Speed-birding on a Saturday morning...

...otherwise known as having just over an hour to kill before having to go to work, spotting a goldfinch and loads of other birds in the garden, and thus deciding to spend that hour birding!

This particular Goldfinch was part of the charm (I was apparently wrong to call them a "flock" the other day) of Goldies which has been feeding from the ash tree in the garden for the past week or so.  Perhaps it was the group scout, as it was the first and only of the group to come and investigate the new Niger seed feeder we've introduced for their delectation.  Hope it liked them and reported back to that effect!

Managed to get one crappish shot just to prove it was there :)

After this individual flew off, I glanced around the rest of the garden and noticed an unusually high amount of bird activity - including a first for this garden: not just one, but a pair of stunning Bullfinches!  Sadly in my over-excited haste to run back to the window with my bins, I scared them both off.  Yep, I'm a crap birder!  Gutted, as I've never seen a pair together anywhere, and have never seen a Bullfinch anywhere near the garden.  They did seem to be eyeing up the feeders though, so I'm hoping they'll return...

So this is why I spent my spare hour yesterday morning watching the garden - I was hoping the Bullfinches would return.  However, as I said there were loads of other birds around, so I decided to try and get a shot of every species I could see.  And here they are (again no great shots in this bunch - too far away, poor light, etc etc...):

Wood Pigeon

Great Tits on a wire

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Robin

Housesparrow (female) chillin with Blackbird

Dunnock with Blackbird

Female Housesparrow (L) and Dunnock (R) - spot the difference!

Housesparrow pair

That's nine species captured on one garden in a short space of time - nature rocks :)  And of course there were the Bullfinches, as well as a Magpie, a Collared Dove and a Rook which I didn't manage to shoot.  Looking forward to next time I have an hour to kill!

I'm back - and with Goldfinches in my garden!!!

Well folks, it's been a while.  I've gone from being (very) part-time self-employed to being that and full-time employed - and I'm finding it's taking up rather too much of my time!

Certainly it's eating into my birding, photography and generally getting out into the countryside in a major way.  I haven't been able to really do much of any of these for about two weeks.  Hmph! 

So today I returned home, mid-afternoon, and had a quick look in the garden to see what bird action might be taking place.  There was a lone Blue Tit eating from the feeders, and a couple of Wood Pigeons high up in a tree.  I was about to walk away when I noticed a smaller bird even higher up in the same tree.  I couldn't make out its colouring from where I was standing, but something about its shape and the way it moved told me it wasn't one of the regular visitors to our garden.  All of a sudden, it was joined by about 20 more, and I rushed to get my bins.  Yep, it was a flock of Goldfinches - my favourite favourite bird.  Just a tad excited!!  Of course I've seen loads of Goldfinches before, but never in my back garden - and certainly not in these numbers.  I was able to get a few record shots, but that's all:

For a while I was hoping that they'd venture down to the feeders so I could see them close up.  However, upon closer inspection it became obvious that they had plenty to feed on in the tree.  Buds, I presume, or some sort of insect?  If anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful!  As I said, I've never seen them in this garden before, and they've obviously found something delicious, which is great :) 

So, that's my day made!  Now if only I didn't have to go to work at 6:45 tomorrow morning, I could hang out here and see if they return... 

Wintry Titbits

Here's a snapshot of the past few days, birdwise (no great photography on display, just record shots)...

I was very happy (for me) but worried (for the birds) to see a stunning, solitary Redwing in the garden.  They have been visiting gardens in search of food during the particularly cold snap we've just had - something which wouldn't happen during our usually mild winters.  I shot this through a window, so it ain't great, but it might be the only time I get to see a Redwing from my window, so it's actually quite fitting :)

Next day, a bit more snow, and a mean-looking Rook in a tree:

The day after that, I hit Redesmere again, with no plan other than to go for a walk and see what was around.  We stopped a while to watch some Chaffinches.  I got a few shots of one bird which I wasn't sure was a chaffinch - it wasn't until I got home and blew the image up on the computer that I realised it was a Brambling!  Pleased with that, as it's the first time I've seen one of these Winter visitors.  A couple of poor quality record shots follow:

Speaking of poor quality shots, I took the following from miles away, as I couldn't identify the bird with my bins.  If anyone knows what it is, please let me know!  I thought it was a Bullfinch at first but not pink enough (click on photo for larger image)...

My next spot of birding took place near Preston, where I stayed at a friend's house.  We sat watching the birds coming to her feeding table, and taking shots through the window - which included this Blue Tit:

He was soon joined by a small group of Long-Tailed Tits, which my friend had never seen in her garden before - so had to record one for posterity:

Whilst walking along the River Ribble in Preston, spotted a group of several male and one female Goosanders way over on the other side of the swollen river, which was cool.

Later on, we came across a group of Redwing feeding in front of some houses - these are the best shots I've taken of Redwing to date:

And that, my friends, is it for tonight.  I've got a lot to do tomorrow, but hoping to squeeze in a short trip to Redesmere or similar.  And if I run out of time, I'll stick to the garden and see if anything interesting turns up :)

The Kingfisher Diaries (part 5) - RESULT!!

YES!!!!  Today I finally managed to get a shot of one of the Redesmere Kingfishers as it perched on a branch.  I'd been waiting for barely 5 minutes when it showed up!  Unfortunately the light was pretty bad and it also chose to position itself with my car in the background - so not a great shot, but happy with it as a first capture:

It appeared another eight or nine times over the next 90 minutes or so, but my camera was struggling to focus in the low light, and I never had more than a couple of seconds in which to shoot, so I didn't manage to get any further shots.  Ideally I'd need to be a bit further away, but with only a 300mm lens to play with I'd struggle to get a decent shot.  I decided to come back when the light is better, and try a different position - hopefully tomorrow!

For anyone not yet bored of Robin shots, I managed to get a couple of amusing ones whilst waiting for the Kingfisher - this ruffled little one kept on getting closer and trying to distract me:

So another good morning's birding :)  Can't quite believe I've managed to capture the Kingfisher already!  Need to persevere to get a really good shot, but still - RESULT!! :)

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!!

New year... new bird!!

The more time goes by, the less often I spot 'firsts'.  Makes sense - when I first got into birding, practically every bird I saw drew a "Oh my god, what is that!!".  Now that I've seen a lot more birds, it's obviously more rare to find one that I haven't seen before.

But that's exactly what happened today!!  I feel very privileged indeed to have seen it, as it is one of Britain's most threatened birds, and pretty rare in this part of the country - as well as difficult to spot.  Birders in this country are lucky to see even just one in their lifetime... 

Before I fill you in, I want to share a few other shots from today.  I went out for a couple of hours - freezing cold, blue sky, snow everywhere.  It was beautiful.  And a proper birder's treat :)

First up was a Bullfinch:

On my way up towards Sutton reservoir, I had to get a shot of one of my faves, a Long-Tailed Tit:

A little later, I watched a contortionist Treecreeper for a while:

I reached the reservoir in the hope of spotting a Kingfisher, as I saw one flash before my eyes once last year, and have kept meaning to come back ever since.  Not much showing Kingfisher-wise however, so I watched this Wren for a while - I love the over-the-shoulder glance:

I'd been out for a couple of hours by this point and the sun had moved to an inconvenient position, so I headed back down the hill to where my car was parked.  Before leaving though, I thought I'd just have one last look down the lane where I originally saw the Bullfinch.  I watched some Long-Tailed Tits for a while, then turned around when I heard what I thought was a Nuthatch. 

What I saw was this:

Obviously a Woodpecker - but what you can't tell from this shot is that it was the size of a Sparrow.  Which makes it not your run-of-the-mill Great Spotted, but the much much rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.  As I said, these are one of the most threatened birds in Britain, with numbers having declined by 80% over the past 30 years.  Approx. 2,000 pairs remain in Britain, compared to approx. 40,000 pairs of the Great Spotted variety - and most of the remaining birds are in the South.  All of this meant that I feel incredibly privileged to have spotted this bird just a short distance from where I live.

I would've been happy enough to have had time to snatch just one shot, but it seemed completely unaware of my presence, and I was able to watch it for several minutes, making its way up (and then down - backwards!) the tree:

The following shot was the best I was able to get:

It eventually flew into another tree, and got so high that I was no longer able to see it.  No matter - I went home hungry and buzzing!

As well as the birds pictured here, other birds of interest were several Redwing, Goldfinches, and, just before I reached my car, a UBOP (Unidentified Bird Of Prey).  I might make it a belated New Year's resolution to work on identifying birds of prey...  other than Kestrels, the rest leave me stumped! 

Also, to save up or start playing the lottery so that I can one day afford a 500mm lens.  Until then, I'll have to keep making do with my 300mm...

That's almost it for today, but thought I'd leave you with a shot I took at sunset from my bedroom window - the silhouettes of all the neighbourhood crows off to roost for the night:

Right, I'm off to email the British Trust for Ornithology and the RSPB to tell them of my sighting :)

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!

The Kingfisher Diaries (part 1)

I should say from the outset that I didn't get any Kingfisher shots today.

In fact, I wasn't even planning to.  I was at Redesmere again checking out the waterbirds, when suddenly I spotted a bright blue torpedo zooming over the water along the bank edge.  I managed to follow it with my bins, and what a sight.  Kingfishers truly are stunning.  This particular one came to rest in a tree about 10 metres to my left, but completely obscured by greenery.

Whilst waiting for it to emerge, I took this candid of a Mallard having a drink:

Suddenly, my peripheral vision spotted the blue torpedo once again, heading back the way it had come - to the other side of the mere.  Missed it again! 

However, I decided I'd found its flight path, so took some more pictures of ducks while I waited for it to come back...  Here are a female and male Tufted Duck, chilling in an eye-catching arrangement:

These three male Mallards also caught my eye:

Hooray for peripheral vision!!  The Kingfisher came zooming back into the same tree as before.  But moments later, it shot away behind me and I lost it.  Still, I figured it was best to stay stay exactly where I was and wait for it to return.

Which eventually happened an hour and a half later, just as I was about to quit and go home with minor frostbite.  Once again though, it was way too fast, and I didn't have a chance to get a shot.

Instead, I took this moody shot of a Black-Headed Gull and its reflection:

It was time to head back to the car, telling myself I'd be back late afternoon to try again, weather permitting.  Needless to say, the weather permitted no such thing!  This Black-Headed Gull taken through my car window pretty much summed it up:

So, no Kingfisher shots today.  BUT, I now know where it lives, and I shall be back!

As a footnote, I saw the female Goosander again, this time with a pal, as well as a male Great Crested Grebe.  In all, I counted 15 different species of bird in a fairly small area on and around the water. 

Which, Kingfisher or no Kingfisher, ain't bad at all :)

Birds of Prey re-visited...

So I returned to my local Bird of Prey centre yesterday, hoping to find answers to some of the questions that had been bothering me since my last visit. 

I found out, for instance, that the reason some of the birds are tethered as well as being confined to an aviary, is so that they don't fight amongst themselves.  I understand the logic, but that doesn't negate the inherent wrongness I again felt at keeping any of these birds captive.

Such as this amazing African Fish Eagle, captured here in awe-inspiring flight:

All the birds are well looked after here, and are regularly flown so that they remain active and are able to exercise at least some of their natural instincts. 

As one of the keepers told me, they see the captive birds here as "ambassadors for their species" - a case of sacrificing the freedom of a few for the greater good of the species as a whole.  Whether the birds are there for breeding or educational purposes, the rationale is that it is, ultimately, for the greater good.

However, I've since been reading the Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) website.  They argue that captive breeding doesn't work (http://www.captiveanimals.org/zoos/zcon.htm for more info), as the majority of captive animals re-introduced into the wild do not survive. 

For years they have been campaigning for the money invested in zoos, sanctuaries and other captive breeding establishments to be channelled instead into the conservation of natural habitats.  They make the interesting point that protecting a few individuals from a small number of species is pretty futile, as eco-systems operate on a much larger scale, and that all aspects of them need to be protected - not just the most 'attractive' species.

This makes a lot of sense to me.  With respect to my local bird of prey centre, I don't for one moment doubt that the owners and staff there are 100% committed to the conservation of these birds.  I would be interested to discuss with them some of the points made by CAPS.

For me, no matter how good the intentions behind it, it feels very wrong for these birds to be behind bars, and/or chained to a post. 

We need to continue working to undo some of the damage we've done, out there in the wild, where these animals belong - before species such as the hooded vulture take their final bow...

It's true!

...so I've started this blog to share my birding adventures with the world! 

No, I'm not sure that's it...

OK, I'm a woman, I'm a birder, I'm a photographer, I'm a massage therapist, I'm a music-lover, I'm lots of things.  I want to share some of my passion for some of these things, because passion makes the world go round.

As a non-middle-aged-non-male birder, I've come to believe that I'm a fairly rare species.  In my several years of birding, I've yet to bump into a single other young(-ish) female out there wielding binoculars. 

Which puzzles me occasionally, because birds are amazing!  And it's a perfect excuse to be outside, in any kind of habitat, from an inner city garden to a wild coastline.  Nature ROCKS, and is good for the soul :)  So where are all the girl-birders?! 

So anyway, I shall use this blog to recount some of my birding 'adventures' for anyone who's interested (audience participation may be required at times when I request help with identification). 

Also, to post shots of some of the birds I come across.  Because I have a photography website - http://www.ekphotography.yolasite.com/ - via which I am attempting to showcase and sell some of my prints.

So my blog will be about me trying to sell my prints as well ;)

What've we got so far...  birds, photos...  that's probably what I'll stick with for now.  Some other things I'm passionate about might come into it later, when I've figured out exactly how blogging works and why exactly I'm doing it!