Barn Owls

I have visited a site of a pair of local Barn Owls a few times recently, sometimes drawn a blank more often than not seen them in flight at a distance. On one occasion a couple of weeks ago one Barn Owl I managed to photograph at too great a distance on a far post, then a lot nearer on a piece of tree bough but still a little way off.

Another occasion a Barn Owl was quartering a grass pasture and then it landed on a post but I was in my car the wrong side of a hedge.

Finally I got lucky, the Barn Owl was approaching the same grass pasture, I scrambled to a gap in the hedge, I took a good number of flight shots but the Barn Owl landed in front of me on the post and I managed a couple of frames before it moved on.

Little Owl

A week last Saturday we travelled locally, barely getting out the car with the cold weather but nice sun at times. After not seeing too much, some shots of Dunnock on the ground in good light but nothing else this Little Owl was spotted bathed in good light.

Having taken a few shots where the bird was partially covered by twigs I rolled the car forward a tad and the results are the best I managed. I do not like to linger too long and end up disturbing the bird so I moved off but I will try here again.

Mandarin at Scarborough Mere

So much for my sentiments on 1st January about more regular posts. However, family matters have had to take precedence for a short while. I am now ready (weather permitting) to get on with some birding.

This Mandarin was at Scarborough Mere last week. I nearly missed it after walking around The Mere and not seeing this duck. Just about to drive away and it was with the other ducks feeding on some bread being thrown. It then proceeded to climb out of the water. They are very colourful birds, who would conjure up this paint job!

Anyway hope to post some new 2013 material soon!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all readers of my blog.
I hope to post regularly in 2013 and comment on fellow bloggers posts.
Hope you all have a good one.
My first bird of the year was a Blue Tit just on a short walk to my father-in-laws. This made me think of this shot a month or two ago in Forge Valley.

Water Rail

Sorry for my lack of posting this last month, I have had a lack of material but still enough for a few posts so I hope to put a few out over the next week or so.

Today I got my first pictures of Water Rail, these have been showing well in scarborough's Northstead Manor Gardens since our freeze over a week ago. I was hoping for reports this am. so that I knew chances were good but nothing until 11:40 which reported two birds.

When I got there one bird was present and a short while after there was two, always distant or elisive for a while in awful light. Finally though it did brighten a yad and one bird showed well in a pool not to far off. Some shots were as low as ISO 1250!

Taken with Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm lens, 500mm focal length 1/320sec f6.3

Right Poser

This juvenile Shag was perched on Saturday afternoon just behind Luna Park on Scarborough's South Bay at the corner of the harbour.

The innocence of youth not troubled by me on my hands and knees with my camera on my monopod. Easy pictures, I still need to micro adjust my lens to camera, the pictures were not as sharp as I would like and I have post sharpened a little, but that is all,these are full frame shots of course.

Owl double

We have spent the week-end driving around in search of Fieldfare and Redwing. Yesterday we drove towards Malton on very rural roads and found a number of small flocks of these birds. More Redwing than Fieldfare and present with good numbers of Starlings.

I spotted a Little Owl on a hay stack and managed a photo although it was difficult due to a high hedge to the front and the cut branches stuck up impeding my focus. As we left the site of the Little Owl I saw a white wing beat in a field and then it went down. a slow approach in the car and we stopped 10' from a Barn Owl with a large vole in it's mouth. A fantastic classic view on a great big fence post but into the sun and on the passenger drive so we quickly moved on and left it to it's early tea.

I photographed this female Kestrel who has very worn feathers.