March 15th saw me back at the reservoir, one of those kind of blah days light wise, pale bland skies no great for photography but a nice enough day for a wander. A couple of Cormorants and Common Gulls on the tower and, as I started towards the track, a Goosander female, quickly follow by a male. I didn't get any decent shots of the male, I blame the light.
Female Goosander on the water
Onwards up the trail and a SOng Thrush caught my ear and eyes, on the tip of a pine, singing its heart out, until it saw me of course. You can also see what I mean about the light int his shot, that bland white sky as a background, not great.
I guess it's also worth noting that I don't photograph every bird I see, neither do I record them here, there are usually lots off "little brown jobs" flitting around and unless they stay still or call out, I have no idea what they are for the most part.
Song Thrush on pine
The Song Thrushes seem to be out in strength this morning, singing their hearts out, mating time I presume. This bird allowed me to get pretty close before flying off.
There are almost always Carrion Crows around when I'm up here and I keep a look out for Ravens but I'm not good enough to spot the difference in most cases. I got quite a few shots of one passing overhead but they were really blown out, too bright to be useful here.
Another issue with shooting into the sky on bright days is lens dirt, if there are any marks on the lens or inside, they really show up so, many of these shots have a couple of smudged blurry marks on them which I remove before sharing. Lens cleaning when I get home!
Ten minutes up the trail a lovely Redpoll popped onto a branch to have a look at me and pose for its photo.
Redpoll on pine
Another issue for many of us I guess, are those little brown jobs. What was that? I tend to have quite a few shots of Chaffinches because I see something flit onto a branch so grab a shot for later. Chaffinches are beautiful wee birds but, there are a LOT of them around :)
Chaffinch female on pine
oooh look! Blue sky!
There were quite a few Mistle Thrush around this morning, they are bigger and more grey than Song Thrush and have quite a different song. They're also usually much shyer so less often seen but definitely heard, their song carries a long way!
Mistle Thrush on pine
Directly across the track from the Mistle Thrush, was a Siskin female and a Goldfinch, I did try for a group shot but as ever, one flew off. You can also see this white sky effect, it doesn't make for pleasing images but I use these as a record of the walk that day and my sightings.
I walked on up the trail, probably around half way to the picnic bench now, near the old boat house, a pair of Mallard ducks cruised by down on the water, too far for a decent shot but, something did pop up on a pine up ahead. I usually grab a distant shot or two for ID, then start moving closer, hoping they don't fly off.
You may also have noticed baby now that some of my shots are quite distant? I try to share a record of what I saw and how I saw it, as opposed to cropping closer and creating a false impression :)
I do often crop the photos to centre the bird, I'm carrying a camera with a long and heavy lens on it which makes for dodgy stability when hand holding it.
Young Crossbill on a pine top
A lovely young Crossbill was sitting on the tip of a young pine. The females are a lovely yellow colour, the males a rusty red, I've yet to see or photograph a male.
I've cropped this shot in closer so you can clearly see the colours of this young bird and the crossed beak which helps it get into the pine cones that it feeds from.
I decided on this occasion to take a walk up the new logging road that's being laid, there are a LOT of trees up on the hillsides which were blown over in the storms a few years ago so, the road allows the vehicles to get up to that area and remove them. Once I was up there, there wasn't a lot going on, typically, there was a young Buzzard calling in a tree nearby. I assume young by the amount of calling.
As soon as it realised how close I was, it was off!
Ever the explorer, I decided there must be a "short cut" down from this location, it did look like there was an old clearing running between the young pines down the hill so, off I trekked. Soon up to my shins in boggy moss and rough uneven ground, it was hard work but, I came across a young Crossbill deep among the pines.
I hadn't seen a Crossbill this colour before so I assume it is a young bird. It took me another 15 minutes to get down the hill and clear of the young trees, another Mistle Thrush gave me a grumpy look when I disturbed it and a few redpoll were happily feeding on the cones until I disturbed them but, once out on the main oath again, I head towards the picnic bench, from the other direction now, coming back down the trail and there was another Crossbill, a female feeding in the young cones.
Female Crossbill on pine cones
Female Crossbill on pine cones
I actually stayed with this bird for over an hour, slowly working my way closer and her never moving away, a very hungry or very trusting bird.
I took over 300 shots as I worked closer, one of the most amazing birding experiences I've ever had so, I'm not going to subject you to them all here but share a couple more then dedicate a page to that encounter entirely.
Watching you watching me
