A morning visit to Draycote Water.

On Saturday morning I thought if I was going to go out with the camera I'd better avoid Brandon Marsh and Meriden so I wouldn't take any more shots of Bitterns or Waxwings.I never thought I'd ever have to say this but shots of these magical birds is all I've taken lately.So I decided to go to Draycote Water to try for shots of something different.

Now only a fool goes there at the weekend if the weather is fine because it can become very busy and so it was when I got there not long after 9.00AM with loads of joggers limbering up in the car park.I don't mind the joggers it's the cyclists I worry about particularly as in these days of Health and Safety they are allowed to ride on the footpaths alongside the dam walls.These cyclists all seem to be huge guys racing along to beat their best time and you don't hear them coming till they are right on top of you.Scary.

So how did I do with the camera ? Well not very well as it turned out. It started well when I found a nice female Goosander along the Farborough Bank.

Then a little further on I got the drake Smew who yet again refused to come in close unlike the one last year who was a real gentleman and often came in near the dam wall.

From then on things went to pot. I decided to try and find the female Scaup and this meant for me a massive hike all the way from the spit on Farborough Bank to the inlet on Draycote Bank.I never saw anything of interest on the walk to the inlet and when I got there I was told the Scaup was now by the picnic area but when I got back to picnic area I was told it had just flown the the inlet. Bugger!!!! That was a long walk to not take one shot.

Near the sail club park I did find this Gull resting on the shore. My Gull ID skills suck so I'm not sure what it is but if I had to guess I'd say Herring Gull ????

A bit of local birding.

Went across to Marsh Lane mid morning today to see if anything was about.Saw a Oystercatcher which was nice being the first this year.

I then made an error and left the car park hide and went looking for a Jack Snipe from the Oak hide which I didn't see.Whilst I was wasting my time there a Ruff had landed close to the car park hide.It had flown when I returned there. Bugger!!!!

I then had a quick look in Meriden to see if the Waxwings were showing.There was no one there when I walked across the bridge but there were some Waxwings.At least 40 of the beauties.They were very flighty and hard to get close to spending a lot of the time in a tree on the central reservation of the A45 on the Coventry side.Lorries and buses roaring just below them didn't seem to worry them at all.Here is part of the flock on that tree.

Didn't get any close shots this time as they were too flighty so tried for some flight shots which was damn difficult.

Two amazing garden ticks.

On Wednesday afternoon as I walked into the garden as if from nowhere a Barn Owl appeared and stayed for quite a while seemingly not bothered by my presence.

Then even more amazingly a Malaysian Brown Wood Owl dropped in as well and it did not seem bothered by my or the Barn Owl's presence.It also stayed around for a while.

Of course I've lied a little but not too much.Both these birds were in the garden but not mine and they were not ticks as they belong to a friend who has raised them and they are tame.

I'd popped along to Meriden again to see if the Waxwings were there (they weren't) and luckily bumped into Glen Delaney who kindly invited me to his home which was just down the road to see his Owls.Here is a shot of Glen and also of a model he had hired from Nuneaton to show the Owl off better.( Hope she didn't charge too much Glen).

A very enjoyable hour in the company of a couple of great birds.Cheers Glen.Here are a few more shots.

A Local Tour.

As soon as I saw that on Tuesday morning the wind had died down and the sun was shining this fair weather birder ventured out again with the camera.I decided to go to Brandon Marsh but via Meriden first to see if any Waxwings were there.

Got to Meriden just after 10.00AM and parked not far from the bridge.The Waxwings did not appear to be there but when I was about to give up I spotted one down the slip road high up on top of a silver birch.Managed a few shots before it flew off.I believe about 20 were there in the afternoon.

Got to Brandon just before lunchtime and soon ended up in the East Marsh hide which was packed out with the Bittern watchers.I was determined not to take any more shots as I'd been lucky enough to take loads in the last few weeks but they are such magical birds I couldn't resist a few more.

I did a lot of walking round looking for Goldcrests to try for a decent shot or two but I failed hopelessly yet again.Did get a shot of a Willow Tit which is certainly not anywhere decent but I was pleased to get it at Brandon where they are considered to be quite rare.

Good to see the local Sparrowhawk is paying visits to the backgarden again.Got this shot this morning through the bedroom window so lets hope it keeps visiting so I can get a decent shot.

Another visit to Brandon Marsh.

As the forecast for the next few days was stormy I thought I'd better do some birding so on Thursday morning I went across to Brandon Marsh.

Got there not long after 10.00AM and had two bits of luck as I walked down the main path.The first was that the weather was brightening up and the second was when I bumped into that Warwickshire birding legend Bob Duckhouse.It's always nice to meet up with Bob.

We decided to join up with the Bittern watchers in the East Marsh hide and spent a frustrating time there as the Bittern you could glimpse deep in the reeds wouldn't come out.However when a couple of birders who had come all the way from Oxford to get some shots of a Bittern and had been there since dawn decided to leave the hide and were packing up there stuff the Bittern walked across the channel.There was lots of swearing and pulling off lens caps and all they got were some shots of it disappearing into the reeds.How often does that happen!!!! I had better luck.

The only other bird of note that was about that I saw was the escapee NZ Scaup.

After lunch I joined up with another friend and for an hour we chased a Goldcrest feeding along the path between the Carlton and EM hides.I love Goldcrests but they are a bogey bird for me and I struggle to get a decent shot of one.Not only do they ping around like the ball on an electric pin-ball machine but they are always deep in the gloom of bushes etc.Here is my best shot or rather the least bad shot I took so you can imagine how bad the others were.

Just before I started to write this blog I put a new plastic bird table on a stump of a recently chopped down tree in my back garden.I've just checked to see if any birds were feeding on it and there weren't probably because the bird table had disappeared.It had blown away in the wind to God knows where.Another DIY successful enterprise !!!!!!

An hour at Marsh Lane.

The sun came out lunchtime on Tuesday so I thought I'd nip across to Marsh Lane which is my nearest local patch and try and point the camera at something and get some shots.

The car park pool was as busy as ever but there was still a lot of ice about.There were loads of Ducks,Geese and Gulls about but nothing special as far as I could see.The best shots on offer were some Gadwall struggling on the ice.

The only other shots I was able to get on a walk round included some Common Snipe in the Marsh,a Heron that I though was going to join me in the hide and a distant Sparrowhawk.

The best spot from the Oak hide were 6+ Tree Sparrows on and around the Oak hide feeders.

A pleasant hour at Marsh Lane in the sun.

Nice weather poor birding.

Went to Brandon Marsh on Monday morning and although it was pretty chilly the weather was very bright and excellent for taking pictures.

Unfortunately that was where the good news ended.There was a lot of ice on the pools and this seemed to keep all the birds away because despite visiting everywhere nothing was seen and the camera remained idle.Even the Bittern watchers were having no luck.

The day was saved firstly because I did get a couple of Warwickshire year ticks when I got a brief fly by of a Water Rail from the Carlton hide and a sighting of a lively Goldcrest from the East Marsh hide.

The day was saved secondly by Monica and Tony who were trying to lure the almost tame Robins to land on Monica's camera.

The first Robin was a bit upset and told Monica "Get that Canon out of here.Nikon only"

The second Robin that showed up was very interested in Monica's kit and asked "Are you shooting in RAW"

The third Robin was also a camera buff and said "So this is the Canon 1D mark 4"