December 2020 ~ One of our Woodpeckers is missing

 I love Woodpeckers and always really enjoying seeing them.  They are a bird I would never ignore when one comes in range of my camera. At this time of year when there are no leaves on the trees and Spring is around the corner, I always think that  in the New Year I will complete the British set and come across a Lesser Spotted.  They have always eluded me in my forty five years of birding.  Come to think of it, I never see any of my social media friends posting pictures either.  Surely this next year, if I have more time on my hands because of lockdown and perhaps the milder winters I will come across one.  I have learned their call so I can recognise them, and they are allegedly occasionally reported in my local area.

This Male Great Spotted flew into the tree next to my shed and gave me some opportunities for some images in the morning sunlight.

Green Woodpeckers seem more wary and difficult to approach but I caught this one searching in the cavities of an old telegraph pole.

They are birds with real character.

But my New Year birding wish is for the lovely, tiny, shy Lesser Spotted to come into my life.

Anyway it's always great to get out and have a search around.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for a nature filled New Year!

December 2020 ~ A patch of mud becomes a bird feeder

 I have bird feeders set up on my smallholding. Whilst waiting and watching the various birds coming and going I noticed that there were a few wagtails through the gate on a patch of mud.  These appeared so regularly and they were attending as often as the blue tits and great Tits on the feeders.  It seems such an obvious thought but it just reminded me of how the whole natural environment is really a large feeding ground.  Where there is a large quantity of food there is always something that will regularly take advantage.

This pied wagtail enjoying a small invertebrate picked from the mud.

It gave me some great opportunities for some close images
 

This grey wagtail which is normally a bird of small rocky streams was also a regularly visitor.

These were another welcome distraction whilst watching the regular crew on my feeders.

November 2020 ~ Are white squirrels breeding and increasing?

 This is a question to which I am not sure of the answer.  Are grey squirrels that are pure white just a random aberration, or are they passing on their genes and increasing.  I posted a picture of a white squirrel and had lots of comments from locals about how long do they live, and where they had been seen in the past.  While I was watching them on my local patch suddenly I saw there were two.  This made me ask the question are they on the increase?  I would have thought that this white colouring would make them so obvious to predators that they would soon be wiped out.  After all I spotted this one from right across a large field.

Although they are non-native species and are said to do a lot of damage to woodlands, I have to admit that I did find them quite strikingly beautiful and enjoyed trying to capture these images.

Perhaps someone out there knows the answer to this question.

 

October 2020 ~ Kingfishers back in the local park

They were always there in the past but have been missing for quite a number of months.  It was really great to hear reports that they were being seen again. I decided to check this out, as they are such beautiful birds and I always find them exciting whenever I can capture a glance.  They often announce their presence with a whistle as they dart along. After a patient wait I got my first glance of the blue streak as it went straight under the bridge.  At least they were there!

I waited for an hour and saw them past through about five times but they never landed.  There are some tree branches that are in the water and it looks such a likely place to wait.  They were sure to land on them sometime.  The next visit there were a few guys I know well, so I knew that I was in the right place.

Sure enough they came and landed on the branches.  Really exciting and adrenalin filled.

This is one of its favourite and familiar perches. 

This is the male with the dark bill.  The female as everyone seems to know, has an orange lower bill. (Girls wear the lipstick! )

Soon there were many more images and every sighting is just so exciting.

I don't think I will ever take for granted the sighing of a Kingfisher.

Is this the most colourful British bird?  I for one think so!

September 2020 ~ "Egrets I've had a few"

 It's really amazing how nature really changes over the years.  I can remember seeing my first Little Egret at Combe Hill meadows quite a few years back.  It was very important and exciting, so much so that I remember texting home, as I was supposed to being going out somewhere.  "I shall have to wait there is a Little Egret walking toward the hide."  Now the birds are really increasing and colonising the UK.  At first Little Egrets were the most regularly seen.

This little Egret is fishing in a shallow lagoon.  It has black legs and bill with yellow feet.  There is often a long crest on show.

Cattle Egrets are also now seen regularly.  There were twelve seen to together at Slimbridge WWT recently.  They often hunt around cattle as their name suggests.  Waiting for the cattle to disturb insects as they go through the grass.

This Cattle Egret was taking a rest on an island preening its feathers.  Normally look out for them around cattle.  

The last one which is much rarer, but beginning to get seen more regularly is the larger Great White Egret.

The Great White Egret is a larger bird with a very long neck and yellow bill.  They tend to stalk around in wetlands in a ponderous nature not unlike the Grey Heron.

Have no regrets learn to recognise your egrets. 

~ There will soon be one coming to a pond near you! ~

September 2020 ~ Being flexible with the diet - a great survival technique

It struck me having photographed Whitethroats in May and then again in September how they can really completely change their diets.  They seemed so insectivorous in May, that I could not imagine how much they would relish berries in the Autumn.  This along with the migration to the Sahel in sub-Sahara Africa must be their great survival strategy.

In spring when there are young to feed, and they need to gather as much protein together as quickly as possible they feed on a diet of insects and spiders.

When it becomes cooler and there are less of these available, they readily switch to a diet of berries.

It is difficult to imagine that in a few weeks they will fly to Africa and even cross the Sahara desert. They are really lovely birds and I always look forwarded to seeing and hearing them on their return.

Good luck until next spring!

September 2020 ~ The Regularity of some migrants seems amazing

 It comes as quite a surprise but over the last few years I have to say that I am amazed over the consistency of some of the long distance migratory birds.  There is a particular hedge on my local patch where I regularly get migrant Spotted Flycatchers.  They never breed here but I see them every year.  I could perhaps understand if they were returning to a nest site or breeding area.  But this seems to be just a regular stop over on the migratory journey south.  I can just imagine when there are none around that if I said to someone if you look along this hedge in Late August early September there will be a party of Spotted Flycatcher hunting, they would look at me a bit incredulously.

If you look closely this one has his eye on the prize, a suicidal fly.  They watch intently every movement of flying insects.  Then they take off, snatch it from the air and quite often return to the same perch.

They are small brown birds, but to me they are very beautiful.  It's their behaviour and stature.

This one looks so proud and self confident.

That's probably the last time I will see them this year, but of course I can have a look along the hedge at the same time next year! 

If there is plenty of food I sometimes wonder why they don't stop and breed, that would be great, but ah well it's nice to see them every year even though they are just passing through.

August 2020 ~ Having a go at home-made hide photography

I thought it could be an idea to build a hide and have a go at using this in my small wood.  Generally I like to roam about quietly and see what I can come come across.  So setting out with a few pieces of cloth, some stakes and staples I had a go.  At first I got no results and it was not very comfortable and seemed to test my patience.  The first thing that came walking through was a female muntjac.  It was amazing how close it got and took no notice of me in the hide clicking away.  

It got so close that in the end I could not fit it all into the frame!

An hour later and the Juvenile newly fledged Common Buzzard alighted on a log pile.  It was so exciting to be so close to wild raptor.  

The hide only took about ten minutes to construct.

I remember reading somewhere that you can construct an hide out of basically any material and as long as you are well hidden, and to be fair this simple construction did seem quite effective.

 

When inside the hide a comfy camping type chair is a must!  The waiting can seem forever with occasionally interposed with great excitement. 

Here is to the community of nature lovers.

Keep getting out there!

July 2020 ~ Watching Buzzards develop through the summer

I have spent a lot of time working in a small woodland throughout the summer.  It was made a lot more enjoyable and memorable by sharing the time watching the development of Common Buzzard chicks.  Each time I passed by I would grab a few images and when I look back I have got quite a record of their life from fluffy white chicks to branching out and leaving  the nest.

Looking out a the big world

Stretching and growing

Buzzards are quite calm almost lazy birds and they seem quite content to just sit and watch the world and wait for food to be delivered.  Occasionally though there is a bit of life and stretching activity to liven things up.

Adult bringing in some food.

There were two chicks in the nest and both survived and fledged.  One was a lot larger and more advanced and I thought this was a female.  It left the nest about five days earlier that what I assumed was the smaller male.  I was pleased that the adults were able to bring in enough food so that both survived.  With raptors one is often an insurance policy in case of hard times with food shortages.

Two well developed chicks

It was so exciting when they began to branch out from the nest.  The big female lead the way.

Time to explore the world.

I now enjoy listening to their begging calls.  It is not annoying!  They became known as Screechy and Screamie!  Another thing I enjoy is that the photo's automatically record the dates so you are left with a record of the timescales of their development.

A very enjoyable part of this strange lockdown summer.
Great company to share in our little wood.

July 2020 Always a great month for Butterflies

It is great to see so many butterflies over the meadow grass and brambles on my local patch.  It was quite a surprise to realise that I could capture some images with my long lens.  I thought I would have difficulty holding the lens still and also getting enough depth of field.  I also didn't think that the minimum focus distance would give a large enough image in the frame.  So I was quite pleased with these few I captured:

Red Admiral

Small Tortoiseshell

Marbled White

Of course while being out with the camera other things turn up and I am always ready for the opportunities.  I managed to catch sight of these fox  cubs playing in the grass.  Keeping quite still I managed to capture a few images and spend a few enjoyable minutes.

Cubs enjoying the early morning sunshine

Posing for me

Female Muntjac

This female muntjac also came creeping along the hedge.

A most satisfying morning and I may get back into a bit more macro photography!

June 2020 Out and about on my own patch ~ So satisfying

Even though the severity of Lock-down has been lifted to some extent, I still enjoy getting out and about on my own patch.  It is so satisfying when you can put some work in to improve the environment and also see the results.  In February 2019 I planted some oak trees.  I used large 1.8m guards to protect them from the the local deer.  I have always had in mind that once one of them breaks out above the guards this would lead the way for the others and really start things happening.

February 2019

Seemed a big ask for a slow growing oak

Often as I drove past I would glance over and also comment that we need one to lead the way and this will be the start.  I know that they will never be mature trees in my life time, but having them above the guards would do me.
Well this the last week in June just sixteen months later and I got this result.  To say I was chuffed would be an under statement.

Leading the way

How can I be so excited with such a small tree stem!

Common Spotted Orchid

Grassland looking radiant

The more I look the more I enjoy the grassland and seeing all the different species that live there.  It is so much more satisfying that a monoculture of rye grass.

Meadow Browns sharing a nectar from a thistle

Local Buzzards doing well

Vixen hunting voles in the grass

I may be getting a right stay at home ~ or maybe I have found beauty in my own back yard!

June 2020 Enjoying the local farmland birds

I think that one of the ways photography has helped me enjoy nature, is to really appreciate the smaller things.  I think that without it as part of my nature hobby, it would have to have been Eagles hawks and Ospreys that would have been the things that really mattered to me.  But it has certainly made me really stop and watch.  If a Whitethroat or blackcap sits up on a bush in nice lighting I really love it, and appreciate its beauty and can be just as thrilled.

Whitethroat

I could hear this call of a Whitethroat in the bramble.  I stood and waited for it to appear and it was really exciting when it popped up with a spider in its mouth.  It stayed long enough for me to capture a few images before disappearing into a nettle bed where it must be feeding young.

Linnets seem to be calling from many of the bushes.  The male sits around and accompanies the female, while it seems she has to do all the work to feed the young brood.
They seem to always come and go together as a pair.

Beautiful male Linnet

 Much more skulking is the Blackcap.  Occasionally they sing from the tops of bushes, but often they remain hidden.  This one appeared fleetingly to cheer up my day.

Male Blackcap

I also enjoyed a pair of Goldfinches, they are beautiful birds and I seemed to enjoy these even more far out in the countryside away from the garden and feeders.

Beautiful Goldfinch

What a beauty. That was a really satisfying morning and all within my own local patch.
Just so satisfying.  I got back home and was really happy and contented to unload my card onto my laptop and go through my memories and special moments.

~  What a great morning in nature  ~

May 2020 Lock down eased a bit. Time to look out for Roe Deer fawns

Riding around the smallholding I noticed this Roe Deer doe underneath a fallen willow tree.  While I was working she ran off but I noticed she was making her way back.  At this time of the year from previous experience I guessed that she must be looking after a fawn.

Sanctuary shelter

I waited around quietly and she began to emerge from the branches and into the long grass.
Peering through the lens, and using this as I would a pair of binoculars, I managed to just make out this orangey coloured shape next to her in the grass.  It was only by really being quite sure it must be there somewhere, that in the end I was so pleased to see this beautiful little fawn.

Hiding in the long grass

It was a really thrilling encounter and really lifted my spirits. It was time to make my way back and leave them alone.  Nature really moves on quickly but as I was up there again the next day and pleased to see her still around.  The fawn was developing fast and was actually clumsily jumping through the long grass to follow her.

Getting going well

They are really peaceful animals and are very attentive mothers, she would often stop and give it a good wash with her tongue.

Attentive and devoted

I really enjoy the company of these beautiful creatures and could not help but wish this one good luck as I left the scene.

Nature therapy at its best!
Stay safe all and cherish the planet and natural world.