Grasshopper Warbler up close

Before I get onto the delights of the mountains (and I still have rather a lot of images and video to go through) I also had a couple of good days in the Dale at the end of last week including guiding Josh as a birthday present.

The Grasshopper Warbler performed very well including singing from both 4-5m up in a tree and also down in the grass.

I also checked out some of the more exciting breeding birds. Red-throated Divers are present on last year’s breeding pool but I saw no sign of an active nest and there were two pairs present which seemed to cause problems. Two Goshawks nests that I visited had adult birds present whose behaviour suggested small young were in the nest although it is impossible to see them until they get larger.

I discovered a Bullfinch nest in a spruce tree by a path and only just over 2m above the ground which was a real surprise. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are feeding noisy young in their nests at the moment making the nests easy to find but I have still to locate a Three-toed ‘pecker nest although did find a female in the same area that they have been in this spring. Three-toeds breed later than Great Spots so it may be a week or so before noisy young help location of a nest.

Grasshopper Warbler (gresshoppesanger)

on the ground

4-5 m up a tree

Goshawk (hønsehauk) nest 1 with the female still on the nest but sitting high up as though young present

and nest 2 with the female off the nest

Great Spotted Woodpecker (flaggspett) nest

an array of insects being brought to the young

another nest

female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)

3 Red-throated Divers (smålom)

and a fourth flying over

female Whinchat (buskskvett)

male Bullfinch (dompap) with the nest and sitting female just under him

the nest jusr 2,5m above the ground in the lowest branches of a spruce

female Bullfinch on nest