Grey Squirrels Up close and Personal.

Dog sitting for my mums dogs means that I'm not allowed to be away from them for too long so I went to a spot in Chester where I know there is a good population of Squirrels. I was quite pleased with some of the results. They are taken with a 300 lens.

I think I would be right in saying that those first two were males.

and this one.

This one below looks like he's waiting for the bus.

I didn't think that he would be able to manage this conker, but....!

This Chiffchaff was also a nice surprise.

I'm going back tomorrow, weather permitting, to try and get a Jay that was flitting around but not close enough for a shot.

Slimbridge and Herefordshire

I have been back to Hereford this week as I told you in my last post. I arranged to meet Mike Smith at Slimbridge WWT reserve in Gloucestershire, yesterday (mon 4th).

Mike informed that there wasn't a lot at Slimbridge yet but we were hopeful for something. Looking in at one hide we saw a Sparrowhawk sitting on a post across the scrape from us, unfortunately it was still quite foggy and the viewing windows in that hide are too small for long lenses so no pictures, but it was lovely to see. The next hide we visited was slightly better, there were Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Black tailed Godwit, Mute Swan, Buzzard, Wood Pigeon, Greylag Goose, and a quick glimpse of a Water Rail.

Godwit:

Mallard:

I love the reflection of this one.

Shoveler:

In this one the duck seems to be imitating the Swan in cleaning itself, I can just imagine it thinking to itself "will I ever be as handsome as the swan? "

After a quick coffee went to the South lake hide and saw, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing and a Kingfisher in addition to what we'd already seen.

Mike was correct, there wasn't the large numbers of Ducks, Geese and Swans that will hopefully be present in a month or so. So we cut short our time on the reserve to head off to another nearby location, but not before I'd snapped a close up Jackdaw at the restaurant.

Jackdaw:

Would you agree there is something quite stunning about the Jackdaw, I think it's in the eyes.

Leaving the reserve we had to wait for the canal bridge and mike spotted two Brown Rats, mooching about in the farmers yard area just to the right of the road we were on. Great views of them whilst we waited. They were in deep shade so no photos again, but I'll keep my eye out for them in future, I think Rats are fascinating critters, I don't like them but I admire their tenacity.

So a short drive to Frampton to look for a bird I've never seen was undertaken. Mike advised me that the target bird may have moved on so he suggested a walk with the bino's might be the best first option. We were lucky. The birds we'd come to see were Black Terns and there were a pair of them flying about and resting on bouys on the water. It was fascinating and thrilling to see birds I'd never seen before quite close up. Too far for decent pictures but great through the bino's. On a couple of occasions they flew close enough to see, in detail, with the naked eye and I wished then we'd had the cameras but in all honesty they fly so quickly and acrobatically that I doubt I'd have been able to keep up and lock on with the lens. I can add another life time first to this years list.

A very enjoyable time spent with Mike soon came to an end and we said our farewells. Thanks Mike!

Driving back to Hereford I happened across a Kestrel sitting on a telegraph pole. it was in the area of Weston Under Penyard, on the outskirts of Ross on Wye. I stopped the car and got the camera out of the boot. I was a bit surprised it didn't fly away. I got a shot of it.

and i was very pleased with it too, However when I zoomed in on the camera I could see what I thought was blood on it's beak and it didn't look right.

So I waited and when it turned it's head I got another shot.

this time I could see that it wasn't right. I again zoomed in on the pic.

Clearly this poor thing had been in the wars, could it have been done by another Kestrel? Could it have picked on prey that fought back? I'll never know, but I don't fancy it's chances of surviving a harsh winter with only one good eye. Nature at its cruelest perhaps.

A good day, nice to be back on my old patch.

A day in the sunshine.

After a quite long spell of miserable weather up here in S. Yorkshire today turned out nice. It was forecast to be a good day so I wanted to make the most of it, and in order to do so I made for Derbyshire.

I considered doing Dippers at a spot Chris Grady showed me a year or three ago, but couldn't face the walking, (if only I'd known). I opted instead for a little spot which is well known for Water Vole called Cromford Canal. It has to be one of the best known spots for these endearing little critters in the country, or at least it was. I didn't see a single one. I saw lots of Little Grebe which also provide excellent opportunities for close up photography.

I also saw Mute swan, Moorhen, Mallard Duck, and a Pike (in the shallow water). But not a single Vole was seen. I spoke to the young lady working in the shop and she advised me that the Vole seemed to have disappeared, one or two were being seen but very infrequently.

I spoke to a number of local people walking their dogs and they seemed to confirm what the shop lady said, the Voles just weren't being seen in the numbers they had been previously. I did glean a bit of information about other areas that the Vole were occasionally seen and set off to see if I could track them down.

This is where the walking came in. Foolishly when I arrived at the location I'd been directed to I decided to just have a short walk along the bank of the stretch of water and see if I could spot any likely areas.

Well I walked about 3/4 -1 mile before I saw anything, I was just so taken with the colours and the peacefulness of the area that I forgot that I hadn't brought my kit with me. So I had to walk all the way back to my car to get it, all the while hoping that the Vole would still be present on my return.

It was and I managed to get some nice shots.

I spent the best part of an hour watching and photographing this one, I find them a truly fascinating creature. They seem oblivious to their surroundings but then suddenly a loud noise or sudden movement and they are off, quick as you like.

Walking back to the car I happened across another little beauty.

and then another, although I was very lucky to see this one, a slight movement caught my eye.

It was busy chewing at the bramble bush.

So a very enjoyable trip and most of it spent on my own with just the Water Vole, heaven.
Tomorrow I am heading down to Hereford for the week, hoping to spend a day with  Mike Smith at Slimbridge, and a bit of time in the Forest. I'll post when I return.

Hope you enjoy.

Preparing for the winter.

A trip to Old Moor RSPB reserve this week unfortunately coincided with work that is being carried out around the area of the Bittern Hide. I had hoped to spend some time in the hide and hoped to see the Water Rails and Kingfisher that have been reported there recently. A change of plan and I decided to spend a little time in the next hide, the Reedbed Hide. There were only a few species here including, Ringed Plover, Coot, Moorhen, and Great Crested Grebe.

Great Crested Grebe.

The Little Grebe caught a fish.

and a Common Darter came to visit.

I did not have long before the weather became too cloudy for decent photography, I wasnt very happy with the Little Grebe shots because the light was very poor.

Only a short day but again some nice shots.

Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve.

A last minute decision to visit this RSPB reserve near the port of Goole on the East Coast was rewarded with the first sighting this year of  Marsh Harriers. In addition some nice shots of some other birds too.

Blacktoft Sands is located on the Ouse estuary area, its a "well out of the way" reserve and attracts a lot of birds including the aforementioned Marsh Harrier, Bittern, Bearded Tit, and a plethora of waders and ducks.

Take a Lunch with you though, there is no cafe. A hot water dispenser and some coffee/tea sachets means you wont die of thirst, but you will starve.

Within minutes of arriving I had seen Goldfinch and Tree Sparrow feeding along the hedgerows and at the feeder station. Collared Dove and a blue Pheasant were later seen at the feeder station too.

Collared Dove.

Pheasant.

The reserve is basically a long straight affair with 7 hides (including the reception area) spread out in a line over a distance of approx a mile. The hides cover a number of scrapes/lagoons of differing style and size. The hides are well maintained and suitable for long lens photography a couple of them are set on two levels and are good for both photography and scoping, Unfortunately as is always the case on RSPB reserves the hides are a little distant from the water in most cases but the two hides I found to be the best were the Townend Hide and the Marshland hide. The Townend Hide produced views of; Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Snipe, Curlew Sandpiper, Moorhen, Marsh Harrier, Teal, Mallard, Little Egret, Black Tailed Godwit, Black headed Gull, and Goldfinch. My best acheivements here were these,

Redshank.

Curlew Sandpiper.

and Little Egret.

I also got a couple of very distant shots of one of the Marsh Harriers, this is a heavy crop.

What I really wanted were Snipe shots, but despite the fact that there were 2 in view they were just too far to focus on, so I was most disappointed.

The walk to the Marshland hide was broken with a coffee in the reception hide. I lingered in the hope of seeing the Juvenile Bittern that, for the previous 2 days, had shown well infront of the reception hide, unfortunately he failed to show so more disappointment there.

The Marshland Hide looks out over a lagoon with a number of islands dotted within it. These islands have recently been covered with new lumps of soil and earth so they were very un-photogenic, which was a shame because on one there were a group of three Snipe. I did try to photograph them but because of the distance and the fact that the snipe blended in with the soil I could not get the camera to focus. I satisfied myself with some nice views through the bino's though. I was also kept amused by a young Redshank feeding directly infront of the hide.

A number of Teal, a Shelduck, a Heron and some Lapwings were also present. I was about to call it a day when a movement caught my eye to the right of the hide and imagine my delight when it turned out to be a Snipe. I was shell-shocked, I absolutely love snipe. I am amazed by the size of the beak compared to the body so it was all I could do to contain my excitement for long enough to get some shots. As is always the case it never came completely into the open but with the exception of a few tall strands of cut reed/grass I managed these two shots which I hope you will agree are pretty good. They are only small crops mostly for composition.

Again, typically of Snipe, it wasnt long before he was skulking off to find better cover,so I didn't see him for long. Still I was in my element, chuffed doesn't cover it.

So all in all I had a very enjoyable 4 hrs on the reserve, less wind and cloud might have made it better, but I am not complaining, another bird for the year list (Harrier) and closest ever views of Curlew Sandpiper and Snipe made for a great time and a definate reserve to revisit.