A WALK ON THE WILDSIDE---PAUL FOSTER

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Thursday 9 May 2013

An interesting morning on the moor!!

 On my local moor, this Whinchat decided to stop over and make good use of the abundance of flies that were about.He worked the fenceline,continuously dropping into the grass and returning back to the fence with a beak full of flies.
 They don`t breed locally anymore near me,so I often wonder exactly were he will be destined.Maybe some heather clad moor in Scotland or even Bowland were good numbers are present!
 An iconic migrant is the Pied Flycatcher,again this male had dropped into the wood to feed up.Its the first one I`ve seen locally and was a real treat to observe.You never know, a female may appear and they may stop to breed,wishful thinking eh!!
 They take readily to nest boxes, so next year a dozen or so will be going up in anticipation of their arrival!!
 Again the Trough of Bowland is a stronghold for these pretty flycatchers!!!
 With lambing nearly completed,I wasn`t surprised to see this fox hanging around.Billy the farmer has had a disastrous year with the cold weather and unfortunately lost nigh on 100 lambs, so there has been an abundance of food for the fox!
 The return journey back through the wood produced this feeding Roe doe.She was oblivious to me until I clicked my fingers and she then give me a good coat of looking at!!
 She didn`t stay long before heading for the undergrowth!
I nearly stepped on this female pheasant brooding her clutch of eggs amongst the bracken.With spring being so late this year she doesn`t have much cover above her.I quickly backed off as I didn`t want her to leave her nest unattended.There are plenty of crows and magpies in the wood and they`d make short work of her eggs.Lets hope some make it.

3 comments:

  1. Great you had the Whinchat and Pied Flycatcher Paul. The PF's could possibly breed, though by the sound of it you don't expect it to based on the fact you've never seen them locally before, best keep an eye on this though don't you reckon.

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  2. Wonderful account of the wildlife on your local patch Paul,you just can't beat it.Backed up with these great images.Hope to bump into you on my travels soon.

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  3. Paul.Good to see you yesterday and catch up on you adventures.Nice to have pied fly and whinchat on Ossy Moor plus fox and roe deer !! Nice selection of images and we must have a day out with the big lenses soon.

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