Canal Life

Since I started this blog back in January, I have posted images from many different locations and habitats from around the UK.
It may seem strange then, that it has taken so long to do a post about one of the most important of my local habitats, the canal network.

In the coming weeks, I'd like to share with you some of my favourite places along my local canal network and also the wildlife I encounter on route.
I would also like to explain a little bit about the history of the waterways around Manchester and their impact on the world as we know it today.

For now though, I'll just give you a little taster...
There are two canals close to where I live...The Peak Forest Canal and the Macclesfield Canal.
These two canals meet at a junction at the village of Marple.
From Marple you can take the Peak Forest Canal to Buxworth in Derbyshire to the south or to Manchester in the north via the junction with the Ashton Canal.
Via the Macclesfield Canal it is possible to join other canal networks at Stoke-On-Trent and the Midlands beyond.

Today I was at a stretch of the Macclesfield Canal near High Lane which is a few miles south of Marple. The canals in this area are quite rightly regarded as some of the most beautiful in Britain and are very popular with Narrowboaters and pleasure seekers...

The canal offers a vast variety of flora and fauna and this area is rich in many wild flowers which attract many insects like this Painted Lady Butterfly...

In the grass at the side of the canal towpath there is plenty of clover in bloom at the moment and clover is a big favourite of the Bees...

There's plenty of birdlife to be seen and I couldn't resist a shot of this scruffy looking Robin...

Finally for now, perhaps the most common sight on the canal and every other body of water for that matter...The Mallard!

Clumsy Heron!

I came across this Grey Heron recently, stood on a mooring in the middle of a local lake.
I watched for a good 15 minutes while the bird waited patiently for his next meal to swim by...
After a while it looked like he was on to something...

Steady, this really isn't the time to lose your balance...

Too late, there goes his meal as well as his pride!

Puffin Marvelous!

There was some brilliant news reported in today's newspapers and on BBC television this morning concerning one of Britain's most popular birds the Puffin...
After a catastrophic decline in recent years, the population of the birds at England's largest colony at the Farne Islands has risen by 10% in the last 2 years.



The Puffin population rose steadily between 1970 and 1990, but a population boom between 1990 and 2000 saw the species peak at around 56,000 pairs.
Something occurred between 2003 and 2008 that sadly caused a 30% decline in these beautiful little creatures...


There were many theories to the reasons behind this dramatic fall, but nothing was conclusive.
It was feared that a shortage of food was to blame, especially the Puffins favourite the Sand eel, but these fears have now been proved to be ungrounded and there is said to be plenty of food available.
In an effort to pin-point the problem, researches fitted large numbers of Farne Island Puffins with GPS tags to monitor feeding habits.
The data collected from these tags revealed some very interesting findings...

It was thought that birds on the Island flew over 60 miles out to sea in search of food, but it was discovered that the majority (up to 75%) of the Puffins were travelling a much shorter distance of around 20 miles to an area of deep sea known as the 'Farnes Deep' to forage.

The data also showed that some birds took straight direct routes to the foraging area, while others took a much longer circular journey.

I thought the most interesting finding was regarding the Puffins diving habit...
It was thought that the bird would dive to a depth of around 5 metres in search of Sand eels, but the data revealed that the Puffins were actually reaching depths of around 25 metres.

Finally, a few Puffin facts for you to digest...

• The Puffin stands only 12in tall.
• Puffins spend up to 8 months per year out at sea.
• Puffins usually live for 25-30 years, although the oldest recorded ringed bird was 37.
• Puffins pair for life.
• Puffins use the same burrows every year.
• The female bird lays just one egg and both parents take turns sitting on it.
• The Young stay in the burrow for 45 days before leaving home in the night to avoid predators.
• A young puffin spends its first three years at sea before setting foot on land.
  
  

Avocet

Following on from yesterdays post about the success of the Common Buzzard, I thought I'd talk about another success story, but one in altogether different circumstances...The Avocet.

The Avocet is the symbol of the RSPB and in their own words "Symbolises the bird protection movement in the UK more than any other species".

The Avocet returned to our shores in the 1940's after a long absence.
Because of a huge conservation effort and strict protection methods, their numbers have steadily risen annually.
The UK can now boast around 900 breeding pairs with up to 3500 individual birds wintering here.
We're very lucky here in the North West of England to be blessed with a number of sites which support good numbers of Avocets.

Most of the North West population of these birds is situated around various RSPB reserves, thanks mainly to the superb work the organisation has done in managing the habitat at these reserves and a lot of effort has been made in regards to tailoring the surroundings to meet the Avocets requirements.

The Avocet favours wetlands and coastal lagoons with shallow water which allow the bird to wade through looking for food.
The Avocets diet includes insects and crustaceans.

Moving away from the water, they also have a liking for digging around in mud for worms.

Common Buzzard

Ask most people who don't have more than a passing interest in ornithology, what is Britain's most numerous bird of prey and you would have to excuse them for saying it would be the Common Kestrel.
It often comes as a huge surprise for these people when you tell them in fact it is the Common Buzzard.

It's also very surprising just how many people don't even know that the UK is home to Buzzards and a lot of people seem to have this childhood image of Buzzards circling the dead or dying, just like in the old Westerns!

Buzzards were persecuted just like many other Raptors in the 1800's and the UK population faced extinction.
They made a comeback in the 20th century but again faced a major threat to their survival in the 1960's due to farmland pesticides that were making the birds infertile.
The banning of such pesticides has meant a population boom since then and British Buzzards now number over 40,000 pairs.
You're likely to spot Buzzards in just about every habitat these days and one reason for their success is their excellent hunting skills.
No small animal or bird is safe from the grasp of these superb predators and a few weeks back, I watched a Buzzard make light work of a young Rabbit...

So the future looks rosey for the beautiful Common Buzzard and land owners are now beginning to understand the benefits of having these splendid birds around.

After all, I guess you could regard them as natures Gamekeepers...

Swallows

Perhaps no bird signifies the British summer quite like the Swallow.
Every year from March these beautifully graceful fliers arrive from Southern Africa to breed on these shores, only to make the long and dangerous journey back to the sunshine around October.

After the cold winter months, the first Swallow of the spring is always a momentous day and a sign that warmer weather is just around the corner.
I get a lot of satisfaction from watching Swallows...Their mesmerizing aerial displays can leave you almost in a hypnotic state and trying to second guess which direction these supremely fast birds will take next is a task nigh on impossible!

Sadly, Swallows like so many of our migrant birds are in decline in the UK and a major factor is the same old story...Loss of habitat.
Thankfully this is not the case at a farm down the road from my home...
This farm offers perfect surroundings for these lovely birds and the farmer, I'm pleased to say cares very much about the plight of the birdlife on his land.

Every year Swallows return to this farm in large numbers and nest in the barns and outbuildings.
They are a familiar and very welcome sight during the summer months, swooping low across the fields and resting briefly on telephone lines...
I'm pleased to say that this year appears to be another bumper season for my local Swallows, with plenty of young despite some losses to the local Little Owls.

Modern building techniques don't really do much to help Swallows and new building regulations now insist on vents covering the soffits which have traditionally been used by the birds.
Fortunately our local farmer is only too aware of this problem and all his buildings have plenty of access points for the Swallows.

I payed a brief visit yesterday morning to see how this years batch of youngster were getting on and I was very pleased to see these fledglings at the side of the farmhouse...

Evening Surprise

I returned to the same farmland spot again last night and spent some time by the River Goyt.
I had a relaxing time at the waters edge watching Trout rising and Swallows and Swifts competing for flies.

It really was a glorious summers evening and as I made my way back to the car, the sun was casting long shadows across the fields.
In the shaded area of one of the fields, there was a movement in the long grass and the many Woodpigeon, Magpie and Crows became restless.

Soon the reason for the birds restlessness became clear and a beautiful Red Fox made her presence known.
This was a true countryside Fox and unlike many of her city counterparts was very vary of humans and no sooner than she spotted me, she skulked off into the long grass.
An all too brief but none the less memorable encounter...

Morning Glory

A few more images from yesterday mornings session...

An early start normally means there is a good chance of seeing Rabbits who are very active in the first hours of the summer sunshine...
The hedgerows are always bustling at this farmland location and this Dunnock must have had young close by judging by the amount of insects collected in its beak...

Posing nicely in the sun was this Song Thrush...

Still plenty of Youngsters about and not quite ready for this years Christmas cards was this juvenile Robin...

Treecreeper

Not all that uncommon, but certainly one of the hardest to spot little birds you're likely to come across is the Treecreeper...
Hard to spot because of their small size and brilliant camouflage, the Treecreeper is somewhat of a oddity amongst birds.

These woodland specialities spend their time hopping from tree to tree where they tend to land low or even the very bottom, before winding their way up the top in a slow spiral motion.
There is a very good reason of course to why the Treecreeper does this...Quite simply, food!
Treecreepers feed on the many grubs and insects that live on the bark of trees.

This morning I came across an adult and four Juvenile birds at a spot near my home and had to make the best of the low light conditions which tend to hamper shots of this species...

The Fisher King

Almost 2 years ago to this very day on a sunny morning at Reddish Vale, Stockport I witnessed along with a couple of other people one of the most amazing sights I have ever encountered while watching wildlife...6 Kingfishers lined up together on some shrubbery in the middle of the main Mill Pond.
It was a very proud day for me as we watched the two adults and healthy four offspring sitting there in the sun.
A proud day because I had spent hundreds of hours watching these birds over a magical two year period and this was indeed as good as it gets.

It would have been almost unimaginable a few short years earlier that you would see this most beautiful of birds thriving in such a place...Pollution in the River Tame that runs through the Vale like so many of the waterways of Greater Manchester at the time was very high and this success story owes a lot to United Utilities and many local folk who put in time and effort to clean up the area.
Stockport actually is a little bit of a hotbed for Kingfishers and now boasts many good locations to spot these wonderful birds.

Although I have watched Kingfishers at many locations, I have never felt such a affiliation like the one I felt for the birds of the Vale.
For over 2 years I spent up to 8 hours a day of my spare time observing these birds to the point of obsession!
In sunshine, rain and snow I would sit quietly with my thoughts hoping to capture even the smallest glimpse of a Kingfisher...Many fruitless days were spent waiting for this most frustrating of subjects, but a few unforgettable seconds from time to time when the birds would be active made it all worthwhile.

Although the rivers and waterways in my local area are now probably as clean as they've been since the start of the industrial revolution some 200 years ago and Kingfishers are thriving all over the Borough, it saddens me to tell you that the resident Reddish Vale birds are no more.
I last saw one at the start of January 2010 and although there have been reports of the odd one flying up the river it seems that the terrible winter we suffered at the beginning of the year took it's toll on this population.

I do hope to find time in the coming months to photograph birds at other local locations, but somehow I don't think it will be quite the same...

The First Six Months...A Thank You!

June has been my most prolific month for posting since this blog began back in January, thanks mainly to the many new arrivals that this month has to offer.

When I started this blog, I did wonder if I would be able to do it justice with regular postings...

My main concern was finding things to talk about, but I needn't have worried...Nature throws up something new and exciting every day.

I've also discovered something new about myself since starting this blog...I can't half ramble on!

Apologies for that then, but amongst all the rambling, I hope I've provided at least a few points of interest and better still I hope I've managed to inspire some into taking a closer look at the wildlife that surrounds them...For me this is the most important thing.

The proudest point in my photographic 'career' came last year and it was having my work published in a children's bird book...The thought that seeing my pictures (and those of some much better photographers than myself) might inspire some young child to develop a life-long love of nature is something that fills me with great happiness.

That really is the point of this blog really...To do my little bit in regards to making people aware of nature and the importance of conservation.

So here we are now, 6 months down the line and still going strong and I must say I've really enjoyed doing this...It's been good fun mainly and from messages I've received and comments posted I'm happy that some of you enjoy it too!

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read the blog, look at the pictures and post comments...It means a lot to know that somebody is out there!

Finally, the last images from June and the last from Sundays visit to Pennington Flash.

I thought it was only fitting to end the month with more of what has been the theme of the month...New life!

Mallard Ducklings to be precise...

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Another Highlight from Sunday's visit to Pennington Flash was the sight of 4 juvenile Pied Wagtails who were busy feeding at the edge of the main Flash...

Rooftop Lapwings

A strange trait and I guess you could call it a phenomena is the curious tale of the rooftop Lapwing...

This behavior is almost exclusive to Lapwings of North West England and Greater Manchester in particular.
Large flocks of Northern Lapwings gather (sometimes many hundreds) from the summer months till the following March for daytime roosts on industrial buildings in the urban suburbs of Manchester.
They seem to favour big factory roofs and in particular those made of corrugated asbestos, but also have a liking for large supermarkets.


A study about the Northern Rooftop Lapwing by Greater Manchester Bird Recorder, Judith Smith was published in British Birds in January 2000 and highlighted some likely reasons to why these birds act in this manner.
Some of the key points of these findings...

• The roofs offer greater protection from ground predators such as foxes which are a constant threat at their traditional roosts on farmland and fields.


• The roofs provide warmth due to rising heat.


• There are greater ambient temperatures in urban environments.


• There is good shelter on the sills and ventilation outlets.


• Loss of fields and open ground due to urban developments are a possible factor.


• Large roofs with good all round vision are usually chosen.


• Asbestos corrugated roofing is commonly used, likely because it offers greater insulation and the gritty nature of this material offers greater grip for the birds than corrugated metal.


• The need to conserve energy in a safe environment especially in the winter months could also be an important factor.

This rooftop roosting behavior isn't exclusive to the Lapwings of Greater Manchester...Their close relations the Golden Plover have also taken to this practice in recent years!

Lapwings roosting on a factory roof in Audenshaw, Manchester in July 2008...

Lapwings

After Saturday nights Golden Plover, Sunday brought another encounter with a member of the Plover family...The Lapwing.

Pennington Flash was the venue for Sunday mornings birding and the Flash is always a good place to spot these wonderful birds.
I've told you in the past about the sad decline of UK Lapwings especially in their once familiar farmland habitat, but that was only half the story...
Lapwings are equally at home in farmers fields, high moorland, coastal estuary's and large inland bodies of water.
Pennington Flash is the latter and offers a rich variety of habitat which is perfectly suited to these birds.

It's always a lovely sight to see Lapwings gathering over the Flash, more often than not mobbing other birds or bullying them away from prime feeding spots.
The Lapwing is also know as the Peewit in reference to it's distinct call and feeds mainly on worms and insects.
The soft vegetation around the edges of the Flash are perfect hunting grounds for these fine looking birds.

There are good numbers of juvenile Lapwing scattered around Penny at the moment which is very promising.
The young are fairly easy to identify due to their paler colour and much less pronounced crest...

Lapwings are also one of the easiest birds to distinguish in flight, due to their rounded wing pattern which has a very distinctive black and white colouration...

One of the things that makes the Lapwing a firm favourite of mine is quite simply...They are just such beautifully photogenic birds!

Last Night On The Moors

Summer on the Moors of the Peak District has a distinctive purple flavour to it...
In the next few weeks the landscape in some areas will be transformed into a sea of Purple Heather, but there is at the moment a taster of this colouration with the first Thistles coming into bloom...
Last night wasn't a good night for spotting Red Grouse, but there were plenty of other Moorland birds around.
Evenings like early mornings are a great time for watching wildlife and the birds were very active and in very good voice.

One of the most numerous birds on display was the Meadow Pipit, although as usual you had to look carefully into long grass for them...

Highlight for me last night and always a pleasure to see was the Golden Plover...

Red Grouse Study (6)

Last night I had a very pleasant walk up on the moors to one of my favourite Red Grouse sites.
It was a very warm summers evening and probably as hot as I've ever been in this normally very bleak location.

Unusually there were not many Grouse about and I only got a fleeting glimpse of a distant female bird flying off into the sunset.
Well actually, that's not entirely true...I did find another female bird, but sadly she must have been found by a predator first.
All that was left was a carcass, her bones picked dry by a unknown bird of prey...
Although Red Grouse are (as I've pointed out before) superbly camouflaged in this moorland landscape, they are also unfortunately slow, clumsy flyers and very easy pickings for any potential predator that spots them.
This part of the Peak District is home to Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and even the odd Red Kite...Sadly the Red Grouse is no match for any of these formidable foes.