Grey Plover & many more!

Early-ish venture down to BHM with Nick. Turned out to be a rather successful trip with many species of birds and insects found.

Nothing of note seen in the Tower hide so we headed to the Island hide. Again, it looked as if nothing exciting was about. Many shelducks were dotted all around the marshland. Then, looking straight on from the hide on a gravel island was an unfamiliar bird. It took much consultation and a look in the trusty bird book to identify it was a Grey Plover.

Even at 400mm still very distant.

Cropped picture and not pin sharp.

Hundreds of Swallows, Swifts and Martins filled the air. Still trying to get that elusive shot. If only they flew a bit slower (and less erratically!).

Found this little fella in the hide next to the education centre. Some 'birder' had left the window and bottom hatch open allowing this Blue tit to venture in. I managed to catch him and release him back out.

Poor blue tit was finding it hard to exit the hide

On the reed beds we spotted 2 Reed Warblers chatting away. One emerged from the reeds. Unfortunately still quite distant to get a sharp picture. 

On the way back to car spotted a Broad-bodied Blibellula and a Common Blue Damselfly soaking up the sun.

All-in-all a productive morning!

It's been a while . . .

Went up to one of my local patches (Trinity Hill Woodlands) to listen/spot Nightjars with my cousin down on holiday with his family for half-term. Having never have seen or heard a Nightjar before, I was more than happy to go down. The weather was not ideal but we did in fact see two Nightjars and also heard their distinctive call and wingclaps. 

Sigma 120-400

Took the new lens for a couple hours on Friday down to Black Hole LNR. The weather was sunny, but sadly not much wildlife about. The water was still pretty high from all the wet weather we've had recently. 

Now to the lens. Its very well built, quick to focus and the images are sharp. Really enjoying using it so far. One downside is the weight of it. Shots can be taken handheld and the OS is solid.

Little Egret wading the waters. Were about 3 on the LNR.

Male mallards in flight.

Herring gul in flight. Love how they glide on the thermals.

Just on my way home when I heard this little robin singing his heart out.

All in all, a great lens and looking forward to using it more (weather permitting!)

New lens

My new Sigma 120-400 lens has arrived today. Will take it for a whirl today whilst the weather looks good. 

Oyster catchers + a few more

Had another successful stint down at Blackhole LNR on Sunday. Getting quite keen with bird watching (when the weather permits!). Will be looking to purchase a new lens (possibly 400/500mm) in the near future as everything, particularly birds and other wildlife, are so far away most of the time.


I had seen the Oyster catchers before but not managed to get a half decent picture of the pair. This time the weather conditions were better, but they were sat in the distance on an island. 

Another spot from the island hide was a pair of Black headed guls. Quite striking looking with their black heads - a relatively good looking gul! 

Will be popping back again when the weathers improved and hopefully entice some of the summer wildlife over. 

Productive hour

Made another visit to Black Hole LNR today post hailstone storm. Wide array of birds both woodland and water. 

Pied wagtail down by the waterside

Kestrel high up searching for potential prey

Grey Heron 

Song thrush singing in the tree tops. Took me ages to find where it was!

My first proper shot of a Chaffinch - not pin sharp by any means

My favourite picture of the day. Dunnock posing on a bramble 

Getting into this bird watching malarky!

Quick trip

A quick visit to Black Hole LNR. The tide was high so more woodland birds about. I'm a relative novice to bird watching and today bought a pair of Olympus binoculars.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Canada Goose on the marsh land. Very noisy indeed!

Blue Tit - rather far away and not pin sharp, but my first decent picture of this popular bird 

A rather dull looking Linnet?