Fieldfares and a Woodpecker

This last week or so I have been out and about with the camera. It has been a dry week for a change with mostly cloudy conditions and a brisk easterly wind.The previous week gave more sun and was ideal for photographing fieldfares.These Scandanavian thrushes come to Britain in the wintertime to feast on the berry crop.This years crop has been particularly abundant and fieldfares have been present in very large numbers.

I concentrated on the Over Wyre area and on some of the quieter lanes in the area the fieldfares were present in large numbers.The hedgerows were filled with abundant berries as can be seen in the images below and the fieldfares descended in large numbers to feast in the afternoon sun.Fieldfares can be difficult to photograph as they are very skittish and not easy to approach.I found one hedgerow bordering a quiet road which the birds were coming to at regular intervals and I was able to get some nice images from the comfort of the car without disturbing the birds.

A very nice surprise was the visit of a great spotted woodpecker to a tree close to where the fieldfares were feeding.I made the most of this opportunity and was very pleased with the resulting images one of which heads this post.Hope you enjoy my efforts below and next time I will be showing images of barn owls which were also very active during the last week.Thanks for looking in.

Godwits Galore.

The constant and very heavy rain during October had caused problems for the farmers in the Pilling area.This part of Lancashire is famous for growing potatoes but a lot of the harvest had been lost to the weather.The flooded fields were well under water and many lakes formed in the fields.These conditions however were ideal for the birds and as well as many whooper swans a large flock of black tailed godwits had discovered the bonanza of food available.I came on them by chance whilst driving around the area but local birdwatchers had also seen the large flock and estimated the number of godwits around two and a half thousand birds.

It was indeed an impressive number of birds and I made a couple of visits to the area and took many images of these lovely waders.The weather was bright and sunny when I visited and the birds looked magnificent especially when in the air showing their white wingbars and black and white tail markings.I hope you enjoy my efforts to capture the godwits.They may have dispersed now as I write but more heavy rain today may keep them in the area.You can be sure I will revisit to see if they are still around.Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with more from wild Lancashire.

Beardies..Leighton Moss..October 2019

It had been a number of years since I had first photographed Bearded Tits at Leighton Moss.They are a very elusive bird to see and early Autumn is one of the best times to see them.In the Autumn their diet changes from insects to the seeds of the common reeds where they spend most of their lives.The true name of these lovely birds is bearded reedling,although they don't really sport a beard ,the handsome male bird has more of a moustache.

The RSPB put grit out onto bird tables adjoining the reed beds so that the birds have easy access.A viewing platform is also in place to enable photographers and birdwatchers to get close views of the birds.The birds tend to visit the grit trays in the morning and it is best to be in position early to get good views.I made a couple of visits in October on dry and sunny days.On the first visit wellies were in order to reach the viewing platform as much of Leighton Moss was under water.

After a wait of an hour or so the first of the birds appeared around 9am.From then on until I left around 10.30am the birds showed well and everybody present had excellent views and the photographers went away happy with full memory cards.Some of my better efforts are shown below of the birds and the scene at the viewing platform.Thanks for looking in and hope you enjoy the images of these very special birds.