Photographing Quicksilver, a little time with Swifts

Sunday and with a decidedly chilly weather forecast we decide on a family walk along the landward side of the pines between Holkham and Burnham Overy Staithe. Part mobile football match, part birdwatch and part picnic we make our way along a surprisingly quiet path heading west from Lady Anne's Drive.

Female Wheatear, Burnham Overy Dunes

I didn't have any great birdy expectations apart from getting to add Spoonbill to my year list and sure enough we saw a number of these around the Cormorant colony as expected. The only other year tick was a Greenshank that I picked up as it called as it flew over whilst we had our picnic in the dunes.

Male Wheatear, Burnham Overy Dunes

The dunes didn't hold any Ring Ousels that I could find and in the cold northerly wind migrants were thin on the ground so two or three Wheatear's were nice to see and included a very tame female that allowed me to shuffle within a couple of metres of her.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

As we walked on the landward side of the seawall back towards Burnham Overy Staithe, large numbers of Swifts buzzed around our heads and I got sucked into one of my favourite summer pastimes trying to photograph Quicksilver aka as Swift photography. I really didn't have the right kit with me a ten year old EOS 400D body and an even older Canon  100 - 300 mm 1; 4.5-5.6 lens the auto focus on which wheezed slowly in and out far more slowly than the Swifts moved through the sky which made the already tricky task of photographing them much harder.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

Nonetheless I had a great time, Swifts are such charismatic birds and so unpredictable in flight, just when you think that you that you and your camera have finally focused on one, it does a sudden shimmy and is gone. One eagerly anticipated moment when photographing Swifts, never guaranteed and never predictable, is when one fly's so close to your face that you can hear the rush of air through its wings and for a second you wonder if its wing brushes against you, will slice your ear off.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

I took lots of shots, most were out of focus, but one or two were OK as record shots and I have shared a few here.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

Whilst waiting for the Swifts this male Kestrel worked its way down the sea bank and for a moment or two was almost directly overhead an din good light. A very pleasant twenty minutes.

Vagrants and colonists from the east

Wednesday 17th September
I had to work late into the evening, so I treated myself to a morning walk out to Burnham Overy Dunes, I knew that there had been a few goodies here the day before but I set out more in hope than expectation.

First stop was the reed fringed pool and despite giving it a long hard look over I couldn't find the Black Necked Grebe that had been present, the effort I put in wasn't wasted as I found a Green Sandpiper and had my first Pinkies of the winter, six flying overhead their distinctive "wink, wink" calls as they flew giving them away, their arrival as sure a marker of the changing seasons and autumns inexorable slide into winter, as the first swifts screaming through the air in late Spring herald the dawn of summer.

A passing birder told me that a Yellow Browed Warbler was showing, so I quickened my pace. On arrival I was told that a Red Breasted Flycatcher was on view and as I lifted my binoculars a Pied Flycatcher popped onto the wires of the fence below me.

Red Breasted Flycatcher, Burnham Overy Dunes

Whilst waiting for the Yellow Browed Warbler I added Garden Warbler, Whinchat and Wheatear to my mornings tally. At last the Yellow Browed showed well if briefly, it is always a treat to see one of these birds that bring to mind associations with scrappy bits of scrub and woodland on the east coast of England in autumn and also of winter birding trips I made to Asia many years ago. Here I also saw a single Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat in the same binocular field of view. It was at this point it became apparent that there were two Red Breasted Flycatchers present. one of which worked its way along the fence in front of me and at one point was maybe 6 feet away, it really was classic east coast autumn birding.

With time pressing and a long car journey ahead of me to a meeting in Essex I dragged myself away from what had been a top mornings spotting.

Thursday 18th September
Got home not much before midnight on the 17th and up and out the house in good time this morning to catch the train to London for another meeting. My route in London takes me on a short and enjoyable walk through Green Park and St James's Park. The Parks were very busy with tourists enjoying the fine autumn weather. Time was tight but I paused for a moment on the bridge over the lake in St James's Park, looking into the clear water I could see a huge shoal of Perch and Rudd, the Perch are easy to Identify with their vertical barring, the Rudd are less obvious but my friend The Grumpy Ecologist tells me that they "Look like Rudd - bright red fins, mouth has longer lower lip (rather than roman nose and long top lip of roach)".

Rudd and Perch, St James's Park Lake.

Ring Necked Parakeet in Indian Bean Tree, St James's Park

Once across the bridge I was further distracted by the distinctive call of a Ring Necked Parakeet from some mature trees just off the path, after a little searching through their large densely packed green leaves, I spotted a couple of well camouflaged birds feeding on the seed pods of what was a large Indian Bean Tree, for such dayglo green birds it's amazing how they blend in.

On Googling this behaviour at home it is clear that London's Ring Necked Parakeets regularly exploit this food source and observers who have had more time to observe this suggest that they are feeding on the pulp not the seeds. Interesting how a tree from the Americas and a bird from Asia have come together in the man made habitat of central London.

Friday 19th September
A busy day in the office in Snettisham, but had a quick 20 minute stomp through Ken Hill Woods and bumped into a large mixed feeding flock including several each of Treecreeper, Goldcrest, and Coal Tit.

Saturday 20th September

Holme Church from Holme Marsh

A busy morning, first I went swimming, then I shot home got no1 son and took him for his swimming lesson, finally I had 90 minutes spare and opted for a walk around Holme Marsh on the grounds that its less than 10 minutes drive from home, not many folk go there, there are lots of birds about and therefore I might have a chance of finding something good. The last part of this line of logic is where it fell apart, Holme Marsh was nice but quiet, still I did find Chiff Chaff 4, Blackcap 2, Wheatear 1, Marsh Harrier 3 and as ever the Konik Ponies were photogenic.

 

Konik Ponies, Holme Marsh

Sunday 21st September

A quick visit to Titchwell more to buy some bird food than to go spotting, a cold north wind was keeping passerines down but I did manage to pick out three distant Little Stints on the Fresh Marsh and three different Chinese Water Deer around the reserve. At home a couple of skeins of Pink Footed Geese totalling maybe 40 birds flew over calling as I put out the washing.