I have been struggling with my motivation to get out into the countryside in recent weeks. When I do get out, although it is an enjoyable experience to have a change of scenery, I am finding that I see disappointingly little in the way of wildlife. I usually come back thinking that I'd see much more of interest if I stayed at home and sat in the conservatory, watching the birds in our garden.
I have even found myself thinking that perhaps the suburban location of our home and the plethora of local people feeding the birds in their gardens is sucking the birds out of the countryside, and we are the avian equivalent of fast-food restaurants. It has also got me wondering if, in the long term, this will be to the detriment of the birds - as fast-food establishments are to the detriment of the human race.
From this preamble, you'll now not be surprised that most of this blog post will relate to observations from our conservatory or my study. Here is my account of my December up until Christmas Eve, which featured an exceptional variety of birds, most of which, towards the end of the month, appeared in extremely dull or wet weather! This did not make for good photography and many of the images that follow have been extensively enhanced in colour balance, contrast, and/or brightness in order to make them a little more acceptable.
Wednesday, 1st December
The month started well with 19 species putting a foot down in the garden on this day. For me, the most exciting appearance was that of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, after a long (too long!) absence.
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Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (male) - garden on 1st December, 2021
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Some of the other birds from that day now follow.
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| Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - garden on 1st December, 2021 |
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| Dunnock (Prunella modularis) - garden on 1st December, 2021 |
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Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - garden on 1st December, 2021
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Thursday, 2nd December
Again, 19 species of a slightly different mix in the garden this day. I rather like this shot of the wagtail with the frost on the wall.
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| Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - garden on 2nd December, 2021 |
In the afternoon, I headed for the new area of Sence Valley Forest Park, in the hope of photographing some winter thrushes. The few I saw were all too skittish to photograph, but I did just about manage a shot of a Redwing.
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Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - Sence Valley CP
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In the warm glow of the last remaining sun I found a Reed Bunting.
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Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (female) - Sence Valley FP
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It was time to head back to my car and see from this viewpoint what might appear as darkness fell. The answer was very little, but I did take some shots of sundown.
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Sunset - Sence Valley FP
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Monday, 6th December
The winter thrushes came to us this day, in the form of three Redwing in the garden. They were scoffing the berries on our Rowan. However, I didn't manage any action shots on this day.
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Redwing (Turdus iliacus) -garden on 6th December, 2021
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The viburnum in the north-east corner of the garden was still flowering profusely and giving off a glorious scent.
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Viburnum - garden on 6th December, 2021
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Tuesday, 7th December
This was another exceptional day, with 21 bird species visiting the garden. I failed to get shots of most of the more interesting birds, including Jay. We broke our life record for Redwing numbers in the garden when twelve arrived while the weather was still dull. Here is one of them.
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| Redwing (Turdus iliacus) -garden on 7th December, 2021 |
Later in the day, when the sun was low and giving a warm yellow light, I managed a shot of a female Blackcap that showed up in the viburnum, little knowing that she would be a regular visitor for the next month!
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Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - garden on 7th December, 2021
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This beautiful light also gave some Redwing opportunities.
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| Redwing (Turdus iliacus) -garden on 7th December, 2021 |
After sundown, a Blackbird appeared. This one had me scratching my head for a while as I am not familiar with Blackbirds in this state of plumage. It was the orange 'bib' which threw me. I think that it's an immature female.
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Blackbird (Turdus merula) (immature female?) - garden on 7th December, 2021
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Thursday, 9th December
A pair of Bullfinch had recently become regular visitors, but I had failed to take any photos. This day a handsome male decided to oblige outside my study window.
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Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - garden on 9th December, 2021
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That afternoon I paid a short visit to Thortit Lake which is just a short way down the road from us. The sun was already behind the trees and I did not do well on the bird front, the only items of interest being a distant pair of Goosander.
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Goosander (Mergus merganser) (male + female) - Thortit Lake
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On my way back through Willesley Wood I could not resist taking a shot of this squirrel.
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Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - Willesley Wood
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Sunday, 12th December
On this day, we had a rare visit from Britain's smallest species of bird - a Goldcrest. These birds are never still, and nortoriously difficult to photograph - that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!
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Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - garden on 12th December, 2021
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Friday, 17th December
The Pied Wagtail had been an intermittent visitor but we are always delighted when 'the Vogster' (it's too long a story to tell on this occasion!) turns up. Here he is on the roof of Lindsay's 'nook'
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| Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - garden on 17th December, 2021 |
Sunday, 19th December
On this day, I'd arranged to meet my brother, who lives in Cambridge, at Rutland Water (half way between us) for a first meeting in over a year, and a Christmas present exchange.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be an exceptionally foggy day. En-route to the meeting, I stopped when I saw some Pheasants. One flew up onto a footpath sign, close to the road. I took some shots, one of which turned out to be relatively sharp but relatively monochrome. The first image has been considerablyy enhanced in order to get anything meaningful. The second one is when I decided to go the whole hog, and convert it to monochrome with further enhancements of brightness and contrast. I quite like the result.
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Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (female) - near Hungarton
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Further on, I noticed a bird, on a beam at the entrance to a barn, which was just about visible through the thick fog. It was only by taking a photo with some unconventional settings on my camera that I was able to identify this as a Common Kestrel. I show this next image just to give you an idea as to what I was up against.
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Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) - near Burrough on the Hill
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I had only stopped at this location because I had, in the past, seen a Little Owl here. I was on the point of leaving when I thought that I might be seeing something in the corner of a beam. With the modified settings on my camera I found that there was a Little Owl there.
Using the same process as that for the pheasant, above, I was able to come up with the following which makes the owl more visible.
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Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.23
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Continuing my journey, I'd stopped to lok at some distant Yellowhammers (no photos) when I got a message from my brother to say that he'd not been able to get his car started, but was expecting the rescue service to be with him in about an hour and a half. I was happy to wait so continued to my favourite local place to have a picnic lunch, with a chance of seeing an owl. There was no owl visible through the fog on arrival but, part way through my lunch, the fog lifted a little and the owl appeared. Using the same monochrome technique, but to a lesser extent, this is what I can offer.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.34 |
At 14.30, my brother contacted me again to say that he had been started and was now waiting to have a new battery fitted. It was then agreed that we'd go for a replacement meeting on the Thursday so I turned round and headed home.
One place was virtually fog-free, but still very dismal, and I took some shots from my car of Pheasants. This one only needed the contrast enhancing and the white-balance tweaking.
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| Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (male) - near Hungarton |
Monday, 20th December
This was another good start to the week in the garden, with 22 species putting a foot down. The highlight this day was getting some shots of a visiting Brambling - our first of the winter!
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Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) (male) - garden on 20th December, 2021
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Tuesday, 21st December
We are getting good numbers of Goldfinch in the garden this winter, with our current maximum being 33. Although common, they are always a delight to behold.
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Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - garden on 21st December, 2021
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Nuthatch, on the other hand, is a very infrequent visitor, and even more welcome!
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Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) - garden on 21st December, 2021
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In the afternoon, I paid a fruitless visit to Saltersford Valley Country Park, and then headed off to Thortit Lake where all that I found to photograph was a pair of swans.
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Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) (male + female) - Thortit Lake
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Wednesday, 22nd December
We'd had a visit from three Siskin the previos day (male + 2 female), but I'd not managed any usable photos. This day, we had just one male and one female. I just about managed a shot of the female, but had a bit better luck with the male.
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Siskin (Carduelis spinus) (female) - garden on 22nd December, 2021
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| Siskin (Carduelis spinus) (male) - garden on 22nd December, 2021 |
Thursday, 23rd December
This was the day for my second attempt to meet up with my brother. Weather-wise, I thought I was in for a repeat performance as, soon after leaving home, I was in dense fog again. Fortunately, by the time that I was half way there, the fog had lifted and had left us with a misty day. I stopped briefly at my Little Owl Site No.34, and an owl was in the nest entrance.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.34 |
The meeting up with my brother was a real tonic. We sat in our respective cars, side-by-side at a 'social distance' with the windows open, and had a good natter for an hour or so until my brother started to feel the cold (I was dressed in full winter birding gear!).
It was still daylight when I set off homeward. As I approached my Little Owl Site No.41 I was hailed down by the farmer, an old friend, who asked if I could wait a moment so that his wife could reverse out and make her way up the road ahead of me. While we were chatting, his wife flushed a Little Owl from beside the road as she drove. It was frustrating but good to know an owl was still around. His wife had stopped further up the road, and came over for a chat with me - apparently this was her first sighting of a Little Owl for a few months!
This brings me to the end of this rather lengthy (sorry, Diane!) blog post. My next post will feature the Christmas period, up until the end of ther month and could be a bit owly!
A belated Happy New Year to all. Please take good care of yourselves, and Nature - - - Richard
Hi Richard! Happy New Year! There are really a lot of birds out there! We have a lot of snow ;-))
ReplyDelete- and a Happy New Year to you and yours too, Anne. I would be happy if you could send some of your snow in this direction, together with some of your birds, but please keep your very cold temperatures over there!
DeleteBest wishes - stay safe - - - Richard
Happy New Year Richard. A great post to start the year off with. A set of lovely photos. Don't think you need a hide with them. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marc. I have put my hide up in the garden a couple of times this week, trying to get some better shots of the female Blackcap as she is nearly always at the far end of the garden and either on a feeding tray or partially hidden in the shrubs. Just came in about 15 minutes ago from the last short session, and am hoping I might have one or two usable shots.
DeleteMy very best wishes for 2022 to you and the family - stay safe - - - Richard
All the very best for 2022, let us hope that things improve though they do not look very promising at present!
ReplyDeleteI wish we could exchange birds; you have some I have never seen and I am sure we have some that you might not see so often. Lovely set of photos and I am jealous of your owl photos. I wish I could track 'ours' down, I hear them all the time but since they changed their nesting spot I have no idea where they are now. Hidden in somebody's barn, but where?
Take care a stay safe both of you. Very best wishes Diane.
Thank you, Diane. I quite like the idea of a bird exchange with you, especially if you could include some of your insects and reptiles in the deal, but a property exchange might be more attractive!
DeleteWith Little Owls, one thing you can be sure of is that, if you are hearing them regularly, they will be nesting close by. After fledging and been encouraged to leave home and find their own place by the parents. Having found a new home,Little Owls rarely stray far from their nest site - unless driven out.
My best wishes to you and Nigel - stay safe - - - Richard
Ever since we bought the house here in 2005 I have always heard the Little Owls. Only last year did they nest in the neighbour's barn where I could watch then constantly. Something serious happened in the autumn to cause a huge upset the two adults were in a real state jumping around near the corner of our property for quite a time and making a lot of noise. I suspect the youngster was killed by something, but I will never really know. The moved back afterwards to the other side of out hamlet ☹ D.
DeleteI now remember you saying about the problem with your local Little Owls in the autumn, Diane. I hope that their new home is safe. If they breed successfully you might get the dispersing youngsters coming back your way. I've known pairs to establish viable nests only 150 metres apart!
DeleteHello Richard,:=) Outstanding post as always, with so many beautiful birds seen and photographed just in your garden. The Dunnuck,surely must have been an unusual sighting, you don't say, but I was surprised to see it as a visitor to your garden, a lovely capture. The Reed Bunting, female Blackcap, and Redwing images, are all stunning, caught with beautiful lighting, and the Brambling, male Siskin, another treat. I'm pleased you saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker after it's long absence from your garden. I haven't seen one in a very long time.The Bullfinch, and Goldfinch, are always a pleasure to see, and the tiny Goldcrest was a nice surprise. Lovely captures of the Starling and Wagtail, and I think that just about covers your garden visitors, and your flowering Viburnum, and sunset, are both beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you managed to spend some time with your brother, it must have been nice to catch up with your news. I enjoyed seeing your Mute Swan, squirrel,and the three pheasants in the field images, and the Little Owl in site 34, when the weather was not favourable, but a little mist did not spoil my pleasure. The tree it sits in, always reminds me of a fairy tale tree.
Best regards, and keep safe.
Thank you, Sonjia. Dunnock is a common bird in these parts and it is an unusual day at any time of year that we don't see one in the garden. However, they do not stay still for long and like hiding in bushes so it is not often that I get the opportunity to photograph one.
DeleteI can see what you mean about that owl tree. Maybe it is more A.A. Milne than fairytale? I can visualise it with a pair of wooden doors at the entrance and a bell hung outside!
I'm so pleased that the future is now looking brighter for you. I hope that 2022 brings you much more health and happiness. Take good care and stay safe - - - Richard
Hello Richard: It's an interesting theory about the birds abandoning the countryside for easy pickings at backyard feeders, and it would be interesting to know whether any studies have been done on this phenomenon. I suspect it has to do with the fact that the birds compressed into your garden an any one time might be spread out over a few acres in a natural setting. Having said that bird populations in North America have been severely depleted over the past several years, and this may be true in Britain too. I can well imagine your delight at rediscovering Little Owls. Had I not followed them on your site originally, we would never have met! It is cold here today - minus 14 - and the backyard is hopping. I suspect it will be a two fill-up day! Best wishes to you and Lindsay. David
ReplyDeleteIt is almost fifteen years since I first started making regular visits to Rutland Water as a volunteer on the Osprey Project, David, and during those years I have noticed a dramatic drop-off in the number and variety of birds seen during journeys on this familiar route. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it was in excess of a 70% decline! My diminishing powers of observation may play a small part in this scenario, but it is still very worrying.
DeleteI get the impression that birds are now concentrating in gardens and nature reserves, but the general countryside away from these areas is so impoverished due to farming methods and land utilisation and (mis)management that there is little in the way of food and suitable habitat to sustain many species of bird.
I have seen some murmurings today on the subject of the impact of garden bird feeding, but am not yet aware of any proper studies. Will keep my eyes open and let you know if I find anything.
We too are having two fill-up days at the moment. It's nothing like as cold here as where you are (daytime temperatures hovering around 0°), but it is bringing the birds in.
Stay safe - - - Richard
The New Year is now in full swing and what a delight to see so many outstanding photographs from the United Kingdom!
ReplyDeleteThe opening image of the woodpecker is stunning! Diversity is alive and well in your garden. I totally understand that feeling you have when your time afield is somewhat sparse compared to what you may have experienced from the comfort of your chair by the window. Of course, you are well aware that situation occurs in cycles and may be totally reversed at the next outing.
We weathered December and began the new year in good health and have had a couple of very good birding trips already. Gini and I hope you and Lindsay remain safe and happy as we travel together down our respective paths.
I'm trying to get out into the wild more often, Wally. I don't mind the cold, and would even welcome some snow, but there's not much mileage in looking for birds and other wildlife in wet or foggy conditions, especially when there's a lot of slippery wet mud underfoot! And this is what there has been too much of recently. I'm looking forward to longer days and sunshine!
DeleteIt's good to know that 2022 has started well for you both, and I hope that it continues to do so. Lindsay and I have a lot to be thankful for on this side of the pond, and much to look forward to too.
Stay safe - - - Richard
Great Spotted Woodpecker is the no 1, and the Redwing, fabulous. And the Brambling, beautiful Richard.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. Those birds have given me a great deal of pleasure this winter. My best wishes to you and the family - - - Richard
DeleteHello Richard
ReplyDeletethe weather and the light conditions that will always remain our fate .. but .. imagine it would always be the most beautiful light, the sun doesn't dazzle and everything would be great so we just press the shutter button and the picture is in the box .. then our camera would only have the on and off button ... but this way we can press and adjust all buttons and still nothing ... ;-))
Happy new year in retrospect for you and your family ...
Greetings Frank
Thank you, Frank - your comment brought a huge smile to my face, and it seems to have stuck there!
DeleteMy very best wishes for 2022 to you and yours - - - Richard