Thursday 10th March; Exotica from the Wadi Hammamat
Continuing on from my last blog and the Northampton theme contained within (read here), my work had taken me to a village a few miles south of the city. I did a lot of work at this house last year, including the tiling of a swimming pool. Whilst there I became aware of a flock of up to ten Ring-necked Parakeets that were taking advantage of feeders in the cottage next door. I was back performing some remedial work to the pool (the necessary repairs were not caused by any failure on my part) and with a fine weather forecast for most of the week I had packed my camera in with my tools in the hope that the Parakeets would still be visiting. For two days there was no sign of any of the Parakeets, then on Wednesday my brother and colleague heard one fly over but I missed it. On Thursday morning as we were preparing for the days work, a single Ring-necked Parakeet called loudly as it flew overhead and appeared to land behind the adjacent cottage. I grabbed the camera and walked to the end of the drive to see if I could see the bird.
At first I couldn't see anything exotic at the feeders, there were Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits feasting and a smart trio of Stock Doves clearing the ground of spilt seed beneath the feeders but no sign of anything bright green. I edged a bit closer to the garden fence, still thirty metres away, which caused the ever wary Stock Doves to jump over the fence and settle further away in the field on the other side and so denying me of any photo opportunities with them. There was still no sign of the Parakeet though, and yet I could still hear one squawking nearby. Then as I walked around a small but densely fronded conifer, the Parakeet appeared, just thirty feet away, and I wondered how I hadn't managed to see it before considering it was a fairly large startling green bird and was perched in a relatively bare tree!
At such close proximity and in the clear bright sunshine, photographing the bird was easy. The Parakeet, seemingly on its own and a female, and thus lacking the rosy ring around the neck from which the species is commonly named, was obviously interested in the feeders beneath the tree but, maybe because I was stood just the other side of the garden fence, was taking a lot of time checking that the coast was clear. I manoeuvred into position to get a full unhindered view of the bird. Many people, birders included, don't have much love for the Parakeets which after all, are invaders of the UK having gained a foothold and then flourishing after some escaped from captivity back in the seventies. Personally I like them and they are a rare treat to watch and photograph.
I didn't have long to linger before I needed to start work but I was hopeful that I'd get to see the bird in flight. That opportunity was restricted to just seeing the bird flutter down to the feeders which it eventually did. Once on the feeders the Parakeet fed readily, one of the reasons that the species have done so well is that it happily takes advantage of the generosity of bird lovers who feed their garden birds.
I had to get back to work so left the Parakeet to it. As I walked through the gates back into my work site, the Parakeet buzzed past just over my head again squawking loudly. A few minutes more and I would have got those desired flight shots. As often happens when I see certain birds, a familiar song entered my head and stayed there for a while. The Pogues song, "The girl from the Wadi Hammamat" features the lyric, "like a Green Parakeet" and that tune was repeated over and over for the next few minutes. Check it out, it's a great song and a surprising piece of music from a band more known for its Irish roots.
Year List addition;
142) Ring-necked Parakeet
Saturday 12th March; Otmoor & More Otmoor
Incredibly we hadn't been to Otmoor since the first few days of January so it was high time we ventured out there again. We were inspired by recent reports of several good birds that had been seen including a couple of Barn Owls that had been hunting across the reserve albeit quite early in the mornings. As usual we failed to arrive early enough, hampered by the necessary weekly shopping trip to the supermarket, so any Owl activity was likely to be long over by the time we left the carpark and walked towards the open grassland. We took our time and stopped frequently as we walked along the path by the carpark field. A beautiful Song Thrush was the first bird to catch my eye and become the first photographic subject of the day.
We stopped to scan The Closes but were soon gazing upwards in response to the eerie bubbling call of a Curlew that flew over. We are lucky to have Curlew breeding on the moor and their renewed presence is always a delight to see and hear. I missed the flypast but was lucky a few minutes later when another Curlew followed it.
The Closes held a large flock of loafing Golden Plover, at least they were there when we arrived but soon took to the air en masse in response to an unseen stimulus. I had just focussed my scope on the flock in order to search through in the vain hope that the Dotterel that had been seen with the Plover flock in January, had somehow stayed with them and would jump straight out into my view and I could claim some local glory. There wasn't a Dotterel of course but I did find some Dunlin stood in front of the Goldies. The birds took off at the same time as I fired off my first record shots but the Dunlin thankfully could be seen clearly in the resulting images.
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| Golden Plover & Dunlin |
The swirling Golden Plover flocks are just as mesmerising to watch as the more popular Starling murmurations, to my eyes they are anyway. It is much harder though to capture the whole flock in a photo that does them justice so I find it best to concentrate on segments of the birds. The appearance of the Plovers alters as the birds turns and they do genuinely sparkle like little gold nuggets in bright sunshine.
We walked on along the bridleway but saw little to get us excited, the hoped for Owls and Hen Harrier had probably long since gone back to bed. We did see a pair of Shelduck hurtle across the field watched by some of the many Geese that make the Moor their home. Soon the fields will be hosting breeding Redshank and Lapwing, and hopefully Garganey or even something rarer.
Instead of going straight to the first screen as we normally would we turned towards The Wetlands Hide. In the days preceding our visit a couple of Brambling had been seen taking advantage of the winter feeding program so we thought there'd be a chance of seeing them. At first there was just the more common species on the ground by the hide. Linnets, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings and Goldfinches were all present in good numbers and there was a scattering of Yellowhammers too. Viewing in the morning from the hide is difficult because the sun shines directly at you but after a while, with my eye in, I spotted a female Brambling. I shared the bird, through my scope, with a couple of visitors that had never seen a Brambling before.
We all moved out of the hide and stood by the gate instead, the same distance away from the birds but crucially the adjacent hedge diffused the light in our eyes which made viewing and photographs easier especially when the Brambling flew up into one of the bushes.
A male Brambling joined the other birds on the path but was incredibly furtive and wouldn't settle for a photo at all. My luck was in though when the female flew right past us at the gate and landed on a thin strip of grass next to the pools on the Ashgrave side of the hide. There it was beautifully illuminated in the sunlight which suddenly became my friend and helped me to capture some of my better Brambling photos.
On our last visit to the Moor, some three months ago, the water levels were low at the first screen and among the highlight birds of the day was a Jack Snipe. This time the water had regained its usual level and the mud and exposed reeds had been covered again. As a result there were few birds to see bar a few duck species. Of those it was the Pochards that proved to the main attraction and a male was actively diving for food very close to the screen allowing me to spend a very satisfying hour or so watching and photographing it. Drake Common Pochards are very beautiful ducks, simply plumaged with a black breast, grey body, and rusty red neck and head, within which is set a pair of bright ruby red eyes.
I watched the Pochard and tried to capture the moment the birds bill would penetrate the water on each dive. This took a lot of practise since the duck didn't give much indication that it was about to dive. Even after working out the signs that a dive was imminent it still took luck to capture the exact split second that the Pochard submerged so my results were mixed. The Pochard would always resurface facing away from the screen and then turn back to face us. It would then swim towards us a few feet and then stop. The only sign that it was about to dive was a slight stretching of the neck and head upwards before it dipped its front end under. It would typically spend twenty-seconds underwater before surfacing and repeating the process.
Only once did a female Pochard venture closely to feed and it never offered the same photographic opportunities as the male.
After the Pochards had finished their feeding they swam to the sanctuary of the reedbeds leaving us to watch the antics of displaying Marsh Harriers. There were three of the Harriers busying themselves with aerial sparring and some nest building but as (nearly) always with them they were distant over the reedbed so I didn't waste any time gaining more unsatisfactory images. Just as we were preparing to leave a pair of Common Cranes flew up from near the second screen and bugled to announce their own departure from where they had been feeding. Peter told us a few minutes later when he rejoined us at the screen that the Cranes had been showing really well on the bund that separates the Northern Lagoon from the Flood Field. To our shame we rarely walk the extra half mile to the second screen these days.
Our morning spent on Otmoor had been pleasant, as always, despite not yielding any year ticks. When back home I noticed some photos of a Barn owl seen on Otmoor had been posted on a local social media group. The Owl had been seen hunting either side of the carpark track between 17-18:00 the evening before so after a rest I cajoled Mrs Caley into returning to the Moor later in the day, reasoning that the Barn Owl might make a repeat visit at the same time as the night before. With no Starling murmuration for the general public to witness, the carpark and reserve were much quieter and we had virtually the whole place to ourselves as we walked along the main track for the second time that day. Apart from a cursory look at The Closes as we walked, we made straight for the Cattle Pens at the junction of the track and bridleway. From there we scanned Big Otmoor. I looked all over the vast field and spotted a Buzzard, then a Marsh Harrier and finally a pair of Red Kites. I declared to Mrs Caley that there was no sign of any Barn Owls to which she replied, "What's that over there then?". I followed her gaze and there, on the eastern flank of the field quartering the reeds by the hedge, was a Barn Owl! Not sure how I missed it but then that's just one reason why having Mrs Caley with me is always a bonus.
The Barn Owl tracked the whole length of the hedge and disappeared out of view. I walked swiftly towards where the bird had been in order to get a clearer view and spotted the Owl again which appeared to be retracing its wing flaps back along the hedge again. Mrs Caley joined me just as the Owl flew up higher and crossed the bridleway heading towards the carpark field. We moved as quickly as we could and took up position by the bird feeding station. This gave us a good view of the closest part of the field, the furthest end of it being obscured by the shrubby growth and bushes which are taking over the more open grassy parts. We didn't have to wait long before the Barn Owl appeared in between a couple of the bushes and gave us great views albeit a little distantly.
I was cock-a hoop that we'd had the good fortune to see the Barn Owl and congratulated myself on making the right decision for a change to try our luck after seeing the report from the previous evening. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. Our luck improved further when the Owl actually flew towards us and offered a great photo opportunity despite the failing light. Barn Owls are always wonderful to watch as they fly silently in their search for prey. The Owl dropped into the grass behind a bush where we could no longer see it.
We didn't see the Owl for maybe five minutes but then it was flying straight towards us again. This was fantastic and we were the only people there watching it happen. I took a few more frames before the Owl suddenly veered away and launched itself towards the ground once more. The mandatory slow shutter speed created by the approaching dusk softened the images and resulted in blurred wings but they were pleasing enough.
The show wasn't quite over and the Barn Owl treated us to an encore when it flew right past us at even closer range and then came back and flew almost directly overhead on its way to The Closes but by then it was almost dark. We looked across to where it had flown but couldn't see it. It's amazing how birds can just seemingly dissipate into thin air when they want to.
Year List addition;
143) Barn Owl
Sunday 13th March; Old Friends Reacquainted
The following morning dawned with the threat of rain in the air. We didn't fancy any long walks so opted instead to drive out to a couple of spots where we know Little Owls are. The Little Owl was now the only one of our five regularly breeding species of Owl that we needed for the year. We started by checking out a place just into Northamptonshire where we had close views of a family of Little Owls last August (see here). I found those Owls while working on a farm nearby but wasn't very optimistic since I only saw Owls there once outside of the breeding season. My pessimism proved correct since there was no sign of any of the birds around the trees and barn where I'd seen them.
We moved further north into Northants to another site, within the Banbury Ornithological Society's area, where we'd seen a pair of Little Owls in previous years. This pair of Little Owls have remained faithful to a single gnarled and stunted old tree, that sits alone in a field but which can be seen from the roadside for many years. We had looked for them already this year with no success and as we stared at the tree again searching in the tightly knitted branches it seemed as if there were no Little Owls present again. Then, as I was about to give up, I noticed the slightest of movements on the left hand side of the trunk which I was sure was a Little Owl. I erected the scope and aimed it at the spot and was proven correct, I could just about make out the back feathers of the Owl against the bark of the tree. I called for Mrs Caley to take a look. When she did, she exclaimed, "It's looking directly at us!". The Little Owl must have shifted around and was showing as much interest in us as we did in it. Closer inspection revealed a second Little Owl, just slightly above and to the right of the other. It was good to know that the pair had regained their tree of another summer when they'll hopefully raise a few more little, Little Owls.
The field is bordered by a fence which keeps people away from the Owls tree although a footpath does run up a hill fairly close to it. I watched the Owls as a woman and her dog sauntered past and they never twitched a feather. They watched but didn't move, I guess they are used to people passing by and if they did get threatened then they have the hollow tree to dive into for cover. I walked along the fence line and then used the footpath to get a few unhindered shots of the Owls but always kept a respectful distance since I didn't want to disturb them.
Year List addition;
144) Little Owl
