Tag Archives: Robin

Brownsea Island – September 2016

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I’m not overly fond of boats, I rather like my feet being on solid ground! However this boat trip was okay, the sea was calm, thankfully!  I was on my way to Brownsea Island, Dorset. I don’t remember my last trip to Brownsea, I guess I would have been about 10 as we always used to holiday in the area. 

This visit though was about Squirrels, Red Squirrels. After I had paid the landing fee on entrance to the Island I was talking to one of the grounds keepers who told me he had seen Squirrels around the church the day before. Of course I headed straight to the wood behind the church and 5 minutes later I was watching the first Red Squirrel of the day 🙂 If you plan to go and take photographs then I found the light was much better in the morning in this area.  While looking out for the Squirrels I also managed to spot my first Treecreeper 🙂

After spending a few hours waiting and watching the Squirrels I headed off for lunch in the cafe. In the afternoon a took a walk around the Woodland trail, however the only place I spotted Squirrels was around the church. There were also a few very friendly Peacocks.  I think the key to spotting Red Squirrels on Brownsea Island is to stay quietly in the same place. So many people walked past saying they had not seen a single Red Squirrel! 

I was a little happier on the boat on the way back and even kept my camera out to take a few pictures of Poole Harbour. Seeing I was at the coast it was fish and chips for dinner which I ate surrounded by rather cute Black-headed Gulls, who patiently waited at my feet to see if I was going to feed them.  They wanted chips though and not the bird food I went and got for them from the car!

My full list of sightings for the day:
Mammals: Red Squirrel
Birds: Treecreeper, Avocet, Shag, Oystercatcher, Robin, Woodpigeon, Wren, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gulls
Dragonflies: Common Darter

Lower Moor Farm – May 2016

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05:30 seemed a horrendous time to be getting up on a Bank Holiday Monday but I had heard a while ago that Otters had been seen at Lower Moor Farm and this was the first chance I’d had to get there early.

Lower Moor Farm Nature Reserve - Mute Swan

It was overcast when I got to the site at 07:30. I popped into the first hide to have a quick scan and was greeted by the site of a pair of Mute Swan’s and their 2 Cygnets, the rest of the lake was quiet. I then headed to the hide at Swallow Pool where the Otters had been seen. After a fair few hours of watching, unfortunately I hadn’t seen any.  I did however see Mallard’s fighting (trying to drown each other might be a better description!), Greylag Geese flying over, Blue tits feeding and a Kingfisher that did a few flybys! The Muncjac Deer took me by surprise as it was just to the right of the hide, about 25ft away. It was spooked by a man that came into the hide though unfortunately so I only managed to take a couple of photographs before it ran off.

On my way back to the car park I again popped into the hide on Cottage Lake. I like that the bird table is quite close so you can clearly see the smaller birds that come to feed.  I wasn’t expecting a squirrel to show up though! but it obviously had learnt the bird food is there and was happily eating what it could. On the way out I walked around the pools to see what smaller creatures were about. I’m still learning which insects are which and still get confused, so have to rely on the Internet when I get home to help me out!

My full list of sightings for the day were:
Birds: Mute Swan, Robin, Chaffinch, Mallard, Reed Bunting, Blackbird, Long-tailed tit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Kingfisher, Moorheen, Dunnock, Great tit, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose
Mammals: Muntjac Deer, Grey Squirrel
Insects: Common Blue Damselfly, Green Nettle Weevil

Below are a few record shots of some of my sightings…

Potteric Carr Nature Reserve – April 2016

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I didn’t want to drive all the way to East Yorkshire in one go, but wanted to make the most of the time away visiting wildlife.  After a search on Google I discovered Potteric Carr Nature Reserve and made a plan for a route that passed by Doncaster.

Potteric Carr was so easy to find, so easy in fact I had to double check I hadn’t got lost! One of the lovely volunteers gave me an overview of what had been seen recently and I was off on my way around the site.

One of the first birds I encountered was a Moorhen chick trying to follow its parent across a stream.  They soon disappeared into the vegetation though.

I made my way to the Kingfisher Tearooms for a spot of lunch. I can highly recommend the bacon sandwiches and Cream Tea’s 🙂

Opposite the Tearooms is Willow Pool Hide. I thought I’d pop in for a quick look and ended up staying nearly 2 hours; there were adorable Canada Goose goslings with their parents and a rather cute brown rat feeding on the food put out for the birds!

I finally managed to drag myself away and headed towards the Duchess Hide. Half way there it decided to rain which meant a pit stop under a bridge to get the wet weather clothes out! The weather cleared by the time I got to the hide and as the rain clouds moved away they gave a lovely backdrop to Huxter Well Marsh. A Marsh Harrier was making regular flights across the marsh and there were Blackcaps and Wrens in the vegetation just in front of the hide. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something to my right, a Roe Deer had walked out of the bushes. It stood temporarily and then ran across the front of the hide.

It was getting late and I was conscious that the car park was going to be locked at 5pm (if you would like to stay later than 5pm, ask at the front desk when you arrive) and I had another hour drive to my hotel for the night!

I decided to take the Dragonfly Trail back, walking along Mother Drain and although I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular I saw something move on the ground. It took me a while to figure out where it had gone, but a small movement drew me to this little chap. I’m not 100% sure, but I thinks it’s a Field Vole, a lovely end to a very nice day exploring 🙂

My full list of sightings for the day:
Birds: Black-headed Gull, Blackcap, Canada Goose, Carrion crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Gadwall, Great crested grebe, Grey heron, Mallard, Moorhen, Pheasant, Reed bunting, Robin, Swallow
Mammals: Brown Rat, Field Vole, Roe deer

Lower Moor Farm – March 2016

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There were definite signs of spring at Lower Moor Farm last Friday.  Grey Herons and Carrion Crows nest building along with Common Frogs mating and my first butterfly sightings of the year.

We arrived on site at about 10am, it was still very quiet, there only being two cars in the Car Park. I thought it was going to be really busy so it was a nice surprise.

My first spot of the day was a Grey Heron who was collecting nesting material on the far bank of Cottage Lake.  According to the log book in the hide he had been doing this for at least 40mins.  It was nice to just sit and watch his process, on occasion he seemed a bit ambitious with the size of twig he was trying and failing to pick up.

The Wildlife Trusts - Lower Moor Farm - Grey Heron gathering nesting material

The Wildlife Trusts - Lower Moor Farm - Reed Bunting (Female)My lesson learnt for the day is ‘Remember to take the bird book even if you think you won’t need it!’…  to the left of the hide there is a feeder that had been topped up that morning.  I was fairly sure what I was watching was a Reed Bunting but I doubted myself as I had never actually seen one before.  Seeing I had no phone signal I had no way of double checking either.

After lunch we moved round to the other hide looking over Swallow Pool which looks upon the other side of the tree the Grey Heron had been flying to that morning.  There turned out to be two Grey Heron nests in the tree quite close together.  Some people came into the hide saying they had seen three Roe Deer, not long after one appeared further down the lake and proceeded to take a swim across.

I look forward to visiting Lower Moor Farm again soon, I hear they have Otters but they haven’t been seen for a while…

My full list of sightings for the day:
Butterflies: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell
Birds: Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Long-tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Red-crested Pochard, Reed Bunting, Robin, Wren
Amphibians: Common Frog
Mammals: Roe Deer

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2016

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January 30th was again time for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch so I settled in the kitchen with my camera and notebook to mark down what I saw.  I have included the figures here against last years as a comparison.  This time, as last year, I saw 11 species of bird though not exactly the same as 2015.

2016 2015
Coal Tit 2 1
Blue Tit 2 3
Great tit 1
Long-tailed Tit 1
Blackbird 4 2
Woodpigeon 2
Goldfinch 9 2
Blackcap 1
Greenfinch 1
Robin 2 2
Collard Dove 3 1
Starling 1 1
House Sparrow 1
Dunnock 1
Pied Wagtail 1

I have, since completing the count, seen a Long-tailed tit and a Dunnock in the garden. I have not seen the Pied Wagtail for some time now.

Below are a few record shots of the birds that took part in the count…

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2015

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On Saturday January 24th I settled on a stool at the kitchen window and counted our garden visitors for an hour for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. We have been getting quite a range of birds visiting and thankfully the majority decided to turn up for breakfast while I was counting…

Blue tit – 3
Great tit – 1
Coal tit – 1
Long-tailed tit – 1
Robin – 2
Starling – 1
Dunnock – 1
Goldfinch – 2
Collared Dove – 1
Pied Wagtail – 1
Blackbird – 2

We normally get Woodpigeon’s, a Magpie and a Jay who visit too.

I took the below images of our feathered friends through the kitchen window so not to disturb them.

Autumn 2014

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Robin at Waters' Edge Country Park, LincolnshireSo Autumn is now over and we have moved into Winter. Its been so mild this year that it’s really only just started to feel like Winter!

Taking images for Autumn has had its challenges. The main one being dark evenings! Not being able to go out after work and take photographs has really reduced the time I have for shooting. The added bonus was, I had a week away in Lincolnshire that enabled me to take a few images that I wouldn’t have normally taken. This has led me to the decision that I need to take some annual leave in each season this year!

Again I had my list of ‘finds’ and I didn’t do too badly this time, but that might be because I based some of them around the area I was visiting!

The key Autumn image for me was the Grey Seal pups. I have never seen them in the wild until last years visit to Donna Nook – I will put another post on it with more detail/photos soon. I had also never seen a Fly Agaric either until this year, so I did make some great discoveries!

What I missed photographing was the changing colour of the leaves…I know, the most basic Autumn image! I just seemed to miss the best times to go out and shoot, so it will be at the top of the list for this year!