Two for One

Whilst out searching for migrants in Richmond Park yesterday, I managed to catch up with some very photogenic thrushes, which were feeding out in the grassland.

It appeared that a pair of Song Thrush had hatched young early, and were constantly flying back and forth with beakfuls of caterpillars and worms collected from the soil...

A pair of Mistle Thush were also foraging nearby, and provided a rare opportunity to photograph the two species at close range, within metres of each other...

Redstarts and Wheatears

I was straight back out on the hunt for more migrants this morning, with reports of a Common Redstart in Richmond Park. Like the Ring Ouzel, these birds travel through the south during April, on their way to breeding grounds further North. From what I heard, this particular bird appeared to be ranging quite widely throughout the northern side of the Park, no doubt on a quick pit stop before continuing through London, and hopes were not high for it still being present the next morning.

I arrived this morning, with no idea where to start looking. After a few hours of searching, even flushing a Red-legged Partridge at one point, it became apparent that the Redstart had moved on, and attention turned to the residents...

My first ever photograph of a Stock Dove...

Large numbers of Greenfinch were nesting in the gorse by Holly Lodge...

More often heard than seen, this territorial Wren popped up for a brief moment, before seeing me and dropping back into the ferns...

A brilliant male Wheatear was present in the paddocks, and gave great views when it perched on the wooden fence in between feeding...

The paler bird was soon joined by a much duller, darker male, which left me scratching my head. I've got absolutely no experience on seperating the various subspecies of Northern Wheatear, but I'm fairly sure these two males are of two different races. I took this record shot of the pair together for comparison... any Wheatear fanatics care to share the identity of these two fellas?

Pleased with the shots, I headed back to the car park, completely oblivious to the fact that I'd missed out on the very bird I came to the Park to see.

By now you've probably guessed what happens next, but the odds of it happening seemed smaller than the chance of the Red-legged Partridge that I flushed earlier, turning up in the garden Pear tree when I got home.

I decided to head back the long way through Pembroke Lodge, which often produces some photogenic Robins and Blackbirds, used to the leftovers of family picnics and parties. I stopped off by some blossoming trees to pack away the camera, with on coming storm clouds, but changed my mind when this popped up further down the slope...

... the Redstart! Albeit a distant Redstart. The bird was extremely skittish, and like yesterday's sighting, it didn't like to stay still, ranging along the slope. I eventually managed to track it down to a small clump of brambles towards the west of the hill, where it finally showed its true colours, literally...

Out of all the places it could have been at that moment in time, such as half way to Wales, or even on the other side of the Park, the male Redstart just happened to be along the path that I happened to be taking on the way back to the car. Coincidence? Luck? Or fate? ... most probably the first two.

Urban Ouzel

Made the short but hectic journey around Staines this morning, after giving in to the report of a male Ring Ouzel kicking about at Staines Moor for its fourth day running; no doubt on a quick fuel stop before continuing its migration further north.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by a break in the clouds, and it wasn't long before a 'funny looking Blackbird' flew across the path into a hawthorn bush, hopping down to feed on worms amongst the many anthills.

As far as Ring Ouzels go, this was a pretty confiding bird, and showed very well at times in the presence of Linnets and Meadow Pipits, with the scenic backdrop of the M25, and the calming sound of jumbo jets overhead. I'm starting to feel the effect of lugging 3.5 kg of camera equipment around the moor for 3 hours, so I'm going to shut up now, but the photos haven't come out too badly...

Crouching low to the ground, as a pair of Buzzards circled above...

And hopping back down to feed again...

There was a nice supporting cast, including a distant Red Kite, and my first Sand Martins of the year.

This Chiffchaff was sporting a silver ring on its right leg-- pat on the back for whoever can read the code...

Grey Wagtail...

A soggy Linnet...

Sand Martin, fresh in from Africa...

Explicit Content- Dunnocks in the Bushes

Unfortunatly for you, I've just worked out how to upload videos to Blogger. Even more unfortunately for you, my first upload is going to be a dark, blurry, homemade clip of a pair of Dunnocks, doing what Dunnocks do best...

You may have to click full screen, and use your imagination a bit, but its not hard to get the general jist of what they're up to, and they've been at it all bloody week. It all started off as harmless chasing, but is now starting to get out of hand, and I can't look out the window into the garden now without being confronted by some kind of sick avian sex act unfolding in front of my eyes.

In case you haven't studied the complicated reproductive behaviour of Dunnocks, just know that they don't do things the simple way. They have a tendancy to mix and match slightly during the breeding season, with females being happy to switch between males, and males not being shy to cater for more than one female. This can make things a little bit complicated when it comes to finding out who's fathering who's baby, so to maximise his breeding success, the male Dunnock will peck at the female's... ahhemm... to get her to release any... ahhemm... that another male may have... ahhemm... when backs were turned.

So next time you see a gang of drab, boring, brown little birds hopping innocently under your bird table, phone Jeremy Kyle. No doubt he'll be able to sort this kind of thing out. 

God knows that they're up to as I write this...

Mistle Thrush

Maybe I'm alone on this one, but until last week, I've never got within 50 paces of a Mistle Thrush before. I don't know whether they have a personal thing with me, or whether my fieldcraft is just crap, but it seems that even before my brain is able to process the image of a large speckled thrush in front of me, the bird has usually ascended 30 foot high into some highly branched Oak tree, where the chance of a photograph is smaller than the chance of it coming down to eat worms out of my hand (not that I make a habitat of keeping worms in my hand).

It came as a surprise then- whilst munching on a very expensive ham and cheese panini in the Woodland Gardens area of Bushy Park- when a Mistle Thrush decided to burst through the undergrowth and land on a tree banch metres from my face. I was afraid to pick up my camera at first, thinking it was going to bug off as soon as it realised I was looking at it. Instead, it sat there for a further 30 seconds, and I finally got my first ever shots of a Mistle Thrush...

Unfortunatly, it didn't seem too keen on the worms in my hand.

Consolation Prizes

After being humiliated by 6 non-showing Hawfinches at Bookham Common last weekend, the appearance of a Black-necked Grebe in the unusual location of Richmond Park was surely going to be a routine tick and run operation. My alarm is very under-used at the moment, and despite setting it for un-timely hours to check the moth trap before the Robins do, it always seems to have mysteriously turned itself off by the morning. Luckily, it didn't let me down this morning, and I was up and scanning Pen Ponds by 9am.

In the half-asleep state that I was in, it could easily have been perching on the end of my lens and I still wouldn't have noticed it, but with no sign by half 10, I turned my attention to the more 'showy' locals.

All thoughs of Grebelessness were lost when a stunning male Wheatear popped up in the bracken near Lower Pen Ponds, fresh from its winter vacation in Africa, and one of only a dozen or so in London at present. It was extremely skittish, opting for high vantage points in the dead ferns, but crouching under a fallen branch allowed for my closest approach yet with the new lens, and a 1.4x teleconverter slapped on the end...

Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipits were much more confiding than they ever have been in Bushy Park, and weren't scared to hop down and take seed from the main paths once the coast was clear.

Just checking the 'best by' date of a nearby slice of bread...

Meadow Pipit...

Springs a Springin'

The first butterfly of the year is always a refreshing sight, and nothing yells out spring more than a Comma butterfly... or ten... as it so happened, down on Bookham Common at the weekend during the first LNHS survey of the year. The males are already busy holding territories, seeing off others in the show of hormones I'd expect from Ryan Giggs after a night on the town... without his wife.

Plenty of other signs of spring about the Common, with singing Bullfinches on every footpath, and the odd burst of chiffin' from a Chiffchaff. Hawfinches are currently the main attraction to Bookham, with birds being seen daily in trees bordering the station, but despite a 2 hour search for them, and up to 8 being sighted the same morning, I came away completely empty handed. I can't end the post without a photo of a bird; especially after 4 consecutive (moth free) posts just on birds, so here's the next best thing to a Hawfinch, a Dunnock...

For those who don't know, the Bookham Common Survey is run by the London Natural History Society on the second Saturday of every month, meeting at the LNHS hut around 11am. All aspects of wildlife are recorded and monitored on the Common, with a particular emphasis on invertebrates during the summer. It's a great opportunity for beginners and experts alike to broaden their knowledge, or delve into a specialist area and help produce further records for this SSSI. I'll certainly be back in the next few weeks for those Hawfinches...

New Glass

After many joy filled years spent shooting my trusty little Nikon D60, its finally started to show signs of wear, and isn't really allowing much expansion of my photography skills (not that I ever had any...). Last week, I finally took the plunge and ordered myself a few new pieces of glass in the form of a Nikon D300s, and a Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 OS HSM lens.. for those who want the technical nit-grit.

Neither are like anything I've ever held before. The D300s has a new mode for every day of the year, whilst the Sigma is just 3kg of pure beast waiting to be unleashed on an unsuspecting avian. I finally found a short window of opportunity to take my new toys out for their first play date in Richmond Park last weekend.

The attached were taken with the use of a Sigma 1.4x teleconverter, effectively increasing the focal length from 300mm to 420mm...

 

All these shots were taken in very bad lighting, so the images count for nothing of the lens' capabilities, but first impressions couldn't be better. Focusing was very quick and near silent, with a firm, but silky smooth zoom barrel that won't accidentally 'wobble' into another focal length, as previous Sigma lenses have been known to do in the past. If you are (in some massive coincidence) looking into buying this lens, don't let the size of it put you off. The tripod mount is adequate enough to make carrying hassle free, and the lens doesn't feel too over-powering when hand-held, as I was made to believe. For a zoom lens at f2.8, it's a class construction, and I'll be taking it out properly sometime in the near future.

Lastly, I'd like to apologise, as I'm sure that none of the above had any relevance or meaning to you whatsoever. I'd also like to make an apology to my bank account...