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Sunday 24 June 2018

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


I decided to have a trip to Eyebrook Reservoir on Thursday  the 14th of June for a look for Ospreys and Red Kites and anything else that would come my way.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon but I was surprised as to how quiet it was bird wise. I only saw two Ospreys that only one was worth trying for images from.

Plenty of Common Terns were about but they are so difficult to capture in flight with all the twists and turns.





Red Kite, Opposite Stoke Dry Village.

I only saw three of these birds and this was the only one that I would not be shooting into the sun to get an image. It was unfortunately a very long distance shot and greatly cropped after.




Male Osprey, 03/2009.

The male from Site O again fishing at the reservoir to feed his young, he seems to be a fixture and is seen on a regular basis.












I thought he was going to dive and catch a fish but after this he headed down the reservoir towards the dam and I never saw him return but they can cut across the fields.

 


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Immature Black-backed Gull, Opposite Stoke Dry Village.

I saw three of these young birds during the afternoon but not one adult.



Another bird just gliding past me, totally effortless flight.




ANOTHER EVENING VISIT TO CALKE ABBEY.

I decided to have another evening visit on Tuesday the 19th to have another general look about but with the intention of trying for the Badgers again.

I arrived at 19.15 hrs and parked up and had a walk down the car park towards the bird hide and in the field at the end I had some Red Deer so I had to get some images of these.

I then spent a few minutes in the bird hide and then impatience got the better of me and I had to get under way towards the Badgers.

I had a wonderful evening seeing in excess of fifteen Badgers all in the same area as previous.  I eventually left the Badger at 21.45 hrs and headed for the car park after an eventful evening.





Young Red Deer Stag.

This youngster was in excess of one hundred metres from me but had got me spotted with his ears up as the camera fired. 



Same youngster.



Red Deer Adult Stag with a Juvenile.

 This male sat very peacefully asleep, and eventually awoke for a quick feed.



The same Stag with another young Stag to the front of him.



What a beautiful powerful creature at peace with the world, but it will all change in October when the rut begins.




Male Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bird Hide, by the Car Park.

This bird sat in the tree calling almost continuously, he was then joined by two young. 




He then proceeded to have visits to the bird feeders and feed the youngsters, here one being fed and one sat in the top of the image. 




Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker waiting to be fed by the male. 



Male feeding the youngster before returning to the feeder and feeding the other.



Male Goldfinch, Bird Hide by the Car Park.

Several were hanging about near the feeders for an easy meal.




Encounter with the Badgers.

This is the area where I saw the most of the Badgers appearing from the back of the trees and coming down the bank towards me, but as usual I was never at the ready when they appeared. I then however saw two lines of movement in the bracken moving towards me, and after about twenty metres the movement on the left turned left away from the other, I took it I had two Badgers moving towards me and eventually when about thirty metres away from me I got my first view.
 



 Still well buried in the bracken but I could hear both of them snuffling very noisily even though the farthest must have been at least eighty metres away.



Slightly closer but still very difficult with the bracken growth. 



A quick left turn and the head starts to come in view.






Another turn to the left followed by another and it headed away from me, but at least this time I managed to get some images, admittedly not very good but I will return and try again. I had a wonderful evening with these creatures mostly watching them.





OSPREY DUTY.
Thursday 21 st.

This week I was om duty with Sheelagh without her husband as Barry has had an eye operation and would not be any help in finding the birds.

We had what I would say was the busiest shift I have ever had whilst on duty with numerous people in the hide and arriving all afternoon, even when we were returning to the car park people were still walking down to Waderscrape Hide and Cathy had told us on her arrival she had a party of cubs and scouts arriving very soon so it looked as if she was also in for a busy evening.

We had one couple arrive with three children who were on a visit from the Maldives and were most impressed with the set up and the birds.






Juvenile Moorhen, Waderscrape Hide.

We still had two youngsters in the channels to the front of the hide with mum and growing well..





Adult Moorhen .

Still keeping watch over her youngsters.



Adult Female far right with the two young to her left.
 The young have been ringed and we have a female 3AW and a male 3AU and both are wing flapping and giving small jumps so it won't be long before they are helicoptering and then flying..



Male Osprey 33/11 arrived back with a Pike to feed the ever hungry young .



Adult female on the camera post and the two young finishing the pike. 



Common Tern, Waderscrape Hide.
This bird suddenly appeared towards the end of the shift and hovered towards the end of the centre channel, unfortunately a rear image but the bird was hovering into the wind.

 
 







All three images are the same bird, but I was lucky with the head wind as it appeared to stop the acrobatics for a moment.


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


BARN OWL UPDATE.

We still have the two birds { a male and a female} but no signs of breeding at the moment, I go out most evening to monitor them. It has been suggested that the Male is still not old enough to raise a brood.






12 comments:

  1. Fantastic John, there are loads of them. My favourites are G S Woodpecker and juvenile, the Badger lovely.

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  2. HI Bob,
    Same with me, G S Woodpecker are such a delight to watch and with him feeding the youngsters, an added bonus. I saw nothing of the female.
    I am determined to get some decent images of the Badgers and will have another evening this week.
    All the best, John

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my gosh, a brilliant, brilliant post John!!! Fancy actually getting to see the Badgers? Very exciting! I loved all your photos. The ones of the birds in flight, they are so elegant. All the birds you have captured, fabulous! Thanks for sharing, I will be back to go through them again soon. Wishing you a great week :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Denise,
    I had such an amazing evening with the Badgers, I intend to return for another try, never satisfied!!
    I always enjoy getting flight shots, it is such a wonderful way to be able to see the birds.
    Have enjoyed your Alaska trip.
    All the best and you have a good week, John

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi John,
    I get a real green result when you see your beautiful photo of the Red Kite! What is this a powerful and beautiful bird of prey? Your photos of the osprey in the flight are also great to see.
    The young red deer is beautiful and also your woodpecker's series. So nice to see how the young woodpecker is fed. You could photograph De Putter from close up. I read and see that you had also seen Badgers. That is really a "wow" moment! The common tern is also beautiful.
    The churches have no jiongen and maybe the man is too young to breed.

    Kind regards, Helma

    ReplyDelete
  6. HI Helma,
    I and others think you are correct with the young male Barn Owl, he is it appears to young.
    Red Kite are another of my favourites, such a graceful bird in flight and as you say a powerful bird.
    I have had another visit to Calke and seen the Red Deer again, they are super creatures.
    I was fascinated with the Woodpecker, to see the male feeding the youngsters.
    And of course the high light being the Badgers, I have since been with them again, this time I nearly walked on a youngster, only about 400 mm long, also later I had some young so close the camera couldn't focus, that the problem with these big lenses.
    Thanks for the comment, All the best, John

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi dear John,
    Fantastic post ! The photos of the osprey in flight are superb.
    There are days when birds hide, but you've had some wonderful encounters with these deer. They're behind the fences, on the loose?
    The encounters with badgers are simply magical!!!!!! Bravo
    Have a good sunday and happy birding

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Nathalie,
    I must admit I am very fond of Ospreys and really enjoy getting images from them, they are so graceful in flight.
    The deer were on the other side of a fence to me but are free to roam a reasonable area.
    The Badgers are a real bonus, I have been again since the post, this time they were so close the lens could not focus, the only problem using a large lens. I had a very young Cub, only about 450 mm long within about 1.8 metres of me.
    You have a good week,
    All the best, John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your anwser.
      You are very lucky with mammal !
      Bye

      Delete
  9. Wonderful ! Love the shots of Kite, Ospreys and Tern. Also the Woodpecker feeding young one.
    The Red Deer at Calke very photogenic too, M

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Margaret,
    I have since returned to Calke and managed some more images of the deer, such beautiful creatures.
    I just cannot resist taking images of the Ospreys, I'm afraid we will have more to come till they head South.
    I haven't seen the Woodpecker since unfortunately.
    Thanks for the cuppa and chat, much appreciated.
    John

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great series of images here, John, but the flight shots of the tern are quite spectacular. Terns the world over really are masters of the air. I can’t believe how fortunate you have been with these close encounters with deer. I see White-tailed Deer here but they are pretty skittish and are prone to bound off back into the woods.

    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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