White Crowned Sparrow

I'd been and seen it when the crowds were just enormous, but today I went to photograph the White Crowned Sparrow at Cley, it was a long wait for several obscured views of the bird and a few reasonable record shots of it. Its been here for some time now but it is still pulling the crowds, this makes it problematic when the bird shows as its not easy to move into a good position... I'll have to go back on a weekday!

Todays drive home however was very productive, I've had my eye on this modern agricultural scene for a while, all I needed was the right light, colours and sky... OK I'd have liked a shower to wet down the polythene too so that I got stronger reflections, but I can save that for another visit as I am still very happy with the shots I got!

More headlight highlights

A fruitless search for a Long-eared Owl perhaps, but still a great nights Owl hunting, seven (it might have been eight) Tawny Owls being the highlight as there were a couple of real posers who allowed us real close. Two Barn Owls, Fox Muntjac and several Hares made up the supporting cast for a fine evenings wildlife watching.

Headlights highlights

On the way back from visiting my mother I found this Barn owl hunting beside the road, I always have a camera at the ready in the car, I just needed to fit a flash and let it charge up. This bird was amazingly accomodating allowing me to get out of the car and walk around it whilst shooting pictures, I will have to look for it again on another night!

There's no Buntings like Snow Buntings!

There's no Buntings like Snow Buntings! There I just had a compulsion to use that title....
I'm still waiting for the crowds to subside so I can get that Sparrow at Cley, meanwhile its worth milking some of the other posers for all the photo possibilities available.

A Chat over the hedge

A bird that almost rivals its close relative the Robin for its friendliness, winter Stonechats usually are quite confiding and can become very approachable once they are used to your presence. They seem to overwinter in pairs, and these Cambridgeshire birds have found a nice stretch of Bramble covered ditch next to a farm track, to provide food and shelter until the spring.
I used the car as a mobile hide to get these shots; perfect shooting conditions, good light, an elevated track affording views over the hedge, and a very distant background that allowed me to use small apertures and still have diffuse colours behind the birds, it was only the waiting for the birds to perch in the place on the taller twigs that needed some time; but with a flask of hot coffee and the Sunday Express crossword to do, it was a very nice way to spend the day. A small set of images, including one of the female, from the 17 gig I shot........

Crowded beach.

Not something you expect to see in the middle of winter, but at Salthouse there were loads of people all laid out on the beach like sun-bathers except for the thick clothes, gloves, scarves and hats. Hardly surprising because the Snow Buntings and Lapland Buntings have become the stars of the show, unlike many birds, these are only difficult to photograph because they come too close! A regular supply of seed has attracted a huge number of birds here, as well as the two species of Buntings there are Turnstones, Teal, Linnets, the occasional Twite and Dunlin, I must admit to be a little surprised at the Waders scoffing seed as well!

Climate winge

Is it just me or are the weather forcasts getting less accurate? I find it hard to accept the theories about global warming when the Met office are having difficulty predicting what the weather will do in the next 24 hours; let alone the next 24 years! More and more I seem to get to where the weather is supposed to be good, only to get wet and cold, and worse still have to struggle for light!
This last weekend wasn't too bad though, a murky grey start that cleared when the wind increased a little, allowing some after-lunch sunshine. Welney isn't that far from home so it seemed like a good idea to get some Swans in flight with the pastel winter sky at sunset, and to "kill two birds with one stone" (poor choice of cliché I know!) I also needed some shots of trains on a bridge, and the one at Pyemoor would be ideal.
These are a small few of the results of a reasonably productive day, I was very pleased with the Song Thrush as I see fewer and fewer of them.
The geese in flight across the sun was taken from the A1101 bridge on the causeway, I also got Swans, Gulls and a flock Golden Plover in much the same image, not to mention how cold I got too!
Stonechats are regular here in winter but can be difficult to locate sometimes, and the Pied Wagtail on ice just served to show how tough these little birds are to cope with what the winter throws at them.