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Bits and Bobs - November, 2017

For a number of reasons, it has been over three weeks since my last blog post, so I thought I'd better take a grip on myself and come up with something before questions are asked!

A few weeks ago, I stated that I intended for my birding activities to change, with a return to a focus on owls, and an endeavour to stay closer to home. In some respects, I have managed to adhere to this intention. My excursions have been rather more frequent, but shorter in duration, and resulted in virtually no photography! They have not, however, been totally fruitless.

Owls

Many of my shorter excursions have been in the late afternoon specifically to try and locate owls as dusk falls. I've had a few sightings of Barn Owl over two different sites, and a couple of sightings of Tawny Owl at one site. I have not had too much success so far with Little Owls as no new sites have been found, although I have had around a dozen sightings over three of my original sites. I've also recently found what was one of my more reliable owl nest trees to be totally destroyed - it's in a location that is out of bounds in the summer. The only photos arising from these sightings were from my old LO Site No.02. All but two of these sighting were in 'night time' situations. I have, therefore, little to show for my efforts. Here's a few shots to 'put you in the picture'.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.02

With luck, I may get some half decent owl shots in the not-too-distant future.

Other Excursions

All my birding has been relatively close to home. Hawfinch are in the county (and country) in unprecedented numbers, for reasons that I'm not aware of. There's one location that they have been reported from that I have now visited four times - so far without any luck. I have, however, taken advantage of my time there to photograph some of the winter thrushes (my Fieldfare shots were awful, so don't appear here) that are in the area - not forgetting the Robin!

Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - Battram

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Battram

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) - Battram

I have been to Hicks Lodge a few times. So far, the most interesting sightings have been of thirteen Goosander, and a number of Snipe (not counted but around 10) that were doing their best to look inconspicuous in the evening light. Apart from a lone female, all the Goosander kept their distance.

Goosander (Mergus merganser) - Hicks Lodge

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Hicks Lodge

Coot (Fulica atra) - Hicks Lodge

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Hicks Lodge

I also had an evening at Longmoor Lake in the hope of seeing owls. I was surprised by how few passerines I saw - I think that the tree plantation is now too dense. There were plenty of birds on the water, however, but nothing of great interest.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Longmoor Lake

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - Longmoor Lake

Our Garden

Sadly, the building work going on behind our back garden is keeping the more timid birds from visiting us during the week, but things tend to pick up a bit at the weekend when all is quiet on the building site. We have started to see a few winter visitors in the garden. I missed the first Brambling of the winter as I was in Derbyshire photographing Kingfisher, but Lindsay (my wife) tells me it was around for about an hour. Great-spotted Woodpecker (a male) - absent for most of the summer - has started showing reasonably frequently. We're now getting occasional visits from Goldcrest (no sensible photos yet), and we've had a few visits from Mistle Thrush (but our berries have now virtually all gone!). Here are a few garden bird images from November.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (male) - our garden

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - our garden

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) -our garden

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our garden

I hope that it is not another three-plus weeks before I manage to get enough time and material to share with you.

Thank you for dropping by.

Another Memorable Day! - on 12th April, 2017

Just four days after my last published 'memorable day' I had another one. This one was, again, attributable to Tim Mackrill, although he's not aware of the fact! Tim was giving a talk that evening, for the benefit of the Rutland Osprey Volunteers, and I was booked to attend. It seemed sensible, as the venue was at 19.30 at Rutland Water which is some 45 miles (72 km) from my home, to combine my attendance with a visit to Rutland Water itself.

The day got off to a good start as we had a Chiffchaff in our garden. Although this is not a rare bird, it is rare in our garden. I didn't get as good shots as I'd have liked, but here's one.

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) - our garden

I set off after an early lunch and first called at my Little Owl Site No.02 as I hadn't seen an owl there for a while. I'm delighted to report that one was showing.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) (male) - my Site No.02

I headed towards Rutland Water on the usual owling route, but no owls were seen - probably because it was rather windy.

At one point on my route, down a narrow lane, a small creature scuttled onto the road and darted back again. I stopped the car, and found a shrew, which I believe to be a Pygmy Shrew, in the grass. At first I thought it was injured, but my photos suggest it just had a soaking-wet patch of fur.

Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus)?

Having checked in at the Egleton Visitor Centre at Rutland Water, I set off northward on the trail that leads to the hides on that side. I'd not gone far before I found a crop of Snake's-head Fritillaries in one small meadow. Unfortunately, a photo of the area would have looked most unattractive as the immediate area was roped-off, with wire netting round most of the individual plants. There were both pink and white forms here.

Snake's-head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

In another meadow, there were two Egyptian Geese resting. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has mixed feelings about these strange-looking birds. Once they were relatively uncommon, but they're now firmly established over much of the country, and in such numbers at Rutland Water that they make a nuisance of themselves, particularly when they occupy Osprey nests before the Ospreys return. Here's one Egyptian Goose from that day - not even an attractive bird in my opinion.

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

From one of the hides (I didn't note which) I photographed Tufted Duck and Coot. In this light, the difference in body colour and head colour could easily be seen.

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (male) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (female) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Coot (Fulica atra) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

I eventually reached Shoveler Hide on Lagoon 3, which tends to be one of the best hides for sightings. The water level in Lagoon 3 was higher than I've ever seen it before. There was virtually nothing left of the islands that are usually in front of the hide. There were also few birds of any interest to be seen. I sat patiently for a while and was, eventually, rewarded by a drake Garganey emerging from behind some reeds. I managed a safety record shot through the reeds.