Since my last post I have ventured out three times, the first visit being on the 29th of January, a visit out on my own as Richard was busy with selecting tiles and other D.I.Y. jobs. Having got as far as Little Owl Site No. 10 my phone rang with my wife saying I think it would be advisable to head for home as its a full blown blizzard here, I was bathing in wall to wall sunshine, but very cold. I had seen two Little Owls, one at Site 9 and one at Site 10, I however turned around and headed for home. It was not long before the clouds appeared over the horizon and before I got halfway home a full blown storm commenced. Within minutes the roads were covered and driving conditions were dire, but with care and missing some of the idiots driving in the opposite direction I managed to get home without any mishaps.
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Fieldfare Near Little Owls Site No. 6. Numerous Fieldfare and Red Wing were in the field adjacent to road. This one had mud all over its beak. |
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Little Owl Site No. 10. Sat in the tree enjoying the sun before the snow commenced. |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker, Our Garden. Sat in the tree waiting patiently for the Jays to vacate the feeder before having its turn.
VISIT NUMBER TWO.
After the previous disaster of a visit, I decided to try again and ventured forth on the 2nd of February, I short cut our normal route so as to get to a new area and look for some new Little Owl sites. However the farther I got towards Rutland the wind got much stronger and no Little Owls were seen at all. I however saw several Buzzards, these are really on the increase and are bad news for Little Owls particularly when they are close by the sites.
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Buzzard Between Little Owl Sites 1 and 2. Had set the camera up and focused on the bird when it opened its wings and flew, managed one shot and got the above image. Not the best of shots as partially obscured by the tree but does show the colour difference between birds. Last year at Rutland Water we had a Buzzard that was very white under the wings and people were getting it confused with an Osprey. |
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Fieldfare Near Little Owl Site No. 6. Field was covered with Fieldfare and Redwings but as I drove along the field Road they moved with me so I never got that close to them. |
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Buzzard at Little Owl Site No. 3. This bird has taken up residence at the Little Owl Site. We have not seen a bird here since Boxing Day 2013 but we still look out. Until the Buzzard moves on we are not likely to get a new resident Owl. This shot was taken at an ISO of 3200, I should have gone up to at least 4000 if not higher to increase the speed as the light was failing. Not the best of images but put on the blog to show I am learning with the new camera. |
VISIT NUMBER THREE.
5th February 2015.
This time Richard and myself managed a trip out together, we set out a bit doubtful as to whether we would see any Owls as the sky was grey and it was sleeting which at times the further East we went turned to snow. We however carried on as we both needed an afternoon out and to our surprise saw six little owls. These were seen as follows, one at Little Owl Site No. 5, one at Site 17, one at Site 9, two at Site 10 and one at Site 12. These we were delighted with as the weather was so poor and Richard managed an extra bird on his way home on his local patch.
The birds in our garden were taken on the Wednesday when the sun was shining but on the trip with Richard it was mostly only record shots we took.
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Great Spotted Woodpecker, Our Garden. Again sat well up in the tree waiting for the Jays to depart. |
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Jay Our Garden. I had put some bread out for the birds and the Jays were onto it very quickly trying to fly away with whole rounds. This is one of the birds distinguished by the damaged feather. |
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Second bird without the damaged feather. |
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Not a good image but away with the bread. |
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Bread broke so one piece in its beak as the other falls to the floor. These above shots were taken at an ISO of 3200 and should have been higher to freeze the motion of the bird. |
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Little Owl Site No. 13. Very dark in the Barn so wound the ISO up to 6400 and managed to get the bird sat on the beam. The other bird was in another barn in the hay bales. |
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Little Owl Site No, 5. Even though the weather was awful this bird had tucked itself round the back of the tree keeping itself out of the wind and sleet. |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker, Our Garden. Not the best of images with the bird on a feeder but put on the blog to show the resolution the camera can achieve. |
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Jay with damaged feather. |
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Second bird flying through tree. I nearly got this image correct but slightly out on the tail and near wing. Must remember to turn up the ISO and open up to f10. I am still trying to get topside of the new camera so please remember that I intend to show both my mishaps as well as my lucky shots that come out well. I think at at the moment the good shots are lucky and not by correct settings but lucky settings.!! |
