The Fab Four

On Monday and Tuesday I visited the local site where the four fledgling Kestrels are nesting.
Two of these fine looking birds of prey are still a little nervous and they are keeping their flying restricted to the relative safety of the area close to the railway viaduct where their nestbox is located.

The other two birds and especially one in particular are far more adventurous and are leaving the box for long sorties and seem to be covering some serious territory.

I'm still very mindful of getting too close to these birds, but I have been edging a little closer with my camera and I reckon I just about know the limits of how close I can get without causing the youngsters and their parents any distress...

Hopefully I've still got about a week or so to get some more shots before the class of 2010 finally leave the nestbox and go their own way into the big wide world...So watch this space!

The Little One...

He is a really cutie, but these will be the last shots that I post of our little Cygnet for the time being...
I will however keep you updated of any news and I will post more photos over the coming months as he develops.

I'm now feeling confident that this little Mute Swan has what it takes to survive and hopefully his parents can protect him from any predators.

I'm planning on putting a gallery on my main website in the coming days dedicated to documenting the life of this Cygnet, so please keep an eye out at www.ajdixonphotography.co.uk

They've Fledged!

On Wednesday I told you about some young Kestrels and that they were due to fledge at anytime soon.
Well yesterday the first of the birds took the plunge and today I arrived to see all four youngsters out of the nestbox, although it would appear that some of the birds had taken to this new flight lark better than others...

Bird 1 had made the heady journey of about 8 feet to a girder in front of the entrance to the nestbox...

Certainly a better effort than that of Bird 2 who must of thought 'if I can't stay inside the box, I'll stay on top of it'...

It took me a while to spot Bird 3, in fact it was only when Bird 2 shuffled along the top of the box that the very nervous looking Bird 3 came into view, having been well hidden by his sibling...

Bird 4 was by far the most accomplished flyer. He had managed to fly out of the box through the arches and right up to the dizzying heights of the top of the viaduct...

In fact Bird 4 just oozed confidence and was happily flying around all over the place, toing and froing between the nestbox and the many perching spots around the viaduct...

Although now fledged, these Kestrels have no hunting skills and will still be very dependant on their parents for at least a couple of weeks yet...Hopefully giving me chance to see how they progress as flyer's as their confidence grows.

Against All Odds

I was preparing myself for the worse this morning after deciding to visit the Mute Swans that last Sunday were the proud parents of 4 Cygnets...

Tragic events unfolded in the next few days and if you haven't been following the story, we were left with just one Cygnet on my last visit on Tuesday and I wasn't very hopeful of seeing him again.

This is nature though and nature as a habit of providing some wonderful surprises and I'm delighted to tell you that when I arrived on this gloriously sunny morning, I was greeted by 2 dotting parents and 1 very healthy looking youngster...

Now 10 days old, the little fella is still inseparable from his mother and looking eager to learn...

Everybody knows that the best way to learn is watch and copy mother...

And when you're this cute, it must be hard to resist the temptation of sneaking a peep at yourself...

Down By The Riverside

I took a 7am stroll along the River Goyt close to home this morning.
There was a very unseasonable cold breeze early on, but despite this, the light was lovely and I managed to get a few shots of some of the wildlife that lives along the river...

This stretch of the Goyt is home to a variety of different species of bird including Kingfisher and Dipper.
Wherever you see Kingfishers and Dippers, there is also a good chance that you will see Grey Wagtails and out of these three fine looking birds it was the Wagtail that showed itself this morning...


Not far from the waters edge there is a meadow and behind that a dense area of woodland, making a just about perfect location for Rabbits...

Also showing well and allowing me to get some pretty close views was this lovely Song Thrush.
He did seem a bit preoccupied pulling a very large Snail out of it's shell and not even I was going to stop him in his quest...

Great Crested Grebes

I've been sorting through some of the many images of birds I've photographed so far this spring and one species I haven't really given much attention to on this blog is the very beautiful Great Crested Grebe.

I actually spent many hours in April and early May at a couple of local sites trying to capture the elusive 'weed dance' but didn't have any luck.
I did however have some success capturing this courtship dance minus the weed and it is none the less a very beautiful sight.

The Great Crested Grebe is a stunning bird and normally very wary of humans, but now and again they let their guard down and if you sit still and quiet, you may be lucky enough to view them at close quarters...
Unlike most fairly common water birds there is not much chance of enticing these birds with bread all any other food goodies, they are most certainly fish lovers and are very good at diving for them...

Finally the courting...

I focused mainly on one pair of birds at Poynton Pool, because this site is fairly photo-friendly and the lake is not as wide as the other site (Etherow Park).

Even so, these Grebes seem to like to do their courting in private and on many occasions they would swim off to the least accessible reaches of the pool and their displays were often obscured by trees and other obstacles.

Other times they would be smack bang in the middle of the pool and too far away for a decent shot no matter where I positioned myself.

A very frustrating business, but I did mange to get fairly close (although not as close as I'd have liked) the one time...

Young Kestrels

On a more upbeat note from my previous post...

For the last 4 years I've been following a pair of Kestrels that have nested in a nest box high up on a railway viaduct at one of my local sites.
The pair start preparing the box mid February each year, ready for the breeding to start in the early spring.

The young usually arrive at the beginning of May and the parents then spend almost all of the daylight hours for the next few weeks on the lookout for prey to satisfy the chicks.

This year has been another good year and for the second season running the pair have raised a clutch of four very healthy looking youngsters.
These four little beauties should be ready to fledge anytime now...

And Then There Was One...

As promised I payed another visit to see how the new Mute Swan family was getting along this evening and I'm afraid it's not good news...
The clutch of four seemingly healthy Cygnets is now down to just one.

I'm yet to discover what has occurred since my last visit on Sunday, but I suspect that they may have been taken by Mink or even a Grey Heron that has been lurking fairly close to the nest.
My gut feeling is Mink though, because I think the chances of a Heron successfully getting away with three youngsters is pretty remote.

I had a look around the area of the nest site and a few yards away there were what appeared to be signs of a struggle with adult Swan feathers close to some more downy feathers which I believe must have been that of one of the Cygnets.
I just hope that the two adults can keep the one remaining youngster safe from harm.

I'll leave you with some shots from this evening of the birds and lets hope that these won't be the last ones...

Very Much So Ugly Ducklings!

One thing I noticed yesterday when waiting for the Mute Swan family to emerge was how much the young Coots have developed in the few short weeks since they entered the world.

Now less face it, if there was ever a contest to decide the least cutest bird on the planet, then the Coot chick would be pretty close to the top of most peoples list...Although I must admit I kind of like them!

Actually, I love them!
They really are funny little alien-like creatures when newborn, with their bald heads and blood red markings...Not at all too dissimilar to their close relations in the Rail family the Moorhen.

Ugly? Well yes, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the Coots unsightly beginnings do give way to one of the most interesting transformations in the bird kingdom...

From this...

In a few short weeks to this...

And finally to this fine looking bird...

Coots are boring!

Well that is the opinion of many, but I whole heartily disagree!

OK, they may be very common and I suppose that you would be right in saying that they aren't exactly the most challenging species to photograph, but out of all the birds you're likely to come across at your local lake the Coot must surely be the most entertaining.

Coots never seem to keep still for very long and always seem to be looking for some kind of stimulation.

When they're not diving underwater for food, they seem to spend most of the time constantly chasing each and every other bird that has the audacity to enter their patch of water...With sometimes very comical and sometimes not very pleasant results.

Yes, I find it hard to think of a more naturally aggressive bird than the highly strung Coot.

All birds can become aggressive when they feel threatened or if there is food at stake, but the Coot seems to revel in it's aggression...A real rebel without a cause.

The Coots loutish behaviour starts very early as well and I've witnessed birds of only a couple of weeks or so old happily chasing Mallards and Geese around ponds!

They make for very demanding juveniles as well and even when well developed, they still bully and harass their long suffering parents to feed them.

This youngster was happily diving and feeding himself yesterday, until he decided it might be easier just to steal the bread that someone had just fed to his mother...

So there you have it, the Coot...Nature's original juvenile delinquent!

Not So Ugly Ducklings!

Great news this weekend from one of my local sites with the first new Mute Swan arrivals for 3 years.
I first noticed the Pen Swan on eggs about a month ago and I've been waiting eagerly for the hatching ever since.
There was a clutch of 5 eggs and 4 of these hatched successfully on Friday evening.

Worryingly the newborns have already captured the attention of a Mink that has been 'seen off' by the adult birds on at least two occasions.

I kept a good distance away from the nest this morning and after a 2 hour wait, the new family took to the water for a very brief swim...


The Cygnets never strayed further than a few feet from their mothers side and even the proud Cob Swan didn't get much of a look in!

I'll be visiting the site again in a day or two to hopefully get some close ups of the Cygnets, so watch this space!

Up With The Larks

First visit in almost a month to the Derbyshire Peaks this morning and a very early start.
In fact you could say I was up with the Larks.
Well to be precise, I was up with the Skylarks and they were showing pretty well today...

The Peaks are a very special place at this time of year, full of birdlife and song. A close relative to the Lark family are Pipits and this Meadow Pipit was doing his best to provide the song...

He was posing very nicely in between bursts as well...

The Moors look very different at this time of year with plantlife recovering from the very harsh winters that are a feature of this high country.
The heather is starting to thicken and it will only be a few weeks before it's in bloom with it's beautiful purple flowers.

While we wait for the heather to bloom, I think we can be more than content with the lovely Hare's-Tailed Cottongrass that covers large areas of the landscape at the moment...



This singing Golden Plover seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery too...

Local Specialities

We've had some pretty lousy weather here for the past 5 days which has been very frustrating because I've been dying to get out with the camera!
The lack of photography has however given me the chance to look through some recent shots and I'd thought I'd share a few from a couple of weeks back on a sunny afternoon spent at one of my local stomping grounds...Etherow Park.

Etherow is quite unique because it is home to a couple of species that are pretty scarce around the north of England and visitors come from far afield to tick them off their lists.
I have touched on both the following birds before in this blog, but they are a couple of beauties and I make no apologies for doing so again!

Both of the bird species were originally imported into the UK in days gone by to satisfy wildfowl collectors, but escapees have bred in the wild for many generations and are doing rather well.

First the Egyptian Goose, which as the name would suggest is a bird of African origin.
These birds have seen had a steady rise in population over the last few years, especially in the wetlands of Norfolk.
There has been a single Egyptian Goose at Etherow for a number of years, but last winter the population increased when another pair flew in from somewhere...

Next the Mandarin Duck, a very colourful bird of Asian origin.
These amazingly beautiful birds have started to populate a wide range of territories in the UK over recent years and there is a very healthy breeding population at Etherow and also in and around the River Goyt through Stockport.

Mandarins have recently been seen on the River Tame in the neighbouring Greater Manchester borough of Tameside, and I also spotted a single bird at Poynton Pool in Cheshire a few months back...Good news indeed!

Finally a rather exotic creature that has bred well at Etherow and many other local waters at a near epidemic rate...The Terrapin.
The only time you spot these reptiles is on warm sunny days when they like to bask out of the water.

It really is a bit of a mystery to why my local waters have such an abundance of Terrapins (Red-Eared I believe) but maybe it's no coincidence that this population boom started in the late 1980's around the same time as the hit children's TV craze 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'!

Terrapins are very small and cute when youngsters, but quickly outgrow their tanks and develop into a quite large animal...

Caught In The Oil

As a nature lover and one who cares deeply about the environment and the welfare of animals, I must say how disgusted I am with the incompetent way that British Petroleum have handled the operation to stop the oil slick off the coast of America.

I've watched and listened to the television in bemusement for the last few weeks while the BP bigwigs have said 'Well we can try this or do that...Maybe this could work!'

I find it unimaginable that here we are in the 21st century and these oil companies don't seem to have a clue on how to deal with this man-made disaster...It's not like this is the first time this has happened!

If these massive companies who basically rule the world and dictate our global economy don't have a proven strategy to deal with these disasters quickly and effectively then they really should not be allowed to operate!

I'm sorry, I really am struggling to put into words the amount of anger and frustration I feel about this and as the slick reaches the coast of Louisiana, I'll leave you with these poignant images of Sea Birds taken by photographer Charlie Riedel...

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Local Heroes

I've spent the last couple of evenings exploring farmland close to my home and despite the insect bites, I've had a very enjoyable time in the sunshine...

The Lapwing is a bird that is sadly in decline in the UK, largely due to loss of natural habitat.
It's always very pleasing to see these beautiful birds in their traditional countryside surroundings and my local farms have a steady population.

In fact the local population has taken somewhat of a boost with some new arrivals...

Another dwindling British species is the Starling and I'm pleased to report that there are very good numbers of youngsters at my local patch this year...

This particular location also has a very healthy population of the very charismatic Pied Wagtail and this little beauty was posing very nicely...