Garganey Invasion

Easily the most Garganey I have seen together in the UK at the Ouse Washes.  I counted at least 50 but there were undoubedly many more.

And one Glossy Ibis.  Also Red-crested Pochard, Pintail, Greenshank, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper (4) and Spotted Redshank were of note.  And loads of large, dead Pike for some reason??

Gamlingay Bird Fair

After visiting the British Bird Fair at Rutland Water, this beauty couldn't be missed near Gamlingay.  Thanks to those that got me breaking into a run as a local walker flushed the bird from the path where it had been sitting the moment I arrived.  Three over-flying Whimbrel as well were nice.
The local farmer was encouraged from his tractor to see what all the fuss was about and after writing down the name of the bird he'd not heard of before, he gave me his email address as he requested a copy which I will be pleased to send.  He is sympathetic and does some work with the RSPB to help Corn Buntings.

In the Pink

The Chilterns

The chalk grassland flower meadows at Aston Rowant NNR are a spectacle to behold and so much better than two years ago when I last visited in August.  Butterflies and plants seem to be thriving despite the wet weather we've had this summer.
Oh, and the Canon 7D eclipses the 30D for sure.

Olympic Birds - an eye on Gold

Crakey - a Frog

In March I was pleased to note that the frogs had layed spawn in my garden pond.  Today I'm pleased to announce that at least one of the tadpoles has grown into nothing less than a spelndid, adult Baillon's Crake!!

This just highlights my useless amphibian ID skills and how I may have been overlooking for years, breeding Crake's and Frogs co-existing in my small garden pond.  I managed a Frog (see above) peering at me through the reeds only this morning.

Well, I won't be fooled in future years, that's for sure.

News here of how others have seemingly made the same simple mistake as me.  http://grumpyecologist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/crakey-change-record-books.html

Monsoon Blues

Bought myself a 7D to overcome the monsoon blues and today the sun has revealed itself at last allowing me some play time.  First impressions are that it is a superb camera.  Speed of AF lock and tracking is a real step up from my trusty 30D and a few more pixels won't go amiss either.

Edit - Sparrowhawk News

Latest news from Bedford Sparrowhawk nest is that there are in fact six healthy young being fed and not five as I had counted!   Must be plentiful supply of food around the gardens of Brickhill & Putnoe.

Mixed Bunch

Despite the rainy season we're having, I managed a few local record snaps this week.  Spotted Flycatchers active around local churchyard but not seen this year in Willington, Willow Warbler feeding a fledged brood along Wood Lane and the RB with Demoiselles and Starling roost at the settling lagoon.   Still no local Turtle Doves - do they exist anymore?

A Nest Full

My friend Dave says, you ought to see the five large Sparrowhawk chicks I have in my garden (Bedford) so I took up the offer today of watching the female feeding them a pigeon.  Amazingly the nest is in full view of his garden and the adults didn't seem threatened by my pressence whatsoever.  What a treat!

Long Time No See Little Owls

During the winter and early spring, Little Owls seems to have disappeared from Willington but now I'm pleased to say there are two pairs in territory within 200m of each other.  The lower bird is one I've been photographing since 2006.   He thinks I can't see him!

Redstarts

A stop near Thetford en-route to Norfolk at the weekend, the reward being a recently fledged family of Redstarts feeding their young close to the footpath.  Lovely birds Redstarts.

Wet Woodies

These youngsters have found the peanuts to their liking if not the weather.

Rock'n Roller

The long-staying European Roller in East Yorkshire got the better of me today and with more rain forecast, I grasped the moment and managed to connect with my first seen in the UK.  The bird seemed to glow like a jewel in the sunshine and like all other European Rollers I've seen elsewhere, failed to come as close as I would have liked.
The lower bird was digiscoped in grey, overcast light in Hungary last month where a beam of sunshine would have been very welcome.   European Rollers aren't common-place wherever I go but Hungary seems as good a place as anywhere I've visited.

Buzzard Celebration

Buzzards soaring in celebration following DEFRA's back-down today.

A Flavour of flavissima

Saker

Understandably wary birds.  This pair were using one of the many nest boxes placed on the high electricity pylons just east of the Hortobagy NP and since the population crash of the Suslik, have adapted to feeding on Pigeons.  The female here is buzzard-size and seemed easily out-witted by a passing feral pigeon - almost Cheetah like, expending energy in a short burst rather than what I might have expected from a Peregrine which would have turned and come back for more.

Whiskered Tern

One of my favourites from the Hortobagy NP.  In the flooded areas managed by the national park, the abundance of birdlife was a spectacle to behold.  No people but great numbers of birds and great diversity from soaring White-tailed Eagles to three species of marsh tern, flocks of Ferruginous Duck and an array of wading birds.
My 30D really struggled with autofocus on these Terns so these are using manual focus.

Cuckoo

It was interesting to see how abundant the Cuckoo is in Hungary, both the lowlands and hill country.  At Monor near Budapest there were at least half a dozen males competing for the females and a great opportunity to see behaviour that would be difficult to see on the home patch given the way things are with Cuckoo populations in the UK.  Large catepillar food seemed in plentiful supply.

The lower image was taken in the Hortobagy where this female had been watched hawking Sparrowhawk-like over the reeds waiting to lay in the warbler nests.  This is behaviour I hadn't seen before first-hand.

Never Fear, DEFRA are here