Turnstone and bits...

Back in the middle of November, the 17th to be exact I crossed the Fylde to Knott End, starting off bright enough but then on what yet again was a dismal day with low light and hence low apertures and speed. I called at the jetty at Knott End and was repaid with half a dozen Turnstones knocking about – but you know Turnstones always on the move, bobbing and weaving, dipping and diving... and with slow shutter speeds I could not 'stop' them – hence the blurred images, yet I managed to get a focus on them somewhere. And strangely they were foraging on the sloping sea wall and one popped up onto the top of the sea wall and with the building-site hoarding in the background provided an unusual blue backdrop. Otherwise disappointingly quiet.

A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed overhead, which they tend not to do if they can help it and on Pilling Lane I spotted a buzzard hiding in the roadside hedgerow. Nothing too unusual in that but if you look carefully there is a blue tag on the right shoulder. I managed to slow down and get off the road to rattle a few shots off through the windscreen but passing traffic soon had it off and away.

I called at Bradshaw Lane feeding station but it was very quiet as I drew up, so checking the camera settings I looked up to see a pheasant making a dash for the hedge while a raptor flashed in, up and away before I knew what had happened – again having camera in hand I rattled off some photos, as you can see somewhat blurred but one I thought captured the speed of the attack and about as much as I saw, while the other identified the culprit – a Kestrel. I was a little surprised as I hadn't realised Kestrel employ ambushing tactics like Sparrowhawks – you learn something new every day!

And finally I had to stop at Carr House Green Common to catch the setting sun. It was also the same day, I think, then again maybe not, that I had clocked all the Starlings on the moss, as seen in an earlier post... I'm still trying to catch up and brain dead!

Bits and Pieces (again)

I have been somewhat remiss in not keeping up-to-date, but days pass and become weeks and I'm sure you don't want to be bored with the same old subject. Anyhoo here are a selection of images from recent weeks from me on me travels. A Linnet at Knott End is enclosed as I have seen several reports of Twite, yet I have seen non, but I have seen Linnets – but no sighting reports of Linnet and thought it odd. On 20 October over at Eagland HiIll I saw my first influx of Pink Footed Geese estimated at about 6,000 and the sky was full of skeins of about 150 dropping in, hence the photos, taken as always as the light was failing. A Sparrowhawk flew past hunting the hedgerows and about 2,000 Starling were flocking before moving on to roost in Blackpool no doubt.

On my local patch I came across a buzzard being harassed as they so often are, sadly I haven't seen it since and those wing tips are so distinctive. Autumn is the time for reaping the nut harvest and windfall, this Jay was reasonably obliging while a Great Spotted Woodpecker has set about stripping the bark off one of the trees.

The Pied Wagtail I caught just taking-off along the esplanade at Knott End (on a very miserable day, but the flat light produced an almost monochromatic Japanese print effect) and included the Chaffinch as the colours of the bird reflected the colours of autumn and the moss and lichen on the branch.

Newton Marsh... bright 'n sunny!

For once the sun was out...

A buzzard dived and harrassed by a single... carrion crow?

Juvenile Coot always look like something else, dunno what though

Male Garganey, a shy creature

Female Black Tailed Godwit

Male Black Tailed Godwit

Male Black Tailed Godwit

Maurading cows with Godwits

Grey Partridge

Juvenile Lapwing

Adult Lapwing disturbed by marauding cows

Redshank

Adult Shoveler

Skylark

Swallow

Swallow

It has been a funny year down at Newton Marsh so far this year, I don't know, it just has been different. I think the artificially high water didn't help in earlier months. Perhaps not only more traffic, literally but also 'on foot'. The male Garganey has attracted new visitors of homo sapiens and now the water has dropped and the birds can 'dabble' and feed a relatively broad number of bird species are around. Everyone tends to focus on the marsh but there is also plenty to see here and there on the periphery etc. The best time is pre or post traffic and now the days are longer an early start is possible and can be rewarding. Late evening visits are often compromised by additional visitors and the sun setting straight on in full face, you don't want to be looking straight into the sun with binoculars!

Does that Carrion Crow harrassing the buzzard look 'big', it does to me, looking at the photo again. Maybe it's the angle. Any comments? Juvenile Coots are just plain ugly and don't look as if they will grow into their adult form! The male Garganey is apparently a secretive bird and it certainly hasn't wanted its photograph taking when I have been there, always keping a good distance away, but appears very relaxed, dabbling all the time before departing to the reed beds. Often feeing in the company of Shoveler. There are about 60–70 Godwits about, often feeding down towards the far end, Freckleton but occassionally one or two come within range... unless as I encountered; a gentleman in shorts and white tee shirt decides to promenade alng the fenceline. "Nice Spot this" he commented as everything disappeared over the horizon... I had to enlighten him that it was even better when the birds weren't disturbed, there ended my visit. These are a compilation of images taken from a couple of visits, one being before the milkman was up! Looking out of my window, we seem to have stair-rods and further rain forecast all week, looks like getting out this week will be problematic.

Oh and one final comment, I have lots of excellent photos of birds taken at Newton Marsh with out of focus wire fencing right through the middle of them.

Sunny Sundays!

Weekends are not my favourite days of the week for getting out and about but sometimes you just have to make journeys. I thought you, dear reader might like to see the beach at Knott End on a sunny Sunday. While on the way home I clocked these three hares, two were passing through and I'm guessing a male following a female while the one at the back ('said everone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz') captured my attention. Just as well, a Buzzard appeared out of the hedgerow and flew some twenty yards away from the hare upon a kill  (I don't do metric). Regular readers will have seen my earlier posts about Buzzard and Hare and here again I was witnessing the same scene as the hare ran towards the Buzzard – better the devil you know I assume. Meanwhile back at Newton Marsh I counted 52 Shelduck attracted by the farmer planting his crops and my friendly Buzzard that I have been following for some time was on scene and once again appeared to be feeding on frogs/toads. The last image isn't going to win any photographic prizes does appear to show a frog in its right talon.

Knott End beach, Fleetwood in the distance. I'm saying nowt!

A Buzzard story

'Let me tell you a storwie...' in the words of the comedian Frankie Howard, in reality a continuation of where I left off last time; that is regular readers will know was about the Buzzard and the Hare. Well I'm not sure but perhaps this story is about the Buzzard and the Frog (which didn't turn into a Prince). I've been watching this Buzzard for some time and was surprised it was happy to get its feet wet, as I found it in this wet patch of ground, (for a second time) hence the poor photo for evidence ... just to back up the story, (lousy pictures at distance, shooting into the sun etc). Flying from wet ground to a view point, whereupon it again flew down into other wet ground and made a kill. That is landing feet first upon the poor individual, grabbed with the feet, disesected by the beak.  I am assumng it was a frog (wet ground) as it spent five minutes taking it apart and eating whatever it had caught before returning to a vantage point. The images, tell the story. I was quite happy to get the backlit photos before ending with one leaving a perch where the sun was on my side for a change!

Wet feet

On a kill

Time to eat

Up n away

low across the field

Archetypal 'the eagle hs landed'

What else can I see?

Time for a change

Low level shadow

on me way

out of a tree

It is difficult to reconcile a paddling Buzzard who gets his feet wet and sits for hours stalking the odd frog with the merciless killer of lambs and game birds that others would have us believe – I'm not saying they don't, I've just never seen it and while most of my sightings of Buzzards have been of them circling at great heights (I would have thought a lamb/pheasant was pretty easy to spot), I have also had numerous encounters with Buzzard simply hopping around the ground, flying low and dropping out of trees on small mamals and inverterbrae as these photos demonstrate (and once a Buzzard feeding in a field of Lapwing and Golden Plover in Islip, Oxfordshire, not one batting an eyelid). No doubt they feed on carrion, but killing a full size hare (see previous) or a live and kicking lamb, I have never seen. Just a thought.