Feathery things

I've been doing a bit of ringing lately...

Female Swallow we caught in a mist-net at Beeston, right next to the bird feeders! Don't think she was after sunflower hearts, somehow...

Juvenile Long-tailed Tit

and juvenile Chaffinch, both from Beeston. You can see the primaries are still growing out of their 'pins' (sheaths)

Adult female Starling, whoosh-netted in a Biggleswade garden

She was growing new tail feathers. For Starlings, it's autumn already

Cetti's Warbler at Paxton Pits - the first-ever to be trapped and ringed there

A male Nightingale originally caught at Paxton a couple of years ago

Swallow over the lettuce field

photo taken with iPhone and Hipstamatic app

Trapping and ringing

Today we combined bird ringing with moth trapping. The moths went first, with the trap left on overnight. I got up early and blocked up their escape routes, then went back to bed. Next, Del and Jacqui came round and we put up a couple of nets to catch some birds. 

Conditions were really a bit too breezy to be much good, but we caught

• Great Tit, 14 - all juveniles
• Blue Tit, 4
• Greenfinch, 4 (3 juvs, 1 adult male)
• Dunnock, 3

and three Swallow nestlings

Baby Swallow

Inbetween net rounds we went through the moth catch (it didn't take long - only c60 moths of 25 species).

The Olive - first for the garden

Yellow Shell

Flame Shoulder

Bordered Pug - another first for the garden

Not much of a moth list today.

See you next year

This young Swallow had bumped into one of our windows. Fortunately I heard the impact and found it dazed on the ground. It crash-landed on the first release attempt so I put in in a dark box for 10 minutes' recuperation.

The second release was successful and it flew off to rejoin its family. Good luck, Swallow!

I wouldn't have heard the bang on the window if I hadn't been in the house trying to evict a(nother?) Swallow which had invited itself into the bathroom. It found its own way out through the spare bedroom window. Pesky birds.

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Swallow!

We're waiting to be fed. When's the next meal coming?*


Here it comes!





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

Summer nights and other things

Saturday sunset


Barn barbecue (with Canon Powershot A640)


Swallow, iPhonescoped with Leica Apo Televid 77 + 20x eyepiece

Young Swallows have been queuing up on our garden fence and roof again. Though they've obviously been out of the nest quite some time, they are still receiving deliveries of insects from their parents!

Phonescoping with iPhone

Well, these pictures ain't gonna win no prizes, but I've been experimenting with my iPhone to see whether phonescoping is a possibility.

Conclusion: yes, for 'record shots'. For it to be slightly easier, I need to make a little adapter (which shouldn't be too hard).



Greenfinch on the sunflower seeds


Swallow wings and tails - sitting on the guttering above the window


Clouds on the horizon


With the vast variety of add-ons available, there must be some really good ones for birders. If you're in the States, you can get various fieldguides, but there doesn't seem to be much for the rest of us yet. Surely it's a matter of time?

Greenfinch photo taken with iPhone 3G S + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece
All taken through double-glazing...

Swallows

These young Swallows were lined up on our garden fence this evening. Their parents came to feed them, depositing insects in the waiting beaks in mid-air refuelling manoeuvres.

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

Baby birds, dragons and damsels

The year's first brood of Swallows is now on the wing (and on the wires) at home


Female Emperor laying eggs on the pool at The Lodge


Four-spotted Chaser


My first Small Red-eyed Damselfly of the year at The Lodge


I saw the first ever dragonflies to emerge from our garden pond this morning - Common Darters.

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

On the line

I used to annoy my Mum by hanging bird feeders on the washing line at home, but here I don't mind if birds want to sit on the line.

Especially if they're Spotted Flycatchers

These young Swallows have been teetering on the skinny washing line this morning. There are swarms of youngsters about at the moment, so I think I might try to find a thicker line so they can perch in comfort...

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

Cyder 1, Nightjars 0

We spent this weekend in Suffolk, based on a notion that we'd go looking for Nightjars so it would be nice to stay overnight somewhere.

It was our first camping trip of 2007 (something we do occasionally) and we stayed in a field in Eastbridge, a stone's throw away from Minsmere. The Eel's Foot in Eastbridge serves Aspall's, the best cider in the world, and after we realised that going Nightjarring would compromise our cider-drinking, we decided the 'jars could wait til later...

Swallow

The Black-headed Gull colony provided [noisy] entertainment

Green Hairstreak

Assorted damselflies which I haven't really thought about yet

drake Shoveler

Four-spotted Chaser

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Possibly the highlight was adding Bittern to my Tent List (birds seen or heard while I'm in the tent). This was accomplished at 6am on Sunday morning when we heard at least two 'booming' from the Minsmere reedbeds.

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

Ferry Meadows birds

Feeding time for baby Swallows! It was all a bit fast for me





That's some primary projection...

Grey Heron on Gunwade Lake

Coot on a backwater

Ferry Meadows on a sunny bank holiday weekend is a busy place to be, but there were a few birds around nevertheless. I decided to seek out somewhere more peaceful...

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