A Morning at Rutland Water - on Saturday 27th May, 2017

On the bank holiday Saturday I was booked for a turn of monitoring duty from 09h00 until 13h00 on the Rutland Osprey Project. As it was expected to be rather busy with visitors, I was extremely grateful that someone volunteered to accompany me for the morning - thank you, Linda!

As it takes around half an hour (allowing for distractions) to get from the car park to the hide from which the monitoring takes place, I set off from home just before 06h30 so that I could take in some of the more promising parts of my usual owling route there.

I saw two Little Owls at my Site No.41, but didn't get any shots of them.

A Little Owl was seen at Site No.23, for the first time since January.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.23

Arriving at my LO Site No.34, I eventually spotted one of the owls further down the field, so turned the car round and drove back down the road to get a shot.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.34

I had no further owl sightings before arriving at the Lyndon Visitor Centre, Rutland Water. Here I unloaded 'The Beast' before setting off. Let me introduce you to 'The Beast'.

'The Beast'

'The Beast', known to some as 'Rick's Lunch Box', has only recently been put into service, following a paint job. It consists of a modified fishing trolley, on which is mounted a recycled recycling box. The box, given to me by a kind friend, has been modified with a fixed internal padded compartment in the top and on one side (the near side in the photo) that my camera fits snugly in. The idea is that the camera can be quickly dropped in if it starts to rain. There is enough room in the bottom of the box for warm clothing, waterproof clothing, drinks, etc. My insulated picnic bag sits comfortably in the other side of the box next to the camera compartment. As I found on my visit to Whixall Moss, the box can also serve as a seat!

On my walk to Waderscrape Hide (from which we do the monitoring) I was keeping my eyes open for dragonflies. However, I was delighted to find a Small Copper butterfly in the field adjacent to the path. It stayed distant, so these are heavily cropped images taken with the lens at full 500mm zoom.

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

I saw many Chimney Sweeper day-flying moths in the meadow beside the path. 

Chimney Sweeper (Odezia atrata) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

I had a bit of a surprise as I entered Tufted Duck hide. The hide was empty, but a shutter was open, and through it there was a close-up Yellow Wagtail. If the shutter had been closed, opening it would have frightened the bird away. It is not often that I see this species - let alone get so close!

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) (female) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

On reaching Waderscrape hide, it soon became apparent why I hadn't been seeing many damselflies - the Reed Buntings were snaffling them as soon as they emerged!

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (male) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

The female of the species was also showing frequently, if not 'showing well'.

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (male) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

Even more prominent than the Reed Buntings were the Sedge Warblers. In my last post which featured this species at Rutland Water, I stated that I was not sure whether I'd been photographing the same individual all the time, or whether there was a profusion of ringed Sedge Warblers. This caused me to keep my eyes open on this occasion, and I'm sad to report that it was almost impossible to find a passerine that hadn't been ringed. 

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

Water Rail were seen a few times, but not photographed, and Water Vole was seen just the once by Linda - I only saw the wake afterwards!

The Ospreys were not very active, just taking the occasional joy flight around the bay, but staying very distant.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (male) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

In the event, a band of very heavy rain passed through, and visitor numbers were down on those expected, so we weren't kept quite so busy as expected. 

At the end of my shift I wandered back to the Visitor Centre, where I treated myself to an ice cream and took a couple of shots of the damselflies outside the centre, before setting off on my travels.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male) - Rutland Water, Lyndon Reserve

I had a short spell at Ketton Quarry, but it had got windy and cloudy, so little was seen and I didn't stay long but headed homeward.

As I passed Site No.41, one of the Little Owls was out, in the remains of its nest tree.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.41

Thus ended a day with a very enjoyable shift at Rutland Water. Thank you, Linda, for your company on the shift.

I'm not sure what, and when, my next post will be, but suspect that dragonflies will feature again! 

Thank you for dropping by.

Garden Bird Update - to end of January, 2017

I've just come back from a week based at the eastern edge of Dartmoor, which is why I've been away from Bloggerland for some time. I had, I thought, scheduled this post to publish  on Wednesday, but I must have done something wrong! I'll try and figure it out.

Most of my photography, which usually takes place 'out in the wild' is what I describe as 'opportunistic' - i.e., it is not planned or staged with props, and I do not attract birds, or other wildlife, with any sort of lures. I do have a portable hide, but this only gets used once or twice a year.

However, matters in my garden are somewhat different. I do attract birds with numerous feeders, and I do set up basic photographic props (strategically placed branches) near the feeders in the hope of getting some reasonable photos - I don't like to take photos of birds on feeders, unless it's the only way I can get a record shot of an interesting bird. I also use my hide a little more frequently in the garden (2 or 3 times a year) than I do in the wild. I have 6 bird feeding stations in my garden, five of which are visible from my study window. The 6 stations have a total of 14 feeders. Consumption in the winter months is approximately one and a half kilogrammes per day. In addition to the feeding stations there are 4 watering points/bird baths and 2 hedgehog feeding stations.

In some ways, this winter in the garden has been a bit disappointing. In previous years we've had regular visits by winter specials such as Redpoll, Siskin, and Brambling, with last winter being a record year for Redpoll and Siskin, although not quite so good for Brambling. I see that, on 1st January 2016, we had 25 Redpoll and 13 Siskin - what a start to the year! However, our last sightings for these three species, to the end of February, were Redpoll (18th December, 2016), Siskin (2nd September, 2016), Brambling (14th October, 2016). I'm wondering if these early sightings mean that the birds passed through and ended up further south - in which case, I hope they visit on their way back north again. I take some consolation, however, in that we we have done slightly better this winter with the 'winter thrushes', and that we've had a garden 'lifer' in the form of Green Woodpecker (which paid us a second visit a couple of weeks later).

My last post on garden birds related to the week up until 11th December, 2016, so here are a few images of some of the birds between then and the end of January.

12th December, 2016

Amongst the visitors this dull cloudy day were one Mistle Thrush and one Fieldfare. The first two images were taken through the glass of my study window. The third was difficult as it was taken at an extremely acute angle (approximately 30 degrees) through the double glazing of our bedroom window. 

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) - our garden on 12th December, 2016

13th December, 2016

The following day (also cloudy dull), visitors included 3 Mistle Thrush, and a Redwing. I didn't manage any usable images of the Redwing. We also had a visit from a female Great Spotted Woodpecker - a species not often seen in our garden.

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) - our garden on 13th December, 2016

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (female) - our garden on 13th December, 2016

27th December, 2016

Although cloudy, the day was somewhat brighter than most we'd been experiencing. As well as the usual suspects, visitors included Grey Wagtail, Song Thrush, Stock Dove (2), and Long-tailed Tit (2).

We usually get Grey Wagtail for a few days each year, but this tends to be in spring or autumn. This one was with us from 26th December until 25th January.

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) - our garden on 27th December, 2016

Out in the wild, I'm not usually too enthralled to see Stock Dove, as they pose a threat to nesting Little Owls. However, these extremely timid birds are very welcome on the relatively rare occasions that they visit our garden. Their iridescence neck markings are wonderful.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - our garden on 27th December, 2016

Bullfinch is usually a relatively uncommon visitor to our garden, but this winter they have been a daily feature with up to five birds at a time. They are extremely handsome birds, but difficult to photograph in the garden as they seem to frequent the darker places, and they are some of the messiest eaters imaginable - they accumulate debris round their beaks as they eat, as you can see below!

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden on 27th December, 2016

Here are a couple of the more common birds photographed that day.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden on 27th December, 2016

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - our garden on 27th December, 2016

4th January, 2017

We didn't have any unusual visitors on this particular day, but I did take a few photos of the 'regulars'.

Blackbird (Turdus merula) (female) - our garden on 4th January, 2017

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - our garden on 4th January, 2017

8th January, 2017

On this day I did take a few shots of a male Bullfinch. Yep, a messy bill again!

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden on 8th January, 2017

9th January, 2017

It was a wet day, and I couldn't resist this shot of a soaking squirrel outside my study window.

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) (male) - our garden on 8th January, 2017

13th January, 2017

We'd had a little snow during the night, and this hung around for a while. I managed to catch Mrs. B. before she'd made too much of a mess of herself.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (female) - our garden on 13th January, 2017

It's very rarely that we see Reed Bunting in our garden. This was one of those days!

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (male) - our garden on 13th January, 2017

Eventually, the sun started shining through, and I got a shot of the male Bullfinch.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden on 13th January, 2017

We were still getting regular visits by the Grey Wagtail. Here it is with a remnant of snow.

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) - our garden on 13th January, 2017

Some of you may know that I have a bit of a thing about water - splashes and light reflections. In these next two images I think it looks as if the bird is standing in pools of quicksilver.

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) - our garden on 13th January, 2017

17th January, 2017

A star visitor this day was a Goldcrest - onother relatively rare visitor to our garden. This is the UK's smallest bird and it was difficult to photograph through my study window as it was in shade, and constantly on the move.

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - our garden on 17th January, 2017

20th January, 2017

I had another chance with the Goldcrest on this day.

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - our garden on 20th January, 2017

25th January, 2017

The Bullfinches were around again. Collared Dove are a daily visitor to the garden and, together with Woodpigeon, are responsible for probably around 60-70% of all the bird food consumed in our garden. It's tempting to try and find ways of making things inaccessible for them, but my wife will not allow discrimination!

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden on 25th January, 2017

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - our garden on 25th January, 2017

27th January, 2017

No report on the subject of garden birds would be complete without a Robin!

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - our garden on 27th January, 2017

29th January, 2017

A dull day brought a few common birds in front of the camera. Today we were also graced with another visit from a female Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (male) - our garden on 29th January, 2017

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - our garden on 29th January, 2017

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (female)- our garden on 29th January, 2017

I'd originally intended this post to cover the period up until the end of February, but I think that there's enough in this post already!

Thank you for dropping by. Maybe next time the post will cover February?