The Kingfisher Diaries (part 4) - D'OH!! (and a dancing robin)

Well it seems as though this part of the country is beginning to thaw a little... which could mean more snow on the way?  In the meantime, I took a little diversion home today via Redesmere, to see how the snow and ice has been affecting the bird life there.

I found the mere almost completely frozen over, apart from a small area near the car park where every single duck, goose, coot and swan was gathered. 

Decided to walk over the corner where I've several times spotted the Kingfisher - all I could see was a squirrel on the bank nearby and a blackbird foraging in the snow.  Then, as I took another step forward, a flash of blue flew away into the trees from just 3 metres in front of me!!  I'd startled the Kingfisher on its post!  Very annoyed at myself.  Lesson from this - next time, scour the area from a distance with bins before approaching!  Hmph.

Slight recompense - captured a Robin 'dancing' on a post instead:

Plan for tomorrow is to hid out in the corner where the Kingfisher was today, and wait...  there is a small patch of unfrozen water there also, and numerous potential fishing posts...  so I'm putting 2 and 2 together and hopefully making 4 in thinking that the Kingfisher will be needing to spend a fair bit of time there at the moment...

Watch this space!!

OK, changing my mind about snow...

Don't get me wrong - I still love it!  The snow here in the North-West has made even the most mundane scene look magical and peaceful...  apart from anywhere with roads and pavements, that is.

I used to find it amusing whenever the UK ground to a halt due to a bit of snow which Canadians/Swiss/Russians/Germans etc would barely even notice.  However, I've realised during this season's current snowfest that the fact we're not equipped for it makes sense - as we're constantly being told, this is the worst "cold snap" this country's seen in 30 years.  Would it really make sense for the country and individuals to invest in equipment/facilities that we'll only need for a few days, possibly once a year?  I think not!

Proof that we're not used to snow and how to deal with it can be seen in the shots below.  These were taken on a fairly major road round the corner from my house (I was on foot!), which normally has constant free-flowing traffic:

Look - cars pointing in all directions, and one on the pavement!

The traffic queues were due to people like this guy having to stop in the road to try and dig their cars out (credit to Sara Ellis for the following two shots):

And yet, despite the fact it was obviously going to take everyone ages to get wherever they were going - if they got there at all - I saw several people scraping their cars and digging out their drives so they too could join the melee:

Now I'm sure some of these people had genuinely necessary journeys to make, but I bet a lot of them just didn't think 'a bit of snow' could be such a pain in the ass!

Even my dad, in his 4x4, got stuck yesterday in a snowdrift up a local hillside!  We'd planned to go sledging, but ended up spending almost an hour digging the car out, before reversing down the lane and going home:

So, whilst the snow has not adversely affected my life so far, let's just say I have a new-found respect for it!

Wild New Year

I'm not talking NYE shenanigans...  instead, to welcome in 2010 (how futuristic does that sound?!), Nature provided both more snow AND a reminder of her beauty and diversity - and that was without leaving my back garden!

My first view of the world in 2010 was of this grey squirrel eating the chestnuts I'd left out for the birds.  Hard to get too annoyed at something so cute though:

Next day, a whole lot more snow fell - and a hiatus from wildlife photography as I spent the afternoon sledging :)

Today however, 3rd Jan, glorious blue sky, sunshine and snow on the ground.  Perfect combo!

I spent 45 minutes in the garden photographing the different birds that came to visit and feed.  First up (of course), Robin:

It managed to find something to nibble in the tree - not sure what:

Moments after the Robin flew off, a female sparrow landed in the same tree:

Next up, the shy Dunnock.  Often mistaken for a sparrow at first glance, I hope this shot will illustrate how distinct from each other the two species are:

Though I admit there are similarities! 

Plenty of tit action to be seen also, as usual...  Here's one of our resident Blue Tits eating fat balls:

And finally, a really pleasant surprise - a Coal Tit, which I don't see that often in the garden, as they are generally pretty shy.  This one made several trips to and from our new bird table, quickly grabbing a seed each time and flying off to eat it in safety:

So, that's five different bird species photographed, plus one grey squirrel.  In addition, the following birds were spotted but not captured: Great Tit, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, and a lone Starling. 

That, my friends, is 11 different bird species in 45 minutes in one little garden on this little island of ours.  Other visitors/residents to this particular garden include Wren, Goldcrest, Long-Tailed Tit, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Barn Owl.  And they're just the ones I've seen (or heard, in the case of the Barn Owl).

I think that's pretty amazing.  And, I reckon, pretty commonplace in most UK gardens.  So much wildlife literally on our doorsteps :)

Bring on 2010!