I started the weekend off by reluctantly getting out from bed and clambering into my new (old) Land Rover to try and see the Firecrest at East Hyde. I picked up Dan Trim and we headed through Hitchin and Luton in a totally unsuitable vehicle and arrived at East Hyde a little shaken up (quite literally!). As anyone who's ever been to see a Firecrest before will know, they're not very cooperative and seem to have no regard for the cold birders who have turned out to try and see them. We ended up heading home with a severe dislike for very small birds and a few pics of a much more friendly Grey Heron.
After Saturday's dissapointment and after deciding not to go for the London Dusky warbler I decided to invest a little time in the garden birds. I could say that this was because I feel I don't give them the attention they deserve but in truth I just wanted to be able to bird in my tracksuit bottoms with an endless supply of tea and toffee crisps! The light was more than rubbish so I didn't achieve any life changing photos but it was nice to see this Greenfinch drop in for some food given the apparent lack of them this winter.
The relatively resident Goldfinches soon got used to me waving a lense around and dropped in like clockwork every 5 minutes.
There's a healthy little population of House Sparrows that reside in the Ivy that covers one side of my house and over the years I've just about got used to their incessant chattering outside my window each morning. They really are fascinating birds with an amazing social ecology and I really must spend a bit more time taking pictures of them.
These Snowdrops a are beggining to look a bit droopy and don't really do thier species justice. Nice to have in the garden though.
This Dunncok flew in, frantically waving its wings as though trying to make itself seem a lot more scary than it could ever hope to be. Suffice to say it had no effect on the other birds at the feeders. It was very interesting behaviour nonetheless and the whole day was a lesson that investing a bit of time on the birds on your doorstep can be better than travelling 20 miles in a rickety old Land Rover to not see some pimped up goldcrest!
I started the weekend off by reluctantly getting out from bed and clambering into my new (old) Land Rover to try and see the Firecrest at East Hyde. I picked up Dan Trim and we headed through Hitchin and Luton in a totally unsuitable vehicle and arrived at East Hyde a little shaken up (quite literally!). As anyone who's ever been to see a Firecrest before will know, they're not very cooperative and seem to have no regard for the cold birders who have turned out to try and see them. We ended up heading home with a severe dislike for very small birds and a few pics of a much more friendly Grey Heron.
After Saturday's dissapointment and after deciding not to go for the London Dusky warbler I decided to invest a little time in the garden birds. I could say that this was because I feel I don't give them the attention they deserve but in truth I just wanted to be able to bird in my tracksuit bottoms with an endless supply of tea and toffee crisps! The light was more than rubbish so I didn't achieve any life changing photos but it was nice to see this Greenfinch drop in for some food given the apparent lack of them this winter.
The relatively resident Goldfinches soon got used to me waving a lense around and dropped in like clockwork every 5 minutes.
There's a healthy little population of House Sparrows that reside in the Ivy that covers one side of my house and over the years I've just about got used to their incessant chattering outside my window each morning. They really are fascinating birds with an amazing social ecology and I really must spend a bit more time taking pictures of them.
These Snowdrops a are beggining to look a bit droopy and don't really do thier species justice. Nice to have in the garden though.
This Dunncok flew in, frantically waving its wings as though trying to make itself seem a lot more scary than it could ever hope to be. Suffice to say it had no effect on the other birds at the feeders. It was very interesting behaviour nonetheless and the whole day was a lesson that investing a bit of time on the birds on your doorstep can be better than travelling 20 miles in a rickety old Land Rover to not see some pimped up goldcrest!
