Stephen's Wildlife

Teal

Winter is a time when migratory birds grace the UK with their presence. If these Teal spoke, their native language would be Russian or German, or some other northern European tongue. Fewer than 2,800 pairs of Teal are resident in the UK. This population increases to 220,000 during the winter months.

I love the compact size of this bird and its colouring and markings. The dark green eye stripe is bordered by what appears to be white eyeliner that defines the border of the colour from the rest of the chestnut brown head. At the tail end there is a lovely, muted yellow patch on its side.

We saw these on our recent visit to Stanpit Marsh and I know I have shown you the image below already, but I love the synchronicity of these two birds as they come into land on the water. The extended wings also have a patch of that beautiful dark green.

Corn Bunting

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that it took me a while to identify this bird. I saw it/them last week. There were a few of them in the same vicinity as Yellowhammers and Fieldfare. My first thought was Dunnock or Pippit, but my son took one look and said “Corn Bunting”.

“There are 11,000 pairs in Britain. The population has fallen by 90% since 1970.”

RSPB Handbook of British Birds, p302.

The decline is put down to agricultural changes, which have removed habitat and reduced food supplies. This is now understood and farmers are being encouraged to provide wide field margins with no pesticide. One to watch over the next few years to see if these changes have the desired positive effect.

Unfinished business

I think I mentioned that when we visited Stanpit Marsh last week there had been reported sightings of the Glossy Ibis. We returned this weekend and this time we were not disappointed. The water level on the reserve had subsided and the Ibis was not difficult to spot. All one had to do was look for a flock the photographers and look in the direction of their long lenses. The Glossy Ibis is considered a rarity in the UK and this one has become a bit of a local celebrity over recent weeks, appearing regularly on social media postings.

The bird was quite active. Whilst feeding it was always close to cover, into which it would often retreat. It took to the air twice, but did not venture far. It remained on the reserve and we were able to observe it from a distance.

It looks a bit like a curlew with a similar shaped bill, but it’s darker and a little larger. In flight the legs trail behind and the neck is straight, not crooked like a heron or egret.

My only other sighting of an Ibis was on a visit to Trinidad to celebrate our twenty fifth anniversary. We were taken on a visit to a mangrove nature reserve on the west of the island. During our tour we saw the mangroves covered in red dots. These were Scarlet Ibis.

So it was somehow fitting that on the weekend of our fortieth anniversary I should get this sighting of the Glossy Ibis.

Glossy Ibis silhouetted against Hengistbury Head

Life on the Beech Avenue

The B3082 is the main road between Blandford and Wimborne. Where it runs beside the Iron Age fort of Badbury Rings there is an Avenue of Beech trees, originally planted in the first half of the nineteenth century by William John Bankes as a birthday gift to his Mum. There are 365 trees on one side of the road (one for every day of the year) and 366 on the other (for a leap year). Don’t ask me which side is the leap year. The trees are showing signs of age and many have been replaced.

The photo above was taken at 11.00 am yesterday, a rather overcast winter day. The headlights of modern cars are automatically illuminated due to the poor light. Modern life with its man made pressures, routines and deadlines co-exists alongside a more natural environment with its own rhythms and seasons.

However, the instruction to cars as they approach this point in big bold letters on the road is “SLOW”. So let’s take a brief moment to pause, to observe and appreciate the grace and beauty of the natural world.

A great tit shares a tree with a chaffinch. Two male pheasants stand overlooking a field, before being spooked and taking flight. A Fieldfare sits at the very top of a tree. A flock of Yellowhammer flies into the hedgerow, staying just long enough for a picture or two. A bird of prey in the distance not allowing me to get too close.

And the farming activity of the Kingston Lacy estate.

Now, where’s my to do list…

Great tit (foreground) with Chaffinch (background)

Farming activity along the labyrynth of tracks behind Badbury Rings

Temperatures begin to drop

Temperatures have taken a tumble this week.

Even though it is close to mid day, this is December and the heat emanating from the Sun, low in a clear blue sky, is insufficient to melt the ice and frost pictured here.

The woodland path draws us in and the light quality, so different from mid summer, is bright and dazzling with long shadows and silhouettes.

A kestrel rests patiently in a leafless, deciduous tree before taking to the air and circling its territory once again in search of the next meal.

Sunday Southbourne sunset stroll

Landscape photography is new to me. I have focused on wildlife photography for the last couple of years. Any landscape photos would have been secondary to my primary objective of capturing a wildlife shot.

Effective landscapes are created from boundaries, so I’ve been told. So land meets sky, day meets night, autumn meets winter all should offer photographic opportunities.

The technique changes. Things slow down. We are no longer going for a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action. The ISO drops to 100, or the lowest possible. The aperture setting moves from from an F8-F10 sweet spot to F11-F16. The shutter speed slows right down and will be what it will be. A wide angle lens is more appropriate than a telephoto. Finally, use a tripod and a 2 second shutter delay to reduce camera shake to a minimum.

So with subject and technique sorted these are my first intentional landscape shots. So how did I do? Should I stick to my wildlife niche, or maybe mix it up with some landscape?

Saturday redeemed

Miggy, the cat, unimpressed with the flooded garden

It really did not look promising. The back garden was under water and the rain did not look like it was going to stop, ever. A pyjama day with the TV remote in one hand and a snack in the other was the most likely scenario. But, the forecast offered a glimmer of hope. Filled more with hope than confidence in the met office prediction my son and I headed out on a 20 minute drive to Stanpit Marsh.

We arrived and the rain stopped! A lot more of the nature reserve was under water than usual. It was difficult to see where the land finished and Christchurch harbour started. The light was both fascinating and challenging. There was cloud cover one moment followed by bright sunshine casting long shadows. Every photo needed a different set up and we were fighting with the controls all afternoon.

We were rewarded with a joyous two and a half hours of exploring the accessible parts of the reserve. We saw waders, egrets, herons, ducks, geese, pipits, wagtails, sparrowhawks, kestrels. It was noticeable too, I don’t think I imagined it, that the birds were noisier than usual.

Back at the car park we compared sightings with another birdwatcher. He used binoculars rather than a camera and was enthusiastic to hear what we had seen. He had seen a hen harrier, which we missed. We had both heard reports of a glossy ibis on the reserve, but neither of us got a sighting this time.

Satisfied, we got back in the car and headed home. We got as far as the first roundabout a few hundred yards and I had to turn on the windscreen wipers as the heavens opened again.

Pintail takeoff against a backdrop of redundant beach huts

Sparrowhawk causing panic among the smaller birds

Curlew landing – a very distinctive call

Male Kestrel – competing with the Sparrowhawk

Oystercatchers walking (do these birds fly?)

Oystercatchers flying (oh yes, they do – always together)

Walking with a purpose

Most of my walking is without a camera. I probably clock up 20 miles a week just doing the school run. Its part of my fitness regime, which I missed out on during the first UK lockdown when schools were closed. Joe Wicks did a sterling job with his online HIIT workouts during that time, although the ‘High Intensity’ element was a bit challenging.

Most days I will join Jacki and Pippin on the daily mid morning exercise walk. I may take my camera on this. I love the countryside of East Dorset. We have an amazing diversity of habitat: woodland, heathland, farmland, riverside walks, lakes, beaches, cliffs and gardens. We also have quite diverse wildlife. One can never be sure what one will see.

The season has an impact on the light, which is quite important for a photographer. I was out over the weekend and the light was constantly changing: bright sunshine one moment and cloud cover the next. I was changing camera settings for every shot and making further adjustment for whether the subject was light on a dark background or dark on a light background.

For the past two years I have focused my photography on wildlife requiring fast shutter speeds, a lot of patience and a sudden flurry of activity lasting only a few seconds. More recently I am trying to introduce more landscape photography. The fundamentals are the same, but the technique is quite different. The landscape isn’t moving so slower shutter speeds can be used and a tripod. The lens is different too. Instead of a long telephoto lens, landscape photography uses more of a wide-angled lens. I am still getting to grips with the technique and will try and share some of my efforts in the blog over time.

This blog post includes some recent shots from heathland walks. First are a couple of landscape shots of Holt Heath in the sunshine. Followed by an excited Pippin. Then we have a few birds: peregrine falcon, yellowhammer, blackbird, thrush and dartford warbler all from heathland locations. As the nights are now drawing in and sunset is about 4.30 pm, there are a couple of moon shots. And finally, a rainbow; we’ve had quite a few of these recently reflecting the changeable nature of the Dorset weather at the moment.

One wet winter day – Grey and green

The rain started in the early morning before dawn. By mid morning there was no change. I swapped my long lens for the kit lens and an umbrella. Jacki, Pippin and I headed out.

We headed to the Uddens Plantation, just a mile or so from home. It’s a woodland area owned by the Forestry Commission. The Castlemain Trailway runs through it, once the course of the railway, before the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. As expected there was no sign of birds or animals, they had all headed for cover.

Today’s colour was green, both metaphorical and actual. The first photo is of a solar panel farm. I can’t imagine it was particularly productive today. There was no sign of the sun. The actual greenery was provided by moss, fern, ivy, holly pine trees, grass and signage.

Somethings are just black or white

Whilst the background colours may blend into a bokeh effect, some of the best images are simply black or white. Some birds baffle me with their bold, uncompromising use of black or white. Don’t they care if they stand out? Don’t they care if the white is quite impractical. I mean, what parent would send their child out for a day in the country dressed in white?

Sometimes the detail is lost, because all that is needed is an outline to convey identity. The silhouette below can be nothing but a heron.

I could not let the theme of black and white pass without mentioning my occasional walking partner, Pippin. A year ago we lost our 13 year old liver and white Springer, Merry. We mourned. Recently we acquired a new black and white Springer puppy. So much energy and joy!