SOME OF MY FAVOURITES OF THE YEAR.

With the weather in England having been so appalling  lately and after trying on three occasions  to venture out with the cameras, unfortunately to no avail, { I managed one poor image per visit}  I have decided to post some of my favourite images of the last twelve months, If it ever stops raining be assured me and the cameras will be out , this weather is sending any birder demented.

I start with my header which was taken when the Barn Owl Owlets had been ringed  on the 14 th of September. I am still having sightings of Barn Owls but until I can get some images I am unsure as to whether the birds are the adults or the youngsters  still hanging about. Hopefully they are the adults overwintering in the box.

Red Kite, Eyebrook Reservoir.

Th is bird was feeding on some road kill , So I reversed into a gateway, the bird was then disturbed by a car and flew away  only to return and land in this tree prior to returning to its feast.

Male Osprey 03/2009, the adult male from site 'O'.  Eyebrook Reservoir.

Taken opposite Stoke Dry Village whilst the bird was on a fishing trip.

Buzzard , Near Allexton Village.

Luckily spotted early whilst driving to Eyebrook Reservoir, you cannot get very close to these birds, they are so nervous. 

Great Crested Grebes. Shallow Water Hide, Rutland Water.

An early visit for the Ospreys last Springso I had a visit to the new Shallow Water Hide where this pair had started nest building  and some displaying. 

Adult Tawny Owl,   In my friends Regand Jill Garden, 
They finished up with a pair,   I put Reg in touch with the Hawk and  Owl Trust,  and they had a box put up and when the box was checked by the trust.a very angry female and two Owlets  were in the box but unsure as to the outcome  

AVRO Lancaster, Eyebrook Reservoir.

This aircraft is a regular attraction in the area as the Captain lives locally, wonderful to see this old aircraft in such superb condition. 

Barn Owl Owlet, Our Garden Ring Number   GR 4965.

We are still seeing and hearing Barn Owls on our land but as to whether they are adults or young birds  I am unsure but hopefully adults then after over wintering they an have an earlier  start breeding making it much easier for me to get some decent images, and not having to shoot at such high  ISO settings.

Male Teal, Crake Hide, Rutland Water.

Crake Hide is the smallest Hide on the reserve but is always worth a visit, always something appears worth watching. Teal are such a showy duck.

Short Eared Owl , Near Eyebrook Reservoir. 

Three of these birds took up residence around Christmas time last year and remained until late March, still waiting for them to return this year, but it has been very mild an wet and I have not seen any reports in the Midlands of any being sighted.

Common Tern, Eyebrook Reservoir.

not the easiest of subjects but wonderful to watch in flight, you never can guess where they will go next, what with diving, swerving and all other antics so difficult to follow with the camera.

Red Kite, Eyebrook Reservoir.

a farmer was turning his hay and this bird was following the tractor seeing  if anything had been injured .

Shelduck, Rutland Water,Shoveler Hide,

Several of these birds flew in but only stopped for a matter of seconds, you have to make the best of these short visits.

Kestrel, Upper Bunker Hide, Eyebrook Reservoir.

Another bird that did not stay around Very long, feathers  fluffed out, it was a very cold day, but at least it was dry, we are hoping for more dry days.

Badger, Calke Abbey.

With the Barn Owls taking up so much of my time this summer, I could not get as many visits in with the Badgers as I would have liked, but they will have to wait until next year.



I hope you have enjoyed your visit as much as I did in the getting of the image sand hopefully soon  I will manage to get out ans get some new images without it raining.

GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY.

Firstly thank you all for all the good wishes for my speedy recovery that from what the experts tell me is going exceedingly well,thank goodness!!!. I am as yet not 100% but coming along nicely and should be back driving in the next few days and out again with the birds and cameras.
The first images are from prior to my stroke when I met up with   a very dear friend who had travelled a considerable distance to meet up , it was so good to see him with what was about to happen and to thank you and him or the calls of encouragement and also my wife and family for all the help
Having met up at Eyebrook reservoir he was keen to see if the Willow Emerald Dragonfly was still about so we headed to the inlet bridge but to no avail,just a few damselflies and dragonflies so he then asked if we could find some Red Kites, so off we went on a search, I soon spotted a tractor ploughing in a field with thirteen  red kites in attendance so we settled at a gate way and watched for about an hour, they are wonderful to watch in flight, so graceful .

Red Kite, Near Eyebrook.

By the time we were getting some images the birds had gone away from the tractor and gained some altitude and were easier to follow.

This bird seems to have us spotted at the gate, three of us with cameras is difficult to miss

This  is the tractor that was causing the interest for the Kites, thirteen initially but just the one in this image,I was  not sure as to what they were after.

long distance image of some the remaining Kites.

Long distance head on image

Catch up on our Barn Owls.
Last image I managed of the adult male off on a feeding trip. ISO120400

The young have all gone, some important dates listed below.
14th Sept all five Owlets ringed.

19t19th Sept three Owlets seen in baffle near entrance

After this all five seen on regular basis in the baffle of the small box

5th Oct first owlet fledged and in the baffle of large box,other four seen in baffle of small box.
We still appear to have an Owlet in the small box,it appears one has returned to the safety an warmth of the box. Not sure as to whether we still have the adult pair in residence. Thursday 6   th November whilst out in garden saw Barn Owl on the front of the large box, will keep a watch and hopefully some images

Thank you for your visit, smaller than normal but good to be back, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did in getting the images. I am driving again so will hopefully be out in the next week to look for what's about.

NEW POSTS.
Until I am fully recovered I will be neither posting or commenting, sorry will miss you all,
John

MY LAST OSPREY DUTY {NEARLY} AND AN UPDATE ON THE BARN OWLS.

This is a post that was to be have been posted over three weeks ago but the Barn Owl activities unfortunately took over.

It's that time of the year again where the Ospreys all fly South,{ lucky birds.} so I turned up for my last duty ready to wish the adults well and I would see them again next year, the Juveniles having already departed previously only to find that by the time I arrived the birds had not been seen at all that morning so the hide was to be closed, it's not fair to let the public pay to see the adults that have gone.

I will give a quick update of the Osprey year.
31 adult Osprey returned to Rutland Water.
10 breeding pairs.
23 young Osprey fledged.
What a wonderful season.

Adult female on the T post with 057 {F} on the nest.

057 migrated on the 23rd of August with the adult female leaving with 33 on the 2nd of September

054 {F} sat to the left and 056 {M} with outstretched wing to the right.

054 {F} migrated on the 19th of August with 056 {M} away on the 24th of August.

055 not on an image as he hiding round the back of a tree migrated on the 23rd of August.

SO WITH NO OSPREY TO MONITOR I HAD A VISIT TO THE EGLETON RESERVE.

I drove back from Lyndon to Egleton for a walk around the reserve not expecting to see much as birds are leaving and heading South, but the birds to arrive and over Winter are still much farther North.

It was a lovely afternoon for a walk around but not much to see.
It gave me the opportunity to use the new camera in daylight and start to get topside of  my settings, which are so different to the previous camera. 

Adult Moorhen, Grebe hide.

A long distance image for a trial shot of just over 100 metres.

Little Egret, Shoveler Hide.

When I arrived in the hide I had seven Little Egrets around but none ventured very close. 

Great White Egret, Shoveler Hide.

Again a trial image, this bird was just over 200 metres away. 

Canada Goose, Shoveler Hide.

This bird decided to take flight, I could have done with a higher ISO.

Grey Heron, Buzzard Hide.

Closest bird seen, always difficult to take an image of a Heron. 

Drake Mallard, Grebe Hide.

These bird are going well into eclipse and sat on this little island about 150 metres away. 

A QUICK VISIT TO EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

On my arrival I noticed a considerable number of people  on the bridge so I had to drive up and investigate. On arrival I was informed that we had a very rare Damselfly, six of them in total, this being a Willow Emerald Damselfly, the first ever sighting in Leicestershire and Rutland. I unfortunately did not have the best of kit with me for getting any decent images, so it had to be a 600mm lens hung over the side of the bridge and hope for the best.

Willow Emerald Damselfly, Inlet Bridge Eyebrook Reservoir.

Most of the time they were too close for the lens to focus, everybody else wanted them to come closer, I had to wait for them to go away so as to get a focus. This damselfly appears to be expanding its range at a really phenomenal rate. 
  

I then went around to my normal spot to sit and have my lunch, suddenly I heard a familiar sound, the cob went onto the floor of the car, I shot out the car with the camera, I had not set up the tripod so it was hand hold and hope for the best.

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Avro Lancaster Bomber PA474.

This aircraft rolled off the production line on the 31st of May 1945 and joined the flight in 1957 upon its formation, one of only two surviving Lancasters that are licenced to fly, the other being in Canada. This aircraft is based and maintained at RAF Coningsby.

Only upon working on the images did I notice one of the flight crew sat in the centre gun turret.

Buzzard again whilst having my lunch.

I had hardly got back into the car after seeing the Lancaster when this bird suddenly appeared,  so it was cob on the floor again and still without the tripod get some quick images.

Little Owl Site No. 6. On the way home.

At long last a Little Owl to get an Image from, I have seen one other this year but that was flying and I was driving .

UPDATE ON THE BARN OWLS.

All appears still to be going to plan and the Owlets are still growing at a good rate. Unfortunately the adults are not appearing any earlier and with the darker evenings it's  becoming increasingly difficult to get images. However the Owlets are starting to show in the doorway but when it's virtually dark.
Again all the images are taken at ISO 102,400.

Male Barn Owl leaving the large box.

The female had departed about 10 minutes earlier and I missed her, having a snooze in the hide??

Female leaving the Large box.

This time I was alert and she appeared from the box I expected her to come out from, again about 10 minutes before the male.

Female flying past the big box.

I had the CCTV cameras on in the small box where the Owlets are in residence late in the afternoon and we had no sign of the adult female, so I went out early and sat with the camera set on the exit to the  large box. However she did the dirty on me and came out of the small box and flew passed the entrance to the large box I had the camera fixed upon when it was virtually dark. Very poor image but trying for the sympathy vote. ISO 102400 so no chance of freezing the wings

Owlet showing in the entrance to the small box.

I was having difficulty in seeing this youngster due to the dark. It Was a case of press the remote button and hope for the best.



Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed as much as I did in the getting of the images.
Still a steep learning curve with the new camera.
Iapologse I must apologise for not visiting other blogs and leaving comments but I have only just got out of hospital  after having a very mild stroke which I must take as a warning