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By Paul Chesterfield, August 31, 2010 6:11 pm

Another catch-up day. I have been continuing my daily walks, but during the week (or on wet/grey weekends) without the camera. Here are a selection of pictures taken on the occasional days when I did take it. Some interesting “firsts” to comment on–

Four waders feeding by Gosport Park, strongly back-lit by the early morning sun so I couldn’t see what they were. After enhancing in Photoshop I was able to identify them as Godwits, my first in Gosport … but I can’t tell whether they are Black-tailed or Bar-tailed. I think they are Black-tailed Godwits, as these are supposed to have longer legs…

A Greater Spotted Woodpecker in trees by the old railway footpath …I have heard these in the trees in the nearby Clayhall Royal Navy Cemetery, but this is the first one I have seen clearly.

Two small birds on the fencing by Haslar Marina car park – I have tentatively identified them as Chiffchaffs, but I am not certain, they look rather different to my other Chiffchaff pictures (of course that might mean the others are wrong!

A very blurred photo of a Swift … there are lots of these flying around Seafield Estate in summer, but they fly much too fast to photograph or even get a good look at. Then, for just a couple of days, they were also in evidence around Walpole Park, where they were chasing the flying ants as they swarmed. Swifts were zooming across the grass and water, coming very close to we pedestrians, and completely ignoring us apart from last minute evasive manoeuvres! I took a few shots, but even here they were too quick and this was the best I could get. Kept as a record until (and if) I get anything better.

Another fast flyer, and therefore hard to photograph, is the Common Tern. I often see these little birds zooming around Haslar Marina Pier where they perform their quick dives into the choppy water for a quick meal. For the first time I saw one actually perched on the pier’s hand rail and I was able to take a few shots.

Ah yes … the Aylesbury Duck. I used to see these in farmyards and village ponds, Certainly my books don’t include them as they aren’t considered to be wild birds, but this one  took up residence behind our flats for several weeks earlier in the spring. I haven’t seen it for a while, I hope it found its way somewhere safe. The photo here shows it apparently in conducting mode.

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By Paul Chesterfield, August 8, 2010 8:18 pm

I have noticed a few more birds about over recent days. Today being Sunday, the quiet day of the week, and a nice sunny morning, I took my camera with me again. Not as much to photograph as I had hoped, but I saw at least one new species - a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately it didn’t let me get very close, but I did manage to gwet one recognisable picture before it disappeared. There were also some long-tailed tits that were moving about but too far within the foliage to photograph. There was also a yellowish bird that is either a Chifchaff or a Willow Warbler. I have seen Chiffchaffs at this location before, but this one looks much yellower than the photos in my books. If it is a Willow Warbler, it would be another ‘first’.

Saw a family of Mute Swans at Workhouse Lake. There were three cygnets, the same as the family t5hat visit the area behind my flats – possibly the same ones? (When they first appeared, there were six cygnets, then five, now three. Nature is hard … and so are unseeing boaters and discarded fishing line.

Finished up with a juvenile Pied Wagtail on the rocks bordering The Esplanade. The pink granite, blue water and the bird make an interesting combination.

Took 60 frames, kept 34, processed 14.

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By Paul Chesterfield, August 3, 2010 12:29 pm

A brief update to explain my recent absence. Owing initially to ill health, and more recently to the usual summer fall-off in photographable birds (the young have fledged and flown, those remaining are hidden in trees in full foliage) I have been taking few photos over the summer.  I hope to start up again in earnest come the autumn.

In the mean time … just for a change, and a return to my former speciality, a Cecropia moth (also called a Robin Moth, so it isn’t entirely out of character!) …

Cecropia (Robin) Moth

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 23, 2010 11:39 am

Sunny, warm!! Could spring be here at last?

I didn’t take the camera with me yesterday because I was expecting an early delivery and when I am taking photographs I lose all track of time! The early Saturday post usually arrives around 8:30 so I made sure I was back before 8:00 … only to find one of their dreaded red cards saying the postman had called at 7:45. You can’t win. So now my urgent package, with ”expedited” delivery paid, won’t reach me until they can redeliver on Tuesday.

So, on to today … lots of people about despite the early Sunday hour. Must be the sunshine. Not many birds again, apart from the usual – Wren, Robin, Magpies and Greenfinches … and that Whitethroat, which now stays up at the top of the tallest trees behind the foliage! … I can still hear its song, but I can’t see it.

23/5/5

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 21, 2010 4:43 pm

Sunny, getting warmer – I wore a lighter jacket today and had to take it off after half an hour. Looking promising – although it did cool down later in the morning, the down-side of living by the water!

Not so promising bird-wise. The trees are now fully in leaf and the birds are only visible if they choose to sit on an exposed branch. Fortunately a few do, like Wrens and Greenfinches, but others like the  Whitethroat are now hard to see, let alone photograph.

Nothing much on the water, apart from a handsome pair of Herring Gulls resting on a landing stage in Haslar Lake.

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 20, 2010 11:54 am

Cloudy but bright, still cool but improving!

Several Magpies flying and squabbling up and down the footpath today. They are attractive birds, but tend to scare off the smaller birds – and, of course, they aren’t averse to taking young when they can.

I saw what I thought was a dark Dunnock or possibly a small blackbird, but havinbg looked at the pictures I don’t think it is either of them. Possibly a juvenile Starling? Starlings usually flock together and I only saw the one bird, but that is the best match that I can find so far. Keep an open mind for now!

Several Blue Tits were feeding around the backs of the bushes, and the Whitethroat was singing away high up in a (now fully-leafed) tree, but I couldn’t get a clear shot of any of them. 

26 frames taken, 13 kept, 10 processed.

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 18, 2010 10:55 am

Busy on the path today, with a constant stream of cyclists, joggers and dog walkers. Saw Several Greenfinches, a Robin a Wren and a Whitethroat. On the water: Nothing.

30/17/8

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 17, 2010 8:48 pm

Several Greenfinches today, as well as the usual Whitethroat, which seems to have made the Stoke Lake end of the cycle path its home. Other birds about, but either hiding or flitting about too quickly.

Several Little Egrets today, three below Stoke Lake viaduct/weir (the “oiled” one busy chasing its attendant gulls, and a pair a little way down stream - obviously together, but one kept chasing the other when they got too close) and another two on Workhouse Lake, one near the bridge and the other near where it joins the other lakes.  Also a couple of Grey Herons, one at the corner of Workhouse and Haslar Lakes and the other by the Haslar Marina public slipway.

101/27/8

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By Paul Chesterfield, May 16, 2010 12:23 pm

 Surprise! Sunny and cold. Nice Sunday morning, with hardly anyone about.

Lots of birds along the end section of the footpath, few elsewhere. Photographed a Blue Tit on the May – including a lucky shot of it flying off. Several Robins about this morning. The Whitethroat was flittering about as usual, and I managed a few shots but mostly of it way up in the tree tops. Some young Greenfinches landed on a high branch calling to be fed, again not great shots but nice to see them. The adults always have a ”fierce” look, but the youngsters don’t yet have the adult “scowl”.

Several Mute Swans flying over Haslar Lake, otherwise not much anywhere on the water. 

66/32/18.