my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Robert]

Ian,

How do you take such photographs of the wildlife? Do you use a special lens on your camera? Are there blinds where you can wait for the wildlife to pass by? Maybe you a good at tracking animals?

Anyway I liked the owls. 

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, it is not skill on my part and I don,t usually spend time waiting for wildlife to turn up. The camera is not special although there is a zoom feature on the fixed lens. The owls were first seen by someone from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (rspb) when we were looking at a site. I approached them by walking at an angle to the tree and looking at the ground.They did not seem concerned by my approach so I stopped and took the picture. The nightjar was seen by luck. I acted as though I had not seen the bird, took the picture and left. Most other pictures of wildlife are just a matter of luck.

[ian mcdonald]

Fairly quiet today, among the birds seen were lapwings, marsh harriers, fieldfares, redwings, redpoll (about 60), kestrel, great spotted woodpecker, goosander and a red deer img. 1020110.

[ian mcdonald]

Another quiet cool day, windfarms to the left and windfarms to the right. I suppose they are better than radio-active pollution img 1020115 and 1020116. Autumn scenes img. 1020114, 1020118, 1020119.

[ian mcdonald]

Among the wildlife seen were marsh harriers, fieldfares, grey lag and pink foot geese, stonechats img. 1020120 and roe deer does img. 1020121 and an inquisitive buck img. 1020126. Whooper swans have arrived img. 1020117.

[Maggi Young]

Some of the young Whoopers still looking quite immature - how long till they are in full  adult feathers ?

[ian mcdonald]

Maggi, according to birddatabase.com immatures keep some grey feathers until their second winter.

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Ian - that's longer than I thought.

[Robert]

Ian,

Your "local patch" must be a good stopover point for migratory birds. The Sacramento Valley of California is major stopover for migratory birds on the west coast of North America. I have not seen the Sandhill Cranes yet, however they should be showing up soon. The October rains have turned much of the northern Sacramento Valley into a giant wetlands. Great for the migratory waterfowl. Are the migratory birds coming through in your area? or have already moved on to the south?

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, summer visitors such as swallow, swift, martins and hobbys have left for southern europe and africa. Winter visitors including redwing, fieldfare, pink footed goose and whooper swans are arriving from northern areas. We don,t usually get large numbers of winter visitors in our area, perhaps because we are inland. There are a small number of un-common water-fowl (in our area) passing through such as common scoter, pintail, red breasted merganser, goldeneye and bean goose.

[ian mcdonald]

A cold, dull, rainy day today making photography poor. The wildlife was better than expected, with the first bird seen being a male hen harrier. A visit was paid to the site of a new water pump being prepared, then a walk to a small lake. Birds seen here included whooper swans, goosanders, shovellers, mallards goldeneye and teal. A flock of about 100 mixed redpoll and bramblings were feeding in birch trees. Goldcrests were feeding in low bushes. Pink foot geese and fieldfares were flying over and a water rail was heard calling. Two small flocks of goldfinch were busy feeding on old thistle heads. Three female marsh harriers were sat in a bush. A small mammal, possibly a water shrew ran over the track. Four roe deer were by a track as I left. The sun came out in time to set. There is no shelter on the site to enjoy wildlife while sipping a hot drink. This means you have to look if you want to see. The site of the new pump img. 1020127. Whoopers in line img. 1020130. A whooper with goosanders behind. A goldcrest hiding behind a leaf.

[ian mcdonald]

Three female marsh harriers in a bush img. 1020137. At last, the sky cleared img. 1020136. Darkness falls img. 1020139.

[Robert]

Ian,

It seems like it must have been a nice day to be out rain or shine.

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, the wildlife rarely disappoints whatever the weather or time of year. I prefer spring and summer though.

[ian mcdonald]

A dull, windy day. Photography of birds poor. Among those seen were marsh harrier, grey lag geese, reed buntings, kestrel, redpolls, goosanders, snipe and goldcrest. 2 red deer and a roe deer were also seen. img. 1020152 shows one of the paths. img. 1020156 is of grey lag geese and a canada goose.