Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Blast from the past - Hummingbird Hawk-Moth
14/10/2006, and we had a very unusual visitor to the garden! On this cold autumn day, a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth suddenly appeared from the wide blue sky! I was not there to see this fabled creature but Melanie was on hand with the video camera and captured this remarkable footage! What a strange and wonderful creature it is. Does this say something about so-called climate change, to see a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth this far north...in South Yorkshire! WOW!!!!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Ocober 2009 - Sprotbrough Flash YWT...again!
Saturday 3rd: Well...I got up early and was at the Flash for 9:15am, no sign of the Osprey. Speaking to some birders there, they told me that the last time it was seen was late last Thursday afternoon...typical! I was there last Thursday for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so it must've put in an appearance about an hour or so after I'd left for Denaby Ings! The talk was that it might have left the area for sunnier climes! So the world and his wife have seen the Osprey at Sprotbrough Flash...except ME!
Getting back home at lunchtime, Melanie tells me that "its all been happening here in the garden!" Just my luck, not only do I miss-out on the Osprey but I also miss-out with my own back yard! As can be seen from the photo and the short film that Melanie got, a female Sparrowhawk was playing peek-a-boo in the conifers with the resident House Sparrow population. This time she didn't make a kill. But last Thursday (again I miss-out), a feral Pigeon had a close encounter with her but got away!
So, while I was out, a male Blackbird flew into the house and as can be seen by the photo, flew upstairs! Eventually Mel managed to get it to exit via a window!
Also, the male Blackbird that had been mauled by something back in early September made another appearance in the garden. Two days in a row! He disappeared for several days and we feared the worst. But he is surviving, his feathers are gradually growing back as can be seen by comparing the two photos below. The top image is from today and the bottom image is from the 12th September when he first returned to the garden after the incident!
Getting back home at lunchtime, Melanie tells me that "its all been happening here in the garden!" Just my luck, not only do I miss-out on the Osprey but I also miss-out with my own back yard! As can be seen from the photo and the short film that Melanie got, a female Sparrowhawk was playing peek-a-boo in the conifers with the resident House Sparrow population. This time she didn't make a kill. But last Thursday (again I miss-out), a feral Pigeon had a close encounter with her but got away!
So, while I was out, a male Blackbird flew into the house and as can be seen by the photo, flew upstairs! Eventually Mel managed to get it to exit via a window!
Also, the male Blackbird that had been mauled by something back in early September made another appearance in the garden. Two days in a row! He disappeared for several days and we feared the worst. But he is surviving, his feathers are gradually growing back as can be seen by comparing the two photos below. The top image is from today and the bottom image is from the 12th September when he first returned to the garden after the incident!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
October 2009 - Sprotbrough Flash & Denaby Ings YWT, in search of Osprey!
Thursday 1st: Last Monday, I was told of an Osprey that had taken-up temporary residence at Sprotbrough Flash. This juvenile raptor apparently had been there since the 25th September. Checking the internet I found several stunning photos along with the dates and times it had been seen, unfortunately I am working during the day, so an afternoon off work was needed to eyeball the bird especially as the view would be reasonably close and not the usual several hundred yards distant that I had in 2007! This afternoon I made the short drive over to Sprotbrough! When I arrived at the Hide, I found only 4 birders. I was informed that the Osprey had been there in the morning buy flew away at 11:30am.........blast! Missed it by 90 minutes! Like all good birders, I decided to hang around in the hope that the bird would come back at some time in the afternoon and spent my time looking at the Gulls and ducks and chatting to the fellow birders. One showed me the photos that he had shot that morning of the Osprey...very impressive and the bird would be perched not too far away - if it came back! Well I stayed until 3:30pm and began to wonder if it hadn't gone down to Denaby Ings. My suspicions were aroused even more when someone told me that they had heard that it roosts at Denaby Ings. That was it, I had to go! It was still early and the bird wouldn't be roosting for another 4 hours.
Got to Denaby Ings and scanned the barren tree-tops and everywhere else I could think of but no Osprey! Plenty of Coots, Cormorants, Lapwings and various ducks though. To cap it all, I heard on the Saturday 3rd, when I revisited Sprotbrough Flash, the Osprey put in a short appearance at about 5:30pm!!!!!
Arriving at the Flash, I immediately made my way to the Hide that had the best vantage point for seeing the Osprey perched on a wood-pile in the water. A lovely sunny and warm day, my hopes were high but as with most things in this game; "some you win, some you loose". The Osprey had put in a good appearance in the morning but according to one of the guys at the Hide; "...it was gone by 11:30am and not been back since." Though this guy, Rob was his name, showed us some cracking photos of the Osprey taken with his Cannon DSLR and 600mm lens! We talked and I hung around just in case it returned. But all I saw were a couple of Cormorants, 4 Shovelers, Mallard, Black-headed Gulls, Mute Swans with six Signets and loads of Coots! So after nearly two hours I decided to cut-my-losses and head back home, calling in at Denaby Ings on the way. A couple I met said that they had heard that it roosted at Denaby. Well it was only 3pm, much too early but I'd call in anyway.
I'd not been to Denaby Ings since 2000 so this was a new area for me. I was expecting it to have changed. No it hadn't, a sizable lake with mostly Mallard, loads of Coot, some Lapwings, 11 Cormorants and several Wood Pigeons with plenty of Crows in the trees. I scanned almost everywhere and walked around the lake but no sign of Osprey!
On a different note; one of the male Blackbirds (Set-B), was seriously mauled two weeks ago by either a Cat or bird of prey. Some how he survived with his life though sustained a broken wing and severe feather loss. He did make his way back into our garden and stayed for a few days. Mel hand-fed him mealworms. He then disappeared, though I did see him a week last Tuesday on the street! Until today, nothing and then all of a sudden he pops back into our garden. Mel saw him this morning. Though he cannot fly...he runs like the wind! Let's hope he stays clear of trouble!
Got to Denaby Ings and scanned the barren tree-tops and everywhere else I could think of but no Osprey! Plenty of Coots, Cormorants, Lapwings and various ducks though. To cap it all, I heard on the Saturday 3rd, when I revisited Sprotbrough Flash, the Osprey put in a short appearance at about 5:30pm!!!!!
Arriving at the Flash, I immediately made my way to the Hide that had the best vantage point for seeing the Osprey perched on a wood-pile in the water. A lovely sunny and warm day, my hopes were high but as with most things in this game; "some you win, some you loose". The Osprey had put in a good appearance in the morning but according to one of the guys at the Hide; "...it was gone by 11:30am and not been back since." Though this guy, Rob was his name, showed us some cracking photos of the Osprey taken with his Cannon DSLR and 600mm lens! We talked and I hung around just in case it returned. But all I saw were a couple of Cormorants, 4 Shovelers, Mallard, Black-headed Gulls, Mute Swans with six Signets and loads of Coots! So after nearly two hours I decided to cut-my-losses and head back home, calling in at Denaby Ings on the way. A couple I met said that they had heard that it roosted at Denaby. Well it was only 3pm, much too early but I'd call in anyway.
I'd not been to Denaby Ings since 2000 so this was a new area for me. I was expecting it to have changed. No it hadn't, a sizable lake with mostly Mallard, loads of Coot, some Lapwings, 11 Cormorants and several Wood Pigeons with plenty of Crows in the trees. I scanned almost everywhere and walked around the lake but no sign of Osprey!
On a different note; one of the male Blackbirds (Set-B), was seriously mauled two weeks ago by either a Cat or bird of prey. Some how he survived with his life though sustained a broken wing and severe feather loss. He did make his way back into our garden and stayed for a few days. Mel hand-fed him mealworms. He then disappeared, though I did see him a week last Tuesday on the street! Until today, nothing and then all of a sudden he pops back into our garden. Mel saw him this morning. Though he cannot fly...he runs like the wind! Let's hope he stays clear of trouble!
September 2009 - Potteric Carr NR, in search of Kingfisher!
Monday 28th: A pleasant sunny day so after work I drove across the road to PCNR in search of Kingfisher. Now I only had 2 hours of sunlight left but the Kingfisher had made one particular Hide area his own territory so the chances of getting a positive sighting were high. I had decided that I would stay in the Hide for the duration. Loads of Canada Geese, a family of Moorhens, Mallards, Chaffinches, a Robin, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper (highlight of the visit), various members of the Tit family, 5 Magpies, 2 Dunnocks, 6 Pheasants, a probable Sparrowhawk flying overhead and 4 Grey Squirrels not to mention a Water Rat....but no Kingfisher! Though a fellow birder did tell me that there was an Osprey at Sprotbrough Flash and that it had been there a few days. I would have to arrange time off work to go and see this elusive raptor.
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