MORE FUN AND GAMES WITH RED.

Last Sunday morning after the rain stopped I popped over again to see my very good friend Red (the Netherwood Common Redstart).I don't know if it was because it was chilly and pretty windy because I had to wait 10 minutes before Red showed.This will not do.

Over the last few weeks Red and I have been engaged in a battle with me trying to get close and getting a decent shot and Red stopping me.You've got no chance when he's in the paddock because there's no cover but Red sometimes hops over the fence and goes on the gate and fencing of the next field and if you're lucky and can remain hidden you've got a chance of a better shot.It's not easy as he spots you most times.

Had a bit more luck on Sunday when Red hopped over to the next field and managed a few better shots usually shot through vegetation that doesn't help.

A COMMON BUZZARD AIR SHOW.

Whilst waiting for Red to show last Sunday morning I was treated to an air show put on by 5 Common Buzzards.

A couple of them came pretty close and enabled me to rattle off a few shots.It was impressive stuff as they were calling out all the time to each other and great to see so many together.

A PHOTOSHOOT WITH AN OBLIGING COMMON WHITETHROAT.

Last Friday morning I popped down to Marsh Lane.I was lucky when I got there because the clouds rolled away and it became very pleasant.

The Black-tailed Godwit was still on the CP pool and from the Oak hide both a Common and a Green Sandpiper were on show together with a Little Egret but what pleased me most being interested in getting shots when a juvenile (?) Common Whitethroat showed very well in the marsh.Lovely looking bird.

WENT TO SEE RED AGAIN.

Sorry about this but on Wednesday afternoon I went on the short trip to see Red again (The Netherwood Redstart). I'd been out shopping most of the morning and after lunch I needed to get out there even for a short time and with nothing been reported locally Red was the obvious choice.

Got there at 1.30 PM and true to form Red soon showed up.As I've mentioned before he favours a private paddock that's about 40m wide and 120m long that is surrounded by a 2m high hedge with a barbed wire fence inside.The only viewing point is a gate on the S side in the SE corner.Red sits on the fencing on the W side near the SW corner approx. 30m from the gate.Hence the struggle to get decent shots.

Red was in his usual spot on Wednesday so I had to use the SX50 to get some shots.

After about 40 minutes Red caught me out and instead of going back to his usual perch after one of his fleeting visits to the grass he flew right past me and landed on the fence on the E side very near the gate.Hells Teeth this is what I'd been waiting for all these visits.He was well in range of my 400 lens.Got some great shots then? Afraid not. Disaster struck ! !

When Red landed I was in the open leaning on the gate so I had to get to cover smartish else he'd be off.A couple of steps to the left was needed to get behind the hedge.Easy then? No.The hedge here is a combination of Holly and Brambles and I got too close and got snared up.Two Bramble hooks in the back of my hand and four in the sleeve of my new woolen jumper.Lots of heavy duty swearing took place as I struggled to free myself which took ages.When I was free and tried to focus on Red a Robin disturbed him and this is the shot I got as he flew off. Damnation ! !

The good news was that Red did come back to the E fence but not as close as before.Did get some better shots but missed out on some stunners thanks to the hedge. 

This last one is taken with the SX50 rather than the 7D with the 400 lens.Not bad but a bit soft.

Red has given me great entertainment over the last few weeks and did again today despite the hedge incident.The jumper by the way did not come off too well.

A DECENT WADER TO PHOTOGRAPH.

After some early morning shopping on Tuesday morning I popped over to Marsh Lane hoping to beat the showers forecast for later.When I got there I was surprised it was still so breezy and pretty chilly.Surely Autumn wasn't here yet.

Joined some friends in the CP hide and after we had watched 500+ Geese all take off at the same time Jeff spotted a Godwit in the open water.None of us had seen it drop in.Annoyingly for quite a while it fed in deep water and it was hard to get a shot of it with it's head above water.

After a while it flapped it's wings and showed it was a Black-tailed Godwit.

After it had flown to the back of one of the islands I checked out the other hides and found from the Oak hide one of the four Common Sandpipers reported to be on site.

I then popped back to the CP hide to see if the Godwit was showing any better.Luckily I just got there when it was on the nearest island and I managed some shots before it raced off.

Whilst in the CP hide I had another go at getting some Sand Martin flight shots.I managed a couple but could not managed last week's effort.Good fun though.

THE NETHERWOOD REDSTART.

I checked on the cracking male Common Redstart I found down Netherwood Lane again this morning and as he has done for every visit very soon appeared on the fencing that runs along a paddock on private land.

He has been there now for a least 18 days since I first spotted it.I have checked on him 12 times during that time and he has showed every time but he will disappear for long periods.The bad news for me is that you cannot get close to him to get a really good shot.

The land owner who has become a friend since I gave him some photographs of his Redstart has given me permission to enter the paddock but because there is no cover in there the bird would be scared off so I have not taken up his offer.

One of my better shots with the 7D/400 prime lens is this one which shows how far the bird is away (approx 25m at best).

This morning I had another go with the Canon SX50 bridge camera on full optical zoom with the 2X converter switched on.You get closer shots but the quality suffers a lot.These are the best of the morning's shots which are not too bad.

Whilst waiting for the Redstart to show over the last few days I've managed to see other birds from the same spot.A very nice Yellowhammer showed the other day but the SX50 is so slow to focus I missed it.It's a good spot for raptors because I've seen Kestrels and Sparrowhawks but both not close.Common Buzzards sometimes drift over and I managed a few shots last week.

MARSH LANE.

Popped over to Marsh Lane Wednesday lunchtime for a quick look round.

In very pleasant weather I had a good look round and found a pair of Green Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover both on the CP pool.A Sparrowhawk showed but was a long way off.

There were a fair amount of House Martins and Sand Martins flashing around the CP pool and like a fool I had a go at getting a Sand Martin flight shot.An hour later amongst the 200+ blurred blob shots was this pretty decent shot.Very pleased to fluke this which is my best ever flight shot of one.Note that this is the same shot one cropped more than the other.