The Good Old days

Suddenly proper outdoors time is at a premium, and it's tricky to keep an eye on what's happening even locally. Last years woodpecker hole, on the route of one of our regular walks, shows no signs of a nuthatch using it yet, despite them having a good look last year after the woodpeckers had moved out.

When I saw the nest last year (well as usual I heard it first) I had high hopes of some good photo opportunities, but this pair were clearly spooked by my presence despite best efforts, so I rapidly decided to leave them to it.

As it turned out I did get a chance to snap another nest. Again I found it when I heard the youngsters calling.  I'd been heading to see a wood warbler that had belatedly arrived in the 'usual' spot, but decided instead to spend the session with the GSW's.  Fortunately this pair were much more accommodating and rapidly settled into a pattern of regular feeding visits to some well developed youngsters, and although the light levels were a bit low and the leaf cover lent a green colour cast to many of the pics I did get some ok shots.  If you look at the big versions you might even see some woodpecker spit!

The tree had 3 or 4 older nest holes (you can see another in these shots), so was clearly seen as a good nest site.  I only had the one session before they fledged, but I had hoped to check it again this year.  However the Forest of Dean is sadly well beyond reach during lockdown.  I have spotted a hole that I think is new and in use near another of our daily walks - now that might be do-able if things relax a little bit, but I have doubts that I will be re-retired in time to take good advantage.

Stay safe.

When is a lake not a lake?

In winter I live a 10 minute walk away from a lake.

In summer I live a 10 minute walk away from a field.

And twice a year as one shifts into the other I live a 10 minute walk away from a marsh.

The marsh time is my favourite, and the horses, which always have the choice of dry land, often favour the marsh as well.

I've taken some snaps of the wildlife of the lake/field/marsh over the years, perhaps most surprisingly the kingfishers which appeared for a week or two in two of those years, but it was only recently I thought about making more of a project out of it, now I have more time.  So here is instalment 1, spring marsh.

As you look out over the grass small (mostly) mounds stand out.  At first they are bare, a result of my appearance, but wait a minute and the occupants sneak back.

It's nice to see coots at peace for a change, but as always they can manufacture a squabble anywhere.

Interestingly when a horse walks up - much nearer than I ever am - the birds remain glued to their nests.

Other occupants of the marsh also ignore the horses.

The egrets are a bit skittish, but come in if you are still and quiet, breeding colours evident on some.

The grey herons are more nervous and tend to hold back,

and the little grebes are …… well they're like all little grebes, shy and inquisitive at the same time, popping up unpredictably and revelling in my inability to get a decent snap.

The swans built a massive mound, which like most of the nests is now vacant.

The odd coot egg seems to have been predated, probably (whisper it) by a corvid of some kind,

but I hope at least some youngsters have made it through and headed for the nearby reen which rarely dries up.  The lapwings are still chasing the crows, so I hope that's a positive sign for them

and the shelduck are paired up, but not apparently yet hidden down rabbit holes.

The rabbits watched them, but the fox was a few fields away, so they were ok for now.

A lone greylag stood on a coot mound yesterday for minutes, looking around then called a few times before wandering off, still alone.

To see larger versions just click on a picture.

The battle for the last sprout

It's been a pretty poor winter so far, but last year the snow came late so there's still time.  When we do get snow a few apples on the lawn soon brings in the winter thrushes.  Although space constraints mean it's hard to get a clean background with the 100-400 I decided to take a few snaps, in the hope of a bit of thrush grumpiness.
As usual the first few birds are a little wary resulting in the ground level equivalent of bird on a stick shots,

but in time they relaxed a bit and some of the action I was after took place.

  To the victor - still with a bit of attitude - the spoils

If we do get snow this year I'm going to try scattering some apples in our community field where the extra space means it should be possible to get a bit more background blur.

Looking forward from backwards

It's about this time each year I start to make the plans I then fail to keep.  2016 was going to be foxes, badgers, grebes and little owls ........... and maybe hawfinch or two if I was lucky.  I did get a few fox snaps, and was pleased with a least one badger snap - one for a later post.  There was only one grebe  on the estate lake and the little owl location turned out to be too challenging for the limited hours I have. 
In the end I spent more time at our 'near woodland' puddle on a table - good fun and a reasonable range of birds.  The light can be tricky as in any woodland, and I even tried a bit of flash at times (more practise needed there). The other challenge is lens selection. When the birds vary in size from goldcrest to pheasant there is no halfway house.  I tried the 100-400 II, but the bokeh wasn't enough for the woodland background.
Some snaps I haven't posted before below:

 

 The flash does need more work although I quite liked this ghost robin shot.

The weather hasn't added much this year - a couple of snaps in the ice but I think I needed a higher angle to show it better.  The woodpecker ignored the thawed area and just pecked and licked the ice.

The treecreeper provided a favourite snap as it hid from a magpie, whilst it was also the subject of the most disappointing - I have snapped one bathing before but this just didn't quite work.

Actually in truth it wasn't the most disappointing - one morning after snapping the woodpecker nest I went to the wood and poked the lens out the window. Seconds later with nothing set up properly I saw my hawfinch - a female in our own little wood - and I duffed the single snap I took!