tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82927094506733323662024-03-13T16:33:09.998+00:00In Search Of BirdsBirds, photography and travelFayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-73926025259505798112014-08-06T21:15:00.000+01:002014-08-06T22:23:49.213+01:00Red SquirrelThe Isle of Wight is famous for its Red Squirrels. These cute creatures have been wiped out in most other parts of the UK, apart from here, Brownsea Island (in Poole Harbour, Dorset), some parts of the north of England, parts of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland, due to habitat loss and, quite possibly, the introduction of the Grey Squirrel on which competition for food and also the lethal squirrel pox has been blamed.<br />
Near me, the nature reserve at Alverstone Mead has a population of Red Squirrels which are easy to see due to their lack of fear of people (they get handouts!). This makes them comparatively easy to photograph, although you only need a wide angle lens because they come close...and I mean close, literally only a couple of feet away. The only problem is the darkness created by the wooded environment and the contrast caused by deep shade and bright light on a sunny day like today. I used my 6D with 100-400mm lens - which was overkill - and had to use ISOs in the thousands, hence some grain in the pictures. Next time, I'll use my 70-200mm f/2.8.<br />
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<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-75734701700030322522014-08-04T18:58:00.001+01:002014-08-04T18:59:51.390+01:00Merops apiasterRecently, I received a text saying there were European Bee-eaters paying us a visit here on the sunny Isle of Wight (we're having a decent summer so far, so I hope it's to their liking) and they were to be found at Wydcombe Manor near Whitwell. I couldn't do anything about it until Friday - I don't work Fridays - so I went over then. I got distant views of the birds in a distant dead tree but nothing photographable, until I paid a return visit today, as we're off work for a week. The Bee-eaters were closer, although sometimes still in the distant dead tree, and I managed to get a few shots approaching acceptable.<br />
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I've done nothing to these photos except apply a MASSIVE crop (chucking away a good 90% of the original file). Click to see the full sized photos, which are 100% crops.<br />
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It's great that these birds are on National Trust land and the NT have been very organised about getting birders in to see them, with the location signposted off the main road from Niton to Rookley, and a car park available.</div>
Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-67150250435370447112014-06-21T14:00:00.001+01:002014-06-21T14:00:47.395+01:00New toyI went over to Southampton, to the London Camera Exchange at Civic Centre, yesterday for a new camera bag and maybe a new (secondhand) lens as well. As it happens I left LCE with no new bag and no lens, mainly because I couldn't find a bag I liked and there were no lenses I wanted (s/h Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L). Instead, I've somehow ended up with a secondhand Canon 1D Mark III with only 6300 shutter clicks on it. I've always wanted a 1D-series DSLR but, given that new models (the latest is the 1Dx) command huge prices, they've always been out of my financial reach. The 1D3 is a bit old now, having been released in 2007, but it's still a very capable device and so far I am pleased with the results from it.<br />
I've not seriously tried it on wild birds but here's the pup and my aunt's pet gander, Mr. G. The shots were with my 100-400mm zoom.<br />
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And a quick shot of Queen Mary 2 in Southampton yesterday. I always like photographing 'Her Madge' as she's an impressive ship (had the pleasure of a short cruise on her in 2012, she's fabulous, inside and out). The photo was taken with the 24-105mm zoom.<br />
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<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-64345312729551867552014-05-25T17:19:00.001+01:002014-05-25T17:19:19.264+01:00BullfinchA Bullfinch is an unusual garden visitor. Not a crippler, definitely not rare by any means, but not that common now so it's nice to see and such a pretty bird, too. When I took the photo a few days ago it was just the male about, but yesterday he was joined by his Mrs.<br />
Apols for bad image, it was into the evening, it was cloudy and the light - what there was of it - was going, plus I was trying to handhold my 100-400mm zoom and the ISO was set to stupid hundred.<br />
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As a Southampton FC fan I am more than a tad irritated - no I'm not, I am actually completely pissed off - by the national rags trying to sell the entire first team. They ought to learn not to make stuff up and, not only that, realise that keep repeating rumours, lies and conjecture (with the occasional arse-covering reverse-ferret), won't make it any more likely to happen. Knock it off, tossers.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-68200744650093965662014-05-19T19:37:00.001+01:002014-05-19T19:43:41.359+01:00TurnstonesTurnstones at East Cowes a couple of weeks ago<br />
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Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-58537375201014074882014-04-21T20:16:00.001+01:002014-04-21T20:44:58.158+01:00Back homeI'm back from Australia and it was a great trip, even if I didn't do as much birding as I intended (I went to an astronomy event and all-night observing meant that the days were spent not doing much, especially in 30°C heat). I will have a few photos to put on here though, once I've processed them.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-58954192963977623872014-03-17T18:27:00.001+00:002014-03-17T18:37:25.067+00:00Blogging via email<div class="mobile-photo">
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Because iPads (and, to be fair, not just iPads, tablets in general) are generally useless for everything except browsing the net, collecting email (it's happy to receive them although its ideas differ from mine about sending them), reading electronic books and listening to music, if I want to update the blog during the three weeks I'll be away I'll have to use email. Blogger doesn't have an app (why?) which would make life a lot easier and the regular browser interface is practically unusable in Safari.<br />
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I think I can add photos, so I'll attach one to the email and see what happens. The photo is of a Rainbow Bee-eater from my previous visit to Australia. I hope this works, so far the Gmail mobile site isn't great while the mobile app is plain old shite!</div>
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I am setting off tomorrow and will return home on 9th April, unless idiot politicians get us all nuked over Crimea...and the moronic willy-waving over that land-grab is getting ever more serious.<br />
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It seems as if email blogging works okay although I have to go in and edit out all the email-related crap.<br />
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NB - I've added in old imported posts from my old travel blog, these relate to my previous trip to Australia and SE Asia and can be seen under '2009' (links on right). The formatting's a bit screwed but I'll sort it out at some point.</div>
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Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-38429062818239789082014-03-15T14:31:00.002+00:002014-03-15T17:20:00.485+00:00Culver Down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Photos from Culver this morning, on a glorious warm early spring day. As usual, click on them for largest sizes.</div>
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Fulmar</div>
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Herring Gull</div>
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Raven<br />
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Jackdaws<br />
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It looks as if one is getting an earful from the other, but there was no sound and it was most likely part of their courtship display as the left bird appeared to be begging.</div>
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Meadow Pipit<br />
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There was no sign of the reported male Black Redstarts on the cottages, or on the fort either, where I've seen them in the past. A quick visit to the little housing estate in Sandown also drew a blank and I think Black Reds are avoiding me this year!<br />
Skylarks were singing, a sure sign of the approaching season and Chiffchaffs were calling from scrub. After an hour, Culver was getting crowded as more people arrived (although, to me, more than about half a dozen people is 'crowded'!) so I left.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-32329832395609554642014-03-15T13:28:00.000+00:002014-03-15T13:28:37.384+00:00Glossy Ibis picsThis was the first opportunity since Sunday to get another look at the Adgestone Glossy Ibis and hopefully a closer view than I had last week. The Ibis was feeding on a field adjacent to the marsh, and I was able to get a few photos at the long end of my 100-400mm zoom. They are huge crops because the bird just wasn't close enough to get better ones, but a lot better than Sunday's woeful extreme range effort.<br />
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Click for the largest size<br />
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Following the Glossy Ibis visit, I then went up to Culver in the hope of some early migrants. There weren't but I did get a few photos of common species which will be in the next post.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-18080274345406765762014-03-09T20:57:00.004+00:002014-03-15T15:13:27.030+00:00Glossy IbisToday, a fabulous, warm early spring day with loads of sunshine, began with a birding group walk at Binstead, a village near Ryde on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. As I left home, a <b>Raven</b> was perched on a fence post at the top of the road.<br />
We met close to the church and, after watching the local <b>Nuthatches</b> (Binstead is one of only two places on the island where these occur; why more haven't made their way across the Solent, no-one knows) we went to the beach. Out on the Solent was a <b>Great Northern Diver</b>, while a <b>Sandwich Tern</b> was sitting on a buoy close in, although there was no sign of the Black-necked Grebes.<br />
We made our way back to our cars - Binstead, away from the grotty bits, namely the main A3054 road that takes you through to Ryde, is incredibly pretty - and into Ryde itself for the <b>Black-necked Grebes</b>, because we guessed they would be around the point and easier to see from Ryde. They were, or at least one was, which was coming into its summer plumage.<br />
The new - well, new to me that is, as it's secondhand - Swarovski ATS 65 is superb and, despite obviously having seen a lot of action, being a bit scruffy - totally destroys my old Kowa TSN 601 in the image quality stakes as I knew it would. It's a lot easier to look through, you get 'into' the view, rather than feeling as if you're looking through a knot-hole in wood, and the colours are so much better.<br />
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While we were in Binstead, those of us signed up to the local rare bird text alerts got messages about a <b>Glossy Ibis</b> on the marshes at Adgestone, a village near Sandown. I decided to see if I could see it - via trips to get some petrol and a side trip to see if I could spot a Black Redstart which is frequenting a particular address on a small housing estate in Sandown (I dipped on the Redstart and didn't really want to loiter suspiciously on a housing estate while searching for it) - and I duly did, from a hill top overlooking the marshes. I took a long-distance photo and have cropped the hell out of it, leaving only a tiny part of the centre of the photo, so the quality is abysmal, and heat shimmer doesn't help either, but you can see the bird on the dead tree at centre. As with all the photos, click for the largest view.<br />
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The view from the hill overlooking the marshes.<br />
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I decided to see if I could get closer views, so I went into Adgestone itself and walked around the muddy footpath where I joined another birder. He said the bird had been scared by dog walkers and had gone the other side of thick reeds. We waited for a while - and heard a <b>Cetti's Warbler</b> and saw a <b>Chiffchaff</b> - but, apart from a split-second view as it flapped about, we didn't see it again.<br />
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A pair of Mute swans flew over<br />
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Daffodils at home<br />
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A ladybird<br />
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Nice to see spring here, although it's early days and there'll be a few cold, wet days before winter is finally banished.<br />
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Good wins for the Saints in the Premier League (although looking at the line ups for the FA Cup semi-final matches makes it all the more galling they cocked it up at Sunderland last month; it was a fantastic opportunity to progress and maybe win) and England rugby in the Six Nations.<br />
Terrible news about the - at the time of writing - still missing, suspected crashed, Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 and, on a personal level, it's all the more sobering as I'll be travelling with them next week, via Kuala Lumpur to Sydney. That said, it's one of the best airlines for safety and the cause of this accident will no doubt be discovered in due course. Whatever the cause, it's a truly dreadful thing to happen.<br />
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Last week in that factory, thank goodness. I'll miss the money of course, and a couple of the people I get on with well, but I won't miss having to get up at stupid o'clock to be there at 0700, especially in winter.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-26553518978777845312014-03-01T19:51:00.001+00:002014-03-02T14:12:34.770+00:00SpringToday was a nice early spring day (March 1st is the start of meteorological spring in the northern hemisphere) so I went to Ryde for a bit of sea watching. It was nice to get out after a few days of feeling ill with a bad flu-like cold - people might laugh at colds but they can make you feel worse than crap.<br />
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Click on photos for largest size, because I mostly saved this lot at 1500 px on the longest side, to show the birds better, but they're too large for the blog template width.<br />
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Plenty of gulls about, as usual<br />
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And, again, here are <b>Sanderling</b> for your viewing pleasure. These are such cute little birds and passing old ladies were cooing over them: 'Ooh, aren't they <i>sweet</i>?!' and, indeed, they are dear little birds. These photos show a small fraction of the 150 or so that were there. Some of the Sanderlings had colour rings and flags on their legs, and these are part of a project by the <a href="http://www.waderstudygroup.org/index.php" target="_blank">International Wader Study Group</a> to track the migration of these birds.<br />
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A <b>Pied Wagtail</b> or two were about, such as this young one on the beach<br />
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An interesting sight was a couple of <b>Ravens</b>, which flew over the canoe lake and town; these have been seen in Ryde a lot recently. I have to admit it was a surprise to see them, I'd only ever seen them on Culver Cliff, at Newtown and other less-populated places. Here, on the Isle of Wight, these once scarce birds of wilder places are coming into towns and I wonder if it's the same elsewhere?<br />
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Two spectacularly crap photos of one of the Ravens seen this morning. I hate photographing jet-black birds.<br />
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A <b>Chiffchaff</b> was calling, from the scrubby plants on the top of the bank on the north side of the canoe lake. It was also fly-catching. We have resident Chiffchaffs here so I'm not sure this was one of these or a recently-arrived one from further south. I tried to take its photo but failed. It was too quick and the bushes gave my 6D's AF a problem.<br />
Also, there were two <b>Great Northern Divers</b> out on the sea, along with three <b>Great Crested Grebes</b>. A <b>Grey Wagtail</b> was on the wall of the south side of the canoe lake which itself had the usual population of <b>Mute Swans</b>, <b>Canada Geese</b> and 'Yuck Ducks' (various Mallard x AN Other hybrids).<br />
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I headed for home, via a quick look at Seaview, after an hour as I have one of those classic post-viral thingies where you don't feel so much ill as merely trampled by a herd of elephants.<br />
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The other purpose of the outing was to meet up with local birder Derek Hale as he has an old 65mm Swarovski ATS spotting scope for sale, which I'm interested in. I've been meaning to replace my old beat up Kowa for a while and have been looking at Swarovski scopes, but the prices for new ones are hideous and I can't really justify spending well over a grand (nearly £1400!) on one, especially with a trip to Australia just two weeks away. It's certainly seen some action and is a bit scruffy itself but, optically, is in good condition and, comparing it and my Kowa side-by-side it blows the Kowa - itself a nice little scope - out of the water, especially with clarity of the view and the colours in the Swarovski are much better, neutral, rather than yellowish. For me though, the superior eye relief of the Swarovski eyepiece is the main reason for getting one, as I wear spectacles and, unlike some people, I can't be doing with taking them off and putting them on again; even putting them on my head means they tangle up in my hair.<br />
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Bloody football. Monday at work's going to be even more of a drag than usual, with the plastic scousers there giving it the large one.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-43300178390418605662014-02-16T18:28:00.003+00:002014-03-01T19:52:32.578+00:00Seawatch, Ryde to SeaviewWhat a difference a day makes! Today was positively spring-like, with plenty of sunshine and mild temperatures, a total contrast to the hurricane conditions of nearly 48 hours ago. We even saw a Chiffchaff fly-catching in trees next to the Ryde-Seaview footpath. It started off cold, with a bit of a frost, but warmed up quite quickly.<br />
I joined the Isle of Wight Ornithological Group's (IWOG) walk and seawatch between Ryde and Seaview, led by Derek Hale, who runs <a href="http://iowbirds.awardspace.com/IOW.htm" target="_blank">a website with the latest Isle of Wight bird sightings</a>.<br />
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Here's the route on Google maps. It's good for woodland birds (Appley and Puckpool Parks) as well as seawatching at the right time of year, generally winter, for waders, gulls, grebes, divers and the occasional auk species.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=N+Walk&daddr=Duver+Rd&hl=en&geocode=Fe4VBgMdxnru_w%3BFUD3BQMdG_Lu_w&sll=50.725236,-1.137214&sspn=0.028091,0.066047&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&ie=UTF8&ll=50.725236,-1.137214&spn=0.028091,0.066047&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br /></div>
<small><a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=N+Walk&daddr=Duver+Rd&hl=en&geocode=Fe4VBgMdxnru_w%3BFUD3BQMdG_Lu_w&sll=50.725236,-1.137214&sspn=0.028091,0.066047&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&ie=UTF8&ll=50.725236,-1.137214&spn=0.028091,0.066047" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small><br />
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I parked my car in Appley park where you get free parking for 5 hours (the sea front, on the other hand, has got year-round parking charges) and met the others at North Walk. The tide was low, although it was starting to turn, and there were plenty of waders and gulls out on the sandbanks. Unfortunately there were plenty of dogs and their walkers on the sandbanks too, why do they feel the need to go so far out among the birds? There's plenty of room further in. Not only that, they let their mutts chase the birds thus disturbing their feeding activities and their rest. When confronted it's invariably 'But he's not hurting them!' No, but the harm isn't a result of a dog biting or killing the bird, it's the stress caused.<br />
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N.B., I am a dog lover, I come from a dog-owning family, I just hate the minority of dog owners who behave like total pricks - birds chased, dog shit uncollected so you step in it, dog shit collected but in plastic bags left hanging from trees because, of course, the Dog Shit Fairy will take them away, letting their uncontrolled dogs jump up at you, etc., it's all totally self-centred and unnecessary.<br />
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Anyway, when they were left undisturbed by dogs and ignorant owners, there were c.100 <b>Sanderling</b>, a <b>Bar-tailed Godwit</b>, a <b>Guillemot</b> (there have been a lot of storm victims, some living, others dead, washed up along the south coast recently; happily this one was alive and not in bad shape) and the usual gull species (there were no Little Gulls today, sadly).<br />
Walking past Appley Park, we saw <b>Redwings</b> which had been inadvertently flushed by people, they flew up into the trees, disturbing a singing <b>Song Thrush</b>. I've barely seen a <b>Greenfinch</b> all winter - it's been so mild, the garden has been quiet - but there were a few around today.<br />
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Out on the Solent, as seen from Puckpool Park, were a group of <b>Red-breasted Mergansers</b> (3 male, 3 female), at least 2 <b>Great Northern Divers</b> (sorry, but I am NOT going to use the atrocious American term 'loon' which, apparently, we are supposed to call them these days. Apart from the fact I can't stand the word and it's yet another Americanism, it's also a very unpleasant term my nasty-piece-of-work stepfather used for the - very sweet - learning difficulties kids who were passengers on his school bus back in the 80s. Therefore I won't use it!), a <b>Slavonian Grebe</b> and a <b>Great Crested Grebe</b> plus six <b>Shags</b>. Shags used to be a rare sight in the Solent, Bembridge Ledge was as close as they ever got, but these days they're being seen in the Solent more often.<br />
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The <b>Chiffchaff</b> mentioned at the beginning of the post was fly-catching in trees behind the beach huts at Puckpool while further along at Springvale, a <b>Grey Wagtail</b> was by a temporary pond on a field on the landward side of the road. A Grey Wagtail isn't out of the ordinary, but I haven't seen one for ages and they are such smart little birds. A group of <b>Curlew</b> were on the fields while a <b>Fox</b> trotted across, well out of camera range unfortunately.<br />
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Moving onto Hersey Nature Reserve, there was no sign of the Kingfisher which often sits by or on the sluice gate but we did hear a <b>Water Rail</b> calling, it sounds like a pig someone's attempting to kill. From the hide, we could see at least six <b>Snipe</b> fondly imagining themselves unobserved among the reeds, 25 <b>Teal</b>, a <b>Lapwing</b>, a group of <b>Oystercatchers</b>, a <b>Shelduck</b>, three <b>Greenshank</b>, 4 <b>Buzzards</b> and a <b>Peregrine</b>.<br />
The tide was in by now and Sanderling were gathering on the beach, in the same place I photographed them yesterday, there were no Turnstones today. I thought I'd try and improve on the photos I took yesterday. No chance. Why is it that one day I can take decent shots, but the next day not a damn thing is in focus?!<br />
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By now it was time to head back to the car and home. Thanks to Derek Hale for leading the walk.<br />
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Here are the photos...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greenshank</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grey Wagtail - a massive crop of the only pic which came out</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oystercatchers at Hersey NR</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XeOYPP1BrjY/UwEBsU1BJ-I/AAAAAAAAAjc/rWC17NnsXUg/s1600/sanderling16feb14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XeOYPP1BrjY/UwEBsU1BJ-I/AAAAAAAAAjc/rWC17NnsXUg/s1600/sanderling16feb14.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanderling</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snipe</td></tr>
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After I got home yesterday, I listened to Southampton's FA Cup match away at Sunderland. It was piss-poor, to say the least. Saints lost and the assistant manager, Jesus Perez, was quoted saying 'We are not disappointed'. No, but the fans are! What was the bloody point, if you're not going to sodding bother??!! There's not much to play for in the league, we're not going down, we won't make the top six so trying to win the FA Cup, a major trophy, should have been a high priority. Our best chance in years to progress and, maybe, get to a final (we were a couple of wins away) and actually win something - for a team of their size, Saints have won practically f-all over the years, with the exception of the FA Cup nearly 40 years ago and the League Trophy in 2010, yet they couldn't be arsed. Insulting for the fans to say the least.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-8124471726616571532014-02-15T21:32:00.001+00:002014-02-15T21:52:02.153+00:00After the (latest) stormWe had yet another storm yesterday, which lasted well into this morning, and it was the most intense storm yet with Violent Storm Force 11 winds gusting up to Hurricane Force 12 at times. At midnight the gusts were so violent, the house shook! Luckily we got away with no more damage at home than lop-sided fences (they were mostly destroyed during the stormy Christmas period) and overturned bins.<br />
There was flooding all over the Isle of Wight, debris everywhere, trees down and structural damage. Part of Undercliff Drive, between Niton and Ventnor, has been/is being evacuated due to the serious risk of landslides and a section of the road collapsed last weekend. Other roads have also been damaged by small landslides and/or the tarmac breaking up; the surface of one road near me has been destroyed and it's not safe to drive on so they closed it.<br />
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I went out today to photograph the aftermath of the latest, and worst, hammering in a long line of hammerings this winter. I have also got a few bird pics, they'll appear later in this post.<br />
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Shingle was deposited along Springvale Road at Seaview<br />
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Flooding on the Eastern Yar<br />
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Flooding at Alverstone (near me), it had been across the road but had receded a bit.<br />
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Because of the damage, the Isle of Wight is one of the places getting assistance from the armed forces; a Chinook helicopter dropped soldiers, vehicles and sandbags, etc., at Newport this afternoon.<br />
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On to the birds...<br />
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Sanderling at Ryde<br />
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Sanderling at Seaview</div>
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Turnstones at Seaview</div>
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Carrion Crow at Seaview</div>
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Rook at Sandown<br />
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<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-6125555810300875952014-02-07T20:34:00.001+00:002014-02-07T20:34:26.144+00:00WaterworldAnother brief respite between storms so it was out to see if I could see the female Smew which had been reported on a flooded field at Brading Marshes, just off Laundry Lane. Brading Marshes is an RSPB reserve but birders, even RSPB members, can't visit it and can only bird from public roads and footpaths, such as Laundry Lane (but fishermen can, apparently, go onto the reserve which is totally ridiculous). This makes looking for birds more than a tad awkward at times.<br />
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Anyway, despite two hours of searching, there was no sign of the Smew. I did see the RSPB warden, who drove past in his 4x4, and he said it'd been seen on Wednesday and he thought it was still about. I'll give it another go if the weather isn't too atrocious over the weekend.<br />
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iPhone photos of the flooded fields.<br />
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The Smew-less scenario aside, it was a pleasant morning (apart from my borrowed wellies rubbing my feet) and there were plenty of other birds about, albeit at a considerable distance. A nice male <b>Stonechat</b> greeted me on a fence post by the lane, the flooded fields played host to large numbers of <b>Coot</b>, a few <b>Moorhens</b> plus <b>Med Gulls</b>, <b>Black-headed Gulls</b> - some members of both species were beginning to get their breeding plumage - and <b>Common Gulls</b>. Three <b>Grey Herons</b> sat at the side of one of the fields and were joined by a couple of <b>Little Egrets</b>.<br />
Over on the marshes, there were large numbers of <b>Pochard</b> and <b>Wigeon</b> (I looked for the Smew among them but it wasn't, but I was told that it generally kept itself to itself), plus some <b>Shovelers</b> with their huge bills. There were also very large (hundreds of individuals) flocks of <b>Starlings</b> and <b>Lapwings</b>; always good to see, given that these species have caused concern over the past decade or so because of alarmingly declining numbers. <b>Little Grebes</b> were also around.<br />
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Before going to Laundry Lane, I had made a brief visit to Seaview to see if there was anything out on the sea (there wasn't, it was pretty choppy out on the Solent, making it hard to see what was around). There were the usual Gulls (Black-headed, Great Black-backed, Herring, Common and Mediterranean), a few <b>Carrion Crows</b> and some <b>Oystercatchers</b> on the shore, but that was it. A visit to the hide at Hersey produced nothing of note; an elderly couple plus another older bloke were in the hide and the woman saw a Snipe, unfortunately it was gone before I'd even got in there properly! I daresay I'll see one before the winter is out.<br />
<br />Being the honest person I am - and not wanting a ticket because, knowing my luck, a <strike>traffic warden</strike> parking attendant would probably come along if I hadn't paid - I'd put £1 in the car park ticket machine before going into the little reserve. Luckily no-one from the council had come along, because I would have got a ticket. £1 is supposed to get you parking for up to 1 hour, but looking at the ticket just before I drove off revealed that I'd only got a paltry 20 minutes! Is this a new sharp practice and the latest way of raising revenues? I don't know why they charge during the winter anyway, hardly anyone uses those parking spaces.<br />
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The roads have been badly damaged by flooding and it's a similar story right across southern England, with Somerset particularly badly affected. Knighton Road near Newchurch, never up to much at the best of times, now looks like the lunar surface and strips are missing revealing the road bed beneath. Our village is flooded, luckily I live further up the hill out of reach of the Eastern Yar's worst excesses. We still have two more weeks of storms forecast but, on the news earlier, they did say the jet stream is expected to weaken before the end of the month. I bloody well hope so! I think we deserve a good summer after this...Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-41896815755577102272014-02-02T19:24:00.002+00:002014-02-02T19:24:20.147+00:00ImbolcToday is Imbolc (the day varies, this year it's 2nd February), the day when pagans celebrate the imminent coming of spring and the growing power of the sun. I am not a pagan (I am an atheist) but I am definitely looking forward to spring. It certainly felt as if spring is not too far off with mild temperatures - when you were out of the strong breeze - and sunshine today. I guess it won't last, yet more rain and general grot is in the forecast.<br />
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I went to Newtown, somewhere I'd not been to in a while and, as usual it was full of birds.<br />
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First of all, I stopped at the bridge just before you get to the Old Town Hall top see what was about. There were <b>Brent Geese</b> (at least 100), around 20 <b>Curlews</b>, plus <b>Lapwings</b> and <b>Redshanks</b>, on the fields next to the river while, on the water, were <b>Pintails</b>, <b>Teal</b> and <b>Wigeon</b>...I am seriously lazy when it comes to counting birds...<br />
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From there I went down to the boathouse. As to be expected, everywhere was wet underfoot, with a lot of mud, and I counted myself lucky not to have got absolutely plastered in the stuff, as I only had basic cheap Doc Marten-lookalike boots on. I walked with care, trying to avoid the worst of the marshy bits, and it seems to have worked, only getting minimally splattered with mud. I had intended to go to SCATS on my way there and get some wellies but forgot it was Sunday and nothing is open until 10am (damn, that means tomorrow is Monday and w*** beckons!).</div>
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A <b>Rock Pipit</b> was close to the path; as with most of the other photos, this is a hefty crop. The 70D (and the 6D) lends itself well to cropping, far better than my old 7D did, due to a larger megapixel count.</div>
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There were the usual ducks and geese, plus waders. I counted 50 <b>Shelduck</b>, although I think there were more, and there were many more Brents than that.<br />
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The local <b>Canada Geese</b> were around and three flew past.<br />
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Other birds included <b>Greenshank</b>, a <b>Peregrine</b>, <b>Dunlin</b> and <b>Knot</b> but, disappointingly, there were no Goldeneye, Eider or Red-breasted Merganser, birds I would pretty much have expected to see, and which have been seen recently. These could have been further out on the Solent.<br />
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However, three <b>Grey Seals</b> over on the shingle bank (East Spit) at the harbour entrance made up for that and I took a - ridiculously long-distance and heavily-cropped - photo of them. Two are immediately obvious, and you can just see the third, brownish-coloured one on the right, partly hidden by the front seal.<br />
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Before going home, I briefly went to Yarmouth intending to go to Rofford Marsh. I went via Thorley and still got stuck for ages in the ridiculously long-period temporary lights. Not wanting to wait, I reversed back up the road, turned in someone's drive and was just driving back when a <b>Hen Harrier</b> - presumably the same one as last week - flew across the road in front of me...typical, great views and I couldn't take a photo because I was driving!<br />
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After I'd got home, via the hospital, Morrison's filling station and the local shop, I got a text saying a female Smew was at St. Helens. Sadly, I'd already had a couple of pints of beer by then so I had to give Ms. Smew a miss.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-49670071165387598972014-01-31T19:08:00.001+00:002014-01-31T21:40:57.640+00:00TravelsI am finally getting round to writing and posting accounts of my travels from over the past ten years. You can see the relevant pages at the top, under the banner. Yeah, the photos aren't award-winners by any means...<br />
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Very stormy again. More wind, more torrential rain. This is tedious. Returning home from the hospital where I was visiting my mum this afternoon and the roads were rapidly flooding again. These are rubbish iPhone shots as we drove back towards home (no, I wasn't driving!).<br />
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<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-48315909511628901062014-01-25T16:50:00.000+00:002014-01-25T16:50:37.700+00:00YarmouthIt had stopped raining for at least one day today so I headed for Ryde and Seaview for a spot of seawatching. As I was driving through Newchurch I changed my mind and decided to head to Fort Victoria to see if I could spot the Glaucous Gull which had been seen there during the week, despite it not having been seen since Thursday.<br />I saw plenty of Black-headed Gulls, a couple of Mediterranean Gulls, four Great Black-backed Gulls, a Great Crested Grebe and a Guillemot but no Glaucous Gull. I met a couple of other birders one of whom, Ian, said it'd had appeared to be sick so, unless it's still around but not in the immediate vicinity, it's either moved on or it's snuffed it.<br />
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At Yarmouth estuary and ponds, there were plenty of Wigeon, by far the most numerous birds, Teal, Curlew, a solitary Mute Swan, Black-tailed Godwits and a pair of Gadwall. The gulls were mostly Black-headeds (still no Glaucous!). At the scrape were a Greenshank and more ducks. Bird of the day though, was a distant female Hen Harrier, a bird I've not seen for a long time.<br />
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It was nice to meet Steve, who writes the blog <a href="http://bedfordshirewild.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Wild West</a> (he found the Glaucous Gull last week), as well as another local birder, Ian.<br />
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I don't know if the gull will ever reappear although I'll keep an eye on the relevant websites. The forecast is appalling for tomorrow and I am back at work on Monday so, if it does turn up again between Monday and Thursday, it'll go unseen by me.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-20578888554029179992014-01-24T20:26:00.000+00:002014-01-24T20:32:43.671+00:00Liquid mudIt was another filthy day in this unusually (even by UK standards!) wet winter. I went for a two hour walk to the next village, Newchurch, and back, the drizzle barely stopped and there was liquid mud underfoot. I did manage to see a few birds, the best of these being Redwings, Fieldfares (two of my favourite winter visitors) and a large Goldfinch flock in trees behind the church.<br />
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I didn't take my camera with me, as I thought there was no point in the rain and horrible conditions, so the following pix are crappy iPhone photos.<br />
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Hazel catkins are an early sign of spring, although that's still a couple of months away. Great Tits were also singing.<br />
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Swollen river</div>
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Path up to the church from the main road which goes through the village. While not in a 'granny-stopper' category, this is a lot steeper than it looks in the photo.</div>
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The people who maintain the local footpaths have attempted to tame at least some of the mud by putting bracken and straw down on it. This has only been a partial success.</div>
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The two-hour walk highlighted how unfit I am. I was reasonably fit until the end of 2012 when I injured my hip in a surfing accident (I've had to give up completely) and then slipped a disc in my neck a couple of months later. The exercise went down, the alcohol consumption went up...no, I am not fat, fortunately, just very unfit, even though my job is not entirely sedentary. However, I didn't think I was too bad, until I was knackered after a two-hour walk...I don't think I'll be going to the Himalayas any time soon!<br />
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Tomorrow's forecast is better, with some sunshine predicted. I'll probably head to Ryde and Seaview.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-17134396535538475722014-01-19T18:03:00.000+00:002014-01-19T21:04:59.034+00:00St. Helens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A rare bright sunny day in a mild, wet and often stormy winter, so it was off to St. Helens Duver, an area of sand dunes in the NE of the Isle of Wight, one of the few places that, although wet, wouldn't be knee deep in mud. A lot of the island has been flooded in the past couple of months and parts of roads badly damaged or even washed away.</div>
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The landscape photos were taken with my Canon 6D and 24-105mm lens while the bird shots were with my 70D and 100-400mm, at ridiculous distances and cropped.</div>
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There were a few birds around, mostly the usual stuff including Robin, Wren, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird and Pied Wagtail. A Rock Pipit was on the shore by the lagoons. On and around the lagoons were Little Egret, Teal (approx. 20), Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, a couple of Cormorants, Grey Plover. Flocks of Brent Geese flew in from the west.</div>
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Over in the distance, the other side of St. Helens and Embankment Road, something disturbed the birds and the sky was soon filled with agitated swirling flocks of geese, ducks, Lapwings and gulls. I couldn't see what it was that had frightened them but it could have been a Peregrine, Buzzard or even a Marsh Harrier.</div>
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I had a moment of madness last week and decided to take out a bank loan to buy a Canon 500mm lens. The bank approved it, as I have almost paid off my existing loan with them, and sent me the papers to sign, but I've realised that it is incredibly stupid to get into debt to just blow money on something which costs as much as a new car, which I can ill-afford and which won't improve my photography anyway (getting closer to birds with my 100-400mm is the key, as is technique). So, I've chickened out and decided I'm not going to take out the loan after all, because adding another seven years onto my existing loan is not the most sensible idea. I'll save for a second-hand 500mm prime or I might look at the new 150-600mm Tamron which has just been released, which is exciting the photography community (initial results from it are promising) and which I <i>can</i> afford.</div>
To be honest, thinking about it, I'd rather spend money on travel. I am not exactly paid badly but it is often a case of 'either/or'. I'm off to New South Wales (Australia, of course!) for a couple of weeks in March/April and I am thinking of a trip to Nepal later this year or next.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-50171195766111937492014-01-04T20:13:00.000+00:002014-01-04T22:27:35.431+00:00Still here!I am still here, life had caught up with me big time during 2013 with family problems (my mum got seriously ill and nearly passed away), other problems and a new job. I'd not been out birding since the Bluethroat back in March! Hopefully 2014 will be better!<br />
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This year I am going back to Australia for three weeks in March and early April although, this time, I won't be stopping off anywhere, this is a straight out and straight back trip. Obviously I am planning to do some birding and photography while I am out there which, of course, will appear here. I am hoping this trip will be more of a success than my last one in 2009 was...while it was not a complete disaster, it wasn't entirely successful either.<br />
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Forest Kingfisher, from my 2009 Australia trip<br />
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In addition to my Canon 6D I've got a 70D which, as it has an APS-C sensor, will be better for birding. However, I think most of my photos will be more for blog illustration purposes rather than pure photography, we'll see. That said, I'll always try to take the best photos possible but I think I've got a bit discouraged by websites with cracking close ups of rarities and common birds alike, all taken on Canon 1D-series cameras and 5/600mm telephoto lenses which cost as much as a decent second-hand car and which completely blow my efforts from the water. Yes, I have got a bad case of 'lens envy'!<br />
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I've not renewed the hosting for my website because it was a pain to maintain but I am planning to get a new Flickr site, which I'll put all my old - and new - photos on.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-83082030766600663532013-03-29T12:48:00.000+00:002013-03-29T13:01:42.461+00:00BluethroatOne of my all-time most wanted birds has been the Bluethroat, a scarce vagrant to the British Isles but so far I'd never seen one, as they mostly appear on Shetland, North Norfolk or Portland (the latter is close but not easy to get to in a hurry from here).<br />
I had a text yesterday from my friend Bob to say there was a Bluethroat at St Helens Duver, an area of sand dunes in the north east of the Isle of Wight, but as I was stuck at work there was nothing I could do about it at the time. I arranged to meet Bob, who dipped yesterday, this morning at 0930.<br />
Checking Derek Hale's website, the bird was a member of the southern European race, the White-spotted Bluethroat.<br />
It had initially been sunny first thing but had quickly clouded over, was bitterly cold in the east wind and I soon regretted neglecting to bring a hat and gloves. Last year was horrible, gloomy, wet and cold and, so far, 2013 is shaping up to be as bad with the coldest spring for 50 years.<br />
Bob and me walked around the area it'd had most recently been seen but saw only Dunnocks and Robins, both of which are around the same size as a Bluethroat. However, I spotted a movement and had a feeling it was *unusual* and, sure enough, there it was. We were soon joined by other birders and got excellent views of this bold little bird.<br />
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I took some photos but, these days I am using a full-frame camera (I have got into other forms of photography such as landscapes and maritime photography), so have had to crop them even more than normal but, at the same time, trying not to overdo things. On a full-frame camera, in this case the Canon 6D, a 400mm lens really <i>is</i> a 400mm lens and not effectively a 640mm! I had to trade in my 7D in order to afford the 6D but will save for the rumoured 7D Mk II when it comes out - if it comes out - or another crop camera to complement the 6D and for occasions such as this.<br />
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And here are the best of my shots from this morning, all cropped.<br />
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What a super little bird! A truly stunning little creature which has made 2013. It's shaping up to be a shit year for many reasons but this little bird has helped salvage it somewhat! A great start to the Easter weekend.<br />
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As I said, the day was cold and a bit grey. This is the view over the harbour looking towards Brading Marshes (beyond the row of coniferous trees) and Embankment Road. <br />
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Other birds included Teal, Brent Geese and Kestrel, plus the very common stuff such as the inevitable Blue Tits, Magpies and Woodpigeons.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-30241808185559781612013-02-19T14:26:00.002+00:002014-01-25T16:52:55.814+00:00Brent GeeseI hadn't been out birding in ages, for a variety of reasons, so as I had an unscheduled day off my temporary job and it is spring-like for February I headed to Seaview and Culver, where I met up with my friend Bob, another birder who I hadn't seen in ages.<br />
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The Brent Geese were out in force but no doubt thinking of flying back to Russia. <br />
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Culver was extremely quiet, with a few Meadow Pipits, plus the usual corvids and gulls. A lone Skylark was singing, pretty early for that I would have thought.Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-58741653031357084452012-10-15T11:59:00.002+01:002012-10-15T12:01:11.763+01:00StarlingsThe UK's Starling population has declined in recent years but, if you're wondering where they're gone, look no further than Newquay in Cornwall. There are loads of them in that town. These young ones were at Fistral Beach and were pretty tame, no doubt well-fed on handouts from surfers and other beach-goers.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IoMFlGBjkQM/UHvsV80w_fI/AAAAAAAAAOM/psmwqny6PUg/s1600/starling6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IoMFlGBjkQM/UHvsV80w_fI/AAAAAAAAAOM/psmwqny6PUg/s1600/starling6.jpg" /></a></div>
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Just got made redundant, so I should have plenty of time for birding should nothing else turn up.</div>
Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-33105272059769961392012-09-01T16:54:00.002+01:002012-09-01T17:00:47.138+01:00A very rare birdBut a bird of a different kind. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vulcan bomber</a> flew over on its way from the Bournemouth Air Show to the Shoreham Air Show this afternoon. I knew it would be around but didn't think it would fly over here so, when I heard loud jet engines, I ran outside and then ran back in for my camera and just managed to get the shot below. The Vulcan, originally intended to drop nuclear bombs on the enemy in the event of war between the USA and the Soviet Union, was retired in 1984 and this one, <a href="http://www.vulcantothesky.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avro Vulcan XH558</a>, is the last of its kind.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1fucoQ17GA0/UEIuYeFuzLI/AAAAAAAAANM/FIZX20NIRGs/s1600/vulcan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1fucoQ17GA0/UEIuYeFuzLI/AAAAAAAAANM/FIZX20NIRGs/s1600/vulcan.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292709450673332366.post-64406266649464352982012-07-23T18:50:00.000+01:002012-07-23T18:51:51.842+01:00Kes<span style="background-color: white;">A male and female Kestrel have been around all day, at one point giving a Common Buzzard a hard time. I didn't manage to get the Buzzard as that had gone by the time I got my camera, but I did manage to take a photo of the female Kestrel</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">And the sky really was this colour. The south of the country is - at last! - having some great summer weather, at least until Friday.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrpgx9cqy64/UA2N-okoZmI/AAAAAAAAALc/SLGDGk_LjeQ/s1600/kestrel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrpgx9cqy64/UA2N-okoZmI/AAAAAAAAALc/SLGDGk_LjeQ/s640/kestrel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And a Meadow Brown butterfly in the hedge. Butterflies had suffered with the shite summer we've had, but it seems to have done Meadow Browns good as I have never seen as many as I have the past couple of days.<br />
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<br />Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07259136709596777513noreply@blogger.com0