A Few More Center Parc Birds

This Sparrowhawk stayed on a branch in a dark area a long way away for about 10 minutes; it was great to have more than the usual fleeting view. Plenty of activity on the northern lake with three Great Crested Grebes often very close, plus Coots and Mallards (also Tufted , Pochard and Goosander). Sad to see very few Chaffinches and those that were there had diseased legs with typical squatting position. Other birds, especially the Robin, for 4-year old Sadie who enjoyed time in the hide during their visit.

Birds of Prey Workshop

 I booked into a Raptor workshop mainly because I wanted to practise taking birds in flight using the AF Back button to hold focus etc.Unfortunately the original falconer was ill so all the birds were static, which was annoying to say the least as we could have been notified of this beforehand. However it was ab enjoyable day just observing and photographing these magnificent birds - Peregrine, Barn Owl, Golden Eagle and Snowy Owl.

Spring at Rye Meads

Lots of signs of Spring last Friday. The female Kestrel on the left comes off sitting on the eggs when the male calls her, accepts half a rat and flies away to eat it while the male does a short incubation stint. Lots of pairs of Gadwall and the Coots are as aggressive in defending territory as usual, here chasing off a Tufted duck. The Robin and Coot already have young families, very vocal in demanding food.

Hobbies at Lakenheath

 We spent a very enjoyable day photographing Hobbies at Lakenheath RSPB reserve. Incredibly agile birds, the hit rate for in-focus images is very low indeed. I am still waiting to get the perfect Hobby shot where they are catching dragonflies.

Yet More Owls

I think this might be becoming an obsession - another trip to view the Short-eared Owls. This time the light went quite quickly but gave some attractive dusk shots.

Short-eared Owls

Phil and I dusted off our long lenses and took a trip to Burwell Fen to look for the Short-eared Owl invasion that had been well publicised on the Bird internet sites. Sure enough we managed to see at least five different individuals; maybe more. The birds were all very different in coloration; I don't know if this relates to their breeding area as these birds have probably come here from a variety of summer habitats.They each seemed to hold a territory for hunting - two spent a lot of time squabbling or maybe just playing with each other and with some crows. The first shot shows Wicken Fen windpump in the background to give the location.

Amazingly Agile Hobbies

A real treat today as a Hobby passed right in front of us carrying a dragonfly, which it proceeded to tear apart and eat on the wing. It then did a pass across the water in front of us and caught a second dragonfly and consumed that also on the wing. I am amazed at its ability to catch Dragonflies - I have been trying to photograph them in flight today with no success.