Autumn Colours

Autumnal tree canopy captured at Etherow Park, Greater Manchester...

Waxwing Invasion

My local area and many parts of the UK for that matter has seen a large invasion of one of the most welcome of winter visitors, the Waxwing in the last couple of weeks...

I spotted a group of five of these stunningly beautiful birds, last Tuesday and after being seen off by the local Magpies, they returned in greater numbers (around 30) over the next few days.

Reports of Waxwings in Greater Manchester are growing daily and with what appears to be decent berry crops in the area, hopefully the birds will be around for many weeks to come.

Misty Sunrise

Wildfowl pictured last Sunday down the Vale...

WeBS

I was asked a while back if I would monitor the water birds at Reddish Vale as part the 2010 WeBS survey.

WeBS is The Wetland Bird Survey and collects important information on the population, breeding and environment of UK water birds.

In their own words..." The principle aims of WeBS is to identify population sizes, determine trends in numbers and distribution and to identify important sites for water birds."

The WeBS survey covers almost every area of the UK and data is collected by hundreds of volunteers from across the nation.

My allocated area of Reddish Vale isn't exactly the most glamorous, but is still none the less important amongst the grand scheme of things.

My first count was taken this morning during very heavy rain and despite the unpleasant conditions it was still rather enjoyable.

One thing I personally like about WeBS is the emphasis isn't just on rarer species such as Avocet and Bittern but recognizes the importance of our more common water birds such as Mallard and Coot.

No images from today's count because of the heavy rain, but I'll leave you with a selection of water birds taken from around the UK in better weather...

The Elusive Kingfisher

One of the most popular UK birds without any doubt is the beautiful Kingfisher.
I have spent a number of years following the fortunes of the resident Kingfishers at the Vale throughout the seasons and after a scare earlier in the year, following the harsh winter, I'm very pleased to say that they appear to be doing pretty well again.

The thing about the Kingfishers of the Vale is that they are extremely difficult to photograph.
Don't get me wrong, Kingfishers are never easy to photograph, but the favourite perches of the Vale birds are all in very camera unfriendly locations and spread over a vast area of varying habitat.

To top it off, quite frankly I've never had a great deal of luck with these birds either...I could talk all day about the countless hard luck stories I have about the Fisher King and the 'shot that got away', but I'm sure that everybody that has ever attempted to photograph these stunning birds has countless tales they could tell, so I won't bore you with mine.
:) Well at least not today!

On Sunday I had a very close 10 minute encounter with a young male Kingfisher. but frustratingly he spent most of the time ducking and diving behind branches and leaves.
It was as ever a wonderful experience none the less, despite not being able to get a clean shot at him...

Geese In The Mist

A mist rose from the Mill Ponds and spread across the Vale on Sunday morning, producing a rather beautiful scene...

I love these misty mornings and the light produced by the combination of mist and the hazy rising sunshine can be breathtaking sometimes.

I was a little disappointed not to be able to capture anything exciting swimming through the mist and I had to settle for the Canada Geese...

The light wasn't too shabby after the mist had lifted and the calm water allowed for some nice reflections...

Sunday Down The Vale

The sun was out this morning after a few days of what was at times torrential rain, so I decided a first visit for a couple of weeks to the Vale was in order.

I had a very pleasant morning photographing some of the more common, but none the less photogenic species.
There are certain species that a lot of photographers overlook because they feel that they are too common and therefor not very exciting.
I've never fully understood this logic because even the most numerous everyday species can be an excellent subject if you capture it doing something unusual.

A point in case maybe is this shot of a Black-Headed Gull from this mornings session.
He wasn't doing anything other than standing on a post overlooking the main Mill Pond, but I still fired a few shots at him anyway...He was fairly close and you never quite know what you will get.
After a few seconds the Gull opened his beak as wide as he could to yawn and I managed to capture this portrait which I'm sure you will agree is a lot more interesting than it would have been if he hadn't of yawned!
One nice thing about photographing the more common birds is a lot of them are used to humans and quite often are even curious of us.
This Blackbird seemed to be the curious type...

It's actually quite curious to why certain animals are curious of us and when you point a large lens at them ,some run in fear and some come for a closer look.
Like this Grey Squirrel...

It was a day of curiosities and this normally very shy Magpie was on the cautious side of curious and spent a full five minutes edging closer towards me, stopping every now and them to assess the situation...

Rainy Day Birds

Here are a few shots from a rather wet early Sunday morning shoot around Etherow Park in Stockport.
Because of the heavy rain, I didn't venture too far around the reserve, so I mainly encountered some of the more common residents...

Great Crested Grebe

Greylag Goose

Mallard

House Sparrow Reflection

Alien Invaders

Back in June, I touched upon the problem of introduced non British species into our waterways and in particular the Terrapins at Etherow Park.

Well Etherow is just one of many local waters to contain these creatures and Reddish Vale is another.
The other day I spotted a very young Terrapin basking on a floating log in one of the ponds down the Vale...


Whether or not this youngster had been freshly dumped into the pond or is a result of successful breeding between already established Terrapins I'm not quite sure.
The other thing I'm not sure of and perhaps I'll have to do a little research on the subject is the effect that these reptiles have on the Eco system.


This particular pond is fairly small, but as a good stock of small fish which are a good source of food for the resident Kingfishers, as well as the Terrapins.
Terrapins are also known to attack young wildfowl and I wonder if the death of a young Coot I spotted on the pond a couple of days earlier was a result of these alien invaders...

The sight of another exotic species and I guess an altogether less harmful creature in the pond made me chuckle...

I was sat quietly by the pond, hoping for the Kingfishers to turn up, when a two young children with small fishing nets turned up looking for Minnows and Sticklebacks. The Kids were accompanied by their parents and the four threw pieces of bread into the water hoping to attract the small fish.

After about 30 minutes or so, the father declared that "The pond was polluted and there were definitely no fish in there". Now of course, I knew that this wasn't true and the presence of Kingfishers and Terrapins on the Pond is proof enough of good fishing. The family then walked off the wooden jetty where they had been looking for fish and left the pond rather disappointed.

Less than a minute after they had left and from beneath the jetty where they stood, a huge Koi Carp came to the surface!

Return Of The Fisher King

A few weeks back I told you about what appeared to be the sad demise following the harsh winter of the Kingfisher at Reddish Vale, a place that has been a stronghold for these stunning birds in recent years.
Well has it happens, the very next day after making that post I spotted two birds flying over the main Mill Ponds at the Vale!

I didn't want to get too excited, so I remained open-minded about this sighting and indeed returned a number of times in the next few days only to be disappointed.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I saw the birds again, but after returning the next couple of days, I drew blanks.

The good news is I have visited the sight on three occasions this week and I have found 2 very active young Kingfishers each time.
Not only that, it appears that the birds are well settled here and are using the areas of the Vale that have been used traditionally by Kingfishers in the past.

This morning I managed to get a fairly close view of one of the birds and hopefully this will be the first of many more to come...

Little Brown Jobbies

The plan for this morning was to have a walk around Etherow Park in Stockport and see what was about.
I was expecting to have a card full of Water Fowl shots, but as it happens, I didn't really get that far around the lake...

The reason being, is not far into my walk I encountered a flock of one of my favourite little birds, the House Sparrow and I was mesmerized for the next hour or so by their antics.

Who would have thought not so long back that the humble House Sparrow would find it's way on to the RSPB's red list, but sadly that is the case and these much loved little birds are now declining at a alarming rate.

What makes this more shocking is the fact that the House Sparrow really is the ultimate 'people bird'.
These little beauties have lived side by side with man since the dawn of civilization and have learnt to adapt and make good of the waste that us humans discard.

The House Sparrow is an often overlooked bird and I guess that is because folk are over familiar with them.
It is a bird that we are use to seeing in our gardens and in the countryside, so perhaps a lot of people wouldn't give them a second look.

Just another boring House Sparrow...
Any truth in this statement?
Well for anyone who hasn't taken the time to sit and watch these birds for any length of time, then I guess they would say yes.
For those of us who have then it's definitely an almighty NO!

For me the humble, cheeky, noisey little House Sparrow is by far the most entertaining watch in the bird world...Thoroughly enchanting creatures.

So if you've never took the time to watch them closely, next time you get the opportunity please do so...You won't be disappointed.

Also please spare this thought...
If the current rate of decline continues, in a few short years the House Sparrow will be about as common as it's cousin the Tree Sparrow which is now a very rare sight in our gardens and rural areas.
Treasure them, you never know what you've got until it's gone.



Male House Sparrow


Female House Sparrow

Juvenile House Sparrow

The Fisher King

Almost 2 years ago to this very day on a sunny morning at Reddish Vale, Stockport I witnessed along with a couple of other people one of the most amazing sights I have ever encountered while watching wildlife...6 Kingfishers lined up together on some shrubbery in the middle of the main Mill Pond.
It was a very proud day for me as we watched the two adults and healthy four offspring sitting there in the sun.
A proud day because I had spent hundreds of hours watching these birds over a magical two year period and this was indeed as good as it gets.

It would have been almost unimaginable a few short years earlier that you would see this most beautiful of birds thriving in such a place...Pollution in the River Tame that runs through the Vale like so many of the waterways of Greater Manchester at the time was very high and this success story owes a lot to United Utilities and many local folk who put in time and effort to clean up the area.
Stockport actually is a little bit of a hotbed for Kingfishers and now boasts many good locations to spot these wonderful birds.

Although I have watched Kingfishers at many locations, I have never felt such a affiliation like the one I felt for the birds of the Vale.
For over 2 years I spent up to 8 hours a day of my spare time observing these birds to the point of obsession!
In sunshine, rain and snow I would sit quietly with my thoughts hoping to capture even the smallest glimpse of a Kingfisher...Many fruitless days were spent waiting for this most frustrating of subjects, but a few unforgettable seconds from time to time when the birds would be active made it all worthwhile.

Although the rivers and waterways in my local area are now probably as clean as they've been since the start of the industrial revolution some 200 years ago and Kingfishers are thriving all over the Borough, it saddens me to tell you that the resident Reddish Vale birds are no more.
I last saw one at the start of January 2010 and although there have been reports of the odd one flying up the river it seems that the terrible winter we suffered at the beginning of the year took it's toll on this population.

I do hope to find time in the coming months to photograph birds at other local locations, but somehow I don't think it will be quite the same...

Surprise Visitor

I had a bit of a shock down the Vale yesterday after spotting a very unusual visitor happily swimming around on the main Mill Pond...

After parking the car and taking the very short walk to the Ponds, I had to double take when amongst the usual collection of fairly common wildfowl I spotted a very rare sight and a bird you don't see very often in the wild in Europe...The Ringed Teal.

Ringed Teal are native to South America and breed mainly in north west Argentina and Paraguay.

They can also be found in Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay and Stockport of course!

The Ringed Teal is a very small and shy Duck that favours forests and swampy marshes...The more secluded the better.

This male bird of course must be an escapee, but I count myself very lucky to have had a chance to see his kind at such close quarters.

It was another lovely sunny day yesterday and it was nice to see another species of duck enjoying some quality time in the water...

The Indian Runner Duck is a domesticated breed and like the name suggests, it spends most of it's time running around on dry land looking for food...Mainly worms!

There are around a dozen or so of these large Ducks at the Vale and their comical antics make them very popular.

Little Owl

After my trip to the Vale this morning, I drove back towards my home and decided to go on another recognisance mission to spot the Little Owls.
After the cold start to the morning, I figured that there was a good chance of seeing one today because I know they like to sun themselves on the farmhouse rooftop!

After parking the car, I set off on the half mile or so walk down the farm track and on arrival at the farmhouse looked up to see that the missing chimney pot had been replaced by something much more pleasing to the eye...

I mentioned yesterday that I have planned a couple of projects for the year...

Project 2 is something that can only take place in the spring and summer months because it involves migrant birds...That's all you're getting for now, but all will become clear when the time comes!

Project 1, I can reveal is something that will be ongoing throughout the year and possibly longer...I have set myself the challenge of finding and photographing every species of Owl in the Greater Manchester Borough of Stockport...My local patch as it were!

Quite a daunting task really and I'm not 100% sure how many species there are in Stockport, although I'm confident that there are at least four. I'm not going to settle for 'record' shots, I really would like to get some very nice detailed images of the Owls, so this is why I think it's going to be quite a long adventure.

A request for your help please...

Now I have found a good site for the Little Owls, I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to tick them off the list in the next month or so.

However, I'd be very grateful to hear from any local residents who know of any Owl sites in the Stockport area.

Actually, not just Owls...I'd love to hear about any interesting wildlife such as Foxes, Badgers and of course any unusual bird sightings.

You can reach me via the contact page of my website...

www.ajdixonphotography.co.uk/contact.html

*Reports of sensitive species will of course be treated in the strictest confidence.

Many thanks

Anthony

Flying Visits

A prior family commitment made short my time for birding today, but I still managed a couple of flying visits to sites close to my home, late this afternoon.

Not the most pleasant of days weather wise with dark grey skys and the ever present threat of rain, but I really wanted to check out a sighting I had made Wednesday evening...

The sighting in question was of a rare visitor to these parts the Barnacle Goose.

This lone bird flew into Etherow Park about a week or so back and he seems to have made himself at home.

How long the new arrival will stick around for is anybodies guess, but Etherow has a habit of attracting unusual species of wildfowl and many of them decide to stay for good.

My other stop today was at a location even closer to my home which is home to a pair of Little Owls.

This pair show very well some days and not at all others...Today unfortunately was the latter!

These little Owls are to be the first species of a little project I've set myself for the year...In fact I've set myself two bird related challenges this year and I shall post the details of both at a later date!

Although disappointed at not seeing the Owls today, the walk back across the fields did provide pretty decent views of a group of 3 Lapwing who were digging around in the mud for morsels.

Always nice to see Lapwing in their traditional farmland habitat...

Winter Sunshine

I've been a bit busy today, but managed a quick trip down to Reddish Vale at first light.
After the tragic death of the Cob Swan last week I wanted to pay a visit and see how his orphaned Pen was getting on...Sadly she was nowhere to be seen.
I was told earlier this week that two new Swans had visited and the young Pen who had been very distressed since the loss of her father, seemed to get on very well with the new arrivals.
Although the two left alone that day, I'm thinking perhaps they returned and the Pen decided to take off with them.

It was still a little dark for photography when I first arrived at the Vale, so I had a walk around the Mill Ponds to see what was about...13 Goosander, 16 Tufted Duck and a pair of Wigeon were the highlights.

The promise of winter sunshine had brought out quite a few Anglers and as the sun came up, I knew this was bad news for me and my hopes of capturing some of the notoriously shy Goosanders!

The light was beautiful at times and despite being a little disappointed about the Goosander, I made the most of it by photographing a few of the more common residents...

A Sad Goodbye To An Old Friend

I learned with great sadness today about the death of a Cob Mute Swan at one of my local patches Reddish Vale.
The bird had been shot through the eye with an air weapon last week and tragically had to be put down a couple of days later.
Words fail me when I think about the kind of poor excuse for a human being that could carry out such a vile and barbaric act.

I had grown to love this particular Swan over the last few years...He really was quite a character and I photographed him on many occasions.

Worryingly this isn't the first shooting of this kind at the Vale...One of a breeding pair of Great Crested Grebes was killed last spring and I hoped that was to be an isolated incident.
I am told by Phil Kinsey who runs the Reddish Vale website that the Police are taking the death of the Swan very seriously and the local media are showing a great interest in the story...I'm just praying that a conviction is made because I feel very strongly that there is not enough emphasis on wildlife crime in the UK.

Phil has posted a report along with some poignant photographs here...

http://www.reddishvale.moonfruit.com/#/our-mute-swan/4538497780

For more information about wildlife crime and how to report it, please visit...

http://www.defra.gov.uk/paw

2010: The Year So Far (6)

Reddish Vale on the morning of January 10th seemed like the loneliest place on earth.

The weather was nothing short of Artic, there was hardly a soul about and far worst...The birds were suffering bad.

The large bag of food I had taken was nowhere near enough and it was heartbreaking to watch as the birds fought it out in a desperate struggle for the scraps.

Most of the Geese had left the frozen lake and taken a little respite in the river.

By the riverbank, I could smell the unmistakable scent of a Fox which must have been stalking the wildfowl, so I decided to bait the area with a generous helping of Turkey (which I had brought just in case) and lie low on the embankment.

Well the Fox didn't show yet again, but I was more than delighted to see that the bait didn't go to waste...

In fact given the conditions, I don't think I could have wished for a more worthy recipient than this young Grey Heron...

2010: The Year so far (3)

I returned to Reddish Vale the following day (3rd) and was blessed with some wonderful winter sunshine.

The birds were starving, so I took with me a big bag of seed and some crushed fat balls which made me very popular indeed!

I also had some Turkey, left over from Christmas which I planted in the woods hoping to entice the foxes...No luck following a 2 hour stakeout I'm afraid!

Outfoxed again, I threw the remaining food I'd brought for the birds onto the frozen lake and took a few shots of some of the grateful recipients...

2010: The Year So Far (2)

On January 2nd the bright sunshine of the first day of the new year had given way to a rather heavy looking sky as I left the house.

Things were looking ominous so I decided to postpone a planned trip to the Dee Estuary and instead drove much closer to home and to one of my favourite local patches Reddish Vale.

No sooner had I arrived, the heavy looking sky gave way and the first snow of the year fell.

95% of the lake at the Vale was frozen and hundreds of wildfowl were contesting the remaining unfrozen water.

Reddish Vale is probably one of the less visited nature reserves in Greater Manchester and contains all the very common species of wildfowl, however there are some gems to be found here from time to time and this day proved no exception when amongst the usual suspects I was treated to some very close views of this lovely little Shoveler...

Far from the madding crowd and perhaps contemplating how he was ever going to get any fishing done stood this very fine looking Grey Heron...One of three of it's type present, I would become very familiar with this individual over the next week or so....

Frustratingly the day also provided my first photographic disappointment of the year after I spotted a glorious looking Fox trekking through the snow in the woods only yards away.

Try as I might, I couldn't move myself into a position where I would have been able to get a clean shot and it was only a matter of time before I was spotted...

Oh well, there will be other days...