SOME BIRDS FROM THIS AUTUMN AND WINTER

Here are some images of the birds that were around the farm during this Autumn and Winter. Hope you like them.

blue tit

 

song thrush

male brambling

fieldfare

There were Redwing at the farm as well but they were far to skittish so didn't manage a photo.

mistle thrush

a cold looking male stonechat

tawny owls

Might have had trouble with the Tawny's this year as this nest box was full of twigs by the middle of April. The culprits being Squirrels, They either didn't breed for some reason or they went early and the owlets had already left the nest box by then. Will have to see if they're back in this box next year.

female blackbird

male blackbird

 

starlings

Hope you enjoyed the selection, thanks for dropping by see you soon.

PORTRAIT OF A BUZZARD

 Here's a beautiful Buzzard that landed on a lampost near my home recently and stayed there long enough for me to get a few pics before it took off.

buzzard on an old lampost

 A Facebook friend of mine Christian Paul who is a portrait artist asked if he could paint one of the pictures. So of course I told him I'd be very honoured and here is the result.

buzzard portrait

 A very talented young man indeed I was well pleased with it.

Here's a couple more Buzzard pictures I've taken recently and a couple of Red Kite photos as well, these are obviously birds in flight.

buzzard

red kite

While we're on the subject of raptors here's a Sparrowhawk pic from below which flew over the house recently.

sparrowhawk

Big thanks to Christian for painting my Buzzard pics a very talented man, I was very humbled that someone wanted to paint one of my pictures it just makes you feel good.

THIS WOOD IS ON FIRE

 Early last Summer my old mate Steven Bool and myself went to a lovely wood near where he lives to do a bit of birding and hopefully capture some images. The wood was alive with the calls of loads of different species, warblers, finches, thrushes and lots more. He had located some territories of Gold and Firecrests which made my adrenalin rush as these two species had been on my photography wish list for some time. We sat and waited and after some time to our sheer delight this little beauty showed up.

firecrest

Yes a Firecrest what a beauty, we couldn't believe how lucky we were that it came in so close. I rattled off a few pics and then we decided to leave the area as it might still be nesting close by.

 I think this is a female as it lacks any red on the crest. What a feeling it was to see and photograph such a cracking little bird. Big thanks to Steve for his local knowledge, without him I would never have found let alone been able to see these beautiful birds.

A KESTREL FLEW IN

 At the tail end of last Spring this female Kestrel flew in and stayed around near my home for nearly a week. It was great to see it and gave me some great photographic opportunities. Don't really know why it chose to stay around for so long maybe it's a non breeding adult or perhaps it's breeding attempt had failed for one reason or another. 

It was relentlessly dived bombed by the Swallows that were breeding in my shed but still stayed for them precious few days.

the female Kestrel

Where it went after it departed who knows? but I was mighty pleased it stopped by.

A TRIP TO EAST ANGLIA

A weeks holiday to East Anglia last spring was a great week for myself and my lovely Wife to check out some excellent bird reserves and have a well earned break from the riggers of working life, and to boot was part of my 60th birthday celebrations.

We first went to Suffolk so I could finally visit Minsmere a place I've always wanted to see. A wonderful place where the highlights for me was the Bittern a bird I've only seen once before so was a real treat.

bittern

There were lots on offer there including a Sandmartin bank where they were nesting and coming in to feed their chicks, also the Common and Sandwich Terns were great to photograph.

sandmartin

common tern

common tern

sandwich tern

A fantastic reserve and well worth a visit.

We moved up to North Norfolk for the second half of the week staying at Snettisham village where we obviously visited the reserve, as well as Titchwell and a couple of others (which I can't remember the names of). Some great birds at these reserves with the Marsh Harriers being one of the stand out species. 

male marsh harrier

the female

Here's a selection of other birds seen at the reserves.

lapwing

white throat

reed warbler

skylark

distant barn owl

There was also a first for me a Woodlark although the photo is terrible it's the only record I've got so I'm keeping it.

woodlark

We managed to capture some of the local mammals which was a great bonus here's a selection.

muntjac deer

fallow deer

brown hare

A great time watching and photographing the local wildlife and would love to go again. What made it extra special is the it was part of my 60th birthday celebrations and the Sun shone all week, its was an excellent trip.