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Thursday 7 July 2016

ANOTHER OSPREY DUTY.


We had another busy Osprey Duty on Thursday the 30th of June as usual Richard was on site before me arriving before 13.00 hrs with me arriving at 13.20 hrs, he had phoned me on his outbound trip to say he had seen four Little Owls on his trip, I saw none on my return however. The bulk of the time we were on duty we had a reasonable number of people in the Hide this time all asking numerous questions which between us I think we came out on top. The birds were not overactive, the male having brought back a pike not long after Richard was on duty, and the female feeding the young and then having a bath to clean away the smell of fish.

After this duty Richard returned along the Little Owl sites and I visited Eyebrook Reservoir for my tea and any Ospreys, the only Osprey seen was about 600 metres away and not even worth a chance image. So after this I had a slow trip home going past the Little Owl sites with a little rain to make things worse and saw nothing. 


Osprey Update 7-7-2016.
T6 & T8 Have both fledged just waiting for T7 who sits on the nest on his own.



I must also apologise for the problems people had last week in leaving a 'Comment'  not really sure as to what had happened but with Richards help all, I think has been resolved.


RUTLAND WATER.
30th June.




Ospreys Manton Bay. Waderscrape Hide.

Male in his usual position, female on the nest feeding the young and how they have grown. 



Female having a bath.


Out of the water and away, please remember these images are over 320 metres away. 




And in again 




And away for a fly around the bay, in the opposite direction to us unfortunately. 



The three young on the nest, T6 female, T7 male & T8 female its is thought. 



Female coming a little closer. 








Around and onto the nest and the young. 



Drinker Moth Caterpillar.

Went out of the hide to phone my wife and this sat on top of a post.



Grey Heron, Waderscrape Hide.

Bird flew across near to the reservoir. 





KESTRELS, OUR GARDEN.

Those of you that follow my blog will have read that a pair of Kestrels some weeks ago ousted our resident Barn Owls and have since bred and have raised three young. I have spent some time of a evening out in the garden with the camera on a tripod taking images of the youngsters as they have developed. They have not been easy subjects to photograph being white and when taking images with the sun on the box I have been shooting at   -1.00EV and ISO 1000. I have been out on my tractor this afternoon cutting the grass and they have been watching me intently all afternoon. I feel as I should be out with them again this evening trying to get more images hopefully some with the adults feeding them. 



First chick seen, even managed what appears to be a bluebottle flying across the entrance into the box. 



All three waiting to be fed. 








Getting a little older and you can see the start of a Kestrels colouration. 




 Adult arrives with food and chaos ensues.




Adult leaves so back on waiting duty for the next feed. 



A quick poo out of the doorway, they have since I have seen them done this and kept the box clean. 












Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed your visit as much as I did in getting the images. 




17 comments:

  1. Fantastic blog I must say, I love the Heron flying, excellent John.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bob, See I can get them blurred without shooting through a window, thanks Bob like the Heron myself.
      Regards John

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  2. You're lucky .. Kestrels in you jardim. :-))))
    Perfect..

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ana, normally we would have had Barn Owls but Kestrels make a change, will keep a check on them and show more images as they grow and eventually fledge. Regards John

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  3. Unos reportajes fantásticos con todo detalle. Las fotos me han gustado mucho. Un abrazo desde España.

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    Replies
    1. Hi German, thanks for your visit, we have had poor weather so far this summer, could do with some of your Spanish sun, all the best. Regards John

      Delete
    2. Hi German, thanks for your visit, we have had poor weather so far this summer, could do with some of your Spanish sun, all the best. Regards John

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  4. Wow, that must be absolutely fantastic having the Kestrel family breed in your back garden, lovely captures John.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Paul, its good to have the Kestrels, but would rather have had the original inhabitants. We visited Eyebrook last night and saw a Shortie. Regards John

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  5. Nice work, John. Those images from Rutland Water bring my happy memories. Think I'll wear my Rutland Water shirt today!

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    Replies
    1. Hi David, as you say happy memories, so pleased you are like us, the area is full of happy memories, wear you Rutland Water shirt with pride for the day. Regards John

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  6. Hello John,
    some days are a pain when it comes to bird photography!
    Nevertheless and despite the distance, you managed very decent pics of the Ospreys on the nest and of the adult flying closer.
    The caterpillar is a discovery for me!
    And the kestrels... WOW it must be so exciting to watch the young grow in a home made nestbox!
    Many thanks for your kind comments on my posts, I am still running like crazy with not much time to blog!
    Keep well and enjoy your weekend :)


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Noushka, great to have the young Kestrels coming out on the front of the box, they are really coming on this week and don't appear bothered about me trying to get images, still trying for a good one of an adult coming in to feed them. Thanks for taking the time to look at the Blog, All the best with your unpacking, still carry the scars from our last move, Have a good week and get out and have a break from work, it will all get done in time. Regards John

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  7. It's great to see your lovely images of your young Kestrel's, John. I'm delighted to see they're doing so well, even if you'd rather have had the original inhabitants still. Hopefully they'll be back sometime soon. Thanks for letting me see the youngsters on Thursday - not looked at my attempts to photograph them yet.

    See you soon - - - Richard

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    Replies
    1. Hi Richard, glad you enjoyed seeing the young Kestrels, you will be amazed at how they have grown since you saw them, not easy to get decent images if the sun is on them, lots of minus EV required. Great afternoon and evening on Thursday.
      See you soon John

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  8. O this is great to be able to watch these youngsters in the nestbox. You are very fortunate John. The captures of the Ospreys taking a bath are stunning.
    Regards,
    Roos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Roos, thanks for the interest, the young Kestrels are really fascinating to watch, still trying to get an image of an adult feeding them. The Osprey young have all fledged so Thursdays duty should hopefully be interesting. Regards John

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About Me;


Titus White:
Hi I am Richard Peglers friend Titus White, and those who follow Richards posts will understand the name and reason for it. I have been birding with Richard for 3 years and a volunteer at Rutland Water on the Osprey Project for 2 years. My early images were taken on a Nikon D80 with a 70 - 200mm lens. I updated the lens to a 70 - 300mm VR lens but still was not happy with the results. Eventually when Nikon announced the D7100 I decided to change so upgraded the camera and also invested in a Sigma 50 - 500mm lens.
I first met Richard through Arthur Costello as I was having the occasional visit from Little Owls on our land. We eventually found the Little Owls through another contact about 100 metres away. Photo's will follow on future posts.
I have recently upgraded my camera to full frame, this is a challenge I am at the moment enjoying trying to get the best out of the beast.
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