Dorset October 2020

Spent a relaxing week in Weymouth recently. Birding was unspectacular but the change of scene was nice. 

A few photo highlights below. For more info and images, click here.

Click on the captions for high-res images.

The highlight was probably this obliging Kestrel hunting around the large car park at Ferrybirdge:

Kestrel hovering low down in the strong wind close to the car park

Intent on its prey! Less of a silhouette as Portland is in background

Perched on a convenient rock

Black-tailed Godwit in the weak late afternoon sun at Lodmoor

Grey Heron just after lift-off also at Lodmoor

More Kestrels - 13 October

Another excellent session in Pete Whieldon's Woodland Hide at Otterbourne, near Winchester. The weather was better than for my June visit, and the male was looking much smarter having finished his moult. 

The male and immature appeared alternately at about hourly intervals until a last, mid-afternoon visit when both appeared together. 

For a gallery of all my photos from the visit (and the previous one in June), with links to hi-res photos, go to this page on my website. 

Here is a preview selection (in each case click on the caption for a larger image): 

The male and immature posed nicely together very briefly

The immature coming into land - the only flight shot of this visit

The male on its own, before being joined by the immature

The male on a photogenic rock

The immature calling

Close-up of the immature - the benefits of the 45Mp sensor on the Canon EOS R5

Berkshire Downs, 7 & 9 October with the new Canon EOS R5!

I spent some time trying for some flight shots using the animal eye detection auto focus on my new 45Mp toy - the much sought after Canon EOS R5, which I pre-ordered the day after its launch in June. Even then it didn't arrive until mid September. 

This much vaunted AF option struggled to find the eyes but these wheeling Red Kites were pretty challenging subjects. Hopefully it will be more successful on better behaved subjects - a forthcoming session in a photo hide should be a good try out.  

Click on the captions for larger images.

Red Kite against blue sky 9 October

Crop of the photo above showing the benefit of those 45 Mp!

A slightly more distant bird against a less blue sky 7 October

South Wales - 27th August

With three possible raptors to be seen and photographed at close range, it was definitely time to return to South Wales for a session at Ian Howells' woodland hide. 

Again an early start was needed to meet Ian at 07:00. On arrival at the hides, it was surprising to come across a certain Mark Chivers, who seems to have become semi-resident here, in his quest for further Goshawk photos! There were two hides available, so social distancing wasn't a problem. 

The day started quite well with the juvenile male Sparrowhawk coming in first, looking quite different from my previous trip in mid July. It's moult was now well advanced and the characteristics of adult plumage, particularly the grey back, were clear. In a few weeks it could be a very smart bird if it is still showing.

While the Sparrowhawk was around, in came a Buzzard which was great to see and photograph as I'd only had a fleeting glimpse of it previously. 

However from mid morning, the weather became a real problem. The forecast for today had been steadily deteriorating through the week and so it proved with around 5 hours of heavy and persistent rain from mid morning until well into the afternoon. Unsurprisingly during this time no raptors were seen. At one point the forecast was indicating rain for the rest of the day but fortunately it cleared and there was even a little sun and calm conditions from about 16:00 onwards. 

Expectations were then high in both hides for an appearance of the star of the show - the Goshawk. But regrettably it was not to be. 

Only the Buzzard re-appeared which was at least something. Thereafter we thought we had better stay until around 19:30 just in case the Goshawk came in late. So over 12 hours in the hide which was surprisingly cool during all the rain. Still the Buzzard pics made it worthwhile...

For a gallery of all my Buzzard photos from this session, with links to larger images, go to this page on my website. 

Also click on the captions for larger images of those photos shown below.

Buzzard on the branch intended for the Sparrowhawk (c) Stephen Burch

On the stump

Back on the branch

A little action

Calling loudly

And finally a couple of photos of the much changed juv male Sparrowhawk from the morning:

Very close Sparrowhawk

On its branch

Bourne, Lincs 5-6 August

Back at the start of August, we had a great 20hr session in the luxurious Pool Hide at Wildlife Photography Hides near Bourne, Lincs. At night, the targets were Otter, Tawny Owl and Grey Heron, which all appeared and showed well. The day was much quieter with the useful activity confined to the very early morning.

It has taken me until now to sort out my photos, although there are still some more that look worthwhile to process!

To see a gallery of more of my photos from this session, go to this page on my website.

Here is a taster to whet your appetites. For each, you can click on the caption to see a larger image. 

The Otters (up to 3) were definitely the stars of the show and the ones we most wanted, and they didn't disappoint, showing several times through the night:

Otter (c) Stephen Burch

Otter (c) Stephen Burch

Over at the perches, the attraction was the Tawny Owls that showed much more briefly from time to time, mainly shortly after dusk and then much later just before dawn.

Tawny Owl (c) Stephen Burch

When the Otters weren't present, there was a Grey Heron for entertainment. The still conditions gave some great opportunities for reflection shots, such as this one:

Grey Heron (c) Stephen Burch

When the dawn arrived, and the night visitors had melted away, the resident Kingfishers appeared. I managed to catch them mating very briefly:

Kingfishers mating (c) Stephen Burch

The male turned out to be very tatty, but the female, that showed only early morning, was in better nick. During the day she was apparently incubating her third brood!

Female Kingfisher (c) Stephen Burch

To see a gallery of more of my photos from this session, go to this page on my website.

South Wales - 15 July

Today I followed in Mark's footsteps to South Wales for a session at Ian Howells' woodland hide setup which has started attracting a juvenile Sparrowhawk as well as some other but so far regrettably much less reliable larger raptors.

An early start was needed as I had agreed to meet Ian at 07:00, but it proved to be a good day with four visits from the Sparrowhawk with two of these lasting for more than 30mins. Just as I was about to leave a Buzzard landed momentarily of one of the perches, at a distance of about 4m, before flying off. Unfortunately I didn't have time to adjust the zoom and take any shots. Two days later apparently there was an even better visitor in the form of a Goshawk that actually stayed to have its photo taken by one very very lucky photographer! It hasn't returned while anyone has been in the hide since...

Here is a selection of the photos I took that day, starting with a couple of my attempts at capturing some action (which isn't was most seem to do).

For a gallery of all my photos from this session, with links to larger images, go to this page on my website.

 

Kestrels - 27 June

On 27 June, I had a good session in Pete Whieldon's Woodland Hide which is in Otterbourne, near Winchester. Despite the wind and considerable quantities of rain, the Kestrels, that have only recently started visiting this hide, put on a good show in the morning. The afternoon was however less successful with no sightings.

The regular male came in a few times, as did the less regular female and the juvenile (briefly), with two of the three present on a couple of occasions. 

For a gallery of all my photos, with links to hi-res photos, go to this page on my website. 

Here is a selection to whet your appetite (in each case click on the caption for a larger image): 

The male with mouse

The female (left) and juvenile (right)

The hungry juvenile

The female calling loudly in the rain

The male landing

The male again with mouse

Thursley Common: May/June

Amazingly Colin the Cuckoo returned again this year, for his sixth season. Despite the initial lockdown restrictions, and then a bad fire on the Common, with limited other opportunities I visited him on four different dates. My first was on 21 May shortly after the lockdown eased to allow non-local travel (thanks to the Early Birder for the heads up that he was present again) and my last was on 11 June - just a few days before he departed.

I had varying levels of success during these visits, but every one was different, with a variety of weather conditions (from harsh all sun/heat to much cooler, overcast conditions). My first visit was an all day 10-hr marathon, after which I decided on shorter visits starting at around 3pm, to include the key period immediately before any sun moved off the perch.

Here is a selection of the photos I obtained on these visits. For more info on each visit, click here.

For a gallery of all my shots, at higher resolution go to my website page.