Taking the left loop

December 15th and I decided to head out later in the day, forgetting how soon it gets dark and it was already a dull day but I like to walk every day if possible.

I headed over to the sheds and round the back as usual, nothing special to see, the Barn owl popped back into the box as I appeared so no photos and it was too dull in the shed.

There wasn't much to be seen down the hill either, any birds in the hedge were keeping ahead of me, I did see Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Blackbird and a Wren. I could see various small birds flitting over the marsh area but again too dull to ID so I headed up the hill aiming to drop food at the posts.

I dropped some at both posts but nothing appeared while I was there so I headed on down the hill.

Spur of the moment decision, I turned up the first grass path and up the hill, first time I'd been up here.

It's a reasonably steep climb up that first bank then mostly levels out with woods to the right and sparse gorse, grass and trees to the left but that's where I spotted the first Bullfinches.

I must add, all these shots were so grainy they've all been well edited to draw out a reasonable shot.

Male Bullfinch

Male Bullfinches are so bright, beautiful birds. 

I love when they do that hanging down to grab at tasty morsels. This one was joined by another male.

You may be able to tell how dull the day was from these shots, they looked really grainy until I cleaned them up a bit.

I carried on up the hill onto the flat and spotted, yet more Bullfinches in the trees.

Again a male munching on the buds.

And a female, I didn't think I was going to to see any but this was a group of two females and one male.

Bullfinch female

As is often the case in nature, the female isn't as bright but is still a beautiful wee bird in my opinion.

I headed on along the path, turned down the hill where I startled a lone Roe deer which ran off down the hill in front of me. I could hear Jays squawking in the trees nearby but, as usual, saw none.

I turned to my right at the next gate, heading back through the woods to the lane by the apple trees. I checked the Rowans, which are bare of berries now but nothing to be seen so I turned up the lane heading for home again and there ......

More Bullfinches!

Yet another pair of males hanging out together.

They were edging away from and me it was getting darker quickly so I carried on up the lane, back to the old Oak, see if anything had shown up yet.

A few Coal Tits were dashing to and fro at the feeding post and I did get one shot but it was too noisy to use.

So the Nuthatches, again :)  This one was very obligingly foraging on an old stump next to the old Oak but, in a dull area. I tried to keep the dullness in the photos.

I almost threw all of these shots out, they were so grainy,

I tried to keep an eye on all the movements, I think there were three or four around.

I love the look on this next one!

Yes????

Choices...

One bird was foraging around on the dead branches around the Oak and in slightly better light.

The final few were of the same bird maybe, as it foraged around the base of the Oak.

I like these shots but, in better light they could be fabulous, maybe tomorrow?

I messed around with a few of the shots.

All in all a very Nuthatch and Bullfinch kind of day :)

With hindsight I wouldn't go out with the light so low again but I just can't go for a walk without a camera ........... who knows what I might miss? 

:)

Three ponds loop

December 14th  

A lovely start to the day today so I edited some photos, then some more, oh and a few more. Then it was dreich so my planned early walk was a bit overdue but still must be done, there are Nuthatches to photograph out there.

I finally managed to haul myself out the door around 11:10.

I wandered over to the sheds but it was too dull to bother trying for owl shots so I went round the back as usual then onto the hill.

Loads of wee birds in the hedge but almost all keeping their distance this morning.

Yellowhammer through the hedge

I got a few shots, none of the ever elusive Wrens though, I'll get them one day.

There really is quite a variety that uses the hedges there: House & Tree Sparrows, Chaffinch, Robin, Blue & Great Tits, Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Wren, Blackbird and at the right time of year, Whitethroat.

Most of these you can see on a daily basis but not today :)

I spotted Long-tailed Tits  as I walked up the hill and a few Blue Tits but it was reasonably quiet up there. I dropped off some food on the usual fence posts, hung around a while then went on down the hill.

Just past the big Ash tree I spotted a few Bullfinches just off the lane.

I did see a female disappearing behind some ferns but that was all I got to see, the males however, stayed up and posed for me.

I was really happy to get a decent set of shots given the light conditions.

They really are one of our bonniest birds.

I carried on down the hill, spotted a few Blackbirds at the apple trees but no photos.

As I got down to the Mill pond I startled a Grey Heron, I've seen them in there a few times but never been quick enough to get a shot, yet.

I decided to follow the burn towards the other ponds and lo and behold, as I emerged from the woods, the Heron took off from the burn further ahead, then landed on the path!

I actually wasn't sure if there were two of them, I never saw this one fly out of the burn but I may just have missed it.

Either way, it was back on the path ahead of me for quite a while, walking away and checking on me every so often.

It kept ahead for a while ...

Before finally taking off ...

I carried on walking towards the farthest pond then spotted it again. 

Phone photo of the path past the pond

That pond is solid ice so it must have been standing on that, before finally heading away as I got closer.

There is another pond tucked away up that way but I didn't see this bird again.

The frozen pond

I stood by the bridge for a while, just looking around until a Buzzard appeared from my left.

It did a couple of circuits before disappearing over the tree tops.

A Woodpigeon shot by, under the Buzzard, wonder if it was panicking?

The Buzzard wasn't bothered anyway.

I took a different route this time, heading back up by the edge of the woods. I crossed into the woods by the almost eaten tree, wonder how long before it's down?

How much longer?

So there are Beaver in the area and not everyone is happy about it for some obvious reasons but I am from a photographic perspective. I've lurked in the area but at all the wrong times so the trail cam will be set up soon, see what I can get.

Meanwhile, I worked my way up the hill on the edge of the woods ....

My head is on a swivel when I'm walking, looking everywhere when possible. The number of times an animal or bird has popped up right next to me! In this case, it was up. There wasn't a sound but there were two Red Kites cruising above me.

I only had a small gap in the tree canopy and the birds weren't exactly posing for me but I got a few shots.

There was a little event that made me smile as I watched them. A Crow flew through the Kites air space and it looked like one of them flew at, then with it, as if to give it a wee fright! I didn't capture that though. :)

Spotted!

They flew out of range and I carried on up the hill and back onto the lane eventually, without any more sightings. But, almost as soon as I started walking towards home, I spotted activity over by the big Oak where I'd left some bird food earlier.

There were several birds dropping onto the fence post and grabbing a snack so I moved to a better position to get photos ...

Nuthatch and snack

Coal Tits and Nuthatches. When I say Nuthatches, I've been trying to get good shots of them as well as seeing how many there are. I'd never seen them up here before so it was great to see them in the area and at this time of year and now, by the time I'd walked away, I was convinced there are at least 4, if not more!

As I stood and watched and photographed them I'm sure I could see and count at least six of them!

I get an almost panic few moments when something like this happens. Get the camera. Is it set up right? Can I get good shots? Lots going through my mind, hoping not to scare them all off at the same time.

I took 178 shots in the 15 minutes I was there and walking away was my choice.

That's the shot I'm really after, more natural, no feeding area covered in seed and suet, just the bird in its natural environment, if possible. 

Nuthatch on the feeding post

They are beautiful wee birds, bigger than the Coal Tit, smaller than a robin, I think :)

When you see them face on, they have the oddest look, like the head is upside down, their beak has an upward turn to it.

As I'm working through these shots, I am deleting a lot of empty branches, blurred birds moving too fast and just plain out of focus shots so 178 shots soon gets whittled down.

Here's a wee sequence of one bird on a tree trunk behind the feeding post. (There were six of these)

When we lived in S. Wales, I discovered an old woodpecker nest that Nuthatches were moving into and got some great shots of them nest building but missed out on young birds being fed or fledging. Maybe next year?

One reason I have so many blurred shots is the fact that the top of the post is above me so I am trying to focus above it and, of course, these birds don't stop and pose while I sort myself out :)

I am including an original shot in this next pair, just to show what sort of thing I do or need to do to get a good shot, in my mind.

Original image

The shot above is much larger in image size and not upright (to me)

Edited version

So this is the edited copy that I would normally share and delete the other after edits.

There also Coal Tits zooming in and out but, zooming is the operative word here! 

It was great standing there watching all these birds zipping around in the background, waiting to see when they might go for it.

Checking me out first

Something caught my eye along the fence as I was looking around.

Squirrel!!!

It was too quick for me but hopped onto and across the lane.

Not a great shot but the only one I got today, a squirrel has posed by this old Oak before.

Meanwhile ...

Up close

This bird knew no fear and landed on the nearest tree trunk to me so this shot isn't cropped at all, it was pretty close.

At last ...

A Coal Tit stayed still long enough for a couple of shots.

There also lots of near misses as birds shot in to grab a snack, I missed all those but I plan on going back up, this time with a tripod and a better position aaaaand, the light is much better today ..... for now :)

So, here are a set of shots of Nuthatches (for a change) :)

Giving me the eye

This next set are actually all different shots of the same bird at the same time, a few seconds apart.

A very normal Nuthatch behaviour as they clamber up, down and under branches

A rare black and white

At this point, standing back and looking all around, I spotted a Tree Creeper in the background, it didn't make it easy to get any shots but I did :)

Original Image

Edited version

They can be difficult wee birds to photograph, never staying still for long but equally, I have seen them pose for quite a while. Not this one though!

As you can see in that shot it was deep in a tangle of branches.

Another issue with photographing in this area is the light, as the birds flit around I'm shooting into varied light all the time, tweaking the camera settings and most often, hoping I got it right for that shot. 

Doesn't always work.

This shot being a perfect example, I turned to my right to see this bird exploring the old fence post but in darker light, I loved the light but had to make changes quickly. This was the only decent one of several.

Case in point again ...

This Coal Tit was high on a branch that had the sky light behind it.

Last feeding post shots, I love the reflection in this bird's eye.

I was now trying for those natural shots as opposed to on the feeding post.

Nuthatch posing on a branch for me.

Did I mention, other birds were available? :)

Great Tit grabbing a quick snack

OK, thank you for staying the course if you've made it this far. I had a great time up there and as I said, had to walk away. Almost all of these shots are in the order they were taken, that's important to me so, this last two were just icing on the cake for me. 

Love those two! A perfect end to this loooooong session of images, hope you enjoyed them.

Guess where I'm off to next?