Monday, April 30, 2012

More seawatching

More strong winds so it was off to Portland again to try and get a few Skuas on the list. Although only 4 birds seen couldnt complain as this involved 3 species all of which were safely photographed. Some however were better than others!

















A few Swifts were the only non seabirds attempting to move. This brought me up to 198 species photographed for the year.







Not something you see every day, a police tractor. Trying to work out where they would actually use this. I am sure there is a gag here somewhere involving farmyards and pigs but better not go there.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Portland

A few birds going past the bill in the morning but couldnt get there till the afternoon so missed out on the good stuff








Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A few more year ticks

11th April. Portland and Radipole.
Forgot about these as they were on another flashcard
It was another nice day at Portland but no quality about























Wheatears are quite well known for appearing later on in the morning. However a loose flock of 27 turning up together late morning was noteworthy. This was followed by yet more birds, many coming in without stopping.

A few did get caught in the Crown Estate fields nets, one of which was this Greenland race bird.

Was nearly back home when I got a call saying a Black-winged Stilt had been found at North Hide.
Obviously had to turn around and head back. It was still there but kept right at the back of the pool, mostly out of sight. Had to settle for some poor record shots





Whilst everybody was straining to see the Stilt, the Glossy Ibis came into view. Dont suppose there has been too many times when these birds have been seen feeding together in the UK





23rd April  
Some heavy rain had brought down this White Stork just along the road from Wool. Glad I went straight away as it was seen to fly north when the rain stopped



Certainly looks a bit sorry for itself






24th April Little Sea, Studland
Off to try for the Little Gull that had been hanging around for a few days



 Hercules having just dropped its cargo in Studland Bay





Little Gull still about













Saturday, April 21, 2012

Brownsea

Not sure if this is going to work but there is now an option to have bigger photos, so I thought I would go for it. You would think it would be quite straight forward but it is not as everything has to be changed about, it also decides some things for you which you seemingly dont have a say in, such as shite brown coloured headings, the header photo being off centre etc etc so things might look at bit odd to start with.


Great weather nearly all day today. Nice and sunny with no wind. 

First stop was for the Golden Pheasants. The best place to try and see these birds is now around the Wardens Cottage area as it is the only stand of Rhododendron left on the island, after extensive clearance work.
From the photos below, it all looks very easy. Just stroll up and the birds will be just wandering around the gardens. However this is most definitely not the case! They are extremely secretive birds. The cover is very dense and they invariably stay in there. The males are quite vocal in spring so hearing one wasnt a problem, but I needed a photograph!
We could hear at least one bird continually calling but it was impossible to see. Our technique, (me and Claire) was to wait at the ends of walkways hoping it would scuttle across. This lasted for about 30 minutes until I lost interest. I did try getting in there to 'encourage' it out but the cover was completely impenetrable. Later a regularly calling bird seemed to be quite close to the wood edge so we set ourselves up by a gate with a view across the lawn there. After about another 30 minutes we were thinking about leaving when the bird appeared from the cover at the back, then ran right across the lawn and back into thick cover again. Long enough time to get a few shots.




The plan is to clear all remaining Rhododendron so the future of Golden Pheasants on Brownsea looks a bit bleak unless they try and find some alternative. I did enquire as to why they couldnt just leave this last remaining bit. The reason is that the plant can carry a disease which can be transmitted to our native trees.

Ropey shot of an investigating Blackcap


A job well done there then. Next stop the cafe. 
I thought these were part of the stonework at first


Very regal! 


Tanks now full, it was off to the lagoon. Despite having missed the high tide there still seemed to be plenty of birds about. Knot was the next target bird as they will soon be clearing off and I didnt want to wait till next winter to tick it.
They were still about, along with a bonus bird Curlew Sandpiper who kept in their company
throughout.
They were rather distant so the Powershot and scope had to be deployed.

The nesting Yellow-legged Gulls were even further away, but thought I may as well get the tick on offer.  List now 185.

In for a penny.. May as well get in this ropey shot of Avocet. This was one of just two birds left.

On the way to the Macdonald Hide, there was a small viewing gap just befor the fence line where a Spot Red and Greenshank were feeding



I had to get my knees dirty for those shots. Thats what you call commitment!

Now in the hide it was time for some traditional point blank shots of nesting (or pre-nesting) birds. These taken by Claire




Dont think he's quite got the hang of it yet








I should have videoed them really as it was quite comical. The male looked like he was skateboarding rather than mating as he constantly tried to remain on board whilst the female walked up and down the small island.




Sandwich Terns only on the further island at the moment


Heavily cropped Common Tern pic on same island. Havent seen one with such a dark body colour before. 



Got a call from Graham Armstrong who was also on the island, that Chris Thain had found a singing Firecrest near the arboretum.
It was a particularly restless bird and defied a real decent shot





The skies were soon darkening so we headed back. Just as we were reaching the main hide the heavens opened and we had to take cover.
There were 3 Spot Reds at medium range, sitting it out


On the way back to the quay we spotted this foxes tail on legs sprinting down the boardwalk



It was then joined by another who surprisingly started heading back towards us



It then proceeded to walk right up to us



I didnt realise that they could be this tame. This one just sat there feet away as though waiting for some sort of handout.