LITTLE EGRETS VIDEO

Had a go on Thursday morning at Marsh Lane at taking a video with the new camera.Bit of game getting it on to YouTube so I hope it works OK

To play the video again you may have to click the arrow in the bottom left had corner.

STILL SLIM PICKINGS AT THE LOCAL PATCH.

Popped over to Marsh Lane again this morning getting there at 9.00 AM.It was a cracking morning's weather but there were no cracking birds on show.

A Meadow Pipit dropped down at the far end of the island from the Oak hide. A bit distant but nice to see.

My new friend a Common Buzzard again perched in the sunshine a long way off.This time it was on the far side of the RW pool from the oak hide not far from the bridges approx 170 m away.Another chance to check the reach of the new camera/lens.Pretty pleased with these shots my old kit would have got nowhere near these. 

Nice to see the Wigeon are back in numbers.

I did see a couple of waders.A Common Snipe and a very distant Green Sandpiper.

STILL SLIM PICKINGS AT THE LOCAL PATCH.

Been down to Marsh Lane the last two mornings but I'm afraid neither visit has found any new birds.Also to make matters worse Big Whitey has left and has not been seen for a few days now.

All I've done is use the time to practice with the new camera.This Common Buzzard was sitting happily on a post about 120 m away so I was quite pleased with the shots I got at that distance.Quite soon some Crows had a go at it.

Here are a few of the other shots I managed nothing special I'm afraid except perhaps with the Water Rail and a flight shot of a small bird.

SLIM PICKINGS AT THE LOCAL PATCH.

Been down to the local patch Marsh Lane in the morning a couple of times recently but have struggled in the gloomy conditions to fine anything new to point the camera at.

The exception to this of course is Big Whitey who continues to reside on the RW pool but even he has stayed a fair way off.Always great to see though.

You can tell how boring it was I tried for some shots of a distant Common Buzzard to test out the zoom lens wide open (ie. up to the equivalent of 800 mm ). The shots were very acceptable considering the bird was about 140 m away.

The only other shots taken were of a GS Woodpecker , a Grey Wagtail and a Common Gull.

After the Garden Feeding Station Society visited and downgraded my feeders to "Disastrous" I have  refurbished them (see below) but things have not improved at all and I'm still getting very few visitors.In fairness to myself there are no birds about in the neighborhood.I feel like the bankrupt who opened a cafe just before a bye-pass was opened. 

A QUICK VISIT TO THE LOCAL PATCH.

Had to go elsewhere this morning but had a little time to use first so I popped down to Marsh Lane for a quick visit getting there at not long after 8.00 AM.

Keen to practice with the camera I had some luck down the causeway when I spotted a Cetti's Warbler for the first time in a while.It wasn't close but great to see.Managed to cock the shots up by turning the EC wheel the wrong way and when I corrected my mistake the bird had flown.

A Cormorant posed for pics not too far from the Oak hide.

Big Whitey was a long way off on the spit (about 90+ metres) so opened up the zoom lens and managed some decent shots considering the distance.

A Wren came close to the back of the river hide to give me some much needed practice.

TWO EARLY VISITS TO THE LOCAL PATCH.

With the weather so good this week I went over to Marsh Lane both yesterday and this morning mainly to get more practice with the new camera and lens.

Haven't taken many smaller bird in trees etc shots but got this chap along the causeway and the shots turned out very well. 

Getting much better at flight shots but they are usually of aircraft or geese so far but getting there slowly. 

The Water Rail showed briefly in one of the N Causeway screen channels but it was so dull there the auto ISO shot up to 3200 and I ended up with crappographs.

With all the GWE shots I've posted recently I thought I'd better post one of the 3+ Little Egrets there this morning.

In the space of a few minutes from the Oak hide 3 decent birds were spotted but all were a long way off so no decent shots and in the case of the Greenshank no shots at all.The Stonechat was so far away I'm not sure I got the right bird.The Grey Wagtail was a little closer but not much.

Tried to resist taking anymore shots of the GWE (only one seen today) but it was close to a Grey Heron.

Never seen the 3 Hybrid Geese together before.They were on the CP pool.

The Garden Feeding Station Society made a surprise visit to my garden this morning.Someone must have tipped them off how badly my feeding station was doing.They downgraded my mine to Disaster.