Lunchtime Sparrowhawk

Heavily cropped shot of Sparrowhawk, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich



Original uncropped Sparrowhawk shot, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

 Whilst I have only ever seen one Buzzard and one Kestrel during all my lunchtime walks around the Rosary Cemetery in Norwich, I reasonably frequently catch a glimpse of a Sparrowhawk.

This bird gave its presence away by constantly calling presumably to its mate for food and was [for a Sparrowhawk] remarkably tolerant of my presence. I think it may be a young bird but will have a bit of a look in some books and update this blog if that isn't the case. I've now had a look in my 'Collins Guide' and have change my mind the grey back colour [as opposed to brown in a Juvenile which should also have some white edging to its back feathers] and the uniform nature of its chest barring make me think this was a adult female.




Sparrowhawk, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

 The pictures were taken with my Panasonic Lumix TZ30 and the top one cropped on the computer. Pretty impressive for a piece of kit that isn't much bigger than a packet of cigarettes.

Whoops! that's not a Comma

Silver Washed Fritillary, Ken Hill Wood

Managed to get ou of the house 'early' [8.30 am] this morning with the boys [age 1 and 4] for a walk around Ken Hill Woods. I'd half hoped we might bump into a Grass Snake or get some nice views of White Admirals. Whilst stopped by the edge of a ride some dog walkers asked what the Balck and White butterflies were, thats easy White Admirals. Then they asked about the 'Ginger' one and again I said thats easy it'll be a Comma. Then they left and then this thing beat its way down the ride and landed on a Bramble flower.


This is a UK tick for me of a species that seems to be spreading in Norfolk and a welcome addition to this morning butterfly list.

A few pics of some more expected species taken this morning added for interest.

Silver Washed Fritillary, Ken Hill Wood

Silver Washed Fritillary, Ken Hill Wood

White Admiral Ken, Hill Wood

Peacock, Ken Hill Wood

Red Admiral, Ken Hill Wood

At last some Butterflies



Painted Lady, Hunstanton Sensory Park, June 2013

Its felt like a long  time since there were lots of butterflies about, last summer was a cold wash out and this summer was late to arrive. So a double whammy for butterfly watching of depressed butterfly numbers after a few bad years and then a longer than normal wait in what could be an OK year.

I've not had a chance to venture very far in search of butterflies this year, lunchtime walks in the week and countryside strolls with the family at weekends have been my window into this butterfly summer.

Back in June whilst recuperating from a bad back my regular walk around Hunstanton [part of walking myself back to fitness] was enlivened by passing through the rather wonderful Sensory Garden. Here I saw a single Painted Lady and a couple of Red Admirals.

In Norwich lunchtime walks around the Rosary Cemetery have been poor for butterflies but a single Large Skipper was a Cemetery tick for me and last week the place was humming with bees and a couple of Comma's were hanging around a little sun trap I always check for butterflies.

Ringlet, Courtyard Farm, Norfolk, July 2013

Ringlets and Meadow Brown's are now on the wing and the picture above was taken this morning at Courtyard Farm of a 'chilled' insect waiting to warm up.

White Admiral, Ken Hill Wood, Norfolk, July 2013

A personal favourite is the White Admiral and I am lucky to have a copy close to an office I work out of in Snettisham. These have started to emerge over the last week and I am looking forward to another week or two in their company.

Lunchtime mini beasts

I've had some problems with my back over the last ten days or so. Part of my therapy is to walk and as well as taking numerous short strolls around Hunstanton where I live. I've also had a couple of lunchtime wanders around Ken Hill Wood, on one day when I did this walk last week it was a little cool and cloudy and on the other there was a persistent light rain.

I took the pictures in this blog on these two walks using my Panasonic Lumix TZ30 and have made a stab at identifying the creatures with my home library. I'd welcome any informed comments on my attempted identifications.

This is a cranefly - Ctenophora - probably C. pectinicornis 

 

Wasp Beetle, Clytus arietis, a wasp mimic, well its black and yellow and apparently does a more convincing Wasp impersonation when it moves.

Fox, Squirrel and Snake for lunch

Fox cub, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

I've been away on holiday in Yorkshire and may eventually get around to a post or two about that trip. In the meantime a couple of interesting sightings from the last week.

One of my regular lunchtime walks through the Rosary Cemetery in Norwich was interrupted by a rustling sound from inside a bush, on peering in I saw the unmistkeable muzzle and ears of a fox cub which bolted and disappeared at which point I noticed the strong 'foxy' smell. On my walk back the same or a different cub ran down a path away from me and I managed the grab shot above.

Grey Squirrel, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

Much more to be expected in the cemetery was this Grey Squirrel which posed nicely in a tree, they've been a little reliable in recent weeks so it was nice to see this one pose for me.

Grass Snake, Ken Hill Wood, NW Norfolk

Today I was working in Snettisham and managed a Red Kite from the office window and this Grass Snake during a very short walk in Kne hIll Woods. It was warmish today but a little overcast and I think because of this the snake was not as active as they often are here which enabled me to get quite close to it to take these pictures with my compact camera.

Things to do with Wood Pigeons



Add caption

Seeing the extraordinary in the day to day and common place is something that as I get older I think I am becoming better at doing. This is driven I think by two factors, firstly as I get older I think the sum of my life experiences means that how I see the world is perhaps more nuanced than when I was younger. Secondly and perhaps more importantly I am more restricted now in what I can and can't do by the demands of a young family and full on job, all of which means that I now need to get my birding and photographic kicks much more locally and in much smaller windows of time.
The picture at the top of this blog is an old one of a Wood Pigeon taken a few years ago on a day when I had plenty of time and was wending my way along the north Norfolk coast. I took it with a DSLR and a big lens and very nice it is too. But it wasn't the highlight of my day and I didn't set out with this image in mind, I saw it, I grabbed it, and I moved on.

The next image is the first of three that I want to share with you that show how I have adapted what I do and perhaps in the process become more creative and thoughtful about my photography and birding and perhaps as a consequence I am also producing more interesting images. Taken just after the sun had dipped below the horizon, it is of a Wood Pigeon perched on a post, on top of Hunstanton Cliffss looking across The Wash towards Lincolnshire. I live five minutes walk from this location and I'll often take a 20 minute evening stroll along the cliff tops and see visitors taking pictures of some spectacular sunsets.  But for me on there own most sunset images of sky and sea lack a certain something, a something that this Wood Pigeon image has a little of which is to mind a story and some structure and form.

Both this next image and the ones above and below were taken with a rather nice little digital compact camera a Panasonic Lumix TZ30, my digital notebook, a camera I can have with me at all times and whilst not in the same league as a DSLR a piece of kit that does give me a reasonable amount of control and creative options. What I was looking for here was to develop the use of a bird perched up against the sunset or twilight sky. I had thought I might manage to get a Blackbird, Dunnock or Whitethroat singing and silhoutted in the dusk but on this occasion they didn't play ball. But this Wood Pigeon did.

And this is probably my favourite image of the many that I shot in a ten minute period that evening. I have some where the Pigeon is well exposed but the sunset is then over exposed and a silvery burnt out nothingness. For this image I under exposed to silhouette the bird and used the cameras Sunset fucntion to give it a bit of orange boost. The result I think is quite a dynamic shot which on my Flickr page I christened Wood Pigeon of the Apolcalypse.

Wood pigeons are not in that top drawer of wildlife subjects that get people like me excited, Red Squirrels and Otters for example, but they are common place, and often tame and that means despite the fact that they are wild birds you can start to be creative with them and make images that stand out a little from the crowd.

Conference Centre Birds, Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire

Wyboston Lake, Bedfordshire

Just got back home after a couple of days at the Wyboston Lakes conference centre, just off the A1 in Bedfordshire. I hadn't stayed here for a number of years, but remembering that there was a small lake and bit of scrubby woodland I packed my binoculars in case I had end at the start or end of the day for a spot of birding.

On arrival just about the first thing I was told by a friend was that a Nightingale was holding territory on the far side of the Lake. So after work I took a stroll and just for fun made a list of all of the birds that I saw or heard. Over the two days I managed a rather respectable total of 40 species. Highlights were Nightingale, Green woodpecker, Kingfisher, Common Tern, Hobby, Reed, Sedge and Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Chiff Chaff and half a dozen rather smart looking Great Crested Grebes.

Sadly though I didn't hear a single Turtle Dove a species that even six or seven years ago was common in this area.

Great Crested Grebes, Wyboston Lake