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Hello and welcome
I have always had a keen interest in wildlife and the great outdoors;
I was an Angler for over 30 years but gave it up a few years ago to
concentrate on photographing wildlife. I lived in Runcorn; Cheshire a
short distance from the M56 that gave me great access to the Wirral,
Northwales and Lancashire, with some great countryside on my doorstep
I didn't have to travel too far in search of wildlife and photographic
opportunities.
Some of my wildlife photographs range from as far afield as Cuba,
Antigua, Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Tuscany ,
Corfu, Turkey, Spain, Portugal.
I now live in the Charente area of western France.
Coypu
Back from France after a cold and wet week, the weather was not good for photography.
The Coypu: Myocaster coypus also known as the river rat, a large, herbivorous semiaquatic rodent.
The Coypu swam up and down the lake collected bedding material for its burrow.
Early in the morning a Great Egret arrived to hunt in the margins
Not the best of shots
Great Crested Grebes defending their territory.
First Chiffchaff of the season
What a Wag
Grey Wagtail shots from yesterday’s session on the river.
More in the folder
Dipper
Dipper proved difficult to photograph in the haze
Keeping well away and downstream from the nest site we photographed the dippers collected dead leaves
and flicking them to dry them off.
More in the folder
Off to photograph the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
The forecast for today is cold but sunny so it's off to photograph the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
On arriving I saw both male and female
However they didn't come close enough for me to get any good shots.
Cold Day
It was a cold day today with snow at times; I had being trying to photograph Siskins through the window with a remote flash,
it was too cold to open the window or try to get some shots from the shed. So I stayed indoors. Considering they were
taken through glass they turned out ok.
A visit from the Sparrowhawk
The Sparrowhawk visits the feeding station every day in pursuit of the Siskins.
Siskins feed nervously as they scan the sky
Barn Owl
I only managed one shot of the Barn Owl before it disappeared over the hedge.
Snipe at Leigton Moss
I decided on a trip to Leighton Moss RSPB site on Tuesday as the forecast was for some sunshine (at last).
In front of one of the hides I found a group of Snipe feeding. The lighting is not great as I was on the wrong side of the bird.
More shots from the day later
It’s behind you
I waited for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker to put in an appearance, when it did show it was all too brief.
I only managed a few shots but again at distance
More Later
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is showing well this week if you are a bird watcher that is.
Getting shots can be very difficult as the bird seems to prefer the tops of the trees or deep into the woods, not venturing out into
the open very often.
More later
Siskin Flock
The flock of Siskins number over thirty and spend most of the day feeding in the garden; occasionally flying off together when disturb. They soon return and continue to feed.
All this activity hasn’t gone unnoticed by the local Sparrowhawk who visits the garden frequently hoping to catch an unwary bird.
The six feeders need filling up every two days. This does create some spillage which I have to monitor as it has attracted a Rat.
.
Weed Dance
At one of my local waters Great Crested Grebes do their weed dance
More in the Great Crested Grebe folder
Redpoll and the Siskins
This Redpoll turned up with the Siskins
With a bit of luck it could bring the rest of the family
I scanned the Siskins and Goldfinches to see if anymore Redpolls were with them sadly this seems to be the only one.
More in the folder
Siskins in the garden
It’s great to see lots of Siskins in the garden this year, the most I have ever had.
After a good feeding session the Siskins land to take a drink at the watering station I have set up.
More later