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Nigel's

2008

Wildlife Blog

 

What's next? More butterflies will have to wait until 2009

No more specific trips this year, I might look for some of the Autumn rarities about and try and improve my photographs of our wintering Owls

Looking forward to some European weekends next year, details here soon.

 

 

The search for better Owl pictures continues

Saturday 15th November

The weather today was against us.  This picture would certainly be better if the rain had not been drizzling at the time.
The hunt for better Owl pictures will continue.

for larger picture click here and other previous Short-eared Owl

 

Gt. White Egret
202 nd  British bird species on this site

Great White Egret

Sunday 9th November

Having not seen a Gt. White Egret before, I was pleased to see this bird at Saddington only about ten miles from where I live.
I will return again to see if I can get any better pictures as it was very distant hence these heavily cropped images.

Egret web page

 

Early November
After a few visits to some local sites have seen Short-eared, Barn, and Little Owls, but have not managed any more pictures

 

SEO's are back

Friday 31st October

I have been looking forward to seeing the Short-eared Owl's returning for the winter.  Although it was a bit dark for great pic's, it was great to see them and I was reasonably pleased with a few snaps.

for larger picture click here and other previous Short-eared Owl

 

 

Grass Snake

Saturday 18th October

A visit to Croft in Leicestershire resulted in a nice afternoon walk, not much of interest seen, until I saw a small grass snake and managed to get a few shots before it disappeared back into the grass.
 

 

Kingfishers

Sunday 12th October

Everyone likes to see Kingfishers and a visit to Brandon Marsh in Warwickshire proved worthwhile.  Whilst sitting in the hide, the kingfisher made three visits and on each occasion he caught a fish and took it back to a perch to eat.  Although this was relatively close, with the Kingfisher being only three or four inches tall, the photos are not as good as they could be.  Larger pictures on my Kingfisher page.

 

Local Little Owls

For a few weeks, local birder Paul Riddle and myself have been looking for Little Owl's in our local area of Leicestershire.  Paul is now into double figures.
One of the bids seen and subsequently photographed is this bird which is less than a mile from my home in Oadby.  The bird was quite happy sitting in these branches and I was pleased to get close enough for these pictures.  However I intend to return to try and get some better images where hopefully the owl is less obscured by branches.

A larger picture is found here:  the real Oadby Owl
more pictures will be added as I take them

 

Photography Web site

Sunday 5th October

I have been concentrating on photography more recently, indeed I have joined the local photographic society and intend to update this site with a new photographic section to showcase my better pictures on all subjects, not just wildlife.

Nigel's photographic  pages

 

 

Len's test

Friday 5th October

I have been looking at lens for some time and finally decided to splash out on a Canon 70 - 200 2.8 IS L.
This picture was taken on the day it arrived out of a window at home.  Looks like a good start to a lens that has received good reviews elsewhere on the web.

for larger picture click here

 

 

 

Red-necked Grebe

Red Neck

Sunday 28th September

This lovely bird at Switherland Reservoir in Leicestershire was showing very well and was a species that I had not photographed before, so I very pleased to end September with a set of Red Neck pictures.
Like many, I am Hoping for some equally good arrivals in the next few weeks.

 

 

All the usual suspects seen

Monday 15th - Monday 22nd September

A weeks walking in Deeside was a welcome break from work.  This time we took mountain bikes to speed up the walk in to the mountains.  Great for saving time, but I decided against carrying the SLR along.

All the usual suspects were seen, some such as Red Grouse and Ptarmigan in large numbers, indeed we saw over 50 Red Grouse on some days on some of the more remote mountains between the A9 and Braemar.

Sightings included:
Red Deer, Red Squirrel, Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, Snipe, Buzzard, Golden Eagle, etc.

 

 

Black Tern

Grey Phalarope

200 is Black and Grey

A very Black Grey day at Shustoke in Warwickshire bought up the 199th and 200th bird species pictured on this web site

Saturday 6th September

These were aptly named birds : Black Tern and then Grey Phalarope.

Although the weather was grim, and the light was bad, the birds were not close in (and all the usual moans....) I was pleased to see and get pictures of two new species for this web site.

I had already seen and got pictures of both the Wilson's and the Red-necked Phalaropes so was after the Grey to complete the "Three British Phalarope species".

The Black Tern is a small bird and the picture was taken about 50 meters away.  As a result the picture is not a classic bird photograph, but it is reasonable until I get a better shot.

 

 

Two pictures from a previous
visit a long time ago

These are all from scans of slides, I am going to add a few more of these pictures to my
web site as time allows

I Am Now Thinking Longer Term Than Next Year

Now my British wildlife digital pictures are beginning to take shape, it may be time to think about a few more destinations further from home.
That opens up a huge list that is obviously cut short by two things.
Money & Annual Leave

So where do I start:

Well first list the things that I want to see,  I then need to see if I can fit in a visit or two realistically each year

 - Ocra's - I feel a winter visit to Norway coming on

  - European Birds :  Woodpeckers - Owls - Eagles
I would like to see and photograph all the species of European woodpeckers
so I guess the following countries would be worth a visit : Poland, Sweden, Finland, perhaps even Belgium, so that's several trips.

 - Africa - it's been a very long time since I went on a safari so that is also on the list.

 - Then there is the Tigers, Penguins, and Polar Bears, blimey the list grows but so does the list of countries as many can not bee seen on the same trip.

 

 

Female Common Darter

Silver-spotted Skipper

Thinking Of Next Year

Some August bank holiday thoughts

It's been very quiet in terms of birds for the past 8 + weeks, nothing much about, a look online at some of the birding sites still shows a few things interesting, but all are to far away to comfortably travel to.  But I still hope to catch up with a few bits n bobs in the next few months.

It's a good job I have decided to make a concentrated effort on Butterflies recently.

Next Year

Almost 2/3 rds of the way through 2008 and I have decided to NOT keep a tally of birds seen in 2009.
Hopefully I will improve on my 208 seen so far in 2008 and then that will do for year lists for

On the numbers game, I will still try and add to my British life list and number of species photographed on this site. 

But I want my main focus (no pun intended) to be concentrating on seeing new stuff and on improving my wildlife pictures

I would like to concentrate on seeing more butterflies in 2009 as well as targeting some of the harder to photograph other things such as Owl's and chasing numbers does not fit with this approach.

 

 

Hobbies in the forest

Saturday  2  August

I was very pleased to watch three young Hobby chicks being ringed in the Forest of Dean.
These birds certainly had the "cute" look although they within weeks they will grow into adult birds which are amongst the most agile of our birds of prey and the long flight to Africa for the winter will begin.

Hobby chicks

 


 
Dorset & Hampshire sees a few more species

Wed  29  July - Fri  1 August.

A few days on the South coast produced several more pictures of  British Butterfly  species along with a couple of moths, and wild flowers.
One of the target species was the young Hooded Merganser which was seen in Weymouth.

Lulworth Skipper

Chalkhill Blue

Brown Argus

Adonis Blue

 

Silver-washed Fritillary

Half Completed, Half To Go .....

Saturday 19th July

I have now photographed (in some circumstances not very well) half of the 58 species of British Butterfly.

I am sure the second half will be harder, it's taken roughly 12 months to get to 29 but I expect the second half to take longer.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

 

Wind, rain, more wind, yet more rain .....  not much wildlife

Not much to be seen recently with the exception of a large amount of Six-spot Burnet's  at Twywell Country Park, Cranford, Northamptonshire

Also a few more Small Skipper pictures added.

 

Saturday 5th July - Wind, Rain, but a great start to July
Marbled White, Large Skipped & Purple Emperor

These were three of the 11 butterfly species that I saw at two sites in Northamptonshire whist also having a good afternoon with the camera.

 

While pictures of Ringlet
taken in Northamptonshire

Some Good Sightings at the end of June

Some good sighting at the end of the month.

A visit to two raptor watch points in Norfolk produced the goods with Montgau's Harrier and Honey Buzzard both seen.

Roseatte Tern & Lesser Yellowlegs at Cley
took the 2008 tally to 206.

 

Again in Northamptonshire this Banded Demoiselle was seen

 

Local Wildlife

After a few weeks in Shetland and Fair Isle, time to catch up with a few things more local.  Both the Bee Orchid and the Black Hairstreak  was pictured within 30 minutes of my home.

 

Red backed Shrike

Numbers Update :

Number of bird species pictured online now = 196 - edging well towards my end of 2008 target of 200

Number of bird species seen in 2008 now past 200 - reached my 2008 target of 200 with a Manx Shearwater on 6th June.
Time for a new target - perhaps - perhaps not


Golden Plover
Over 150 pictures added to this web site during the past month !!

Wild Flowers - I now have 25 species online
- yes I know it's low...
but it's a start

Twite

 

Red backed Shrikes where numerous during the week, including this male and female that were caught and ringed together.

More Red backed Shrike pictures

 

Fair Isle Wren - which is a sub species of the British Wren


Artic Skua is a common species on Fair Isle although Great Skua is the more numerous of the two.

Fair Isle - A view from "the bird watchers Hilton" 

31st May - 6th June

Saturday – After arriving and settling into the observatory we went for a walk around the island for a few hours before the evening meal.  Not many of last weeks rarities around but we were pleased to see a few Spotted Flycatchers around along with several Red backed Shrikes

(indeed the notice board of sightings in the observatory stated “Red Backed Shrikes – Lots !!!) which was certainly no exaggeration.

Sunday – No birds caught for ringing during the early morning round, but we continued to see several more Red backed Shrikes – indeed we must have seen a double figure number during the day.  We also got reasonable views of Puffin, Raven, and Artic Skua.

Monday – No birds in the ringing traps again so we walked around the island visiting various cliffs and settlements.

Tuesday – Another early morning walk around the bird traps, but this time there were two to be ringed, a Garden Warbler and a first year male Sparrowhawk.  Another walk around the island produced the usual Skuas’s, and sea birds.
After lunch we got brief views of a Common Rosefinch feeding on nuts in a garden until it flew away.  It gradually turned to an afternoon of rain.

Wed – Woke up to find rain, so passed on the walk around the nets to see what had been caught for bird ringing.  The weather closed in and the fight off of Fair Isle was cancelled.
In the afternoon it cleared up well so another walk around the island looking for flowers and birds.
Various birds ringed including Icterine Warbler

Thurs – Two more flights cancelled so another day on the island in improving weather.  We went to see the Puffins which had decided to spend the day out at see.
A walk down south saw more Red Backed Shrikes and a Marsh Warbler was ringed.

Fri - We managed to get a ride on the community boat off the island and across to Sumburgh Head.
It was a calm crossing with 1 Manx Shearwater and a few Storm Petrel's as  the only thing of interest.

Our Luck - We finally managed to leave Fair Isle at 10:30 am and shortly after lunch a male Citril Finch was found on the Island . A first for Britain.  So very near - but so far, it might have well been at the other end of Britain at the Scilly Isles over a 1000 miles away.

 

BTO ring used for ringing

Part of the work of the Fair Isle BO is to ring and record birds.
While we were on fair Isle two Sparrowhawk's were ringed.

I have got a few Pictures on this on my Sparrowhawk page.

first year male Sparrowhawk

 


Early Purple Orchid,
one of 4 Orchid species seen on the island of Unst
British Wild Flowers

Both Shetland and Fair Isle were both great places to see wild flowers including Orchids.
Therefore my online flower pictures have dramatically increased.

I have also added a "Wild Flowers" page and an "Orchids"  Page.

Shetland Mouse-ear,
a very rare plant

 


Black Guillemot is a common bird along the Shetland coast


 

Great Skua commonly known as "Bonxie"

Red-necked Phalarope at the RSPB reserve on Fetlar

Shetland - 60 degrees North

24th May - 31st May

Saturday – after leaving Heathrow’s terminal five with no problems other than a wait on the plane for a man with spanners to fix our plane.

So after going 100 miles south to T5, we soon found ourselves on Shetland.
A late evening visit to Mousa Island saw the European Storm Petrels which we enjoyed seeing flying around the Brooch. It was gone 1:00 a.m. when we returned to the hotel and was still light.

Sunday – Straight to Sumburgh Head – our first seabird colony of the trip was good but the high winds kept many of the birds away from the camera lens.
First of many Puffins and we saw our first Shetland Wren which is a sub species of the Wren.
A few more sites on mainland Shetland visited with a Tawny Pipit being the best bird seen during the day.

Monday – The highlight of the day was the boat trip along the coast of Noss where we got excellent views of many seabirds and the huge Gannetry. Good views of Bonxies, and very pleased with the close views of Black Guillemot. 

Tuesday – North to the Islands of Yell, Fetlar, and Unst where the highlight was the Red-necked Phalarope at the RSPB Fetlar reserve where we also had good views of Dunlin in summer plumage.

Wed – We spent the day on Unst where the highlight was watching an Otter playing for 20 mins, at a range which was just a bit to far for good photos.

Thursday – Hermaness on Northern Unst was very good but again very windy.  A few Puffins braved the wind, but good pictures of Bonxies and Golden Plover.
Four species of Orchid in the same field at Keen NNR along with a few rare plants such as Shetland Mouse-ear.

Friday – A quiet day in terms of wildlife.  We saw the rare Oysterplant.  In terms of birds, there were several rarities around Shetland, but we did not manage to see any, other than a extremely brief views of a Thrush-Nightingale (only a few seconds).  We did get some good views of Raven.

Saturday – Went back to the Thrush Nightingale and it was not seen today.  Back to the hotel and views of a Red-backed Shrike and Icterine Warbler in the hotel garden before we transferred to the airport and took the flight across to Fair Isle. 

Ringed Plover was seen  frequently during the week.  My final photo's from Shetland were of very obliging Twite at Sumburgh Head.

 

The Otter is not an easy species to see yet alone photograph.

Shetland is one of the main strongholds for Otters and our visit in May 2008 gave us the opportunity to hopefully get better views and some pics.

We saw Otter on two occasions, the best of these was at Baltasound on Unst where we got good views for 20 minutes of an Otter swimming and resting on rocks.

More Otter pictures from Unst

 

Sat 17th May, South Stack

A visit to South Stack on Anglesey produced reasonable views of Chough.  Apparently there are currently 14 pairs on the reserve.
South Stack is a great place for walking, flowers, and other sea birds such as razorbills.  Chough

 

more Gargany pics soon

RSPB Conway

In my opinion the RSPB cafe at Conway serves the best coffee in Wales.

It is also good for small waders such as Ringed Plover, and Dunlin.

I was also pleased to see a drake Gargany.

more Ringed Plover pics

 

Orange-tip

A meeting with a Duke, a Skipper, a Copper, and Orange-tip

A day in Gloucestershire visiting several reserves produced 4 of our target butterflies.  Many Many thanks to my friend Roger whose expert knowledge enabled us to actually find these 4 species.

The most productive site was Edge Common, near Painswick which produced the Duke, Copper, and Dingy Skipper.
The Orange tip is a common butterfly that is hard to see and even harder to photograph at rest.  We saw it at rest in the Forest of Dean at Cinderford linear park and at Brierley
.

Dingy Skipper

Duke of Burgundy

Small Copper

We also had reasonable views of a Garden Warbler at Cinderford.

The number of Butterflies species on this site has now grown to 22

 

This male Cirl Bunting was one of several seen.

 

Greetings from Devon

American Golden Plover and Cirl Buntings

A visit to Devon produced a few good additions and several new species photographed for this web site including American Golden Plover and Whimbrel at Exeminster Marshes RSPB.

However my highlight of this Devon visit was 6+ Cirl Buntings at East Prawle.  (also Wall Brown butterflies at the same site)

Egrets page updated with some new pictures from Kingsbridge in south Devon

 

Update on the numbers game   -   End of April   -   158 reached

As a result of recent sighting which apart from those mentioned in the blog below, include: Wood Sand, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, I am now at 158 bird species seen in 2008.
After 105 in January, I have added approximately 18 per month which is pleasing.
However at this rate that will give 280+ by the end of the year which is not possible.
Perhaps 200 by the end of 2008 is back on target.

The butterflies are beginning to show, I saw a Orange Tip (no photos) and look forward to several more butterflies in May

This male Pied Flycatcher is one of the new species added during April making 186 species  now pictured on this website

 

"The Three" seen in the Forest

A quick visit to Nagshead provided the three target bird species.
Wood Warbler, Redstart, and Pied Flycatcher.

Wood Warbler

Redstart (female)

Pied Flycatcher (Male)

Reasonably good views of all three species including Male Redstart, and a few pairs of Flycatchers, plenty of Nuthatch and a few Tree Creeper about.
But getting the photos was a lot harder than seeing the birds as these results show, So I need to go again and see if I can improve them.

 

Tuesday 22 April – Has Summer Arrived Yet?

It's not getting dark so early, so with more daylight, should we be able to see more ?

With the fact that it doesn't get dark until 8:30, I arranged to meet local birder Paul Riddle after work and have a look at nearby Thornton reservoir.

As a result we saw some great birds including my first Yellow Wag and first Cuckoo of 2008.  Has summer arrived yet?

I don't usually declare summer until it's warm enough to sit and eat my evening meal in the garden in shorts and with a glass of wine in my hand.

But a Cuckoo and Yellow Wag seen on the same day within an hour was very pleasing, even though neither was close enough for any pictures.

As I did not get any pictures of the Yellow Wag or Cuckoo,

I have instead added this Egyptian gentleman that I also saw today.

 

Friday 11 – Friday 18th April – West Coast Mountain Birds

A week’s mountain walking in very cold weather with plenty of snow on the high tops produced some good sightings.
Amongst the birds seen in large numbers were: Hooded Crow, Buzzard, Snow Bunting, Siskin, Meadow Pipit, etc.
There was also the odd Dipper, Red Grouse, Golden Plover, and Grey Wagtail. 

There was also plenty of deer about including huge numbers of Red’s, some Roe, and the occasional Muntjack

My Munro count:
Is gradually rising with 170 now bagged.
Sue has now bagged 146 (which is now passed 50% of the Munro's)

“Proper Snow Buntings”
It’s always good to see Snow Buntings but to see them in their white winter plumage flitting around while walking along a snowy highland ridge is in my opinion so much better than seeing them on the East coast of England in summer plumage.  During the weeks walking, we saw double figure numbers of white winter plumage Snow Buntings most days.  However I don’t walk up Scotland’s Munro’s with my telephoto lens, so have no pictures to add to this site.



Meadow Pipits and Buzzards were very common during the week
(both these pictures were taken at Crianlarich

 

Thursday 10 April – Visit the King

On the way North for a walking week in central Scotland, a visit to Girvan near Ayr to see the King Eider was rewarded with good views and some pictures despite the choppy seas.
The bird was with a group of 20+ “regular Eiders”
Other species seen included: plenty of Gulls, Gannets, Ringed Plover, Merg's, etc.



King Eider in Girvan, Ayr

 

Monday 7th April - Summer birds are beginning to arrive - Even if it is still snowing

During April the internet bird sites have began to show a gradual increase in the number of summer migrants.

So far during April I have added a few more species to my 2008 list including:

Green-winged Teal at Eyebrook Reservoir
(like April 2007 it was to far away for pictures but perhaps
another visit to try to digi-scope, or third year lucky in 2009 !!!)

Several Little Ringed Plovers also at Eyebrook

many Swallows and Sand Martins at many sites

I am also very pleased to see 4 Ospreys at two separate sites in Leicestershire this month all on the same day
and on a day when we had plenty of snow....



A distant Leicestershire Osprey at Rutland Water
and a  Great Crested Grebe picture taken from the same spot

 

31st March - First Garden Butterfly of 2008
A Peacock on March 31st was my first garden butterfly of 2008 seen from an upstairs window.

 

Chasing numbers at the end of March

The number of bird species photographed on this site has now reached 181
and is still growing, not bad as it was 166 at the end of 2007

The number of bird species seen so far in 2008 is 130+.......
        so should I continue to chase 200 by the end of the year?
               is 200 in 2008 is still possible?

I don't think I will keep a tally next year



Spoonbill in Dorset 8th March

 

Friday 21 March - Into the forest
A day in Gloucestershire was spent in the forest of Dean, which proved very productive for Mandarin pictures which were photographed at Mallard Pike and Cannop Pond.  At Cannop Ponds we also had a fly over by an Goshawk.
Visits to other famous sites such as: New Fancy View, Speech House, and Brieley were also good but nothing particular seen other than a few long range Brambling, and Redwings.
We did however manage to see 18 Goosander together on one lake.
Many thanks to my friend Roger who acted as an excellent tour guide for the day.

more Mandarin photos

 

A quick visit into Warwickshire
Managed to see the Lesser Scaup and an escaped Hooded Merg but failed to see yet alone photograph any Firecrest's

 

Dorset

A few days in Dorset with a few excellent places visited in very high wind produced some excellent birds.

the highlights being:
Marsh Tit at Arne
Cattle Egret (x2) at Radipole with Little Egret's in the roost
Spoonbill (again x2) at Lodmoor
 

While at Radipole lake in Dorset, we also saw plenty of Raptors, including:  Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, and Kestrel.
There was also a double figure number of Med Gulls

Another highlight was the huge number Sika Deer at Arne

at least 300+ including one herd
of at least 150

Sika Deer

 

Egrets

more Spoonbill pictures

 

Sunday 9th March - First Butterfly of 2008
A Brimstone was my first butterfly of 2008 seen on Sunday 9th March in Dorset

 

Digiscoping

A few days ago, Sue was playing with my telescope and some of our old compact cameras, and seeing what could be used for "Digiscoping"


I thought perhaps I should suggest we go to Eyebrook and try to get the first digiscoped picture for this site.
The reason being in April 2007, I saw the GW Teal at Eyebrook but it was very distant on very choppy water.  It has been reported back at Eyebrook and I thought this may be a chance to get a picture.

But while at Radipole lake in Dorset, we saw a Buzzard on a distant tree so Sue had a go and Sue's result is pictured here.

Digiscoped Buzzard

Click for bigger image

 

A Good Start to March

Great Grey Shrike

Great Grey Shrike is a bird that I have been after for a while and I was very pleased to get some pictures of a long staying Gloucestershire bird.

 

Three Owl & Four Raptor Species in a day

Whilst driving by Eyebrooke Reservoir, I saw a Little Owl in a tree where it often sits (the first for the year).   Then a  GS pecker that was seen and heard high in a dead tree drumming, a good start to the day.

Plenty of Kestrels most places and the occasional Buzzard whilst driving.

A Peregrine Falcon sitting in a field at Frieston Shore.

Later  while on the A16 a couple of miles south of Spalding we saw two SEO's covering large areas of field and a Barn Owl hunting in the fading light.
Just as we were packing the cameras away in fading light a Merlin flew through sounding it's call.


"Hello from Spain"

The Spanish ringed Glossy Ibis (ring number 6PJ) was showing well at Holden's Pullover near Salthouse in Lincolnshire  allowing for reasonable pictures to be taken.
A small flock of 9+ Twite were mobile but reasonably close at times.

Great Grey Shrike

 Great Grey & Red-backed Shrikes

Barn Owl "hunting the A16"

Glossy Ibis
"on it's winter holiday"

 

Feb 27th - Approaching the end of another month.

Went back to Woodwalton Fen last weekend and got much better views of two Hen Harriers, definitely worth a visit.

I have seen 3 Sparrowhawks in past 5 days (all different birds, one in Leicestershire, one in Northamptonshire and one in Warwickshire)

English Earthquake:

I woke up during the night and at the time thought is this an earthquake? then on the news it said there had been an earthquake measuring 5.3

 

Feb 20th - Now we are 50 days into 2008

February is racing by and the bad weather has really hit Leicestershire with very cold icy weather.  Certainly no early butterflies this year.  The list of bird species seen this year is very good with some excellent birds seen so far.

Some species have been seen many times, there seems to be a lot of Buzzards about including one in the fields as seen from my bedroom window again this morning.  I  Have seen Barn Owls on quite a few occasions but so far no Little Owl.
I am also surprised that so far in 2008 I have yet to see a Sparrowhawk or a Nuthatch.
Indeed I have only 8 new additions to my 2008 list during the past 20 days.

Curlew at Slimbridge WWT
earlier in February

 

 

Waxwing

I have been after the opportunity to photograph Bohemian waxwing (to give it it's proper name) for some time.

An afternoon visit to Allestree in Derbyshire and I soon found the reported bird was showing well.  This resulted in a collection of pictures that I am very pleased with.  More at Waxwing

 

Feb 16th - More New additions

A first time visit to three sites proved very productive.

Lynford Arboretum - 6+ Hawfinches (another new bird for me) in the Hormbeam trees in "the Paddock" sadly to far away for a picture.
But a White-fronted Goose that was very obliging for the camera.

Wicken Fen - Marsh Harriers and plenty of ideas for a future visit.

Woodwalten Fen - an excellent reserve with three hides although we only visited the North hide.
2 Barn Owls hunting over the reed beds, a Hen Harrier came into roost.
Chinese Water Deer at the entrance to the reserve, from the hide, and on the walk back to the car.  This is another of the "British deer species" that I am targeting photo's of.  They also have Muntjack but I did not see any.
I shall certainly return to this great reserve and attempt to get some better deer pictures.


White-fronted Goose
and
Chinese Water Deer

 

Feb 14th - Views from the window

A brief fly by by a buzzard being mobbed by several crows over my garden and surrounding fields, no chance for any pictures but then more distant views of the Buzzard in a tree.

Also male Great Spotted Woodpecker again on the nut feeder in my garden and Green Woodpecker in nearby gardens.

 

The first two weeks of Feb finds me Racking up the miles
   but not that many birds.....


Two visits S.W. in early and mid February saw Cornwall, Devon, and Gloucestershire, all visited
not many new birds for the year apart from:

Cattle Egret at Fretherne
and Great Bustard on the Fosse way
 

However both are excellent birds - quality not quantity

(The Bustard was "Orange 15" and a different bird from the untagged bird that I saw on Curry Moor, Somerset in October 2007)
More info on the UK Great Bustard at:  www.greatbustard.com

 

more info that I have found out about  "Orange 15" on my  Great Bustard page

Cattle Egret
and
Great Bustard

 

Peregrine Cam

From my Exeter office I could see St. Michaels Church in the city and the local Peregrine was visible with bino's out of the office window.
For those not in Exeter, views from the local Peregrine cam at : 
www.eco-watch.com

 

End of January update

Late additions to January sightings are Goldcrest, Firecrest, and Treecreeper

Well 105 British bird species is my tally by end of January,
and.... it is a total that I am very happy with.
and with 6 more species pictured on this site during the month, bringing the total to 172 species pictured is a great start to 2008.

A few more plans for the rest of the year:

a weekend in Dorset for Spoonbills, and hopefully Dartford Warblers in March and perhaps the odd early Butterfly

a weekend in North Wales / Anglesey in May for Sea birds and hopefully a Chough at South stack.



Little Egret at Thornham

 

Chasing numbers

I certainly would like to see more species in 2008 than I saw in 2007 (Who wouldn't?)
But I don't want to (or give the impression on this blog) that all I am interested in is chasing rarities and progressing numbers.
I would rather see a species and be able to get good views and a picture, than see a species at 1km away through a telescope, tick it, and then go on for my next bird.

Possibly I might join the 400 club (400 species seen ever)
but I will never want to be one of the mega year listers with 350 + species seen in one calendar year.

Indeed I will not get anywhere near as somewhere around 400+ species are recorded in The British isles each year.

There were 435 different species were recorded in 2007

Not even sure if a lifetime target of 400 is realistic.
Still some way to go then ..........

The Snow Bunting flock of 50+ birds at Salthouse was excellent viewing
as well as being my
102nd species of 2008

more Snow Bunting pictures

Fe

100 not out:

A day on the North Norfolk coast proved very productive with 13 new species for 2008 including the White-crowned Sparrow another new bird for me.

Amongst the other species seen
Thornham Harbour: Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover
Cley village: White-crowned Sparrow
Cley Marshes: Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Brent Geese
Salthouse: Turnstone, Snow Bunting (a large flock over 50+ birds)

 

the famous "Cley Sparrow"

Like many people I don't like the circus of a national rarity.  As such I decided not to go and look for this bird during the first few weeks after this bird was first reported when there would be between 250 to 2500 people out trying to view this bird each day.

Therefore I waited for the fuss to die down a little (and take the chance that the bird would not stay around).  This resulted that when I went, there was around 20 people viewing.

This was a small bird for photographic purposes and it was a windy day and the view was far from perfect, however I got a few record shots.

White-crowned Sparrow

 

 

19 - 21 January

Caerlaverock and Martin Mere:


Making the most of my newly purchased WWT membership, a weekend up north visiting two reserves, first Caerlaverock mainly to see the winter population of Barnacle Geese.   More Pics on the Geese page
Several other good birds around such as Curlew, winter thrushes, Whooper Swans, Yellowhammer, and both Tree & House Sparrows. (see below)

A visit to Martin Mere on the way home produced some very good birds, GS woodpecker, Kingfisher, Tawny and Barn Owl's, all 3 swan species, and a Red-breasted Goose amongst a much smaller Barnacle flock.

Very bad weather every day saw us dodging rain, it was very windy conditions that made it hard but worthwhile as a total of 60 species seen at both sites.  This was very pleasing although the number of new for 2008 was obviously a lot smaller.



Barnacles at Caerlaverock
and
Whoopers at Martin Mere

 

Mr. Red Breast on the mere:

I was very pleased to see the wild Red-breasted Goose that was amongst a small flock of Barnacle Geese at Martin Mere.  A new species for me and my 170th species photographed on this site.

Yep I know it's a bad pic but I was 500 metres away when the pic was taken.
yep 500m only produces a very small image but it is better than none.....

 

So will I get to 100 before the end of Jan?
The total as of 22nd Jan is now 89

Still a way to go......
I would like to see (and of course get some pictures of) the "Cley Sparrow" before it disappears.
I guess that although I don't fancy the mega crowds, you don't get many chances to view a White Crowned Sparrow outside of America.  depending on other commitments and it staying around I may get some photos.

 

Mid January

Local birds

A visit to a local patch just a few miles from home was very productive with my first S.E.O.'s of the year.   They were reported a few times but this was the first time I managed to see them (or get some pics)
Like many people, I have got some pictures of SEO, but also like many people, I am not happy with the quality.  Hopefully I now have a good local site just 10 - 15 mins drive from home where I can attempt to get better pics before they return North to breed.

Short-Eared Owl Gallery

Goldfinches are always a popular bird and very easy to sit and watch.  Luckily I have had quite a few on my feeders at home recently although this picture was taken at Rutland water.

Also at Rutland Water I saw a flock of 20 - 30 Egyptian Geese and a several flocks of Siskins some of which had over 50 birds.

With the total for Jan now approaching 80, I am not sure I will get to 100 before the end of Jan. but I will blame the weather if not.......

 

17th January  - more species pictures

I may need to split some of the of the "general species" pages as my site grows, such as  Geese,  Finches etc.  It's easy to add a picture here and there and before you know where you are, you have a large page that is slow to load.

 

Gallery Pages

Like quite a few wildlife sites, and after looking at some old pictures in Photoshop,
I might play with some of my older but better images them to produce a bigger "gallery pictures"

Certainly if I do, then this GS Woodpecker will be there
In the meantime, click on image left for a bigger "gallery sized" picture in a new window

 

12th January

Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk

Ouse Washes RSPB: was fairly quiet and extremely flooded , quite a spectacle, not huge numbers of birds, but a close Heron (pictured)

Manea: produced a Barn Owl but not long enough for a picture

Welney  WWT:
A visit to Welney for the wild swan feeding produced some good birds, plenty of
Swans  Whooper, Mute, (but no Berwick) and Wigeon and a Stonechat on a post along the approach road.  Although the Rats that were stealing the feed were not quite as photogenic 

click on the yellow links in the text to the left for bigger pictures of these thumbnails

 

10 January 2008

I attended a Canon EOS training event for the 40D in Huntingdon. with www.experience-seminars.co.uk  The event was good and went into quite a lot of technical detail of how the camera works including many specialist areas.
Hopefully I will remember enough detail so that my pictures (and those on this site improve)
I intend to set some "custom functions" on my 40D for certain photographic subjects.
These will include "Birds In Flight" (BIF)

When a bird is seen flying over, there is often very little time to change any of the camera settings to those that are desirable for BIF pictures.

Therefore switching to a custom BIF function will then mean that all the desired settings are already programmed in.

Settings for BIF photography include:

Exposure Mode: Aperture Photography (Need to ensure we get a high shutter speed)

ISO: 600 (Also need a high ISO to ensure that the shutter speed remains fast enough)

Auto focus mode: AI Servo (needed to lock and track the focus once it has been achieved)

Drive: High (We need use the 5.5 frames per second to ensure we have the best chance of success.

Focus Points: all 9 (the way that the focus system works, is that whenever an object is found on the nearest of the sensors, then the focus tries to lock onto this object.  Usually the moving object is the nearest object to come within range of the sensors.

The course also covered items such as AWB.  It also went into a good level of detail on how the 40D completes it's metering and focusing.  Which sensors are used for both metering and focusing and how to get the most from them.

I an reasonably happy with my workflow but will hopefully go onto another course later this year such as Shooting Macro Images, Using the digital EOS flash, etc.

They some very interesting points concerning the "RAW" or "JPG" file system.

 

4

4th - 6th January

Leicestershire birds
More for the January 2008 list while walking and driving around

A afternoon visiting a few sites in Leicestershire proved very enjoyable, nothing great seen but enjoyable none the less.  I met up with Paul Riddle a local birder I had met a few weeks ago and together we had an enjoyable afternoon despite the weather.
Fosse Meadow produced a Willow Tit pictured right.
Bagworth CP was quiet with only a Green Woodpecker flying over for interest,
and Cossington produced a few winter thrushes, a Green Sandpiper.  The reported Water Pipit did not show itself enough for a positive id.

A walk around the Leicestershire / Northamptonshire border added a few more species for Jan (Red legged Partridge, Red Kite, Yellowhammer, etc.

A second short visit to Cossington Meadows in much better weather proved more productive with the Water Pipit showing (to distant for a photo).
There was plenty of other birds around including the Pied Wag (right), Meadow Pips, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted, etc.
and a Black Swan on the river.

and the total for Jan is now approaching 60  (yep it's low for many people but I am still happy with it, and still confident of 100 before 1st Feb.)

Willow Tit at Fosse Meadows

larger picture with the other
Tits

Pied Wagtail at Cossington Meadows
Larger Pic: Wagtail's