Beasts from the east

Feels like ages since I've done any 'proper' birding.  So I headed up to Norfolk on Sunday with Wardy to look at waifs and stays.

First up was this rather splendid OBP in Wells Wood.

[Canon 7D, 300mm IS f.4 and 1.4 converter]

Then some Barred Warbler action at Salthouse

Barred Warbler shots all taken digiscoping with a Nikon V1, 10-30mm lens, Swarovski ATS 80 HD and 25-50x eyepiece.

I love a good owl

Lovely views of this Barn Owl this evening near Cardington.  I was hoping for some flight shots but these will do.

And another weird chiffy

Another interesting Chiffchaff.  This one was at Broom GP.  I initially saw two birds in the willows - one dingy grey collybita type which was calling constantly, and then this bird.  I hadn't noticed it until I tried playing tristis song at the collybita bird (just to see if it would react more than anything else), and this bird popped out from the bottom of some willows and started flapping its wings and bouncing around the branches above me.  Unfortunately this bird remained silent throughout.

Plumage wise this is an odd bird.  From a distance it looks buffy and brown, with the only real green around the wings and tail.  Up close the green is much more evident, especially around the mantle, flanks and in the supercillium.  The two chiffchaffs in this clump also act differently - the collybita is often much higher up in the top third of the willows, but this bird is usually at the very bottom - usually in the bottom two feet, just above the water.

To say that chiffchaffs do my head in is an understatement!  As others have said, its redpolls all over again...

Dartie

Wonderful little birds - Dartford Warblers.  Even better when you can see them just a few miles away from home.

That Chiffchaff again

I bumped in to that Sibe Chiff again today - it really is a looker.  Still doesn't sound quite right though...

There are more shots of this bird by Mike Lawrence on the BedsBirds blog here.

Bonus Brambling blog shots

Here are some shots taken in my garden over the last couple of weeks. Some are taken with a borrowed Canon 500mm IS f.4 lens, but most are taken with my trusty 300mm. They are absolutely superb birds to have in your garden.

Snow finches

The heavy snow stopped play for many people today, but it did give way to some nice images from the garden. Goldfinch, and Chaffinch above.

Lap Bunt

Salthouse currently has a flock of rather dapper Lapland Buntings feeding at the end of the coast road.

A Bank holiday monday

Spent the bank holiday doing a bit of local botany...


Chiltern Gentian Gentianella germanica

Common Green Grasshopper Omocestus viridulus (yes, I know its not a plant!)

Autumn Ladies Tresses Spiranthes spiralis



Moon Carrot Seseli libanotis

Greenish

Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides, Walsey Hills, Cley, Norfolk, 26th August 2007

Dune Tiger

Although the birding was crap on the Norfolk coast Sunday, this Dune Tiger Beetle Cicindela hybrida, almost made up for it. Thornham Point, 26th August 2007.

Green-crowned Brilliant

Green-crowned Brilliant, Monteverde Cloudforest Reserve, Costa Rica, March 2007

Bairds Trogon

Bairds Trogon, Carara National Park, Costa Rica, March 2007

Sun? Ah, that'll be summer then...

As today's been sunny I had a look at Sharpenhoe Clappers. I wanted to try and catch the last of the Dark-green Fritillaries and the first of the Chalkhill Blues. Dispite the fresh wind at the top there were plenty of butterflies. Lots of Chalkhill Blues (see the first pic below) with many of them fresh looking individuals. The Fritillaries were a different story however, with many of them looking a little worst for wear.


Plenty of crickets and grasshoppers about. Not sure of the species of the next two though...

I really like photographing Skippers. I think it's because they sit still and are usually accomodating. Below are a couple of Small Skippers. Tring to find an Essex Skipper amongst them is a long and tiring task, which I have yet to master...



Good numbers of moths were in the grass too, again, I don't know the species of any of these three...

A day at Mins

A day off. So we decided that we should go to Minsmere. After a leasurly roll out of bed we eventually got to the car park sometime around 11am. A quick spin down to the Bittern hide and after a 20 minute wait we life-ticked Bittern for Carrie. A great view as it flew right in front of the hide. Plenty of Marsh Harrier action too, with a pair of juveniles mouching around in the reeds close-by...


Back to the cafe for a spot of lunch (nice jacked spuds!) before a walk up the road to the canopy hide. I've never really seen much from this hide, as it looks over, well, trees. However this time was different, I wasn't looking for birds, I was after seeing a butterfly! Purple Hairstreak to be precise. The weather was still looking a little dicey but sure enough we got a good view of a Hairstreak in the Oak next to the hide.

After this minor triumph, we tried our luck at Silver Studded Blue's out on Dunwich Heath. It was rubbish. We only saw a handful of butterflies, most of them Graylings.


Back to the reserve and the best bit - the Scrape!

So, where's the mud and water gone? It seems to be covered up by all that vegetation. Still, it's good for breeding gulls. Two pairs of Med Gulls out there, this one had three chicks...

After a short (but rather hard) shower, we had a look at the Little Tern colony on the beach. It was excellent! Fantastic views of the adults feeding chicks. Almost worth the trip alone in my book.




A family of Stonechats were remarkably tame just along from the tern colony. These shots were taken uisng my 30x eyepiece and my S80 hand-held. I was quite impressed, especially as the light was so flat at the time.

A bit of rare plant spotting too. This is Marsh Mallow....no, really!

To round off the day we sat in one of the hides looking through the terns in the vague hope a Roseate was amongst them. Unfortunately didn't find a rosy tern but we did get this male Marsh Harrier sit on a post not too far away...

In the begining...

Well, as I've had this blog for a while now I thought I'd finally use it for something. And that something is ramblings, and putting pretty pictures I've taken up too. And what a good day to begin with eh (note date)!

So, to start with I'm going to add a spider I found in my house last week. It's probably the first record for Bedfordshire....maybe....

This baby is Theridion familiare - thanks to Ian Dawson for the id. Apparently quire a rare spider. However coincidentally Col Campbell (a work collegue of mine) also found one in his house near Cambridge just a few days later, so maybe not that rare?