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Saturday 7 July 2018

ANOTHER TRIP TO CALKE ABBEY, EYEBROOK RESERVOIR AND AN OSPREY DUTY.



CALKE ABBEY
WEDNESDAY 27th. June.


I decided to have another visit in the evening to Calke for another try with the Badgers, I arrived as previous not much after 19.00 hrs and firstly visited the bird hide but not much was about so I had another visit with the Red Deer, such graceful creatures.


I then got on my way across the fields in search of the Badgers, I did the reverse route from last time but unfortunately didn't manage to get it completely correct and finished having to do a bit of a detour to get to the sett, about 50 metres short of my destination I saw some bracken moving about about 1.8 metres in front of me close to an large Oak tree, then a small Badger about 375 mm long  calmly walked out of the bracken, had a quick glance at me and carried on walking across an area of grass until it went out of site, of course the camera was over my shoulder with my bins and I was carrying the tripod, but it was so good to see this little one.

I then carried onto my area where we had seen them previously and got myself set up at the top of what appears to be a path up from the sett towards the top of thee hill. 

After a while, about 20.45 hrs I suddenly saw the bracken moving and within a very short time a Badger appeared, I would say about 10 metres away but after that they came considerably closer with the consequence I could get no images, This is a problem with using a large lens, they will not focus at such a distance, they were I would estimate as close as 1.5 metres and took no notice of me at all.

Luckily the wind was in a good direction and no scent from me was going towards them, it was a very warm evening and after the walk across I was somewhat sweaty.

I left the area of the sett at about 21.30 hrs having seen 14 badgers but only managing images from 3, the other were all too close.

Next time I will have to move farther up the hill!!!!!., but what a wonderful evening I had, and walked back to the car park with a happy grin.











Red Deer Calke Abbey.

I had a short time with these wonderful creatures, such a delight to get some images from. On this visit  more youngsters were about. 





















Jackdaw, near to Badger Sett.

One of an enormous number that were flying about all evening. 



First Badger,

Never made it onto the path so still partly hidden in the Bracken, about 10 metres away from me.




Second Badger.

In virtually the same spot as the previous .




Third Badger.

This one came out onto the path but walked away from me where the ones that came close all walked towards me.






EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
Thursday 28 th.

I decided after the previous evenings exertion in the heat to have a steadier afternoon at Eyebrook and as the temperature was about 19 degrees I think it was the correct decision.
I got away from home for about 12.00 hrs and arrived at 13.00.

I had a very varied afternoon subject wise. 
 



Male Osprey 03/09.

Carrying back a nice fish to the nest at Site O and was calling very loudly most of the time. 



Hobby.

This bird had flown past twice before I managed to get any images,it was like trying to get images from a missile at the speed it was flying about at, super bird to see. 







R.A.F. Red Arrows.

I was talking with the gent who goes out to the Tern rafts to ring the young and he was telling me he had been out that morning and ringed the first nineteen when I saw this smoke in the distance, it was the Royal Air force display team practising ready for the celebration fly past a Buckingham Palace next week. I would estimate they were about 2 kilometres away.







Red Kite, Opposite Stoke Dry Village.

During the afternoon I saw several of the birds, they are such wonderful birds to watch in flight. 




Then another arrived a little closer. 




Only to be given a chase by a Common Tern. 







After a short chase it thought better of it and glided away.


Spitfire ML 407. {Grace}

I stood watching the world go by when I suddenly heard a superb roar to the back of me. On turning round I saw this Spitfire doing a loop but as the images were virtually into the sun this is the only one that is anything like.
It is piloted by Carolyn Grace and is based at Sywell Aerodrome.





OSPREY DUTY.
7 th July.

I was on duty again with Shelagh and this commenced at 13.00 hrs. Since my last duty the two young have both fledged and becoming reasonably adept at flying.
On arrival at Waderscrape Hide the temperature inside was 35 degrees, 28 outside and my thoughts were we would have a reasonably quiet afternoon due to this, wrong we had one of the busiest afternoons I can remember with people arriving most of the afternoon and people were still walking down to the hide as we walked back to the car park.




Cormorant, Tufted Duck Hide.

Several of these birds sat out to the front of the hide, this one appeared to be suffering with the heat as I was. 







Female Osprey with young female 3 AW .

I think even the Ospreys were feeling the heat, this pair sat together in the fallen tree for about an hour. Distance of 310 metres approx.




 Young Male Osprey 3 AU.

Both young decided late afternoon to have a fly around and these two images are taken in the area of the nest.



Young Female Osprey 3 AW.

She eventually returned to the nest as the Male 33/11 returned with a small fish which after the adult male had his feed from he took it to the nest and she immediately took it and flew to the fallen tree and ate the remainder.
 
 



Male Osprey 33/11 with a small Roach.

This is the fish that 3 AW flew away with.  



Young Moorhen, Waderscrape Hide.

This is one of the two young i have taken images of over the last three or four duties. They are really coming on well and mum is still in the channel looking after them.



Muntjac Deer, Wadrerscrape Hide.

This little deer appeared at the end of the left hand channel but soon disappeared into the reeds.



Water Vole, Waderscrape Hide.
We had several appear all afternoon but this one was in view for about five minutes. 









Mute Swan with Cygnets, Tufted Duck Hide.
One of those images I just had to take with mum overseeing these four youngsters.





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


Update on the Barn Owls, I saw both the male and female leave the box last night and am just about to go out after I post this blog.


 



13 comments:

  1. Beautiful trip around your place. I am in love the Water Vole and Muntjac, they are fabulous. Of course there are plenty of birds, thanks John.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Bob,
    I have had a wonderful week seeing such a varied collection of creatures.
    The Deer I find enchanting to watch, always enjoy the Osprey and Red Kite but the Water Vole and Muntjac are a real bonus.
    Having said that the Badgers were a real entertainment and I intend to return again for hopefully some decent images.
    All the best John

    ReplyDelete
  3. You certainly are sharing some of the most wonderful animals and birds John. And the planes are wonderfully transitional shots to our flying feathered friends. I leave smiling, thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Denise,
    I have been lucky and in the right place at the right time for once.
    The planes were a real bonus as the Red Arrows were practicing for the display and the Spitfire is privately owned with the lady having a flight purely for her own entertainment.
    Pleased you left with a smile on your face.
    All the best, John

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi John,
    Great observations here!
    I was expecting another pic of the plane.... chased by a bird! LOL!
    I'd love to have an opportunity at taking photos of badgers but here they are horribly hunted.
    Your ospreys also are a wonder to see, that fish is really bid!
    Many thanks for your fidelity on my blog, and sorry for being away for so long ;-)
    All the best and enjoy your day

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Noushka,
    Firstly good to have you back with a safe return.
    I must keep an eye out for any planes and next time see if a Tern is giving chase.
    We appear to be lucky with the Badgers, this sett is in the middle of a wood and is very well protected by the wardens.
    The Osprey have been superb this year, I managed an image on Sunday evening with the same bird with an even larger fish, look out for Moby Dick next!!!!
    I have enjoyed your posts whilst you were away and look forward to the results from your last escapade.
    All the best, John

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good evening John,
    More beautiful photographic outings! From the beginning I take pleasure in following you.
    Badgers are more and more visible, but next time you have to take an appropriate camera ;-)
    Birds of prey are beautiful.

    Have a good night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nathalie
      I have been very lucky for this post with the variation in species I have seen.
      The Badgers are still a major outing for me and I intend to keep visiting until I get the images I want.
      Ospreys are always a pleasure to see as with the Red Kites.
      You have a good rest of the week.
      All the best, John

      Delete
  8. Fantastic! So much variation and interest. Very enjoyable, all of it!!
    Will be about Wednesday. M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Margaret,
      I must admit I was pleased with the variation in species in this post.
      I am still trying for some decent images of the Badgers.
      I got your message regarding tomorrow.
      All the best and see you soon, John

      Delete
  9. Hi John,
    the fallow deer are wonderful to see. Beautiful pictures and also pretty sharp.
    The chew you have already photographed so beautifully sharp.
    Die Das is really great to spot and you see that it is a Badger. Really great to have a meeting with a Badger :-)
    The osprey has caught a huge tasty fish as prey!
    You also caught the peregrine falcon in flight :-)
    I am jealous of your beautiful pictures of the Red Kite. Wow!!!
    Also the other photos and then the coypu are very nice and clearly put on the foot.
    The swans are fun :-)
    I enjoyed this beautiful series.
    Kind regards, Helma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Helma,
      I have had several visits to try to get some really decent images of the Badgers, I have the opposite complaint to normal, they came too close and my large lens would not focus, so next visit I am going to move farther away from the area they appear from, lets hope that works.
      I am always happy to get Osprey and Red Kite images, I find them both such graceful birds to watch.
      As for the swan, I just could not resist the cygnets.
      Thanks for your visit, have a good week.
      All the best, John

      Delete
  10. Hello John: The head on picture of the Jackdaw is precious! Jackdaws are such appealing, intelligent birds and this one seems to be letting us know that he is a whole lot smarter than we are. Add the deer and the badgers to the grand array of birds and you had quite a day.

    ReplyDelete

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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