House Sparrow

After a second day of zero sunshine, I decided I needed to look through some old shots to remind myself why winter is my favourite season for photography...

I have always felt there is something quite special about the winter light and when the sun is low in the sky, I feel it always gives the subject a lovely warmth that is often lacking from shots taken in the sometimes harsh light of summer...

All Quiet On The Local Front!

Everything still seems to be a little quiet on the local front, so tomorrow I'll probably head to the coast to try and capture some Sea Birds and Waders.
Over the last few days, I've ventured out a couple of times locally, but there has been a distinct lack of photo opportunities.

My old friends the House Sparrows are always a welcome sight especially when there aren't a lot of other species about...


I came across this solitary Greylag Goose on a quick visit to the Vale last night...

At another location this morning, birdlife was scarce, but at least there were plenty of Rabbits about...

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

A Few From This Evening

I managed to finally drag myself out into the miserable English weather earlier this evening after nearly going stir crazy due to lack of photography!

It was actually quite a pleasant day at times today, but by the time I finally managed to get out of the office, the gloom had descended.

I decided to pay a visit to Etherow Park and quickly located the House Sparrow colony I photographed the other week.

The light was fading fast, but I was lucky enough to get a few shots away...

The rain soon started to fall and photo opportunities were fading with the light.

It was as they say "nice weather for ducks" although this female Mallard didn't seem to care all that much about it...

A flock of Canada Geese came flying towards me in the poor light.

Shutter speed was low, so I focused on one bird and panned around on him has he came past.

I've always enjoyed taking slow shutter shots of wildlife in motion and this one although not quite as slow as I would of liked, didn't turn out too bad...

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

Love Is Blind

One of the most beautiful things about nature is it never fails to surprise and the adaptability of even some of the smallest of God's creatures quite often leaves me with a sense of wonder...

Tonight was one of those occasions when nature like it so often does, warmed my heart...
I came across a female House Sparrow, who was sadly blind in one eye.


This of course is a huge disadvantage for such a small and vulnerable bird and it got me thinking about how she must struggle going about her daily business, even more so because she had a young offspring close by.

I needn't have worried too much though, because this female had a very loving male companion, who tirelessly took turns feeding both fledgling and mother...

Snow!

Today, the plan was to have another attempt at the Mountain Hares in the High Peak, but once again I was foiled by the weather!

Light overnight snow locally and a forecast of fog and heavy snow in the Peaks were enough to make my mind up.

It's been very frustrating lately...Just when you think it's safe to make plans, this very hard winter bites back at you!

I probably won't get another chance to get up into Derbyshire again for a couple of weeks...Weather permitting, I'm off on a couple of trips to Merseyside next weekend and I'm also hoping to get some more shots of the Little Owls if we have some sunshine in the next few days.

So just a short walk down the Vale in the snow this morning and despite the weather, there was plenty of activity in the hedgerows...

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...