Spring Hares

I have been spending some time with the local brown hares recently, mainly to try and get some 'boxing shots'. I came close the other day but still not quite there. The recent cold snap of weather has not helped my quest as it has reduced their activity. While waiting I have been taking a few photos of them going about their daily business.

Ready for lift-off

and to finish off the post the closest I have come to some boxing action. The hare in the foreground was just not interested by the bouncing around and taunting to box of the other hare behind.

Return to the Wetland Centre

I was recently back down in London and ahd some free time to pay a brief return visit to the London Wetland Centre. When I arrived it was quiet on the wild bird side of things so I decided to spend a bit of time with some of the captive waterfowl collection.

Long-tailed duck

Goldeneye
Smew

and a couple of the captive birds bathing.

Having had my fill of the captive birds I decided to move on to try and find some wild birds.

Feeding coot Tufted duck

Gadwall ShovelerLittle grebe in breeding plumage

Taking another dive To finish off I decided to have another go at the Ring-necked parakeets
As I was leaving I got up really close to a parakeet on a feeder.

and so decided to take the opportunity to take a close-up head shot.

Richmond Deer

I was down in London last week and at the end of the day as the sun was sinking I popped in to Richmond Park to check it out for the first time. The deer are basically allowed to get on with it in this huge openspace except for some selective annual culling to keep the heards balanced. The main purpose of the visit was to have a look around for an autumn visit when the deer are in rut.

I found two big groups of deer. First up some fallow deer.

A couple of stags having a practice rut.As time was limited before sun down I thought I would quickly move on to the red deer. I find it impressive that large wild herds of these majestic mammals can be found so close to the centre of London.

Some of the stags are amongst the largest I have encountered.
This young stag boldly squared up to be so I thought it wise to make a quiet retreat as it was an uneven contest given my lack of antlers.

On the way back to car I found this ring-necked parakeet, which are now very common in the west end of London, checking out a potential nesting site.

I look foward to return visit to Richmond Park and just hope for some atmospheric weather and light conditions during my autumn visit for the rut.

Martin Mere

Martin Mere is always an interesting place to visit and a trip during the winter will always produce plenty of shots. I took a recent visit with my friends Steve and Andy and we settled into the main Swanlink hide. Greylag geese were busy displaying and mating. It is a shame you cannot see the high res version of this shot as the 'dentition' inside that beak is impressive.

A finally display after mating

One of my favourite ducks, the pintail, were present in large numbers and the drakes in superb plumage.

With such stunning drakes in front of you it is easy to forget the female pintail..but I didn't.

Formation Shelducks frequently passed the hide but the light was not really up to giving enough shutter speed to capture flight action.
There were still a big group of Whooper swans present and I decdied leaving photographing them towards the end of the day to get some shots in softer light.

and finally some silouettes in the setting sun.

I also took a pintail silouette shot as I thought the distinctive shape might be effective.

Private Viewing

I recently took a trip to a private site that has a number of small hides and feeding stations set up. I have previously visited before although the numbers of birds seemed to be lower than usual which probably was related to a very mild spell of weather. However a enjoyable session was still to be had. At this site the birds are at really close range which allows the use of the 300mm F4 lens. Here are a selection of shots from the day.

The sadly rapidly declining tree sparrow

A male bullfinch in some winter sunLong-tailed tit

A jay dropped in for a very brief and close visist

I have a fondness for Reed bunting and I was pleased with this visit from a female

Not a bird often associated with feeding stations a goldcrest was making regular visits to a fat filled log.

To finish this post with a splash of 'imported' colour a pheasant and a red-legged partridge.

Bird World

On a recent trip down to London I took a brief afternoon visit to Bird World near Farnham. With captive birds you have to try and work with each enclosure and in some shots are just not possible. I used the 300mm lens for the visit as you need a longer focal lens to 'lose' the mesh of the cages.

Starting with some of those great eyelashes of a hornbill

Staying with the close up views, the business end of an eagle owl
A macaw that was plucking its own shoulder feathers.

Headshot of a crowned crane

Hooded mergansers are beautiful birds especially with the hood fully raised. Hopefully I will get to photograph one in the wild one day.

A dozing Tawny owl
To finish off, a reminded of how Christmas dinner started out !!!. They are strange birds turkeys with the most incredible faces.