I have a new camera..

Yes another one, Father Christmas was very kind and bought me a Canon S95 - he must have known that my Nikon P6000 has been acquired for digiscoping by a certain other and is therefore always virtually unusable due to the amount of paraphernalia attached to it but I have to say based on its first trip out the Canon is so much more fun to use than the Nikon.  It is also truly pocketable unlike the Nikon and you can whiz round changing exposures and ISO’s like there’s no tomorrow - it has many gimmicks on it that I might just use for once like a short cut button where you can program in a feature for quick access - I have currently set it to change for jpeg to raw or both - everything is just so much quicker to access and change. The 3” screen is very clear and bright, admittedly though there wasn’t a hint of sun this morning so all I need now is some good weather-  we have been clouded in fog since the snow disappeared and as you can see from Normanby’s fishing lake things are still frozen solid.
On the birding front things quiet in the Park this morning but noticeably all are beginning to pair up particularly the Jackdaws and Mallards also male Nuthatch frantically calling so spring is just around the corner..

ok I know the image above isn’t sharp but it was taken at 1/15th of  sec and I just like the feel of it

South Ferriby

Now here’s something you don’t see everyday - a Common Seal at South Ferriby looking as miserable as the frozen Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit and Dunlin.

Humber Ice Berg Surfing Dunlin and Short-eared Owl Video clips

Massive ice flows drifting up and down the Humber on the tides gave the opportunity for some bored Dunlin who couldn't feed on the frozen mud to have some fun surfing instead.

Return of our intrepid guest photographer Neal - this time a video clip of  SEO down at Worlaby Carrs.

Festive Wishes to one and all

 

Not taken in a stable at Bethlehem but in one of the stables at Normanby Park……I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The big chill continues…

but these aren’t more snow scenes but frost scenes -  the snow is very slowly clearing but with day time temperatures of -9 and night time -13 the ice is incredible if not dangerous under foot - we Brits are just not good at such low temperatures and indeed the whole country is slowly grinding to a halt.


I felt very guilty when taking the photo below as unknown to me a Woodcock and 2 Snipe were presumably feeding along this stream and I inadvertently flushed them however in my defence in all my years of visiting the park I have never seen these two species here but when everywhere else is frozen solid, birds must go wherever they can.

Normanby garden update

You'll be pleased to know I have no more snow pictures(for now!) as it is just too blooming cold for me to go out - the last 3 days has seen temperatures of -12 at night and between -3 and -9(yesterday at 3.00pm) during the day.  The snow is piled up in 2 metre high drifts which are now more like ice bergs and the roads are still quite treacherous certainly around Normanby so I have been glued to the garden feeders. Over the last week we have got through 15K's of seed hoovered up mostly by 5 Pheasants, 1 Red Legged Partridge, 1 Jay, 13 Tree Sparrows, 5 Blue Tits, 6 Great Tits, 4 Cole Tits, 4 Dunnocks, 3 Robins, 1 Song Thrush and 6 Blackbirds! plus 4 Goldfinch are devouring a bag of Nigella seed.  Nearly had a Curlew in the garden yesterday as it just skimmed the fence and we are still getting over the excitement of the Woodcock however whether it is still alive is a worry as I heard someone shooting up at Little Normanby yesterday (as if the birds haven't got enough to contend with).

Sorry couldn’t resist!

Yes more snow scenes in Normanby

Well it continued to snow most of yesterday afternoon and through the night and I can now say without any doubt that I have never experienced such an amount of snow in my life time.  Along with much of the country Normanby has come to a halt with the majority of our neighbours snowbound and Wayne despite getting in to work yesterday decided not even to attempt it this morning so you’ve guessed it more snow scenes!

Weather up date and another garden rarity

Well it has snowed on and off all day and we are now up to at least 15 inches, I have never seen anything like it - no photos today as it is really hard work to walk in it (for me) however hope to go in the Park tomorrow so never fret more snow pics to come.  Great excitement this evening as the sun went down a Woodcock flew into the garden, had a little pick about and then flew off in to the Park - could it possibly have been lurking around the stream all day as this is the only area not knee deep in snow - who knows but I'll certainly be looking tomorrow,  Our Jay has been gobbling peanuts up all day and a Great Spotted Woodpecker back on the feeders is a new species for the winter.

Snow brings rare garden visitor

It must be ten years since we had a Jay on the bird table - with Wayne desperate to pull back photography credibility he brought out the big guns (slr with 100-400mm) with remote control and hid - he has now gobbled up all the peanuts and buried most of them at the back of the garden (the Jay not Wayne).

Here we go again yet more Normanby snow shots…………….

Well it has continued to snow most of the night and I can honestly say I have never seen so much snow in Normanby – it has even stopped Wayne going to work (something I have never seen) so in to the park for more snow shots.   The first 8 shots were taken by Wayne using the Nikon P6000 and the remainder are mine using my trusty old battered Canon SD800 – interestingly the cameras handled the exposures very differently and I have to say I think the Canon beat the Nikon.

The side gates to Normanby Park

Our bird table in the back garden

Normanby village

Possibly Hare tracks?