Smew & Bittern at the Wetland Centre



With a free afternoon, I hit the London Wetland Centre at Barnes, with numerous reports of Bittern and a redhead Smew looking ever more appealing. I haven't been to the Wetland Centre since the start of the summer, and looking up at the admissions fee board on arrival, I can see why... £10.50 for adult admission (£11.50 with gift aid.. I always feel like a bit of a Scrooge when I don't) and £30 for a family of four to get in!

 

Once I'd got over the gaping hole in my trouser pocket, the birding was surprisingly good. A Peregrine briefly attempted to hunt Lapwings over the main lake before giving up, and a 'redhead' Smew- a rather scarce wintering duck in the London area- gave great views from Dulverton Hide along with a pair of male Pintail.

 

It spent most of the time diving around the far fringe of the lake out of sight, but after a bit of waiting, the Smew eventually gave a nice swim-by the hide.  Much better views than those of the Molesey bird a few days ago...

At least two Bitterns were active around the main lake, with this bird flying right across Dulverton Hide at one point; attempting to land on a tiny island, before continuing into the reeds...

A very distant Peregrine...

Highlight of the day though had to be parting with £6.50 for a Panini and a bottle of water... who knew birding could be so expensive?

Fieldfare, still there

The snow has pretty much completely thawed, but the Fieldfare- that turned up in the garden a few days ago- is still bossing about the garden and feeding on apples left out. The bird was noticeably shier this morning, with even the opening of an upstairs window sending it flying. It soon became apparent that the only way to get shots of it would be to shoot through the double glazed kitchen window. Not the most ideal, but it worked...

Local Smew

Couldn't resist a mini-twitch for my first ever 'redhead' Smew, found by the Dave Harris along the River Ember in Molesey, less than a 15 minute walk from the front door. It was first seen floating about with a Pintail and around 50 odd Tufted Duck back on the 21st, along the stretch of river bordering Island Barn Reservoir. Naturally, being within a mile radius of the Thames Water owned reservoir, the whole area is in complete lockdown to anyone and everyone who doesn't own a yacht at the sailing club there.

Problem...

 

Solved...

What? Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same for such a quality bird so close to home. Shame really, as Dave (who makes a sterling effort to keep records coming from the site) turns up some brilliant birds at that reservoir, and the greater recording coverage that would come out of making the site more accessible to the general public (not to mention the money they would make through a permit system) could only benefit Thames Water.

Don't Mess With a Fieldfare

With plenty of reports of winter thrushes turning up in gardens during the recent snowfall, I cut up a few cheap, old apples and stuck them on the lawn, in the hope that they would do the trick and bring in a few Fieldfare.

The apples worked a treat, and within no time, a Fieldfare had dropped down to claim the garden to itself, squaring up to any bird that venture onto the lawn. This was pretty bad news for the Blackbirds, who were the main target for the Fieldfare's aggression, but great news for the camera. I spent a good hour or two watching this beauty from the kitchen window.

Threat posture...

Quadruple Tit Day

Today was a very special day for the garden... a Quadruple Tit day.

Quadruple Tit days don't come around very often down here. Plenty of double tit days, but to have all four 'garden' tits; Long-tailed, Coal, Great and Blue feeding at the same time is a pretty damn big occasion in these here parts.

Unfortunately, neither the Coal tit or Long-tailed tit stayed for very long; the Long-tailed tit probably heading off to join a massive group of mates in the local woods, while God knows where the Coal tit will disappear to... I've seen more Hawfinches this year than I have Coal tits.

Plenty of Blue tit action this morning, with the birds taking a particular liking to Hazel catkins, despite stocked up feeders...

 

Bit cold...

Snow Birds

As predicted, the snow arrived yesterday, and with it, so did the birds. Couldn't resist setting up the camera for an hour or two to capture a bit of the action, as Chaffinches, thrushes and tits became noticeably more approachable in their urgent search for food. Still no sign of the annual wintering flock of Redwings that set up in the garden around this time to feed on a large pyracantha bush, although it appears to be quite a poor year for the species.

A few halved apples on the lawn seems to have worked a treat for the Blackbirds, but there's always one male that doesn't like to share. Hopefully the Blackbirds increased presence in the garden will encourage a few more winter thrushes down later in the month...

Twice the Birds They Used to Be

Spent a while in Richmond Park this morning to test out a Sigma 2x teleconverter that I splashed out on at the beginning of last month. Attached to the 120-300mm lens, the converter effectively doubles its focal length, giving me a 240-600mm telephoto beast to work with.

Like with most good things, there's a drawback. The converter will also double the maximum aperture of the lens- i.e. the limit to how 'wide' it can get, and thus how much light it can take it- basically meaning less light; and its due to these compromises in image quality that the use of teleconverters has always been a bit of a marmite topic.

Still, with the help of a little sunlight at the right angle, I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the combo on one of the resident Stonechats down by Pen Ponds. Definitely still 'presentable' images, give or take a few minor tweaks in brightness and contrast at home...

Whilst Stonechats are naturally approachable birds, it was great to get the extra reach on a species that wouldn't normally be as accommodating- a Green Woodpecker chilling in the afternoon sun.

The 120-300 lens has always worked well with my 1.4x teleconverter, and from looking at the shots from today, I'd say it performs much the same with the 2x. When it comes to photography, I don't like to dwell too much on the facts and figures of it all- in the end most of it does comes down to how the photographer uses the glass- and whilst the converter won't perform all the time, its still a great little piece of kit to have in the bag for that moment when you just need the extra reach... we've all had it.