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Sunday 8 January 2017

OUT WITH SOME WAXWINGS.


I decided on Monday  to have a quick visit out, and as in the morning on the LROS site it reported some Waxwings in Loughborough, I decided to make this my first port of call. So I managed to get away from home for about 12.30 hrs  and on arrival at the site found Richard already in place, this at least giving me confidence that the birds were still about. The unfortunate thing about the site the birds had chosen was that it was on the side of one of the main roads into the town and was very busy traffic wise.

Richard and the gent he was with explained that the birds seemed to be flying between a tree farther down the road and one in someones front garden, they said the problem with the tree we were watching was that the birds would fly up to it go to land and be disturbed by the traffic but we should get some flight shots. The lady whose garden we stood in front of was very friendly and offered for us to go and stand in her front garden which we declined. Mind if she had offered to open her garage door that would have been a different kettle of fish. 

The birds flew up a couple of times whilst I was on site and managed a few seconds landed and as predicted virtually flew away immediately as cars drove by but it was most certainly worth the visit, but proved to be a site I could not stay at for long, the traffic was noisy for me as well as disturbing the birds, so I headed away to get into the countryside for some peace at Eyebrook Reservoir which I found to be crowded with people so I visited the area where I see the Red Kites and was all on my own and at peace with the world.

 Then on Thursday Richard and myself had our weekly visit out and with my turn to drive. We had another quick visit to Loughborough and the Waxwings but only had a reasonably short visit as we wanted to spend some time with the Little Owls and also another try for the Kingfishers at Eyebrook. On our outward journey we saw two owls at Sites 8 and 9 and on our return we saw another two at Sites 5 and; 6.


On arriving at Eyebrook Reservoir we had a quick lunch and then positioned ourselves on the bridge on Kingfisher watch. We hadn't been watching for long when another gent arrived and a Kingfisher flew downstream and landed in the same tree as last week only then to be joined by a second bird, at this time it became a somewhat confusing as we thought at one point we saw three birds but in the end we decided one must have sneaked back upstream and then flown down again. Then a bird flew into a tree no more than thirty metres away but we were both in the wrong place with another tree in the way and by the time we had moved so had the Kingfisher, we will get it closer some time.  The gent who was with us then had a message through on his phone to say that five Whooper Swans were at the inlet, {that's where we were} but upon looking they were on the shore where the stream enters the Reservoir so it was a quick move to get some images before they flew. Then it was time to retrace our steps and head for home through the Little Owl sites.




As you can see my initial script and some of the wording below the images has converted to capitals, has anybody any ideas as to why?????. 

    


BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS.
LOUGHBOROUGH.
2 nd January.




This was the first return of the birds whilst I was on site. This was virtually a fly by with no attempt to land but they then flew around and returned. 



Then some more birds joined up with them, at this point I could count 25. 



Getting lower and looking to land.




At least with this image I managed to see a little of the red in the wing. 



Virtually in the tree, look like three males with the wider yellow band to the tail.



And then a quick rush in to land and grab a berry or two. 



As you can see it was somewhat chaotic, it was a case of point the camera and shoot.  





Another couple landing. 



These birds have managed a berry and then the traffic disturbed them and they were away. So I headed away for Eyebrook Reservoir.

EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
2 nd January
Red Kites.




These birds were in a slightly different area but I was shooting up to the sky and nearly into the sun.


















 Common Buzzard Near to the Reservoir.


I was driving away from the area when I could see this bird sat up in a tree, so I drove very slowly towards it and got within about 50 metres and stopped, switched the engine off and managed to get three quick images before it flew, you can see it had me spotted, Buzzards are very nervous birds and it seems impossible to get any closer for a decent image.


BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS.
LOUGHBOROUGH.
5 th January.




Whilst we were on site, we only had the one visit from the birds. 



Here with beak wide open and just about to devour a berry. 




Another berry bites the dust. 



At last a single bird lands virtually at the top of the tree so a clear shot through. 



Then the traffic disturbed them and they were away. 



And gone, and so were we, Little Owling. 



EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
5 th January.




Kingfisher.

In the same tree as last week, but this time you can make out some blue to its back. I am sure we will get some decent images soon. {perhaps} 



Whooper Swans.

This image taken from the area of the bunker whilst the birds were swimming down the Reservoir, with Pintail Drake to the front of them.  As they swam they were making the most delightful call.







This take about 200 metres farther down the road as the birds were heading out to the middle of the Reservoir. 

LITTLE OWLS.





Little Owls Site No. 9.

This week we could only see the single bird but still very happy to see the one. These birds were ousted from this site last Spring.  




 Little Owls Site No. 6.

By this time we had lost the light so not a very good image.



Little Owl Site No. 8.

Took a little time to find this bird as unusually it sat high up in the tree unfortunately with the sun virtually behind it.  



Kestrel Near Little Owls Site No. 19.

 Had a visit to see my farmer friends on Wednesday and this bird sat in a tree on the Opposite side of the Road to the Little Owl Site.




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

21 comments:

  1. I see a lot of beautiful birds including the beautiful little owl.
    Your photos of the waxwings are very beautiful. Flying waxwings you have to photograph beautiful. The Red Kite is great to see.

    Greetings, Helma

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    Replies
    1. Hi Helma and thank you for your visit and comment. Waxwings are a really beautiful bird but were very mobile whilst we were trying to photograph them. Red Kites are a very graceful bird and a pleasure to see. All the best, Regards John

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  2. Beautiful sights in the air, I love the Waxwings. And the Red Kite are precious John.

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  3. Hi Bob, although it was a very noisy place these birds had chosen to feed, it was really superb to see them. Red Kites are wonderful to watch as they so gracefully glide about the sky. All the best, Regards John

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  4. Hi Bob, although it was a very noisy place these birds had chosen to feed, it was really superb to see them. Red Kites are wonderful to watch as they so gracefully glide about the sky. All the best, Regards John

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  5. Some great images here ,John. I rather like your Red Kite images. I suspect that my next post will have an image or two that overlap with yours as far as subject matter is concerned. I think you did better than me with the Whoopers.

    I see that you're having problems again with Blogger formatting your text in a random fashion!

    See you soon - - - Richard


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    Replies
    1. Hi Richard and yes the blog is somewhat random in text and as hard as I try I cannot get it back to my original. Red Kites are such a wonderful graceful subject, just wish we could get them back in the original spot and in the numbers we saw, how many images would we take then??? All the best and see you soon, John

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  6. Hello John, fantastic you also managed to capture the Waxwings. Some great shots. The Red kite is also amazing so are the Whooper Swans and good you saw some LO.
    Regards,
    Roos

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  7. Hi Roos, yes after two visits I managed some images of the Waxwings, such pretty bird and very much on the move, have tried again this afternoon at two sites but all birds had gone. Wonderful to see the Whooper Swans mind they were a reasonable distance away. All the best and thanks for the visit. Regards John

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  8. Hi John,
    About the capital letters, it is possible that it is a question of layout conflict, especially if you wrote your text in a wording program (such as Open Office, I can't remember off hand the true term for such programs) and copy/pasted it in Blogger. I find I often have problems with layouts and related problems.
    One solution would be to open a new publishing document write a few words in small lettering and paste the rest of the text (in capital letters) right next to the small characters; It often works.

    Great post, you have no idea how I envy you theses photos of Waxwings! What a gorgeous bird it is!
    Brilliant stuff!
    The kestrel and the LO's are great too naturally!!
    Keep well and enjoy your day!

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  9. Hi Noushka I actually use the text on blogger but will try your idea and may also try cut and paste from word. Waxwings are such a delightful bird but they were very active and flying about nearly all the time. Richard and myself should be out tomorrow but the weather forecast is for snow, so may not happen. You look after yourself, Regards John

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  10. Like that yellow band on the tail.
    Birds are such wonderful creatures and the variety is huge.

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  11. Hi Haddock and thank you for your visit. I'm glad you like the images of the Waxwings, they are such a beautiful bird and are over in England because of the cold weather in Scandinavia. We are so lucky to be able to see them and as you say the variety is huge. I will follow you blog. Regards John

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  12. Hi John,
    very nice that you came to visit the little antlers fungi.
    I also put in my vlog list;-)
    All nice weekend.

    Greetings, Helma

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  13. Hi Helma, it was a pleasure to visit and see all your images, but especially the fungi were a delight to see.
    You have a good weekend. Regards John

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  14. Truly wonderful! The many and varied shots of Waxwings are fabulous - there was an item on East Midlands Today saying how many had been spotted in several places. Didn't mention Loughborough though! I also love the Whooper swans images, specially the pair. This is my fourth visit to your blog. Thought I had better post a comment! See you soon. M.

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  15. Hi Margaret and thanks for the visit. Waxwings are a really beautiful bird and I have been out twice this week trying to get some more images, having visited numerous sites at both Loughborough and Hinckley I have finished with precisely zero images as every where I visited except one site I saw no birds. The Whoopers really are something to see, such a proud looking Swan. All the best and hope you are feeling a lot better. Regards John

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  16. Fantastic post as always. Loved all of the bird shots, particularly enjoyed the waxwings. I saw them once on vacation and immediately fell in love with them. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your very sweet comment. Happy New Year!

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  17. Hi Denise and thank you for taking the time to have a look at my blog with all the problems you have had lately. Hope you are fully recovered and feeling better. Waxwings are such a pretty bird that we have over here at the moment as the weather is so cold over in Scandinavia. Glad of your visit, all the best Regards John

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  18. Cedar Waxwings are resident here, John, as you probably know and Bohemian Waxwings are sporadic winter visitors, in some years not appearing at all. The flight shots of the Red Kite are A-1!

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  19. HI Both, You are so lucky having the Waxwings are a resident bird, they are a real delight to see. Glad you liked the Red Kites, Richard and myself have found an area they seem to visit and saw 15 all together not that long ago. All the best. 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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