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.
 

His Royal Highness, and supporting cast - on 17th September, 2017

It had been ten days since I'd last visited the Kingfishers, so I decided to return. This time, unlike on my previous two visits which were in 'cloudy-bright' weather conditions, the weather was 'sunny spells'.

I stopped at the first location just as a female Kingfisher was leaving a relatively near post. I sat and watched for a while but she stayed at the far end of the pond, only landing when out of sight. She soon flew off to the nearby brook.

As I made my way to the second location there were a few Common Darter dragonflies around. 

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Leicestershire

I arrived at the hide to find two people who had spent all morning there and only got a fleeting glimpse of a Kingfisher - it was looking as if I might not be lucky.

Because of the relatively warm sunny weather there were a few dragonflies visible from the hide. This one perched conveniently close.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Leicestershire

In the event, I only had to wait just over half an hour before a male Kingfisher arrived and obliged by landing quite close to the hide - although the sun had gone behind a cloud.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - Leicestershire

On my first visit, a gentleman who voluntarily looks after the site had commented that he'd like to find an alternative stick to one of the ones that were in place for the Kingfishers to perch on as it was a bit smooth and shiny. On my subsequent visit, I'd taken with me what I hoped would be a suitable stick, and left it for him to do with as he wished. I was, therefore, delighted to see that 'my stick' was now in place and being used to advantage. Here's one of the Kingfisher on 'my stick'.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - Leicestershire

 From its texture, you might recognise 'my stick' in some of the subsequent images.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - Leicestershire

The bird spent a full 15 minutes here before departing to the brook. I waited for another hour, but it didn't return in that time. However, I did take a few other shots. Here's one of a Migrant Hawker dragonfly which landed on 'my stick'.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Leicestershire

 A Wren briefly landed on one of the other 'kingfisher sticks'.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - Leicestershire

Mute Swans might be everywhere, but there's no denying that they are among the most graceful of birds. I couldn't resist the photographic conditions at one point.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Leicestershire

The weather started to change dramatically and so I set off towards my car. I had to take refuge for half an hour in another hide when there was a sudden torrential rain shower. I then made my way home.

It had been another enchanting interlude with the Kingfisher. I have another post up my sleeve  on the subject of Kingfisher and that one will be a little different.

Thank you for dropping by. My next post will probably feature dragonflies, and maybe another bird.