Hobby and Owls

Thanks to Dorian Mason for the sighting of a juvenile Tawny Owl at Church Norton. I arrived about 0600 but couldn't find an owl anywhere so took a walk to the right of the entrance path as far as the gate. On Friday an adult was sighted feeding here so I thought there might be a chance. No such luck but did come across a gorgeous looking Hobby, perched distant, but easily seen. I then wandered back and fortunately found the Tawny Owl. I was then joined by another birder, Ted, who found a second juvenile at the back of the same tree. No sign of an adult, though later in the morning I heard a couple of calls. After meeting Andrew House I walked along the West side, just in case the Nightjar was still around, nothing found save a few Linnets, not even my usual encounter with the stoat to liven things up. On the way back dropped in behind the hide to find 2 Spotted Flycatchers performing from the distant hedgerow. The onset of rain then curtailed all proceedings and I  returned home for lunch well satisfied.

Hobby



Tawny Owl (juv)

Tawny Owl (juv)

Tawny Owl (juv)

Tawny Owl (juv)

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

1-2-3



Get off my Land!!



All Creatures Small

Another dip into the world of smaller subjects. I will add the correct captions when I have identified the little critters. Using a tripod is almost mandatory, hence most of them are sitting subjects, I still have problems trading shutter speed for depth of field. With birds it's easy, comparatively speaking, with insects how do you compose a picture with a depth of field of a couple of millimetres.

The puple and yellow moth is Pyrausta aurata which is common in the garden. Its food plants include mint, catmint and oregano, all of which are present.


 Moth, Pyrausta aurata 

Bumble bees are a new area for me, I guess its like birding - it all comes with experience. If anyone can help please leave a comment.

I'm not a sensitive sort of person but when I see close ups of flies I realise that it is best to keep your sandwiches covered up when out in the field.




Common Greenbottle, Phaenicia sericata



Hoverfly, Myothropa florea

Nightjar time

I had decided that the first sunny day would be a trip to Rye Harbour, following the post on SOS by Bernie, Dave and Dorian about Church Norton - Spotted Flycatchers and Marlpit Lane - Turtle Doves it was a hasty change of mind and an early start at Church Norton. There were several "spotties" present when I arrived  so I tried to get the early morning sun right and blow me by the time I got behind the hide they had disappeared. Anyway, there were some obliging Whitethroats posing well on the bushes facing the harbour. One male in particular was doing all the antics and singing his head off, meanwhile his mate was doing all the hard work in sorting out the nest site.



Whitethroat



Madame Whitethroat



Whitethroat

I met Terry, another birder whose surname I don't know, who gave me excellent directions for Marlpit Lane so it was off to find some Turtle Doves. As soon as I parked the car in one of the laybys and opened the door I was blasted by a wall of sound from a Nightingale - I guess about six feet away but totally invisible to me. Throughout my stay there were at least five Nightingales singing on and off and were just getting going strongly when I left at 1300. There were also the reported Turtle Doves purring away  and occasionally they would do crossing flights of the ride and one eventually landed in the grass and fed - just too far away for a shot. In my attempts to get better views I flushed a bird from beneath the hedge which flew about ten yards and perched in a tree by the roadside.  Extrication from the hedge took some time but I eventually got a bead on him and was astounded to see it was a Nightjar. Conditions were fairly dark so up to 1000 ISO and hope for the best. Unfortunately I was using the 400mm f5.6 handheld, so I ran back to the car, grabbed tripod and big lens and returned to find the bird had vacated the premises.





Nightjar



Nightjar - 'old whiskers'

Onward to Lavington Plantation, which was somewhat lacking in birds, but at least I found a pair of Treecreepers feeding merrily on the Grafham side.

Treecreeper

Treecreeper

Glossy Ibis

An early start at Pagham North Wall to catch the two Glossy Ibis that have been there for three days. No problem, found them straight away but weather conditions hardly conducive to photography. So here are my record shots, just a little more light and a few yards closer would have made a world of difference. The flight shots, taken without direct sunlight on the subject, are virtually silhouettes, but in this case some of the wing markings and colour are visible. I suspect those that delayed their visit to the afternoon found better weather and most likely some reasonable pictures.

For more pictures visit the Pagham Birders Blog - see the link on the right, Trevor has the knack of getting a good shot in difficult conditions. Also, if you want to see some excellent quality shots from Mallorca then click the link to his Flickr site.

Nice to catch up with other local birders, Trevor, Ian and Dick. Sorry Dick for calling you John, no excuse save for the advancing years and dimming brain.

And finally - my last SEO photo of 2012, taken today- promise.

A Whole New World

Whilst the garden pond attracts a host of avian visitors there are a few underwater residents, that up to now, I have not been able to capture on pixels. However, after a bit of research and a small amount of engineering I had my first go at photographing  these underwater subjects. This is a whole new world and a whole new set of problems to be overcome. Anyway here are my initial efforts, as the summer progresses I hope more will materialise - now where have those Damsel Flies got to? I humbly apologise for inadvertent reflections, bubbles, slightly cloudy water and other artifacts that appeared from nowhere as I tweaked things in Photoshop.

Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris



Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris



Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris

Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris



Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris



Broad Bodied Chaser (nymph), Libellula depressa

Broad Bodied Chaser (nymph), Libellula depressa

Sonic returns

Arrived home from a Conservation Group meeting last night and my Good Lady excitedly pointed out this chap wandering across the green. Since we moved here there have been three notable disappearances - Tawny Owls, House Sparrow and Hedgehogs. I think the House Sparrows are on the verge of a comeback, the owls have gone but it was really good to see a hedgehog. I just hope it has a mate about, it looked well and wasn't fazed by my flash.

Sonic looking well

Had to go to Crawley today so took a camera and called in at Warnham LNR on the way home. Two pairs of Common Terns on the pond and a host of Swallows, I managed to identify two Sand Martins in the bunch. I walked around the trail  and at one stage was berated by a pair of Coal Tits, one with a beak full of caterpillars so I moved away but was then intrigued when one of them just "disappeared". Careful investigation revealed that they had spurned the use of the plethora of nest boxes and taken up residence in a disused rabbit hole. I know that nest boxes for Coal Tits should be placed closer to the ground but this is a basement!

A 'des res' for a Coal Tit family

At the far end of the reserve I found two trees decked in superb bracket fungus, investigation at home revealed that it was " Chicken of the Woods" so called because it is supposed to taste of chicken.

Chicken of the Woods

A final visit to the Woodpecker hide and I was not disappointed to find it living up to its name. A pair of Stock Doves were also in attendance but were easily spooked, unlike the Wood Pigeons that wouldn't budge if a bomb went off.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Stock Dove

Short-eared Owl

The weather forecast predicted a fine afternoon after a wet and cloudy morning so I grabbed the camera and went to Waltham Brooks. In the bag were 2 macro lenses and a ring flash, the intention to get close to some bugs, Well that plan went out of the window quite early on as there were plenty of birds about and few butterflies. Luckily I had thrown the 400mm lens into the car. First up was a Short-eared Owl, just by the footbridge he circled twice so I took 3 shots but I really wanted to get some Whitethroats so I let him go. There were Chiffchaffs everywhere, very distracting, and I still couldn't get to grips with a Whitethroat. After wasting another half an hour waiting for a Cetti's Warbler to come out of hiding I took a walk back to the car park just to regroup. There were several Blackcaps singing just in from the gate so I set up shop for those.

I heard a bark behind me and looked straight into the eyes of another SEO, this one was being bothered by Crows but I managed to get five shots in focus as he passed overhead. I swear the look on his face was pleading for someone to do something about those pesky Crows.




SEO



SEO

Anyway it was back to the Blackcaps, suddenly a female appeared and I started snapping, through the viewfinder I could see the composition was spoilt by a stem of grass, I waited for her to move, then it dawned on me that it was nest building material. I offered my apologies and withdrew immediately. There  is no fine line between getting a good shot and disturbing a bird - the bird comes first every time.



Madame Blackcap

Well the wettest drought on record continues, the River Arun was well over its normal bank and that was at tidal  low water. The footpath into the Brooks was well underwater too, so if you go, take your wellies.

River Arun above normal levels

Greatham Bridge

 Just as I got in the car to drive home I noticed a strange"bird" in one of the bushes next to the car park. I am not sure what species of rodent this is but he was really enjoying a diet of fresh willow shoots. Shame he didn't turn round and pose for the camera.

Unknown rodent- possibly a Bank Vole