A Week at Rooksbury - 18th - 21st Feb

Massive apologies to all my blog readers as I am a whole 2 months behind, work has been manic for the past month or so and all lunchtime trips out have been halted in there tracks. But you don't want to hear about that so I will try catch up on some blogging normality, I would say expect them all thick and fast in the coming days, but we shall see.

So after the excitement of the Great Bustard it was back to the humdrum of a lunchtime walk around the lakes. Both appeared really quiet with hardly any birds visible on a fairly bright February Tuesday afternoon. 4 Little Grebe appeared on the large Lake and showed fairly closely for Little Grebe, both  a Sparrowhawk and a Cormorant perched atop waterside trees surveying the scene.

I managed to seek out a rather bold Goldcrest singing in the ivy tree at the far end of the reserve, and after a short wait I was rewarded with some lovely close views, even if the foreground and background was cluttered with twigs.

Goldcrest 

Singing Robin

With Rain on Wednesday, I returned Thursday lunchtime to an even quieter reserve, a brace of Gadwall pairs on the small Lake, and now only 2 Little Grebe on the large lake. Several Goldfinch fed on the thistles by the car park and I did catch a glimpse of a calling Grey Wagtail as it zoomed over the top of the water.

I did have some joy whilst sat on the bench overlooking the lakes, 3 raucous Mallard put down the landing gear, and somehow I managed to catch them in almost perfect synchronicity. They soon were joined by 3 other drakes who all raced off after the lone female.

So all in all quite a quiet week at the lakes, but nice to see a little of Spring in the air.

Little Grebes

Incoming Mallard

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Roe Deer - 16th Feb

It was just over a month ago now, but I got a phone call from my dad early on a Tuesday morning as I headed to work that a Great Bustard had been seen quite a few times on a nearby estate. I had to get him to repeat it a GREAT BUSTARD!!!!! 

The bird apparently had been present for a couple of weeks and favouring a Stone Curlew plot in the middle of one of the ploughed fields. Being a Tuesday and with a full week of work, the weekend couldn't come soon enough. So armed with instructions and having promised the Gamekeeper and the Estates owners not to reveal its location to anyone I headed off in search of this giant bird.

Walking alongside some thick hedge rows plenty of Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting chirped away in front of me along with a few small groups of Goldfinch flushing up from the seed heads next to the hedge. I managed to get into a sheltered hidden position to view the area the Bustard had been said to have favoured. Not a thing, I was sure with the size of the bird I would be able to see it, but no, no sign anywhere!

A small covey of Red-legged Partridge flew into the belt to which I sat, and several Pheasants flew out as a female Sparrowhawk emerged from the fir trees but still no Bustard. So I sat and waited for a good hour or more, enjoying distant views of 5 Roe Deer mooching about on the ploughing. Then something caught my eye, a good 600-700 metres away a large bird rising high above the hedgerow.

My first thoughts were Short-eared Owl a bird that had roosted on this ground in previous winters, but no a look through the binoculars confirmed Great Bustard. It circled a couple of times in the distance dropping in height with every turn, eventually coming in to land on a game cover crop 3 fields over quite near the road.

Barely able to contain my excitement I legged it as quickly back to the car as I could not taking my eye of the spot I last saw it. 15 minutes later and I was searching the cover crop. Fruitlessly, whether the bird had wandered on down, or simply glided low over top of the road and to the fields the other side.

Gutted, I dejectedly wandered through a gap in the hedge and instantly come across 2 Roe Deer sat on the track 100 or so yards further down. Sticking tight to the hedge and getting as low as I could tripod and all I stalked as close as I could get to the young Doe & Buck, and was really pleased to get a lot of shots, some of which I think are my best yet of Roe.

So I left happy with my Roe Deer shots but not that I had some incredibly distant unrecognisable Bustard flight shots. But never fear, it was only Saturday and having guaranteed the bird was still in residence I headed back the next day, but I shall save that all for the next blog post.

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Sunny November Waterfowl

As well as the afore mentioned wildfowl in earlier posts, Slimbridge and its surrounding reserve where abundant in a few other Wildfowl species. 5 or 6 Shelduck joined the masses of Wigeon on the tack piece. Along with 40-50 Greylag Geese, all very vocal as Sparrowhawks and Buzzards regularly flew past.

Shelduck

Shelduck

Shelduck

Greylag

Greylag

In smaller numbers, several Grey Heron stood sentry duty on the edges of flooded outcrops, Dead still in the bright morning sun. Tufted Duck & Pochard drifted close to the hides allowing the occasional close up photograph, along with a rather tatty looking drake Shoveler.

Grey Heron

Tufted Duck

Drake Pochard

Drake Pochard

Drake Shoveler

From the Holden Tower various species could be seen on the flooded shores of the River Severn, 70 strong flocks of Dunlin fed on the flooded grassland along with Canada Geese intermixed with a lone European White-fronted Goose. A small flock of Barnacle Geese also fed along the shoreline. A much closer Barny fed inside the Slimbridge grounds, enable a photo of these chunky geese.

Barnacle Goose

Barnacle Goose

Barnacle Goose

After a quick spot of lunch, we headed around to the Zeiss hide, stopping only briefly as there were dozens of screaming kids running through the hide! Much to my annoyance, a good hour or more was spent in the Van Der Bovenkamp hide, as supposedly a Bittern was in the tiny block of reed in front of it. Its fair to say no Bittern was spotted by me, much to my annoyance. Occasionally the huge mass of Golden Plover would take flight before settling back down to feed.

Golden Plover

To finish the trip off, we thought we would go for the pair! Having managed some stunning views of the Short-billed Dowitcher down at Lodmoor in September, I thought I would get a spot on the long staying Long-billed Dowitcher that had been at Slimbridge for a good few months.

The bird was present out on the South Lake along with 50 or so Black-tailed Godwits, but with the sun dipping rapidly the whole scene was just a lot of shadowy birds so no pictures unfortunately, but good to get the set in the bag, and round off a pretty good day!

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A Quiet Sunday Sojurn

As the year rolls on I thought it was about time to have a wander the other side of the A303 to see if the indifferent weather had brought in any Short-eared Owls. It hadn't as of yet, but I did have a lovely hour and a half walk alongside the Woods surrounding Bransbury Common and then out on to the Common itself, an attempt to cross the River Dever failed miserably as the usually crossable ford soon came up an above my wellies. Giving me a rather wet leg.

This wasn't the only occasion either as certain parts of the meadow next to it, traipsed around by cattle appeared to be just a muddy patch but soon found me knee deep in mud. Wildlife appeared to be enjoying a lazy sunday too, I could hear Red-legged Partridge calling from the next field and they came into view enjoying the sunshine in their covey underneath the shelter of the nearby hedge. I also suspect they were in hiding from the raptor fest above. 7 Buzzard, 1 Red Kite & 2 Sparrowhawk circled high above enjoying the warm conditions. None really coming close enough for a picture.

Quite a few Butterflies still floated about, all be it quite late in the year. Brimstone & Comma both seen alongside the track. Overall quite a pleasant walk and a nice way to spend a couple of hours outdoors.

Moonlight Bank

Comma

Buzzard

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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

Thwarted By The Sunshine

As a fair weather lunchtime birder, today's bright orange light was a bit of a blessing as I sat in the office counting down the minutes to my break. Once out and all geared up with woolly hat and gloves, I headed to Anton Lakes perfect on a nice bright crisp afternoon. Not quick enough with the camera to catch the numerous Redwing taking flight around the lakes edge, the bright conditions really highlighting the russet underwing.

Next spotted a new species for the location and my first of 2012. A female Blackcap disappearing into the ivy covered tree. The lakes proved pretty quiet, with only a few Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck & Little Grebe showing at the far end. A quick glimpse of Aqua gave the Kingfisher away as it headed into the overhanging branches on the opposing bank. Both Kestrel & Sparrowhawk giving a good showing on the adjoining meadow.

As I walked around to the far bank, hoping for a good glimpse of the Redwing's I instead stopped pretty sharply as the earlier Kingfisher appeared through the willow wisps 20ft in front of me. Now I know as a photographer the number one rule pretty much is don't shoot into the sun, and there only 20ft before me is a Kingfisher sat on a branch, also perched flush in the middle of the sunlight. Bloody typical, Just my luck I can see I am fast on the way to becoming a moany photographer! I've spent a while bring this photo back to life. Not to bad in the end I guess!

The Shadow Kingfisher

And A Partridge In The Hedgerow

Well my apologies first of all for the lack of posts this week, haven’t had the chance to get out at all, the weathers been pretty rubbish and more annoyingly I’ve been suffering from a serious bout of Man Flu! And we all know what that means!!!

Feeling near enough alive again, and having a surprisingly quiet day planned I used the excuse of walking the dogs, to trek around the estate. And I must say a very festive result, 25 species of bird for Christmas, and no im not just making that number up.

Below listed are the Bird Species spotted today around the estate and on the garden feeders:

1.Blue Tit 2.Great Tit 3.Blackbird 4.House Sparrow 5.Dunnock 6.Grey Heron 7.Green Sandpiper 8.Wood Pigeon 9.Carrion Crow 10.Treecreeper 11.Goldcrest 12.Long Tailed Tit 13.Buzzard 14.Yellowhammer 15.Chaffinch 16.Red Legged Partridge 17.Coal Tit 18.Great Spotted Woodpecker 19.Sparrowhawk 20.Little Egret 21.Mallard 22.Common Teal 23.Pheasant 24.Tawny Owl 25.Robin

Also spotted – Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Rabbit & Stoat

Hopefully I will be able to get out and about again before the New Year, may even get a chance to pop up to Slimbridge during next week. So I shall take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, may you all drink and eat too much and give and receive plenty.

Female Great-spotted Woodpecker

Christmas Lights

Female House Sparrow

Massive Camera Envy

Wandering around the lakes for a spot of birding im sure is the best way to spend my lunch hour rather than being sat at my desk flicking to the internet every 2 mins, Wouldn't you agree? There might be a pattern forming in all of my posts that all sightings are crammed into an hour window around midday.

I'm not usually the jealous type, I just want to enjoy the wildlife and hopefully take a few pics to be proud of, The last few times i've visited Anton Lakes LNR i've seen or heard the Kingfishers, the shallower pool is only about 30 yards from the Car Park, sociable chap that I am, I strike up conversation with a Photographer there, Camera and Airbus Sized Lens set up on his tripod, Second Jumbo Jet Lens and camera resting on the ground!

So there's me feeling all inadequate to be even starting a conversation about Photography with someone who probably has way more expertise and a damn sight more money to spend! And I'm a little bit jealous, i mean why does he need two? Yes two ridiculously huge telephoto's. We talk about the Kingfisher's and how he's seen two today so far, and that they don't seem to want to play ball. He proceeds to show me a picture, all the while complaining about the lighting, the distance and pretty much everything else he could think of. And all the while I'm thinking to myself, id be so proud of that shot. I guess I'm easily pleased!

Anyway rant over, after leaving the guy crying over what might have been, I wandered down the footpath along the circular route. Baring in mind that Anton Lakes slots in between two of Andover's more famous (rough) housing estates. Sunshine for a change bringing out a lot more dog walkers than I'm accustomed to seeing, Lots of Smaller Birds calling in the trees, but a little bit hesitant to come out, but that might have been due to the Female Sparrowhawk circling above..

Female Sparrowhawk

A small flock of Goldfinches on the thistle heads alongside the path, disturbed pretty quickly by a rather large Alsatian and his Tennis ball. Not a lot else to report, seemed to be a lot more Canadian Geese on the lake and a few pairs of Tufted Ducks showing up though.

A lot of Moorhens all the way around the area, but this one caught my eye with quite a nice reflection on the shallower stream heading off towards the meadows.

Moorhen Mirror

So I headed back to the first Pond area, Pro Photographer gone, trying to work out what was the latest possible time I could leave it before I had to trudge back to work. And then at about 2 mins before my
5 mins drive back. I heard one call, a quick flash of Aqua blue, a pretty speedy skim across the top of the water, and gone! Kingfisher Excitement and Anti climax all in one notion.

Evening Sunset