Bright Eyes

Well just in case you are wondering, the title of this post does not relate to the famous song written by Mike Batt (of Wombles fame) and performed by Art Garfunkel, and which was used as the theme for the film adaptation of Watership Down. It is about the star of the post, the beautiful Goldeneye. Actually the song Bright Eyes might be better connected to the duck as the lyrics talk about floating on the tide and "bright eyes, burning like fire" which doesn't really apply to rabbits, anyway I digress.

In January a pair of Goldeneye had been spotted on the marine Lake at West Kirby and although I could see them I could not photograph them as they stayed too far out on the lake for me to get a decent shot. At Martin Mere however there are a couple of pairs on one of the ponds and over two visits I managed to get a few shots.

On my most recent visit I was having a chat with one of my sons who expressed his opinion that geese tended to be more interesting and better looking than ducks. I disagreed with this and pointed out a smew which was immediately on hand and also referred him to the Goldeneye which by any assessment is a stunning looking bird.

The male with his bold black and white plumage and vivid yellow eyes is amazing, and even the female which is more understated is still quite beautiful.

They are a diving duck and will disappear beneath the surface in their hunt for food. They have wide tails which you can see in the fourth picture is used to propel them under the water as they dive.

In the final three images I was unsure whether the male was simply taking a drink of water or whether he was displaying to the female (it is spring after all), given that he repeated this action several times I suspect he was showing off.

Looking at those shots I also noticed the ripples in the background which could have easily featured in one of my recent posts, but the focus at the moment is definitely on the wildlife. I have lots more shots of birds from Martin Mere that I will be sharing soon so keep your eyes peeled for my next post.

 

Razorbill

 As well as Puffins on Skomer there is a large population of Razorbills, although as they nest of cliffs and rocky outcrops it is more difficult to get close up photos.

Fortunately these birds were nesting close to the pathway that leads down the cliff to the landing stage and so I was able to get a few shots.

Although they lack the brightly coloured bills of the puffin they are stunning birds. I was really pleased to get a shot of the two birds grooming each other. It seems like such a tender moment.

Living on the Edge

 I don't think I can say much about these shots, other than it was so exciting to be able to get close to these beautiful creatures. They really are such special birds. I am always amazed at how hardy they are given how small they are and the life they lead, 8 months out at sea, 4 months on a rocky island in a burrow underground.

In a few weeks when their eggs hatch these birds will be on a constant round of fishing and feeding the little pufflings, who when they have fledged effectively just hurl themselves off the cliff into the air and they too will very soon head off out into the wild ocean.

Gone Fishing

 Have you ever sat for hours on a river bank drowning maggots? (I mean fishing of course!) It can be a nice relaxing experience and it is obviously great when you manage to catch something but there can be long periods when you catch nothing but unless your life depends upon it you can walk away at the end of the day and wish for better luck next time.

For this Egret however his life literally does depend upon a decent catch so finding the right spot , at the right time is essential.

Although part of the heron family the Egret takes a different approach to fishing to the grey heron who will stand patiently in one spot (much like the dedicated fisherfolk on the river banks) waiting for a meal to pass by and then with lightning speed and great precision it will dart forward with its long neck and powerful bill and snatch a fish, or amphibian from the water. I have even seen one catch a rat and swallow it whole. The Egret on the other hand takes a more active approach and will stir up the water a little bit or flap from one spot to another, pause, search and then move on, or it will walk slowly , head facing down looking for something in the shallows.

The egret in the pictures above had certainly picked a good time to be in the spot he chose because while I was watching he caught 4 fish, all a fairly decent size. 

Wading Birds

 Today I had my first proper outing of the year. The sun was out, the temperature was in double digits and the top came down on the car as i headed off to Dunham Massey where there is a fabulous garden and deer park, maintained by the National Trust. It is 2 years since my last visit so it was nice to get back. I was able to photograph some spring flowers, some water fowl and of course some of the deer that live wild in the park.

I was really pleased when I got home to upload the pictures and start to work on them when I realised I also had a few pictures from last week when I had been for a walk along the waterfront near my home.

So before I get into the pictures from Dunham Massey here are a few shots of some of the waders that grace our shores.

The first two pictures show a couple of Black Tailed Godwit. I am not very good at recognising some of our waders because from a distance I find it difficult to differentiate, however these I was quite confident in my identification.

Pictures in most  of my guide books show these birds in their breeding plumage which is a bit richer than these two however it can be differentiated from the bar tailed godwit because it is larger in size, has longer legs and has a long, slightly upturned bill which is black at the end.

The bird in the other pictures is a Common Redshank, easily distinguishable by its bright red legs (hence the name) and its straight red bill, although in these images its bill is covered in mud as it has been searching for worms, molluscs and crustaceans. These are quite nervous birds generally so it was nice that this one did not fly away.

A Ball of Cute

 I am sharing some more recent images today, but will go back to some of my older files in the coming days.

These pictures were taken at Martin Mere early  in January. It was a very cold and dull day and so there is quite a lot of noise in these images. Even so I was pleased to capture these few shots of one of my favourite native birds, the Long-tailed tit. It is so cute and as they fly around in little family groups chattering away they are absolutely adorable. 

I haven't done much wildlife photography for quite a while and so I am looking forward to warmer days with better light so that I can get out and if I am very lucky get some better pictures than these. For now though, please enjoy the Long-tailed tit. If these don't make you smile you need to give yourself a really good talking to because they are gorgeous.

Feed Me! Now!!!

 A few days ago I went to visit Sizergh Castle in Cumbria. It was an interesting day to be sure. I took some rather nice shots of the castle itself as well as some of the flowers and insects in the gardens. I also spent some time watching this group of hungry young swallows, lined up along the ridge of an old cottage, and their harassed parents trying to keep up with the constant demands for food.

For this series of shots I was on the wrong side of the building as I was shooting into the sun and so I will start by using that as an excuse for the images being less sharp than I had hoped, even shooting at 1/5000 sec. Nevertheless I think the series as a whole tells a nice story. There were a couple of families of birds lined up and each time an adult bird flew in all the young would cry out demanding to be fed next. Sometimes they would sit waiting but more often than not they would leap up into the air to get their parents' attention and snatch the tasty bugs from their beaks. The parent birds never settled down, each food exchange was done on the wing and as quickly as they flew in they would swoop off again in the hunt for more food.

Lanner Falcon

 This is such a stunning looking bird, so perfectly adapted to make it a deadly hunter. It feeds of small birds and bats, it will fly to about 3000' and then stoop at high speed to snatch its prey on the wing. 

They are so effective as hunters that they are popular in falconry and are bred in captivity. One bird recently sold for over $70,000 dollars.

Reed Warbler

 Last Saturday I went to Mere Sands Woods reserve, it was the first time in a long while that the hides were open and I sat for ages waiting to see something. At one point a scruffy little robin flew into the hide looking for scraps to feed its young. One of the other people in the hide had some seed and put some out and the brave little robin kept coming back. At one point it flew into the hide almost flying into my lens and gave me a shock.

Apart from a few geese and ducks out on the mere there was not much else to see except a few Reed Warblers that were feeding in the shrubs and long grass in front of the hide. They were constantly on the move so catching a shot was incredibly difficult. I loved to just sit and watch as they were busy about their work obviously foraging to feed their young hidden away in the reeds but I was also glad to get just a few images that I can share.

Homemakers

 

These Black legged Kittiwakes were so busy flying back and forth from the creek where they were collecting nest building materials. What was amazing was the way they landed with precision on the narrow ledges and how they then constructed and secured their nests on the smallest of rocky shelves where very soon they will be raising their families of little Kittiwake chicks.

In Flight

 I have recently been reading some articles about photographing birds in flight so while i was at Staithes I thought I would try a few shots of the gulls around the harbour. 

Sometimes gulls are relatively easy to capture because they can glide by slowly, or in strong winds they almost hover in the air allowing time to focus and plan the shot but on this particular day these birds were on a mission and they swooped past at high speed. I think is did quite well with these shots of Herring Gulls but think I could have done better with a faster shutter speed.

On the other side of the harbour there were even more gulls building nests on the cliffs but they were even harder to photograph, I may have one or two useable images to share but I will save those for another day.

Waders On The Shore

 

One of the things I like about living where I do is the fact that I am so close to the sea and the abundance of wildlife that comes with that.

A walk along the shore line reveals a myriad of shells; cockles, mussels, razor clams, whelks, winkles and more. There are egg casings known as "mermaids purse" from skates, rays and dog fish, other egg cases and sometimes starfish or jelly fish left behind by the receding tide. Further out in the rock pools around Hilbre Island there is all manner of life including small fish, crabs, anemones, shrimp etc and beyond that on the sand bank out in the estuary there is a large colony of Grey Seals. All this diversity of wildlife is amazing but much of it goes unnoticed unless you are looking for it.

What cannot be so easily overlooked however is the vast array of waders and shore birds that live here or visit as migratory species. The rich food stocks draw in thousands of birds and as the tides come and go the shoreline is visited by Sandpipers, Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Knot, Plovers, Wagtails and Buntings and many more. Along the creeks you will often see Egrets and Herons too.

Even though I live so close I don't get to spend as much time enjoying and exploring as I would like and if nothing else in the year ahead I think I will try to make more time to explore what is almost literally on my doorstep. 

I look at posts on social media from friends in different parts of the world and often think that I would be spoilt for opportunities to see wonderful things if I lived in any of those places but I have so much close to home I need to make more time to see that. It doesn't stop me wanting to travel and explore further afield of course but I will try to look more closely at what is nearby.

So for today's offering I have chosen a few shots taken on a resent walk on the beach. I followed the tide out about half a mile to a spot where I could see a large flock of birds gathering. They appeared to be arriving in waves and then settling where they found a raised bank of sand. As I got closer the sound was incredible as thousands of birds were chattering to each other. Some were feeding, like the Sanderling in the first shot which was moving so fast through the shallow water, but others were settled with their heads tucked under their wings perhaps sleeping or just sheltering from the icy wind coming off the Irish Sea. In the second image you can see Sanderlings in the foreground while the out of focus background is comprised of a large flock of Common Sandpipers.

It is hard to describe how vast the flock was but every now and then a large group would lift off and then find a different spot to settle, as they took to the air there was a fantastic sound of thousands of wings beating in unison. It was quite an experience to be faced with a wall of wings and feathers.