Boxing Day - 26th December, 2017

Lindsay and I usually have a picnic lunch in the countryside at some time round Christmas Day. This was, for a number of years, on Christmas Day itself. However, for the past two years we have been invited to our daughter Melanie's house for Christmas lunch, so have had our picnic on Christmas Eve. This year Melanie wanted to do things differently with the main meal on Christmas Eve, and a buffet lunch on Christmas Day. Lindsay and I, therefore, postponed our picnic to Boxing Day lunch.

Lindsay requested that we go to Cannock Chase as she hadn't been there so far this year.  It's a place we are both fond of and it can, occasionally, throw up some interesting birds. The day dawned mild and sunny and I was concerned that the place might be a little busy. However it was even busier than we feared! On arrival at the car park there was just one space available and it was furthest from the bird action. We persevered for a while, attacking our picnic lunch. Eventually a space became free near to where the birds were feeding, but we both had a very limited field of view, and that was mainly through the car windscreen, and there were so many people around that the more interesting birds were staying away. It was just the more common tits plus Dunnocks and Chaffinches, and the occasional Bullfinch and Nuthatch, to keep us amused, and a solitary sighting of a Willow Tit to cause excitement. There was only one place I could get any sort of photo if a bird landed there - and that wasn't ideal for light or background. I took shots of several species in exactly the same position, so will only offer one:-

Great Tit (Parus major) - Cannock Chase

I even tried taking some shots through the windscreen, but this is never satisfactory. I just about managed a Robin!

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)  - Cannock Chase

We weren't there for long before we decided to give up and head off for a mug of tea at Springslade Lodge. Lindsay had been hoping to see some deer, but we'd come to the conclusion that there were so many people wandering around that we didn't stand a chance. However. we'd only got a couple of hundred metres from our parking spot when Lindsay spotted one in the trees beside the road.

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) (female) - Cannock Chase

When we arrived at Springslade Lodge we found the place was packed and we had to wait a while and take a seat outside on the terrace to drink our tea. It was then time to head homeward.

In the past, Whitemoor Haye has been a good place for birds, with a large swan roost each winter which regularly turns up Whoopers and Bewicks, and has also been good for Corn Bunting. I'd not been there this year so we made a small diversion to check it out. I was quite upset to see the whole area has undergone massive earthworks, but can find no information as to what these pertain. We continued a circular drive round, seeing only four Mute Swans and little in the way of passerines. We then turned a corner and I immediately spotted a Buzzard in the hedge on my side of the single-track road. I slewed the car round at around 30° across the road, turned off the engine and took a shot, expecting the bird to do the usual thing of taking off as soon as I poked my lens out of the window - it did no such thing!

I started the car again and moved a little closer and took more shots. It didn't budge!

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) (juvenile) - Whitemoor Haye

I started the car once more and edged a little closer. I was probably less than 10 metres away now, and still it stayed.

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) (juvenile) - Whitemoor Haye

I felt sure it would go when I started the car yet again, and got the distance down to  around six metres - but it didn't!

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) (juvenile) - Whitemoor Haye

Unbelievably it stayed there when I again started the car and stopped opposite it, probably at less than 4 metres distance. It was only when it saw my amazed face looking at it that it lazily took to the air and departed. I suspect that I'll never get as close to a wild Buzzard as this ever again, and that I only had this privilege because it was a juvenile. Here's a shot of it departing.

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) (juvenile) - Whitemoor Haye

When I came to check my camera I was worried to see that I was still set up for shooting in the shade of woodland. My shots had been taken at an unnecessarily high ISO value (800) and consequently at a rather high shutter speed (1/5000s). My set-up does not usually work well at high shutter speeds (I don't know why!), but I seem to have got away with it, and it will have helped with that last shot. I do, however, think I'd have done better shooting at ISO 200 for those static shots.

Closer to home we stopped in the car park a Oakthorpe Colliery as it was probably years since Lindsay had been there. On this occasion there were only common birds coming to the feeders, and the Willow Tits were not seen. Here's a couple from that session.

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) - Oakthorpe Colliery

Coal Tit (Periparus ater) - Oakthorpe Colliery

After this it was a five minute journey to our home. We'd had a most enjoyable day, even if only common birds had been seen, but the Buzzard had been a real bonus. We did, however, make a mental note not to go anywhere quite so 'public' on Boxing Day next year, especially if the weather is fine!

I take this opportunity to wish my readers A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! If you are making New Year resolutions, please include a commitment to work towards making this planet a better place, particularly for its wildlife - it's time we all made amends for past abuse.

Thank you for dropping by.