Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

Interesting birds from around Topsham, Devon

I have been trying to photograph the ducks around the Exe Estuary recently.  It hasn't been that easy to get close enough to them for the kind of shots that I am trying to get but I feel that with regular visits and lots of patience, I may eventually achieve something worthwhile.  The problem is that the hides around the Exe are not positioned with the photographer in mind, but it's fair to say that, for others  with a good spotting scope, good views are absolutely guaranteed.  The Exe Estuary is one of the UK's best sites for over-wintering birds but It is a big frustration that you just can't get close enough  to the birds for a "special: photograph. Yesterday for example, I visited Exminster Marsh, it was high tide and I was hoping that there would be some ducks close enough to the road to get a good photograph.  That wasn't the case and the few birds that were there were way in the distance. Moving on, I first tried the hide at Darts Farm, sometimes the ducks there are quite close but unfortunately not today.  However I did take an interesting series of photos of a Black Swan, a feral breeding species here in Devon, acting aggressively towards a Mute Swan.  Black Swans are known to be dominant over Mute Swans but it is the first time I have seen any sign of it. Black Swans are native to Australia of course but they are the town emblem of nearby Dawlish and over the years several have "done a runner" from their captivity in the town.

 

Quite an interesting comparison between these beautiful birds.

The cowardly Mute Swan is literally running from the aggressive Black Swan

 

I moved over to Bowling Green Marsh where from the hide the spectacle was absolutely awe inspiring.  In the distance there were at least 1000 birds,  probably more and my frustration was hard to contain.  However, some of the Teal, Widgeon and Canada Geese did eventually meander down the flooded watercourse that is nearest to the hide to at least give me an opportunity for a shot and with the aid of a "crop" once I returned home, at least I have got some shots to post here.  I met up with the RSPB's visitor attraction officer the other day and we chatted both then and by email.  I told him of my frustration. He did say that he agreed with me and they were hoping to try and improve things.  I doubt anything will really improve but I suppose it is a measure of at least something if the RSPB have appointed him as a Visitor Satisfaction Officer.  As regulars to my blog will know, I visit birding sites all around the world and quite often. It is a sad state of affairs when I say that my local area is probably the worst that I have ever visited in this regard. For example the hide at Bowling Green is literally the furthest away from the action that it could be and boasts parking for just one disabled vehicle, disgusting really. There is always a counter argument of course  and no doubt someone will be wanting to argue their point with me over this, well don't bother because what ever you say, I won't agree!

 

A nice adult drake Teal

A young Drake showing signs of moult on the wing coverts.

This is a "duck" Widgeon...the female, showing comparison with a Drake Teal in the front.

 

Even though the roosting birds were in the distance, as they left the roost slowly and surely, sometimes taking to the air in hundreds, I snapped away in the hope that I would get something interesting and so it proved.  I was very pleased to have these images of Godwits both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed together in flight.  You can see how different they look in flight with the Black-tailed having that very bold pattern which shows really well.

 

leading the way is a Bar-tailed Godwit with 3 Black-tails and a Redshank beneath.

 

 

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Marsh Harrier in Devon

Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides) Exeter Quay

A simple but beautiful swan.

Ruff, Exminster Marsh

White fronted Goose, Exmouth Devon

Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides) Exeter Quay

I photographed this goose amongst the swans and Greylag (farmyard type) geeese on Exetr Quay last month. I have been trying to identify it and eventually I have discovered that it is a Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides)  In the wild this is a rare goose but there are a few feral birds living wild in the UK and this is one of them.  It is an extremely attractive goose.  You can see that, in common with the White-fronted Goose it has the same facial markings and it's obvious that they are closely related.  It is living wild and free.  As my gallery of Devon Birds exists to help people to name the birds that they see in Devon, I have included it.

Feeding Buzzard Video

I really hope that you can find the time to watch this 3 minute video.  It was filmed at my site where I have a set up to film and photograph the birds.  This buzzard came down to feed on a Rabbit carcass that I had put down to entice it infront of the camera.  It actually took weeks and weeks to get one of the local Buzzards to come down to feed but once one did at least 2 others came down but  at different times.  I have been looking at video taken last year and hadn't realised that I had such good footage. 

 

White fronted Goose, Exmouth Devon

 

White fronted Goose - Anser albifrons.  This is a juvenile of the European race which bred in Russia. This bird has yet to develop the white mask on the face which gives the bird it's name.

 

I have a gallery of  Devon Birds which so far it contains 181 different species (all photographed in Devon of course). I am always trying to add to it which I did today. Matt Knot, an Exmouth birder, had reported seeing a White Fronted Goose in a very large field of beet close to Orcombe Point between Exmouth and Littleham.  Orcombe Point is on the coast and it is a good spot for migrants but Matt tells me that this  field is not particularly fruitful normally.  Having said that though, he did have a Stone Curlew in this very field a couple of years ago!  I  visited this site  twice before I could add White Fronted Goose  to the gallery.  It wasn't easy but in the end, with a degree of perseverance, I was successful today.  I positioned myself next to a gate which gave me a good look over most of the field but it didn't matter how much I looked through mu binoculars, I just couldn't see it.  As it happened, Matt Knot suddenly arrived on the scene and assured me that, although we couldn't see it, he was sure that it was somewhere there amongst the beet.  After Matt had left I felt it was worth waiting and watching because I was sure that it was there somewhere amongst the crops. I kept scanning the field and then suddenly..... there it was.

I was very pleased and I watched it for a while, wondering how I was going to get a shot of it.  Suddenly and absolutely amazingly, it took to the air and flew towards me and landed nearer to the gate but close to the hedge line further up the field after circling in front of me. .  Matt had told me that it was OK to go in to the field as long as I stuck to the edge so in I went  and sticking close to the edge,  got much closer to the bird that didn't seem in the least bit disturbed by me anyway .  It continued to feed and even moved closer to me as I sat in the mud in the hedge  looking towards it feeding on the leaves of the beet.  I finished up with some tremendous pictures..... and now the gallery has 182 different Devon species!

White Fronted Geese are a small geese. They breed either in Greenland or Russia.  Both species can be separated, Greenland Birds are smaller and have a pink beak whereas the Russian sub-species Albifrons has an orange beak and is apparently darker and slightly larger. The bird here is Albifrons, the European species but it is a juvenile bird and is yet to develop the white feathers on the face for which it is named. 

 

It walked around the little patch of beet looking for the most succulent leaves.

At one point it just sat down and looked very contented, surrounded by food as it obviously is.

Sometimes it was really close to me, I find if you sit still and keep quiet, it's amazing what you can achieve.

....... and it just kept eating, those leaves must be very tasty.

 

 

Eventually it took off, circled the field and land in front of me again.

 

 

Loggerhead Shrike from Ft Lauderdale

Having been back from Florida for more than a week now, I am sorting methodically through the pictures that I didn't have chance to work on when I was there.  I didn't see as many birds on this trip as in previous years but with  another years experience, I was hoping to improve my images.  I have taken good photos of Loggerhead Shrike before but I think I have nailed this one.  You can see  a lot of detail and most of the bird is in focus.   The light is always very bright in South Florida and it is not always that easy to deal with.  When its very brigh,t the shadows are strong and the whites get burned out. The early morning, from dawn until around 10 is the best and when I returned to the spot where I had seen it before, at around 9 o'clock, I was very pleased to see it on the fence even as I got out of the car.  It's method of hunting is interesting. Without exception, it would perch on the top of the 6 foot high fence and watch for movement on the sand dune beneath.  Once prey was spotted  it would glide quietly down and grab whatever it was.  It seemed to be feeding on quite small flies which it would always eat before returning to the spot it had left from.  I know that their prey can include small lizards and even mice and it would have been good to see it catch something like that but I wasn't that lucky unfortunately.  However it's a smart bird and a fascinating experience to watch it feed like this.  Having the opportunity to see birds like this from around the world is the reason that I love to travel and love to photograph birds. I find  Shrikes in the genus Lanius very interesting and I have photographed several species now.  One feature that they all have in common is the black facial mask that adults of all the species display. 

 

Western or Semipalmated Sandpiper.

I am not 100% certain but I would appreciate any comments or help. I think that this is a Western Sandpiper but it could be a Semipalmated Sandpiper as they are very similar. (But surely not identical).  Of the 5 North American "peeps", only the Least Sandpiper has yellow legs and the other 4 have black.  The western and the Semi-palmated are the smaller of these 4 and are difficult to seperate.  My gut feeling is that this is  a Western as I think they are more brownish than grey and I am told that the markings on the western continue down the breast  but please help if you can.

A bird that is easier to recognise is the Willet but even this species can be sperated in to two sub-species.  I am quite confident that this is a bird of the western sub-species because of its slender bill.

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Least Sandpiper - (Calidris minutilla)

Western Sandpiper

Ruff, Exminster Marsh

Ruff are variable and normally I would be very pleased to see one, who wouldn't?  Yesterday there had been a Pectoral Sandpiper both at Bowling Green and then discovered again later in the afternoon on Exminster Marsh.  I went over there in a hurry both yesterday and today, it is a species that I would have liked a photograph for my Devon Birds Gallery.   Yesterday it had just departed when I got there, a disappointment of course.  I hoped that it would stick around so when I got a phone call today to say that it was back and showing well I rushed back down there full of anticipation.  I was pleased when eventually, I started to get some good photos.  I wasn't particularly impresed and was beginning to think it was a bit nondescript but there was excitement from the other assembled birders. Then, after a while, other very experienced, adept and adroit birders started to arrive.  It wasn't long before doubts were voiced and within a few minutes the sandpiper was correctly identified as a Ruff!  The leg colour was the first doubt, they are yellowish in the Pectoral Sandpiper but in this Ruff they were a shade of hardly  green, almost grayish in fact.  Then it became obvious that the demarcation on the chest was totally absent.  In Pectoral Sandpiper there is a clear line between the chest and white belly.  So there we had it, a Ruff and I am still to add Pectoral Sandpiper to my galleries. There was much teasing and banter between the assembled group of birders but all agreed that it can be easy to jump to conclusions,  the main thing IS  to get the ID correct in the end.

 

A simple but beautiful swan.

The Mute Swan is one of Great Britain's most loved species, not only loved but  afforded a unique status, not just protected but in fact every swan in England is the property of Her Majesty the Queen. They are such a massive part of the landscape that they are not treated as wild birds but taken for granted by everyone.  Sadly there have been recent reports of  attacks on swans by migrants from parts of Eastern Europe where they are not protected.  They are a massive bird with a huge wingspan.  They feed like a goose by grazing grass and eating water weeds.  Cygnets spend the first year of their lives as brown, dull birds and in the following spring they start to aquire their adult snowy white plumage.  Most people are familiar with the Hans Christian Anderson story that tells of the ugly duckling that is driven away in the autumn and then returns in the spring as a magnificent white swan. This is not particularly accurate as young swans at this time of the year are also quite handsome (as you can see).

Marsh Harrier in Devon

I had quite a treat this morning. I made a rare visit to the hide at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham.  I am trying to give as much assistance as I can to a birding mate who wants to take better photographs.  I have loaned him both a camera and a lens because I know that he is a really  keen birder and someone whose knowledge I have a massive amount of respect  for. We arranged to meet at the hide because its easy to get there and I knew that we would have some birds to photograph and then discuss how he could get the best out of the camera.  It worked well because there were ducks quite close to the hide and we could talk about the problems of back light  etc. One or two other birders drifted in and suddenly someone noticed movement right at the back of the field in front of the hide and called out that there was a Marsh Harrier in the reeds sitting quietly.  It was a female and the creamy head was giving it away.   This was a "lifer" for me so I was thrilled and excited to see it.  It was too far away for a good photo but we all waited patiently in the hope that it would take to the air, eventually it would of course.  It was just a matter of waiting, this amounted to more than 50 minutes and I spent that with my eyes hardly leaving the viewfinder.  I knew that when it did, I would be able to get at least a picture in flight.  As I said it was too far for anything other than a record shot and so it proved.  When eventually, off it went I was waiting and here is the result!  Not a disaster but a picture never the less.  If you look at my gallery here of Devon birds you can see photographs of 181 birds all taken here in the county of Devon.  There are quite a number of notable absentees from this gallery so I am sure that eventually I will be able to get up to at least 200 species which will be a good achievement.  Previously it had left it's cover in the reeds and as it flapped its way on to the bank I agin managed a snap, but again just a record.

I mentioned that Dave and I were photographing ducks and you can see that Teal and Widgeon have well and truly arrived here now on the Exe Estuary. Both  Teal and Widgeon are  beautiful ducks, absolutely gorgeous and it beggers belief that grown men get pleasure from balsting them out of the air just for sport. But, thats what happens as we all know.

This is a drake Teal of course, such a pretty duck. The female, below, is not so colourfull but the green patch is just as noticeable in both species but as you can see below, sometimes this can be hidden.

Female Widgeon are a very attractive duck and much more colourful than Teal.

Click on the link here to visit my galleries of Birds of the World, Devon Birds, Kingfishers, Gulls and many many more.

Osprey

 

Least Sandpiper - (Calidris minutilla)

This is a tiny Least Sandpiper, seeing them was probably the bird highlight of my recent Florida trip.  It's a species that I hadn't seen before, having not been to Florida in autumn previously.  Migration was just starting to build and towards the end of my trip the numbers of wading birds on the beaches was increasing on a daily basis.  The small flocks of sandpipers could be found scurrying around on the sand, right on the surf-line.  They were feeding on the flies and insects amongst seaweed. The flies would be disturbed by the incoming wavelets and this seemed to be a feeding strategy.  The yellow legs were diagnostic, all the other small sandpipers.....Americans call them peeps..... have black legs.  Apparently, in muddy environments these yellow legs are often obscured and can be hard to see but in the clean environment of surf, this is not an issue.  It is hard to get the impression of size from these pictures but they are noticeably smaller than the more well known.... (by UK birders)..... Sanderling.  Also, notice the very slightly, but noticeable down curved beak in the Least Sandpiper.

I actually took hundreds of pictures of this species but it was hard to get good shots because they were scurrying around constantly and were rarely still.

 

For comparrison, here's a Sanderling, much more snowy white, slightly larger and of course, black legs, and straight beak.

Diving Pelicans from Florida

Having returned from Florida very recently I am already planning my next trip abroad...... where will it be?  Back to either Sri Lanka or Australia. I had a special time in South Florida, just love that place, so many birds to see, so very safe and the food is brilliant.  What more could you want.  I am going to spend the next few days posting the pictures that I didnt get chance tp post when I was away. The first is a collection is of Birds from my last weekend in the country.

 

Loggerhead Shrike - Lanius ludovicianus

A Loggerhead Shrike using the fence line next to the beach to spot small inects on the sand beneath.  They glide down to their prey after spotting, sometimes from quite a distance, they return to a high spot, usually where they left from to consume it.  They appear to hold a territory because this one has been in the same area for the 20 days of my trip so far.  

Osprey fest!

When I arrived here in Florida just over two weeks ago there was a complete absence of migrant birds, now, however the beaches are alive with small snadpipers and there are Ospreys everywhere you care to look.  This morning I saw at least 5 in just a few short minutes, one was perched right alongside the road in John U Llloyd park and then down at the inlet to Port Everglades there were two more. I climbed out of my car and photographed the one in the park.  I was hoping that I could get a shot of it doing something other than just sat there perched, I was being greedy I suppose, I have already started to take things for granted.  Only when I am here in Florida can I get within 30 feet, or closer, to a magnificent bird of prey like this without a massive amount of effort.

When I checked the information on my photo files it showed that I had been watching this bird for more than 40 minutes hoping that it it did something impressive.  Eventually I got impatient,and I went further in to the park and for the next hour, watched and photographed the waders and still, when I drove out it was there.

Probably one of the highlights of the birding here is the chance to see and photograph Ospreys.  You will never get as close to them anywhere else in the world.  They are a magnificent and hugely impressive bird of prey.

 

An update from Florida

It was quite an eventful day yesterday.  I was up before dawn and out on the beach just a little further up the coast with my nephew Geoff, its his wedding on Saturday and that's the reason we are here at this time of year. He was fishing but I was just doing my usual, watching and taking photos as I normally do.  The sunrise was spectacular, there was a lot of cloud in the air which eventually turned in to the most stormy day since our arrival.  We didnt catch fish but it was never the less, a lot of fun.  There were four Osprey fishing in front of me, obviously migrants from further north.  One by one they caught fish and disappeared but this great wildlife spectacle was almost impossible to photograph due to the cloud and almost darkness.  The sun ws rising rapidly and I did manage to get a shot with one of the birds of prey after grabbing a fish, a Lookdown, Selene vomer  a  common fish in these waters.

It's remarkeable that I managed to get any kind of photo at all because you can see what the light was like just a few minutes before. It says a lot about the qualities of today's digital cameras. Yesterday had an unhappy event, the theft of my iPad which I have already replaced!  You need to be vigilant with your gear everywhere in the world, but with the amount of travelling I do it's only a matter of time before something happens. Its only stuff after all.

The common gull on the beaches at the moment is the Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) I have yet to see any other species yet apart from just one Lesser black backed gull.  They are very similar to the Black Headed Gull of Western Europe see photos y clicking on the link below.  Surprisingly, the Ring billed Gulls  that are so common on the winter beaches here, are so far, absent. 

 

In the summer this species  has a black head but in their non breeding plumage, they lose this pattern.

 

 I found this image of a a Great White Egret which I photographed on Sunday in Palm Beach County .  Great White Egrets are a striking bird.  There are always one or two in the UK at any one time, there is a breeding population in Europe  but they are almost an iconic bird here in South Florida and I love to see them.

And finally another of my favourite Florida birds is the White Ibis.  As you drive along the highways here its not unusual to see them probing in the earth by the roadside.  You usually cant stop because of the danger but it makes it all seem vey exotic.

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Black headed Gulls in Flight

Magnificent Frigatebird

Least Sandpiper - (Calidris minutilla)

 

This is a tiny little bird, a Least Sandpiper - (Calidris minutilla).... another life time first for me.  When I arrived here in Florida I had been hoping for waders and warblers on migration  So far there has been very little evidence of migration, but during the last few days, particularly yesterday and today, I have been seeing more and more. Yesterday evening  at the State Beach Park just up the road,  "John U lloyd State Park", I was very pleased to see, at last,  a flock of tiny waders feeding on the surf line in one of the little bays right at the far end and just before the inlet to Port Everglades.  I knew immediately that this was going to include birds that I hadn't seen before because they were the smallest waders that I have ever seen before,  but I was quite ignorant as to their exact identification.  The majority , about a dozen in all, seemed to be very tiny, only the size of a sparrow.  They were scurrying in the surf-line and compared to the tiny Sanderling that accompanied them, an inch or two smaller in length.  I know that birders over here tend to group the 5 small sandpiper species together and simply call them "peeps" which is an odd approach to birding. For me it is important to be able to identify individual species as well as get good photographs  so I I settled down on my bottom, almost in the surf and trained the 500 mm lens on them. I  concentrated on getting some good photos because only in that way would be able to name the birds that I was looking at.  They were feeding on the small sand fleas and flies that were being disturbed by the rapidly advancing tide.  Every wave seemed to disturb a cloud of insects and the birds hardly took any notice of me as they fed avidly.  A small plover species that I have seen before, in this very spot as it happens, was amongst them and although small, it was much bigger. This bird  was a Semi-palmated Plover, ann attractive species  that is very similar to the Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers from the UK and Europe.

 

 

Semi-palmated Plover

 

I took lots of photos of lots of different individuals and it wasn't until I returned home and looked at the pictures that realised that I had photographed another species of a bird that I hadn't even seen originally and quite by accident I had got a shot.  This bird was a nice Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri, yet another new species for me.

 

This is a Western Sandpiper. Note the blackish legs as opposed to yellow on the "Least Sandpiper".  

 

 

Boat tailed Grackle.

 

Female Boat tailed Grackle.

This is a Boat tailed Grackle female, it was feeding on a small piece of fish that it had picked up from the dock in the Haulover Marina. Female's are brown,  males are  iridescent black.  I have to report that birds are not as plentiful here at this time of year.  It seems that migration has yet  to get fully underway.  The photo opportunities are still good however and I am massively enjoying the experience here  as  usual.

 

 

A Royal Tern from today, one of my best ever shots of this species in flight, so the trip today  was not a complete waste of my time.

 

I went out on a party fishing  boat again this morning.  I wanted to photograph Frigate Birds. The weather patterns have changed this last few days and out at sea the birds were not behaving the same as last Monday.  Frigate birds were around but they seemed to be finding natural food rather than coming to the boat for the free offerings.  It was quite disappointing but I am pleased that I managed some decent photos of them last week.

Magnificent Frigatebird or Man of War, Fregata magnificens

These Frigate birds are quite a spectacle, they are massive with a wing span of almost 8 feet, that's immense.  They breed in the Dry Tortugas and Long Key in the Florida Keys, they must roost somewhere near to Miami as they are always seen around that area and there is a possibility that they breed somewhere near here too.

In the evening just at dusk, I was lucky enough to see a hawk, I think it is a Coopers Hawk but as yet I am not sure.  It was attacking an American Kestrel, (the first  one I have seen this trip).  At one time I really did think it was going to catch the falcon, it made  a real attempt  but then it flew down and landed on the golf course and from quite a distance I took a quick picture just for the record. 

With the bright light yesterday lunchtime, it was possible to get some great views of the massive Tarpon that cruise around the dock feeding on the fish carcasses.  These fish weigh as much as 50lb and some here are 5 feet long, very impressive and a good opportunity to see this "celebrity" species close up.  They are truly wild but choose to hang around for the free offerings.

Even though South Florida is a very built up, some would say crowded, it can still have the feel of being in the wilds, it depends in which direction you are looking.  As we came back in to the inlet towards the dock yesterday, there was a group of Brown Pelicans feeding in the surf, it was quite a picture. Then if you looked to the left there was a guy in his Boston Skiff ...... thats a boat......lazing back and fishing just a few yards off shore,  a great way to spend the day if you ask me.  It looks as though he is miles from anywhere but in fact,  to the right and left but out of shot, there are are skyscaper condominium towers and a very busy main road runs behind.

   As we went through the inlet I could see that there was a run of small sardines and finger mullet.  Fishermen were using casting nets to catch them for bait and I think this illustrates how alive the waters are around here.

Then once we turned the corner and approached the dock,  the view in front of us, looking in to Biscayne Bay was really beautiful.  I have photographed little Blue Herons on the rocks to the right of the picture and have seen Bottle Nose Dolphin here as well.

The dock is just to the right and behind the point, you get a real impression of the lifestyle here in the next photograph.

Water, water everwhere and all kinds of boats to enjoy it. I thought that this blog post gives a real incite in to the lifestyle here in South Florida.