It's Roundup Time Again! - September, 2014

It's been a long while since I last posted on this blog, and with good reason! Just three days after getting back from a holiday in Dorset, we had an invitation from friends to join them on the Scilly Isles for a week, and so, initially, I was preoccupied with preparation for that, and now I'm back I've got around 2,500 photos to try and make some sense of. But more of that in a future post. Just to keep the ball rolling, here's a roundup of some of the things that kept me occupied in September.

Thursday 4th September

This was a day for an afternoon out owling with my pal, Titus. We decided to incorporate a short visit to Rutland Water to bid a fond farewell to the Ospreys which would be on their way to West Africa at any time. On my way to Titus's place, I photographed a Little Owl at my Site No.02, but a better image with exactly the same composition was obtained two weeks later.

Owls were seen at my Sites Nos. 48, 34, 36, and 42 en-route to Rutland Water, but only record shots obtained. However, there's nothing like starting with an owl so here's one of the 'record shots'.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.42

At Rutland Water, both the Manton Bay Ospreys (Maya & 33(11) were still in residence. They have, of course, long since departed, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that they've had a safe migration, enjoy a sunny and relaxed 'winter', and come back to us safely, hopefully for a successful breeding season in 2015. Next year promises to be interesting, as we will be observing them from a (controversial) new hide with all mod-cons including (we are told) the ability to make ourselves hot drinks to sup whilst we watch television! I suspect that there will be some adverse reactions to the expenditure on this new hide, particularly if the birds don't return to Manton Bay!

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (female - Maya) - Rutland Lyndon Reserve

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (male & female) - Rutland Lyndon Reserve

Pied and Yellow Wagtails were boldly mixing with the cattle in front of Shallow Water Hide.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) - Rutland Lyndon Reserve

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) - Rutland Lyndon Reserve

On the way home we found another Little Owl, at my Site No.41, bringing my total for the afternoon to just seven.

Our Garden

On 1st September, I photographed this bug on a black-leaved plant in or garden (no photoshop trickery employed - exactly as photographed!). I've no idea what the bug is - nor the plant for that matter!

unidentified bug - our garden

Our garden Hedgehogs were seen on a fairly regular basis during the month.

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - our garden

We've had an absolutely massive crop of nuts on our Cob Nut tree this year (I'd guess at four times that of any previous year!). We'd not seen a squirrel in the garden all year - until the nuts were ready! We get the impression that the whole lot have now been cleared by just two Grey Squirrels!

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - our garden

Coincidentally, Nuthatch, which was also absent from our garden for the first seven months of the year, is now putting in a an appearance several times a day. This next image was taken on the same day as the above squirrel image.

Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) - our garden

Thursday 18th September

Another afternoon out with Titus, and another visit to Rutland Water. On the way to Titus's place I photographed a Little Owl in the barn at my Site No.02. I'm now totally convinced that, sadly, there's only been one owl here for the past four months or so.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.02

Only four owls were seen that day, but here's one from my Site No.48.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.48

Our focus at Rutland Water was, primarily, on dragonflies. There were plenty around, but nothing out of the ordinary was seen. Here's a few from that afternoon.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (male) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

The next image was extremely difficult to take as the pair were high up in a tree and only just visible. It's a pity that the female has damaged wings.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (mating couple) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

Titus spotted this splendid shieldbug whilst we were looking for dragons.

Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorhoidale) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

On the way home, near to one of my Little Owl sites, there was a small flock of Goldfinch. Technically, this is a rubbish photo, but I like the way that the birds peeling off looks a little like a multiple exposure (it isn't).

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - near Somerby

A little further on, a Wheatear was on the fence, backlit by the low evening sun.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (male) - near Somerby

Close to my Little Owl site No.48, the Jackdaws were searching for morsels on the sheep. Was this one looking for earwigs? ;-}

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) - near my LO Site No.48

Thursday 25th September

Thursday afternoon, and I was out with Titus again. On my way to pick up Titus, as usual, I called in at my LO Site No.02. For one week only each year, the foliage on the virginia creeper (which now covers the east side of the barn) turns bright red. The following week, all the leaves have dropped. I've never managed a shot of an owl under these circumstances that I'm satisfied with, and I didn't do any better this year. Here's the best that I could come up with.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.02

Again, we called at Rutland Water. Soon after our arrival a historic 'warbird' roared into view. Avro Vulcan XH558 is the last of its type still airworthy, and was on a 'Cold War' commemoration tour. It was a magnificent sight. Sadly, it didn't perform manoeuvres until it was at a great distance from us.

Avro Vulcan XH558 - from Rutland Water

The dragonflies were still around in good numbers, and so the Hobbies were still there too. However, I only managed distant record shots.

Hobby (Falco subbuteo) (juvenile) - Rutland Egleton Reserve

Most of our time was spent at Shoveler hide, overlooking Lagoon 3. I photographed Green Sandpiper and Little Egret, but it was the Snipe which kept us exercised. At first it was on an island at some distance, but then it crossed over to a position only about 10 metres in front of us - however, it just wouldn't come out into the open!

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) - Lagoon 3, Rutland Egleton Reserve

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Lagoon 3, Rutland Egleton Reserve

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Lagoon 3, Rutland Egleton Reserve

On the way home, near my LO Site No.48, a male Wheatear was beside the road. The light was bad, so the images were nothing like as pleasing as those from a week earlier, but I'm still pleased to have got them.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (male) - near my LO Site No.48

That just about wraps up my September mop-up post! Thank you for dropping by. I've now got two major tasks to get on with; the first is to catch up with all the posts in bloggerland that I've missed over the last couple of weeks, and the second is to process all those photos ready for my next post!