Needle in a Haystack !!!

After a favourable weather report, I decided on a short trip to Rainham RSPB, to walk the trail in some spring sunshine, and try my luck with another photographic session at the woodland feeding station.

A quick look at the Rainham RSPB website  revealed a report of a Long Tailed Tit nest under construction, which I thought would be nice to see,  but, a very small bird , on a very large reserve,

 pretty unlikely.

A very pleasant walk around the reserve revealed some good views of a SparrowHawk hunting over the pools, a Marsh Harrier being harassed by some crows at the back of Aveley marshes, and this Peregrine high up on a pylon near the Ken Barrett hide.

The woodland feeding station was strangely quiet, not a single bird to be seen today.

I moved on around the trail, three Long tailed tits were seen moving through the trees but away from me.

As I moved on, another Long tailed Tit caught my eye, and on closer inspection had some nesting material in its beak. It flew down to a Hawthorn bush quite close to me, I followed its progress through the bush, and their it was, 

It seemed completely unconcerned by my presence and totally engrossed in its task of nest building, as you can see the nest appears only half constructed at this stage, which can take up to three weeks to construct.

It has been said that this may be one of Britains most intricate and labour intensive nest.

The nest when completed is like a soft dome, constructed from thousands of pieces of moss stuck together by strands of cobweb.
It is then camouflaged with lichen fragments and lined with hundreds of feathers.

The nest when complete, can take on an elastic property, which when you consider that the Long Tailed Tit can have a brood of up to nine, the nest really needs to expand to accommodate them all.

While I was watching, there were two birds involved in the construction, occasionally one of the birds entered the nest and would spin around as if to mould the shape of the interior.

"Needle in a haystack"

Hopefully I will get an image of the completed nest at a later stage.

UPDATE  12th March 2014

The nest complete with domed top has now been finished.

In Search of a Grebe !!

The Great Crested Grebe is one of my favorite water birds, and this is the month when they're emerging into their breeding plumage and look their most spectacular, not to mention participating in the famous weed dance and the courtship rituals, all of which make for some great photographic opportunities.


I have witnessed this a few times over the years, and seen the Grebe many times in its full breeding plumage, it would certainly make a good photograph, so the search is on.



I tried my luck at Bluewater, where I had noticed a Great Crested Grebe back in January, but as you can see the Grebe is not in breeding plumage, and no other grebes around either.

I quite liked this image of the Grebe below, as viewed through the reeds.

This was a nice pose, but not what I am looking for really.

So the search is on of all the local lakes, a Great Crested Grebe preferably two required, in full breeding plumage,  engaged in courtship ritual, and close enough for me to get some decent photographs.

 Not too much to ask for.

Watching him, Watching Me !!

Little Owl update. 1st March 2014

According to the reference books the male Little Owl marks out his territory around the beginning of February, which ties in exactly when I first noticed this Little owl,  at Ashenbank this year.

Sightings have been regular each morning, throughout the month of February when I have walked my dog  at Ashenbank woods.

 This Little Owl, seems very wary, it appears to tolerate my presence   for as long as I walk on by,  if I linger too long, even though  the footpath is a fair distance from the chosen tree, it scurries into its hole or flies off to a nearby tree, always keeping an eye on my presence.

On one occasion as I approached the vicinity of the tree, I caught sight of the Owl away from its nesting tree, being mobbed by a large number of small birds, who were certainly giving him a hard time.

I managed to get this photograph, which is heavily cropped,   he doesn't look too happy about it.

Hopefully this Little Owl, which I presume is a male, will attract a mate in the next few weeks, as breeding usually occurs around mid March to mid June.

That is, if its not disturbed too much  by the passing dog walkers.

More updates to follow.

5th March 2014 - Update 1
 The Little Owl has managed to attract a mate,  two Owls were seen leaving the nesting hole in the tree. !!

Usual Suspects !!!

Winter seems to have passed us by at last, and the emergence of spring flowers are a welcome sight,  the usual suspects have been visiting the garden, although, nothing unusual has been noted in the garden this winter.

 The storms we had earlier in the year decimated our ivy hedge, blowing it away from a boundary wall, this has resulted in  a drastic trim to try and save it.
Its quite amazing the wildlife it actually attracts, blackbirds have nested within it, Wood Pigeons and Sparrows seem to love the berries produced at the end of autumn,
Last winter we had sightings of Wren , Goldcrest, Dunnock and Robin all seen foraging for insects,

The ivy flowers attract a wide variety of insect life, bumble bee's, ivy mining bee's, good selection of spiders, which is what the birds are probably after.

We have even had a Fox that had decided take a nap within the ivy, how it managed to find its way in there is a mystery, but our pet dog took umbrance to its presence and it was soon on its way.

A photo review of Februarys birds,

Ring necked Parakeets still regularly visit the peanut feeders on the pear tree each day, seven is the largest total we have had at any one time.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker is becoming a regular visitor, although I suspect that they are different individuals.

A pair of Magpies visit daily, this one has realised it can just reach the suet feeder.

Starlings looking smart as the sun shines on there plumage.

Good numbers of House sparrows have made it through the winter.

A pair of Blackbirds are seen regularly, around the garden, hopefully they may nest again .

Two Robins have been seen together, although they did not appear too friendly to each other, so maybe not a pair .

Goldfinches have returned to the Niger feeders in good numbers, which visit daily.

Plenty of Chaffinches around the garden, they seem to love the sunflower hearts, last year we had a Brambling in amongst them, sadly not this year.

Great Tit visits daily, along with good numbers of Blue tits.

Looking forward to Spring !!

Pear Tree Woodpecker. !!

The old pear tree in the garden, has been visited on and off by several woodpeckers over the years, but the Great Spotted Woodpecker visits gradually became less frequent.



  Last visit recorded was in March 2013 shown in the photograph below.

That is until the other day, when a flash of colour on the pear tree caught my eye, this fine male Great Spotted woodpecker sat motionless on the branch for about ten minutes, before moving on to the peanut feeder, where it fed for a further five minutes before finally moving on.

Rainham RSPB in February & Woodland Feeding Station !!

After leaving Kent in winter sunshine, I arrived at Rainham RSPB, to heavy rain showers, they soon faded away and the sun broke through the cloud cover.

 Equipped with wellington boots, I set off for a afternoon circuit of the marshes.

This female Reed Bunting showed well, feeding on the seed head of a  Bulrush.

A pair of Stonechats were seen in a typical pose.

There was a lot of water on the marshes , most of the boardwalks were passable, but submerged in places, wellingtons definitely required.

Large numbers of Lapwing, Golden plover and Dunlin were seen,

always too distant for a photograph ,but pretty spectacular in flight.

This Curlew was doing a circuit of Aveley marshes calling all the time.

As I had passed through the woodland earlier, I had noticed the large number of Finches and tits at the feeder station, I made my way back and settled in for some photography practice.

Greenfinches seemed to be more common in years gone by,  very rarely seen in my garden these days, seemed to be good numbers here at Rainham.

 Some people  do not like taking photographs of birds on the feeders, but there are plenty of natural looking perches around the feeders and some good photograph opportunities available, these are some of my favorite photographs taken at this woodland feeder station.

Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Collared Dove, Reed Bunting all coming to the feeders.

As I do not seem to see to many Greenfinches these days, I made the most of the opportunity to photograph them. 

I never realised before, how bad tempered they look, and there smart green plumage is far from drab.

Very enjoyable session with some common birds at the woodland feeder station at Rainham RSPB.

Ashenbank Little Owl !!!

Its always satisfying when you find your own scarce bird, some people might say that Little Owls are not that scarce, I'm lucky if I get one or two sightings a year, so, a scarce bird for me.

Most of my Little Owl sightings have been around the traditional birding reserves.
 Stodmarsh had a regular haunt at one time, there use to be an old out-building next to a dead tree on the top of the hill as you drove into Stodmarsh village, long gone now.
 Another regular site is at Elmley RSPB reserve where Little owls have been breeding around the farm, for some years now.

Ashenbank woods are where I exercise my dog, an early morning walk in all weathers most days, quite good for woodland birds,
Treecreeper, woodpeckers, Nuthatch, the occasional Marsh Tit, and  plenty of summer warblers, even Waxwings last winter.

So it was with some surprise, when my wife and I came across this Little Owl, always quite wary. 
We first crossed paths in April 2012, there were regular sightings throughout the early summer months. 
 Hard to tell whether it was a male or female, but on one occasion
two owls were seen, but then they mysteriously disappeared, no further sightings throughout 2012, and not seen again until a single sighting in June 2013, on the same tree as previously seen.

I assumed that they were still in the area, but moved to a more suitable nesting site.

So in February 2014, as I walked past the old tree, and glanced up, there was the Little owl, staring down at me, sitting outside the hole seen in the above photograph, I must admit, brought a smile to my face. 

 I'd like to think its the same one as seen before.
 Maybe it is or maybe not,
but they do traditionally return to their previous nesting sites.

 I hope it settles in and doesn't  move on,  been seen two days running now. so further updates to follow.

Brief Encounters at Capel Fleet & Stodmarsh

A brief visit to Capel Fleet on the Isle of Sheppey did not reveal much.

 I was hoping to get some game bird photographs, in particular Pheasant and Partridge images.


But, they were noticeable by their absence, maybe I arrived too late in the morning, or maybe the local shoots have taken a heavy toll.


Two Red legged Partridges were all that was seen, on the ditch spoil heap, alongside the road.

A Marsh Harrier was quartering the reed beds distantly, Buzzard numbers seem to have increased around this area recently, good view of one on a telegraph pole, which flew  as soon as I pointed the camera in its direction, another surveying the local fields from  its vantage spot on a raised spoil heap, but to far for the camera, a record shot only.

On to Stodmarsh, a shortish drive away, on arrival the sun was still shining, but conditions along the tracks at Stodmarsh were very heavy going.
A quick look out from the Reedbed hide revealed very little on the lake, a few distant Black headed Gulls,  Three Marsh Harriers made an appearance over the reed beds.

Water levels were very high, in fact, only the upper 12 inches of the kingfisher perches were showing  above the water level.

A walk around the Alder wood revealed a flock of Goldfinches feeding high up in the Alder trees with a small number of Siskins feeding with them, as well as another Treecreeper.

Siskin too high for a decent photograph , so another record shot.