Return

Having not escaped into the country with binoculars and camera for some weeks (busy basically), the day was just too beautiful, too crisp not to get out. Inevitably, Papercourt was my destination and this image of Tannery Lane in the morning sunshine captures the feel of the morning nicely.

This wren, which does have a tail somewhere, just popped up by the side of the path as I wandered along. I have done nothing to any of these images - no cropping, no exposure changes, no messing around at all so this is exactly as the bird appeared. A number of these 'popped' into view along with blue tits, great tits, dunnocks, blackbirds, redwings, fieldfares and of course, robins.

Wren

 The sailing club pit was gloriously free of boats today and as a result, even more gloriously covered in birds, particularly as the small lake behind the clubhouse was frozen over. Great Crested Grebes were present in small numbers along with coot in very large numbers. In amongst them were a few little grebes, a bird that I have found it very difficult to get close to so on this occasion, I used a bit of stalking (sort of) and as this bird dipped below the water, I would move quickly towards the waters edge, stop when the grebe reappeared and then move again when he or she slipped below the waves again (maybe not waves as such). This is the result and actually quite pleasing.

Little Grebe 

Amongst all those coots and occasional grebes, were also gadwall, understated but smart, tufted duck, pochard and a few of these wigeon. I think of these as birds of coastal marsh so always a surprise (it shouldn't be) when I see them inland. This one is a male with that lovely buffy forehead to the fore.

Wigeon

Not sure if this quite works but attempted close up of water droplets almost more than the swan. The water was beautifully clear and this bird and its mate were busy scouring the shallows for food.

Mute Swan

Today was about getting out again, little more than that really. The new year is just round the corner and my aim for that year? Get better as this photography business and also the writing quality so, fewer posts, better quality, hopefully.

Pro Day

I spent last Sunday at the Hawk Conservancy near Andover as part of a photographic workshop with professional photographer, Oliver Smart. If I may quote their website, the Hawk Conservancy is 'a conservation charity and award winning visitor centre that has for many years worked in the fields of conservation, education, rehabilitation and the research of birds of prey'. Certainly, the site is impressive and for a chilly November day, surprisingly busy. My main reason for being here was to learn a few bits and pieces from Oliver and that certainly happened (histograms, who knew!). 
Clearly, these are captive birds and no great skill required on my part to capture these images but the pictures themselves are attractive and the birds magnificent. It was certainly a privilege being so close to these stunning creatures.

Barn Owl

This Barn Owl occupied our first hour or so, a very patient soul indeed as was the handler. The owl was followed by a young kestrel, so young that the handler wasn't totally sure of the sex. She (I am going with that) was rather gorgeous and some increased understanding of depth of field, resulted in this image with a bit of autumn colour as a backdrop.

Kestrel

By way of a change, here is an attempted flight shot of a New Zealander called a Boobook Owl, described to me as an NZ version of a Tawny.

Boobook Owl

Tawny Owl

These next images are taken from the flying display that followed a welcome lunch. The black kite is bit 'grainy' but included anyway as it is a beauty. 

Black Kite

Snowy Owl

Griffon Vulture

Red Kite to finish with and something of an old stager this one. Some of her wild cousins put in an appearance overlooking the flying display.

Red Kite

Pagham Harbour - Birding Roots

Pagham is a large, shallow natural harbour, silting up now at the northern end but still holding passage and wintering waders and wildfowl enough to delight birdwatchers. I have been coming here for more than thirty years and in those far off, early birding days, I was here (and at Farlington Marsh) seemingly every weekend. I have managed a couple of visits over recent weeks initially with the Mrs Bew, concentrating on the North Wall side of the harbour. I spent a short time taking photos of black tailed godwit, all now most of the way towards winter plumage, and little egret which are very common across the harbour.

Black Tailed Godwit

Little Egret

Also fortunate enough to be on that same North Wall as the sun set. This was taken on the smartphone rather than the 'proper' camera. 

Pagham Harbour North Wall

Back last weekend later with the RSPB group and having been here a couple of weeks earlier and been forced through the fields due to a very high tide, I was a bit concerned that today's high water at 11.00, might yet be a problem. As a result, we did hurry a little on the first part of the walk just to get to a spot I knew where we wouldn't get our feet wet!  

Our first decent view of the harbour mudflats nonetheless showed us a nice group of twenty or so avocet, the 'Audrey Hepburn' of the birdworld as Chris Packham calls them. Other waders in evidence included the noisy and obvious curlew, redshank, a few grey plover and small numbers of dunlin. Numbers of all of these waders will build as the winter progresses. Another early winter visitor whose numbers will increase dramatically is the Brent goose, a few were present today and even after many years of seeing and hearing them, the continual but actually quite gentle Brent calls winging their way across the harbour always give me a little lift.Other wildfowl across the now flooded harbour included wigeon, teal and the always elegant pintail.

Teal

We had, of course been seeing the odd buzzard on our walk but now something a little bit different, a harris hawk no less perched in a tree being annoyed by the local crows. This one came complete with jesses having been presumably lost by a falconer, a magnificent bird just the same. Sad to report that our illustrious group leader seemed pretty keen to 'tick' this one!

Looking across at Bird Island, the high tide had forced a mixed population of birds onto its shoreline, turnstone, dunlin, little egret, cormorant and grey heron amongst them.  Towards the end of the homeward jaunt, we spotted an elegant, long winged shape out over the saltmarsh and just had time to enjoy the sight of an early short eared owl before it dived into the undergrowth, never to emerge again. 

Still a beautiful place after so many years of visiting and as  I remarked to one of my fellow birders at the end of the day, these places do me good.

Cyprus Interlude

Willow Warbler

An autumn trip to Cyprus, following on from a successful spring trip to the island in April, seemed like a good idea and so it proved, although the birds made us work! That didn’t seem so on the first afternoon as we were soon enjoying long legged buzzard and bonellis eagle from the villa patio whilst enjoying the inevitable first cup of tea (and cake).

Sunday morning saw the four of us out early and this willow warbler  was an initial reward. The rest of that first walk produced Cyprus wheatear, which look stunning at this time of the year, but little else. 

We moved onto Paphos headland, a promontory of parched scrub adjacent to the harbour and with some probably splendid roman mosaics at the centre. The mosaics were not on our agenda so we ‘made do’ with isabelline wheatear........

Isabelline Wheatear

.....and greater sand plover, a rare visitor to Cyprus but where this one was stood in almost exactly the same spot as the spring version.

Greater Sand Plover

Monday morning and we headed for Zakaki Pools, most of which can’t be seen really but the single hide looks out over one small pool, surrounded by a large reed bed. 

Kingfisher

This kingfisher was a largely constant visitor for the hour or two that we stayed whilst the water rail was predictably more elusive. Our one view of spotted crake involved a dashing across the pool at high speed, never to be seen again.

Water Rail

We then headed off down Ladies Mile beach road, sand and a few beach cafes on one side, mostly dry salt pans on the other. There was nonetheless life on the little water we did find, dunlin and kentish plover being the dominant waders  and a rather approachable young flamingo  providing something of a contrast to the diminutive waders.

Dunlin

Flamingo

Bishops pool was a bit too much like hard work but included this bee eater, of which there was a constant stream throughout the week; if we couldn’t see them, we could frequently hear them

Bee Eater

The plan today was for a long (6k as it turned out) walk through the hills and scrub of the Akamas area, specifically the marked paths beginning at Smygies picnic site. We were hoping for a few passage raptors but aside from one distant large raptor (might have been honey buzzard), these were basically absent. The walk, enjoyable as it was, didn’t give us a vast array of birds. However, we did come across whinchat, red backed shrike and spotted flycatcher, all giving nice views. One of our number (to remain nameless) tried to assist by bird finding using the old clock method with ‘'small bird at 9.00 o’clock'', bins swing that way…’oh err actually, 3.00 o’clock’. Never did see that one!

Red Backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Crested Lark

Wednesday morning saw us at Mandria for the first time, an area of agricultural fields sitting between the sea and the village of the same name. Then place has a good name at migration time but as  with the rest of the week, the winds weren’t really with us. A chance for a photo of sorts of crested lark (very common out here) but apart from an unusual view of stone curlew (in flight, I suppose I knew they could of course, never really seen it!), not too much about and a mandatory coffee stop in Mandria soon followed.

We did however return to Mandria in the evening to be rewarded with tawny pipit, dustbathing in front of us, and a flock of maybe thirty plus greater short toed larks, a great way to end the day (at least before we all stuffed ourselves on Cypriot food and local wine).

We tried the Larnaca end of the island today. Our main site was Oroklini, which was brilliant for us in April, totally dry today with this rather forlorn looking spur winged plover the only obvious inhabitant.

Spur Winged Plover

Cattle Egret

We therefore drifted back west, another stop at Zakaki, Ladies Mile and our by now favourite coffee stop before trying Phassouri Reed beds and an area known as the gravel pits (nothing like what those words bring to mind). The reed beds brought a classic scene in the shape of cattle egret with, well…. cattle. A Zitting cisticola and our best view of a black francolin was soon followed by a slightly surprising view of two young rollers and a honey buzzard, the latter being a regular feature of the week

Our last full day began with dawn at Zakaki and a fascinating dawn it proved to be. In the UK, we don’t think of grey herons as being migratory but they clearly are over here and we were met with large numbers emerging from the reed bed and heading south. While we were there, several more came into the reeds where they would presumably feed up before moving on. Amazing sight.

Grey Herons lifting from Zakaki Pools in the dawn light

The day ended with another of several attempts at finding red footed falcon. Whilst driving slowly through an area known as Anarita Park (it is nothing like a park! An area of poor grazing and powerlines in the foothills north of the main Paphos/Limassol road), we got talking to a local ex pat birder and having initially followed him to a new site for us (and found garganey) we headed back to Mandria and again, slightly creepily, wound up following the same guy. We eventually spotted his car and soon realised that he was staring at a group of red footed falcon, seven in all, initially on the ground but soon hawking low down, taking insects out of the air as they went.

Enjoyable week even if the winds were against us for the most part, still some great birds.

Keyhaven and Pennington in the Sunshine

A beautiful September Sunday saw a small but select group from North West Surrey RSPB join me to explore the lagoons, marsh and intertidal mudflats of Pennington and Keyhaven, nestled just south of the wonderful New Forest and with the downs of the Isle of Wight as the backdrop.

Having parked at the rather bijou (small and crowded) car park, pretty much between the two parts of the reserve(s), we spent the morning exploring the Keyhaven side including the delightfully named Fishtail Lagoon. This area of rather shallow water gave us our first greenshank of the day, three of them to be precise with two following each other closely in a slightly odd looking feeding pattern, almost sifting through the water as a shoveler would. This end of the lagoon was otherwise dominated by Canada geese but walking up onto the sea wall that protects the marsh and peering over the top, gave us a number of close turnstone and dunlin, very close in fact and seemingly oblivious to the birders, dog walkers cyclists and children, all noisily occupying the sea wall path. The chance to look at these waders close up is always a great thing and brings home just how beautiful these small waders really are, even in winter (some partially so) plumage; a subtle mix of browns, blacks, grey's with a range of pale buffs and whites in streaks and scallops and diamonds. These were joined by ringed plover and the much more wary redshank.

Dunlin

Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Black tailed godwits are another regular feature, all now solidly in winter dress and wading through some deeper water and creating pretty circles in the water as they went.

Black Tailed Godwit

As  ever, little egrets were common across both marshes, comfortably outnumbering the grey heron population.

Little Egret

Having enjoyed the slow walk along the sea wall, it was back to the car park via the more direct public footpath, sometimes accompanied by swallows and the odd house martin, stocking up on the local insect life before the long journey to Africa.

Barn Swallow

Lunch was enlivened by watching various visitors attempt tight parking manoeuvres in the bijou parking space before heading back towards the tidal area, but heading east along Pennington Marsh, passing a rare sight indeed these days, a lone corn burning occupying the hedge along the first part of the afternoon walk. Other passerines were represented by meadow pipit, linnet and goldfinch amongst others. Star passerine for the day was probably wheatear, we had seen one in the morning and found another three towards the end of the walk, perched expertly on barbed wire and like the swallows, getting ready for the long journey south.

The tide was on the rise and that was beginning to thin out the birdlife a little. More close waders were nonetheless still with us, joined at more of a distance by small numbers of grey plover, some with summer plumage still partially visible, oystercatchers and curlew. This time, the redshank did come a little closer.

Redshank

Redshank

Looking much further out, on a long spit heading in the general direction of the Isle of Wight, half a dozen eider were hauled out just a little way from the local cormorants. Wildfowl were not a massive feature today but we also had some young shelduck, two low flying teal and the odd mallard. Moving further round, we added a lone bar tailed godwit to the day’s wader tally

In all, we had enjoyed a lot of late summer sunshine, in a beautiful location and with some excellent and often close birdlife, a nice start to the 2016/17 outdoor season for the group. 

Photographs and Fishermen

Last weekend, I went to the British Birdfair at the Egleton nature reserve, Rutland Water. Normally the preserve of England's best known osprey population. Today the place was full of wildlife artists, wildlife holiday travel companies, bird NGO's and optics companies, all squeezed into a series of marquees. Imagine a giant county show for birders only without the farm animal displays and giant vegetables. This was the first time I had been to Birdfair which was established many years ago and has, among other things, raised an amazing amount of money for conservation projects around the world. Apart from listening to one talk, styled as an interview between the wonderful duo of Georgia Locock and Chris Packham (as passionate as ever about our beautiful but oh so threatened hen harriers), the key area for me turned out to be the optics tent as slightly to my own surprise, I came away with a new camera. It could have been worse, I was also sorely tempted by a limited edition print by one of my favourite artists, Chris Rose, a truly stunning depiction of sanderling on the tideline, a scene I have witnessed many times at places like Titchwell in Norfolk. In my defence, my current camera is literally heading south when my daughter takes the existing camera with her to university on the south coast so clearly I had to do something, yes?

So time to try out the new camera but where? In the 'how to' birdwatching books, they always say to start in your local park and in a simple bid to get used to the extra bells and whistles on the new machine, I strolled down to the lake that sits in the middle of Goldsworth Park, which isn't a park at all but the name of the housing estate on which I live. To be fair, it is a rather green estate with lots of trees (it is former nursery land) and that lake, complete with clumps of reed and a sadly unused kingfisher bank.

Moorhen 

The lake boasts modest numbers of fairly common species including moorhen, along with larger (or at least more obvious) numbers of coot. Whilst on my knees pointing the camera in the direction of this young moorhen, a couple of local fisherman, thinking I was one of them I suppose, kept shouting 'good morning' at me until they realised I wasn't (a fisherperson that is). I responded politely of course (amazing how many fishermen, joggers, dog walkers and birders there are around at 6.30 in the morning) but they certainly seemed disappointed when they understood I was carrying a camera not a rod (wouldn’t have said the lens was that long).

The centrepiece of the lakes wildlife is the pair of great crested grebe who have bred successfully here for a good few years. This picture of one of the two youngsters almost works as the water splash is perhaps more in focus than the birds. The adults, not quite at their finest now but still handsome birds, must by now be tired of being pestered for food buy two 'chicks' who are almost as well grown as they.

Great Crested Grebe 'splash'

Great Crested Grebe

Given I was sat at the bottom of a grassy bank whilst waiting for the grebes and the bird was at the top, I couldn't resist a low level shot of this woodpigeon (best not to think about what the red bin is behind the bird).

Woodpigeon

Black headed gulls are a feature of much of this country but still worth pointing the camera towards when the occasion arises (certainly while you are trying to figure out a new camera), so this forms a sort of gull study; standing, floating and flying. The flying shot perhaps isn't quite sharp; flying shots are hard whatever equipment you are using it seems.

Black Headed Gull 

Black Headed Gull

Black Headed Gull

 I finished by wandering off the park and onto some nearby common land. In one damper area, I found these mushroomy, fungi things. Now I clearly don't precisely know what they are (although there is a strong resemblance to the centrepiece of a recent field mushroom wellington recently enjoyed by me in a pub very close indeed to this site), but I did just like the view.

Autumn is essentially with us from a wildlife viewpoint and my next wander might see me further afield. Clearly, I need to test out the new camera as much as possible!

Buzzard Exposure

Sunday presented me with a dilemma, do I stay in and watch the England cricket team push for an unlikely victory in the 3^rd test match against Pakistan or do I wander out into the field complete with camera to see what I can find and enjoy the afternoon sunshine? With Pakistan a tantalising five wickets down, I nonetheless went out for a local walk, no car, just a couple of hours within a short distance from the house covering a bit of low grade heathland, some pine trees and some grassland. The habitat is a lot better than I have just made it sound and this is a favourite walk.

Most of what follows is all about buzzards, two of them to be precise making quite a racket in the skies above my head, busily shouting at each other as I tried to take photographs. These are pretty common around Surrey these days, a line I would never have thought to write a few years ago when they were a treat to be seen on family holidays to Devon. Now I am going to get a bit technical (at least by my standards) around exposure; stay with me it will be interesting (a bit).

One of the things I wanted to do was capture the rather splendid underwing pattern of the buzzard and to do that, I ended up playing with exposure levels. The photos that follow are unmolested by photoshop apart from a bit of judicious cropping. I will talk in term of 'stops', so over exposed by 1 stop or level, 2 stops etc. The first photo has no ‘stops’ so is if you like, ‘normally’ exposed. This is mostly because when the buzzards appeared, I instantly panicked about the possibility that they would fly away and just pointed the camera and started shooting! Nonetheless, I like the natural light and warm colours (as I see them) and the picture does show the power of a large(ish) raptor, quite likely my favourite group of birds.

Buzzard (normal)

Ok, so panic is receding a bit as the birds are showing no real signs of leaving me so this next shot is ‘over exposed’ by 1 stop. It’s a bit different because the buzzard is against a bit of cloud but begins to show up a more detail. Different buzzards have seemingly endlessly variable plumage, light phases and dark phases and middlin phases and this one is a typical buzzard; broad black trailing edges and primary tips to a fairly white outer underwing graduating to lovely barred secondaries.

Buzzard (1 stop)

Against all my expectations (I operate on the basis that good things don’t happen to me at times like this), the birds are still with me so now we go to 2 stops over exposed. All the features I have mentioned are showing nicely in this image but now the sky is looking on the pale side, certainly paler than I remember it ‘live’. Still, nice image in some ways illustrating the fact that this bird is calling, as both birds were constantly doing all the while I was with them.

Buzzard (2 stop)

Last shot, this one 3 stops over exposed and let’s be honest, positively bleached, both bird and sky, but still calling. I might play with this on on photoshop now.

Buzzard (3 stop)

I have nice things to say about the first three images and, at least in these conditions, I guess the ‘right’ exposure is perhaps the 1 stop, quite like the two stopper in many ways (this is beginning to sound like an F1 strategy). Putting all that to one side, this is a relatively common, but deeply impressive, almost regal bird; powerful, beautiful and if you qualify as food, distinctly dangerous.

Oh, England won the test match and of course I have it recorded so, best of both worlds!