Oi! Get orf my feeder!

All too often, I look out of the window to see this:

At least this is a bit more amusing:

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

Seed-munchers

Been playing around with digiscoping garden birds through the double glazing...

Sometimes the results are pretty good, considering

Chaffinches

Rook

Good light seems to be the biggest factor (it's really dull today)

Greenfinch

Other times they are not very good, but it's nice to have a record of what's been visiting the garden

Yellowhammers

Reed Bunting

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Rooks!

Rooks waiting for a shower of black sunflower seeds from above. Good job we switched from sunflower hearts at this time of year - they're much more expensive and you can fit a lot in a Rook...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D + EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, through double-glazed kitchen window

Rooks

The past few mornings have seen a dozen Rooks gathering on our lawn. Some of the braver ones have copied the Jackdaws and now stuff themselves full of sunflower hearts from the feeder. I think things might get expensive if the whole rookery finds out...

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

Rook in Action

Mmm, sunflower hearts... how do I get up there?

Got to get up here first...

This could be tricky...

Mustn't slip now...

Success.

Norfolk - some more

It's a whole six days since we were last in Norfolk, so time for another visit, this time centred around the Broads.

Went to twitch the American Wigeon which is at Buckenham Marshes. The Yankee showed only distantly, but a flock of Euro Wigeons were the most confiding I've ever seen. They looked fat and glossy in the sunshine.

Wigeon feeling frisky

Strange 'white-eared' female Wigeon, Buckenham Marshes (another 'white-eared' bird here)

Wigeon in flight (spooked by Marsh Harrier)

Rook cawing

Blackthorn blossom

Catkins

Guelder rose berries

Snowdrops, Strumpshaw Fen

Special birds: Cranes coming in to roost [relatively] near the Stubb Mill watchpoint (though that's Horsey Mill in view):

22 came in; we also saw 16+ Marsh Harriers

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