This is the occasional blog of my wildlife watching and recording efforts. If you get half as much pleasure as I do from reading the wildlife blogs of others, you might enjoy this too. You can’t leave comments because I don’t have time for spam and trolls but if you want to contact me or find me online you can find out how on the About Me page. I post some limited stuff to social media sites but I have deep concerns about the amount of control we are handing over to a few ultra-wealthy, unaccountable individuals about what information we can share and see, so I’m prepared to go through the (minor) hassle of hosting my own website and will be posting most content here in future.
Overwintering Stonechats at Dean Clough
Nov 7 2025 There’s still a pair of Stonechats around the upper res which are likely to overwinter. Here’s the male. There wasn’t much else of note. I’ve not checked for Jack Snipe or Woodcock yet but will later this … Continued
Whooper Swans over Mellor, 23 October 2025
I recorded the calls of Whooper Swans at 06:50 (while still dark) and later saw four flying east followed by two skeins of Pink-footed Geese. Here’s the recording of the Whoopers.
Little Egrets at Dean Clough -13 and 22 October 2025
Two Little Egrets were on lower Dean Clough reservoir on 22 October following a single bird on the 13th. These are the first I’ve seen on the ground here although I’ve had them flying over previously and had numerous sightings … Continued
Nocturnal Migration 15-16 October 2026, Mellor, East Lancashire
Some highlights from last nights nocturnal migration over my garden: Common Scoter calling so low you can hear its wingbeats European Golden Plover flight call Common Snipe Dunlin flight call Recordings processed with BirdNet-Analyzer
Woodlark, Skipwith Common
For some unfathomable reason I’d never visited Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve in North Yorkshire. I’ve known about the place for many years and that it’s the best place to see Woodlarks without a long trip south, but inexplicably have … Continued
Sound recording birdsong with an iPhone
I’ve been getting some sound recordings on the iPhone recently just to see what the quality is like and to generally enhance the quality and comprehensiveness of my wildlife records. I upload the recordings to eBird, where they end up … Continued