Normanby Park's Snowdrops Take 3

At last I have some half decent Snowdrop images but it took my old, battered Canon SD800 to get them - it trounced the Nikon P6000 and the Canon SLR with Sigma 10-20 and unlike my attempts with them, these are all hand held without the self-timer.  Also in the park this morning were; 33 Redwings, 3 Treecreepers, 30+ Goldfinch, 1 Grey Heron, 2 G S Woodpeckers drumming, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 15 pairs of Jackdaws all at nest sites but still no sign of our Nuthatches.  At the bird feeding station were 22 Grey Squirrels but no birds!

If only this one wasn't over exposed!

More Snowdrops!

I was so frustrated earlier in the week trying to get some good macro shots of the Snowdrops and Aconites that I nearly threw the Nikon away and packed up photography altogether but the weather this morning is superb - a hard frost, blue skies and bright sun so into Normanby Park with a new approach - Wayne's Canon SLR with the Sigma 10-20 lens - if I can't get good macros then I'll go for wide angles!  All was going so well until the battery ran out - typical men half charged batteries in the camera and no spare in sight and to cap it all he has gone off with my Nikon so no back-up either.  Anyway here's the results, one measly photo - everything else out of focus.

Scarlet Elf Cup

Started the day with Laughton Forest hoping to see Lesser Spottted Woodpeckers but failed miserably however did see 2 stunning male Bramblings, 30ish Redpolls, 2 Nuthatch and at least 3 Great Spots drumming.  We then moved on to Messingham where we were shown these beautiful Scarlet Elf Caps unfortunately the photo doesn't do them justice - on the bird front we had 2 Woodcock, 1 Bittern, 12 Snipe, at least 3 Water Rails calling and Wayne picked up this female Scaup on the small pond behind the reserve.

Images of Snowdrops and Winter Aconites at Normanby Park

Perfect weather for taking images of flowers this morning - sunny and no wind so off to the park with the Nikon P6000 - should be easy I thought!  but the macro facility on this camera is so frustratingly unreliable -  it seems to me that unless you have a distinct background there's no point even trying but switch it to manual focus and you have a chance of reasonable sharp images but when the camera is at ground level and you can't see the screen its all down to luck

 

Possible Caspian Gull & Glaucous Gull

A 1st Winter Glaucous Gull showed well near our local tip over the weekend along with a 2nd winter Iceland Gull which unfortunately didn't stay put long enough to photograph.  Then amongst a large gathering of gulls in a nearby field was a possible Caspian Gull.  The bird was an adult which showed many of the features of a Caspian Gull and was seen along side Herring Gulls for comparison.  The first two images are the possible Caspian - any comments welcome.

Bewicks, Whoopers and Smew day

Had a good day today - weather dry and even a little sunny so off winter swan hunting to Worlaby Carrs where we soon picked up on 8 Bewicks, 5 Whoopers and 38 Mutes so a good start especially as we had also seen a female Smew at Bagmoor on the way to the swans.  Whilst at Worlaby we had a call from a friend who was watching an Iceland Gull at Bagmoor so we returned just to see it flying off having been flushed by a Hen Harrier!  Later in the day we decided on a spot of wader watching at New Holland where we dropped in on a small roost of 220 Redshank, 2 Knot, 2 Black-Tailed Godwits and around 300 Turnstones - also on the Humber 11 Goosander and 50+ Mute Swans.

Mute Swans on the Humber

Smew at Bagmoor

Bewick Swans

Whooper Swans

Redshank and single Dunlin

Redshank spot the metal ring and Black Tailed Godwit

You sleep I'll keep an eye out!

More Redshank

Who woke me up?

Knot spot the metal ring!

A distinct lack of posts!

The weather here in Lincolnshire has been grey, cold and miserable for seemingly ages now and I just can't drum up any enthusiasm to go out and indeed why should I when the garden is full of birds giving an enthralling display.  We also have had today two new visitors to the garden pond - Redpolls, hopefully they will make regular visits so we can get some photos.  Other regulars fighting for the feeders are; 7 Tree Sparrows, 5 Blue Tits, 7 Great Tits, 5 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch, 5 Goldfinch, 1 Siskin, 1 G S Woodpecker and 3 Grey Squirrels which Wayne keeps chasing off to no avail.  We also have a resident Pheasant which roosts in our Yew Tree and creates the biggest pile of poo in one night imaginable straight outside the shed door and unexpectedly this morning 5  Peacocks set up residence on the patio.  For the first year ever we also have a small party of 20 Redwings and 2 Mistle Thrush who regularly come to feed in the paddock at the bottom of the garden and again another first last week when a Herring Gull was also feeding in the paddock.  I am not sure what's attracting these new visitors except there are a lot of mole hills this year probably due to the severity of the winter and the birds are feeding in and among these.

Winter Swans

As it was such a sunny day we decided to go and see a group of winter swans we had heard about at Wroot - we were surprised at the numbers we found; 62 Mutes, 32 Bewicks and 58 Whoopers. Typically, as soon as we got there the sun went in and the cloud cover left us with barely any light - unfortunately the Bewicks were just too far for any decent shots so just Whoopers below.

Emerging Snowdrops

At last the sun is out - it seems quite a while now since we last saw it so a good opportunity to go in to the park and photograph the emerging Snowdrops.  They have been poking through for a couple of weeks now but it has been so cold and dull that it just wasn't worth trying to get some shots and I have to say after taking about 50 shots this morning, this was the only one that was anywhere near sharp and correctly exposed - try as I  might I just could not get the macro to focus where I wanted and not where it wanted - I'm sure I never had this problem with the Canon but the Snowdrops will be out for another month yet so practice will hopefully make perfect.

The birds were on good form also, whilst stood in one spot I could see 20+ Redwings, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Mistle Thrush, small Tit flock and numerous Blackbirds and then along came a dog walker straight through the middle and the whole lot was gone,  now I like dogs and I like walkers but put the two together and ...........

A summary of Thailand

So where to begin,  I suppose it has to be the birds and two in particular - Gurney's Pitta and Spoon-billed Sandpiper. The tension and excitement in seeing these birds was immense and the experiences will always remain with us.

Gurney's Pitta

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

 

But then the other Pittas started to show and we were left wondering who took pride of place; the Gurneys, the Banded, the Eared or the Blue all  stunningly beautiful.

Banded Pitta

 

..and as the days ended the night birding took over and we begun to wonder did this surpass the day time birding, we were in awe of  Javan Frogmouths, Oriental Bay Owl, Brown Wood Owl and a pair of Brown Hawk Owls. An hour or two's trek up a mountain side in heavy rain in search of White-fronted Scops Owl was the only disappointment but even that holds strong memories

Javan Frogmouth

 

Of course this little beauty was my star of the trip - we took about a hundred shots and five minutes of video of this little fellow and savored every moment

Rufous Backed Kingfisher

 

and then the excitement of the Similan Islands where so many people had told us not to go as we would not see its star bird but the lure was too great and the Nicobar proved to be the easiest bird of the trip

Nicobar Pigeon

Khao Yai NP holds strong memories for good and bad reasons - the good being the sounds of the gibbons echoing across the forests and our good fortune at being able to photograph them - the bad in being eaten alive by mosquitoes and sucked dry by leeches
White handed Gibbon

And finally the overriding images in my mind will be the people, the temples, the food and the stunning scenery

Phrang Nga Bay

 

The boat that broke down - twice!

James Bond Island

Ao Nang

One of many orchids

Khao Lak

The food, the people and us!

I would recommend anyone to go to Thailand whether you're in to nature or not but be warned for Anglo-Saxons such as myself the heat and humidity is a killer but the beauty of the place and the people is a must!