Impressive Hawfinch

Searching for food!
A nice close up of a male!

Female Hawfinch!

Good numbers of Hawfinch were showing really well at a site in Cumbria recently, so a trip was planned to get the chance to see these elusive birds.Usually you cannot get any where near to them, but this last few weeks the birds had been reported constantly feeding under the Hornbeam trees amongst the leaf litter.

Using my car as a hide I managed to take numerous close range shots without disturbing the birds.They blended in really well with their surroundings and coupled with the low light under the trees, these few shots were the best I could manage!

Buzzards And Corvids!

The Kite swoops in regardless.
This Rook helps himself to a free meal!

The Buzzard takes centre stage!

Usually the Kites don`t land on the ground but this one IS a bit different!

Ravens close in! Solitary Rook

The Kites invariablly take centre stage at Gigrin,but its nice to observe the
antics of the Buzzards and other Corvids there.Its not often you see these birds at such close quarters,as the`re usually just a blip in the sky.
The Buzzards seem to have a lazy approach to the ongoings and seem to stay in one place to feed.The Ravens come in,take a piece of meat and stay on the edge. Last but not least the smaller of the birds the Rook grabs what he can and takes it to a convienient spot on on the outskirts of the field, usually accompanied by a few of his compatriots to devour his meal!All in all, interesting to watch these birds feeding in their different ways!!!

Kites Aplenty (part two)

Very pale Red kite(morph)
The Morph Red Kite was easy to pick out.

A pleasing site!

The Black Kite,(escapee or from the continent?)

Notice the very square tail.

Close encounters!

Carrying on from my last post,it was interesting to watch the two indifferent Kites competing for food.The light coloured bird only seemed to appear about 3 times to feed during the 3 hours or so I was there.It wasn`t in any way pestered by the other birds,but seemed a little wary of things.

On the other hand the rare Black Kite was as boisterous and bold as could be,and must have entered the affray at least a dozen times that I saw!It was easy to lose sight of the bird with so much action,but it always reappeared in the thick of things at some point!

There seems some debate about the origin of the Black Kite,but it is a more than welcome guest at the location and for it to stay so long,it seems to have settled in very well!Maybe in the next few weeks it may decide to move onto its breeding territory,where ever that maybe.Thats the wonder of Nature, you just don`t know what`s going to turn up next!

In my next post, I`ll show a few images of the Corvids and Buzzards that have also got in on the party at Gigrin Farm.So bye for now then!

Red Kites Aplenty!

Waiting patiently!
Coming in to feed!

Good close views!

Lovely feather detail!

Soaring gracefully!

With the weather being favourable ,I made the decision to visit Gigrin Farm in Powys,home to the Red Kite feeding station!The birds are fed human grade meat every day at 2 o clock by the land owner.As you can imagine the Kites Buzzards and Corvids home in on this free banquet!

Not only is it good for the well being of the birds it gives fantastic close up views of all the action!There are various hides/view points to watch this amazing spectacle unfold.Usually the corvids are hanging around first to gorge on the free offerings ,with the Kites soaring in the distance.As soon as the farmer starts distributing the meat the feeding frenzy begins in earnest.The Kites are swiftly flying in, picking up pieces of meat in their talons,never landing on the ground
but skimming in low and fast!They then proceed to digest the meat on the wing.

There must have been up to 150 Red Kites present at any one time,although at the moment numbers were well down due to distribution to their breeding territories!I`m led to believe there can be as many as 500 birds present mid winter!

It was a bonus to see a Black Kite and also a very light looking Red kite among the throng of birds there,I `ll write about these and the numerous Buzzards/Ravens and corvids in my next post.I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Pecker Located!

Nearly impossible to see when the leaves come.

Not very good light.

Distant views.

Found him at last.
Having failed miserably to locate this little fella recently ,I decided to make another visit to Moore nature reserve in Cheshire.I`d noticed that there had been numerous sightings made adjacent to the carpark, in the tall trees.Spured on by this information, I drove the 50 or so miles in high hopes.

On arriving at the carpark, I was greeted by thick fog!Anyway it was a morning out if nothing else.Typical or what!

Trundling down the path, scanning the tall trees, a slight movement caught my eye,looking up something was flitting about,probably a Nuthatch I thought!Then plain as anything tap tap tap tap in rapid succession,no it can`t be, I`ve only just arrived.There about 15 yards away, half way up an ash tree was what I`d come to look for, the Lesser Spotted,bloody hell!Luckily my camera was prepared for the occasion and I rapidly fired off a volley of shots before it disappeared into the mist.Although the light was rubbish, I had that warm glow of contentment you feel ,when a plan comes together!I suppose it was luck to stumble on it like that,but it took me 5 journeys and 500 miles to obtain a few half decent images of it.Next time I`ll try to capture it in better light,thats providing it gives me another opportunity!

Quest for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!

Greater Spotted Woodpecker.

Treecreeper

Coaltit

Nuthatch

I recently got wind of the whereabouts of one of our more elusive birds,the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.This Greenfinch size bird is on the top of most birders list as a must see.I myself haven`t seen one yet so this was to be a real challenge not least to try and obtain a photograph or two.

February to April would give me the best opportunity to find it, before the leaves appear on the trees.Also it would be setting up a territory for breeding at this time of year.

Armed with what little information I`d gleaned off the particular site,I set forth on my quest!200 acres to go at and 2" high,black and white and frequents the tops of tall trees.Hmm should be a doddle this one! 3 trips and 300 miles later,and still no sign!However I`ve narrowed it down to a particular area near to the carpark and a small clump of trees down the track!

Plenty of other birds were about though to keep me on my toes,namely Nuthatch,Treecreeper, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers coal tits and long tailed tits by the shedful.

Talking to other birders on the site, the LSW had been seen on numerous occasions albeit briefly.One lucky guy observed it for nearly 20 mins at a distance of 10 metres away!Wow what I`d give for that!

There is still plenty of time left yet, for me to hopefully gain some decent images of the bird.Hope you enjoy the images I posted and with a bit of luck my next blog will include the little Woodpecker!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midwinter Break!

Sardinian Warbler
Southern Grey Shrike

Sardinian Warbler

Berthelots Pipit

. African Bluetit.
It`s been a while since my last post now, so refreshed from ten glorious days in Tenerife with my familly, I thought I`d better compose a short rundown of how it went.Again I managed to slip my camera and binoculars into my hand luggage as an afterthought.

On leaving Liverpool at - 5 degree celcius we were greeted by 75 degree fahrenheit and a glorious clear blue sky at Tenerife south airport,only 4 hrs away, but my what a contrast.This is our usual destination at this time of year and after a mad Christmas and New Yr its always worth the effort and expense!

Britain was gripped in arctic conditions and we were in no hurry to get back.The apartments my wife had booked were first class and it didn`t take us long to adjust and get in to the swing of things.I`m not one for lying around the pool for any length of time so remembering I`d brought my camera and binocs I told my wife and daughter I`d be disappearing for a few hours to see `what was about`!They should know me better by now.Just behind the apartments was a big mountain with a lot of small thorny type bushes and cactus type plants here and there.I wound my way through the scrub to find a small pipit type bird which turned out to be `Berthelots`.These are very common on the Canaries and I came across numerous on my travels.Not so numerous were the Blue tits I encountered,these were very few and far between.They had a jet black crown on their head which was the only major difference to our native birds in the UK.

In between familly days out to Siam and Lorro Park, the two main tourist attractions on the island, I managed a few more sorties up the mountains and valleys in the hope of seeing some of the endemic species of the island,mainly Blue Chaffinch.Tenerife kinglet and Laurel Pidgeon.In fact all these species eluded me and the main birds I did see were Kestrel ,Collared and Stock Doves and a few Greater Spotted Woodpeckers around the picnic areas at Mt Teide.

As I drove back down to the coast,I took some of the back roads to see what I could find around the banana plantations,almost immediately I spotted a Grey Shrike perched up on some overhead wires it was a lovely bird to see against the blue sky and a few pictures were duly taken.I headed further along the road and parked the car up on some wasteland.I could hear a scratchy type of birdsong in the scrub and on closer inspection it turned out to be a pair of Sardinian Warblers busy catching flies.These let me approach quite close to them ,which is always a bonus when you`ve got the camera with you.

Tenerife no doubt has numerous varieties of birds, but like anything else its knowing where to look for them.Part of birding in new places for me, is the "Not knowing"! whats about,It always gives me a thrill when I do chance upon something new,I suspect that thats the attraction of it all,and together with the photography,it makes it all so very much,the more enjoyable!

A Touch Of Velvet

Female Velvet Scoter
She gave really good views!

A real rarity inland.

We were graced by the prescence of this sea duck this week at one of our local lakes.Not normally found inland at all, but for some strange reason she dropped into Barrow lower lake near Clitheroe on the 22/12/09.
It caused quite a stir amongst the local birding groups, as I`m led to believe its only the third sighting of this species in East Lancs for a good few years.About 80% of the lake was frozen solid, so the duck was easy to locate and photograph.She seemed almost tame at times coming within a few yards of the bank.She was feeding avidly on freshwater mussels, which she swallowed whole.
The lake seems to hold good numbers of these, so maybe the Scoter will remain for some time.I for one will be keeping a close watch on the situation in the hope of observing this delightful bird on my doorstep!!!!

Jackhouse Nature Reserve.

Cock Bullfinch

Great Tit

Blue Tit.

Coal Tit

What dreadfull weather we`ve had this last week,the rain and winds seem to have been constant throughout this last seven days.However I picked up a new second hand camera and have been mad keen to use it.The only chance I have had. was literally `in between the showers`.

Close to where I live is a lovely little nature reserve called Jackhouse,except for a few dog walkers and one or two walkers,I literally have the place to myself.It`s a little piece of heaven, where I can go for a few hours and totally be at one with nature.

In Summer its alive with visiting migrant birds, willow warbler/blackcap/garden warbler etc.
For now though, redwing/fieldfare are common, as are numerous members of the tit familly.These inquisitive little birds are a joy to behold when observed at close quarters and really do perform well for the camera.I have spent many an enjoyable hour watching and photographing them and they never cease to amaze me with their antics.

Another bird that frequently appears is the Bullfinch.There are a few pairs that seem to inhabit the reserve and the cock bird with his fine array of colour, is always a pleasure to see and of course photograph!

One bird I haven`t been able to get on camera yet is a greater spotted woodpecker.I usualy hear him calling in the vicinity, then on a few occasions he visits the table, but doesn`t stay very long ,the slightest movement and he`s away.I`ll have to persevere with him,maybe set up a piece of birch with a few holes drilled in crammed with peanuts,I`m sure he`ll stay for those!

I`m just glad to be able to get out and about at the moment, so any break in the weather and I`m reaching for the the wellies and camera gear.Looks like I`m going to be busy with work up to Christmas so opportunities will be at a premium.Roll on Spring!!!!!!!!!!!!