They may be Humble...

... But Their Population's taking a Tumble.
 House Sparrows are in decline.  Serious decline.  Since the 1970's more than 7 million have gone from the UK alone.  As I'm sure you can imagine this isn't good news.  However, according to BTO studies the decline has just slightly levelled off.  That on the other hand is good news.  But will it last?  The decline has largely been down to a lack of insects for the chicks when they are in the nest.  Primarily a lack of Aphids, a key food source for their nestlings.  Aphids too are having a hard time of it, what with the introduction of pesticides since the 2nd World War.  And, if you think of it, in the long run the House Sparrows decline is also down to these harmful chemicals.  So if you do use them in your garden, I would strongly advise that you stop, or get a more eco friendly one.

 When my grandparents (on my fathers side) moved into their house twenty years ago the garden held a population of House Sparrows.  It did so for a few years after but then they were gone.  Vanished.  I know that there is a small population just a few minutes drive away, but in the close vicinity none.  So it came to a great surprise to all of us when last week we saw a male House Sparrow on the garden feeders.  The first Sparrow here in fifteen years.  Quite something.  The question then popped up though, will it stay?  If it does stay will it find a mate and breed next year?  These questions have yet to be resolved.  Hopefully the answer to both will be yes, but we will wait and see.

OK well the habitat is not perfect, the grass somewhat too short to hold a large enough supply of insects, but there are a lot of hedges for nesting and several gardens around there do feed birds throughout winter.  So there could still be hope for the Sparrows return to this neighbourhood.

Back to the Patch.

Last week you may remember me mentioning that I have, to some degree neglected my patch of late. If you can class the last six weeks under 'of late'.  Today however I decided that it had gone on for too long.  I set foot once again in the park.  It was by no means a bad patch day either.  Valentines Park, being comprised by tarmac paths, man-made lakes and well manicured grass is not exactly the most wildlife friendly of parks.  As such, it makes finding a bird you perhaps would elsewhere have dismissed something to get excited about.
 Today was a rather lucky day.  For only the second time -I think- both Green and Great-Spotted Woodpeckers were seen!  And if that wasn't enough there were two Greens.
 Now I'm sure on many people's patch this is not big deal.  Something to expect even.  But on mine it's a pretty momentous occasion.

A total of 26 species was recorded, which, considering my best patch day list is 37 is not to poor a count.  I find winter to be by far the best time for getting the higher patch lists. Hopefully it won't be long now....

Patch neglect

It is with a heavy heart that I admit I have somewhat neglected - forgotten even, to visit my patch of late.  It has been a good five weeks since I last set foot in park, and to the extent of my knowledge it has stood un-birded for all that time. Now I'm not that much of a patch birder, I don't do patch year-lists or even a patch-list -although I think I should- however I still feel ashamed for having left it for all this time.  To make it worse I visited Wanstead Flats three times over the course of three days last week.  It was worth it though....

Despite the rain.

Bright sunlight.

And amazingly tame Kestrels.

Although I have no problem whatsoever with Kestrels being tame.  Frankly the opposite as I'm sure the case would be with any wildlife photographer.  This individual bird allowed me to slowly make my way around the tree to a better shooting angle and hardly paid any notice to me. The Whinchat was also quite calm with me approaching, but the lighting was abominable so the distant shot was the best.  However I'm not complaining, no sir.  For that wee bird took my year-list to a nice round number of 160.  Definitely worth the rain.

Fulmars

I'm back from Ireland now, and have been for several days.  So again I must apologise for the late coming of this post.  However I have been slightly busy, and as they say better late than never.
 Anyway, while I was in Ireland we decided to visit Cape Clear Islands.  This is apparently a migrant hot-spot.  Well I will confess that I didn't see particularly many migrants -unless you count the thousands of black dots out to see which are apparently Shearwaters.  However that doesn't mean it wasn't a good day out.  After I had assessed the situation I realised that it would be more of a photography day than a bird-watching day.  So I set about photographing Fulmars, or should I say trying to photograph Fulmars.  I did manage some, well, decent shots, nothing to write home about.  Except that I am writing about them.
 Where stopped to do sea-watching there were cliffs on either side, and flying around these cliffs were Fulmars.  So after I realised sea-watching was impossible at that distance we climbed down the steep hill to get closer to the Fulmars.  And get close we did, at times too close.

After you spend a while watching them you can begin to predict there flight patterns.  This helped a bit but I still didn't manage anything great.  Getting a focus on the head with a lens at f/8 isn't easy.  If you're a photographer you'll know what I mean.

There were a few things of note though;  9 Chough, and my third species of Whale this year -Minke.  A distant speck surrounded by the even smaller specks of Shearwaters.  A Minke Whale nonetheless.  My seventeenth mammal species this year -yes, I am mammal year-listing, maybe it'll be the new trend?

 Well, that's one blog done, a few more from Ireland still to come, and I have some new stuff to post too...

Quick Ireland Over-view.

I must apologise for the lack of posts recently. But to be quite honest there hasn't been all that much to speak about.  With most resident birds molting at this time of year they aren't as showy as usual, and at the best of times they still can't always be called showy.  I have however done my best to at least have a couple of images to post.
 Well I'm still in Ireland, and around the land bird life is thin.  So, like many wildlife photographers do at this time of year I have spent a...small while photographing butterflies.   Well perhaps not a small while as such.  They are about the only thing I'm photographing so small doesn't do the amount of time justice.  Although I wouldn't say I've got any good images yet.
 The problem I've had most is backgrounds and perches.  But on a rare occasion I have had a bit of luck with where they choose to land.
 I've mostly been focusing on Small Copper and Silver-washed Fritillary Butterflies, as I won't get another opportunity with these for a while as the city isn't usually ideal habitat for them!
 Anyway I won't post loads of butterfly pictures....yet.

Surprisingly I have managed a few bird photos.  But I think putting emphasis on the few would be a good idea.  Unless you count the day I took several hundred images of Fulmar.  But I will save the details of that for another day.

I did also spend a while getting covered in mud stalking Black-tailed Godwits and got within 15 foot of a Stonechat.  But I think that too can wait until I am back in England.

 I will however tell that I have managed a few year ticks.  Taking me to 159 for the year, so close to 160.  Tantalisingly close.  But hopefully the 160 tick wont be far off.  My life-list though still stands stead-fast on 170, at least that is a nice round number.  But to reach my end-of-the-year goal I still need another five ticks.  I really need to get the last few fairly common ones I haven't yet got, so hopefully it should be possible.
  I will also forewarn you to expect...hmmm......about three more Ireland blogs, or maybe four? -sorry.

Wildlife Watching Supplies Camera/lens Cover Review.

For a wildlife photographer being able to shoot in the elements is vital to get eye-catching shots.  You must however protect your equipment.  This is why I always keep a camera/lens cover in my bag when I'm out photographing. I personally use a camera/lens cover from Wildlife Watching Supplies, made in Britain with fine quality Proofed Polycotton in camouflage colour on the outside and uniform olive-green water-proof nylon on the other.  The end is elasticated so that it fits snugly on the lens hood covering the whole of the lens, at the front there is a drawstring to cover the camera's LCD screen.

I've used this camera/lens cover for a couple of months now and have been constantly impressed by it.  Shorty after I got it I was in Ireland for a week So when the inescapable rain came, instead of staying indoors I went out to test it. I spent around an hour wandering around the countryside getting completely soaked.  When I got back inside however the lens beneath the cover was bone-dry.  The same couldn't be said for me.  I noticed that rather than being absorbed, the rain slides off the cover, but a constant soaking can get into the polycotton. This is no trouble though as it dries surprisingly quickly and doesn't get through the waterproof nylon beneath.

Not only does the cover protect your camera/lens from the elements it also camouflages it and breaks up the outline helping disguise the camera.

The only downside to this product is that it reduces control over the zoom.  If you use a prime lens however this will be no problem, I for one use a zoom lens for the versatility it gives.

The camera/lens cover by Wildlife Watching Supplies is a must have for all photographers, it folds up small so won't take up much space in your bag, but most importantly it keeps your equipment safe from the elements.

Wait a Min -smere

I have spent the last week camping, hence the lack of posts of late.  I will not however bore you with the obvious discomfort of sleeping for a week on an air bed, but instead I will bore you with a ton of photographs.
 Well the campsite was in Suffolk, so....how could we resist visiting Minsmere?  We couldn't.  And we picked the perfect day for going, and this time I am not being sarcastic about it. Really I'm not.
 Maybe this picture will help you to believe me.

Curlew Sandpiper is that?  Yep. Well from the East hide I got 5 life-ticks, I know, I hardly dared believe it.  The one the other birders got most excited about though was a Wood Sandpiper, showing well but far away, very far away.  Typical rare bird behavior, well if it's a rare bird that I see typical behavior. But regardless of this I enjoyed it extremely, again no sarcasm there.
 We missed a Bittern from that hide -typical- so moved on to the aptly named Bittern hide where 30 minutes provided us with brief flight views of a Bittern -not so typical- then another flight view 20 minutes later.  After another hour or so my father asked whether I wanted to go to one of the other hides. I said we should wait a little longer -hence the title- and that paid off as soon, the Bittern came out of the reeds only 20-30 meters away!  Ah, the satisfaction of finally seeing a Bittern when time after time I had failed.

As though to treat me for my perseverance -if you can call it that- this Bittern didn't just show for a few minutes and then disappear, it showed for well over 80 minutes and was still there when we left -unbelievable.

I mean could you hope for better views?  Well I suppose that if I could have been eye level.....
 I must confess to being slightly trigger happy, I took  well...ah...about 500 images of the one bird...ahem.  Worth it though.