Yellowhammer

A poor portrait of a super bird. Usual moans about it being nearly dark, blowing a gale, etc...

photo 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

Birds' bathtime

Chaffinches

Male Blackbird

Coal Tit

Stock Dove

Bathtime at The Lodge once more. You would think that taking photos of bathing birds from a hide in bright sunshine would be a piece of cake. Not always so.

Some birds are too small and distant (tits, Siskins). Some are too big and quick and close (Stock Dove). Some move too fast (hmm... all of the above). About the only species that behaves itself in front of the camera is the humble Chaffinch.

Today was quite unusual because there were already three photographers in residence in the hide when I arrived. It looked like my planned lunchtime activities were going to be foiled by a lack of room, but it turned out OK. Which is more than can be said for most of the photos.

That said, I am very pleased with the first photo of the male Chaffinch. Quite a surprise.

There were no signs of yesterday's Mandarin ducks, sadly. That was a bit too much to hope for.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20-60x eyepiece

Seeing some birds

To start with, Ferry Meadows Country Park, Peterborough:

Cormorant

Black-headed Gulls

Moorhen



Great Crested Grebes

On to Eyebrook Reservoir:

Green-winged Teal

Smew (I always think 'White Nun' should be an alcoholic drink for birders

To finish the day, CEGB Reservoir, Peterborough:

Iceland Gull!

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

International Toad Rescue

My DIY-mad parents are visiting me today to repair the garden fence. I was called to rescue a rather disgruntled-looking Common Toad which was at risk of being squashed. I scooped it up with a trowel and put it safely out of harm's way, under a heap of sticks. A couple of minutes later, Mum found another one. It's good to know they're still around.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Everton

Not the Merseyside football team, but a small Bedfordshire village where we ate lunch today.

St Mary's Church

If I had learned to use Photoshop properly, I'd have made the background black-and-white...

Looking north from the Greensand Ridge

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Every little helps

I was most entertained, when visiting the local supermarket after work this evening, to see a large rat scuttling across the car-park.

It made me smile to think of the chaos a small mammal could cause if the shop's proprietors found out about it, or if any of my fellow shoppers spotted it...

Wildlife is everywhere, even in the most artificial, man-made of situations.

Flora

Snowdrops

Witch-hazel

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Printing photos

There's a special report in today's Guardian about the cheapest way to get digital photos printed. Apparently, less than 10% of photos taken actually get made into a print these days.

If you do want to print some, is it cheaper to do it yourself or go to the shops and have someone do it for you? Interesting reading.

Read the report here

A raid on the kitchen

And now for something completely different...

Big, fat red chilli from Zambia



Small, green 'finger' chillis from Kenya

Half a bulb of garlic, origin unknown

Got a bit bored this afternoon but the bright colours of the chillis caught my eye (not literally, that would be quite painful). I also like the more subtle charms of the garlic skin.

These photos were taken with the veg sitting on a white sheet of paper on my windowsill, while the low afternoon sun shone in. I balanced my camera-holding hand on the edge of the windowsill in an attempt to be a bit more steady. Not a very sophisticated set-up, but quite fun...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

It's cold outside

'Welcome to the Nene Washes... Arctic tundra', said Jonathan as today's RSPB guided walk began at Eldernell.

That felt about right, as with a biting north-easterly wind and 100% cloud cover it felt grim indeed. We walked up to just past Lord's Holt to look over the reserve floods, and saw four Marsh Harriers and a selection of cold-looking wildfowl.

I was worried that people would start asking us for their money back because of the relative lack of birds (it's so much better on a sunny morning!), so we were relieved when the resident Barn Owl pair came out to hunt and flew right past us.

Thank goodness for Barn Owls.

Tulips

Happy Birthday Darren.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Bring on spring...

Today is sunny and calm and there are flowers popping up in the garden. I can't wait for spring to get here properly.

I feel like I have a lot to look forward to this year. Of course, the same things happen every year at the same sites, and probably have done so for many decades... so why don't I make the most of them every year?

Don't know, really. Lack of time, I suppose.

This year should be different. I'm doing the 'Not Very Big Year' [list] with Darren and we have plans to see lots of nice things in nice locations.

Things like...

• The seabird cliffs at Bempton
• Capercaillie, eagles and Crested Tit in Scotland
• Black Grouse (in Wales, perhaps)
• Tasty upland things like Redstart, Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher
• Dipper (anywhere with a Dipper is a nice location - even the grotty beck in Carlisle city centre where I think I saw my last one)
• Displaying waders on the washes
  
• 'Roding' Woodcock
• 'Churring' Nightjars

So, you see, there is a lot to look forward to this year. Our year-listing aim is fairly simple - to try to see as many British breeding birds as possible - so we don't have to worry about whether we've missed the Ross's Gull or whatever.

I'd also like to see some new insects, which shouldn't be too hard, as I'm not very well-travelled, insect-wise. For example, I've only seen one fritillary species, Marsh Fritillary, and that was in Spain last May. There is a disappointing lack of fritillaries in this part of the country, and I'd like to see some more.

Hopefully there will be some good blog-fodder (both words and pictures) along the way, too.

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

American Wigeon

Did some dirty twitching today. Yes, some more...

We had fun waiting to see the American Wigeon at Needingworth or Barleycraft or Ouse Fen, whatever you want to call it. But eventually he played ball and we had reasonable views through the trees on one of the pits there. A truly beautiful bird, but unfortunately he soon disappeared from view and there were no photos to be had.