In Birdland

2006-03-08T14:02:00.000Z

FEBRUARY 2006.
Great spotted woodpecker.

2006-03-08T13:41:00.000Z

FEBRUARY 2006.
During february my feeder station took a change with me purchasing a hide, this enabled me to get closer to the birds to photo. I was lucky enough to tempt down a Great spotted woodpecker to a stump i had placed infront of the hide. But due to the dull skies my time here was limited. I also had started to help out with surveying the quarry area at sandy for the RSPB. This is an area of mixed habitat that hopefully will bring in some interesting birds and wildlife. The most notable so far is seeing 4 little owls hiding amongst the sand stones.

2006-01-15T13:33:00.000Z

JANUARY 2006
At the end of december i put up a couple of feeding tables and some cut down stumps in a copse area just behind where i live. The purpose of this was to photograph whatever bird species came to the feeders with the aid of some cammo clothing and cut down branches to make a rough hide.Now well into january the birds are quite used to everything and i have been able to get some good shots.Every now and again a new species for my feeder list turns up which hopefully will grow throughout the summer. The male pheasants are now being fed around my feet and the blue tits and robin perch literally next to my shoulder.

2005-12-22T13:04:00.000Z

11th December 2005. After a 12hr nightshift i picked up my dad and headed off to Rainham marshes to connect with the 1w SOCIABLE PLOVER . After a short wait for the reserve to open, we made our way to where the plover was showing well,albeit at a distance, with lapwings.The sun was breaking through but mist obscured the bird at times. It was very distinguishable with its broad white supercillium, long legs, three coloured upperparts, at rest the black wing tips were prominently edged with the white secondaries then the dusky upperparts. When in flight this patterning was stunning to see especially against the accompanying lapwings. It stayed on view for some time but never ventured any closer and eventually flew across the train lines and was lost to view, i could go home now and get some sleep with another new tick on my list.

2005-11-29T16:12:00.000Z

GREY CHEEKED THRUSH

2005-11-29T16:05:00.000Z

NOVEMBER 2005. GREY CHEEKED THRUSH.Northaw great wood,herts.
This small american thrush turned up well inland and caused a very large twitch during its stay.I was able to visit the site a few times to see this lovely little bird, and with sarah on one occassion.I was surprised by the size of the bird compared to our thrush's,the upperparts were brown with darker edges to the wing feathers,the upper tail and rump were a more richer colour and the undertail white,the underparts were a grey white on the breast and belly and a more solid grey down the flanks,it had distinctive spots on the breast with larger and darker spots under the throat and very distinct dark malar stripes,the cheeks were grey tinged and a buffish eyering was noted as well as a pale base to the lower mandible.The bird blended in very well amongst the leaf litter and it moved extremely fast when it ran from place to place, a lovely bird to see and obtain some nice pics aswell.

2005-11-28T14:51:00.000Z

November '05.
GREY CHEEKED THRUSH.

2005-11-28T10:35:00.000Z

November'05.
Just outside my home village in bedfordshire a large flock of golden plover were found. Myself and sarah had noticed a birder scanning the fields and on pulling over a flock of about 400 plover feeding were seen.I went home to get my camera gear and returned to obtain a couple of record shots.I scanned the group as best possible seeing if anything differant was mixed in with them, but nothing was noted.

2005-10-25T22:46:00.000+01:00

October 2005. A 1w white rumped sandpiper turned up at grafham water and stayed long enough for me and sarah to twitch this lovely little wader. I visited the site a couple of times and was lucky enough to get some good views and photos.

2005-10-24T14:16:00.000+01:00

2005-09-25T16:17:00.000+01:00

On the 16th of sept,myself and father travelled to norfolk.We didnt pick up the birds we were hoping for but it was a good trip anyway.The weather was very windy and blowing right onto the coast so photography was kept to a bare minimum.Sea watching we picked up manx and sooty shearwaters and also arctic and long tailed skuas, the long tailed being a new tick.The sea was rough aswell which gave me a few good photos.At cley an obliging little stint posed for a few photos.Even if the birds werent showing it was nice to spend the day in norfolk anyway.

2005-09-25T16:03:00.000+01:00

Through the middle part of september i visited my local spots with only common species being photographed.I took another visit to brampton on the 7th for sarah to see the cattle egret.It showed well with cattle viewed from behind the bus shelter, but only for a few minutes before it flew to the lake and out of site.The deer and kingfisher were still showing at fowlmere and also a grey wagtail.

2005-09-13T13:09:00.000+01:00

At the end of august, going into september, i started to make some early morning visits to find and photograph the kingfishers there. Once i'd located where they were frequenting i set myself up and the wait began. Before long they would make a few flights past and occassionally land on one of there perches, this one in particular a metal post, eventually over the space of a few days and very cramped up legs, i obtained some reasonable pictures. A bonus on the early morning visits was viewing the deer before they ventured further into the woods and got a few nice pics of fallow deer and also chinese water deer. But the most unexpected and frequent visitor was a mink which showed well enough for me to get a picture or two.

2005-08-24T14:47:00.001+01:00

August 2005.
On the 2nd visit to grafham i set myself up amongst the rocks on the shoreline and waited out for a few hours. The terns were showing well feeding, but not to the juveniles now, and what was good to watch was the black headed gulls catching small fish along the shoreline. They would follow the terns and once the terns had located a school of fish they too would dive in in the same head on manner and emerge with a small fish in the bill. A number of ringed plovers also came close aswell giving nice shots against the water rolling in.

2005-08-24T14:47:00.000+01:00

August 2005.
I had visited grafham water in cambs, a few times this month trying to capture some photos of terns there. The 1st visit i concealed myself near the bank and got some good views of juvenile terns being fed by the parents. As soon as the juveniles started calling it was time to start clicking as they would be so quick in passing the food it was over before you knew it. Whilst cammo'd up and laying still for a couple of hours a few waders, namely dunlin and greenshank, would pass and give good views also.

2005-08-19T11:33:00.000+01:00

Poplar kitten moth.
August 2005. The moth watching was busy whilst my birding was quiet, with many species photographed at home and some that were found whilst on nightshift where i work. My local birding and photography sites were very quiet due to the birds moving on and also the aggriculture work being done at this time of year dispersing everything. Its amazing how many types of moth there are and an interesting challenge to find out what their names are.

2005-08-19T11:25:00.000+01:00

Fen waistcoat moth.
Light emerald moth.
Leopard moth.
August thorn moth.
Canary shouldered thorn moth.
Swallow prominent moth.

2005-08-03T20:59:00.000+01:00

CATTLE EGRET at Brampton in Cambs'

2005-08-03T20:46:00.000+01:00

July 30th. Brampton in cambridgeshire. On the thursday night previous a adult cattle egret had been found at hinchingbrooke country park feeding amongst cattle. There was some debate as to whether it was an escapee but it turned out to be unringed and not part of the escaped lot from pensthorpe in norfolk. So after a delayed start to the mornings trip there ( due to my bulldog deciding to roll in a fresh cowpat whilst walking him and then needing a wash down ) i arrived at the side of the A14 slip road to view across the field and obtain cracking views of what was my first ever cattle egret. It was in stunning summer plumage with its golden coloured feathered back and long feathered golden crown and golden upper breast. The bill was an intense orange and all of this colour against the white plumage made it stand out all the more. It would preen out of sight quite alot behind the cows when they layed down but as soon as one of them got up and moved around the egret would follow it as it stirred up food in the form of insects. A real lovely bird and an addition to my list, i left after some time and just before i reached my car i stopped to talk to the finder of the bird just as a male sparrowhawk flew low over us and then met the female sparrowhawk who then upturned and caught the prey.

2005-08-03T20:24:00.000+01:00

Saturday 23rd july.2005.
Myself and my dad travelled early to bawdsey in suffolk after hearing that the lesser crested tern had been seen on the lagoon here on the evening of friday 22nd. On arrival though our mood was to sink as there had been no sign of the tern at all that morning before we got there. As the time passed it didnt look good so we decided after hearing of the marsh sandpiper still showing not far from where we were. On arrival at north warren marsh we quickly set up and then got distant scope views of the sandpiper, at least we had a new species for us to both add to our list. Even though far off you could see the features of this delicate looking bird. It had clean white underparts and i could see the long yellowish legs, the very slender bill and white eyestripe. From there we went to minsmere and birded for a couple of hours before journeying home with our chins slightly raised from the floor after obtaining a new ( albeit not the one we wanted ) species.

2005-08-03T20:10:00.000+01:00

July 21st and an early start to try and connect with the lesser crested tern at minsmere in suffolk. On arrival the bird had just landed out of sight and after a lengthy wait and still no sign people started to move to other hides to see if it was viewable from there. On arrival in a differant hide i was informed the tern could be seen distantly from here. I observed the tern through someones scope and then moved to set up my own. A shout then went up that the bird had taken flight and grabbing my bins saw the back of a distant tern flying towards the coastline. I did not see the birds distinguishing features and was 'gutted'. Another long wait in the hope it would return back from flying out to sea, but it was not to come back.

2005-08-03T08:00:00.000+01:00

JULY 18th - 20th. 2005
Around the south of cambridgeshire the juveniles from the first broods were very much in evidence with the pied and yellow wagtails especially, they were coping on their own while the adult yellow wagtails were busy catching food and taking it off to the nest. The goldfinch young were still attached to the adults and would follow them about. The juvenile house martins and swallows were still keeping close to the parents ,and when the adults came down to collect mud and bits of straw the young birds would land back from them and observe their actions and sometimes attempt to collect something for themselves.

2005-07-16T00:41:00.000+01:00

JULY 15th.
Today started a bit overcast contrary to the forecast(nothing unusual) but the birds were still showing well. The puddle had to be made again after drying out the day before. The greenfinchs were visiting regular and one group contained 6 of these little green gems. But by far the most unexpected and spectacular bird was a grey wagtail that put in an appearance. It stayed only a matter of seconds but was close enough for my snap off a shot before it flew and not return(maybe another day i hope).

2005-07-16T00:27:00.000+01:00

13th/ Today was a busy morning of activity, with a few swallows coming down to collect mud was a great sight as they had previously been too wary to land. They would also collect small bits of straw, blown off the horse manure pile, for mixing in with their nesting material. A male pheasant was sunning himself in the early morning heat atop the pile and the linnets were becoming more numerous staying in a group of four or more.A female pheasant was excavating food from the base of the manure with its feet and in spreading it everywhere provided loose stuff for the yellow wagtail and yellowhammer to forage amongst. A lovely sight that was new and captured on camera were two goldfinches. They came down a few times to drink and were stunning in their colour. A good morning alround.

2005-07-16T00:12:00.000+01:00

12th/ A new sighting at the morden site came in the form of a juvenile meadow pipit. It stayed for a few minutes feeding then departed. The corn buntings were still in full song and its a wonder they get the chance to do anything else due to their vocal activities.

2005-07-16T00:00:00.000+01:00

JULY 10th through to JULY 15th.
10th/The Mordens site was still in full swing and what with the dry weather the birds couldnt resist the puddle i made for them, and before long the usual crew were on the scene. A male yellow wagtail was the most stunning bird of the day. Watched collecting insects again.

2005-07-14T23:55:00.000+01:00

JUNE 2005.
At the end of june myself and sarah did some moth watching in our garden, in the hope of seeing some form of hawkmoth feeding on our honeysuckle plants. Sure enough with the mild evenings we glimpsed a couple of large moths but were unable to get close views. One that took us by suprise was a pink coloured moth that neither of us had seen before. A quick glance through the books and we were sure we had 1 or 2 elephant hawkmoths in our garden. From then on every night we waited and waited and sure enough on the dot most nights the elephant hawkmoth returned, along with a privet hawkmoth. We were able to photograph both when they landed(one flew inside our conservatory)even having them land on ourselves.

2005-07-14T17:03:00.000+01:00

In Birdland Photo Gallery

2005-07-14T00:24:00.000+01:00

Pied wagtail Cambs' 2005.
Blackbird Cambs' 2005.
Blackbird Cambs' 2005.
June 2005. Cambridegshire. A female blackbird showed extremely well today and i got some cracking views of it feeding on small worms found on the puddles edge, also i had a yellow wagtail visit along with a pied wagtail.

2005-07-13T16:10:00.000+01:00

June 2005. My local birding moved between Cambridgshire and Hertfordshire this month with me obtaining some good photos of birds visiting the puddles or manure heaps that i set up near. Mind you the smell can be a bit bad from the heaps if its blowing at you. The main star birds to show well for me were the wagtails and swallows and martins. Every five minutes or so the martins would fly in frantically collect as much mud as possible from the puddles edge then fly off again.