Dan's Wildlife Blog

If you go down to the woods today...

2011-12-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

Few photos from Stockgrove CP - hoping to spend more time there so expect some more soon!

D

A Few Re-Edits

2011-10-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've re-edited a few old files...

hope you like!

Purple Patch

2011-10-17T12:48:00.001-07:00

I recently spent 3 days birding in Norfolk, mainly chasing rarities but we did stumble across a few confiding migrants.

One day was spent walking to the end of Blakeney point. Any of you who have done this will know that it is man’s greatest physical endurance test!! (ahem)

Anyway, we weren’t having much luck on the rarities front so decided to go and see the seals! Whilst at the point I scan a group of flying Sanderling only to see that they had a friend with them – a purple sandpiper.

They have to be one of my favourite waders because they are both very photogenic and very confiding. This individual was unusually flighty when it was with the Sanderling but it eventually left them and flew in right next to me where I enjoy a long period of time photographing it having a feed on the shoreline, enjoy….

And to top it off we jammed into a Richard's pipit on the walk back!!

Mantis Macro

2011-09-08T11:13:00.001-07:00

So, about a month ago I promised some mantis macros...here they are!

All taken in Turkey with a 1Ds mrk 2 and the non-IS 100mm 2.8 macro..

(this next one was with my sigma DC macro...)

Turkey July 2011

2011-07-30T05:08:00.000-07:00

I've just retured from 2 weeks in Bodrum on a family holiday - had a fantastic time!

As any birder will know a 'family holiday' means you have to put in a few early mornings then try and sell a far away area to non-birders (normally by making stuff up; like there is a good clothes shop there etc) just so you can go there yourself!

I must be honest, I only had one morning birding and then 2 half days so the list from the trip isn't very impressive and neither are the photos! The majority are record shots but I did connect with some fantastic birds that I never anticipated seeing, especially in mid summer in 40 degrees!

I managed to get 12 lifers if the Steppe Buzzard is indeed one (it probs isn't though - take a look and let me know!). The biggest misses were; Roller, Black headed bunting, Kruplers nuthatch, Finsch's Wheatear and Pied Kingfisher.

Here is what lifers I did see;

Syrian Woodpecker - A complete surpirse as it flew past me calling then landed in a distant tree.

Cinereous Bunting - located a few in the hills surrounding Izmir.

Rock Nuthatch - thought I was going to miss out on this but on the last outing I bumped into a pair near Izmir, what great birds (very noisy and very active!).

Rock Partridge - located just outside Bodrum, very flighty!

Great Spotted Cuckoo - one seen whilst working a river near Bodrum airport.

White-Throated Kindfisher - pair seen just before the GSCuckoo - massive noisy things!

Rufous Bush Robin - several seen in the scrub along the river near the airport.

Masked Shrike - seen from the car on an unstopable motorway! really frustrating as it was a fanstastic looking bird!

Pygmy Cormorant - distant views on Bafa Lake

Dalmatian Pelican - distant views on Bafa Lake

White throated Robin - stunning male seen in flight in the hills surround Ismir. Female perched briefly but both were really flighty.

And now for some record shots:

Rock Nuthatch:
Cinereous Bunting:

Black Eared Wheatear (juv):

European Bee-eater:

Greater Flamingos:

Great Spotted Cuckoo:

Little Owl:

Dalmatian Pelican:

Red-Rumped Swallow:

Rufous Bush Robin (first photo shows it with agama lizard):

Steppe Buzzrd?? not sure about this and I'm mainly going on distribution - help please!?

Syrian Woodpecker:

Tortoise:

White Breasted Kingfisher (dreadful photo - I know!):

I did get some photos I was happy with. They were all of praying mantids though. I found 4 throughout the holiday including 2 big adults! Those photos will be in a seperate post soon...

I'm happy with my bird sightings over the holiday considering the time I had availble and the time of year! I think it would be great to visit in spring and I'm sure somewhere along the line I will go back for a proper birding trip with the guys!

Blogging drought!!

2011-07-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wow - apologies for the blogging drought!

let me explain before I get into my Turkey post...

I had a 7D but unfortunately, due to water damage, it is no longer with us. I struggled to decide what I should get next and 'ummed' and 'ahhed' about getting a 1D mark 4 for a bit but it's just too much money for me right now.

So after much pondering I went for the canon 1Ds mrk 2 - it cost me roless than a new 7D and battery grip so I'm appy about that! It's taken a bit of getting used to but I'm finally getting to grips with it and realising the benefit of a 1D set-up. The image quality is much better than the 7D and so far I haven't missed the frame rate too much. It also feels great - heavy study and well built! The AF system is great too - nice having all the AF points!

Wag on a Wire

2011-05-20T13:20:00.001-07:00

and some sticks...

I've been putting in a fair bit of time recently at some local farmland. I've built up a little collection of perches and the yellow wagtails are normally quite obliging (providing the wind is down)

enjoy...cheers!

Dung Fun

2011-04-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

I've been spending a bit of time at some local dung piles taking photos of the migrant wheatears and the resident yellow wagtails. it's a working progress but here is what I havee so far...

wheatear;

yellow wagtails;

Dan

'Normal' Wheatears

2011-04-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our Wheatears are now making their way north and despite all the wheatear species I saw in Morocco it's still great to have a close encounter with a northern!

enjoy...

I'll paying this site a visit more often!!

Robbie Redshank

2011-04-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

I spent the day in Norfolk last Saturday, concentrating on photography at Salthouse.

It seemed a little quiet there but the redshanks seem to be rather tame for once, here are a few shots (probably too many!):

A confiding male reed bunt:
one of the many mipits:roll on some decent spring migrants!

Once Bittern...

2011-04-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

...Twice shy Taken at Minsmere - from island mere hide.

Morocco - Best of the Rest

2011-04-10T02:51:00.000-07:00

So, I've finally blogged all I have from my Trip to Morocco.

To wrap up it was a really fantastic trip and a place I would love to visit again - in about 10 years though once I have been to some different places first!

Here is the best of the rest, mainly record shots;

Scrub Warbler:Moroccan White Wagtail:Moussier's redstart:Black-Winged Kite:Blue tit:Black Redstart:Crag Martin:Laughing Dove:Tristram's warbler:Spotless Starling:Pallid Swift:
My favourite photos from the trip, along with my portfolio, can be seen on my Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieltrim/

feel free to add me as a contact too!

What a trip!

Desert Sparrow

2011-04-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

What an awesome bird!!

We weren't feeling too confident about connecting with this species as we approached the desert but after agreeing a price with a friendly local for GUARANTEED desert sparrow our spirits were lifted...

It was about £30 (our most expensive night by far!) and we had a good room for the night, 4 course dinner, breakfast, camel ride and last but not least a quad bike ride into the Erg Chebbi dunes to a Bedouin camp that a population of about 15 desert sparrow called home!

Here is the team after a successful hours photography with the sparrows;

Crimson-winged beauties!

2011-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

They could be described as the Salthouse snow buntings of Morocco!

These Crimson-winged Finches were photographed at the bottom of a ski lift high up at 2600m in the Atlas mountains, Oukaimeden. If patient they were mega tame as they came to feed off the discarded walnut shells from the locals!A few more natural photos in the snow;
Great birds!

I like Wheatears with White Heads!

2011-04-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well - I like all wheatears, chats and alike. I also really like black and white birds, so that combined with a wheatear is great! The 2 species in Morocco that fit the bill are Mourning and White cround wheatear. We were lucky enough to see both!

White crowned were very common with tens seen on most journeys through the stoney desert areas but mourning was rather hard with only 2 seen in total...

Mourning Wheatear:
White Crown Wheatear:

Dan

Red-Rumped Wheatear

2011-03-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Probably the least confiding wheatear...but still nice (especially the females)'Sorry - I don't date chicks that smoke!'

Assorted Larks!

2011-03-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

One of our ommisions from the Morocco trip was thick-billed lark. We spoke to a few other birders and it was a really bad year for finding these nomadic birds! Luckily the support cast of larks in Morocco is prety good...

Hoopoe Lark(common throughout and VERY cool!);Thekla Lark (taken on wheatear wall but fairly common throughout);Temminck's Lark(great views of a few males displaying on the tagdilt);Shore Lark (common in the Atlas);Crested Lark (common throughout);Dan

Desert Wheatear

2011-03-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

We connected with all the wheatears we were hoping to see in Morocco - lucky indeed!!

All species were fairly confiding but desert in particular were brilliant for photographing. Below are some pics of both male and female, I could never of get bored photographing them...

Adult Female;
Adult Male;
Dan

A Very Cute Lark

2011-03-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

One species of larks we found very confiding in Morocco was the bar-tailed lark, very cute looking they are too!! They became more common as we went further south and we saw many more of these than we did desert lark.

Second best bird from Morocco!

2011-03-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

The best bird it yet to come but the 4 Alpine Accentors we found up by the radar station at the Oakaimeden were brilliant!! It took 4 attempts before we finally nailed them on the last morning (we were only there 2 days though), enjoy...

White Storks

2011-03-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

White storks were fairly common throughout Morocco. Here are some images taken during the trip...
Taken near a dup, many stray dogs but the white storks were not scared of them:
Taken on our last night from a bar that left you eye level with them - great fun as they came in with nesting material. We saw several pairs mating.

I'm 'Chough'ed with that!

2011-03-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Up in the Atlas Mountains in the Oukaimeden ski resort we saw lots of cool birds. Two of which were Choughs!

Red-Billed and Alpine! Alpine Choughs have always been a bit of a field guide bird for me - always there in Collin's but I never imagined I would see one! Here we saw tens of them... very nice !!

Alpine Chough:

Red-billed chough:
Dan

Hoopoe Lark Video

2011-03-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

Taken north of the Merzouga area - fantastic call and display flight!

Black-bellied sandgrouse

2011-03-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

It has been a very dry year in Morocco and this meant all the reliable drinking pools were dry by the time we visited. This made finding sandgrouses a little tricky and we only really saw them in flight over the tagdilt track in the morning. One lucky encounter allowed the shot at the bottom. We only saw black-bellied...

Dan

These aren't just any Magpies...

2011-03-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

...They are Moroccan Magpies

Believe it or not they are not as easy as ours to see. We didn't see a single bird untill our return to Marrakech where we found a group of them near the road.

House Dwelling Buntings

2011-03-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

These guys were common in most places we went to but it wasn't untill the last few days that I managed a few shots I was happy with. A few involved me lying on the pavement - much to the local's confusion! enjoy...These 2 are my favourites - a male displaying on our last morning in Marrakech;
Dan

House sparrows of Marrakech to the Desert Sparrows of Merzouga

2011-03-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

I've recently returned from a 2 weeks birding holiday in Morocco With Ed Taylor and Ben Andrew - it was a fantastic trip taking in the atlas mountains right down to Merzouga where the undeniable bird of the trip was seen...DESERT SPARROW:
I've got loads of photos to process so expect more in the near future... :-)

Garden Reed Bunts

2011-02-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

Last winter saw a nice addition to the garden list in the form of a reed bunting. Their numbers grew over the winter to about 4 which really shows the importance of keeping the feeders topped up!

This winter has been even better. The previous record was smashed and at times I have up to 9 birds feeding at once in my small village garden.

quite happy with the bottom image - much cleaner than you normally achieve with the 7D!

Ice Ice Baby...

2011-01-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

Iceland Gull from Lowestoft, nice bird;it's a good location for Med gulls too with quite a few seen; The other good bird for the day was the long staying lesser white fronted goose (a bit distant here with a taiga bean);

And I thought I was reasonably well travelled - perhaps not!

2011-01-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

I've only been to 6.22% of countries....

need to work on that!

Langford River

2011-01-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

A few photos from New Years Eve;

I had several sightings of kingfisher there too;

Also here are a few recent photos from the river in Arlesey;
Dan Trim

Hampshire

2010-12-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

Had a great day in Hants last Sunday with 5 birding team members present!

We visited Hurst Beach first hoping to see the Lapland bunts and we weren’t disappointed. One showed really well in the stuble field there;

There were also good numbers of skylark and reed bunting in the field;

Rock pipits were feeding along the shore line and always make nice photographic subjects;

The highlight for me though was the good sized flock of dunlin that were feeding in the mud and bathing in the river there. I got down in the mud and managed to get a decent distant from them in some lovely light:

We also did some photography at Denny Wood but several merciless attacks from a horse meant nothing great was achieved. I am happy with the great spot one though;

I can’t wait to get out again with the new 500mm!!!

Dan

Woburn Waxwings

2010-12-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

I was due to go xmas shopping with Loz and thought this was a great time to pop in and see the Woburn Waxwings on route!

On the way there it was a little gloomy and not really photography weather so I had a quick look at the birds then headed off to MK to shop till I drop (which is normally about 1 minute into the trip!)

On the way back there was some really nice light so we popped back to see them. After Lauren had spent 40 mins in topshop it only seemed fair!!!

here are the results;

and a token starlin shot:
definatly worth a return trip at some point if they hand about!

Norfolk again...

2010-12-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Had a decent trip to Norfolk at the weekend with most of my photos taken at Salthouse;

Dunlin (there loads of them here - 30+):

Avocet (an injured individual):Turnstone:
And a mealy redpoll and wren from Wells Wood:
Cheers,

Dan

some recent pics...

2010-12-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

more goodies from norfolk!

2010-10-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Pallas's warbler, warham greens...what a beauty !!and a token sanderling shot from Titchwel;

Dan

YBW and OBP....

2010-10-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

4 lifers at the weekend: barred warb, wilson's phal, YBW and Olive back pipit. there was also a massive fall of Goldcrest, there were several in every bush !!

just pics;

Norfolk Days

2010-09-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

I've had a few recent trips to Norfolk with a few good birds along the way, this post is a bit of a catch up...

I went a few weeks a go and saw bluethroat (not a great pic but a great bird!):On this same day there was a decent fall of whinchat, I saw over 10:On the next Norfolk trip I went with 3 mates and we saw some great rarities and had a nice photography session.

Best bird of the weekend was the arctic warbler at Holme:We also saw red-necked phal, pom skua, wryneck, lapland bunting and pied fly.

Before we left for home we had a walk along the beach at Cley and Salthouse, at both sites there were arctic waders fresh in and having never seen people they were very confiding...

Dan

Beds RBS

2010-09-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Pics from a while a go, a lovely bird and in my home county!!

Dan

Mallorca 2010

2010-09-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I spent a week in Mallorca at the end of August and although it wasn't a birding holiday I managed to get out in the evenings to do some local photography. The most common bird by far around the apartment was spotted flycatcher with several adults feeding fledged young. I spent lots of time trying to get a different array of photos;

Making short work of a wasp...

I also had lots of sightings of Hoopoe and Sardinian warbler but only manged pictures of the latter;

male:female:
Serins were elusive but could always be heard nearby:
There we some interesting invertibrates about too including this cool looking spider, horrendous wasp and locust nymph;

Dan

blogging drought

2010-08-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's been ages since I updated and I'm sorry!!

here are a few photos for now and I promise to update more often...
I tend to update my flickr more often so don't forget to keep an eye on that and feel free to add me as a contact! :-)

Redstart

2010-06-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

I'll never get tired of these guys, enough to brighten up any day!!

Redstart, taken at Gilfach farm in Wales.

Gwybedog Brith

2010-06-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Finally I have seen pied flycatcher!! We enjoyed fanastic views at Gilfach of a pair going back and forth form the nest...
great birds and now one of my favs!! :-)

Blue-winged teal

2010-05-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

Blue winged teal, Paxton Pits;

And the prize for the worst ever photo of a golden oriole goes to...

2010-05-29T10:35:00.001-07:00

ME!!!

Photographing bats...

2010-05-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

...not such an easy tasks:
photos were taken on manual set up and manually focused in very low light, as you can tell!

perhaps something to work on as it would make a creat capture if you get lucky!

Arlesey NR Macro Debut

2010-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Arlesey Nature Reserve seems alive at the mo and full of colour...
Garden Warbler, Blackcap, chiffchaff, wren etc etc all singing away whilst I was there. The added bonus of a great spotted woodpeckers nest was nice.

Large Red and Banded Demoiselle were patrolling the rides in the wood and mosquitos were EVERYWHERE!!

I concentrated on the Macro photos (must get a 100mm macro!!!)

I was really pleased with this one but can't decide which crop I like best so here are both:
When returning I caught up with the grey wag family that have recently fledged, here is one of the youngsters:
A return visit for some more 'macroing' is certainly in order!

Derby Dippers

2010-05-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

Dipper were the main target of our trip to The Peak District. We started at Lathkil Dale where we saw 2 dippers but they were both less than confiding! the numerous redstart and colourful grey wagtails kepts us occupied however.

From there we moved on to Padley Gorge and found one dipper in particular that carried on visiting it's nest numerous time whilst Ed and I watch for over an hour. What a lovely bird this was posing in many different places but on an unfortunatly gloomy afternoon. I'm still really please with the photos and plan to return to see these Charasmatic little birds....Strange one of it up in a tree...

Famous Grouse

2010-05-10T11:08:00.001-07:00

I know, it was an obvious title.

I thought these would be boring birds but they were really good fun. This added with the fact that they are endemic to Britain made for a fun photography session despite less than perfect light - another visit may be in order...sneaky one behind a rock:
Taken at Stanage Edge in The Peak District, May 2010

Shaolin Kez

2010-05-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

I was out on my bike round Arlesey NR and stumbled across this little chap...
He couldn't fly so tried running :-(. When I caught up he layed on his back and when ever I went near he went for me with both bill and talons!! I had to de-robe and wrap him in my top - hence the Shaolin look!

So here I was walking out of Arlesey NR half naked with a Kestrel in one hand and my bike in the other! Unfortunatly this coincided with the arrival of a rush hour train - great!!

I put him up for the night and went for a test flight the next day but to no avail - off to the vets it was and he is now at a wildlife centre being looked after...I miss him!It's not known what was wrong with him as neither I nor the vet (who is actually qualified to inspect!) could find a problem...
fingers crossed for him!

Playing in Poo

2010-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

There is a great photography spot nearish to my house where birds are attracted to the insects swarming around manure left out by a farmer.

Best thing to do is sit in your car and wait but I decided to go for a wallow, there is some nice variety here:

Reed Bunting:Yellow Wagtail:Wheatear:Almost a White Wagtail:

Recent Additions to the Garden list

2010-04-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

The MV has continued to produce good moths and I now have a Garden list of 31 Macros and 8 Micros from a very short time of recording - hopefully the best is yet to come....

Macros:

Chinese Character:Streamer:Pale Prominent:Least Black Arches:Knott Grass:Purple Thorn:Pine Beauty:
Micros:

Cochylis atricapitana:Eroicrania subpurpurella:Eudonia angustea:

role on some hawks!!

Hog of the Hedge

2010-04-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

One last check of the moth trap before bed revealed this little chap....
not in the trap I should add!

maiden voyage of the MV...

2010-04-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

what a hawl!! 35 moths of 17 species (with a micro yet to be IDed)...

Early Grey x 8
Hebrew Character x 6
Early Thorn x 1
Chocolate-tip x 1
Powdered Quaker x 1
common quaker x 3
small quaker x 2
muslin moth x 1
Brindled pug x 2
Double-striped pug x 1
clouded drab x 3
waved umber x 1
mullein x 1
Herald x 1
yet to be ID micro x 1
brown house moth x 1
nut tree tussock x 1

herald:muslin:waved umber:powdered quaker:mullein:Chocolate-tip:
let's hope this is the sign of things to come with my new MV trap...

Derek White's Terns

2010-04-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

there were 10 common terns at Derek White's egg pits today. several of which were showing courtship behaviour - lovely stuff!

Flitwick Moor - Beds Moth Group

2010-04-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Had a great night out with the Beds moth group last Friday night. We even did a spot of batting recording both common and Soprano pipistrelle - great stuff!

We recorded 13 Macro and 3 micro species in the evening with temperatures dropping to about 5 Degrees C.

Here are some pics:

Lunar Marbled Brown (star moth for me!)

SatelliteNut tree tussockEngrailedFrosted GreenBridled PugTwin Spot QuakerEriocrania subpurpurella:up to down/left to right: Chestnut, Common Quaker, Hebew Character, Small Quaker:
We also attracted this Ophion wasp:
Dan

Garden Birds

2010-04-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

I threw a bit of seed on the lawn, got under some camo netting and armed with my camera and an old pillow waited patiently.

The usualy flighty garden birds came down and didn't mind me being there;

A project to continue to try and get a few of the other garden visitors such as reed bunting. I'm also going to try and make a set so all the photos aren't the same like above!

Dan

Barcelona bits and bobs

2010-04-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Although I wasn't there to bird I still managed to see 37 species from within the City in 4 days.

House Sparrows were very common as with everywhere I seem to go on Holiday:Whilst walking around the parks hummingbird hawk moths were fairly common but only one gave me a brief window to take a rubbish photo:Siskin and Serin where pleantiful in the parks:I only saw one lizard:Sardinian Warblers were calling everwhere there was a bit of scrub but they never really came out into the open, hence this mess:Yellow legged Gulls were very common as expected but I did get a glimpse of a black headed gull in one park...exciting stuff ey?
White wags frequented most open areas but they were very flighty:Star bird was an EXTREMELY confiding purple gallinule at the aquarium:
Dan

Barce Parakeets!

2010-04-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

There were 2 species of 'wild' parakeets that were fairly common in Barcelona.

Monk Parakeets were the more common of the two:and I saw a few of our familiar ring-necked:they seem more wild in another country somehow, despite being just as feral out there!

Dan

I love Alpine Swifts!

2010-04-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a long weekend in Barcelona, which is a fantastic city! Kept one eye on the buildings and one on the wildlife...

Wildlife highlights included the tens of Alpine Swifts that we could see from our 9th floor room looking over las Ramblas - Great Stuff!!...
I didn't get the photo I really wanted but having Alpine and common swifts screaming through the street below you whilst there are Cattle Egrets and Yellow Legged gulls flying above was awesome!

Portland cont.

2010-04-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

It was rather quiet on Portland, but myself and the guys made the most of it with other activities!

I think a visit a month later next year (and this year!) is in order...

A few pics anyway:

Black Redstart:Jackdaw:Rock Pipit:
and here is the Pallied swift Ed and I twitched before going there....
and YES, we missing the lesser kez! :-(

happy birding,

Dan

Fulmars

2010-04-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

The Fulmars performed well at Portland, even if nothing else did...

Dan

Herps

2010-03-29T11:49:00.001-07:00

Adder:Common Toad:
things are warming up...

2 barred X-BILL

2010-03-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Ed and I were just about to pack it in for the day when a call from Mark Thomas (thanks!!) lead to an excited steam north to the RSPB Lodge.

on arrival we learnt that the bird was seen 15mins ago...we waiting 2 hours to no avail then drove back home... an early start was is order as we weren't going to miss this!!

as the first people the Loge in the moring we got back our front seats in the hide and waited patiently untill a massive flock (c30) of common crossbill flew into view and sat right at the top of an oak tree....there it was!! A stunning female two-barred crossbill!!

I got a rubbish photo compared to some but a return visit may be order and I'll be hoping that she feels thirsty...

mothsss

2010-03-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

I have started making a mains powered MV moth tra and tested out the electrics for the first time last night - WOW!! I have forgotten how bright MVs are. Just need to get the box fuly made and then tst it out in some nice muggy conditions!

still using my 15w portable actinic heath trap:

last night's catch was better still with 7 individuals:

1 - Hebrew Character
1 - Emmelina monodctyla
1 - Dotted Boarder
2 - Common Quaker
2 - Clouded Drab

here a few pics from the lodge and my catchings;

Common Quaker:Yellow Horned Moth (it looks like a sleeping cat in the last one):Un-IDed catterpiller:Early Grey:Frog (not caught in the trap!!):Arty Zebra Spider:
Cheers,

Dan

A slow start to the mothing season!..

2010-03-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

Having read about the numbers and variety others have been catching I've been a little disapointed about my recent hawls.

One hawl in particular stands out - I lugged my actinic with the stupidly large car battery down into Arlesey nature reserve only to find 2 smaller than average mosquitos in it the following morning!

Anyway things have been picking up in recent nights and I now have the grand total of 5 moths to my name for 2010 - with 4 different species..

Clouded Drab (caught in Henlow):and one caught in my garden;and in my Arlesey garden...

Clouded Drab:Hebrew charater:Dotted border: Emmelina monodactyla: Thanks to Matt, David and Andy who all informed that the plume above is a Emmelina monodactyla,

Cheers,

Dan

Birding in Beds

2010-02-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

This weekend I decided to keep birding in Beds and spent time at East Hyde, Broom, Stotfold and Arlesey.

East Hyde:

the firecrest was obviously feeling the cold and did what both Ed and I wanted to do - stay in bed!!
a heron was a hundred times more showy (Identical photo to Ed's!):Broom:

whooper swan was still present:A pipit sculking around the waters edge got me excited but turned out to be a mipit - a very friendly one though:Also friendly there was a mute swan:Stotfold:

the corn bunts are still there in large numbers:but there is one bush in particular that is great for photographing reed buntings and I intend to go back there earlier in the day some time:
Today I took a walk down the river in Arlesey and produced a few local goodies;

5 common buzzards were nice to see soaring and calling to one another above Arlesey.

there are still plenty of snipe in the flooded fields, I saw 10+. Here is the best I managed in the way of photos though as they are very wary:A little egret was frequenting the area and seemed to pop a few times.

The resident grey wagtail didn't fail to impress as it hovered over the water catching flies. I think that action shot is one I will try and capture; it's going to be hard though. here are 2 AWFUL photos for now though:In the alders along the river a large flock of goldfinches concealed a single lesser redpoll. You're going to have to trust me, this is a redpoll:A wren was copying the wagtail as it caught gants over the river, always returning the the shade though!...bird of the day was a semi-confiding water rail (I did see 2 though which was great):It always remained secluded and in the shade though and ran off when I tried to get closer but I had great views of it scratching about in the reed from a distance.

After calling mum to put the oven on I made a swift return to the car but not without takng a few pics of a pair of blackbirds that were frantically squarking at me:
There was a real feel of the begining of spring in the air; lots of bird song, whirlygig beetles and other insects and not to mention I was cooking in a coat!

Daniel

40D's last trip out......

2010-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I took the 40D out for it's fairwell trip before the arrival of the very exciting 7D!!!

Started at Salthouse and after driving through sleet and snow on the way I wasn't too confident about the weather! Still it was OK giving a a few patches of lovely sunshine and the rain showers intervals happened to be when I was in my car stocking up on food!...

Snow Buntings:A little attempt at wide angle and I managed to scare away possibly the most confiding birds in Norfolk:Finally managed some teal shots I'm hapy with too (during one of the sunny spells):and a pied wag came for a pose:A ringedd plover was also there but I only managed this record:Common Gull having a bath:With nasty looking clouds rolling in I decieded to go to Tichwel but on the way it became very sunny again, staying that way for a little while when I was there:

Sanderling:out of focus Bar-tailed godwit:Knot:better records of the mealy redpoll:As I was leaving the sun came out again as I was watching a barn owl hunting - lovely stuff.
It was still a fair bit out of my lense's range so I have attempted something with more space in it:I quite like this one, it's just a shame about the branch in the forground:Had a quick stop at chosely drying barns and saw corn buntings and yellow hammmer on the way home:
Dan

Canvas Print

2010-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

I recently got this photo put on to canvas and it is now hanging in my hallway. Very pleased with the result - it look's great.

I used http://www.mcanvasprints.co.uk/ and the service waas great too - I recommend them!

Daniel

Norfolk day trip

2010-02-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Had a great day trip to Norfolk on Sunday. We started the day just before 6am when Ben picked myself and Ed up in Bedfordshire. We then had a few hours drive (made a little longer by Ben’s native voyage with the use of a sat nav…) to Tichwell.

On arrival we were welcomed by a dull, gloomy and overcast day along with a hoard of confident robins!

After fighting our way through the robins we arrived at the visitor’s centre where a brief glance for the mealy redpoll drew a blank. From here we walked straight to the sea and instantly noticed a huge raft of common scoter through the mist numbering in the several hundreds:

Also on the sea we saw a few Velvet scoter and Eider.

The beach had the normal suspects but there was no way I was getting cold and wet in the surf, like I usually do, to photograph on such a dull day.

Here is a ‘distant record shot’ of the only glimpse of blue sky we had ALL day!!

Exciting stuff!!

On the way back to the visitor’s centre we saw a nice spotted redshank eating what looks like a stickle back…

And a water rail scratching in some leaf litter under the shade of a tree…hence the flash!

Another little flurry or excitement came from a weasel bouncing through the grass near the path – great stuff!!

We also picked up a Bittern flying in from the distance,

Here is an arty/awful photo of it:

And a simply awful one when it came closer:

When back at the visitor’s centre we made a beeline for the bacon sarnie dispenser and whilst munching I noticed a flock of goldfinches in the alders above our heads. On first glance the mealy redpoll revealed itself in the flock, a lovely classic grey individual.

From here we drove to Salthouse to photograph the snow bunting and any waders that were hanging around.

Although the light was grim we made the most of it by spending a few hours playing around with 2 female snow bunts and a confiding dunlin (where were the 80 bunts reported a few days ago??). Just before we left a big flock of snow bunts came flying over heads and joined the meagre two that had kept us company for so long.

We couldn’t leave now!! So continued shooting for a further 20mins in the rubbish light – good fun……..

Dunlin:

My fav snow bunt pic of the day:

A few classic poses:

an Unusual pose as it preened:

Close up:

Even Closer Close up:

Scratching it's face:

Great camoflage on the pebbles:

not a great pic but what a lovely male:

Male teal:

We then headed to Whitlingham CP in hope of catching up with the Red-Necked Grebe, GNDiver, Scaup, Ring-necked duck and Smew.

We didn’t spend long there but connected with the Grebe and Diver. They were both rather close and I can see how the long focal lengthed people have managed such fantastic photographs – a return visit on a nice day might be in order. Here are my average shots of the grebe and records of the diver:

After this we went to the Stubbs Mill watch point hoping from some cranes. It soon became apparent that we had left it too late as several had already been past. Good numbers of Marsh harrier a few hen harriers and a Harris hawk were nice to see though.

My photo of the day was almost this shot of the dunlin with Ed in action behind.............but the star photo has to be this lovely depiction of Ed’s failed attempts at wide angle photography using a wireless remote….

Classic!

It was a good day out and some great birds, thanks Ben for driving!

Daniel

Urban Thrushes, a Whooper and a nice goose

2010-01-10T07:53:00.001-08:00

Ed and I took a mini twitch to see the white fronted goose at Broom today - took a quite a few very cold minutes to get on to it and after it was located we enjoy distant but nie views - great stuff!

Also in there was a Barnacle gooose and after a while the whooper swan flew in. Here is a rubbis record shot, it really was a wintery scene: On the drive back we stumbled upon a massive flock of buntings and finches, containing predominantly yellowhammers but also corn buntings and reed buntings. Was a nice sight but as with everything at the mo you can't help but feel bad for what they are going through.

After this Ed and I sat in our cars by a berry filled bush and, despite the strange looks from some Civilians, enjoyed photographinh the winter thrushes attacking it (there are more pics on my flickr);

Fieldfare:Redwing:OK this one was flashed but it shows the lovely colours on the bird:Also visiting this small bush were song thrush, mistle thrush and blackbird - all the common winter thrushes -laaaavly

Dan

Snowy Stroll around Arlesey

2010-01-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

A casual walk round Arlesey didn't produce what I hoped for but it was lovely to see some local birds that I wasn't expecting.

I started off the day heading back out to where I had seen lots of thrushes whilst dropping the missus to work. Redwing, fieldfare, blackbirds, songthrush and mistle thrush - I managed 2 decent-ish shots of a redwing and blackbird because they were rather flightly;Was nice to see so many but you can't help but feel sorry for what they are going through - keep your bird feeders full everyone!

After breakfast at home I noticed a pied wagtail in the garden so decided to cover the lawn in mealworms and nuts and lie down in the snow with the camera and wait - it didn't take long for it to come back:After a little while another wag came in and they engaged in a pretty hostile fight; all of which I bloody missed with the camera as it was so fast...well right up untill one had pinned the other in the snow behind the bird table:
After all this excitment Ed and I decided to take a walk down Arlesey Nature Reserve in hope of seeing water rail and kindfisher - both of which escaped us!

highlights were however:

15+ snipe feeding in the unfrozen ground near the river.
Grey Wagtail
Kestrel and Sprawk
Highlight for Ed- a Horse biting my head when I was trying to photograph the Grey Wag!

here are some record shots:Water from the weir was splashing the overhanging trees and freezing producing an impressive sight:All the best,

Dan

Hants day trip

2010-01-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted for a while and have a few photos to share from my day trip with Ed and Ben - hope you like them;

The first few are from the New Forest - lovely spot where the birds are extremely tame!!
Many Nuthatch photos as I love them (great birds!!):Blue tit:Coal tit:Great tit:Marsh Tit:
and from the coast there where it was mega cold;

Meadow pip (taken using a 400mm f2.8 that some chap let me have a play with - weighed more than I did!):Turnstone:
We finished the day watching the Hawfinch roost in the New Forest - was lovely to be back in my second home county and looking forward to my next visit later in Jan.

Dan

snowww

2009-12-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

The snow changes everything - today I have had 2 reed buntings in my garden - this is very exciting as I have never had one in the garden before. Here are a few terrible pics through the kitchen window:During a walk round Arlesey lakes we had some nice views of 2 chiffchaffs; here is one:Also there we had 2 flyover little egrets:and who can resist a robin in the snow?..I'll end with something a little less positive...it's too cold for bees: :-(
Cheers,

Dan

some woodland birdies..

2009-12-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics including some from the snow today...

Marsh Tit:House Sparrow:Robin:Blue Tit:Great Spotted Woodpecker:

Norfolk

2009-11-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

We started the day at Salthouse but it's not yet cold enough, and there probably isn't enough seed down, for the snow bunts to start feeding there so we mucked about with gulls trying for wide angle shots with the flash, nothing good this time but something to work at in the future that is a little different:On the beaches there were many washed up strange fish that looked rather prehistoric - I'm still not sure of the ID but the birds we loving a little feast:On the way to Tichwell we had a fry up and during this time is rained heavily so this was great timing!

At tichwell the highlight was a woodcock flying in off the sea and an impressive flock of golden plover. It seemed rather quite so after taking a few wader shots we headed to Dersingham bog for the G G Shrike.We located the shrike just after saying how it was annoying that the forestry commission where working and that the bird would probably be miles away. Where did we see it? In a tree right above the workers - that's shut us up then! It was a very showy bird wedging a large mouse in it's favoured tree and returning later to tear it's guts out - yummy!
The day was rescued by the shrike and turned out to be rather good, roll on the depths of winter!!

Dan

shrooms at the lodge

2009-11-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

these last 2 weren't taken at the lodge...

Norfolk again...via Staines!

2009-10-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ed and I decided to go and see the brown shrike at Staines moor. So on Saturday morning we left his house at 6am and arrived there at 7am right in the heathrow flight path!! Cetti’s warbler was heard on the way but the target did not show initially. However we didn’t have to wait too long as the bird popped out on the side of a gorse bush – what a great bird!!

terrible record shot (must get digiscoping equip!):

We stayed and watched the bird for about an hour then set of to West Runton in Norfolk for the short toed lark. We were really lucky again as a group of people were already on it and we enjoyed brief but good views. Here is a record shot although I can appreciate it could be ANY bird..

From here we went to Salthouse to see the snow goose and try to take some wader shots. Saw the goose and took a few pics but not really much here of note yet…

After Salthouse we went to Holme to search for yellow browed warbs which is a total bogey for both me and Ed. Yet again we failed but did pick up some crossbill passing over then landing in a tree nearby:

Depressed we went to Tichwell hoping to do some wader photography. On the way to the beach we enjoyed terrible views of shore lark and grey phal but both good birds.

Once we had made it to the beach we were trying to photograph waders around the stoney area and I noticed a wader sulking down on the rocks and instantly saw it was a purple sandpiper. Great stuff!! It was quite flighty so we left it and took some more turnstone photos.

Also present were turnstone, curlew, knot and oycs:

When on the way back we noticed the purple sand feeding on the shore line so crawled through the wet sand completely covering everything (including my camera) in sand…but it was worth it as the bird was much more friendly an even ran past Ed’s head within a few feet at one point!! They do seem to be very confiding birds...

with a turnstone lurking in the background:

Testing the water temperature...trust me it was rather chilly..

it was a little shy to start with, hiding behind a rock:

Feeding in a puddle:

I like the foreground blur in this, shows how low I was with the camera actually in the wet sand :-s..

this one is full frame with a 300mm lense, lovely little bird:

That evening we enjoyed the mega starling roost - a great sight:

The next day, after our body temperatures had returned to normal after the coldest night in a caravan EVER, we headed to Cley to do a sea watch. On the way we saw a barn owl, always lovely to see. There weren’t very many people there so we feared for the worst but within about 20mins I picked up a single little awk. Great stuff again. But the most exciting thing was a merlin coming in off, it’s always exciting seeing birds come in off the sea but when it’s a special bird like that it’s really great!!

There were also loads of skylarks, mipits and starling passing on the sea really low to the water – lovely to watch.

Other birds from the seawatch included red throated and great norther diver, guillimot, common scoter but no shearwaters or skuas.

After this we had another day in search of rarities but weren’t really expecting more after picking up a few good lifers. Still we enjoyed nice views of a suspected blue headed wagtail and a little stint:

little stint comparison with dunlin:

On the way we stopped off in a few places hoping for some raptors but to no avail. We did pick up corn bunting and yellowhammer for the list though and found a 'clan' of pied wags enjoying the insects around the barns:

Was a great weekend and we managed to rack up 114 species!!

Some arty shots to finish off with…

Dan

Normal for Norfolk

2009-10-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Had a great weekend trip to Norfolk with Ed, and the team was reunited with Robbie and Sam coming as well - great stuff!

We left my house at 4:30am on the Saturday and picked Ed up on the way – getting to Cley for 6:40am.

It was extremely windy and the sea was rather rough so we were hopeful. The only worry was the wind direction as it was offshore. We still enjoyed good views of a bonxie and arctic skua. It was amazing to see so many red throated diver too – we had easily 25+ sightings over the 2 days. It was exciting to see quite a few birds coming in off too. With a few snipe, pink footed geese, wigeon and a peregrine which had a little go at a gull as it arrived.

Some pics from the sea watch:

Red throated diver:

Peregrine having a pop at a black headed gull (which is diving under):

Arctic skua:

We then decided to search Holkham pines for firecrest and yellow browed warb. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful on the YBW front but had fantastic views of firecrest. It was gloomy in the wood but with ISO 800 I managed to get a few shots of the FC I’m happy with (but a shame about that bloody green leaf in the way!!!):

After fish and chips from Wells we headed to Lady Ann’s drive to search more woodland. Nothing more of note here but a good 15 minute nap was had in the hide there until someone else arrived and we had to get up!!

Next stop was Tichwell RSPB where we bolted straight to Fen hide after hearing that a jack snipe was showing well. These guys will have probably only just come in off the sea in the past few days and were feeding frantically just in front of the hide. Despite looking down on them I got a few shots I’m happy with – such pretty birds:

We then made our way to the beach where Ed, Sam and I got completely soaked by the rising tide whilst trying to photograph sanderling. But it was all worth it:

On the walk back we noticed a small brown finch flying along the beach and our first thought was twite. After some waiting and stalking we finally got good enough views to confirm it was indeed a twite!! Terrible record shot:

We headed back to the hostel to dry off and get some food before bed.

The next day a relatively fruitless sea watch was had but a Juv arctic tern put in a brief appearance and a few manxies could be seen very far out.

After a full English breakfast we headed to Tichwell again to photograph the waders:

My favourite shot of the weekend was this knot(click it to view large):

We also had some great views of snow bunting:

These next shots may not be to some peoples taste but I am relatively happy with them as they are different:

On the drive home we checked birdguides and found that there was a buff breasted sandpiper and a glossy ibis on Paxton pits - GREAT we were going down the A1 anyway!! So we popped in and connected with both birds. The ibis was milling about right in front of us but the clouds meant no great colour in the bird was going to be captured:

It was a fantastic weekend and I can’t wait till we get some north easterlies – I’ll be shooting over there again no doubt!!

A few shots to finish:

Dan

A not so rude awakening

2009-09-26T03:28:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to my first sleep in for over a month when the phone rang just before 9am (I know, not that early really!) and it was Ed saying that there was a leach's petrel at Stewartby lake.

WOW what a great tick that would be for beds, for life and for the year; not to mention a great bird in general to see! So I put my bins on THEN my clothes and rushed to the end of the drive where Ed picked me up.

When we arrived people were still watching the bird sitting on the water a long way out. We enjoyed nice views through the scope but insisted on waiting untill the bird flew. Eventually it did after being harassed by the local gulls and performed superbly.

These are the worst pics ever but the bird was a fair way away:
Great start to the weekend and lets hope we get some more excitment in Norfolk tomorrow!

Dan

le France

2009-09-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I recently went to the Loire Valley for the weekend and although I didn't get much of a chance to explore I got a few nice pics.....enjoy..

Whitethroat:Swallow:Wall lizard:Assasin bug:Beetle Spp:Catterpilar:Toad:

Some recent pics...

2009-09-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Been really busy with work recently so not taken the time to post but here are some photos I have taken over the last few weeks:

Osprey (best viewed large so click on it!):Blackbird (just a cheeky shot):Common seal i think:A thorn amongst thorns:Broad Bordered yellow underwing:Ruddy darter:Southern Hawker:
All the best and hopefully I'l have a proper post soon.

Dan

Mallorca and Menorca 1 of 2

2009-09-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

I have just returned from a 10 day sailing holiday in the Balearics on my dad’s boat. Considering it wasn’t necessarily a wildlife holiday I really made the most of the opportunities and encountered some fantastic nature across the unspoilt Calas of Mallorca and Menorca. Even caught up with some great stuff out at sea whilst travelling between stop-offs.

We flew into Palma Mallorca late on Aug 2nd and spent the next day stocking up on food and more importantly drink for the holiday and as the cash register continued to toll up it was like a scene at the beginning of deadliest catch – though the Med is much friendlier than the Bering Sea!! …Still some big seas were experienced….

Even just in the marina in Palma I saw the odd Audouin’s gull, plenty of yellow legged gulls and one sprawk!

Early on the 4th we sailed for 4 hours across Palma bay and north to anchor at a little place called Cala Pi. This is one of my favourite places on Mallorca and the wildlife here is great!!

Every year there is one Audouin’s gull that hangs about there and exploring the Cala in the dingy meant getting quite close to him…

Also here there is a stagnant river that you can access from the beach and walking up there I found a lovely pair of spotted flycatchers. They followed me catching all the rush veneers (a moth that was very common on the trip) that I disturbed from the undergrowth, sometimes flying within a few metres of me! All this happened in the shade of cliffs so my preferred style of action/flight shots was hard with the light but needless to say smoke was pouring off the shutters!!...
Also here I heard serin and saw lots of Sardinian warblers. The flash of a blue rock thrush across the anchored boat when I was snorkelling was nice but a closer encounter was to come on this holiday ;-).

I spend a lot of time snorkelling and generally the Med isn’t that great but I did manage to catch an octopus this time after failing with one before that bit me!!This year due to the rush of leaving I forgot my waterproof housing for my compact digital camera which was a shame but here are a few shots I took last year in Cala Pi…

Also here there were 2 humming bird hawkmoths:

At 6pm on the 5th we decided to sail over night to the south coast of Menorca and as the sun set behind us we had a long journey ahead of us.

This 14 hour trip meant arriving at 8am the following day but was not in anyway boring, only very tiring as my dad and I were up all through the night.

We had a full moon so visibility was rather good and the odd rush veener was attracted to the lights on the boat adding a little bit of nature interest to the trip. I thought this was going to be it for wildlife on our over night sail. However in the early hours of the morning whilst I was helming and sipping a green tea (yes I needed warming up in Mallorca!) there was a massive SPLASH by the side of the boat. We had woken a sleeping dolphin and I think I was as startled as it was as we watched it disappear into the moonlight (I know, a syrupy and cliché description but that is actually what happened!!).

As Menorca grew on the horizon and the sun began to peak over the hills we were greeted by the sight of several Cory’s shearwaters flying past low to the water. This was an unexpected and lovely surprise!

As we powered into Cala Trebaluger the welcoming party of pallid swifts nesting in the cliffs screamed chasing each other through the skies.

At this spot there was a small sand bank that you could pull the dingy over and travel up a narrowing river into some inaccessible (other than by small boat) wetlands. This was great for wildlife.

As we rounded a corner I noticed a purple gallinule in the reeds and cut the engine so not to scare it away. I fired off 2 record shots then used the oar to try and sneak closer but to no avail as it flew across the river and disappeared into thicker reeds on the other side of the river. Still, I have never seen one before and this was a great start to our time on Menorca!!

more to come below...

Arlesey Nature Reserve

2009-08-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

First trapping away from the garden since getting back off hols and a few nice mothts were caught.

Some are probably common but having not caught them before it's always exciting:

Large yellow underwing:Old lady (we caught 7):Poplar hawkmoth (seem to be fairly common here):Pebble hooktip:Green Carpet:

Setaceous Hebrew Character:Willow Beauty:Beautiful China mark:I think this is a caddis fly of some sort but it was most interesting and we caught loads of them:

Also in the trap there was a rosel's bush cricket.

And finally proof that persistence is paying off as Lauren is starting to take an interest in wildlife: That's a common wainscot on her nose by the way!

All the best,

Dan