British Wildlife Calendar 2017

Looking at the time of year I thought it was about now that I should bring back the blog. It's been brought back quite a few times and will probably be brought back again in the future as finding time to write is always so hard.

So anyways some new content. Well looking under the bed in the spare room this morning I realized I still had a handful of my 2017 Calendars in stock. When I say a handful I mean under 10 so here is a short write up featuring this years shots.

If anyone has started their Christmas shopping already and needs a small stocking filler, these are great little gifts. And a bargain at £7.00. Local Delivery/Collection is Free. Or I can post for a £1.00

More information or to order you can visit my websites 'Online Shop' here: British Wildlife 2017 Calendar

As always my Calendar features shots of totally wild British birds and mammals photographed throughout the past year. I always try my best to include an even mix or birds and mammals if I can relate them to the month in which the photo was taken. Here is this years selection.

January 2017 - Great spotted Woodpecker - Taken from my pop up hide around my garden feeders.

February 2017 - Brown Hare - Frosty winter mornings were perfect for catching up with the local Brown Hares.

March 2017 - Great crested Grebes - An early spring trip to the Somerset levels brought a morning with a Great crested Grebe pair on a small lake.

April 2017 - Yellowhammer - My local population were looking stunning as they came into breeding plumage.

May 2017 - Eurasian Otter - A close encounter of the Otter kind whilst holidaying on Mull.

June 2017 - Atlantic Puffin - Some Puffin therapy from a couple of hours spent on the Isle of Lunga.

July 2017 - Roe Deer - With Summer underway, the freshly harvested fields became battlefields for the annual Roe Deer rut.

August 2017 - Kingfisher - 4 Years living by a river and finally I manage a Kingfisher shot.

September 2017 - Red Kite - You never know what species will turn up in the garden when the camera is out, this Kite landing in a tree was a little bit of a shock.

October 2017 - Reeves' Muntjac - Alert as ever, my closest encounter to date with the Muntjac.

November 2017 - Wigeon - I have never had the pleasure of photographing these magnificent ducks up close until a chance visit to RSPB Greylake.

December 2017 - Short-eared Owl - No year would be complete without a shot of these awesome Owls, taken around midday on a grey December day.

As mentioned above for more information or to order you can visit my websites 'Online Shop' here: British Wildlife 2017 Calendar

If you are a social media user, Feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for up to date sightings & photographs, any 'Comments or Criticisms' are welcomed.

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Finally Some Pecker Action

The elusive Great Spotted Woodpecker, well elusive to my camera and memory card, although well hidden not to disturb any of the other flying visitors to my feeding station every time the GSW comes into feed he or she seems to spy me. Over the course of about 3 and a half weeks I have finally managed to gain the birds trust and although any hint of movement still causes them to disappear instantly. I've found that if I shrink myself into the back of my hide at the first sound of the Woodpeckers call I can slowly manoeuvre my lens into position and grab a few shots without disturbing these striking ninjas. These are just a few from this period throughout February. Including one rather satisfying ninja jump.

If you are a social media user, Feel free to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for up to date sightings & photographs, any 'Comments & Criticisms' are welcomed.

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Feeding Station Mark II

In one of last year’s posts I detailed a lot about my hide and feeding station I had set up near the river’s edge. Well throughout the course of the winter with the clocks changing and the variable weather I was really struggling to keep my feeders filled up.

 So I decided over Christmas to relocate all my feeders to the small spinney next to our house. Using the log shed as a hide and setting up shop around an old tree stump and log pile. Being only 60-70 yards from the previous station I was hopeful I would be able to maintain regular feed filling duties without having to put on my wellies and cross a stream and the River. 

I was a little dubious of the new location as the feeders where quite exposed, but very soon I had little at all to worry about as the woodland birds flocked in and have been giving my wallet a bashing buying bird food ever since. 

Relocation now seems a very smart idea as the previous hide is under about 2 feet of water and the new location offers some stunning afternoon light and some much clearer backgrounds. Below are a few shots taken so far.

Backlit Long-tailed Tit

 

Robin

Blue Tit

My Best Long-tailed Tit Shot Ever 

Marsh Tit

 

If you are a social media user, Feel free to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for up to date sightings & photographs, any 'Comments & Criticisms' are welcomed.

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Blashford Woodland Hide

With weeks of Slimbridge posts I can finally get on to some other wildlife encounters. Unfortunately I am still over a month behind and really should get my fingers loose for plenty of typing.

The following Sunday from my trip to Slimbridge, the girlfriend was down and with some pretty indifferent weather we headed down to Blashford lakes. The main car park was flooded along with the Tern Hide that overlooks the huge expanse of Ibsley Water. That instantly put a massive dent in my visit.

As the rain started to come down we headed for shelter in the Woodland hide. A cracking hide with loads of feeders but only with one partition that opens to allow clean photography. As you can imagine this prime piece of real estate by the window is most usually frequented. And in previous visits as Im sure I've blogged, I have encountered photographers who have bragged about being sat there all day.

Luckily today after 15 minutes or so the old couple that were there up and left, and I was on hand to slide my considerable girth along the wooden bench and into position. As mentioned there are loads of feeders attracting a wide variety of woodland birds. Within minutes, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Great spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant, Collared Dove and several stunning male Bramblings had visited the different feeders.

Nuthatch - Check Out The Tongue Action

I try nowadays not to capture birds on the feeders as branches give a far more natural look. This however isn't always easy, especially when the birds tend to land directly on the feeders. I must admit I couldn't resist a few shots of the ever present Nuthatches who were not at all bothered by the camera just a few feet away.

Brambling Male

Goldfinch

The main purpose of my visit was to hopefully catch a few shots of the gorgeous Lesser Redpoll, but after waiting a good hour for them to land on the nearby branches I had to make do with a few feeder shots. The light was changing every 2 or 3 minutes as the clouds rolled by above, which when leaving a clear path for the sun created a lovely glow on the bracken behind the birds.

Now I hear you say I sat in the window a good hour, now that would make me as bad as everyone else I earlier moaned about. But as several other photographers entered and rather annoyingly shot over my shoulders with there lenses, 5 minutes or so later I packed up and let someone else have my spot. Turns out no one filled it so I sat back down. Playing fair isn't it?

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Cock Chaffinch

http://www.facebook.com/MartinClayPhotography Up to date pictures and sightings, prior to me getting around to writing these blog posts, I would be more than grateful for any 'Likes' or Comments on my FB Photography Page too so feel free to comment or criticise about anything.

Back To Blackcap

With the addition of the Reed Bunting to the garden species list, also a frequent visitor is the Blackcap, I've not seen a female for over a week, but around lunchtime yesterday there where 4 Males visiting the feeders at the bottom of the garden, along with an array of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit & Great Tit. We only ever seemed to see the Blackcaps on the odd occasion at Apsley, so definitely nice to have some different regular visitors. Great spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush were also frequent visitors to the garden yesterday.

New Surroundings

It's been in the pipeline for several months now, but with the go ahead, the family home is moving from the Wildlife haven of Apsley Estate - 4.2 miles down the road to the small hamlet of Forton, near Longparish. Now having lived in the same house in the middle nowhere surrounded by rolling fields and plenty of woodland, moving to a Hamlet with other inhabitants may not seem the most attractive of offers.

So my excitement was pretty noticeable, when Dad mentioned he was taking on the River Keepers role on the River Test and therefore discovering the River runs through the bottom of the new garden. "Generally regarded as the birthplace of modern fly fishing, and the best chalk stream fishing in the world..." with plenty of water meadows and small patches of woodland beyond. So with a résumé like that, one would imagine its wildlife would be pretty special too. 

With plenty of work to do before we can move 25 years of living down the road, Sunday was spent in the garden, ripping out the rough ground ready for the veg patch. And general tidying up of the over grown mess. I must however admit I was distracted most of the day by the new "Garden Wildlife" 5 Red Kites, performed acrobatics above the house near enough all day, with the sunlight catching them it was a pretty special sight! The below pictures were taken mid morning.

Red Kite

Red Kites

Red Kites

Heading home for a spot of lunch, I made sure to pick up the smaller 55mm Lens to see if I could get all 5 in shot. So by 3pm we headed back down armed with Camera and Bushwacker. 45 mins later Im back skiving with the camera as 4 Kites circled directly over top of the house for a good 15 mins, joined by a Buzzard, for most of the day they called too, which I've never experienced at such frequent intervals. Below are a couple of shots from yesterday afternoon.

4 at Once!

Red Kite

Once I'd finished my gardening duties I did get 10-15mins to sit down on the River Bank quietly around 4.30pm, surprising how many species made there way on to the new garden list in that short period. Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Mallard, Water Rail, Greylag Goose, Little Egret, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Chaffinch & Moorhen. 

Bring on many hours wasted away by the river!

Mute Swans

Mute Swan