Shropshire - Lights out.....

A fair few evenings during June were spent 'moonlighting' in Shropshire and the undoubted highlight was chancing upon a family of Long-eared Owls!

For various reasons, it's not wise to give out locations of breeding birds, especially species of a 'sensitive' nature. The full story will emerge within one of my talks but here's a taster with some record shots of the young Owls....

I have no wish to arm myself with or use flash set ups either, due to the undoubted stress caused to the birds, all images were taken at dusk using very slow shutter speeds.






This was my first image - ISO pushed to 1600 and 1 second exposure - grim but at least a record shot of the scene......






Dense woodland meant very limited views, nearly always obscured by twigs etc. but the moments spent watching the youngsters blearily waking up, having a stretch, a yawn and then calling to the parents will undoubtedly be up there in the highlights of 2010!












Even whilst still 'downy', the Owlets are quite capable of significant jumps amongst the tree canopy. I captured one of these leaps of faith on 7D video (I just need to work out how to compress / edit the files now!)








A few days later they were clearly capable of free flight, taking off as darkness fell and found on call, grouped within a 30m area not far from the original locality.












To illustrate how slow these shutter speeds were, a slow head turn created this peculiar cyclops effect!






Eventually, keeping together as a family, adults and youngsters settled down at least 400m away from the original location. They were now rarely visible and photography was out of the question. Despite sightings being in full (moonlit) darkness, it was still exciting to see the adults bring in prey for the young as they perched on fence posts!!

There are no 'publication' quality shots here but where 'memories' are concerned, these are so nice to look back on! I can also get to bed at a reasonable time now too......

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Brandon Marsh - a relaxing day

I'd dropped Gemma off in the middle of Coventry and now had five hours to spare..... Not a rarity in sight (hardly a surprise) and nothing within range either, what could I do? Good old 'Where to watch birds' came to the rescue - a glance through likely reserves nearby turned up Brandon Marsh. I'd never been there before but it was sure gonna beat the centre of Coventry!

Managed by Warwickshire WT, I paid my dues (£2.50) and fair play, there was a car park which felt safe, a much better than most visitor centre (if you like that sort of thng) and plenty of cold drinks and ice cream available (boy, was it hot!).....

The staff were knowledgable too, advising where to go for what and an old chestnut soon emerged - why is it always a fact that the most productive hide is always the one furthest away!

Never mind, only 15 minutes walk, I eventually reached Carlton Hide and chilled for the next two hours......

Plenty of warblers singing: Garden, Willow, Blackcap, Chiff, Sedge and Reed and a briefly obliging Cettis' Warbler.

A room with a view.....






Notice the long 'roach poles' attached to fence posts? Clearly there to attract one species and for a 20 mins or so period it didn't disappoint - got my first half decent Kingfisher images of the year on the nearer pole (Do I need any more??!)






The Kingfisher stayed tantalizingly on the distant pole however but occasionally favoured a more natural launch post....






Plenty of Common Terns busy fishing in the area but only one frame filling close encounter.....






For most of the time I was in this hide, a Hobby perched in a dead tree kept me on my toes, I never once got him close enough in flight as he left and returned - I decided to see where he was hunting.....

The move to East Marsh hide, was a winner and I spent the next 90 minutes or so, in between 'rest breaks', watching the Hobby hawking dragonflies over the water!

Here he comes.....






Prey firmly gripped and eaten on the wing.....








In flight action.......








The other hides gave different views of the main complex of water/scrapes or were fairly unproductive. I have to say, overall I enjoyed the visit though - nice to do some relaxed birding for a change, no long drive / chase and a chance to rekindle a former interest in dragonflies? Hmm, might have a local session on these......

Upton Warren - Red-necked Phalarope

The Fathers day bird again? Had one here last year (21.6.09) on the way back from Norfolk! This year I was stuck in Shropshire - my only committment - picking up Gemma from Manchester airport later in the day, I was hoping for a decent bird to drop into the North West? Upton Warren was a sort of detour, albeit in the wrong direction but Red-necked Phalarope are always nice to see.....








Just as in 2009, the bird was pretty distant, spending most of it's time swimming - surface feeding then snoozing. A few record shots.....










The Avocets were doing what they always do, seeing off any interlopers who dared to get too close.....








A few pics of the Avocets to follow (if I get chance)......

Longmynd - Spotted Flycatcher

A day spent in Shropshire created one photo opportunity during the afternoon session in the Longmynd area. I have rather a 'soft spot' for Spotted Flycatchers and hopes of an encounter were high!

A pair were eventually trackied down but needed the utmost patience until one eventually came close enough.






Not much variety but this burst was head and shoulders better than the rest.......










A female Common Redstart was also on the scene.....






With a trip to Manchester airport looming for tomorrow - I feel the need to escape, what are the chances of a decent bird dropping into the North West?

Chelmarsh - Wood Sandpiper returns??

Almost a year to the day, a Wood Sandpiper is present (has returned?) to Chelmarsh scrape! Without a ring to prove the matter, we'll never know for sure but it was with a feeling of 'deja vu' as I watched it feed in the same manner as the 2009 bird. Slowly completing an anticlockwise circuit of the scrape, into the running water before being sent packing by a Moorhen to start all over again!






The bird was first noted on Saturday apparently but news is often slow to emerge from this site.... Never mind, at least it had the decency to stick for me! The highlight of this visit after work Monday evening was two fairly close passes on it's circuit of the scrape, (given the poor light). Here's a few representative shots.....












Picking up a worm or two....






A wingflap.....






What's next? The sleepy mid Summer months may well produce something special!

Longmynd - Tripit in cloud cuckoo land

Well there was plenty of cloud (and thunder) rolling around on Sunday morning plus at least two Cuckoos in the area calling.....

This individual was happy for me to approach within 30 metres, provided I stayed behind cover and so did he! The tangle of branches obscuring him as he called add a bit of atmosphere to the shots.....









Great views of Tree Pipit too, doing their parachute display and this bird - sat on the heather singing.....








or just posing.....

Mire lake - MEGA Tern up!!

A lazy Sunday evening was climaxed (such an appropriate word) by a totally unexpected event with yet another good bird (got to be the best this year?) found by Andy Latham! An adult White-winged Black Tern no less, in all it's Summer finery.....

Birds are never close at this site (strictly permit only) and I had to be content with some 'record shots' of this second County record and a tick for anyone who missed the November 1994 bird!

The bird was feeding in typical Marsh Tern fashion, picking insects off the water surface or climbing and taking them in air and then resting distantly on the mud. What a stunning bird, the white forewing, tail and rump contrasing nicely with the black head, underparts, mantle and (in flight) underwing coverts. Add those bright red legs and you have a real beauty....






I tried the stacked converters ploy to gain some extra reach, very few 'keepers' but at the 2x coupled with 1.4x gave me a 1400mm lens of very shaky reach!










Take off....








Here's the distant upperwing detail......








and the underwing......








White-winged Black Terns are small, similar to Little Tern but longer winged, comparison with a Black headed Gull shows just how small!








Despite all my recent travels, nice to have a good bird I wwould have driven a few miles for - turning up locally! A monumental bird to bring up the County '160' for the year too! I'd have settled for this by the Autumn, never mind early June! There's a long quiet patch to go through however and whilst a few good birds are possible (or not) who knows how the year will pan out. The very essence and fun of birding is the unpredictability of it all......

Oh and thanks to Andy once again - great bird, fantastic find and what a way to go to sleep, who'd have thought it eh.... "White-winged Black Tern, bloody hell".......