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Post by MJB on Sept 17, 2024 20:03:54 GMT
Had a trip down to Arne today to make the most of the glorious weather. It turned out to be a day of bent beaks. First up was this Wheatear with a deformed beak. It was struggling to catch insects, but it did catch some. It turns out it was impaling them on it's deformed upper beak.  wheatear bent beak by Martin Bone, on Flickr  wheatear bent beak2 by Martin Bone, on Flickr Female Stonechat.  tweety bird by Martin Bone, on Flickr It was a really big spring tide today, which was great for spotting wading birds. Unfortunatly the bright mid-afternoon sun caused horrendous glare off the water and mud flats, making photography really difficult. There was about 50 Bar-tailed Godwits, 30+ Avocets, Dunlin, Greenshanks, Redshanks, and Curlew. Bar-Tailed Godwits and Avocets  avocet bt godwit by Martin Bone, on Flickr Curlew  curlew by Martin Bone, on Flickr |
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Post by gray1720 on Sept 18, 2024 21:07:25 GMT
I'm obviously not as good a twitcher as Martin (unless I think SWMBO is listening, when I get pretty twitchy), but I did drop into the little lake over the road from where I used to live today *and remembered the Black Mamba*! Not a lot of action, mostly the usual suspects eg mallard, but I did notice that the resident swans had reared 6 cygnets this year. Of course, the great white egret was in the corner furthest away from the lens...  Great (white) egret by gray1720, on Flickr There's often shoveller in there, and they seem to be the first winter arrivals - here's a drake still moulting out of eclipse. Looking at the photo I think the next duck along is a female shoveller (very noticable that they tend to hang around in pairs), and the last one in the distance is another moulting drake.  Drake shoveller moulting by gray1720, on Flickr Back in the day there used to be wigeon in some numbers most winters, and they'd come out on Wolvercote common and scurry round in little flocks dodging dog walkers, but even before we moved away there seemed to be fewer. I guess they are doen at the bottom of Port Meadow instead. A pity, because I find them very charming. |
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Post by MJB on Sept 24, 2024 20:16:41 GMT
Watched a White-Tailed Eagle get mobbed by two Marsh Harriers this afternoon. Too far away to photograph, but had a great view through my spotting scope.
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Post by zou on Sept 24, 2024 20:37:56 GMT
Watched a White-Tailed Eagle get mobbed by two Marsh Harriers this afternoon. Too far away to photograph, but had a great view through my spotting scope. Quite something aren't they.  |
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Post by MJB on Sept 25, 2024 7:47:00 GMT
Watched a White-Tailed Eagle get mobbed by two Marsh Harriers this afternoon. Too far away to photograph, but had a great view through my spotting scope. Quite something aren't they. They sure are. Only the second time I've had decent view of one and that was probably the exact same bird getting mobbed by a pair of Buzzards over the farm in 2020. We know from tracking data that it was one of the Poole Harbour resident birds. |
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Post by MJB on Sept 25, 2024 19:19:37 GMT
Variable light and too much water in the Middlebere channel meant it was slim pickings on the bird front yesterday. Adolescent Herring Gull?  juvenile herring gull by Martin Bone, on Flickr A skein of Blue-Winged Teal (not Mallard as I originally thought). A sure sign winter is on it's way.  mallard by Martin Bone, on Flickr |
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Post by peterob on Sept 25, 2024 19:35:47 GMT
Variable light and too much water in the Middlebere channel meant it was slim pickings on the bird front yesterday. Adolescent Herring Gull? Without looking it up, first winter maybe? I'd guess a lesser black-backed might look similar from that angle but I'm not good on gulls. |
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Post by willien on Sept 25, 2024 20:10:28 GMT
Variable light and too much water in the Middlebere channel meant it was slim pickings on the bird front yesterday. Adolescent Herring Gull? juvenile herring gull by Martin Bone, on Flickr A skein of Blue-Winged Teal (not Mallard as I originally thought). A sure sign winter is on it's way. mallard by Martin Bone, on Flickr A rather louche delinquent? The gull not you FTAOD.🙂 |
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Post by MJB on Sept 25, 2024 20:21:54 GMT
Variable light and too much water in the Middlebere channel meant it was slim pickings on the bird front yesterday. Adolescent Herring Gull? Without looking it up, first winter maybe? I'd guess a lesser black-backed might look similar from that angle but I'm not good on gulls. Looking in my book it's a third winter Herring Gull. The wings were far too pale to be a Lesser Black-Backed Gull which I would expect to have more yellow on it's beak and legs. I've got another shot of it side-on on the water that I'll post up tomorrow when I have time. |
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Post by MJB on Sept 25, 2024 20:36:13 GMT
I'm doubting my duck i.d. now, and reverting to my initial thought that they're female Mallard.
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Post by MJB on Oct 1, 2024 19:41:27 GMT
The weather is dictating where I go birding at the moment. The best forecast was for Weymouth, so a visit to RSPB Lodmoor and Radipole Lake was in order. They're not big reserves, but they have easy access for Julie and regularly turn up some rarer species on migration. There was a Little Stint and Golden Plover, but a Marsh Harrier made a low pass and spooked a lot of birds. Lots of Teal and Gadwall have arrived, Mediterranean Gulls are still here (didn't get a decent photo sadly, but good enough to confirm an I.D.), and now the trees are starting to lose their leaves the little birds are becoming easier to photograph. Mediterranean Gull, distinguishable from the very similar Black-Headed Gull by the all white tail and wing-tips. (perhaps if I'd taken 1700 photos I would have got something better)  med gull by Martin Bone, on Flickr The ever photogenic Peewit.  peewit by Martin Bone, on Flickr Greenshank.  greenshank by Martin Bone, on Flickr Black-Tailed Godwit.  godwit by Martin Bone, on Flickr Chiffchaff.  chiffchaff by Martin Bone, on Flickr No introduction needed, the always up for a photo and making a racket Robin.  robin by Martin Bone, on Flickr |
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Post by MJB on Oct 22, 2024 16:18:16 GMT
Grabbed a couple of hours at the local nature reserve today. Not huge amounts happening on the bird front. The exceptionally high water levels and yobbish Canada Geese didn't help. It's possibly the most reliable venue I know for Kingfisher sightings and they obliged again. A Kestrel treated us to a couple of close up hunts.  kingfisher by Martin Bone, on Flickr  kestrel1 by Martin Bone, on Flickr  kestrel2 by Martin Bone, on Flickr |
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Post by MJB on Oct 23, 2024 8:12:18 GMT
There was a Raven circling above our house this morning. Given my wife's Viking heritage (she's a direct descendant of Harold Bluetooth) I'm assuming it's some kind of omen and I should prepare myself for Valhalla.
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Post by spinno on Oct 23, 2024 9:16:52 GMT
There was a Raven circling above our house this morning. Given my wife's Viking heritage (she's a direct descendant of Harold Bluetooth) I'm assuming it's some kind of omen and I should prepare myself for Valhalla. No offence but she's the one with Viking heritage, so it's her turn. Perhaps she'll become a Valkyrie |
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Post by willien on Oct 23, 2024 10:13:14 GMT
There was a Raven circling above our house this morning. Given my wife's Viking heritage (she's a direct descendant of Harold Bluetooth) I'm assuming it's some kind of omen and I should prepare myself for Valhalla. No offence but she's the one with Viking heritage, so it's her turn. Perhaps she'll become a Valkyrie If she turns into one of the choosers of the slain then Martin could be right about a trip in the offing. |
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