Got myself some new wood but a can’t remember if the person said just a small Owl Carving.
Blackie’s Birds
The Amazing colourful birds arrive on my feeders like clockwork and you have to love the species that visit this bird haven here on our site. The Siskin female with no black head and the vibrant Male Redpoll come together with the big green and yellow Greenfinch.
Making The Most Of The Day
as i pull my weighted blanket back the cold of our static van hits my head and shoulders, quickly into the small bedroom to get my thermals on and warm green gear. I feel so relaxed in military clothing its not a reminder of the 22 years i served more a comfort feeling and one i can crawl around in while my body still lets me.
I never take anything for granted and know one day i wont be able to crawl along the forest floor or up a tree so i cant be seen. But as long as i can do it i will forfil my life of taking opportunities and making the day as interesting as possible. The van door opens and the freezing air hits my face, as i make my way down the track to my old haunts i first gazed eyes on in 2014.
Bluebell wood as i named it soon to become the nesting area for the Redstart, and Spotted Flycatcher and Tawny Owl. The nest boxes i put up are all in good condition and i will be visiting todya to see if any birds are using the boxes. The Old tree that was home to te Great Spotted Wood pecker has fallen so becomes homes for the wood mouse and insects.
The morning was quiet when i walked up a slight incline with grass and dew covering my way ahead. I looked up to see the face of my friend i see every year, we looked at each other for a second and i turned and walked back to give it freedom. The special moment is hard to describe i try and tell it your safe i wont harm you, i know it wont understand me but i do feel are meetings are one it will remember and i know i am no threat to it or its family.
I walk away and turn, its gone and i reflect another reason why i get up early, to my left movement catches my eye and the long Brown Ears with Black tips tells me its a Brown Hare startled by the Red Fox. Making my way into the woods i hear the Nuthatch and the Redstart. Its been an hour since i left the van so i ake my way back along the path making my plan in my head for the day ahead, i must visit the woods this afternoon and see what comes to visit me.
Song Thrush
The beautiful singing Song Thrush came to feed on my feeder with Sunflower on, its something i have not witnessed before as i see them feeding on worms on the ground. Anyway this is a lovely image of it looking up at the feeder above. The long legs and beautiful markings on the breast together with a huge amazing eye just makes it so special and sits in my top 10 list for its song it produces every morning and evening singing for an hour or more at a time, springis here.
No Sign of the Swallow
Every year for the 7 the Swallow has arrived at the Stables on site, they nest in 3 stables the same every year. They arrive by 19 April at 5he latest so I ask myself what has happened to this amazing little bird that travels 5,000 miles to nest here in the UK
I will keep you posted if they arrive.
Blackie
Day 16 Kingfisher Challenge
Well another afternoon sat in a heavy dencse jungle by the side of the river. As I walk towards my location the bird sounds are like a chorus of today is the day Blackie. The setup takes 5 minutes and I sit back looking at the branch that I have seen the King sit on.
The Blackcap comes close to me, checking me out together with 3 Blue Tits. There are birds everywhere on the river the Goosander goes by followed by the Mallard family only 2 ducklings left.
The river is so low, my camera is focused and ready so I poor a coffee and chill thinking to myself where will it land, will it be the male or female. Will it sit just right for me, will the fish or dragon fly be in the beak.
Is the light ok as it gets darker then lighter, using manual mode on any camera is hard as you have full control over the camera, no Auto settings. S o if the light changes you have to compensate for the change. That doesn’t sound a lot but as the light fades it harder to get a sharp image.
After 2 hours a dark cloud came over and the heavens opened, not knowing if the camera was weather sealed i took my Paramo jacket off and placed it over my camera. Sitting in the rain hoping the King stayed were he was and didnt fly onto the perch just above the water.
An other hour passed and the weather picked up a little so things looked good, and when 2 Kingfishers flew past i got ready for them coming back from fishing. That never happened they stayed away and it was back to watching the branch again for another hour. Then without warning the Rain came but this time heavy so i made a dash for the car and called it a day
Thats around 35 hours of filming with 3 good chances to capture a image of this fantastic bird, but still i look for the one that will look good enough for printing and place in a hand carved wood frame, to go with my White Tailed Eagle and Barn Owl.
The
Pushing The ISO
For as long as i can remember i have never liked noise in any image, its a bug bare that has spoilt many an image. But always keeping the ISO is very difficult and i thought by now there would be a Camera that could deal with very high ISO without having to worry about Noise a Grainy background that if you mess about with can spoil the image detail. So i got a bit fed up sitting on the river today for 3 hours waiting for the Kingfisher to arrive so i went back to my van and set up my camera at the back of the van.
Not knowing what reuslts i would get gave me some cause for concern so as i took some images of Goldfinch and Greenfinch i never looked at the LCD on the camera. I loaded a few into Adobe Lightroom Mobile on my Samsung Galaxy TAB7+ and was amazed at the image quality with hardly any Noise at all.
So i am very happy and i will play about a bit but what i see has given me a new playground to play in.
It happened.
Bubbles float down the river, Oystercatchers sound frustrated by the Heron flying in to fish, the Female Mllard swims by with her remaing ducklings calling to them all the time to stay close. The sun shines on a new branch i found and looked a great place fot the Kinfisher to land. Foolish was i that i put my extender on my lens and soon as i did the Male came in and landed for a minute or so turning bothe left and right and straight at me. I was ell hidden but i could kick myself, the extender was playing up so my images were all soft meaning the detail goes from the bird. I have to post as its the best encounter i have had with this my second favorate bird.
Wader Reflection
The little wader feeds on the banking near to me, not a care as it finds food in the moss close to the rivers edge. Blackie sits opposite trying to get the settings right so he can get a nice reflection.
Germany Barracks to River Bank Wennington
45 years pass since we met, the 2 lads are no grown men no different than when they met. Sitting on the river bank at 6.30am with a flask of coffee is when a Kinfisher lands. They laugh and joke abot many things.
Blackie
Countryside life update
Beautiful weather Beautiful wife and our Beautiful Bella, you could say we are living the dream. Bird song from the Song Thrush morning and evening, rivers flowing both sides of the site, a Beautiful lake with sun set every evening, Owls flying, Kingfisher fishing, the Dipper with its young.
Looking out at our garden with our little pond, flower’s coming through, the Goldfinch, Greenfinch all feeding well. The nest boxes are all being used, the Blue Tit, Great Tit and Tree Sparrow all taking the nesting materials in for building this year’s nest.
Tree blossom everywhere you look, moss covering the site verge, Blackbirds and Thrush collecting worms for the young. The Grey Wagtail and Pied Wagtail flick their long tails as the young copy them. Picnics by the streams and rivers, villages with smoke coming from the chimney, lambs calling as they start the short journey of life, spring back and forth playing and fighting not knowing it will end in September.
Sitting under the trees at night with Ruth gazing into our real fire. It’s dreamland we smile at each other no words spoken just feelings of joy and peace. Life seems to be rolling along just fine, no money to spend, no Prime Van pulling up outside, no Postman to wave to, no bins to remember. The tempation to go and get a bar of chocolate or sweets from the corner shop is not there.
No cars, vans, bin lorries, voices coming back from the pub. Sirens all day long wondering what has happened now.
Onwards and Upwards.
Blackie
Dipper and Baby
Arrived this morning to wait for the wildlife to come and have their image taken, I didn’t have to wait long when the adult Dipper came up the river on my side. The juvenile following it copying what mum was doing. The video I took in 4K shows the
Rons life through the lens 