Long -tailed Tits in the Rain

Yesterday I watched and recorded a troop of a dozen lively Long-tailed Tits as they foraging in the poring rain while other larger birds had stopped and taken cover in the undergrowth.

They took their fill at Stithians Reservoir feeders and hurriedly moved on to set up another raid elsewhere along the shoreline.

Water Rail Nailed

Five weeks ago I first saw this illusive Water Rail at Stithians Reservoir but it was gone in a flash leaving me with just an out of focus tail shot and it has taken several visits up until today for me to finally ' Nail it '

It was a rough morning with very gusty southwesterly winds which afforded the bird life some protection in the area of the Southern cut-off hide plus it also had the added attraction of the seed feeder fall out close to the water margins.

I had the hide to myself so I restricted the viewing slots to just one and the Water Rail showed several times during the next few hours allowing me to capture the close sequence of portraits posted below.

Yesterday's Great Spotted Woodpecker

This female Great Spotted Woodpecker produced some nice portrait and flight shots at Stithians Reservoir southern cut-off hide yesterday.

Grey Heron Departure

I was watching a young Grey Heron preening itself very close from the hide at Stithians southern cut-off this morning and as I carefully took my first couple of shots it heard my camera shutter activation and quickly went from being very relaxed  (above) to completely freaked-out (below) in a split second.

The bird took a step forward and launched itself into the air making the most of its impressive two metre powerful wingspan

As it departed this young bird produced several harsh threatening sounds to show its disapproval at being disturbed

Perhaps in the not to distant future completely silent cameras will help us wildlife photographers when working up close with our subjects !

Dawn visit to Stithians Reservoir

It was a cracking dawn at Stithians northern cut-off with clear skies and no wind which created a very peaceful view over the Reservoir.

I headed on up to the top of Carnmenellis high ground looking for a good view of a misty sunrise over the reservoir and the recently sighted Red Deer

The sunrise was a joy to watch but the Red Deer managed to avoid me once again but when heading back down to the southern hide I met known sharp eyed local birder and photographer John St Ledger who pointed out a fine distant pair of Roe Deer feeding in a field near rough high ground away to the east.

I headed off in their direction trying to reduce the camera to subject distance but the final couple of  fields in front of them were private so I did my best while using my 1.7 Tele-converter.

The deer worked their way south across the open field for twenty minutes then did an about turn and finally the show ended as they exited the field at the same point that they had entered.

I headed off home for a late mid morning breakfast and thanks to John St Ledger for pointing out the Roe Deer which are one of my favourite wildlife subjects

Brief Encounter

The Great Spotted Woodpeckers were slow to show at Stithians Southern Cut-off yesterday morning but we did get a few shots of a very brief drumming and a flight shot just before leaving.

A recent visit to Stithians Reservoir

Peter Tonkin and I revisited Stithians Stuart Hutchings and  Southern cut-off hide last week to check if the Great Spotted Woodpecker fledglings were still working the area,  We only saw one bird but it looked to be doing very well and it was interesting to note that its juvenile red cap was beginning to fade out.

Water levels were expectantly low and all vegetation around the hide high but we enjoyed our visit while snapping away at the images posted below.

This juvenile Grey Heron appeared to be displaying but we could not see any other Heron in the area.

We were seasonally surprised to note several Lapwing working the margins

There were around a dozen mature Cormorants occupying all of the large rocks around the water margins of the main reservoir.

And five or six juvenile Grey Heron resting up between bouts of fishing the margins

Back on the cut-off the displaying Grey Heron eventually took to fishing the margins amid masses of flowering water plants before flying off to join the heron on the main reservoir

Stithians yesterday

A fine family of Great Spotted Woodpecker captured most of our attention at Stithians southern cut-off hide yesterday but there was a very healthy show from many other species that were all out busy feeding their young.

The portfolio of portraits below show just a portion of the subjects worked on during a five hour visit.

But for me the star of the show were the family of woodpecker which demanded your complete attention every time that they showed and in my next blog I want to show I little more of adults feeding behaviour so I will probably be heading back there again today.