Cygnets

Colour-ring resighting is the new rock'n'roll

On the way to a gig in Bedford, we spent a few minutes watching the Mute Swans on the river. Loads of them are ringed with a metal BTO ring on one leg, and a coloured plastic ring - with big numbers - on the other.

In about 10 minutes we notched up 13 resightings. I don't suppose any of them have been very far, but it's all useful.

Send in your sightings of ringed birds here!

photo taken with iPhone 3GS

Welney

Pochards. I'm really rusty at digiscoping, and this image is rather noisy, but I like it. Proper wild Swans were in short supply at the swan feed; a flock of drake Pochards hoovered up the grain thrown their way


The washes seemed well-flooded


Whooper Swan family. They flew all the way from Iceland together, which I like. Apparently Whoopers had a good breeding season; family parties including 7 cygnets have been seen!


Mute Swans

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x II
digiscoped photos taken with Canon Powershot A640 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Catching up

I've counted some sheep...

Trudged around in the frost...


Seen lots of swans in a line...




Visited Rainham Marshes


Decorated my desk with Moo MiniCards


Made a Blue Peter-style Secret Santa gift from cardboard, sticky tape and acrylic paints

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x II or Canon Powershot A640

A Day In Bed(fordshire)

Long-tailed Tit collecting moss for nest

We had quite a nice day today, despite staying within the notoriously bird-free boundaries of Bedfordshire. We started off at Swiss Gardens, Old Warden. It was full of birdsong, including Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Robin and Wren.

I found myself paying close attention to the luxuriant ivy that grows up many of the trees there. Eventually our searching paid off and the Firecrest was relocated several metres off the ground. Firecrests traditionally join roving flocks and choose low-level foraging, but this one has a head for heights and prefers its own company.

We also encountered that well-known woodland bird, the Mute Swan. There was the rhythmic 'whoomph-whoomph-whoomph' of swan wings, followed by a loud crash as one of a pair collided with a tree on its way down to the lake. Fortunately it seemed uninjured and permitted us to herd it towards the water.




We stopped off at the 'Raptor Watchpoint' on our way westwards. A burst bin-bag of glamorous shoes on the roadside intrigued me; it was hard not to imagine who they'd belonged to and why they'd been abandoned in the middle of nowhere...


Darren's written about our day on Bedsbirds.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Swan update

Got back the details of the colour-ringed Mute Swan I saw at Harrold-Odell on 27th December.

Rather as I suspected, it was a case of:

Ringed: Harrold-Odell CP, 26 Apr 2003, adult male
Distance moved: 0km

Still, it was worth checking out. It must like it there to have spent the past five years in the same place.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Swan bling

Had a terrible day trudging round various bits of Bedfordshire. We dipped on everything - Cattle Egret (in Cambs), White-fronted Geese at Harrold, Short-eared Owl at Thurleigh.

While bored at Harrold, I spotted this ringed Mute Swan. It's always worth checking birds for colour rings. I expect it's moved a total of zero km since it was ringed, but I've sent my sighting in to www.ring.ac anyway.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

It's too hot!

Singing Wren

Mute Swan family

'There once was an ugly duckling...' Not really. Aren't they lovely?

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillar

We spent this morning searching for Yellow Wagtails on the Nene Washes. Probably not a very good idea. Not only did we fail to find any, but by the time we finished, temperatures were getting near the 30 degrees Celsius mark. Too hot for me, with this humidity!

The highlights, in the absence of any wagtails, were dragonflies. A few Hairies about, including a mating pair, lots of Four-spotted Chasers and an assortment of damselflies, with quite a few Blue-taileds.

With a bit of luck, we'll get some big thunderstorms to help clear the air.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Nene Washes

Lapwing

Golden Plovers

Mute Swan


Tiny spider with even tinier fly

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Sunday morning fishing on the River Nene

'Think there might be something tasty in here...'


'I'll take a closer look...'


'This is my river!'


'Now, where was I?'


'Success at last!'

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Swan brawl

Ugly scenes on Overton Lake, Ferry Meadows CP, this lunchtime. A bit of argy bargy between two pairs of Mute Swans.


Meanwhile, this Great Crested Grebe made for the relative peace of Gunwade.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece