A little bit of Charlie

OK, I know, The Hornet's Nest (or should that be thehornetsnest) is supposed to be a blog about birding (or birdwatching) in Warwickshire.

But I just couldn't resist one more shot of Charlie - just to showcase the capabilities of the new camera of course ;-)

Besides, he's very relevant to the subject in hand, because he's part of the reason why I'm not actually doing any birdwatching in Warwickshire!

Still, at least I can keep my hand in with a bit of photography - he's a bit bigger than the average birding subject, but no more inclined to stay still long enough to photograph.

Leam Valley - a rare outing

I've been confined to barracks a fair bit of late, so it was bliss to take an early morning stroll around Leam Valley today.

Cold, clear and empty - just the way I like it. It was one of those mornings where even the ordinary seemed extraordinary and wonderful - no rare birds, but a Jay, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Cormorants roosting near the weir, a Yellowhammer along the riverside and a tight little flock of Redwing all enlivened my morning.



I even got this snapshot of a Jay - not a great photo by any means, but my best yet of this elusive but magnificent bird.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - a herald of spring

One of the early heralds of a new spring is the Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Even now in the depths of January, the GSW is already making preparations for the coming season, marking out his territory and advertising for a new mate.

The way they do this is by 'drumming' on tree trunks, rapidly banging their bills to create a noise not unlike a wooden ruler being twanged off the end of a desk.

I've heard this from my back garden for the last couple of weeks, and as I stood and watched my garden feeders this morning I finally caught sight of the bird himself. This was a garden first, and very exciting - even more so for having a camera to hand (the pictures were taken through the window on a foggy morning, so not bad considering).



A patch of red on the back of the head (just visible in this photo) means this is definitely a male by the way.

Up up and away

There were several reasons for treating myself to the new camera.

First was the opportunity for snatched shots - no more frantically setting up the digiscoping gear (tripod, scope, camera, adaptor, shutter release and battery pack) to try to capture that sudden and unexpected encounter. This Siskin which I found at Ryton Pools this weekend is a classic example.



The second was the variety and diversity of photography possible - to all intents and purposes this is basically a DSLR minus the interchangeable lenses. It has full automatic or manual controls, a great Leica f2.8 lens which runs from 35-432mm or so, and is at home taking portraits or landscapes as it is taking bird photos.

Here is Charlie to prove the point.



And finally, it can do things you could never do with digiscoping in a thousand year of trying. This quick flight shot of a Black-headed Gull at Draycote is a case in point - easy to take with a few minutes practice and I'm looking forward to plenty more like it.

Where did January go?

Or perhaps titled: "Becoming a father - what happened next".

At last I find a few moments to post and catch up on the last few weeks.

As I already mentioned, I became a father just before Christmas. I think it's fair to say that this has put something of a crimp on my birding.

Not that I'm complaining mind - I couldn't be happier about it- but it's worth recording here in my birding diary since it has undoubtedly had a significant effect on the style and substance of my birding.

Trips out have certainly been few and far between, but I have had a few opportunities to play with my new camera, a Panasonic FZ20 with TCON-17 teleconverter - giving me a cost-effective 730mm zoom lens on a 5mp camera.



I have set a hide up in the garage, and started to adjust the array of feeders for better photographic opportunities. These Greenfinch and House Sparrow photos show what is possible given a bit of decent light and a little bit of planning.

New arrivals on the home front

The last ten days have seen three new arrivals at Chez Hornet. In order of importance then...

My son, Charles (Charlie) Francis, was born on 22nd December 2006 at 9.20pm, a beautiful baby boy and the most wonderful moment of my life. This is a clear winner, and dwarfs any birding news. However...

There have been two new birds in my garden of late (as you might imagine, I haven't done any 'real' birding since 22nd December!). The first is a striking male Blackcap which has been a regular every day for the last week or so (allowing me to test my new camera, albeit at extreme range from the bedroom window). We have had one of these in the garden each winter we have been here, but they never lose their power to thrill as one of our few winter warblers.



Second has been the pair of Bullfinches which have graced our garden on several occasions, attacking our fruit trees but not yet reaching the bird table. These are also occasional visitors with the power to brighten up any day.

Addendum: Dec 31st - a Jay landed on our trellis today, a welcome garden 'first'. There aren't many mature trees around this part of the village, making this bird a rare occurence locally. Sadly it didn't hang around long enough to have its photo taken.

Draycote and a borrowed photograph

Impending fatherhood has left me less and less time for birding, so a quick Monday morning out and about on the local patch was most welcome. A beautiful still morning found me at Napton Reservoir first (looking for Bearded Tit) and then Draycote (hoping for Hawfinch photo opportunities).

At Napton I found mostly usual suspects - a Kingfisher gave particularly nice views. Later that day I read that the Bearded Tit had been found in the reedbeds there, but sadly not by me.

At Draycote I got the briefest views of a pale Hawfinch (not enough to get the photo I sought), plus yet another Great Northern Diver, a female Sparrowhawk (killing a Blackbird and making everything else decidedly jittery) and a few other odds and sods.



So no photo of a Hawfinch then, but to make up for that, here is a splendid shot taken a couple of weeks ago at Draycote by my colleague James.

Siskin and Mealy Redpoll at Brandon

OK, so I didn't get the Bittern. But I did walk straight into one of the other birds I was looking for at Brandon - Siskin. This little finch is a winter delight, but one which often eludes me. Not today. Straight into a flock of 30+ near the visitor centre, and even a chance to take some (poor) photographs to prove it.



It got even better after that. Along with a handful of Lesser Redpoll we found at least three Mealy or Common Redpoll, pale and pinky little things which attracted quite an admiring crowd.



Out on the water we found a drake Goldeneye along with the usual waterfowl and gulls, and a Muntjak Deer put on a nice show for us to round off the day.

Just sitting around

I haven't done much photography lately, so I thought with a few days off work I'd take the camera out for a spin.

Cue rain, dark skies and lousy light of course, but I enjoyed the experience just the same.

First of all I went back to Brandon to photograph the Bittern. I set up the camera facing a short channel across which the bird had been seen several times (including by myself on Sunday). I sat and watched for 90 minutes, the whole experience reminding me of fishing when I was a boy... just sitting and watching one point, waiting for something to happen. And, rather like fishing when I was a boy, nothing did happen. Zip, zilch, nada.

Still, I got to watch a Kingfisher, a Sparrowhawk and a Jay, so not a total waste, and on the way back to the car I got glimpses of a Water Rail. Not a bad haul (not a single photo though!)

Back down to earth

A Thursday off work and a chance to bird - so, that'll be grey skies, rain and no birds then.

Actually it was an OK morning. Certainly it was grey, wet and windy, but not too seriously so. And certainly there wasn't the excitement of last Sunday morning - although the Hawfinches are still around (up to five apparently) I chose not to spend too long looking for them.

Instead I did a quick circuit of Draycote (in so far as one can do a quick five mile circuit), and found a few Goosander, a couple of Goldeneye, 120 or more Golden Plover flying overhead, and then up to 100 Lapwing.



At Toft Shallows I stopped at the hide for the briefest digiscoping session (too dull for serious photography, but here's a picture of a Robin anyway). And then I headed off to Napton Reservoir, a new location for me, but one which came to my attention last week when a pair of Bearded Tits were found there. The reservoir is very close to my house, so I took the opportunity to pop by. It's a good looking spot, with a reasonable amount of deep open water, mature hedging and farmland all around, plus a fabulously large reedbed at the back (hence the beardies I suppose).

No sign of much today (the high wind will have kept any Bearded Tits hunkered down low in the reeds) but I imagine I will be a fairly frequent visitor here from now on. But the highlight of the day was in a neighbour's garden - as I stared out into the gathering rain and gloom, a female Kestrel (young, I think) flew on to a nearby fence with a tiny vole in her claws. After sitting for a while she stuffed the vole between a fence and fencepost, presumably for later consumption, before flying off to make the most of the last few hours of daylight.

Hawfinch and Bittern - Warwickshire wonderland

Possibly my finest ever self-found this morning - a Hawfinch at Draycote Reservoir. There had been reports of one in the country park during the week, but it was on the far side of the water that I found mine - well, to be fair it did fly down in front of my car! Nevertheless, I was able to watch it for a minute or so, drive down to grab a couple of birders fellow birders, and get back to find it again for more (albeit brief) views.

With Hawfinch sightings in Warwickshire being a rarity indeed (often just one or two a year) this was a fantastic find, but then when we left via the country park, we were able to spot a second bird, a beautiful male giving fantastic lingering views. A brilliant experience all round.



Normally that would be enough for any one day, but the double lure of breakfast and a reported Bittern at Brandon was enough to convince me to press on. Breakfast was fanastic, and then, after 20 minutes waiting in East Pool Hide, the Bittern moved, stalking left to right across a specially cut channel. Smashing. Then, from the far side of the water, I watched (and grabbed a record photo) while it adopted its camouflage position - head straight up in the air, totally still. Then it was off for a slow flight across the whole water before dropping down in Newlands.

What an amazing morning.

Great Northern Divers and a proper winter

Ah, now that's more like it! Minus 4 degrees, a mist so thick you can't see the water's edge , and a Great Northern Diver on the local reservoir - that's what I call a proper winter's morning.

After a few busy weeks with little or no time for birding, I was up at the crack of dawn today and down to Draycote by 7.20am. The mist was a real pea-souper, and to start with I could see only a short distance to the very edge of the water. Gradually things improved, and I found most of the usual winter birds - large numbers of Coot, Moorhen, Tufties, Wigeon, Lapwing etc. I was also pleased to find my first winter Goosander (2) and Goldeneye (perhaps a dozen in all).

On the far side (Draycote Bank) I discovered a Great Northern Diver - a wonderful bird that when feeding actually spends more of its time beneath water than above it. I've often mused on which environment it would call home, given the choice.

Anyway, despite my six warm layers (including a fab new padded army jacket), I was in need of some warmth and nourishment after a couple of hours. So I headed off to nearby Brandon Marsh for a hearty breakfast, and then ventured out for a final hour's birding. Three Snipe, a Sparrowhawk, a Common Gull and my first Fieldfare of the season were among the highlights, along with a fox which we watched prowl the far bank for five minutes or more.

Winter warmers on the patch

It's slowly starting to get colder round here, but I still think it's still ridiculously mild for mid November. I layered up for an early morning walk round Leam Valley today but just a few hundred yards from the house I began to think I might pass out from the heat (not hot as such, but certainly a good 5/6 centigrade). After a quick adjustment I set off minus one layer, a hat and the gloves, and strolled the mile or so down to the reserve.

I had one bird very much in mind this morning, and found it almost immediately - Redpoll. Three darker birds (Lesser) and one pale, almost frosted bird (Mealy?) were feeding off wiry grasses, surrounded by Blue and Great Tits. Although Redpoll are not uncommon in the winter, I don't see too many of them - indeed these were my first for 2005. Such long and clear views were a real treat.

As I moved along the river I found plenty more to be pleased with - Redwing feeding in the hawthorn trees, a splendid male Bullfinch attacking berries with gusto, Goldcrest hopping frantically through the trees, and a male Reed Bunting - another common but hard-to-find-in-these-parts bird.

The scrape was empty, so I headed across the fields up to Offchurch, the neighbouring village. I found few birds but enjoyed the walk enormously.

A group day out in North Norfolk

Up at the crack of dawn this morning (thank goodness for the extra hour) to make the two and a bit hour drive to North Norfolk to meet some of the members of Birdforum.net.

About 20 people were there in all, from all across the country and of all ages and levels of birding experience. Together they were good value for a day out at one of the RSPB's finest reserves.

I arrived at 9am, and by 9.15am we had found one of the Yellow-Browed Warblers that have invaded the country this autumn - at last! This gorgeous little bird proved to be the only lifer of the day, but that is not to say there weren't other treasures along the way.



Out at sea were some Velvet Scoters among the Common Scoters, a Red-throated Diver, two Eiders, and then a Fulmar and two Gannets flew by. In scrub land near the car park we enjoyed the briefest views of a male Ring Ouzel, and on the pools a normally-elusive Jack Snipe fed busily but visibly, bobbing in characteristic style. Although I have no photos of him, above is one of many Common Snipes that fed nearby.

I am normally a solitary birder, but this group day was great fun. The organisers, should they be reading this, have my thanks.

Stolen moments at lunchtime

A few minutes to stroll around some fields, a churchyard and a stream near my office today.

Instantly found myself surrounded by a tit flock - as well as Great and Blue Tits I managed to locate a Goldcrest, a couple of Wrens and a Robin.

Out in the fields I found a Kestrel posing high on a dead tree, joined for a few moment by a sleek Mistle Thrush with its dry, churring call. Scores of Redwing flew hither and thither overhead.

The chur of the thrush was quickly replaced by the harsh 'yaffle' of a Green Woodpecker which almost landed on me as it came flying round a nearby hedge.

Finally, a quick look at the stream on my way back turned up my Star Bird of the Day - a Grey Wagtail, fighting with a Robin by the waterside. Wonderful - if you add the Kingfisher from Monday's lunchtime stroll it's not been a bad week for stolen moments.

Ryton Pools

A boozy weekend left me far to weak to contemplate serious birding (it's not as easy as it looks, this birding lark). Instead we went for a gentle Sunday afternoon stroll round the nearby Ryton Pools Country Park - and found some rather nice birds.

On Paget's Pool there were a dozen or so Gadwall, a couple of Tufties, and the usual array of Mallards, Coots and Moorhens. Persistently diving between them were three splendid Little Grebe.

The first pleasant surprise was a Snipe feeding on one of the central islands. The second was a Green Woodpecker, drinking at the water's edge and posing perfectly - it was one of those moments for which cameras were invented. Sadly my kit was at home, so I'll make do with my memory.

The third surprise wasn't a bird as such, but rather the promise of future birds. The council have put three Barn Owl boxes up in on the rough grasslands in the centre of the park. This is perfect habitat for Barn Owls so fingers crossed for occupants in the future - I have only seen these superb creatures in East Anglia and would dearly love to find one on my own patch.

A day in north Warwickshire

I fancied a change today, so I headed up to the north of the county. There, in a fairly urban and often industrial setting to the north-east of Birmingham, is the Middle Tame Valley, a stretch of river, gravel pits, scrub land and parkland which together make up a vitally important bird habitat.

I started at the southern tip of the valley, at Whitacre local nature reserve, and quickly found Green Woodpeckers, two Jays, a Willow Tit and some Goldcrest. I then discovered that leaving my wellies at home was a big mistake. With all the main paths flooded, I headed off to Kingsbury instead.

Kingsbury Water Park is a very different kettle of fish - a huge municipal park covering a dozen or more pools, the river on one side and a canal on the other. Good (unflooded) paths lead to several bird hides, and although water levels were generally too high for waders, some patience was rewarded when up to six Snipe eventually showed themselves.

I then headed north again, this time on foot, walking up to Dosthill pits. Nothing of huge note here, except the huge flocks of Canada Geese and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A couple of Linnet were a nice find, as were eight Redwing, my first of the season, flying low overhead.

A break from DIY - Sparrowhawk and 'Blackwit'

A long weekend meant gardening and DIY - and a sanity-preserving trip to nearby Brandon Marsh nature reserve.

An exciting morning's birding was just what I needed to help me get away from DIY hell - unfortunately no one told the birds. As I met birder after birder, the story was the same. The rest of the UK may be awash with Yellow Browed Warblers, Cream Coloured Coursers and Laughing Gulls, but south and mid Warwickshire seem to have missed out for now.



Still, nil desperadum. A Black-tailed Godwit was the one visitor of real note at Brandon (a rare visitor to this particular site) and an obliging male Sparrowhawk gave me a great photo opportunity that really made my morning.

A Reed Warbler on the patch

An exciting find on the River Leam today - a Reed Warbler, my first for the patch.

Having wandered through most of the Leam Valley reserve with little to show, I headed up to the Offchurch Bury weir. And there, picking its way through the reeds and willow scrub was this pale juvenile warbler.

After ten minutes or so of tantalising glimpses, it finally showed properly - with its wide 'spoon' like tail, black-tipped primaries, longish bill and plain face. A splendid bird on a patch with so little in the way of reedbeds.

That was a turning point in the morning, and in short order I then connected with a Grey Wagtail, a Kingfisher, a Jay, a couple of Chiffchaffs, two Swallows and a House Martin - the last three being fairly late-staying summer migrants.

Early October in the village

Back to the patch this weekend after the excitement of last week's trip to Norfolk.

Things were quiet in the fields surrounding my house, but just as I was hankering after the wide open spaces of East Anglia (or alternatively a nice bacon sandwich) three Buzzards flew low overhead to put on the most amazing display.

I know these birds well, and have watched them from that hilltop many times, but they never lose their majesty, grace or power. As they glided away (harried by a couple of unhappy Jackdaws), a female Kestrel dropped in, first hovering nearby then sliding in on the strong winds, finally coming to rest on a nearby fence.

Beautiful birds both, and enough, along with a pair of late Barn Swallows and two Sky Lark singing against a crisp blue sky, to put a spring in anyone's step. The bacon sarnie was nice as well.