Another Shy Bullfinch

The other day I failed miserably in trying to get a good photo of a female Bullfinch that would not come out from behind the branches of a small tree.

Today I heard the call of a Bullfinch again when out walking. It was about 2 miles away from where I had observed the previous female, so it was unlikely to be the same one. Eventually I tracked the call down to a dense tall bush. I had found another female (see the first image below).

Again it was impossible to get a clear shot at it and I had to make do with manual focussing between the branches and twigs. I wasn't helped by the poor light conditions either. I then moved around the other side of the bush and realised that there was a male Bullfinch in the same area, but higher up. He was also in dense bush.

I have posted a few indifferent images of him below, the clearest of which and true to colour is the first one.

I shall strive to get a clear image of this elusive bird one day.







One day????

Swan Shots

A few Mute Swan shots taken the other day.









Swan Light
(using my artistic licence)

Titchwell Marsh Visit (Final Part)

The final part in the current series of images taken on my latest visit to RSPB Titchwell Marsh.

A view of another one of the Lagoons at Titchwell.


One of the three Bird Hides nestled in the corner of a Lagoon amongst bull rushes. The smoke behind is Staff of the Reserve conducting some ground management.


The Sanderling.
The star of this final post and my favourite shore Wader.
It is a sweet little bird and quite a character. The speed that it runs along the water's edge is amazing and it is difficult to keep up with it at times. You can observe this from the high speed of the camera (1/2000) in the second photo below.

1/500. f8.0 400mm. ISO160

1/2000. f5.6 400mm. ISO400



This Sanderling is in its winter plumage (grey upperparts with black speckles and white underneath). In summer the upperparts are a reddish brown and black speckles with white underneath. It breeds in the northern tundra and is present on the eastern coastline of UK during winter. It can also be observed whilst migrating in summer on most of the UK coastline. I did observe three at various points on the shore, but they do form in small flocks as well.

Sanderling Collage


As you can observe from the photo below, the sea at the mouth of the Wash was quite calm on this occasion.


Sea Shells or Marine Molluscs to give them the correct name are not easy to identify especially when (like me) you know absolutely nothing about them. I believe this one (after some research) to be a Pullet Carpet Shell (Venerupis senegalensis).
If you have that kind of interest you could spend all day on the beach at Titchwell looking for shells. You can observe from the photographs that it is wide and lengthy and numerous shells are everywhere.



The caption for the male House Sparrow photo below has to be, "Why are you pointing that thing at me"

Titchwell Marsh Visit (Part 4)

The fourth post in my series of images from my visit to RSPB Titchwell Marsh.

In the first image below is a view across part of the salt marsh. There are numerous Brent Geese, a few Wigeon Duck and Curlew.


Brent Geese
There were certainly plenty of these around the Reserve which is to be expected at this time of year.

There are normally two sub species that visit the UK in winter from September through to April. The Pale-bellied which breeds in Greenland and Svalbard and the Dark-bellied (featured in this post) which breeds in Russia. This is our smallest Goose which can be observed around the coasts of Eastern and Southern England and the Irish coast.





Check out the first image below. Anything unusual in the photo?
This is a first for me.

The Goose in the centre which has a darker appearance is a "Black Brant".

"So whats new" I hear my American friends say. Well the Black Brant is the third sub species of the Brent Goose and is considered a scarce visitor to UK. Common in America the Brant or "Pacific Brent Goose" breeds in Alaska and in Canada as well.


In the next three images the "Black Brant" is on the left of the photo as you look at it.




Near the Reserve Building are several bird feeders and these two Collared Doves were performing a delicate balancing act come hover, to obtain seeds from the feeders.

Titchwell Marsh Visit (Part 3)

The third post in my series of images from my visit to RSPB Titchwell Marsh.

This below was my first and only sighting unfortunately of Pink-footed Geese. They 'over winter' in this country from September through to April and then return to their breeding grounds in Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard.


Below was my first view of Brent Geese on this visit. There will be more of them later in a subsequent post.


The Black-tailed Godwit

The star of this post shown here in its winter plumage is the Black-tailed Godwit. This is one of Europe's largest Waders. Unlike its smaller cousin (the Bar-tailed Godwit) it can be observed in UK throughout the year, particularly in East Anglia.


This one below appeared not to like the idea of the other occupying its little stretch of water and drove it off several times while I was there observing.



In the image below you can just see the black tail.



Later in the year I hope to be able to photograph a Bar-tailed with the beautiful copper coloured neck/head and rufous buff body of its summer plumage.


Of course there is always one of these wanting its photo to be taken. This Robin perched on a low branch in front of me as I walked along. "Dont forget me"


As always there were thousands of these Pod Razorshells (Ensis siliqua pharidae) strewn around the beach. Common and widespread the empty shells are washed up on all the beaches around the Country.