Winter Ducks.

On Monday I drove over the county boundary to Wraysbury Gravel Pits in the hope of seeking out a few of the migrant species that often frequent the various large lakes formed after the extraction of gravel to build the M25 motorway.

As I climbed over the style to access the footpath that would take me alongside the New Hythe Pit I was initially greeted with a flurry of activity as various species including Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch,  Blackbird and Redwing dived for cover while overhead I could hear the distinctive chattering 'shack-shack-shack' calls from a number of Fieldfare. Both the Redwing and Fieldfare are winter visiting Thrushes and typically vary wary of any intruders so I had to wait patiently for them to settle high above me in order to snap a cropped record shot of both in the frame together.

Moving on I scanned the open water only to find that most of the ducks were typically too far away for the lens on the farthest side of he pit but I was delighted to spot that my quarry including 3 drake Smew and 8 Goosanders plus a number of Goldeneye were in fact on site together with the usual Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Grey Heron, Cormorants, Mute Swans, and Great Crested Grebes.  

I eventually managed to capture a male Goosander (Mergus merganser) which had been drifting close to the bank but out of my sight and promptly decided to swim away to join its distant companions. The next two species, Goldeneye and Pochard were fortunately a little more obliging.

Male Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Male Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)

A few other species kept me company during my stroll including a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits (constantly uttering their scolding call as I walked by) and the very noisy Rose-ringed Parakeets whose piercing screams nearly drowned out the constant background sounds from the nearby motorway!

My final quarry was the extremely shy and one of the smallest sawbills, the Smew. The males are often referred to as the 'White Nun' due to their distinctive white and black streaked plumage.

Male Smew (Mergellus albellus).

Every winter this dainty species migrates southwards from its northern boreal breeding grounds in Finland, Sweden and Russia. Small numbers can usually be found at regular overwintering sites from December until March throughout the southern counties of the UK. Unfortunately I couldn't get any decent views so had to dig out an image taken during a visit to this site from just a year ago.  FAB.

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Greedy Parakeets.

A fairly quiet weekend here apart from the constant need to top up the peanut feeder!

A small number of Rose-ringed Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) have taken a particular liking to all the feeders in the garden and are cleaning out this one on a daly basis .. greedy b*****s!  FAB. 

Blue Tit Breeding Update.

During a break from gardening over the weekend I managed a few quickly taken shots to confirm that our pair of Blue Tits are now actively feeding their tiny youngsters inside the nest box.

On most visits with a juicy meal both the male and the female flew directly into the box and then reappeared more often than not with the usual 'poop' sack which they drop as far away as possible to ensure that there is no evidence near the nest site for predators to find.

Waiting for a call from inside the box before entering with another meal. As the chicks grow the frequency of visits will get very frantic.

I thought one of the pair was just topping up its own internal reserves from the fatblock feeder but it actually took some of this mixture into the nest box.

While all this activity was going on one of the Ring-necked Parakeets perched high up on sentry duty but was fortunately looking in totally the wrong direction .....

.... and the Pigeon just sat on the garden fence totally bemused.    FAB

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Garden Colours.

I have been out of sorts for about a week ... can't remember when I last suffered from a winter cold but I'll be glad when if finally disappears. I finally manged to get out for a stroll in the last two days so while I sort through the stored images here are a few recent odds and ends from the garden. 

The wary Reynard made another brief visit.

Narcissus starting the brighten up the bare border.

Scilla siberica (possibly 'Spring Beauty')

Greedy Parakeet wants to know who's watching.

Blue Tit checking if anything is lurking below.

Another delightful find was the reemergence of the short stemmed Leucojum vernum var. Carpathicum. 

The Hellebores continue to produce more faces every day.  

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Dawn for the invitation to feature The Early Birder as UK blogger of the week on BirdingBlogs.com   FAB. 

Sunny Stroll in Richmond Park.

After days of grey skies it was good to take a stroll across Richmond Park earlier this week and observe the local inhabitants in some sunshine. The first encounter was a large group of Red Deer .... over 30 Does being watched over by their master.

Every so often this large buck made his presence known to a couple of other younger males that were wandering around the periphery of this herd while making sure his charges were safe and secure.

 

A Kestrel hovered over the open heathland and then decided to perch a little way in front of me but typically as I moved a little closer it decided to move away and I wasn't ready to change the camera settings for a flying seqence!

 

 

 Still plenty of water lying along the pathways as I headed towards Penn Ponds.

 Carrion Crow patiently waiting for some action.

 One of many noisy Ring-necked Parakeets that patrol the parkland skies.

 Grey Heron in its usual pose.

 A Cormorant flies over ......

 .... and joins its chums to chill out.

 Male Pochard and Tufted Duck.

 Male Gadwall.

 Great Crested Grebe.

After a very inquisitive stare from an Egyptian Goose it was time to head home and review a well filled card that should produce more images for some future posts. Have a enjoyable wildlife watching weekend.  FAB.

Window Watching.

Misty days plus snow and ice around my local patch has meant that very little wildlife has shown itself for any photos. Despite the cold weather I was delighted to catch brief views of two Goldcrests busily feeding within the woodland, so hopefully they will survive. The Corvids (Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies and Jays tend to dominate the landscape at the moment. Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Robin and Dunnock scour under the hedgerows for food. Flitting through the treetops were Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Goldfinch, plus Nuthatch and Great-spotted Woodpeckers calling as they move from bough to bough.

Over recent days most of my wildlife watching has been through the windows (which need cleaning!) so here are a few images of the regular visitors to the feeders.

 Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Woodpigeon, Starling and a female Chaffinch which is very rarely seen in the garden.

 Collared Doves waiting patiently.

 House Sparrows and Blue Tit.

 Dunnock.

 Ring-necked Parakeets - the ultimate acrobats.

Grey Squirrel - The opportunistic seed scrounger.    FAB.

Walk In The Park.

A recent stroll in Richmond Park on a chilling but sunlit afternoon started out quite bleak with just Jackdaws and Crows pecking through the fallen leaves under the woodland canopy and attempts to capture an image of a small mixed group of Fallow Deer feeding was thwarted by the depth of the brown undergrowth, their constant movement and interruptions by other walkers so only a rear end view!

Despite this disappointing start to my leisurely walk it actually turned out to be a series of unexpected photo calls. So here are a few images [ Click for larger views] to set the scene for some future posts.

First up were two Red Deer stags enjoying some quality time together .....

..... one sleeping with his friend on sentry duty. Without getting too close I stood and watched some interesting interaction between these two ... so watch out for a future post.

As I crossed the open parkland a Kestrel hovered overhead hoping to spot a tasty meal but moved on to search somewhere else.

When I reached the larger of the two Penn Ponds most of the water was frozen over with nearly all of the inhabitants (Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Mandarin Ducks and Black-headed Gulls) some distance away so I was doubtful that any close photography would be possible ... but you never know!

 While waiting for some closer action on the pond I was visited by a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets.

A Coot finally decided to brave the ice and I spent quite a while watching this character and eventually coaxed it to get much closer to the lens by scattering some seed .... more pics to show in a follow up post.

Initially the view over at the smaller pond looked even bleaker ... more ice and no ducks in view BUT all that was to change.

First I was greeted by Mr. Crow giving me the once over .... "So who are you starring at?"

As I got closer to the edge of the pond I was delighted to see that there was some clear water and a few species that I needed photos of including this female Pochard who swam over towards me.

 Next I spotted a (Northern) Shoveller tentatively pacing slowly across the frozen floor to get into the water.

Not just one but a group of 7 Shoveller were paddling round and round in circles as they dredged the surface with their spatula shaped bills. I took a lot of shots of these guys .... so something to show in future.

As the activity both on the water and in the air increased a Moorhen popped out from behind me to see if I had anything to eat .... and of course I had. 

When there is any chance of a free meal you can be assured that the Black-headed Gulls will get in on the act.

When I turned around to look over the main pond once more there was just a lone Mute Swan on the ice.

With plenty of shots in the can it was time to take my leave as the late afternoon sun shone through the woodland ...... the end to an interesting and productive stroll.   FAB.