Singing Sedge Warbler

Female Redstart at Eldernell, Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire

A few ropey images of the female Redstart that was present at Eldernell on the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire yesterday. Always distant, but showing well and feeding continuously. A nice companion to the even more distant juvenile Spoonbill that was seen at the same site and was the intended target of the visit.

In Flight

I have been trying to get some half-decent shots of birds flying, as of now I am yet to succeed. The shots below represent the best of my efforts so far.

A trio of Whoopers

Three Common Cranes (2 adult and 1 juvenile)

The same 3 Common Cranes (the juvenile is the bird on the right)

Hopefully, I will improve as time goes by!

Kestrel at sunrise

An early morning stroll along Central Drove, The Nene Washes in freezing, but dry conditions gave me a chance to photograph this obliging Kestrel and even try to to see if my digiscoping gear was still still useful. The images above are all taken with the new(ish) camera and the one below shows the digiscoped effort.

The scene when I reached the end of the drove after the sun had risen at the start of a cold, but perfect winters' day.

Common Crane

The Common Crane used to be quite abundant in Britain, several hundred years ago they appeared as part of the menu at royal banquets, but a couple of hundred years ago they became extinct as breeding birds. Until 1981 they were a scarce visitor, less than 50 birds per year were recorded, but in that year they bred in the east of England and have continued to do so since. They have been successful in most years since 1990, but some years produce no young, with predation from foxes and Marsh Harriers being blamed. In 2007 several pairs bred in various parts of the country, including Suffolk, Yorkshire and possibly Lincolnshire.

This year a pair have bred in my local area for the third year on the trot. They have raised one young and all three are now regularly appearing at the Nene Washes in various parts of this site. These birds have done this of their own accord, they have not been introduced, they just saw this part of East Anglia as an ideal place to start a family. They are closely monitored at all times.

Taken with Canon Powershot SX40 HS

Digiscoped

The juvenile in the above pictures is the 'all' grey bird, the two adults have black, white and red markings on their head and neck. An extremely tall bird, Britains' tallest, standing at over 4 feet and if seen well cannot be confused with anything else. They have a loud, clanging, trumpeting or 'bugling' call that is given when on the ground and in the air, as the video below shows;

A truly magnificent sight on the flatlands of Peterborough.

Sedge Warbler

Waffle-less Warbler Wednesday!

A bunting and a wagtail

Male Reed Bunting

Male Yellow Wagtail

Female Yellow Wagtail

Great White Egret

This Great White Egret has been present for the past few days at Eldernell, part of the RSPB`s reserve on the Nene Washes. It is showing signs of being in breeding plumage, having a black bill instead of the yellow bill which it sports in the winter. The definite `kink` in the neck is an identification hint when confused with a Little Egret, although the size of the bird should negate that problem on its own. This bird is about the same size as a Grey Heron.

The Great White Egret is a bird that used to be seriously rare in Britain with less than a dozen birds reported from 1825 - 1975. This has increased somewhat with 25 birds being reported annually since 2000, although, as far as I am aware they have not bred in this country as yet, but surely colonisation is just a matter of time?

A very nice addition to my PBC year list, which is going along quite nicely with the addition of Raven, Whinchat and also Red Knot to hit the heady heights of 160.

As a postscript, I have just noticed that in the second photo there is something in the bill of the Egret, I assume a prey item of some sort, although the photo is too blurry to see what it is! If you click on the photo you can clearly see something in its` bill, although not that clearly! I really must become more observant!

Short-eared Owl

A few weeks ago it was a lovely frosty morning, the sun was shining and this Short-eared Owl was still present on the Nene Washes.

A memory of the sun is all I have as the rain lashes the windows and it is as dark as night in the middle of the day.

Garganey

I have yet to take a good photo of a Garganey and as of today I am still waiting.

The Garganey is our only migrant duck that arrives in March and returns to Africa between July and October. There are relatively low numbers of this bird recorded each year due to its `skulking` habit, but it is thought that between 50-150 pairs breed in Britain. Each year I set out with naive ideas that this is the year that I am going to get `the` digiscoped shot that I have been after and each year I fail! The birds are easy to find, but as soon as they clock you, they are off into the undergrowth.

A lovely duck that is smaller than a Mallard, but longer than a Teal. The drake has broad white stripes over the eyes that curve down and meet at the back of the neck. The breast is a mottled brown, with finely barred grey flanks and white belly. The back has black and white drooping feathers. A stunning bird. The duck is typical of female ducks in that she is brown all over, but has a paler throat and a darker eye stripe than that of a female Teal.

A bird that is protected in Britain by special penalties at all times.

Early morning Owl

This Short-eared Owl was present at dawn on the Nene Washes the other day. He was perched surveying the area and me before taking off into the sunrise.

An owl species that you are just as likely to see in daylight as your are during the hours of dawn and dusk. These birds have bred in the area before, but are more often seen during the winter months when they come down from their Highland fastness or from northern Europe to the more mild climes of the south half of Britain. This year has been a good year for wintering SEO`s, as they are known (saves having to write their full name!) for the whole of the south of the U.K. with large numbers of these birds present, indeed there have been regular double figure counts of these birds present on the Nene Washes. The large numbers present have been attributed to very good levels of their favourite prey, the lemming (in Europe), which has led to an extremely good breeding season and survival rate of the young.

Long may it continue.

Reed Buntings

Waffle-less Wednesday.

A pair of Wheatears

At this time of year the summer migrants are beginning to appear in our area. Some are arriving to set up territories, others are just passing through on their way to their breeding grounds further north and west. One of the latter birds is the Wheatear, a bird that tends to only be seen on passage in the PBC area, but is a guaranteed annual tick for my year list. This year the bird was added to the list yesterday, 3 days later than last year and not by a single bird, but a pair were seen at a place called Eldernell, which is part of the RSPB reserve at the Nene Washes. The above digiscoped photos show the male in the top one and the female in the other two.

Glossy Ibis

Some rubbish, very distant digiscoped shots of two Glossy Ibis that were found on the Nene Washes, RSPB near Peterborough today. This represents the second sighting of this breed of bird in the Peterborough area for me, the first being a single bird that visited Maxey GP a couple of years ago.

The weather was not conducive to photography today, being extremely foggy, hence the grainy shots. These birds were seen feeding until a jet fighter flew extremely low over the area scaring the birds and causing them to fly to an area out of sight. Later reports showed the birds to still be present, so hopefully they will hang around until the sun makes an appearance!

A very welcome addition to my 2012 PBC list.

Mute Swan

After doing a few posts on the swans we have over-wintering with us in the U.K. I thought it only fair to do one on our more familiar swan, the Mute Swan.

One of our largest birds, graceful, serene, but can also be fairly aggressive if you get too close to one with young. It is mostly silent, hence the name, but does make a loud hiss when angry and other snorting sounds. You can be alerted to one (or two) flying overhead by a loud, throbbing `waou waou` noise made by their wings. They tend to mate for life and can live for over 20 years.

A truly beautiful bird which, contrary to common folk lore, cannot break your arm!