Dangling Marsh Lover

 

I wonder what you imagined this post would be about when you saw the title...

The Latin name for the hoverfly in the first three images is Helophilus pendulus which means "dangling marsh lover". It is the most common species of hoverfly and has quite striking markings with bold colours.

The eagle eyed visitor to this page will have noticed that the fourth image is of a different variety of hover fly (I cannot specify which) which is busy sucking up nectar from the tiny flowers.

Nuthatch

 

I really love nuthatches, there is something bout the way they move about the trees often hanging upside down and almost always on the move. I love their colours and the bandit face mask.

I think the first time I photographed one was in the walled garden at Royden park not far from where I live, it was feeding at a bird feeder and going back and forth to a nest. I have a nice memory of seeing several in the grounds at Sizergh Castle too and I sat for ages watching them.

This one was spotted in Boilton Wood at the edge of Brockholes nature reserve near Preston. It is probably my favourite shot that I have captured of a nuthatch because of its pose, the colours and lighting which is enhanced by the early morning sun behind me and the carpet of bluebells in the background.

A Burst Of Colour

 There have been many times when I have spotted small flocks of Goldfinches darting from  treetop to treetop, chattering away and felt tormented because they have always proved to be incredibly difficult to photograph.

I was excited when I heard this chap singing away and hoped to get a decent shot but for a while I couldn't spot him. After a few minutes however I caught a glimpse and slowly, I crept towards him hoping that he would stay still long enough.

Perched high up he caught the early morning sun perfectly, showing off his brilliant plumage. I say "he" because although the females have similar plumage they are slightly duller and have less red on the face so I am fairly confident this one is a male.

These are fairly common birds across the UK and although intensive agriculture has led to reduced numbers garden feeders have helped to maintain the population. Although they are quite common I still count it as a privilege to have got such lovely pictures.

The oldest recorded age for a Goldfinch is 14 years which seems pretty  good for such a small and delicate creature. 

In the 19th century they were popular cagebirds with 132,000 birds a year being caught in Sussex alone for this purpose. I think I would much rather see them in the wild, on the wing or up a tree than in a cage. 

Great Tit

 I was trying to photography a young Roe Deer buck that was sneaking around in the woodland when this beautiful great tit flew onto a post right in front of me, pausing just long enough for me to get one shot before deciding I was not interesting enough (I didn't offer him any snacks) and flying off.

Although it was quite shady along this stretch of the path there was enough morning sunlight to illuminate his brilliant colours.

Face Off

 I go for days without any pictures to share and then when I get a nice bunch of pictures I sit on them for ages.  I really need to be more organised sometimes.

Anyway this sequence of pictures, of two coots having a scrap was shot at Brockholes early last Friday morning. They were a long way off so I have had to crop quite a lot to bring the birds into view but you can see there was quite a vicious scuffle going on.

Coots are strange birds and for their size they are unusually aggressive. They will even attack their own young because as parents, once their chicks reach a certain age, they will divide the brood between them and they will fight off and drive away any of the young who are the responsibility of the other parent. In can seem quite harsh when you see an adult bird apparently trying to drown a chick but really, through the division of labour they are ensuring that each chick has the best chance to survive.

Goose

 This was one of the first images I captured on my morning visit to Brockholes. I had been watching a couple of Brown Hares nearby when I spotted this greylag goose through the reeds, enjoying the early  morning sun. It was sitting so calm and serene and I think this image sums up how I felt in that moment with the sun on my back and total calm all around me.

Looking at in now I am also drawn in by the warm layers of colour (which actually are misleading because it was pretty cold at just 3C or 37F).

Common but Beautiful

 

Last weekend I went over to see my son and daughter-in-law and took a number of pictures of their exotic pets. I have sorted out several to share on this page however I just haven't got round to it during the week so I will need to get more organised because there are some really interesting shots that I am sure you will love (or maybe they will give yo chills).

However today I was off work and for the first time in a while I felt really motivated to go out and get some new pictures. I got up at 5:30am and headed off to a reserve near Preston called Brockholes. Getting there early was a good idea because there was lots to see, from Brown Hares, Roe Deer, Longhorn cattle, all manner of birds and lots of wild flowers. The conditions were perfect and I had a fabulous time and got a really nice selection of shots. I would say it is the first time in a long time I have felt so positive about an outing like this and I can't wait to share some of my favourite images.

The first pictures I wanted to share were taken about 45 minutes to an hour into my visit. I had spotted this Common Kestrel hovering in the distance and I watched it settle in a tree off to my left. As I tried to get closer it kept flying off along the treeline and settled just out of range. It was so frustrating but as I very slowly made my approach it had obviously worked out that I was not a threat and it stayed settled for some time.

I was really pleased with the first image because moments before it had pooed (too much information???) so I knew I didn't have long before it took to the air again. I wasn't wrong.

What surprised and thrilled me most however was that the bird flew almost directly towards me and went into a stoop almost directly above me allowing me to get the next two images, before it realised it was just a bit too close and then flew off.

For me the second picture is my picture of the day, possible even picture of the year so far, it is almost definitely going to feature in my calendar for 2023. I love the shape of the kestrel as it hangs there in the sky, I love its piercing glare. I love the way its tail is fanned out so you can see every detail. The light on the underside of the wings is perfect and the shadow of its claws... This bird is so so beautiful. 

OK, I will stop gushing now.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do.

Wonderful Whitethroat

A couple of days before this I had unsuccessfully tried to get a good shot of a whitethroat.

Like the blackcap I showed you the other day these birds have a beautiful song and they fly about the trees and hedgerows and they are very difficult to spot. I got a couple of shots taken at distance but nothing that I was really thrilled with. Then, as I was heading back to the car park I spotted this little fella perched at the top of a tree singing his heart out. I was able to get several shots and I have to say I am really pleased with them. I love the pose in this picture as he is looking around. I think you will agree he is a handsome little bird.

Two Up

Two Pictures
Two Species
Two Geese

Getting good shots of birds in flight is not easy and to be honest I wasn't really set up for these as I was taking pictures of swans swimming and smaller songbirds in the trees.  On each occasion the geese flying by took me by surprise and I would have preferred to use a faster shutter speed. All the same I am fairly happy with these shots of Canada Geese in the first image and Greylag Geese in the second.

Blackcap

This is such a little beauty, a female Blackcap.

It was a real treat to capture this shot because these birds rarely sit still. Also as spring advances and the leaves and blossom fill out the branches the birds are increasingly difficult to spot. Early morning the air was filled with birdsong and the Blackcap has a beautiful rich clear song. As I walked through the woods I could hear them singing and as I approached their song changed to a warning "tac tac", it was really hard to see them, and just as I caught a glimpse they flew off to find a different perch. Spotting this one high up on a  hawthorn tree I couldn't believe my luck as she sat long enough for me to get a clear shot.

Sail On

Early morning on the banks of the River Ribble just outside of Preston I was photographing a beautiful Mute Swan on a stretch of the river that was mirror calm, the only movement being the gentle ring of ripples around the swan.  Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted this other swan coming, steaming in. Head down and wings curled he looked quite intimidating. Also with the rising sun breaking through the trees on the opposite bank this shot is beautifully lit. 

This image contains some of my favourite elements, ripples, reflection and wildlife. What more could you wish?

Cool Kestrel

Hopefully you saw the pictures I posted a couple of weeks ago of this beautiful kestrel at Brockholes reserve. Today I have chosen to post a few more shots of the same bird, firstly perched on top of a post that he had visited for food and the other two as he sat at the top of a wicker arch surveying the landscape. He was acutely aware of my presence but as long as I didn't approach too close or too quickly he was quite content to sit and pose for me.

Willow Wands

I had gone to Brockholes to shoot photos of the bird life there and I wasn't planning on photographing anything else but while waiting near a reed bed for some action I spotted these fluffy willow buds emerging as an early sign of spring. I always go out prepared with a selection of lenses just in case opportunities like this turn up so I changed from my big zoom to my macro lens and snapped a few shots. 

I think these are really nice images, I love the texture of the buds and I like the way the buds seem to climb, curling upwards around the stem. I also like them because they are a promise that spring with warmer weather is not far away.

Super Songbird

Yesterday I posted a selection of shots of a beautiful male Kestrel at Brockholes, if you missed them take a few minutes to have a look because I am really pleased with them and think you will be too. I have lots more so at some point I will most likely post a few more of my favourites.

For today I have selected a couple of shots of a wonderful Song Thrush, and in the first image he is in full song. He was quite a way off but his song was so clear and loud it was impossible to ignore him. Sadly we don't see as many of these lovely birds as we once did so it was a nice treat to be able to stand for a while listening as he filled the air with his beautiful song (click the link to listen)

These were shot at 600 mm  and with the low light and the crop factor these pictures are a little grainy but nevertheless they are really nice. The third shot is of a different bird and he was a little closer but in his search for food he was still keeping a safe distance from me.

All Day Breakfast

A few weeks ago I shared a series of photos taken at an owl and bird of prey sanctuary and while it was a thrill to see so many beautiful birds of prey up close it cannot match the thrill of seeing one of these birds close up in the wild.

Today was my first chance to get out with my camera for a while and I was hoping for some good photo opportunities. I went to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve at Brockholes near Preston. 

Top of my list of species I hoped to see was the Kestrel and so I was really excited to see this male Kestrel as I pulled into the car park. The bird in all four pictures is the same one, the first image though was taken at the start of the day when it was very dull, the other shots were taken about an hour later when the bird was tempted back by a handful of tasty mealworms put out by another visitor.

As you can see from the second shot he didn't waste any time at all snatching his first mouthful before he had even settled on the post and then in the third shot that expression seems to say "stay back, these worms are mine!"

These pictures were shot at 300mm (or thereabouts) but with fairly low shutter speeds and high ISO because of the poor light meaning they are a little grainy. I was able to get really close though so I haven't needed to crop these pictures at all.

Sweet Songbird

Another soft focus today for this shot of a male Linnet(Linaria cannabina)  in breeding plumage. These birds have a beautiful song and were once very popular as cage birds. Apparently they derive their scientific name from the fact that they like to feed on hemp and their English name from another favourite food which is Flax from which linen is made.

There was a 57% decline in numbers in the UK between the 1970's and 2008 but happily in some parts of the UK they are seeing an increase and I was pleased to see this little beauty helping to brighten up a wet morning at Brockholes. I recall reading a novel in school many years ago where one of the characters had a linnet on her hat, sadly I can't remember which book so actually that was quite a useless bit of trivia, never mind .

Morning Madness

Some people might think that getting up at 3 am on a cold and wet Monday is madness but actually it was totally worth it, I had a great time and I had no trouble getting up and I didn't mind how wet it was at times. 

I had hoped to see deer (which I did) but I was also hoping to see some Brown Hares (and I did). They are normally quite shy and if you visit Brockholes during the day you are unlikely to see them but at dawn they seem to be totally at ease as you can see from these shots. They were full of life and energy and although I didn't see them boxing (something they do in March/April) they seemed to be having fun chasing each other around.

Whitethroat

I know this isn't the sharpest picture I have ever posted that is because it was shot in very poor light and has a high ISO so it is a bit soft and grainy but it is still a nice image and if I printed it onto a photorag paper it would look a bit like a watercolour so the softness would work well.

This little song bird is a whitethroat and it flits about over hedges and scrub land and it will perch on low branches or thickets and sing its little head off. 

It also has a really interesting song flight in that it seems to bob through the air whilst in full song. It flies upwards and then drops down as if it has stalled mid-air and then it flies up again and drops again and then it will find a perch to settle on before resuming this bouncing musical display.

The bird in this picture is a male, the female is more brown in colour but equally as beautiful.

Young Buck

About ten days ago I got up at 3am and headed off to Brockholes in Lancashire for a dawn photo shoot in the hope of capturing some shots of the deer and hares that are known to visit the area in the early hours before visitors arrive.

Unfortunately it was a really cloudy morning so I didn't see the sunrise just a slow transition from dark grey to a lighter shade of grey and for much of the morning it rained heavily some from a photography perspective it was a bit of a washout.

From a nature watching viewpoint it was anything but. There were a few  Roe deer like this handsome young buck  which was foraging on the far bank of the river Ribble and several beautiful brown hares. There were also lots of birds around so I actually had a great time. The early morning birdsong was wonderful and because of the bad weather I practically had the whole place to myself. There were a couple of hides where I was able to make the most of the quiet time and I think there is a good chance I would go back and do it all again.