EFRS

07/08/2015

Legs Eleven

(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)

A gentle breeze, a bit of sun and a couple of hours spare. Fantastic!

I headed off to Shapwick. I have been going to Ham Wall quite a bit and felt that its other, more mature cousin needed a quick visit.

It was really quiet at the reserve, which is unusual these days. Only a few cyclists and bird watchers about. Good stuff.

I say it was really quiet. This helicopter was clearly looking for something, hovering at various points and was really low. It stayed around for a good 20 minutes. Perhaps they were hunting for individuals who had committed crimes against blogging. I just kept my head down and hid behind some reeds…

Would have been a great way to see a Little Bittern…

As I approached the scrape the sounds of chopper blades slowly disappeared, leaving me with the sounds of nature (not that it sounded that great, mainly Egrets shrieking at each other and Greylags honking crazily).

But then I heard a sound which was much more interesting. A metallic pinging call… Bearded Reedling!

I have never had much luck with these. Having only ever seen two I was keen to try and get a third. I loitered on the track a bit (trying not to look guilty in case the heli came back) . It worked, sort of. I managed to catch a glimpse of him hopping along the reeds but it was fleeting and I had no chance of a picture.

Still I was pleased to see one.

At the scrape itself it was business as usual really. There were good numbers of Black Tailed Godwits

And Lapwings. A few Little and Large egrets at the back and a Sandpiper (probably not a Curlew one) flew overhead.

There isn’t a lot of water in there at the moment, but it looks nice and muddy. I’m sure something good will turn up there shortly.

I carried on to the bench on the corner, next to the bridge. What a lovely suntrap. I sat and enjoyed the sun. There were insects of all descriptions humming, buzzing and crawling about. Sadly I didn’t have a macro lens. I was hoping a reedling might appear but I got this instead.

Its not a Reedling...

Feeling the sun slowly cooking my lily white skin I decided to head over to the Meare heath hide. There wasn’t much happening, although a Tawny owl was calling from the wood.

I did however notice this slightly creepy scene. Full of Harvest spiders.

There were legs eleven all right… and the rest.

I walked back passed the scrape and noticed a large flock of gulls, flying slowly and snapping at thin air

Either they had lost their marbles or they were trying to eat something.

I really enjoyed watching them, although I think the passing public were slightly bemused by my fascination.

After a while it dawned on me that there were loads of ants taking off from the track. I suspect the gulls were snacking on them.

The rare and elusive Gormless Otter. No Otter on the planet looks like this.

05/08/2015

Like a Ninja

(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)

Today, the newest addition to the family needed to go for some injection. The creature in question is a cat named Raphael (my daughter loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). He lives up to his name and is very adept at climbing up brand new curtains and hiding in shadowy corners.

Being a scheming sort I realized that this trip to the vets opened up the possibility of a quick trip out. There was a fly in the ointment however. I had been instructed to mow the lawn and get some meter readings. I hate this boring stuff and I did rush it a bit.

I slung Raphael into the cat box and after half an hour of loud mewing, injecting and checking of testicles (oh er!). He was back home and I was off!

I was tempted by Canada farm again but I knew that those pesky Kingfishers would mock me from afar so I went to Westhay instead.

Along London Drove there were plenty of Woodpeckers uttering their frightened, psychotic call. As I reached the fishing lakes to the left I noticed a little wading bird amongst the resting gulls.

Erm... Its terrible picture. Curlew Sandpiper maybe. Or is it a Dunlin?
UPDATE: Jeff Hazel says its a Green Sandpiper so I'll go with that :-)

I then wandered over to the hide nearby (forgot its name now). It was pretty quiet so I amused myself watching a mother Grebe being harangued by its baby. It wouldn’t shut up! Much like human ones…

Then high above a Hobby zipped by, I managed a quick picture. I guess these masters of the sky won't be around for much longer so it was good to see one.

Behind me there was an awful lot of activity. A family of Wrens were bumbling about in the thick hedges. This one peeked out for a moment.

At this point I was getting bitten by all sorts of bugs and other ‘orrible creatures. So I retreated to the raised hide. Here there was an awful lot of screaming, another slightly psycho bird. Water rails. Didn’t see any but I’m sure they were staring at me from the reads with bloodshot, crazed eyes.

In the distance I noticed a Little egret flying slowly towards me. Here I used some Ninja skills learnt from Raphael. Like a mutant turtle I ducked low and waited. The egret came closer. Unprepared for my stealth. At the last moment I popped up and took my shot.

Ninja shot 1

Ninja shot 2 (especially for Robin)

On my way home it became apparent that it wasn’t just Mutant turtles about the place. I’m not sure what happened to this fellow....

Sadly my heroic photo of the Egret was not appreciated by my Master, who was more concerned by the state of the garden. She wasn’t pleased with my efforts…

Ticked off

(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)

Today I took an afternoon visit to Canada Farm. I have to confess I have never had much luck here. But I fancied something a bit different so I went anyway. Along the track to the hide there were all sorts of little birds flitting about and generally being uncooperative in front of the camera.

I got a bit excited when I saw this. I thought it was a Nightingale…

It isn’t. It’s a Blackbird.

Once in the hide I opened up the shutters and lagged inwardly at the long stick protruding over the water right in front of the hide. This “Kingfisher stick” was here the last time I visited some months ago. I scoffed and thought that no Kingfisher in the history of Kingfishers would sit on that stick…

In the distance a large bird caught my eye. I thought it was a Marsh harrier initially but as it flew a bit closer it became more gull shaped.

It seemed a bit big. But after the excitement I think it is a Lesser one.

It was all rather peaceful on the lake with only a slight breeze to ruffle any feathers. I relaxed a bit and put my camera down. I just soaked up the atmosphere. Then a young Bittern came crashing out of the reeds close to the hide. Taken by surprise I got these.

The worst photo of a Bittern you will see for some time.

I was a bit angry at this point. It was really close but I was so unprepared… The only thing that made it better was the fact that the bird proceeded to crash into a nearby dead tree before flopping into some distant reeds.

Moments later a Cormorant flew directly at me. Strangely this one did not veer away and landed neatly in front of the hide.

Better than normal.

As this was going on I noticed a Grass snake swimming across the channel.

Then it all went peaceful again. My anger levels dropped quite a bit. In the distance I could hear the shrill call of a Kingfisher, a moment later he perched up on a distant tree.

At this point I started becoming a little frustrated with my camera/lens. Every so often it just wont focus ON ANYTHING (sorry, getting cross again). This is remedied by turning the camera off and on (it fixes everything in this new digital world).

Whilst I was faffing about I spotted another grass snake, with a Dragonfly trying to sit on it whilst it crossed the channel. A bit like the weasel and the woodpecker…

I had the settings all wrong and it looks rubbish. Grrrrr….

Taking a deep breath I looked out once more. This time a Marsh harrier was flying slowly across the lake. I carefully tracked its movements. Hoping that it would get closer.

The cause of all my anguish (see below)

After it went from a small dot into a pin prick. I popped my camera down and pondered just when a Marsh harrier might one day fly in front of me. It was at that point I noticed a vivid orange and electric blue shape perched up about 10 feet away. It really was an incredible sight. The plumage up close is truly beautiful, surely this was Miss United Kingdom?

I inched for my camera. I shouldn’t have bothered. The little git flew mocking me with its high pitched call as it zipped off round the corner.

Where the Kingfisher was...

With nobody to complain at I texted Andrew to vent some of the anger. It helped, a bit.

The next hour was spent with me gazing longingly at the empty stick. It stayed that way. However every so often the Kingfisher would appear, always at a distance.

On the way home I had an annoying itch on the back of my leg. Yep, he had burrowed right in there. I was well and truly ticked off.

04/08/2015

A Worthy Headliner?

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Ham Wall. It’s a quiet time of year. The Spring birds have flown off and the winter ones haven’t arrived yet. Leaving us with just the residents. Plus a few Headline acts. The ones that get a lot of re tweets and trends. A bit like Kanye West at Glastonbury. Everyone clamors to see them but are they really worth it?

I make no bones about it. I was keen to see the Headliner. The Night heron that people have been talking about. I wandered down to the Tor hide, which was full. Sadly there were more people than birds.

Nevertheless ,a young Great Crested grebe was busily fishing and getting bullied by a swan (possibly part of the headliners entourage).

Looking over his shoulder, just in case the swan returns.

Also a Little Grebe actually swam reasonably close and stayed above water for more than 5 seconds. I am sure they have gills…

After an hour or so it became clear that the headliner was delayed in traffic or stopped to sign autographs. Anyway I was getting a bit fidgety so I left and walked along the main track for a bit.

Another one for Robin Morrison J

Marsh Harrier from about 5 miles away.

After soaking up a bit of the summer warmth I decided to call it an afternoon and strolled back.

A cyclist breezed up behind me, I took a quick look as he passed. It was non other, than Michael Eavis. So that’s where the headliner had been. In talks with the Worthy Farm festival organiser all along!

Michael Eavis (it is him before you ask)

But, although it is great to see these big acts it has to be said that, for me our resident, house bands are better. I never ever tire of seeing Marsh Harriers and still long to get a really good picture of one. The same goes for Bitterns and our new members, the Egrets (Little and Large).

Just before leaving another cyclist appeared from the opposite direction. A man who gets far too many good photographs and even has a super hero name (show off). Robin Morrison. I might change my name to Batman…

Anyway we had a quick chat. He does have some difficulty in distinguishing between me (James) and my compatriot Andrew who was off at Steart (see below). Luckily he realised that Andrew was the “crazy one with all the funny lenses”. Indeed he is…

Yes! While James was rubbing shoulders with 'A' listers the "Crazy one" was having a quick wander round Steart. Not to the good bits where the Spoonbill and Yellow Wagtails were but on the West side of the main reserve. A bit windy but bright all the same. Relatively quiet with only a few birds to show it was a chance once again to play with the "funny lenses".

This little chap seemed very trusting. I managed to get pretty close. Only a young one he will learn quick I hope. I seem to be having a bit of luck with Swallow pics at the mo.