Tdgraves big year 2020 (my 7th!!)

[Tdgraves]

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

I'm surprised that you just saw your first Skylark on 16 June. We are not that far away from your location and we've had the pleasure of seeing loads of them for several months.

the only place I have seen them before was at Grafham water. When they reopened at the beginning of the month, the grassy area had no birds in it at all, whereas on a previous in spring there were skylarks, pipits, wagtails, linnets and a kite!

[Soukous]

1 minute ago, Tdgraves said:

the only place I have seen them before was at Grafham water. When they reopened at the beginning of the month, the grassy area had no birds in it at all, whereas on a previous in spring there were skylarks, pipits, wagtails, linnets and a kite!

 

I think the Skylarks and Meadow Pipits really like our coastal/tidal mud flats between Orford and Shingle Street

[PeterHG]

21 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

Taken though my (open) downstairs toilet window

Well it does make a difference from sofa-birding....

[Tdgraves]

My garden, Cambridgeshire, 17/6/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 800, f5.6, 1/400

 

J19A5300 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

156) Eurasian collared dove

[Tdgraves]

Hot off the press. This landed as we were having breakfast, the first in our garden for at least a year. It seemed quite comfortable eating, so I slowly moved into the downstairs loo and managed to opened the window, enough to get 4 shots. Not an attractive perch, but usually a BY nemesis, so I am happy enough

 

My garden, Cambridgeshire, 27/6/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 2500, f7.1, 1/640

 

J19A5325 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

157) Eurasian jay

[Dave Williams]

You were lucky with the Jay , they are so quick to spot any movement from inside our house and opening a window is a definite no, no!

[Tdgraves]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

You were lucky with the Jay , they are so quick to spot any movement from inside our house and opening a window is a definite no, no!

I didn’t have much choice @Dave Williams the camera would not focus through the window!

[Soukous]

23 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

usually a BY nemesis

 

It still is for me this year. 6 months to go though

[michael-ibk]

Always a tricky one for me as well - great capture.

[elefromoz]

@Tdgraves, always love the little guys, the Tits and Warblers. Interesting with the Jay being  tricky to spot, I saw one straight up on our first day in London last year in Hyde Park, and very obliging he was too. That left me thinking that was pretty normal. Hope you're continuing to recover from what's sounds a nasty bug indeed.

[Tdgraves]

Much better now thanks @elefromoz

when we first moved in, we would often see jays in our garden, but that has dwindled over the 7 years we have been here

[Tdgraves]

My garden, Cambridgeshire, 18/7/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 2500, f5.6, 1/640

 

J19A5377 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

158) Winter wren (I finally found it)

[Kitsafari]

a pretty wren - glad you finally found it!

[Tdgraves]

RSPB Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire, 21/7/20

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark II, ISO 1000, f7.1, 1/2500

 

7T4A4932 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

159) Song thrush (first of the year, hence accepting the only shot I got...)

Edited July 29, 2020 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

and a couple of duplicates

 

7T4A4927a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A4957a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A4976a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A4984a by tdgraves, on Flickr

[Tdgraves]

I went to Welney yesterday for the first time since they reopened, mainly for a bit of variety. They have a prebooking system in place and all hide doors and windows are propped open, with maximum numbers allowed prominently displayed (not an issue at all yesterday). This prompted me to look through the entire topic and I found that I have double counted the house martin, so -1 from the score and here's another one of the little fella...

 

J19A5537a by tdgraves, on Flickr

Edited July 29, 2020 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

I wasn't really expecting too much as it is the wrong time of year for the waterbirds, but I managed a lifer, if not an amazing photo of the event...

 

WWT Welney, Norfolk, 28/7/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/1250

 

J19A5405a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Juveniles

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 640, f7.1, 1/2500

 

J19A5505a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

159 again) Common shelduck

[Tdgraves]

WWT Welney, Norfolk, 28/7/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 500, f6.3, 1/8000

 

J19A5473a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

160) Common swift

[Tdgraves]

WWT Welney, Norfolk, 28/7/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 640, f7.1, 1/2500, EV +2/3

 

J19A5500a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

161) Common redshank

[Tdgraves]

WWT Welney, Norfolk, 28/7/20

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark II, ISO 800, f7.1, 1/2000, EV +1/3

 

J19A5552a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

161) Black-tailed godwit

[Tdgraves]

and some pretty cool duplicates....

 

J19A5444a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5451a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5452a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5514a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5524a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5532a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5560a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5565a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

No wagtails though 

[michael-ibk]

Cool sighting (and photo!) of the Green Woodpecker!

[Tdgraves]

thanks @michael-ibk

[PeterHG]

Cool duplicates, indeed!

[Tdgraves]

My garden, Cambridgeshire, 9/8/20

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark II, ISO 6400, f5.6, 1/200

 

7T4A5026a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark II, ISO 8000, f5.6, 1/320

 

7T4A5041a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

162) Goldcrest (spotted during breakfast - first of the year)