Oystercatchers

A lunchtime trip to the Dog in a Doublet area provided an opportunity to snap these Oystercatchers and find another four Wheatears (at Stonebridge Corner). Plenty of Swallows on the move today and a couple of Grey Wagtails at the sluice.

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)




Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Wheatears galore

Following three males here on 29 March, it was good to find another four at Serpentine Brick Pit today. Three males and a female were at the far western end. Yet another four males were at StoneBridge Corner later today.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Male


Female


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

One day in Purbeck

A short break based in Swanage and some excellent weather provided some good opportunities for trying out the P4. Here are some of the results.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)


Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)


Guillemots (Uria aalge)


Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)


Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

These beetles still need identifying when I can get around to it. Many thanks for the help below. Oil beetles have a facinating life history. Click here for more info.

Darkling Beetle (Timarcha sp. (Chrysomelidae) - with thanks to Gyp')?


Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

Red Chestnut

Mothing this spring has so far been appalling. I recorded 25 species in March last year and 30 the year before but only 10 this year!

The weather continues to be either cool and/or windy which is keeping the moths quiet. Last night was still a bit cool and breezy but wasn't quite as bad as other recent nights so I set an actinic trap and managed the following:

2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa), 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda), 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta), 1
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola), 1

Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)


Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)


Coolpix P4

Fallow Stag at Ring Haw

It was too dark and too far away really but this stag stood very obligingly out in the open so I did the best I could but shutter speeds of around the 1/15th are never going to be great.

Fallow Deer (Cervus dama)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Redshank

Another digiscoped Redshank from the Sewage Works on North Bank. Not brilliant but it was about 40m away and there was a heat shimmer!

Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Of Blackthorn and Sallow

If you want insects at this time of year look for these two dominant flowering trees. Its been really sunny for the past couple of days but the strong wind means its hard to observe insects. If you can find a sheltered spot with Salllow and/or Blackthorn it can be great. The sunny leeward side of Jones' Covert was buzzing with Bumblebees this morning and these shots were taken at The Boardwalks LNR at lunchtime.

Small Tortoiseshell and Hoverflies (E. tenax) were also nectaring on these trees, which are used by moths at night.

Really starting to get the hang of the P4 now. This was a very pleasing set of photos; the second Peacock was digiscoped very successfully. Higher resolution versions can be viewed by clicking these pics.

Comma (Polygonia c-album)


Peacock (Inachis io)

*

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)



Sallow (Salix caprea)


All taken with Nikon Coolpix P4.
* Digiscoped handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Willow Chiff Warbler

A silent phylloscopus warbler in spring - always tricky. At first sight I thought this one, feeding in sallow blossom at the east end of Jones' Covert, was a Chiffchaff but as these photos show it has a longish primary projection and pale legs with yellowish feet. There are some good tips on separating the two species on the following link:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=15579

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Coltsfoot at Serpentine

Parts of this wierd landscape are covered in flowering Coltsfoot at the moment.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)



Nikon Coolpix P4

Long-tailed Tit

A pair of Siskin were using the niger feeder in the garden this morning but typically as soon as got into position to photograph them they vanished. So I made do with this Long-tailed Tit. It is certainly proving easier to get reasonable digiscoped images with the P4 than it was with the 995.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Ferry Meadows flowers

More fun with the P4. A few spring flowers and an obliging Blackbird.

Lesser Cellandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Coolpix P4

Common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana)

Coolpix P4

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Digiscoping with the P4

My trusty coolpix 995 has been developing the odd fault in recent months, including persistently failing to focus on anything (but acting like it has). This has meant some priceless photos have been ruined so it was time to look for a replacement. On paper the P4 looked a good bet but it had only just arrived in the UK so it was a bit of a leap of faith.

So far I'm very pleased with it. It doesn't focus as close as the 995 but as recent moths photos show it is more than OK for the macros and I think the 8 megapixels will provide enough resolution for smaller subjects too.

Of course it needs to perform as a digiscoping camera too and that looks to be very good. Early days yet but with a superb 50 pence adapter initial results are encouraging. The Grebe here was taken in bright conditions with the sun in cloud and the Great Tit was on a very dull and wet day.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77


Coolpix P4 handheld to 32x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Great Tit (Parus major)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

The Satellite

The weather finally changed at the end of last week and with the much warmer, but wetter conditions came the first of the spring moths. A smattering of Hebrew Characters, Common and Small Quakers and a first for the garden: The Satellite. Unlike the Orthosias which are just emerging from pupae, The Satellite over-winters as an adult so can in theory be seen at any time between the late autumn and early spring. It gets its name from the two tiny white 'moons' orbiting the large white spot on the forewing.

The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)


Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)


Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)


Nikon Coolpix P4

We Saw a Rail

Another very early start for another extremely rare american bird (others being Grey-cheeked Thush and Green Heron). The 4:30 start was worth it though as Mike, Tony and I got great views as the bird fed in a frozen ditch at dawn. It was rather too dark for photographs really but its nice to have these record shots.

Sora Rail (Porzana carolina)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Eggs on Birch

I was checking the birch trees in the garden for early stages of moths like this one but only found these eggs. No idea what they belong to at the moment but hopefully someone will know. They were fairly abundant.


Nikon Coolpix 995

Nuns on parade

I rather dislike the nickname 'White Nun' given to the adult male Smew - but then I generally dislike most of the nicknames birders give to birds. But you can't argue that they are impressive beasts. This party of four adult males and two 'redheads' (the females or immatures) were showing very obligingly near the perimeter road at Eye Brook Reservoir today.

Smew (Mergellus albellus)


Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Sewage Works Birds

A lunchtime bike ride along the North Bank of the Nene east of Peterborough - a place I have neglected recently. The warm outfall from the sewage works along here often attracts birds during cold spells of weather like this but the numbers today were quite low.

Redshank (Tringa totanus)




Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Bean Goose makes it 198

What a sensational morning! A report of an Arctic Redpoll in Lord's Holt was the lure. But the sights and sounds from the South Bank of the Nene Washes west of Eldernell were more than adequate compensation for the non-showing finch.

A Barn Owl had already shown well at the playing field on Eldernell Lane and another then flew over the carpark carrying what looked like a small bird - perhaps a Reed Bunting.

Bewick's Swans were already leaving the roost area and flying east past the carpark in small flocks before dawn and in the half light a couple of Black Swans passed with them. Then I noticed two geese heading straight for me and got the scope on them. I thought they were Pink-footed Geese at first but as the sun rose behind me I could clearly see the upperwings were largely dark and they were in fact Bean Geese. Watching one very closely revealed a limited pale band on the bill indicating these were probably of the Tundra race (rossicus). This is another welcome addition to my list of PBC area finds.

Shortly after Weedon's World of Nature arrived also drawn by the Arctic Redpoll report and I called him over to see a herd of 5 Roe Deer I had just noticed distantly over on the north side of the washes just west of The Decoy Wood. One of them was a stag with a full set of antlers.

There were still at least 40 Whooper Swans there by the time we reached the floods where I had brief views of a Water Pipit and a Stonechat before we turned our attentions back to the wood. Further highlights included the noisy threesome of two males and a female Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Lord's Holt and the calls of the Swans as they continued to leave the roost for about 2 hours.

In the end only 5 Lesser Redpolls showed in the Holt and they didn't stay long.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77