Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

Black Swan on the Exeter Ship Canal

A few Black Swans breed around the Exe Estuary, these are feral birds that have moved on from the coastal town of Dawlish which has become famous for them. Black Swans are native to Australia. I have no way of knowing if it is usual to see them on the canal but I do see them often on the nearby River Clyst. 

Turf, on the Exe Estuary Devon

Looking from the Jetty up river.

Looking down the canal from the Turf Hotel

Chaffchaffs again

Today was more of the same. Chiffchaff, Wrens and Herons. AT 10 o'clock it was still misty and almost impossible to get a photograph but then suddenly it lifted and the day became unusually hot. I had a good sighting in the mist though. As I walked towards Turf from the Fishermans Car park I caught sight of a black shape bounding towards me, a Mink, the first I had seen for quite a few years. I took photos but due to the speed of the animal as it ran towards me and the misty conditions, not one was good enough to keep. I parked myself next to the site where before I had seen Chiffchaffs and Wrens, and hoped for a repeat and perhaps better shots, and thats exactly the way it turned out as you can see. Both the Wren and warbler were feeding on tiny flies which suddenly became active as soon as the mist cleared and the air got warmer.

The Heron was very accommodating yet again and I took so many photos of him in flight, it was almost impossible to choose one to post but these two are about the best.

Spider web on a dewy morning.

I thought I ought to add this picture, taken just after dawn this morning.  The sun started to climb and there was mist and dampness in the air.  We are just past the Autumnal Equinox and as Autumn gets in to full swing the days will get shorter and shorter. Before the sun gets to work and burns off the dampness in the air, the spiders webs are damp with dew and they can look very attractive. In the garden this morning, this web looked amazing.

 

Grey Heron in bright sunshine

This Heron, as you know if you are a regular reader, has been fascinating me for a few days now. I am enjoying him and making the most of the photo opportunities that he is giving me. We have unusually warm weather for the time of year and the sky was blue and cloudless just after sunrise, but the mist took an hour or so to clear. I watched him for an entire hour, waiting for him to make his move which he eventually did. I was waiting for him to fly in the really good light because I just knew that when he did, it was going to be a good photo and so it proved. Here he is just prior to flying after spending the whole hour preening himself.




Then later on after a walk around the marsh and on the way back up the canal, he was again back on the canal and hunting. He was quickly successful and emerged with, this time, an eel. He immediately flew on to the field nearby to eat it. This was totally different than his behaviour with the Jack Pike that I have seen him with before. My assumption is that he is intelligent enough o know that if he dropped it on the grass, then he could easily deal with it but of course, over water he would probably lose his hard earned meal.
As I stood, with the sun behind me, a group of Mute Swans circled the marsh in front of me. The photo shows, not only how beautiful they really are but also what an unusually great day it was.

Kingfisher photo of the day.

Strugling to find Kingfishers this year, one of my favourites from 2010.

Beautiful views of the River Exe

Topsham from Turf

 

Across the Exe towards Exton.

Starling - Sturnus vulgarise

In keeping with my previous entry I have included photographs of one of our most common birds, admittedly a bird in  decline but never the less familiar and commonly seen. A bird taken for granted and hardly even looked at by most people. However, I am interested in getting  good photos and if the Common Starling was on the savanahs of Africa we would pay 1000's to vist to get photographs! I watched a large, noisey flock feeding on Blackberries yesterday, something I hadn't seen before and tried really hard to get photos of them flying in and out.

Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea with "jack" Pike Esox lucius

As I walked back along the canal yesterday morning it occurred to me that you can see, and enjoy some truly exciting and memorable wildlife experiences right here on your doorstep. Of course it may not appear quite as exotic but thats just as much about the "grass being greener" than the actual fact. It also depends on how hard you look and how receptive and observant you are. I always remind myself that when we have visitors from the USA here in Europe, they are always really excited to see our common birds, Blue Tits and Robins for example, birds that we take for granted and sometimes hardly even look at. So when I made a special visit back to Exminster Marsh, and specifically the canal area, I was looking again for the Grey Heron that has a territory along the Turf stretch. I located him quite easily and stood as still as him, he was fishing...... and so was I in a sense. I was of course, on the towpath but he was thigh deep in water his eyes intently fixed on the surface and just beneath. Suddenly he darted forward and his dagger-beak emerged from beneath the flowing weed with a small Pike. He quickly swallowed it and flew past me, settled and began his wait and stalk once more.
I followed him, not content with the picture I had from his first success. It wasn't long before he ignored me and was again darting forward, emerging yet again, with a bigger fish. This time I was more prepared and in any case, he stood motionless with his prey as he waited for it to go still before he tossed down his massive neck.
He plunges in to grab the pike.

 

Chiffchaff -Phylloscopus collybita

This species of warbler is one of the few that now spends the winter, albeit in small numbers, in the UK. When I encountered quite a few yesterday on the edge of the River Exe yesterday I had no way of knowing whether they were true migrants or birds that were going to stay, but I suspect they were probably migrants about to cross the channel. Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs are hard to seperate but one of the ways, (not always conclusive) is the colour of the legs which are usually balack in Chiffs and fleshy cloured in Willows.  The wings of Willow Warblers extend further on to the tail as well, but with experience you can usually see the difference and I would put my life on these birds being Chiffchaffs. They were feeding on small invertabrates amongst low vegetation with a couple of Wrens, really lovely views and it was very nice to watch them.

An evening at Exmouth

A walk along the beach at  Exmouth tonight looking for one last shot of the Sabines Gulls and perhaps Grey Phalarope turned out to be a bit of a disappointment with no sign of either. As it happened, the light wasn't as good as the night before so it was a none event unforunately.  However, the sun streaned through a hole in the cloud, just for an instant, and the effect was stunning.  The picture does not do it justice but you get the idea.

 On the subject of artistic photos, when we had the Long-tailed Tits in the garden this morning, one was feeding in the Sumac Tree which is stating to turn red with an Autumnal glow and I couldn't resist posting the picture because I thought it was so pretty.  You can just about see the Long-tail Tit peeping through the red leaves and seeding heads.

Garden visitors (at last)

Jenny called out to me from the kitchen, just after breakfast, "I think I have just seen a Blackcap" she said. I doubt it was my reply, probably a Coal Tit...... and it was!  In fact the garden was suddenly full of a party flock of small birds. Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tits and a lovely, lovely little Willow Warbler which was a pleasant surprise.  This was a very bright yellow bird,  an indication of, probably a 2011 bred bird as juveniles are always more yellow than the adults. This is all very good news, I  have been waiting for some activity to occur because I have recently bought some flash equipment to take high speed photographs of the common birds in my garden, but of course you cant do that until you have lots of birds coming and going. From the trusty bathroom window "hide" I took a few record shots of the tits( see below).  I often say that you don't see anything from the couch, but of course, once the birds start coming and going in the garden, thats not necessarily true!

Grey Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius at dusk

Photographers talk about the golden hour just before the sun sets. I knew that if I visited the beach in the evening as the sun started to go down, the lighting effect would be totally different and I wanted to try and get a good photo of the birds on Exmouth Beach.  However this little Grey Phalarope is so hard to photographn, never staying still for a second with the tide moving it around constantly. The Sabines Gulls........ all three were there and they were looking  great in the beatiful light.

Sabines Gull - (Larus sabina) Exmouth Beach

I went back to Exmouth beach yesterday with the intention of getting better photographs of Sabine's Gull, a species that doesn't that often visit Devon. It was too much of an opportunity to ignore and I am not sure how long they will stay around. There was a bit of interest from others with people coming and going. My plan was to get some inflight and action shots and try to show the birds feeding rather than just simple portraits that have been pretty simple to get. Because the birds are so unconcerned with humans it is possible to let the birds come quite close and I could therefore use a 200mm lens. The one that I own is f2.8 and that means that I can get the fast shutter speed required to freeze the action. I finished up with one or two shots that I was really happy with, just what I was after.

I am going to return this evening, hopefully they will still be around and I will be able to get some better ones of the Grey Phalarope that was also easy to see and photograph and I am sure that I can do better.

Sabines Gull - Larus sabina

Before I start today's entry I want to pay respect to my colleagues of the Royal Marine's Band who were murdered by the IRA on this day in 1989. This is always a very sad day on the anniversary of this very tragic  event. It makes me a lesser person that there is no room for forgiveness in my heart  when I think of their suffering and the lives that they didn't live.  I have a guilt that is hard to live with knowing that I have enjoyed my life so much and they were robbed of theirs in such a cruel way. I hope that the people who supported the IRA can feel the guilt that they deserve.

It's good that I can post pictures of a really good bird today.  Yesterday I went to Exmouth Beach, a good hunting ground this year. Two Sabine's Gull were feeding in the surf, what a lovely species this is. Delicate and dainty. They are smaller than Black headed Gulls and much more confiding, almost ignoring any human presence and approaching me continually as I photographed them.  This is a species that breeds in the Arctic Tundra and spends the winter on the sea away from human habitation, therefore they don't normally come in to contact with people.  Consequently they have no "flight" response to human beings. They were feeding on the surf-line on weed and anything else that they could grab. They were moving constantly which made getting good photos quite hard especially with the sun and surf glaring off the white of the bird. I really enjoyed seeing them and getting good photos was a bonus. I have been able to add another bird to my Dvon Bird Gallery. The other day I mentioned that it wouldn't be long before I saw another Grey Phalarope and so it proved with another one feeding with the Sabine's Gull. It had probably arrived with the gulls and seemed to favour their company.

........ and of course the Grey Phalarope.

Trip to Lundy Island

I was very fortunate last year when one of my photographs won a competition and the first prize was a day trip for four to Lundy Island. I would have prefered to visit earlier in the year when he Pufins would have been on the island but couldn't fit it in because of trips abroad. We chose September because this is a good month for migrants and we hoped that we would have good weather and see something a bit special.  Sadly the day was abysmal with constant rain from the moment we arrived at the MV Oldenbourg in Bideford, to the moment we arrived back in Exeter.  However we didn't let it spoil our day too much and we made the most of it, and being dressed for the conditions we didn't get too wet either. The crossing was rough and wet with many of the 100 passengers sufferig from sea- sickness.  I am a good sailor fortunately so it didn't have any effect on me whatsoever. I spent the two hour trip scanning the sea for birds and, although I was hoping for more, saw and photographed a nice Manx Shearwater.

I have taken better photos but given the mist, rain and choppy conditions it's a miracle that I could get any kind of shot at all. 

On the Island, which is bigger than I imagined, we tramped around in the mud and drizzle but still managed to see a few things that were expected but none the less welcome.  The most noticeable and numerous birds were Swallows, followed by Starlings and House Sparrows but also Ravens, Carion Crows and the odd Wheatear (including one on the Oldenbourg).  We also saw Wren, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Sparrowhawk. All of which of course, I could  have seen on the mainland but I suppose that is not the point.

However I was quite certain that I would be lucky to dramatically bump in to something of rarety, thats always hit and miss of course. What I did enjoy was the Grey Seals, easily seen around the dock and the trip was worthwhile because of them. As well of course, as the Shearwater on the way out and on the way back a few close looks at Gannets and a Great Skua sat amongst the waves. The photo below of a young Swalow turned out to be a bit special. It is a testoment to my Pentax K5 camera that managed to get a good shot in spite of an ISO of 1600 and  very low shutter speed in light that you could hardly read by!

Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea

Today was one of those that I tried to make the best of and it turned out to be more successful than I could have imagined. Grey Heron's are usually hard to get near to and they normally fly off at the first opportunity, but if they are used to human comings and goings, then they can be a bit easier if you are quiet and careful. I have seen a Grey Heron regularly on the canal near to Turf and it seems to have it's favourite places to fish. I saw it today and managed to get some really good portraits and in-flight shots. Grey Herons are the UK's biggest predatory bird. They have a wingspan of immense proportions and a dagger like beak that looks as though it could inflict real damage. They eat mostly amphibians and fish but will also take anything that they can get down including small mammals and even birds. Their mode of hunting is usually a waiting strategy, they can stay motionless for minutes on end suddenly pounce at speed that you can hardly follow. Normally birders will take them for granted but I never do, I like them, they are magnificent creatures and very photogenic to my eyes.

Black and White Warbler - Scilly Isles

This is not the Scilly Isles bird but may be of some help if you are looking for an image to help ID.

The Black and White Warbler is a bird that I am very familiar with from visits to the USA and Central America. They are a very active species and hard to photograph due to their constant movements. They have the habit of moving behind a trunk to hide and behave like a tiny Nuthatch as they creep around thick branches and tree trunks. A bird has been sighted on the Scilly Isles today and this photograph may help anyone who is looking for an image to help in identification.

Grey Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius,

Sometimes a photo can only tell half the story, take this one. It doesn't even begin to portray the amount of effort that I have put in. Up until today I hadn't managed to photograph a Phalarope and I knew that this month was going to give me the best opportunity for a while. The Grey Phalarope is a bird that has been a bogey to me for years, I could never seam to find one even when they were reported. Take this week for example, on Wednesday I spent the entire day waiting for a bird that was reported at South Milton Ley, South Devon, it didn't show up and I came away without a sighting or picture, yet again. So when another was reported yesterday at Venford reservoir on Dartmoor, not too far from home and near Ashburton, I just had to get my self down there. In spite of a couple of hours searching, and another birder, not only seeing it but getting a photo, I was still not successful and I was beginning to think I would never see one! I came home for dinner, checked the bird report pages online and saw that two had been reported again for the second day at Upper Tamar Lake which is North Devon, on the border with Cornwall. They were apparently showing well. Off I went again.

Just a bit about Phalaropes and why  they are suddenly being seen  here in almost profusion? 4 in Devon is hardly prolific but it's a nice number, in fact, this week, all around the country from Lancashire to Hampshire, there have been lots of sightings. Grey Phalarope (named as Red Phalaropes in the USA), are Arctic breeding birds. When they migrate south for the winter they migrate over the sea and, in fact spend the winter on tropical seas, apparently sometimes far out to sea. They are seen along the coasts of the UK during their migration, usually after strong winds, storms and gales have blown them ashore. Recently we have had weather like that which answers the question.
So back to this afternoon. I arrived at Tamar Lake, as usual, full of certainty that I would be lucky but at first I still couldn't find either one, and that was in spite of a holidaying birder telling me that he had just seen one!  Where was It! Tamar Lake is a typical large reservoir with a Dam wall, from the shore I scanned with the bins...... and there it was, feeding on the edge of the concrete incessantly. I quickly moved on to the parapet above it and now, after never seeing one before, I had it just beneath me, six feet way. In my usual obsessive way, I spent 3 hours trying to get a good shot, birders came and went, photographers too, but eventually it was just me and the bird. He, or was it she, carried on as though I wasn't there and hardly ever stopped feeding. It was taking the small flies from the edge of the water and was hardly going to be put off feeding  by a mad man with a lens. It reminded me of a delicate ballerina, dressed in the same colours of silver grey and white. My first Phalarope was worth the wait and the searching and I enjoyed my time spent with it. Lets hope Phalaropes are going to be like buses now and we get another one along very soon.

I dont normally make any comments about my own photos but I have to confess that I am very impressed with  these three pictures. I took in excess of 500 today and rejected at least 475!  That's not a good percentage, but I suppose if I finish up with a few good ones then I should be content.

A great day in South Devon

There are several, often used cliches that could be used to describe the feeble weather forecast that both the BBC and National Met Office gave out for today. I mean, I ask you, we can put new hearts in to people and we can send space craft in to deepest space, but the Met Office are unable to come up with a weather forecast, even in the county that they are located. I made the mistake of assuming they were not lying when they said that it was going to be fine and sunny and before 9, I was on my way to South Devon. The weather got worse and worse and before the clock had struck 9 it was pouring down....... no it wasn't a little shower, it was a rain storm of unseasonal winter-like proportions. It didn't clear up until almost lunchtime and by then I had given up the hope of finding the Grey Phalarope that I had travelled 60 mies or so to try and photograph. I hung around until late in the afternoon, after making so much effort to get there, it seemed sensible to wait until the bird put in an appearance. Sadly, it never did, which was a big disappointment. However, there was still so much to keep me entertained, it was easy to spend the day around the beach. I had hooked up with a birder from Plymouth, Brian, an affable and friendly chap who was also as keen as I to get a shot of a Grey Phalarope. Looking out to the bay he saw a Guilimot and we quickly made our way to the surf line as the bird got coder and closer. In the end, I was lying on the wet seaweed covered rocks with the camera trained on to the bird (pictured above) as it got even closer and closer to us. This is the nearest that I have ever been to this species and I took some really nice shots, and suddenly the day was worth it!

But the real highlight was the great close up shots that I managed to get of a Kestrel hunting on the side of the track and steepbank down to the beach.  It was a windy day and this bird at one time was hovering right in front of me only 10 feet or so away.  The ligt was really good and consequently the photographs are also the best that I have ever taken of this great bird.

Kingfisher update

Kingfisher

Those that read my blog regularly  will know that I have had some fabulous close-up encounters with Kingfishers, near to home on the local brook. However so far this year, I haven't been so lucky and in spite of rebuilding a hide back in June, and visiting it regularly, I haven't had a visit from a Kingfisher so far this year. In fact I hadn't even seen one where peviously it had been a daily occurance.  Kingfishers are strongly territorial and I have been pretty confident that eventually one would take up residency. At lunchtime today, I was almost exhaltant when I went to the brook and straight away I saw a Kingfisher. It saw me at exactly the same instant and, as they do, flew upstream immediately. This is great news.  I have had two sessions in the hide  since, expecting the new resident to perch in front  on the strategically placed perches. I am full of excitement and anticiaption and can't wait to get a close look...... is it an adult?  Is it male or is it female?  Will it visit often? So many questions to be answered. As I sat waiting, and with the camera at the ready, a young Moorhen swam past, just feet away and I was pleased to note that this species had obviously bred here. 

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Northern Wheatear - Oenanthe oenanthe

A Wheatear this afternoon, on the lawn behind Darts Farm shopping market.

I often say, in fact I remember saying it yesterday "You don't see anything sat on the sofa". And, so it proved today. I spent the morning sorting through yesterday's photos and as the day went on the weather brightened a bit, enough for me to gather up the gear and head out to see what I could find. My first stop was Darts Farm and the new hide which is accessed at the fishing ponds. My attention was drawn to the numerous Wagtails, apparently Pied but there could have been one or more White's. I have enjoyed photographing them, I rather like the idea that they seem to be so variable and I am trying to picture as many different birds as possible. There were a few different ones today that were quite attractive.

Five different individuals, all varying ages and sex...... but the Wheatear was definitely the highlight of the day. It was an interesting encounter and a lesson in patience and persistence. I had seen the bid at first on the track in front of the car.  I snapped offf a photo or two none were  as good as they could have been but a decent record never the less.  After just a few seconds  a couple of walkers disturbed it and it flew in to the adjoining crops. Here is where my patience paid off. I sat in the car, admittedly photographing the wagtails, but all the time expecting the Wheatear to return........ and after 40 minutes or so...... there it was, feeding in the short mown grass. Even more waiting and watching, and eventually not one but two Wheatears were in front of me. One suddenly ran forward and grabbed an insect and then proceeded to deal with it in front of me, now only a few feet from the car (and my lens). Bingo, a result. I was intrigued to see, when I had loaded the files on to my  iBook, that it had caught, what appears to be, a Garden Cross Spider - Araneus diadematus.  This spider has  striped legs, you can make that out in the photo.

Ruff - Philomachus pugnax

Yesterday was more interesting and enjoyable than I expected. I had heard good reports that the new wetland, created at Seaton Marsh was well worth another visit. Having stated on numerous occasions that I don't normally enjoy public hides, I approached the trip with a feeling of duty rather than anticipation. I have a gallery of Devon Birds, one photo of each species on my PBase galleries, (click on the link), and I was keen to add a few more new species. As soon as I arived in the Island Hide, I had good views of both Ruff and then Curlew Sandpiper.  The hide was quite busy (quiet it wasn't), and it had the feeling of a social occassion, especially when I realised that I knew a couple of the chaps already there.  It was nice to see Tom, one of my Blog readers who I always enjoy meeting.

Anyway, back to the birds. There was a lot of activity with small groups of waders moving around.  Some smashing Greenshank were very prominant and I took a few really nice shots even though my 6.5 lens struggled a bit with the lack of light. 

Also, in association with a small group of Dunlin, was a lovely Little Stint - aptly scientifically called Calidris minuta. he photos I took have been added to my Devon Gallery but unfortunately, it didn't come close enough to get a nice photo for inclusion here. Little Egrets do it for me, they can be boring when just posing but you can get something a bit different if you a prepared to watch and wait. This was the case yesterday and I know that the other photographers were wondering why I was taking so much time on them when, in their eyes, there were better opportunities with the slightly more unusual species. But I love Little Egrets and check these two out.

So all in all a good day, a god day, a little bit different for me but a nice change made even more interesting when I had a look at the photos of a distant male Kestrel, photographed coming down on to prey from a telegraph wire opposite the hide.

Sparrowhawk - Acipitor nisus

The weather has been dire today, which was disappointing because after a weekend with my family, I had the chance to get out and get some photos again. I hoped the weather would clear but it didn't so imagine my excitement when, on the way back from a shopping trip, in the rain incidentally, and on a country road not far from Exeter, I caught sight of a Sparrowhawk, obviously with prey. It was a main road but I managed to turn around and go back to go past it again. Yes I was right and it was standing over it's prey. There was a snag! I didn't have my camera with me. I rushed home, still a mile away and through the traffic. At home I quickly grabbed my camera and rushed back as quick as I could. It was at leas 15 minutes before I was back and yet, there it was, now plucking it's prey. I had no way of knowing if it had taken the bird, or was it road kill? It was a Wood Pigeon, too big to be carried off, thankfully the Hawk was forced to eat it where it lay. This is the second time this year that I have had the good fortune to watch a Sparrowhawk with prey, and both times a Wood Pigeon and each time on the road (or very close to it). I got the car as close as I could, opposite and up on the curb. The bird knew I was there but settled back to carry on plucking it's prey, only pausing when really large vehicles roared past. Having had my 2.8 lens stolen I was forced to use my 6.5 lens which meant that in the dull conditions I was only able to get 1/200 second, hardly quick enough to capture really sharp images. From the hundreds of photos taken, I managed t get a few decent, sharp images and given the dull light and the lack of a good lens, I am relatively pleased.

Little Egrets nearby.

It's not that long ago when Little Egrets were a mega rarity in the UK. They are now a common sight and because they are so noticeable, seen often here in Devon. There's a place not far from home that I enjoy visiting because the Little Egrets are always in residence. I sat quietly under cover, as a Little Egret moved downstream towards me. The light was quite good and the bird's reflections created quite a picture......two birds for the price of one so to speak. I tried to photograph it every time it "stabbed" in to the water. I knew exactly what it was feeding on because I have watched them here before. It was successfully catching shrimps, some seemed quite large and it surprised me that it was eating so much. At this particular site, (this year already), I have seen Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper but not as yet the Black-tailed Godwits that showed so well last year, that's to come I hope.