Farmoor & Buckland - 12 November

Having been snagged by a fisherman's hook a couple of days ago the Great Northern Diver was unsurprisingly keeping its distance today, but this Scaup eventually proved more obliging in the nice sunny conditions early on today. Thanks to Bob for the heads-up on its presence and whereabouts.

Once again, click on the captions for larger images

Female Scaup (c) Stephen Burch

After this relatively brief visit to Farmoor, I wanted to make the most of the sunny conditions and so headed to a new site for me near Buckland to attempt to find (and photo) the Crossbills that had been reported from here recently. I parked in the village and then took a public footpath diagonally across parkland to meet the A420, whereupon the private road and public footpath to a farm, frequented by the Crossbills, was directly opposite. 

A flock of about ten flew in shortly after I arrived and promptly vanished into a tree whilst feeding. They were very difficult to photo being high up in the top of the tree and were generally invisible or highly obscured. This was the only time one appeared out in the open.

Crossbill (c) Stephen Burch

Southern Oxon - 5 & 7th November

 A further couple of shots from this site. As before, click on the captions for larger versions.

Little Egret (c) Stephen Burch

Grey Wagtail (c) Stephen Burch

Farmoor - 6 November

 

At last a worthwhile bird in Oxon to chase! My first visit was the previous afternoon when I saw the bird but only distantly as it was way out in the middle of  F2. Today, on arrival the bird was showing conveniently from the eastern bank, i.e. very close to the car park. This was most unusual as most good birds at Farmoor are as far as it is possible to be from the car park!

Unfortunately this bird was keeping its distance so a severe test even for the 500mm lens with the x2 converter and my new R5. Also the light wasn't great. 

On its closest approach it had this low profile the whole time before turning round and swimming out. 

Click on the captions for larger images

Keeping a low profile when closest to the bank

More of the bird - but further away and without the earlier sun

Wing flapping which it did a few times

 

Southern Oxon - 30/31 October

It is not easy finding places for bird photography in Oxon currently and now Lockdown 2 is going to make it even harder!

I got lucky for a change with this Kingfisher, which has required some patience. Once again, click on the caption for a larger image. 

Kingfisher

This photo is surprisingly sharp considering the distance to the bird which required a substantial crop even when using my 500mm lens with the x2 TC. With the Canon R5, this crop and lens combination gave an effective focal length of just over 3000mm for this photo! 

I was also fortunate to come across a couple of Stonechat by the road at Westcot Down - a stretch where I've sometimes had some success in the past. I was able to use the car as a reasonably effective hide for this shot. Of the two birds, only this first winter (I presume) seemed willing to come reasonably close! 

Stonechat

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.