B.Y. 2019. The Tortoise rules!

[Kitsafari]

Wow great show of the owl! It looks so pale, unlike the ones we see (rarely) here. 

[Dave Williams]

236) Gadwall

Just found another from last week that I haven't included yet.Taken at our local reserve.

Gadwall  Mareca strepera by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[PeterHG]

Great Owl shot, Dave! What a fantastic bird to see hunting

[Dave Williams]

237) Eurasian Reed Warbler

Difficult to get a clear shot when they are in the reed bed, especially as they don't seem to be as active as they were a few weeks ago. Anyway, got this one just in time down at my local reserve this afternoon.

Eurasian Reed Warbler   Acrocephalus scirpaceus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited May 24, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

238) Carrion Crow

I went out earlier this evening in a determined effort to keep keeping the score rolling over. Failed miserably with a couple of really common species but on returning home got one through the bathroom window! Not the best IQ as its through a couple of extra layers of glass.

Carrion Crow  Corvus corone by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

239) Barn Swallow

Grab them while you can!

Barn Swallow  Hirundo rustica by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

240) Tawny Owl

Definitely the best bird of the year for me as it means the resident Tawnies have bred again after not having seen any Owlets for several years following some extensive building work near by.

Tawny Owl  Strix aluco by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Claire saw an adult sat on one of our patio chairs at 5.00am this morning but it flew off, perhaps when it saw her at the window. We both saw an adult flying with a mouse yesterday afternoon which gave me the clue of where to look.

 Tawny Owl  Strix aluco by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Zim Girl]

Gorgeous pictures!!

[TonyQ]

Those owls are beautiful 

[Kitsafari]

.wow very jealous - i wish i had owlets at my garden too! Marvellous shots of the babes.

[PeterHG]

Agree with the others: beautiful photos of the owlets!

[Galana]

Patio chairs, Sofas, bathroom windows. No birder should be without them!!

What a great find in your own territory.  Great photos too. More please.

 

[Dave Williams]

We get a few woodlice in our house due to the fact it's very old and we are surrounded by woods. They don't present too much of a problem, they usually stick to being on the ground level and on the floor however, today, whilst eating lunch one appeared on the kitchen worktop. I went to sweep it up with my hand but accidentally dropped it. It landed on the floor below and simply walked away...well, until I caught it and threw it outside.

However, it struck me that to survive such a fall with no apparent ill effect was quite remarkable so I measured it.

1cm in length ( they do grow bigger)

Then I measured myself. 5'9". I used to be 5"10" but alas have shrunk with age.

The kitchen work top is 90 cm to the ground, 90x the length of the woodlouse.

That means I would have to fall off a cliff 517 feet high and walk away to match that feat.

 

What's that got to do with my Big Year?

Absolutely nothing but it's probably more interesting!!!!!

 

 

[pedro maia]

Congrats for #6 .

 

[Dave Williams]

241) Red-breasted Merganser

So, back from our 7 night trip to England's Lake District in our now somewhat aged touring caravan. Now, as a friend once told me, there would be no Lakes in the District if it didn't rain and we set off somewhat apprehensively as the weather forecast wasn't good but by some miracle we had 7 days of near perfect weather! The exception was Friday night through to Saturday morning when I discovered the sun roof leaks in torrential rain and the water dripped on to me whilst asleep in bed. A rude awakening and I ended up sleeping on the floor while a washing up bowl caught the drips! However, I wasn't put off, thoroughly enjoyed some lovely scenery, some challenging walks given my recent back problems, some excellent meals prepared by Claire whilst I indulged myself in some photography. Who needs to travel far and wide when you have this not that far from home?

Well, to be honest, if you want the excitement of new birds I do!

I set myself a target of two new ones for the year, one of which was the  R.B.M.

I got the female first.

Red-breasted Merganser  Mergus serrator. by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Then a couple of days later, the male. They hadn't bred so had no need to hang around with their young and flew at almost the first view of me.

Red-breasted Merganser  Mergus serrator. by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

242)Great Spotted Woodpecker  

 

In previous years I have had a family of GSW's visiting the feeders in our garden on a regular basis but not this year it seems. Our caravan was parked in a woodland clearing and the Woodpecker would visit if I put food in the form of peanuts down.

This one was in nearby woodland.

Great Spotted Woodpecker  Dendrocopos major by Dave Williams, on Flickr

I also found the nest but despite waiting for 45 minutes to witness some feeding activity, the adult failed to show and I wasted no further time hanging around.

Great Spotted Woodpecker  Dendrocopos major by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Soukous]

lovely Mergansers. 

yes, the quest for new birds is never ending, and only gets harder.

[Zim Girl]

4 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Who needs to travel far and wide when you have this not that far from home?

I agree, we are very fortunate to have it within an hours drive.  Glad you were lucky with the weather.

Nice Mergansers.

 

[Dave Williams]

243) Sand Martin

A short walk from the caravan site took me down to the edge of Derwentwater.

Derwentwater by Dave Williams, on Flickr

and the spot where the River Derwent flows in to the lake.

River Derwent by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Unfortunately the Sand Martins were nesting on the wrong river bank  for me as access was unavailable.

Consequently my attempts at flight shots were frustrated by backlighting.

Sand Martin   Riparia riparia by Dave Williams, on Flickr

I soon gave up but returned on another day to see them landing on my side of the river to gather nesting materials it seemed.

Sand Martin   Riparia riparia by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Pretty little birds when you see them like this.

Sand Martin   Riparia riparia by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[lmSA84]

Beautiful shots of the Martins - particularly collecting the nesting material. How did you get so close? 

[Dave Williams]

Thanks @lmSA84 Full frame camera but 600mm plus a 2x TC for the first one. That was about 40 feet away from where I had sat down on the edge of the river bank. The second shot was with a 1.4TC so f5.6 hence the poor DOF. It was closer too, maybe 30 feet.

Edited June 14, 2019 by Dave Williams

[TonyQ]

Beautiful martins Dave!

[PeterHG]

Agree with the previous comments: lovely Martin shots, but I do like your Mergansers, too! Never seen one  that close.

[Dave Williams]

344) Spotted Flycatcher

A lucky find when out walking so I returned later with my camera to grab a couple of shots for the BY.

Spotted Flycatcher  Muscicapa striata by Dave Williams, on Flickr

They are not that common nowadays here in the UK.

Spotted Flycatcher  Muscicapa striata by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Kitsafari]

Lake District looks even lovelier than I remember it (some 20+ years since my second and last visit). 

 

The RBMs are beautiful  and the martins are crisp and very pretty.