Sunday, December 04, 2011

A Few Along the Way

With my photography I do try and concentrate on sessions aimed at a particular species. Inevitably whilst waiting around or during my wanderings a few other species tend to appear in the viewfinder. Often you may just get one of two photos of these chance encounters and therefore as the year progresses I tend to end up with a small collection of bonus images that I can use for a compilation blog post which is exactly what this one will be.

I will start of with spring and whilst walking down to a small reed bed to try and photograph reed warbler, a male Blackcap poked out of a bush and launched in to its loud blackbird like warbling song. I quite liked bird partially obscured by vegetation in this image as this a good representation of a typical view.
I live on the road which has the tidal River Mersey at the bottom and whilst walking down the hill to look for some wading birds on the beach, I cut through the park where there are some very approachable Mistle Thrush. Fortunately the maintenance people leave some areas of longer grass to allow some interesting low angle photos to be taken
During a session looking for some hares I came across a large clump of thistle which the local Goldfinches were doing their best to strip of all it seeds.
Another bird encounter during my search from hares, a Jay in the process of taking on board an acorn to go and bury somewhere for the winter.
I occasionally visit a graveyard where there is usually a relatively 'friendly' female Kestrel. On this occasion there was no sign of 'Mavis' as she is fondly known, but I did manage to get a couple of images of a male bird in some late in the day light.
Perched on a gravestone
Hovering low looking for worms and voles.
I also keep an eye on one of the local duck ponds as sometimes something more unusal the the flocks of mallard will arrive. A Shelduck unexpectedly 'crash' landing.
I try and keep my camera by my side as often as possible for unexpected moments. While driving to work one morning, I spotted a young Black-tail Godwit feeding on the fields behind the local promenade. Well it would have been a crime to drive by with out taking a few photos. It is fortunate I always tend to leave early for my trip to the office in case of such events.
Obviously these are just a few of the 'extras' I have encountered during this year but each one has been a welcome and special moment.

8 comments:

ferreiro said...

gran serie muy buenas fotos un saludo

TexWisGirl said...

they are all spectacular. the goldfinch is especially striking with the sunlight illuminating its gorgeous cranberry reds.

Matt M said...

Great photos. I love the little Krestrel and especially the bird with the berry in its mouth. Great shots.

Unknown said...

Rich, incredible images!

grammie g said...

Hi Rich...I so totally enjoy your photo's!!
The Shelduck landing it just great, and the Jay with the acorn is a great caught!!
Nice
Grace

Barbara said...

Thank you for sharing these. They are wonderful

Mary Howell Cromer said...

The Jay with the acorn, the Goldfinch grabbing up berries, the marvelous looking Kestrel images, and well quite frankly, everyone of these is quite splendid~

Cindy M Considine said...

Wow, these are all spectacular shots! I was also struck by this particular post as almost all but the Jay are species seen here in Australia, albeit the Mistle Thrush is very similar to the Bassian Thrush here, and we have the beautiful songster Australasian Reed Warbler in place of the Blackcap, but apart from that the Kestrel, Shelduck, Godwit, and Goldfinch are loved, familiar species down under too!

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