Back to today and on my way out to the Beardies I had a
quick check for the Kingfisher but it is now 10 days since it was last seen so
the cold has without doubt moved it on so I thought….
I heard the Beardies as soon as I arrived although couldn’t
see them. They were calling from two different areas of the reedbed so it
seemed like there could be a few birds present. I positioned myself with the
sun behind me and a good view of the reeds and over the course of the next hour
and a half heard a few pings but didn’t see any birds. I don’t always know when
to call it quits but this time timed my quits just right. Walking back I
suddenly heard a lot of pinging and saw a group of more than four birds flying
over the reeds. I picked up the pace and positioned myself ahead of them and
then they appeared in the reeds right by me. They were not bothered by my
presence at all and fed in the open for many minutes. There were four females
and two males but frustratingly the males were far shier than the females and
didn’t show as well and never came out into the warm sunlight to pose. It was
an incredible experience to be so close to them and they were also calling
frequently adding to the sensual experience. I had the tripod with me (which I
even used!) and was torn between taking pictures and video although spent quite
a bit of time on video as that better captures the whole experience with these
brilliant little birds. I’ve got a bit of a job ahead of me to go through all
the digital matter I have now transferred to my hard drive but hope there will
be some good video. I am definitely happy with the pictures I got. It is not
possible to be certain but I believe there was also another group in the reeds
in a different spot based on the pinging I had heard earlier but can’t be sure
given how quickly the birds can move unseen through the reeds.
With my boots filled I headed back to the car
and thought I would look just one more time for the Kingfisher and guess what
it was there J On one of those rare occasions I saw it first
and it actually flew off without calling although during the next half an hour
it did call a couple of times and showed in flight once. It was clearly looking
for food in the few areas of open water within the reedbed and was an
incredibly difficult bird to pin down although I did eventually manage an
obscured picture through the reeds. Whilst trying to see the Kingfisher I heard
what was probably a Pine Grosbeak flying over but it was just a bit too distant
for me to be sure what I was hearing. With luck though this is just the first
bird of a new invasion (wishful thinking).
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| female Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis). Taken at around 5metres range in the sun! |
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| male Bearded Tit in the shade |
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| three females and a male |
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| The Kingfisher (just!) |
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| having a preen in the sun |
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| its always great to see them clambering around likes monkeys |
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| four females |
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| four females and a male |
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| the two males in the background |
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| a Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) being escorted out of the area by two crows |
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