Viewing entries tagged
Kingfisher
Took way too many images today, so much so that I actually ran out of memory and was forced to borrow a friends spare memory card to capture the last few shots before we lost the light.
Had such an incredible time with great company. This perch was setup by myself, miles away from the nearest nest location and should hopefully produce many more images this year before the youngsters disperse and find territories of their own.
Not too late am I?..
Managed to get out on my local patches (Other than Llandegfedd) today. Was nice to be greeted with birds in full song! Heard my first Song Thrush, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Dunnock and Coal Tit singing together on what ended up being quite a lovely evening. Goosander and Kingfisher were quite entertaining but hearing that Song Thrush really made my day.
While Llandegfedds Feeding Station is in the making, I've taken the time to get some inspiration from Forest Farm. They have a very successful feeding station with regular activity and plenty of photographers there to lap up the opportunity. Plus, they have Kingfishers. The end.
Doesn't look like the Great Northern Divers stuck around Llandegedd having only been seen early hours of this morning so having had another hot chocolate at the visitors centre, I headed off to Forest Farm for another session with the Kingfishers. I wished I had my recording gear actually because the Water Rail were putting on quite a show with their vocalisations between each other in the reed bed. The Kingfishers at Forest Farm are really easy to observe this time of year. Despite there being plenty of places to fish on the reserve, there is usually 1 or 2 that actively use the ponds and perches provided by friends of forest farm. This single male came in 7 times during my short time there, each time taking 1-2 fish. Must be plenty of fish in there!
It got rather dark in the evening and ideally for detailed shots you need to get as close as you can to your subject but this was about as good as I could get without pushing ISO too high on the Camera. ISO 800 on this shot.
Whether Sky fixed my Wifi problem after a week or whether it fixed itself is unclear at this present time but either way I'm making the most of it while it is working!
You haven't missed much though! If you live in around Pontypool, you would have experienced the soggy weather we've been experiencing in the past week or so. I've tried my best to get out in it however and sporting a new 'Weather Proof' bag, I've braced the elements to try and get some shots from the local Park.
Below are a few of my favourites from my visit to a wonderful hidden gem of a sight called Forest Farm in Cardiff.
Not the first time that Mink has been seen at Forest Farm. Something that is slightly, especially if 'Friends of Forest Farm' plan on releasing any Watervowl in the future. Some Mink traps may be on the list of things to do in the future as this location isn't just a hotspot for food for the Mink, but also a good spot for the Mink to breed with a Canal, Stream and River for the Mink to hunt in.
Yet another Small Copper in Sebastopol: This time in a different meadow altogether. Fred the Terrapin was out on one of his favourite logs and yet another Kingfisher making an appearance on the typical perch on this stretch of water. I'll be setting up a little hide soon behind this perch in the woodland behind. Who knows, I may get lucky!
After yesterdays successful session on the Canal, I had to try it again. No sign of that Grasshopper Warbler but on the Butterfly count, the patch produced yet again! I had 2 sightings at different times and slightly different area's of Small Copper, for which the most part is pretty rare these days in Gwent.. To see 2 in one day is pretty good and an indicator that the sight may be good for that butterfly for whatever reasons..(right temperature, right food plants/habitat etc). All this is in vein however because these fields will be completely extinct and replaced with houses. My Terrapin Friend 'Fred' was out in the Sun again today and actually allowed me to get pretty darn close today! I could reach out and grab him if I wanted to! (perhaps I should have)?...I kind of like his presence now if I'm honest, I know it's sad but I welcome seeing him on the Canal. If only they didn't cause so much damage to our ecosystem. A Kingfisher made a short appearance on the Canal which seemed to be using the wall as a perch, which is all it really has. I'm going to use that lack of perch and put my own there so that it has something to use and who knows, maybe one day i'll be well hidden enough for it to not notice me and I'll get that shot I'm still waiting for. Our local Sparrowhawks and Buzzards both managed to fledge their chicks today also! The Sparrowhawk chicks (2) were flying around the tree tops and making a hell of a racket. The buzzard chick (1) was doing similar things while practising landing on thin branches.
