Stories and photographs from my travels.

Talk about rain, well that’s all most people in the East Midlands did all April, in between getting wet.

A short post this month, what with the weather and all…..see what the BBC thought about it all here  - wettest April on record – 3x the average rainfall, coldest April since 1989 and 5 deg C colder than this time last year, but we’re still in a drought, hmm….

Well it started off well…

Frost on the ground, fights and a close encounter………..

The arrival of some migrants made things a bit more interesting than just the locals. These Sand Martins taking a well-earned rest on a popular spot.

A couple of Greylag geese in flight.

The Little Egrets seems to have all but deserted us at the moment, although they are still not yet breeding in Derbyshire.

There are 2 Redshank pairing up at the moment, but there has been that much rain, I’m not sure where they will nest.

The Oystercatcher nest was predated – I thought it was one of these chaps, but the consensus is that it’s an old fox ["Reynard"] with a limp, who has done the deed. He may have a limp, but he can sure swim!

There are approx. 7 Greylag geese who are hanging around the gravel pits this year. They normally don’t come here much, preferring to breed over at Swarkestone gravel pits in front of the causeway. Maybe one or two may breed here this year – who knows.

The chances for good, close BIF shots has been poor so far this year, but you get what you can, when you can. This drake Gadwall showing his “hidden” flight feathers.

Willow Warblers seem to be singing everywhere and with the leaf growth advancing, it won’t be long before we won’t be able to see them!

In between rain storms is a good place to be in migration time. We had 12 Arctic Tern through one evening, with 2 Little Gulls [one 1st Summer, one adult]. Unfortunately the Little Gulls were so far away, it was difficult to get anything decent.

The good thing about storms, is that there is usually a bit of nice weather in-between getting wet – this Reed Bunting was singing for all he was worth.

Whether you call it luck, or spending hours and hours on site, or both – it was lovely to catch this stray Avocet, who only stayed for 15 mins, then off on its journey.

We never did see whether this Great-crested Grebe actually swallowed this sizeable Perch, complete with nasty spines. It disappeared out of sight behind the reed bed – it certainly looked painful!

The Wren really didn’t like me, and I was only standing in my normal spot – gosh, they make a lot of noise for their small size!

A chance BIF shot of a Shelduck.

These Linnets are building a nest on the edge of one of the reed beds, in the bottom of some brambles – ouch!

Well there you have it – April – a bit patchy, some dreadful weather, some highlights, some spells of sunshine.

Not too disappointing though – the rain has done my garden good!

I look forward to a livelier, drier May, but I wouldn’t bet on it!

Cheers.

Richard

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***********   First, an apology to followers of my blog. I have been messing around with mobile phone/social network technologies and you may have accidentally been notified of some lame postings, which have come from my mobile phone via my Twitter account [@RichardPittam ] .  I have kept the twitter account,
which you are welcome to follow, but I have, for the time-being, stopped it auto-posting to my blog, until I think there is something worth putting on there. Sorry if it caused hassle, or indeed if it pee’d anyone off. *************

………anyway, back to the March Blog:

Funny thing is weather.  Just when you think you’ve sussed it, it springs a surprise. Mind you the surprise this March, for the most part, was a very pleasant one, with cool blue-sky mornings and roasting hot days and the arrival back of one or two old friends.

As usual, a few trips local’ish and the rest at my local patch, Willington DWT.

I have started to keep a log of some birds on my phone and also to take a picture from my camera-phone, each time I visit Willington, or anywhere for that matter. Since I only tend to carry my big lens around, I never seem to have the opportunity to take a wide-angle shot. The camera phone is OK – it gives a reasonable image.

First outing of March was Friday 2nd. The diary reports: Foggy: 3 Shelduck, water rail, 2 oystercatchers, 4 shoveler,55 Wigeon, 40+ Canada geese, 3 mute Swans, Cetti’s seen, wren singing, lots of black-headed Gulls.

Yes, it was very foggy at first, but then it brightened up a bit.  There was no wind in the air and as such no real BIF [birds in flight] opportunities, so all that was left was to try and photograph the beautiful Reed Bunting in their environment.

I did manage a record shot of the singing Cetti’s Warbler though!

Next day out was 5th March – diary notes: Clear and cold - 2 oystercatchers, 5 herring gull, cormorant, Kingfisher, little egret, 3 grey Heron, 1 adult common gull, Redwing, bullfinch, Cetti’s warbler, 27 curlew, Peregrine.

A lovely clear day again, but no wind. I was lucky to get a shot of one of the Power Station Peregrines, which had cruised in looking for breakfast. To be honest, it was that persistant, I did think it would actually take a duck of the water, but it was mobbed by gulls and eventually left. Killer eyes though – what a magnificent bird !!

I had to wait until Friday 9th to get out to Willington again.  My diary reads: 2 oystercatchers, 2 curlew, 14 shoveler, black-headed gulls, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 4 shelduck, 2 little egrets, 80 Wigeon in @ 0800h. 5 greylag at 0809h, skylark, 2 goosander males. A few more birds about today and not a bad morning, after some early cloud. It was still cold though, when out of the sun.

Here’s some shots from that day.

Isn’t the Gadwall lovely in flight, when you see the male’s chestnut brown wing bar – it’s hardly ever seen when the bird is on the ground.

The Oystercatchers have a peculiar courtship ritual, following each other ground very quickly, piping downwards. All you need is the Benny Hill music.

A Grey Heron cruised over the tops of the reeds. Although a lovely bird, it would have been nice if it had been a Bittern doing that, and so close aswell.

Saturday 10th saw a trip out with a colleague, Gary.  We went to Cromford first, then onto Beeley Moor. The weather was less than kind, being very misty early on and very cold on the moors later. At Cromford early on we were lucky to see 5 Hawfinches – unfortunately not to photograph. We saw a total of 8 Dippers along the stretch of River Derwent from the back of the Cromford Church, down to behind the rugby Club field.

A poor shot, but it was from a 300mm lens across the River Derwent.

On the way back home on Saturday I picked up my new present, a 1D mk4 camera [thank you Ken x]. So it was out on Sunday morning to give it a try. Now there’s nothing wrong with the 1D mk3 and indeed i have kept it, but the mk4 will give me a few more pixels to play with [16mp c.f. 10 mp], when trying to bag those “distant” Willington birds. First impressions are – it’s a brilliant camera. Here are some shots of some of the Willington residents.

Monday 12th saw me and “Hilton” Pete at Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve, just south of the River Humber in Lincolnshire. After promising so much, the weather let us down badly. It was very misty for most of the day – in fact the weather put a damper on things. We did see upwards of 10 Marsh Harriers, a Ringtail female Hen Harrier and numerous ducks and Snipe. The afternoon picked up a bit, but the visibility was poor with a lot of haze.

Here are one or two images salvaged from the day out.

Nothing to do but work until Saturday. Nothing much doing today, with only a short visit.

An Oystercatcher simply doing as he was taught to do by his mum and dad – catch oysters. Well, Swan Mussels – close enough. Fascinating to watch though, as they nimbly and with great dextrosity, open the mussel.

Mother’s Day called on the Sunday

Not many more trips before the month ended, due to work commitments.

Here are a few images from that remaining period:

We’ll see what happens in April, as Spring really gets under way.

See you then.

Cheers.

Richard

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February – nearly always cold – remnants of winter and a reminder that we’re not out of the winter woods just yet. Last year I was spoilt – a week away in Florida – this year, not so

The weather in February is s much a part of the month, as anything – the birds are sometimes scarce and if the weather’s bad, then you’re stuck inside. This winter has been cold, but not as cold as 2010/11, which saw consistently low temperatures, well below freezing. As a result, lots of Waxwings, Redwings and Fieldfare. This year, a smattering of Waxwings nationally, fair flocks of Fieldfare, but not as many Redwing as I remember in past years.

Out to my local patch Willingon, DWT, some residents going about their business.

This Blue Tit stripping the reed stems for some food.

A Dunlin whizzes by.

Now for years I’ve been trying to get a good flight shot of a Snipe – plenty of bad ones and plenty of shots of them pottering around on the ground, or sitting staring into space. This morning was a chance encounter – a strong wind and a bright day. The wind was almost too strong to photograph because of vibrations, but these two Snipe shot out of the reed bed in front of me and had to battle against the headwind, slowing them down a bit. I stress, only slowing them  down a bit – they were still motoring! I only managed to get one clean and in focus, but I was pleased with the result.

The next morning, it was freezing and almost the whole pit was frozen over. This pair of Mute Swans were in fact, frozen into the ice. Such is their resilience and their adaptation to their surroundings, that they waited for a bit of sunshine, then loosened the ice with their wings, then stirred the ice to break it up with their feet, then helped each other out of the water, onto the ice. All this in 10 minutes flat.

These frosty Lapwings were frozen onto the ice and were roused to wake up by a lovely colourful morning sunrise.

Here they are half an hour later, just starting to move around a bit, but still very frosty.

Here’s one of the Swans, stretching their wings after a cold night.

Out onto the ice.

And away………….

Not birds, but an interesting sight anyway, especially on the ice. There is a good population of foxes at Willington – good for the foxes, not so good for the breeding waders and ducks though.

With all of Willington DWT frozen up, there was a chance to go to nearby Leicestershire, for some Short-eared Owls. They had been very scarce this year in Derbyshire, with only a few sightings locally and the usual odd ones at Leash Fen, in the far north of the County. These were at a National Forest site near Moira, called Hicks Lodge. There were supposed to be 4 of them and they were regularly out most afternoons/evenings. Fantastic birds SEO’s – here’s a selection – just enjoy them.

A nice surprise at Willington on the 18th – a “rare” Bittern – a record shot taken from the other side of the reserve, some 300 yards away.

I only saw it briefly 3 times – mind you no-one else even saw it.

There were some limited chances for flight shots towards the latter part of the month. Shoveler never disappoint with their formation flying.

The Cormorants were in full breeding plumage. There are good numbers visiting Willington everyday, although the biggest breeding colony is at Drakelow DWT.

A surprise visit from a Black-tailed Godwit – a bit early in the year I must say, though.

This one was beautifully marked for one in Winter plumage.

The Oystercatchers are back – all three of them. There’ll be some arguments this year!

There was more courtship and breeding – this time a pair of Mute Swans. I had never seen this before, but it was quite beautiful.

A few “Herring” Gulls added an element of identification challenges for some.

A distant Sparrowhawk rounded off a typically quiet February – a few highlights and some decent weather.

Here’s to a good March!

Cheers.

Richard

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So, it’s 2012 – a brand new photography and birdwatching year starts – wonder what it will bring.

It started off with a local patch visit on the 2nd – a nice-enough day, lots of “local” birds to see and a chance to catch up with the Willington regulars, after the Christmas break.  Gulls, cormorants and a few mixed ducks.

This mixed flock were very tetchy and were up and down like the proverbial.

This winter Black-headed Gull was in full plumage.

The 4th brought a bit more interest – a Grey Heron, who had an agent I think.

Happy to pose, albeit a distance away from me. He was in his finery, but Grey Herons, like Cormorants, breed very early on in the year.

On the 7th, the first Waxwing of the new year – this time in Kirk Hallam, nr Ilkeston.  It was a dreadful morning, the wind was blowing a gale and it was ffffrrreezing!

Waxwings are always a pleasure to photograph and despite how many images you see, or take, I don’t think you can ever have too many.

Compared to last year [2011], there haven’t been many at all, but then again it’s not been cold enough yet.

Without planning it, the Grey Heron seems prominent this year, so far. Maybe that’s because there’s so many about. If I get a chance to, I may make a point of getting close to some this year.

Another beautiful Black-headed Gull.

Lovely lighting – a dark grey, stormy sky, with some hot sunshine.

Some Gadwall in flight.

The Winter Moon, always fun to shoot with a long lens.

Our first trip to Norfolk of 2012, started with calling into WWT Welney, to see the Swans and wildfowl. It was a lovely cold day, so I was hopeful of some decent flight chances.

This Mallard was coming into the feed area.

The next day found us twitching in Fakenham, for the Great Grey Shrike, near Morrisons supermarket! Very distant on a poor-light day, a record shot was the best I could do.

I did manage a very fleeting glimpse of the Shrike in flight, but also distant. Never mind, better luck next time.

Arriving at the cottage we were renting [mid-way between Cley and Holt], we found we had a pair of resident Barn Owls in the boxes in the rear garden, adjacent to the field!

The pair proved to be difficult to photograph, only coming out near-dark and immediately flying across to an adjacent wood. We did see them however, perched in the tree at the bottom of the driveway, when coming home from the pub at night [that's us coming from the pub, and the Barn Owls in the tree!].

For those interested in the cottage, here are some details:

Swan Lodge Barns - http://www.swanlodgebarns.co.uk .

We can recommend “Bixes Barn”, as that was the one we stayed in. Aside from being very nice and very quiet, it is also an excellent place to view the night-sky, on a clear night.

The next day in Norfolk, we decided to twitch again, this time for Taiga Bean Geese and a Lesser White-fronted Goose, all at Buckenham Marshes RSPB, just SE of Norwich – a 1 hour drive. It was a very long walk with my gear in the rucksack and the geese were a long way away, but a few poor record shots were taken, but I was lucky enough to hear several Cetti’s Warblers singing and also see some lovely flocks of Wigeon en-route to the geese.

Tuesday 17th Jan, saw us visit RSPB Titchwell Marsh nature reserve, to twitch yet again!.  This time we were looking for the Coue’s Arctic Redpoll [Carduelis hornemanni exilipes].  This sub-species of Arctic Redpoll breeds in the tundra of northern North America and Europe. This one was travelling with Scandinavian Lesser Redpoll and Common (Mealy) Redpolls. We found it in the Alder trees on the back path, to the rear of the visitor centre.

Further into the reserve, this Common Pheasant stood quite still while I photographed him in the frost of the morning.

Here are a few birds seen at Titchwell that day.

It seems strange at Titchwell with the new “gi-normous” Parinder Hide. A concrete monstrosity some call it – maybe it’s an architectual statement of man’s ability to tame nature, if not to beat it – who can say? Anyway, a good way to see things here is not to sit in a hide, but to stay outside on the newly-widened paths, and watch and wait for the birds to fly over you. Of course you get pestered a bit – like “I’ll bet you can see Yarmouth with that lens”, or “what are you doing?” – never mind eh?

This Black-tailed Godwit in it’s winter plumage, was relaxing on one leg at the edge of the brackish pool.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese are a favourite of mine and these at Titchwell were not exception.

Later on in the week, we were driving back from Titchwell and the evening looked like it was going to be a corker of a sunset.  We had to stop off at one of my favourite Barn Owl haunts. It did not disappoint. On first arrival there was already one owl quartering over the field. This was followed by 3 more – I did not know where to point my lens next!

Enjoy.

Barn Owls are just superb aren’t they?

A chance occurred later in the week, where the weather was good – nice blue skies, a bit of wind [in the air!] and plenty of birds in the air – what more can you ask for?

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, Golden Plover can cruise by closer than normal – beautiful birds.

There were some, but not many waders around – a few Dunlin, the scarce and rare Western Sandpiper [I got some distant and crap images - not posted here, sadly] and the ubiquitous Redshank.

Back to Willington on the 22nd, brought continued high westerly winds and in-flight chances, just bordering on possible. A couple of miles an hour more and it would have been too strong.

These 6 Pintail ducks remained frustratingly almost always on the water, seeking shelter from the battering of the high winds.

This Little Egret was almost stationary as it battled headlong into the wind. With full sun on it’s brilliant white plumage, keeping the image from burning out was a real challenge.

Sometimes you get there a bit too early for the sun, but then there’s some flight action. Time to get creative and utilise some slow shutter speed with a motion blur shot.

That’s pretty much it for January 2012.

Not a bad start to the year, some decent weather and some good opportunities. Let’s hope February brings some more of the same.

Cheers.

Richard

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I was surprised and happy to receive an email from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust last week. They wanted some of my Water Vole images for use in their publications and also to help put together presentations for some forthcoming workshops.  Amongst other images, they chose these two, to go in their “Free workshops in the Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes” brochure. The vole eating the leaf is my favourite. I cannot, sadly, claim the Otter images.

As usual, I am happy to give my images free to local conservation groups, as they do a brilliant job in saving our countryside heritage.

Richard - Feb 2012

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