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Friday 17 February 2023

The Second Week of February - 8th to 14th Feb. 2023

header image (while this post is current) - Sparrowhawk in our garden on 9th February, 2023

We've reached some more milestones in Lindsay's recovery this week, and things are looking up. It is beginning to look as if it might not be very long before I am able to confidently leave Lindsay on her own for a significantly longer period, and so travel further afield in the hope of finding something a bit different to point my camera at.

In the meantime, here's how the second seven days of February unfolded.

Wednesday, 8th February                    Garden

It was a good day for visiting birds, but I only managed photos of two. This was the last-but-one day that the female Pied Wagtail visited.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - garden on 8th February, 2023
Carrion Crow is currently visiting on most days, but usually stays high up in the rowan or sorbus. This one could be captioned 'Corvus in the Sorbus'!

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - garden on 8th February, 2023
Thursday, 9th February                    Garden

I had put out some stale bread for the birds as the Magpies are rather fond of it - actually, they'll eat pretty-much anything! I was not expecting a squirrel to find it to its taste.

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - garden on 9th February, 2023
The immature Sparrowhawk (it now seems it is a female), once very nervous, has now become a lot more confident - too confident really! It visited several times this day, and each time I went out to take its photo it stayed there for a while before moving a bit further down the fenceline. This was also the day that the once ever-present Pied Wagtail was last seen and, as it seemed to go about its business quite nonchalantly, I wonder if it fell victim.


Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (immature female?) - garden on 9th February, 2023
Friday, 10th February                    Garden ; Hicks Lodge ; Thortit Lake

We were still getting visits from Redpoll and I was taking avery opportunity to photograph them as there's no telling if or when they will visit again. Numbers had increased to the occasional four. On this day, however, we had six visit and I managed to get a record shot with all six of them in.

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) - garden on 10th February, 2023
Here are a couple of shots without the clutter of the feeder dishes.

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) - garden on 10th February, 2023
In the afternoon, I headed out to Hicks Lodge to have an amble around and see what might be happening on the lake there. I did my usual thing of parking at Oakthorpe Colliery and walking in. On my way in, a small flock of Redwing flew over the track and landed, well spread out, on the far side of the field to the west of the track. Here's a record shot of one of them.

Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - Hicks Lodge
Having reached the lake, I popped into the hide for a short while. Little happened, except I got some shots of a departing swan.
 
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Hicks Lodge
A walk along the western edge of the lake revealed a male Goosander right over on the eastern side of the lake.
 
Goosander (Mergus merganser) (male) - Hicks Lodge
In the north-western corner of the lake, a pair of Shoveler were engaged in their courting ritual, where the birds circle round each other.
 
Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male) - Hicks Lodge
Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male + female) - Hicks Lodge
As I wandered back, I spotted a distant Oystercatcher. I'm not used to seeing this species here, although it is one of the locations that this 'uncommon passage visitor' regularly shows up at at this time of year.
 
Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - Hicks Lodge
While I was standing trying to get shots of the Oystercatcher, a Coot left the lake and wandered over the grass quite close to me, seeming totally unperturbed by my presence.
 
Coot (Fulica atra) - Hicks Lodge
Feeling that I'd seen as much as I was likely to without spending a lot of time here, I set off back to my car, stopping to photograph some of a large group of Greylag Geese that were just over the other side of the hedge between the track and the pasture to the west of the track.
 
Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Hicks Lodge
Having reached the car park at Oakthorpe Colliery, and prompted by the sighting of the Goosander at Hicks Lodge, rather than get into my car and drive home, I took the short walk down to Thortit Lake as this has been a reliable location for Goosander in previous winters. This proved to be the case on this occasion, with three drakes being spotted at the far side of the lake.
 
Photography is difficult at this location, as only the northern edge of the lake is accessible so, for much of the day, one is shooting into the light. For this reason, I tend to visit here on cloudy days. This was one such day.
 
Goosander (Mergus merganser) (male) -Thortit Lake
Saturday, 11th February                    Garden ; Thortit Lake ; Garden ; Kelham Bridge
 
One of the Redpolls visiting the garden had a distinctly pale orange forehead, rather than a red one. I wonder if this was a juvenile? You can see this in the image below.
 
Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) - garden on 11th February, 2023
Recently, I have been taking Lindsay to Oakthorpe Colliery carpark so that she can take a short walk on a level path through Willesley Woods, where there are plenty of benches for her to rest on. On this day, she was happy to let me leave her there for half an hour in the morning and go off on foot on my own down to Thortit Lake.
 
I was pleased to see snowdrops in full bloom in Willesley Woods
 
Snowdrop (Galanthus sp.) - Willesley Wood
I was even more pleased to find a female Goosander on Thortit Lake, and spent a short while trying to photograph her, ignoring the two males that were present in another area.
 
Goosander (Mergus merganser) (female) -Thortit Lake
We came home to find that the Redpoll with the orange, rather than red, forehead was still showing well.
 
Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) - garden on 11th February, 2023
That afternoon, I went out to Kelham Bridge to see what I could find.
 
The first hide reached at Kelham Bridge is set low into the ground so that the windows are only just above ground level. Although there are bird feeders hanging in the trees at a distance off to the right of the hide, I suspect that someone has been chucking seed out of the hide windows as, as soon as I sat down, the nearby pheasants seemed to detect my presence and approach my position. I had the strange experience of having eye to eye contact on the level with a female pheasant at less than two metres distance!

Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (female) - Kelham Bridge
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (male) - Kelham Bridge
A heron arrived and landed in the distance.
 
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Kelham Bridge
I stayed for a while, having the hide to myself - which I was not expecting, this being a Saturday. However, little was happening so I set off for the second hide, which is usually more productive.
 
On my way to the second hide, a pair of Bullfinch were moving down the hedge ahead of me, and being very elusive. I did, eventually, manage a distant shot of the male, which was busy nibbling off new shoots on the bushes.
 
Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - Kelham Bridge
At the second hide, there was even less to see. At one point, two Canada Geese arrived, but didn't stay long. These have a habit of loudly announcing when they are about to depart and, when they did, I thought for a moment that this one was on a collision course for the hide!

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Kelham Bridge
On my way back to the first hide, I noticed these catkins which looked very bright and attractive.
 
Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) (catkins) - Kelham Bridge
Back at the first hide once more, there was even less activity. I was, however, quite amused when a Robin flew into the hide and landed on the edge of the next window along from me. It was off again before I could raise my camera. Not much later, it again flew into the hide and landed on the bench beside me. This time I did manage to grab a shot!
 
Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Kelham Bridge
I had been on site for over an hour and a half, and not seen one other person during that time - perhaps the word had got out about the lack of activity here?
 
Monday, 13th February                    Thortit Lake
 
This was another day when I took Lindsay out for a walk and made a diversion down to Thortit Lake while she stayed relatively local to the car park.

The Goosander seemed to have departed, but there was a Great Crested Grebe on the lake.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Thortit Lake
Lindsay drove the car home - her first time driving since the beginning of December! This was another milestone in her recovery.
 
Tuesday, 14th February                    Thortit Lake

This day was, in essence, a repeat of the previous day, with just the grebe photographed. However, Lindsay drove there and back.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Thortit Lake

This brings me to the end of the seven days. I will aim to publish my next blog post in a week's time, and currently it looks as if it will be a short one as, to date, there has been little to report and the next few days are forecast to be very windy and maybe a bit wet - not a good combination. Also, the Sparrowhawk's regular visits seem to have succeeded in frightening most of the birds away from our garden.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard


26 comments:

  1. Hello Richard
    the sparrow hawk put himself in the right light for you, he knew exactly that he would be the header image on your blog, but the squirrel also has to be careful, would also be a tasty snack for the sparrow hawk.. the pheasant rooster is also a great bird, great colors the pheasant hen, on the other hand, looks very colourless...
    Greetings Frank

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    1. Hi Frank. I understand that it is very unusual, but not unheard of, for a Sparrowhawk to take a squirrel. I suspect that it would only be the much larger female Sparrowhawk that would be capable of subduing a squirrel - which is a very muscular creature.

      Best wishes - - - Richard

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  2. Beautiful photos as ever Richard. Quite envious of your Redpolls. I did once have a flock of 11 including a single Mealy in my birch. Sadly a one-off event. I have seen a small flock fairly locally a couple of times this year but very few about down here this winter.

    I haven't connected with Goosander yet this year, so I'm envious of these- such smart ducks! There is a smart drake Smew not too far from here which I have enjoyed a couple of times.

    Looking at the leaves of your snowdrops, they look to be one of the double forms (flore pleno) of G. nivalis.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, and observations, 'Conehead54'. The Redpolls now seem to have left us as have many other birds in the past few days. I think that the Sparrowhawk was getting too persistent.

      I have not seen a Smew yet this winter, although they have been present in the vice-county for several weeks now. Unfortunately we are on the extreme west of Leicestershire & Rutland and the Smew are at the extreme east, and currently out of range with the domestic situation being what it is currently!

      Until I saw a programme a few weeks ago which featured a snowdrop nursery and a snowdrop horticultural show, I thought that a snowdrop was a snowdrop, and was surprised to learn that there are so many different cultivars.

      Best wishes - - - Richard

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  3. Beautiful photos Richard. I like the sparrowhawk. Have a nice weekend !

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    1. Thank you, Caroline. That Sparrowhawk has turned out to be a bit too much on a nuisance as many of the birds seem to have deserted our garden as it is too dangerous for them!

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  4. Hi Richard! Absolutely wonderful nature observations!! It's still winter here.

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    1. Thank you, Anne. Here it is mainly dull windy weather, but the temperature is up to around 10°c! Best wishes - - - Richard

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  5. Good to hear you have reached a milestone with Lindsay's recovery and to read your illustrated wanderings. The six Lesser Redpoll on your garden feeders created another one of those 'I'm turning green' moments for me Richard, we have had I think just two strays on our feeders over the 11 years we have lived here.

    Kind Regards to both....Pete.

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    1. We do manage to see Redpoll in the garden most years, Pete, but don't recall ever seeing this many at a time in past years.

      I'm pleased to report that Lindsay's progress seems to be accelerating at the moment.

      Best wishes to you and KT - - - Richard

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  6. By the way Richard....I note the Robin at Kelham Bridge is ringed.

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    1. There seems to be a lot of ringing going on in most of our nature reserves, Pete. In some locations it seems that there are nearly as many ringed birds as unringed ones! I noticed the ring on that Robin but, in that light and for the couple of seconds it was there, I was never going to be able to read it.

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  7. Cracking set of photos Richard. Take care.

    Marc

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    1. Thank you, Marc. I hope that all is well with you - - - - Richard

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  8. Hello Richard, first I am happy to read that Lindsey is getting better and better and even went out with you on a walk in nature. And that you are confident to go further from home now things are aproving so much. Than the birds in your garden. Wow so much spectacular kinds, like the Sparrowhawk and the Lesser redpoll. I do hope the Sparrowhawk has no taste for the Lesser redpoll. Some years back I was able to take photos of these wonderful birds. I even drove an hour in my car to see them. Well again glad for you both and Spring comming that you both can enjoy outings again.
    Warm regards,
    Roos

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words, Roos. Lindsay continues to improve, and her cellulitis has nearly gone now, so she can concentrate on getting her knee working.

      Because of the Sparrowhawk, we are seeing much fewer birds in the garden as they have been frightened away. We are still getting occasional visits from the Redpolls, however.

      I'm not sure that Spring is on its was just yet, as it is starting to turn cold and grey again!

      Best wishes - stay safe - - - Richard

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  9. Water birds, song birds, raptors and even catkins! If I didn't know better, I might think Spring is getting close to your neighborhood.

    Excellent to hear Lindsay is up to an outing such as this. Hopefully, she will resist the urge to do too much too soon.

    I really enjoyed this lovely collection of photographs! There may be no solution for your Sparrowhawk dilemma. Until he eats all of the birds. Then he'll have to seek another garden. But that doesn't sound too good for your resident songbirds - or the songbird watchers!

    All is good over here. Spring migrants are filtering through as they return north. We're hoping for a coastal trip soon before all the waterfowl have departed.

    Gini and I hope you and Lindsay have a simply fabulous New Week!

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    Replies
    1. Spring seems to have departed again, Wally, and we're back into cold dull weather with frosts on some nights.

      Lindsay's progress is much better now as, ten weeks and five courses of antibiotics down the line, her cellulitis is retreating well and enabling her to be more active. Her spirits are lifting too (as are mine!).

      I hope you manage your coastal trip soon, and look forward to seeing what fruits it bears.

      Very best wishes to you and Gini - - - Richard

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  10. Fantástico reportaje, me dan mucha envidia tus vecinos del jardín. Enhorabuena por las fotos Richard, un fuerte abrazo desde el norte de España.

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    1. Gracias, Germán. Hasta hace poco me di cuenta de que vería más pájaros si me quedaba en casa que si salía al campo. Sin embargo, ¡el gavilán ahora ha reducido la cantidad de pájaros que vemos en el jardín!

      Mis mejores deseos desde el centro de Inglaterra, donde vuelve a ser aburrido, frío y ventoso - - - - Richard

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  11. You have some great photos here but I am fascinated by the Redpoll. To my knowledge I have never seen one.
    I am delighted to hear that Lindsay is taking trips out with you and that she is managing to take walks now. Hopefully she will soon be out jogging!
    Take care both of you, Diane

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    1. Redpoll are, primarily, a northern species, Diane, and we only see them in winter months in this neck of the woods.

      The thought of Lindsay jogging made me smile. However, we have started turning our thoughts to getting away for a few days, but are still currently dependent on the availability of disabled loos!

      My very best wishes to you and Nigel - - - Richard

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  12. Hi Richard!!! Lovely squirrel and great set of pictures...Happy evening

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    1. Thank you, Ana. Some people consider squirrels to be vermin, but I am rather fond of them!

      Best wishes - - - Richard

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  13. Hello Richard :=)
    It is good news to learn that Lindsay has improved significantly this week.It's been tough for you both, but I'm pleased that now things are looking brighter. I enjoyed your water fowl captures,lovely shots of the Great-crested Grebe one of my favourite ducks, and also the shot of the male pheasant shows what a handsome fellow he is compared to his counterpart. It's always nice to see a Robin, and signs of Spring with the Snowdrops and the Catkins. Stunning images of the Sparrow Hawk, caught in beautiful lighting, and such a cute squirrel capture. I'm glad to see you are still getting visits from the Lesser Redpolls,.but hope they escape the unwanted attention of the Sparrow Hawk.

    Since last Saturday I have been having computer. problems which I could not fix, but my Granddaughter came for lunch yesterday and got it working properly. My last post was posted by my daughter on her own computer, so I was unable to visit anyone until last night. What a nuisance it has been, grrr I have had a lot of catching up to do, but finally made it here..

    My warm best wishes to you Richard, and also to Lindsay who I hope continues to improve...


    ReplyDelete
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    1. Computers are wonderful devices, Sonjia - when they work! It's my experience that, as technology advances, things get more complicated (or less controllable). It's also my experience that, as age advances, technology becomes more unfathomable! I'm pleased to hear that your computer issues are now resolved.

      Thank you for your kind words. Best wishes - - - - Richard

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