2012 - Big Change, Little Time

So if you thought you had read your last 2012 Review Blog Post you were wrong, you haven't! I shall try and keep it short and most hopefully sweet. As many of you may have read 2012 has been a weird old year for me, moving the family home in March and April has brought far more photographic opportunities with a wide range of species alongside the River in Longparish, Hampshire, and although this is a plus and a positive for the year, leaving behind the home and country estate that you've spent the past 25 years of your life is a little sad.

2012 started badly for me with the loss of Paddy our 6 year old Springer Spaniel, and this wasn't the end of the pet related deaths as in July we lost Sweep our 3 year old Cocker Spaniel both to horrible freak accidents when out walking. As well as several close relatives and family friends. Not a year to remember!

But enough of the personal trauma. What about the wildlife? 

Well most of the early part of 2012 was spent trying to catch up with the Short Eared Owls of Bransbury Common. Usually unsuccessfully, although 2012 was an abundant wintering year for them. (11 counted one day by another birder) I still never really got close enough to get any shots I was happy with. Although watching 4 SEO's and 2 Barn Owls hunting together at the same time was pretty special. Definitely on the list for this years early expeditions, especially now as Bransbury Common is part of my new patch. I just hope the heavy rain from the past few months drains through pretty quickly.

January - Short Eared Owl (Barton Stacey, Hants)

With moving in full flow come March and April, photography trip time was at a premium and I had to make sure I made the most of my jaunts to see my girlfriend Nat in Shropshire, I had one especially cracking weekend where all the birds I wanted to see appeared and appeared well, a couple of firsts for me. Great Grey Shrike, Common Crossbill, Red Grouse, Dipper & some really close Red Kites.

March - Red Grouse (The Long Mynd, Shrops)

By May things were more settled at home, and the garden was starting to get up to scratch. Allowing a lot more time to be spent wandering the riverbank, footpaths and water meadows of the new patch. Also enjoying some time with the local Brown Hare population.

May - Brown Hare (Longparish, Hants)

Early June was a bumper month for me and my camera, a weeks holidaying in coastal Pembrokeshire brought some great birding opportunities and a chance to visit Skomer. A must for anyone with any interest in Sea Birds. A pretty special day was spent in the company of Puffins, Razorbills & Guillemots.

Early June - Puffin (Skomer, Pembs)

With the delights of Wales a distant memory, I started to dedicate a lot of time waiting for the local Barn Owl, who took up residence in the field next to the new house. Countless hours were spent trying to anticipate the best angle the best light and the Owl's next whereabouts. My best photograph however came on the way back from Cricket Nets, spotting Barnie out in the field I ditched the car in a nearby drive, jumped across the road with my camera and tripod and bingo! Who needed to spend hours in a midge bitten state waiting fruitlessly. 

Late June - Barn Owl (Longparish, Hants)

The Summer months seemed to last for ever, lots of time to spend out and about, but not a lot to see, my focus turned to Butterflies, Moths & Dragonflies the only constant source of entertainment. Highlights included a Garden tick in the form of a Purple Emperor.

August - Banded Demoiselle (Longparish, Hants)

September, some of the best weather of the year, and another outing with Nat, this time down to Weymouth, 3 RSPB reserves and some cracking species seen. None much MEGARERER than the Short-billed Dowitcher that had been present for a couple of weeks. Even more satisfying than the 20 ft views, was the fact that no one had seen it any closer than a blurred dot in the 2 weeks prior.

September - Short Billed Dowitcher (Lodmoor, Dorset)

October started with a pretty poor weekend in Exmoor, indifferent weather as you would expect. But no rutting action with the Red Deer at all. Things improved for the better towards the end of the month with what I think will go down as my personal highlight of the year. Another weekend in Shropshire and a visit to the moorland expanse of the Long Mynd. Bringing me an awesome half hour in the company of my first ever Merlin. 

October - Merlin (Long Mynd, Shrops)

As the weather started to get a little colder and Christmas approaching, my sister and I made our now annual visit to Slimbridge. We managed to pick a nice crisp morning with some beautiful light. Just right for the thousands of Waterbirds throughout the reserve, none much more striking than the beautiful Pintail.

November - Pintail (Slimbridge, Gloucs)

December, Go to work in the dark, get home from work in the dark. Dodge the raindrops, watch the mud. You all know the story, trying to find time to spend when it wasn't raining proved near on impossible. Outings were left to dry lunchtimes and one just happened to bring a wildlife encounter that I truly think will take some beating on a lunchtime ever again. I have been spending some time hoping to encounter the Rooksbury Otters on and off since they first appeared at the end of March. Sometimes successfully other times not. Having not photographed them since the spring, this close encounter was a welcomed to end to the year.

December - Otter (Andover, Hants)

So in conclusion a pretty good year I guess, and I can't complain at all, other than I guess not having enough time. A full time job along with a part time seasonal job (Groundsman) doesn't allow for as much wildlife watching as I would like. All of my encounters apart from the Barn Owl really come down to just being in the right place at the right time. Not being able to sit and learn patterns in behaviour and when and where I am most likely to see certain species.

I think my main aim for 2013 is to try and focus on a much narrower range of species and projects, hopefully to reward me more in viewing & learning about the wildlife I hope to photograph. I ended the year with a pretty average 156 Species of Birds so I am hoping to improve that dramatically for 2013 too.

Download it here - 2012 Species List - Excel File

Here is too 2013 - Best of luck one and all!

Spot The Fly

With the summer waining away, I was hoping to find some Dragonflies on the river, and hopefully some a little different to photograph other than the thousands of Banded Demoiselle that frequent the reeds along the river bank. They are the only species of Damselfly I've seen all year on the Test, which I must admit surprised me a little bit as it seems to be teaming with a lot of other insect life.

On this particular evening I did manage a couple of new species, as I did spot a Red-Eyed Damselfly on a reed on the opposite side of the water, however not stopping long enough for a record shot. I did manage to catch up with a couple of Dragonflies although neither paused long enough for a picture or for me to get any idea of what species they might be.

I must admit I did get a little excited when processing my Demoiselle shots from the evenings venture that  I couldn't Identify one, hoping it was some kind of rarity, 3rd Picture down. I was soon disappointed after asking via my Facebook page, to discover it was just a weird colour variant of the Demoiselle type. Just my luck!

Male Banded Demoiselle

Male Banded Demoiselle?

Female Banded Demoiselle

The lack of smaller birds throughout the summer I'm sure has been noticeable through the lack of fresh blog posts, but I could hardly contain my delight when approaching one tree next to the river that was teeming with Bird life. Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Nuthatch & Treecreeper all mingled in the upper branches of the Ash Tree. Along with 3 Spotted Flycatcher, a species I've seen a  few times since the spring but never had the conditions right to grab a photograph. Tonight was to be no exception every time I crept 10 yards closer to get them in camera range, they disappeared a further 10 yards down the bank. This is the best shot I managed, Spot the Spotted Flycatcher if you can.

Spotted Flycatcher

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Macro Treat

So after promising to try and blog a lot more frequently, I must admit I failed miserably, but lifes hectic and wildlife's at a premium at this time of year. With the addition of the Moth Light trap to the garden and the new subjects to photograph in the form of the Moths, I thought I'd treat myself to a second hand Macro lens. Below are a selection of shots from my first outing with it one lunch hour around Rooksbury Mill Lakes.

The Bumble Bees and other insect life mainly Hoverflies quite enjoyed the yellow flowers that surrounded the old stock ponds nearby the mill. Plenty of Common Blue Damselflies buzzed around the walkway too, but none stopping long enough for me to get close for a picture. Until I spotted what I think is an immature Common Blue resting on a reed, quite impressed with the sharpness of the new lens too.

Bumble Bee

Immature Common Blue Damselfly

Gatekeeper

Lucilia Sericata

Male Banded Demoiselle

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Flying Things Small & Large

My posts of late seem to become more and more sporodic, as finding opportunities to get out and about, and then finding time to write about them, So I shall start with the shear number of Damselflies on the river at the moment, every step you take along the river bank clouds of Banded Demoiselles erupt into the sky. Although this is great to see, this appears to be the only species at the moment, which is a little surprising due to the shear volume of suitable habitat.

Banded Demoiselle Male

Banded Demoiselle Male

Banded Demoiselle Female

It seemed nearly every saturday cricket fixture towards the end of june / start of july was away and a fair old distance, one particular week saw us venturing to the other side of the New Forest, so I thought a spot of birding was in order and a quick pre-game visit to Blashford lakes, not a lot about in range of the hide, although I did manage some fairly clear of undergrowth Little Grebe shots, not something I've managed before all to well.

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Out with the camera the other night, hoping to pick up an early hunting Barn Owl before the rain came, I got interrupted by one hell of a commotion, a low flying Chinook flying coming in over the tops of the trees, heading towards the old camp on the outskirts of the village. I might have had a successful evening if it wasn't for the fact it seems to hover, circle and prat about for a good three quarters of an hour.

Chinook

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