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).

Something Creepy

 Isn't this little chap adorable? 

This is one of my favourite woodland species, a Treecreeper. Although they are quite widespread (214,000 pairs in the UK) they are really difficult to spot. They are very small, and they are constantly on the move as they almost scurry up and down tree trunks and along branches in search of food. They cling tight to the bark, often using their tails to give additional support, their brown plumage is perfect camouflage and that curved beak is just right for probing the cracks in the bark for the insects that make up its diet.

When I spotted this one I was also pleased to see a second treecreeper further up on a neighbouring tree which is unusual as they are normally solitary birds; although as we are at the start of spring it is possible this was a breeding pair out foraging together. Anyway whatever their story I think this is a little woodland gem and I am definitely very pleased to have captured these images which I can share with you.

Formation Flying... Keep Up Back There!

 I am told (via Google lens) that these ducks are Gadwall and my perusal of various guide books suggests that is correct. In one RSPB guide they are described as "a rather undistinguished duck" but in another RSPB guide they are described as "elegant, exquisitely marked birds at close range". It has a similar appearance to a Mallard but is smaller in size, they are seen in much fewer numbers than mallards so I am quite pleased to have witnessed this small flock flying around at Mere Sands Woods in Lancashire.

They were quite a way off so there is not much detail unfortunately but what I really like about these images is the shapes of the birds in flight as they swoop and turn looking for a good place to land or rather splash down. 

You can see that many of the birds have open beaks and as they were flying they made quite a racket. I wonder what they were communicating to each other, and which bird was leading the conversation, I noticed that the bird at the back in each photo was not joining in and perhaps they were being told to keep up!

TITS!

 Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit and my favourite... Long Tailed Tit

I was able to get out for a couple of hours today to visit Mere Sands Wood where despite the biting wind the sun was shining  I was able to photograph a few different varieties of our beautiful birds.

These were all some distance away, at the limit of my lens in some cases nevertheless they are all rather nice.

A Few Days in December

 So, I know that we are now part way through January, almost a third of the way actually so it may seem a bit late to post something with a title "A Few Days in December" but that is what these pictures and those that I  will share over the coming days represent.

I managed to get out for just a few days last month, although I have had a fair bit of time on my hands the poor weather and a lack of motivation on my part meant I didn't get out as much as I would have liked and when I sat down to review my images I actually thought that I wouldn't have very much to show for it. 

As it happens on those few days out I did get more than a few shots and perhaps more important than the images themselves I had time to unwind, to reflect and to connect with nature in a way that I really needed. Although I had my camera with me the primary purpose was just to get out and enjoy being out, without putting any pressure on myself to get the perfect shot.

Above are a few images from my first day out, a short visit to Mere Sands Woods. The weather was not great, the lighting poor and I really should have used a faster shutter speed but as I say photography was not the most pressing thing for me, I really enjoyed my walk and mostly just watching. The pictures, well they are a bonus.

I hope that you enjoy the images above of a Great Tit, a couple of Blue Tits, a hungry Nuthatch and  of course, what winter walk would be complete without a Robin?!

Some of these images were made possible because someone had left out some seed on a tree stump where I stood a while and watched the birds come down in a frenzy to feed. 

The Robin shot was captured right at the end of my walk, I think it is quite a nice image but I had an even closer and perhaps more meaningful encounter with a Robin on one of my other days out, which no doubt I will tell you about in a future post.

Decoy Duck

This is not actually a decoy but is a living and breathing Mallard drake. He was sat enjoying the Saturday sunshine at Mere Sands Woods. He almost looks carved from wood and I think I caught him blinking or sleeping.

He was so still and the water was so calm I was able to capture such a good reflection.

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.

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.

Woodland Bandit

In the shady woodland the colours of this little Nuthatch seem a bit muted but he really is a handsome fellow with his blue-grey and buff plumage. 

This shot is the right way up, I haven't tilted or turned the image at all it is as the bird was, sneaking around the trunk of the tree looking for seeds and berries. Of course there were no seeds or berries on the tree but there were plenty to be found on the ground and on a feeding table nearby. But as I was also there armed with my camera this fantastic woodland bird was taking a cautious approach. Given that the banding around his eyes look a bit like a burglars' mask the stealthy approach seems quite appropriate.

Little Grebe

While I was trying to capture the shots of the Long Tailed Tits shown in Monday's post I was met by another photographer who told me that he had just observed a pair of Little Grebes swap places sitting on a nest and suggested that if I stopped off at the nearby hide I would get the chance to spot the birds for myself.

I love these little birds so I took the advice and went to the hide with hopes high. It was a bit of a blow when I arrived as the grebe was nowhere to be seen. It was a good job however that I am patient because after a while he popped up and swam around a bit so I could grab some shots.

This is such a cute little bird and he spent almost as much time under water catching insect larvae and tiny fish as he did on the surface. I love the determination in the first of today's images, and the clear reflection as he swam towards me. In the second shot I think he was teasing me as he was partially hidden by the reeds around the hide.It was definitely worth spending time in the hide and while I was there I made up my mind that I would come again.

Long Tailed Tit

Over the long weekend I haven't been feeling on top form and so didn't really get out very much and then today when I was feeling well enough to go out to play the weather was rubbish so I had to think hard about where to go.

One place that I love to visit is the Lancashire Wildlife Trusts reserve at Mere Sands, near Rufford and as there are several hides to observe the wildlife I figured that even in the rain I would get a few opportunities for some decent photos. When I arrived the weather had in fact improved greatly and by the time I had to leave the sun was shining and it was a perfect day.

I have recently tried a few times to get a shot of a Long Tailed Tit, they are really beautiful and endearing little birds but constantly on the move so getting a good clear image is really difficult. On the walk between two hides today I saw a small flock of these birds flitting among the bushes, accompanied by a pair of Black Caps (which sadly I didn't manage to photograph) and so I took a few minute to try and get a photo.

As I say they are constantly on the move and this little chap was quite a challenge. In the second of the images he used the upright branch as a perch and although he looks like he was posing for me he was actually scanning the air around him for flies (of which there were plenty) and he would quickly launch himself into the air, catch a fly and then settle briefly before launching another attack.

I really love these pictures and I am quite pleased with the results although I can see some room for improvement. Oh well I guess I will have to go back to Mere Sands fairly soon and try again. Not that that will be a hardship, I had such a lovely time.