Kingfisher

I was up quite early today,as the forecast was quite good.I decided to head for a local nature reserve about 3/4 drive away, in the hope of seeing and photographing a Kingfisher.Usually they are about this particular place,but I hadn't,t been for a long time,so I was edging my bets a little!

There are numerous hides on the reserve,but I headed for the place that I saw them last!On entering the hide, another photographer was in position, and on enquiring with him, one bird had been present an hour earlier.So with that encouraging news,I set my stall.All was quiet for the next hour, save for a Heron patrolling the far margins, in the space of 20 minutes, it had caught 3 small roaches at least there was plenty of food about.

From out of nowhere a Kingfisher flew in and landed about 20 metres away on a known perch.Great,action at last! he never did much really, not even a dive, but I obtained a dozen or so shots with the camera!He was soon away though and again it went quiet for the next 11/2 hrs.The other photographer had had enough and made his way out.Action was quite slow really, even the Heron departed!

It really is a waiting game when I'm out with the camera, but I'm always confident that something will happen.If birds or mammals were constantly in view, it would be easy ,wouldn't it.I certainly don't mind a long wait.Sometimes of course, nothing happens, but 9 times out of 10 it does, keeping me on my toes and alert!I had the hide to myself, which is just how I like it.Kingfishers are prone to the slightest of movements and a hide full of chatting people is not good!

True to form, a Kingfisher returned to the same perch on the far bank.Again he wasn't in hunting mood, but what he did do, was to cough up a pellet, he had been hunting previously then.I managed a few shots of this regurgitation, after which, he preened for a while, then went about his travels.

So 3 hrs in the hide and about 3 mins of a Kingfisher,but I certainly wasn't complaining of lack of action.I,d set out to photograph a Kingfisher and luckily I achieved my goal, with a few decent images to boot.!Thanks again for looking in on my blog and I will catch up again with you soon!

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Leighton moss

I had been thinking of visiting Leighton Moss reserve at silverdale recently, so I decided to make the effort and see if I could add some pictures of the Bearded Tits that frequent there.I knew that they would be visiting the grit trays, that are put out for them, but this can be a hit and miss affair!

 Luckily for mesas I walked down the causeway,I could see a group of 6 or 7 folk waiting by the viewing area!As I neared ,I could hear the "pinging" call of the Tits as they moved through the reeds.

 A pair of birds were feeding on the grit, but I wanted some natural images of them in the reeds.A male bird suddenly came into view and afforded some great views in the mid morning light!

 Most of the Beardies are sporting different coloured rings to aid with the monitoring scheme that goes on there!

 He hung around,spreadeagled across the reed stems, weighing up the grit tray.

 Unusually this female wasn't rung, she may have dropped in on migration, on her journey south!

 The grit aids with digestion of seeds that they feed up on, and of course makes them a lot easier to view.Usually you are lucy to see them amongst the vast roadbeds,so the trays serve 2 purposes.

 In one of the hides, I watched a cormorant hunting the shallow bays.This particular bird was rewarded with a jack pike, for its efforts!

It didn't hang around with it though and with one flick of its head, consumed the whole fish quite easily!There was a total of 4 cormorants on the mere fishing, so its no wonder fishery owners despise them.They would soon clear out a well stocked pond in days!
A dog Otter had been reported earlier, taking a coot, but i wasn't present when it was about ,so missed the spectacle.On my next visit,I will try to be there for first light and hopefully be in position, should the Otter show again.So thanks for taking the time out to view my blog and I will catch up with you soon!

More Hawfinch

 A 5'oclock  alarm call had me up and loading the car for another trip to the Hawfinch site.I like to give myself plenty of time to make sandwiches/flask and check the photography gear!
Scrapping the ice off the windscreen, was a first for me in a long time, but a cool clear morning lay in wait, my favourite conditions.

Arriving on site for 7.00 the sun was just starting to appear over the moorlands to the East,hopes were high for some better images of the finches'.It was going up for 8 o'clock, when I heard the short zip of the Hawfinch and on scanning around, found this female high in the tree tops.She only stayed for about 40 secs, but enough time for me to grab a few record shots and 20 secs of video.

She was soon joined by another bird 30 mins later but they were so difficult to gain clear, unobstructed shots of.I did manage a few later on mid morning, which I was quite pleased with, but I know that future visits should produce better images, when most of the leaves disappear from the hornbeam trees.As soon as they head for these to feed, they blend in with the foliage and sit tight, gorging on the abundant seeds.

It was a beautiful morning to be in the vicinity of these not so common birds, but the early rise and hour's drive is always worth the effort!Glad that you popped by to view the blog and I'll try to keep a more up to date account, of my wanderings with the camera!

Hawfinch,The cherry stone cracker!

At the moment, we are experiencing a large influx of Hawfinch to the UK, no doubt filtering over from  europe ,due to bad weather or a shortage of food!There are good numbers in eastern europe into Russia,so there could still be more birds to follow.I think the last documented invasion was back in 2005. These birds are, I believe ,heading to southern france and onto spain.Its not often you get the chance to see these birds in any numbers, so on hearing of a few  not too far away in the south of the lake district,I ventured out in the hope of gaining a few images.Most of the sightings reported around the country, were of fly-over birds, with not many actually resting up.

I was fortunate when I arrived on site, to find 4 birds evident in the tall trees, but the light was against me, so I only managed a few record shots.I knew that it would be a challenge, but I was going to give it my best shot!

                 Very very distant and against the light, but at least birds were present!

                     An odd bird did perch up in view, but again distance was an issue!

             This Nuthatch showed reasonably well, and I made the most of it, in some nice light!

          Another distance shot, but I wasn't really complaining, as it was a treat to see them here!

    I watched this male Hawfinch feeding on Sycamore seeds, for at least 15 mins. After feeding up,     he would fly across to a yew tree and rest up within the foliage for a while to digest his meal!I am going to return to the site next week, to see if the birds are still about, if so,I'll post another account for you.Again thanks for dropping by and keep well!