Caring For Kestrels - September 2015

The blog is back, but for how long who knows, but this time I am going to try make a conscious effort to post regularly.

This year’s autumn week away only stretch as far as a few days down to the Somerset levels, what with a new job and new house planning holidays had been the last thing on my mind. However it gave a great opportunity to explore the Avalon Marshes nature reserves of Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath and Westhay Moor.

After a morning exploring Steart Marshes we headed over to Westhay Moor a site I hadn’t been to before. Donna and I spotted a couple of big lens bods further down the path from the car park so we headed off that way. A passer-by informing us of a very bold Kestrel that was obviously their targeted subject.

We soon spotted the bird perched among the autumn leaves of a row of silver birch, camouflaged well against the greens and oranges of the changing leaves. It kept peering down, seemingly not too bothered by the few spectators clicking away.

A group of kids and their mothers passed, screaming and running amok flushing the bird up for a couple of minutes, it did a couple of circle flight and then came straight back in and landed in the branches 20ft above our heads. I’ve not seen a wild Kestrel this close before and was quite surprised by how fearless it was.

It looked quite ragged in flight so I did wonder if it wasn’t too well, but it was soon catching Dragonflys that were basking on the path and hunting for earth worms among the mole hills.

Having almost filled the memory card up with Kestrel shots we walked off around the rest of the reserve, missing the resident Bearded Tits by seconds. Kingfishers called and zoomed along all the channels. After a couple of hours covering the wide expanse of Westhay and taking in the several different hides overlooking the reed beds, we ticked of Great White Egret on the furthest walk and as we headed back to the car in the gloom, the Kestrel appeared again in front of us.

The way it perched on the branch it just didn’t look healthy, the wing drooped a little but still it kept dropping down to catch earth worms. We crawled ever closer taking yet more pics in the awful light accommodated all the time by the bird.

It then flew up and did a short circle flight before dropping down in the bracken, emerging a few seconds later with a mouse. So it looked ill but somehow seemed to catch more prey in the time we were watching it than should be natural. I still couldn’t make up my mind.

We had to walk on a bit more and as we got a little closer the Kestrel was up and off further down the path with its catch, out into a more open area with some slightly better light. Just as it got out into the open it dropped its prey and having found a new vantage point knelt down just metres away it came trotting back through the grass in search of it.

Finally reunited with its lunch my final Kestrel shot was of the bird feeding atop one of the hides. A close encounter never to forget and one that by the end of our visit to Westhay had convinced us that there wasn’t too much wrong with this bird. All we could put it down to was that perhaps it had been injured before and raised back to health with a human imprint on it.

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Woodland Hide Part 2 - Mid April 2013

Blue Tit 

PART 2
So with my feeding station up and running the next step was to sit back and let the birds flock in. Well maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration but having found a comfortable stool to sit on inside my lean-to hide I was well set. With the fishing season fast approaching on the 1st May and a weeks holiday booked on the 19th April, I had to make sure I could cram in as many visits as possible during the first two weeks of April before having to remove my feeders for the fishing season.

Disaster however struck almost immediately as on the monday morning as I managed an hour in the freezing cold hide at 6.00am. Once settled I turned my Canon 7D on to notice that the memory card wasn't being read by the camera, so I had a fiddle and a blow out of the slot, still nothing. Camera-less I returned home and investigated further, if anyone has a camera with a CF Card slot I would caution you to be so careful when removing and inserting memory cards, I somehow heavy handidly managed to bend one of the central pins resulting in needing a new Card slot and a £168 bill from the Canon recommended repairers! Ouch!!!!!!

But enough about my camera dramas two weeks before holiday, luckily I had the trusty EOS 550D that I keep for shooting landscapes. Big lens attached and I was back in business. The sunshine even decided to show itself for a short while, and as I had a couple of hungry Great Tits visiting my mossy log to feed on the Peanuts and Sunflower hearts hidden in various out of sight crevices. I made full use of the gorgeous orange cast the sun created off of the drying reed and grass by the stream edge in the background.

Great Tit

 

A frequent visitor to the station all throughout the day was the Moorhen, such a skulking species of bird very cautious to come out into the open, and any slight movement or noise and the birds would disappear back into cover. At times 3 individual Moorhens where visiting for dropped seed. I'm guessing the close proximity of the River Test and the stream that runs in front of the hide is a good vessel for arriving and departing quickly.

Moorhen 

As I mentioned in my previous post I couldn't be happier with the amount and diversity of bird species that were visiting my feeders after just a couple of days, the Marsh Tits where a real treat and although not quite as bold as the commoner Blue Tits & Great Tits, they did give some great views. The only problem being the backgrounds in the photographs where a little cluttered. More cropper work needed!

Marsh Tit

As unexpected visitors go I had a few over the course of the week, a Grey Heron on a couple of occasions took quite the liking to my clearing by the river and tried an incoming landing, spotting me sat in my hide at the last second before bailing out. Landing gear trailing as it flew off. A couple of Little Grebe bombed up and down the stream quite regularly often calling a good 50 - 60 yards down stream and within seconds surfacing unexpectedly on the stream right in front of me.

The highlight with out a doubt however was the tell tell call of a Kingfisher followed by the iridescent flash of blue and aqua as it darted by. I live in hope that I might be able to place an attractive perch on the streams edge and get some shots of one our most loved birds. But back to what birds I could actually photograph, having left some seed in the crevices of the log a couple of days later when I next returned to the hide I found that the entire log had almost been stripped of moss. 

I'm not sure if this was the smaller birds looking for nesting materials, work of the Cock Pheasant who had been strutting his stuff around the station or maybe the handy work of the pair of Jays that visit when I haven't been there. I had seen them on most occasions flitting around the edge of the clearing but to cautious to visit when I was in residence.

Robin 

My camera had also found its way back from the repairers so I was quite happy as the thought of not having it for my 'Scottish Holiday' left me feeling quite ill!

After discovering that getting shots of birds on certain perches wasn't as easy as I anticipated I did a little bit of research and come to the conclusion I needed a more attractive appealing food source, so on a lunch break from work I had a trip to Pets at Home and come out with a lot of large meal worms. Live bait!

It's fair to say the new bribe worked and I got some lovely shots of the Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tits that were easily the most frequent and numerous visitors.

Long tailed Tit

Blue Tit

The most unexpected visitors came on my last session in the hide however, having emptied the remains of my meal worms on to the ground beneath the feeders, I had a rather larger bird swoop in from above me, to this day I am even pretty sure it was sat on top of my hide. A female Kestrel dropped in and started feeding on the meal worms. 

Having been a little surprised and having nearly feel off of my stool, I managed to move my lens around and aim towards her on the floor no more that 3 ft away. Knowing that the shutter would most likely give away my position I managed two shots, one to turn her head and the second you see below, before she flew off through the trees with a beak full of mealworms.

Female Kestrel

So having managed some nice shots that I was pleased with in a short couple of weeks, I am really looking forward to setting it all up in the autumn and making full use of 5 or 6 winter months and some hungry birds. Modification ideas are already clogging up my mind and I am hoping to include a reflection type pool of some kind on my table platform too.

Here are all the species I have seen from within my lean-to, I never dreamed I would see so many.

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Coal Tit

Marsh Tit

Chaffinch

Goldcrest

Chiffchaff

Robin

Great spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Grey Heron

Little Grebe

Moorhen

Treecreeper

Moorhen

Dunnock

Pheasant

Muntjac

Kestrel

Woodpigeon

Kingfisher Blackbird

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In A Bit Of A Rut

The plan was to head down to Exmoor for a few days at the beginning of October, with a lot of indifferent weather and reports from elsewhere in the country of a lot of Red Deer action, I was quite hopeful for a few hours with the wild beasts in the Exmoor National Park.

How wrong could I have been, a 5.30am get up and a pretty speedy 118 miles down the A303, 2 hours later we (Girlfriend & I) were tucking into a full english and giving the ordnance survey a good once over. Down through Exford and up and out onto the Moor, Exmoor seems to be the only place I know of in England where the weather can change from Rain to clear skies in the matter of minutes. Rainbows appear and before you can trace them are gone as the cloud disperses. This particular day was no different, with a keen wind, wrapped up we headed off on the path up towards Dunkery Beacon, a place that has never failed in the past to deliver a herd or two.

A slight detour off of the path through the very wet heather brought me my first views of the Red Deer, about 45-50 to be precise, but any hope of some action vanished pretty quickly, as all they seemed to be worried about was feeding. 4 or 5 Young Stags seem to approach the big old boy, but it was all rather tame and friendly, as he didn't at all seem bothered by there presence. And so it remained throughout the next couple of days. We spent about 6-7 hours watching the Deer and in all that time, I only heard a Stag roar twice. I did manage to capture that on camera although a little far away.

Nice to see plentiful flocks of Golden Plover feeding up on top of the moors exploiting the wet peaty soil, however getting close enough for a picture without causing them to take flight proved too much.

The Roaring Big Boy

Think He Winded Me

Another Roar

A Small Number of the Dunkery Herd

I had a couple of stalks in the hope of singling out a nice Red Stag to photograph, one involved stalking for about a mile over and under, through heather and gorse to get within 20 yards of a group of 4 Stags, however when I got to the final gorse bush I was using as cover, I decided to go the wrong side and came out a lot closer than intended. FAIL, ruining all hopes of a shot. 

A lot of people seem to descend upon London's parks during the Rut to capture the bellowing Stags in all of their glory, and although I've nothing at all against that, for some reason I've always thought if I were to do so it would be cheating a little. The Deer always seem a little more tolerant of humans and far easier to get close to. So I have always told myself to keep it natural and keep it wild. Perhaps I should change my views I might get some decent shots. 

My Closest Encounter

Along with the Red Deer, another ever present on Exmoor are the Exmoor Ponies one of our last breeds of wild horse. They unlike the Deer are far more approachable and seem quite happy to pose.

Exmoor Pony

With the route out of Dulverton closed with roadworks, an alternative way up on to the moor was found, along and across the area known has Hawkridge, a road I had never taken before, leading down to a rather photogenic spot called Landacre Bridge giving views up and down the River Barle. On this occasion the weather struck again, in the 50 yards from leaving the car in bright sunshine to walking to the bridge it was pissing it down!

The area of the National Park here prooved a little more productive for bird life, although unconfirmed Im pretty sure I saw a Hen Harrier working low over top the heather, Stonechat could be seen a top the gorse along with the ever plentiful Meadow Pipit, Kestrel, Raven and a rather lost covey of Red-leg Partridge, trundling along the moor top road. And a flock of 12-15 Redpoll which took me a little by surprise, although later reading my bird book explained that it seemed perfectly adequate habitat for such species.

The River Barle From Landacre Bridge

Saturday our last full day out on the Moor, and a natural phenomenon occurred, one that I haven't ever witnessed before. The sky clear of cloud, the sun out and beating down causing heat hazes everywhere, and not a drop of rain in sight! Certainly makes the scenery look a lot better!

View to Bossington - from Porlock Hill

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Up On The Downs

With cricket called off for the August Bank holiday weekend, but the weather fairly indifferent, finding something to do. A trip up the Bourne Valley, a nice spot of Lunch in the Jack Russell Inn at Faccombe, highly recommended followed by the search for Red Kites on the large open fields heading towards the Gibbet at Gallows Down.

The weather was pretty indifferent all day, so we headed off up the Valley around lunchtime hoping that it would brighten up for a walk in the afternoon, just prior to turning off for Faccombe I made a pretty swift pull in on the roadside as a field full of blue / purple flowers greeted us. I only had the telephoto with me so I couldn't take a shot, and was a little unsure as to what it was. But I thought to myself I'll pop back one night in the week with the smaller lens and some better weather.

With an outdoor pub lunch scuppered by a pretty heavy rain shower and a hasty retreat indoors we pondered the plan of action for the afternoon, Faccombe Estate covers a large acreage on the North Hampshire / Berkshire border and is a variety of Wooded copses & plantations, large open arable ground and grassy downland. Perfect terrain for Red Kites, throughout the afternoon we saw 9 all within a couple of miles of one another soaring high on the thermals. As we headed higher up the valley 3 Kites were being mobbed continuously by crows who were soon joined at the top of Gallows Down by a pair of Buzzards a Kestrel and numerous Ravens. All too far away for a decent photograph and when straying near enough the sun just happened to appear and make conditions way to bright for photography. 

I did however manage a shot that I was really pleased with, as the sky filled up with dark clouds in preparation for another downpour, some wispy white clouds blew through on the stiff breeze, highlighted by the rapidly disappearing sun. Quickly I had to find a foreground subject, thankfully a rather obliging Sheep posed in front of the sky for me.

Gallows Down Ewe

After disappearing back to the car before it poured down, we checked the map and realised one of Berkshire Wildlife Trusts reserves at Inkpen common was only about 2 miles down the road. Having missed another heavy shower, we headed for a wander around the small heathland reserve. However other than the colourful shades of the Heather and Bell Heather not a lot to be seen. As the sun returned a couple of butterflies did emerge for a photograph. 

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

As promised I did return up Netherton Valley one evening in the week when the sun was shining, and managed to get a couple of shots of the mysterious blue flowered field, which having researched when I got home concluded was Phacelia Tanacetifolia which Wikipedia says It was originally native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, but it is now used in many places in agriculture as a cover crop, a bee plant, an attractant for other beneficial insects, and anornamental plant. It is planted in vineyards and alongside crop fields, where it is valued for its long, coilinginflorescences of nectar-rich flowers which open in sequence, giving a long flowering period. It is a good insectary plant, attracting pollinators such as honey bees. Whatever its use Im sure you'll agree quite the colourful sight.

With my Grad filters in the bag I thought I'd head back up on to the downs for some sunset shots looking back towards Andover, had a play with the Red filter which worked quite nicely on the Setting sun. Also a HDR effect that I hadn't really tried before but I think works quite nicely.

Phacelia Tanacetifolia

Phacelia Tanacetifolia

HDR Sunset

Red Filter Sunset

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Grey Partridges & The Silhouetted Hobby

My apologies for the lack of updates in the past fortnight or so, I've been away in Pembrokeshire for a week and the few days leading up to departing seemed to be full of other things on the agenda. So whilst I spent all day yesterday going through various photos I took last week whilst away I remembered that I still had some encounters from the last weekend in may to share.

Whilst heading towards the Cricket pitch on the friday evening, I thought I'd have a drive through Apsley (the old home) its a bit of a divert from St Mary Bourne but a nice quiet single track road with open fields either side. Much to my delight as I rounded the corner to drive past a couple of freshly drilled fields a pair of Grey Partridge dusting / gritting in the road, they didn't at all seem bothered as my camera lens appeared out of the car window. In my opinion easily our most gracious of Game birds, and one you see all that often so I was happy with my first opportunity to get some shots I was pleased with, However no sign of any youngsters, so Im guessing she hasn't sat yet or if so they were unsuccessful.

Grey Partridge Male 

Grey Partridge Pair 

Grey Partridge Male

As always never far away was the Pheasant, a lone cock with his hareem of 6 hens strutting his stuff out on the dry maize sown ground. As majestic as ever in some nice soft orange light.

Cock Pheasant

As I headed down towards the cricket pitch, I had a quick scan over the water meadows, desperate to pick up a hunting Hobby, as Im still yet to see one that hasn't been miles away. I thought my luck was in as looking towards the sun a falcon shape silhouette headed straight towards me, I snapped off a lot of pictures and wasn't able to tell it was in fact a Kestrel until it had disappeared overhead. You cannot believe my excitement and then the disappointment when I found out it wasn't.

Hunting Kestrel

With cricket pitch mown, rolled & marked out, I headed back down the back road to Longparish, again finding the Spotted Flycatchers in the same spot, this time 4 showing well in amongst the trees. The light pretty poor in the shade I did manage one notable shot at least so you can tell what it is. Ignore the orange crest that makes it appear like a female Blackcap, this was intact the sun.

Spotted Flycatcher

Its pretty apparent to see why these migrants enjoy this particular area as about a 100 yards down the road, another fly hatch adorned the sky with various others from the spell of dry warm weather we had been having. I quite liked how they twinkled in the setting sun.

Blacksmith's Bridge

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Goldies & Greylags

The hope of a Saturday morning lay in seems non existent these days, even when I want one Im still up at 7 am ish, a quick peep out of the window confirmed a frost and a clear sky, so off I trudged, along the footpath for a good wander around Middleton Estate and Longparish, I took off up Broadney path not a lot about except 3 rather cautious Roe Deer. A quick pit stop at the cover crop on the Middleway bend brought 5 or 6 Brown Hares chasing each other over the plough furrows. I did see 8 Fallow Deer emerge from the wood 2 or 3 fields over and make their way across the spring crop. A pretty uneventful trip down through the wood by Dick's cave and along Sugar lane into the village, not much seen but loads of birds singing, hidden between the branches in the bigger Oak and Beech trees.

A quick short cut through the village and Im hopping over the 5 bar gate and down onto the Halfwater, walking the river bank back to the house. Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Red Kite & Kestrel all seen, along with several Warblers signing away in the Riverside copses.

Back at home 2 1/2 Hours later, the sky now clouded over, I stand hidden waiting for the Goldfinches to land on the feeding station in the Garden, they've been frequent visitors since we put it up, and probably the reason the Sunflower seed feeder only stays full for a couple of days each time. In the 3 weeks or so we've been living there, I've found it really hard to photography them, they're a lot more flighty than any of the other garden visitors. So I was quite happy when they didn't spook and I managed to get a couple of nice shots.

Saturday evening came with a lapse in the afternoons rain, so Dad & I went off to have a walk around his other part of River the other side of the A303, there is a small Island (no more that 25ft long) in the middle of the River which probably had 5 or 6 nesting Greylag on it, a further 9 were out in the water meadows honking away.

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