That damn beardie again!

Before that, a few other bits.

In the garden on February 14th I spotted an early butterfly in excellent condition...

At the same time I took a photo of the mimosa which has done well this spring and avoided too much frost damage to its flowers.

February 16th Sheila and I spent a few hours at the Wykeham Forest raptor watchpoint. No sign of any goshawks just buzzards. However we did see some crossbills and photographed this female.

And so on to February 19th - when we went to Blacktoft for the afternoon. The most noteworthy thing was that Sheila got talking to a couple who had come to see the Farewell to the Tornados flypast. They knew somehow that the planes would come over the reserve. And boy did they! Everything scattered but soon returned. The noise of the three aircraft was horrendous as they screamed over Singleton hide. No pictures - they were so fast and almost straight overhead of us.

A few more prosaic photos...greylags not tornados if you're confused!! Marsh harrier Little egret

St. Aidan's, February 21st. I went because I was keen to see the black-necked grebes on the eastern reedbed. They were soon found although not particularly close in. A pair of mute swans were flying noisily towards me. I assumed they were a pair but one landed close by and the other flew off way over the trees and out of sight.

I gathered the bearded tit was still about. Two people with tiny point and shoot cameras were bending over the reeds along Bowers Lake shore some 400 metres from where I last saw the bird. I went to have a look. The bird was crawling, hopping about at the base of the reeds checking the dead stems for food. I can't say it was confiding as I don't think it was aware of the people so close to it. He [it's a male] just plodded on pottering in the reeds undisturbed by the proximity of the spectators. I stepped well back [I had to to get a focus] and tried to catch some images. He's a quick mover!

About half of these shots are uncropped.

Spring coltsfoot.

147 UK 2019

Fur and Feather

An ambition fulfilled

February 7th

South Gare and then Saltholme - a day out with Sheila. We started at a fairly windy South Gare in the naive belief that we might find the elusive lapland bunting. You guessed: we didn't. However I did manage a couple of nice shots of snow buntings hiding in the marram grass.

We moved on to Saltholme to escape the wind. Much calmer there and we set off for the Wildlife Watchpoint with the promise of a friendly water vole. It eventually appeared once the noisy birders in the hide had left. Only problem: it was too close for my 500mm lens and so I had to step away from the window further into the hide to get a focus. Not easy when the vole's appearances were so fleeting. Anyway, here's my best efforts. I think they capture it quite well... Water voles do have orange teeth.

February 11th

Langdon Beck and Fishburn. I didn't find any black grouse close enough for really detailed photos but this group, whilst not strictly a lek, were displaying in one of the fields close to the Langdon Beck hotel.

I drove on to Fishburn for a second visit to try to see the Pallas's warbler. Success this time as I saw the bird well once and briefly a second time but it was always moving too quickly for me to grab any photos. Had to settle for this wintering chiffchaff. The back lighting makes the legs look unusually pale. February 13th

In the Peak District. Having never been lucky enough to see mountain hare in Scotland I decided to try the Peak District with a local photographer as my guide.

We set off along the Pennine Way... An exhausting day with a success story at the end. We saw and were able to get close to golden plover and then, from mid-afternoon, we spent time lying in the heather and whinberry [aka bilberry] in the company of one particular hare whilst two others were active on the hillside behind us. 

Grouse were widespread and they were actively in courtship mode. Golden plover. Photographically probably the star turn of the day. We spotted this head sticking up over a ridge. Eventually we worked round to approach from the other side so the lighting would be better. Just a bit!!

In this final plover photo you might just detect that the bird was not alone. There's another in the top left corner!

As the hares are largely nocturnal they become more active in the afternoon. I saw 5 in the end plus one recently dead hare that was minus one leg and its head, so presumably it had been predated by a raptor. Here goes: mountain hare photos - 3 different hares in these shots.

Feeding

Dozing

Alert. This one was about to run for it.

The friendly one. We spent an hour sitting close to this hare whilst it groomed and nibbled.

Feeling pretty tired [we walked about 6 miles on very difficult terrain at times] but the weather was very good and I stretched out in the heather for a rest.

145 UK 2019 plus a lifer mountain hare!

Beware the Mexican Bandidos!!

Bandits a little later.

On February 4th Sheila and I headed to Swillington Ings [or St. Aidan's RSPB as we're now supposed to call it] to try out the new zoom lens on Sheila's camera. We had no particular target bird in mind although a kingfisher would have been nice. Our best encounter was with a pair of displaying kestrels. My camera refused to lock on to anything in the air but Sheila took these... I was lucky to seize the moment when the female landed on a post in front of me. She didn't stay long - I think she heard the camera shutter.

It was very muddy and so when the following day we went back to a different part of the reserve I wore more suitable wellingtons. We'd heard there were some co-operative bearded tits about so we went to the centre to ask for directions.

'Follow me,' said a volunteer. Out on the decking of the centre he pointed down the hill to a group of birders about 300m away. My second close encounter of the year after the treecreepers at Lockwood Beck. Here goes! Bandits in the reedbed! You've probably seen enough but I was very pleased with Sheila's photos too as it wasn't easy to follow the bird as it moved rapidly in the reeds...

143 UK 2019