A New One For The List

So it seems getting around to writing a blog post at the moment is about frequent as more than 2 days of sunshine in a row. I was looking back through what I had and hadn't posted lately, and realised im about a month behind. So here is a conscious effort to catch up. The following images where taken from the weekend of the 1st July. My last and latest venture out and about away from the comforts of the River Test. 

Nat was down for the weekend, so we headed off to the Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre & Reedbed's Reserve in the hope of maybe adding something different to the species list that seems not to have been added to much in the past 2 months or so and also the pleasure of visiting a new site which wasn't to far from home. Turns out we were pretty disappointed, proving more to be a outdoor adventure playground for the kids than a nature reserve, the lakes where surrounded on all sides by screaming and shouting children running here, there and everywhere. Coupled with dogs doing as they pleased on the paths. It wasn't long before we left in huff, questioning the mentality of the population of Thatcham.

There where however a few species of Waterfowl to photography on the lakes, and I did add a new species to the list, one that seems to have eluded me until this stage in the year. 4 Egyptian Geese present, taking the list up to 141.

Egyptian Goose

Greylag Goose 

Greylag Goose 

Moorhen

Pochard 

So having left with the sun shining and the rest of the afternoon in front of us, we popped in quickly to see how the Cricket team were getting on away to Burghclere, turned out the local farmers happened to be making the most of the good weather, cutting and bringing in the silage in the fields surrounding the cricket pitch. The arrival of 5 Red Kites proved far more entertaining than the cricket as they circled and called high above the pitch.

Red Kite

With plenty of rain falling in early july, the feeding stations around the garden seem to have been repopulated although none of the visitors stay to long for a photograph, although a Blue Tit did perch long enough for a picture. Another visitor to the lawn making the most of the softer ground has been the Green Woodpecker, who did pose for a picture Im fairly happy with.

Blue Tit

Green Woodpecker

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A New Discovery & 2 Pairs Of Showoffs!

My apologies for a serious lack of updates this week, Work has been pretty manic, and I've had to work late on a few occasions. Which has cut down a serious amount of Wildlife time, how ever I did manage and a couple of hours before and after work on Tuesday down at Rooksbury, on the look out for the 2 Otters that were seen on Monday & Tuesday, no luck, I just got wet.

I did manage to grab 45 minutes around home on Wednesday night, as the sun reappeared through the constant on and off showers. A nice gaggle of Greylag feeding on the shorter grass by the river bank, they seem to quite like this part of the river, as I've seen them there several times. A lone Moorhen also shot across the shorter grass in-front of me, It still amazes me how huge their feet are! They do get up quite a speed! One of the male Blackcaps from the weekend was singing in the branches, just managed to a fire off a couple of shots before he disappeared.

Gaggle Of Greylag

Roadrunner

Blackcap

Now we've been getting a pair of birds visiting the feeders quite regularly since they've been put up, and I wasn't sure about the Identification, not in the sense that I had no Idea just that they were very similar, I have now managed to get a fairly close up, but grainy shot that I can share with you. Its taken a while to distinguish the difference, and the leading factors for my identification is the shape and color of the bill and the call. So I give you the Marsh Tit. Now you can see how viewing from a distance gave me an discernible problem, the difference between Marsh & Willow Tit. But I managed to sit within 10 feet of the feeder, and after viewing and listening Im fairly confident now. So I give you my first ever Marsh Tit.

Garden Marsh Tit

Also whilst waiting for the above mentioned bird, I was distracted by a shadow moving rapidly across the lawn. I look up to discover not one caster of said shadow but two, in the form of Red Kites, the evening sunlight catching the coloring on the birds undersides brilliantly.

Show offs!

To round off a pretty rubbish day yesterday I got home at about 7 pm for Dad to happily rub it in, that I had missed a pair of Green Woodpeckers feeding for about 35 minutes in the sunshine no more than 15 feet from the Kitchen window on the lawn. Gutted with a capital G! And to make matters worse he had a pretty good video to prove it!

A Gorgeous Sky

Having hidden myself out on Bransbury Common from 4.30-6pm Friday and Saturday afternoon in hope of seeing the Short-eared Owls, I did encounter various other wildlife except the desired species. Friday's overcast conditions didn't leave me feeling overly confident in any decent pictures, but Saturday was gorgeous, a bright afternoon turning the sky into a gorgeous mix of pastel oranges at sunset.

Still no Owls, but a pair of Sparrowhawk displaying, and I did spot Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, Little Egret, Greylag Geese, Mallard, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Teal, Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Brown Hare, Grey Heron, Kingfisher & Roe Deer all from my vantage point.

Greylag Geese - Sunset