Green Woodpecker

 A shy 'Yaffle' at Ferry Meadows CP, that eventually came out of its' shell a bit!

The Mud Stopper

An affectionate name for the Nuthatch is 'The Mud Stopper', in part due to its' nesting habits. The bird nests in natural holes in trees (although it does sometimes use nest boxes) and to prevent larger birds and predators from entering the nest the female will reduce the size of the hole with mud. The Nuthatch name comes from its' feeding habits, where it wedges a nut or seed in a crevice and hammering it open with its' bill.

A fairly common bird in Britain, although it is more often heard than seen. A unique bird in that it is the only British bird to descend a tree trunk head first.

A Godwit and a Redshank

A couple of obliging waders in their winter 'drabness' from my recent trip to the Norfolk coast. The birds seem a lot more 'confiding' at Titchwell than they do at other sites. Redshank normally fly off at the slightest hint of anything and Godwits tend to follow pretty quickly, but here they were quite happy feeding quite closely to the coast path.

Pectoral Sandpiper

This image is digiscoped

This juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper has been present at a site called Kelling Water Meadows for about 10 days now, sticking loyally to the one pool present. On my arrival at the site, however, the bird was not present. Typical, I thought, but I was informed by a couple of local birders that in the mornings the bird is sometimes elsewhere and will fly in at some point. Half an hour went by and then, on cue the Pectoral Sandpiper flew in and proceeded to feed and show very well.

The photos show very nicely the white 'braces' on the back of the bird and the neat 'scaly' pattern of the upper feathers, which identify it as a juvenile. The adult bird is less 'scaly' and the 'braces' are either more faint or absent altogether. This bird has not been hatched and raised in this country, it will have been blown off course whilst on migration in America. The Pectoral Sandpiper is the most common of all American vagrants to Britain and Ireland and September to October is the prime time of the year for them to visit.

Head shots

Winter may be appearing on the horizon (see previous post), but dragons are still hanging on and in evidence when the sun is shining. They are a little more sluggish with the cooler temperatures, perching more often and for longer periods, allowing me to get fairly close and get these head shots.

Winter is here

The year is starting to wind itself up, the evenings are getting darker earlier, there is a distinct nip in the air, the leaves are turning and falling from the trees and the Whooper Swans have started to arrive.

The 'swaniest' of swans has just started to make an appearance on the local patch, not in any great numbers as of yet, but there were 19 of these lovely creatures on the River Welland today.

Just two of the nineteen on show before they all took to the air as one and disappeared into the sunset.