premier inn

While on my latest trip to the North Wales coast I hoped to get a few photographs of birds that I have yet to see in the area as well as planning for my 2 week June trip. My first stop off was a paddle to the Sea bird cliffs to see how many sea birds had returned and it was good to see a few birds returning so hopefully by June the numbers will be up and plenty of nesting sea birds which is something I love to see each year. Kittiwakes were in large numbers compared to last year and even flew out to sea in a huge flock which was an amazing sound and sight as they flew over our heads to feed offshore on the many Sand eels that are in really good numbers in Llandudno bay.

Cormorants were in good numbers on a recently created nesting ground where a large amount of rock had cracked and fallen into the sea below. This has created a great view of the colony and I am guessing that the numbers will grow here to and will be great to watch from the Little Orme cliffs while watching for Dolphins below and sunbathing of coarse.

The Cormorants gathered sticks from the side of the orme above the road into Llandudno which was a strange site of Cormorants flying past a premier inn. Urban Sea birds was an unsual site to see but thats why I love the area as there is always something to see.

A Buzzard was perched on a tree next to it's nest on one of the ormes which I shall be keeping an eye on and updating if the nest is successful.

Regards

Mike

Two of the panoramic views from the Little Orme over Llandudno and the surrounding countryside. 
It's a beautiful spot where I have spent many hours sunbathing and taking in the views from above and below.