Frozen

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Bloody hell it was cold today.  As I write this my fingers are still a slightly unhealthy shade of red and my nose is dribbling.  Even a cup of hot tea hasn't warmed me up much. How on Earth Elsa and Anna (pictured above) cope in those icy conditions dressed in that I shall never know. Anyway I had a couple of hours to spare (I promised my wife I would stay in as I have been a bit on the poorly side).  Anyway when she went out I decided that some fresh air would do just the trick...

I didn't realise how fresh it was. After getting caught up in carnival chaos at Glasto I decided to go to Westhay rather than Greylake. After getting blown up London Drove by icy winds I made it to the hide at the end. There were plenty of ducks about.  All the regulars were there. Four Great White Egrets were fishing/fighting/flying about the place.

All of a sudden the ducks exploded in a big panicking ball

A small part of the panicking ball

Not sure what caused it but it was interesting all the same.  Even with my woollies on I was freezing.  I couldn't stick it for long.  The light was in an awful position with everything all silhouetted.  Still it did lead to some odd photos:

 This one is straight out of the camera... Bizarre!

 

GWE stalking near the reeds

With my teeth chattering I decided to call it a day (hour).  On my way out of the hide a spooked a second Egret.

Not a bad view and the best I managed in my short stay

If you are watching the carnival tonight, keep an eye out for the one with the Polar bears on it.  I thought I might see one today it was so cold!

Boom Boom!

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The old classics.  They are always the best...

Basil Brush, Faulty Towers, Only Fools.  The list goes on.

The same applies to the Somerset Levels. The older classics, Marsh harrier, Bittern, even the humble (and grumpy) Heron.  Nothing beats them. Sure there are plenty of new kids on the block. Cattle Egrets, Purple herons and Little Bitterns for example. But still, a close view of a Marsh harrier still causes great excitement within the EFRS. With this in mind I met up with Andrew at Catcott.  It was car rather than biking affair as I was a bit short on time and felt a bit ropey. Anyway, Catcott was empty.  The vast swathes of water I was expecting, was replaced with a muddy puddle and some ponies.

I was expecting sea horses, not bog standard ones....

The best bird at Catcott captured by Andrew as I arrived.

It was clear that not a lot was going to happen in a big field with a bit of water on it. So we headed over to Westhay. We padded about a bit, eventually ending up at the hide "at the end". Andrew broke out his M42 lenses and crawled around in the reeds for a bit.

Meanwhile a Marsh harrier scared up all the ducks.  It started to fly closer, and closer...

It was in fact a Marsh harrier body double double.  So good it even fooled all the ducks!

I was well pleased and grinning manically to myself. The best Bittern shot I have got (not that there is much by way of competition). I was surprised it even focused given the light (or lack of it). After the rush of excitement it went a bit quiet. A distant Kingfisher and 2 GWEs were all we could manage. So we headed off to look for the "white snipe". We found the Island Hide (or the hide where I never see anything as I prefer to call it). Here Andrew got very creative with his classic lenses (the classics are always the best)

Spooky reeds

Anyway we didn't see anything, but Andrew was still happily snapping away.

Looks real from a distance.

Actually real

Manual focus beats auto here...

Another Andrew special.

It had been a dark and slightly sparse few hours.  But luckily the classic Boom Boom Bittern had made me feel happy.  No need for fancy Little versions or big Purple variants.  Original is best...

Wee love Otters

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Autumn is a wonderful time of year... The flocks of starlings, the crunch of leaves underfoot and no place to wee... In the summer its all fine.  The lush, green leaves hide all traces of me and my piddling. I'm like a careful ninja, never been seen in the act.  So far. But the Autumn is different.  The trees are just skeletons, there is no place to hide. This was illustrated by my encounter on London Drove.  You know when nature calls? You have to go, but where? I slipped carefully behind the wasted remains of an autumnal tree, looking left and right, all was safe. Wait! No it wasn't, but it was too late.  The cyclist went straight by and with true British charm, pretended not to see me... Sorry to him. Anyway, it was a dark, dank day. I tried to make the most of it, but it was hard to photograph anything and everything was black or dark grey. I managed a couple of Kingfishers and Great Whites.  But that was about it.

I was getting a bit bored and hungry. My sandwiches were still frozen. I stuffed them up my coat and hoped they would thaw at some point. I stopped to admire some large flocks of ducks milling about on the rough water and started chomping on my semi frozen sarnies. A GWE flew in and started fishing. Then I noticed a black shape in the water. Then it was gone. I wasn't sure if it was a coot or something better. Then it happened again. It might just be...

YES AN OTTER!.  We all love Otters.

Please excuse the shakiness and grinding off the auto focus. Its not quite National Geographic standard yet. Note the GWE who took a quick cameo half way through.

Even though it was miles away I was pleased as punch. I can count the number of times I have seen an Otter on just one hand. Actually I can count the number of times I've seen an Otter PLUS the number of times I have been caught weeing.

4+1 respectively...

Mist the Spoonbill

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So, the sightings of Short Eared owls has really ramped up recently.  I am a huge fan of these enigmatic characters (second only to a Peregrine, in my book at least!).

Sadly I completely missed them last time round at Steart, so I was keen to make amends.  A hurried message to Andrew and we were off.

Andrew was more interested in seeing the Spoonbill but it was all about the owls for me.

Strangely, the sun was blazing in Wells but when I got to Glastonbury everything was dull and shrouded in mist...

It was the same at Steart.  We cycled a bit and stopped at the Polden hide.

Thoughts of seeing absolutely bugger all crossed our minds...

Things were not looking great...

Then I noticed a Buzzard on a post, far off in the mist.

Not a Buzzard on a post. 

Nope - its not a Buzzard!!!

We cycled on.  Andrew grabbed me and I hit the breaks...

Steart was as wild as it got... Thick mist, stiff breeze and the wild calls of Redshanks and other waders.  Atmospheric indeed.  But taking photos... not so much.

Another Short Eared owl on a post

A couple of Owl fanciers had gathered to look at the owl on the post.  I did try and get a bit closer but it flew off...

Then we expended some energy helping a friendly fellow by giving his car a push.  Luckily we got it started.  The EFRS, the 5th emergency service...

Not a Spoonbill

Who is this person?  Its behind you Robin!!!!

Lots more owl pictures...

We did catch up with Robin, who was very appreciative of Andrew's photography.  Although it appears that he rated his wildlife photos a lot lower than the rest.  In Robin's mind it went something like this:

1.Landscape
2.Macro
.......
........
101. Wildlife

Oh well Robin.  Andrew has got broad shoulders and a decent macro lens.  He didn't mind... much :-)


Now, we saw at least 5 Owls.  A success?  Well, we struggled in the light and we couldn't see the Spoonbill.  Despite Andrews best efforts... He was desperate bless him.  The trouble is their are a lot of white birds at Steart and in the mist they all look like a Spoonbill.

Swans, Little Egrets, Great White egrets.  They teased Andrew relentlessly.  Sadly it wasn't to be.

We missed the Spoonbill and mist the Owls...

Dont Be Cruel...

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Ahhh! the late eighties.  What an amazing place to be.  Nintendo Gameboy.  Michael Jackson.  Bobby Brown.  Ghostbusters.  It was pretty much in that order for me. Today I was in my element, Bobby was singing his heart out on the radio.  His classic "Don't be Cruel" blared out of my Peugeot 107s little speakers.

Meanwhile I was photographing a Buzzard near Glastonbury....

I bet nobody has ever photographed a Buzzard whilst hanging out of a Peugeot 107 with 

Bobby Brown playing at full volume

The Kestrel was less impressed and kept his distance.

I thought it was a Merlin...

As the track faded away to be replaced by ad breaks I headed over to Tealham, hoping for a Peregrine or Merlin...  Instead I ended up playing a fun game of cat and mouse with a Buzzard. The 'drive whilst trying to take a photo' technique didn't really work with this wily fellow.  He simply took a quick look and swooped off to the next tree.  Eventually, after I nearly crashed into a cyclist I admitted defeat and drove off,.  The song Don't Be Cruel seemed rather apt...

 Repeat this a few times and add in a frightened cyclist and you are pretty much there.

See above sentence

 Here is a Merlin Kestrel having some trouble with a Crow.

One of many Kestrels out and about.  

The sun was starting to come out a bit so I decided ditch the car and take a walk along London Drove to the hide at the end (the Island one). There was plenty going on.  A Kingfisher zipped by the hide and a Marsh harrier floated by, sadly the sun went in whilst this was happening.

They are 2 different pictures.  Sadly both of them are dark and distant.

The light went at just the wrong moment (a bit cruel really...)

Meanwhile a great White egret had flown a bit closer.  I kept my camera on him as he stalked the edge of the lake.  Then, a smaller brown heron flew straight at me.  BITTERN!!! I fumbled and cocked the whole thing up.  The bird landed right in front of the hide.  When I say landed it kind of crashed into the reeds.  I cursed out loud.  When do you get a Bittern fly right at you? NEVER!!

Booby's track thumped through my head even louder.

 Great White flying about (quite pleased with these - it came out quite sharp)

 GWE cruelly laughing at my Bittern problem

Bet they could see the Bittern

I decided to calm myself down by taking some nice scenic shots

This one is a homage to the first ever blog post

Something I now regret...

About 5 seconds after taking the above photo, just as I was reviewing the picture.  A Bittern flew up, less than 15 feet away.  It scared the living daylights out of me (I scare easily and wear pink T-Shirts).  Had I kept my camera up I would have had a great shot, even the light was perfect.

Once more Bobby sang to me.

The only consolation was the fact that I had never seen a Bittern so close.  In the few seconds it was up (before landing rather noisily again in front of the hide) I could appreciate its incredible plumage.  It seemed to almost have a greenish tinge about it (although that could be a result of the Lidl's cider had drunk the night before, only £1.49 for 4 tins!).

I looked desperately in the reeds.  The blighter was in there, a few feet away.  But I just couldn't find him.  The day ended with a phone call from The Boss.  It was time to leave.

Bobby had warned me at the start of the day...   Wildlife photography is a cruel business.