Goldfinch Eating Alder Seeds

Alder seeds attract several species of birds at this time of year. 

Redpolls, Siskins and in the particular case of this set of images, the Goldfinch.  Only problem is its a neck aching job shooting them as the seeds are high up in the trees.

Some Colour in Winter

In these dull days of Winter there is still some colourful birds to be observed.

Male Pochard

Male Great-spotted Woodpecker

Great White Egret

I had an Egret Day.

To get my first photos of a Great White Egret ever, I had to shoot across a wide river with the sun behind the 'white' bird. Definitely not recommended.

It really must have been my Egret Day as on the way back.........

a Little Egret was perched along side a small stream on the outskirts of a village.

Kingfisher

This male Kingfisher was perched on a wooden railing along side a small stream. 

This is a fairly regular sight on my parkland walk, but getting close to the bird for a shot is another matter. The only approach worth trying is the other side of a tall hedgerow/tree line. Problem is that the sun is behind you as you move along the hedge and as soon as you come into view the Kingfisher spots you and is gone. Its possible to get so far along the hedge, but you have to shoot through (at this time of year) a lot of dead foliage.

The first shot is uncropped and using an equivalent 840 mm lens. This gives you an idea how far away it is and why the bird isn't flying away.

Below are the results of shooting though the dead foliage. A little post production work was necessary to achieve this.

Eventually it realised I was around and made off.

Bullfinch

Always one of my favourite birds to photograph.

The beautiful male colours really standout especially now. The problem is trying to find it in the open, its usually half hidden behind a lot of branches and twigs. Catching one in the open is a rarity.

This particular bird was high up in a tree, but I could just get it in the clear by moving position. As usual it didn't hang around long. I was using an Olympus 300mm f4 lens with a 1.4 converter attached which gave me an 840mm reach. The image still needed cropping a lot to achieve the result, which shows how high up the bird was. 

They don't make it easy for you. Thoroughly unhelpful. :)

1/400 at f5.6. ISO200

Muntjac Deer (Female)

A fortunate sighting this week. 

This delightful little female Muntjac deer wading through water.

This introduced species are very common in UK now. You may not always get to see them though as they are quite secretive and because they are quite small can remain hidden in the undergrowth. A Muntjac can be just a few feet away from you and if it doesn't have an escape route it will sit motionless until you have passed by. One thing you will often hear is the male with its barking call in woodland, but forget trying to find it.

Stonechat Portraits

Our resident female Stonechat in the Parkland still enjoys plenty of food and on this occasion when I shot the images last week, a good deal of sunshine as well.