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Tits like coconuts. The bird thread!
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Anita
(new)
Jan 04, 2017 03:14AM
Robins are very aggressive little birds, they are fearless little chaps especially at this time of year, lovely to look at though. A Robin was the first bird that Evie recognised and asked about so they do have a special place in my heart
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I've noticed some birds breaking into their beautiful dawn chorus the last few days. I think they've been fooled by the weather again into thinking it's spring. Even the one frost we had yesterday doesn't seem to have dampened them. It's lovely to hear but I worry if they nest too early.
Water Pipit pics!! Followed the little bugger around for 4 days with the camera and these are the best I got. Clipped from a video so quality isn't great. As this one shows it close to water I'm going with Water Pipit, not rock. Couldn't get one in flight! https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...This shows same guy on seaweed just before the waves came in https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...
They've gone for now - probably somewhere warmer!
They're amazingly well camouflaged, aren't they? You did well to get a pic!
It's more daylight levels that the birds react to, rather than temperatures Kathy, so I'm sure they will be fine. Not like plants!Nice pipits! I have a lot of pics of birds that contain no actual bird, it having flown.
That's why I like plant photography. They stay put!
Kath wrote: "That's why I like plant photography. They stay put!"Ha!
I've only seen a few robins in France, it must be the Mediterranean diet but they are so skinny compared to our little round ones here.
It's their chic fashion sense Lynne ;)
They don't need a suet overcoat to keep warm like ours do.
I wear one of those all the time.
And very nice you look in it Patti ;) Nice pics LA, well done in getting them too.
Thanks Anita. It was worth the effort in the end. At one point I took to hiding behind a slightly open door of the harbour masters office on the beach to avoid frightening them off!
The lengths we go too LA ! Worth it when you get a decent shot though. The kingfisher I sat 12 hours( in total) is still top on my list to get a good shot of, he perches in front of one hide but sadly not whilst I've been sat there yet. I've got a couple of shots of him on a perch a bit further away but as I've only got a 300 mm lens he's not close enough to get the shot I want, oh well, I will keep trying.What set up have you got LA ?
Best of luck with the Kingfisher Anita. The waiting can be frustrating I know. Sometimes you can just be lucky and be in the right place at the right time! Usually it's not that simple though as we know.I've not got anything spectacular. Just a Canon EOS 600D with a 75 - 300 mm and 2x teleplus converter for long shots if I know I'm going to need it. Also, what I got the pipits with was a small Canon Powershot SX240 HS. It's got a 20x Optical zoom and a seriously impressive 60x digital zoom which is absolutely amazing. Both cameras shoot video, and it was the video I used for the pipits then clipped stills from the video, set on around 50 x zoom I think!
Both cameras are getting on a bit now, 5 years old, so I should think the specs have improved even further for the same price now. They do the job for me though.
Hope to see your kingfisher soon!
Lynne (Tigger's Mum) wrote: "Ours make such noise when there's cats about. They shriek from the bushes and we usually send Daisy out to wee and she will chase any cats off at the same time. We've got an RSPB cat scarer which w..."Those work? I had one from a well known maker, forgotten the name now, and the cat actually sat in front of it (new batteries).
Very Nice LA. I updated mine and got the 70D last September, I'm really pleased with it. I also got a 60mm macro and ring flash for Christmas so I'm looking forward to tying them out. I looked into a 2x converter but decided to go for the 500mm instead, saving up as we speak ! I've always had Canon, got the power shot sx210is 5 years ago, lovely camera, my daughter has it now but I do take it if I don't need to carry several lenses. Can't comment on video as I never take any, much prefer stills.
I'm jealous of the 500 mm progression - it's an easier alternative than the 2 x converter - but the 2x was a lot cheaper!I prefer still myself too, but find video is useful if the buggers like the pipits don't hold still for long enough! I got some great video of a harrier (from above - I was on the cliff path) a couple of years ago hovering over a beach on the same basis, then cropped out a still from it and ended up with nice 'still' shots as well as the video.
I know this is a bit off topic, but I keep getting bad image messages re EOS Utilities (the Canon uploading software). I've looked on the Canon website but they say my version should work with Windows 10 although originally designed for 8. Tried updating and am now getting SLruntime error messages as well.It may be a while before my friendly Mrs Blackbird makes it to the group photos!
I've got my cat deterrent up on a bedroom window ledge at the moment as we've had a tomcat widdling on the conservatory roof. I've got a few kiddies windmills stuck in places that whirl away in the breeze and they seem to deter the cats a bit. Look a bit naff though, but he won't let me have an electric fence. I liked my own cats when I had them I put bells on their collars but i didn't encourage the birds when I had a real hunter, the others didnt seem to bother with the birds. I've seen the blackbird pinch go cat biscuit from the window ledge while the cat sat the other end and watched. It's other people's cats that are the nuisance.
Elizabeth wrote: "I know this is a bit off topic, but I keep getting bad image messages re EOS Utilities (the Canon uploading software). I've looked on the Canon website but they say my version should work with Wind..."I showed your post to Dave and he said 'nope, no idea'.
Perhaps you could open a photography agony aunt thread?
The squirrel's nibbling at my peanuts again. He can hang upside down by his back legs and reach over the plastic squirrel-proof canopy and help himself. He's very cute, but he buries his nuts all over my garden.
They are so clever Chris, we love watching them.
Lynne (Tigger's Mum) wrote: "I've got my cat deterrent up on a bedroom window ledge at the moment as we've had a tomcat widdling on the conservatory roof. I've got a few kiddies windmills stuck in places that whirl away in the..."OK thanks Lynne. I never thought of children's windmills.
I dob citronella and any other oil that cats don't like. Orange, eucalyptus etc on the windmills when I remember and hope the scent wafts with the breeze and keeps them away.
Just looking back over last year and thinking about the birding highlights. One of the favourites was our trip to Skomer. Among the sightings was this puffin:https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
that obligingly landed a couple of yards away and calmly walked past my feet to disappear down a burrow.
What were your highlights?
Lynne has commented under the photo to say that her highlight was a woodpecker landing on a birdfeeder, but when she had no camera to hand. I'm sure we all sympathise there. I suspect that what made the puffin moment so special was it actually happened when I was standing with my camera at the ready. It so rarely works out like that.
B J wrote: "Just looking back over last year and thinking about the birding highlights. One of the favourites was our trip to Skomer. Among the sightings was this puffin:https://www.goodreads.com/photo/author..."
Wonderful photo BJ. That would have made my year too.
Highlights for me would have been on a summer boat trip on the Broads in Norfolk. We heard and saw a bittern, and a kingfisher (for the first time), grebes, cranes, many marsh harriers and various warblers. Still waiting on a sight of a bearded tit however. Maybe one day. They're very shy I gather.
Here's another Skomer puffin looking very coy about having his photo taken:https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
I had to go to Norfolk to see a bittern, too. At the RSPB reserve at Titchwell one flew over my head no more than twenty feet up. No chance of a photo as the camera was on a tripod aimed at the reedbeds.
I do like it when the heron flies past.
Thanks, Pat. I see that the small flock of ring-necked parakeets in Central Park has been joined by a blue one!
B J wrote: "Thanks, Pat. I see that the small flock of ring-necked parakeets in Central Park has been joined by a blue one!"I hope it is welcomed by them and will survive.
Lovely photos BJ ! I have just put one of my Puffin ones on the group photos, (sorry I don't know how to put a link in) I took that at Bempton, the wind was so strong we had trouble standing still with the binoculars let alone the camera ! That's got to be one of my highlights and the Gannets too. Also the bearded Tits, and the Kingfisher, even though I still haven't got the shot I would like and the newly emerged Southern Hawker, the list goes on and on for me. The best thing of all is that we get to do it all again this year ! :)
Great shot, Anita! A lovely group of puffins. It's so hard to get a decent photo of a puffin in flight, their little wings beat so quickly.
With a bit of luck this year I won't have to wrap my arm round the fence to get a good shot, it was scary how strong the wind was on the viewing platform. Puffins always remind me of housewives in the sixties, they seem to do their jobs then all meet on the street for a gossip !
I had a tip-off this morning that a couple of cattle egrets were in a field on the outskirts of Brixham, so off I trotted - and they were still there. Usually birds sense I'm coming and scarper. I got a good view through the telescope, but they were too far away for decent photos, This is the best I could get: https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...With cattle egrets we seem to be at the same stage we were at 30 years ago with little egrets that have since gone from a rarity to a common sight.
How can you tell it's a cattle egret, BJ?
They have shorter necks, greyish-yellow legs (rather than black), yellow beak (rather than black) and in the spring they develop gold crests on head/neck and a gold patch on the back. They are seen in fields in close association with cattle where they eat insects and worms. We're more used to seeing them on wildlife programmes riding on the backs of African buffalo.
Kathy, you have an even greater rarity in your area, For the last two weeks there's been a desert wheatear on the beach near Thurlestone Golf Club.
They sound brilliant. Now you mention them riding on the backs of buffalo, I believe I know the ones you mean. I wonder if they'll become common here too eventually.I hadn't heard about the wheatear! That's no distance from me - must go looking (and probably find it's just left... :-))
How lovely BJ ! At least you saw it long enough to get a photo. I usually have that effect on birds, when they know I'm on the way the leave ! We had a Great White up at Old Moor last year, I didn't even manage to see that.A desert Wheatear !!! That would be a treat to see, good Luck Kathy
It's funny how often it happens, Anita. We live adjacent to Berryhead country park on a headland that juts out into the sea. It's a touching-down point for lots of Channel-crossing migrants and we get quite a few oddities blown off course. I've turned up so often to be told, 'You should have been here 10 minutes ago.' Bird populations are changing so quickly. I've just dug out an old copy of a Collins bird guide published in 1996. It describes little egrets as winter migrants. In that same year the RSPB reported a sighting of the first pair to stay on and breed in this country. Twenty years later we have a large resident population all along the south coast and in East Anglia.
We've just seen a peregrine falcon swooping past the bridge in Chepstow.
B J wrote: "I had a tip-off this morning that a couple of cattle egrets were in a field on the outskirts of Brixham, so off I trotted - and they were still there. Usually birds sense I'm coming and scarper. I ..." Nicely caught B.J. I've not seen them here, only the little's.
It seems to happen a lot for me BJ, still when I do eventually see whatever it is then it does make it even more amazing, if that's possible! You are right in that population changes from year to year, I remember collared Doves being a rarity and Starlings everywhere, now it's the other way and I have talked to quite a few folk from down south who don't get Starlings in their gardens at all, keeps us all on our toes as you truly don't know what you are going to see when you go out.
Talking of whitch I have been watching long tailed tits and goldcrest this morning, a real treat !
In my old house I had loads of varied feeders out, I had loads of different birds happily feeding away, but I could not tempt the sparrows in. I could see them in next door's garden eating away but they never came to mine. And it wasn't as if we were in massive houses, just ordinary small semis.
Lynne (Tigger's Mum) wrote: "I dob citronella and any other oil that cats don't like. Orange, eucalyptus etc on the windmills when I remember and hope the scent wafts with the breeze and keeps them away."Thanks Lynne. I'm putting that on my shopping list. Had to clear up a 'present' from the cats right outside the front door on top of a cyclamen this morning!
