Jim's 1st (full) year

[JimS]

Happy New Year everyone!

 

I'l open my account with not chronologically the first bird of the year, and a bit of an EBC, but a very pleasing one nonetheless...

 

BY1: Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)

The waxwings arrived in northern parts of the country toward the end of last year. Once I learned about these birds and how many birders wait years to see one, I was hopeful they might make it further south to give me a chance. Then in the new year I saw there were sightings of a large group in Hazlemere near High Wycombe and had a plan to drive over there last Sunday.

 

On Sunday morning, I peer out of a window at home first thing in the morning, before I have my contact lenses in, I notice some birds in a neighbour's Rowan tree. Without my contact lenses in they are just blurry smudges, but I wonder if it's just wishful thinking or if I can make out a crest on the head. I reach for my camera, but before I can raise it to my eye, they fly up to the top of a birch around 50m away. Zooming in, I grab a couple of distant shots of unidentified smudges before they fly again.

 

I fully expected I was just going to find some blurry starlings when I uploaded onto the computer, and that's what I found... but with 5 waxwings sitting up there with them. Plans for a drive to Hazlemere were abandoned and I walked around the local area hoping to find the waxwings for a better view and photos, but no luck. Still hoping, but for now this shot will have to do.

 

OM-1, Olympus 100-400m @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO 1000

 

BY2: Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Edit... I guess I shouldn't dismiss the starlings in this image, even though I'm sure I'll see and photograph many many more of these before the year is done.

 

Edited January 10 by JimS

[Zim Girl]

What a great find for your first bird.  We have had numerous failed attempts at finding waxwings this winter.  We have never seen one so can only dream of finding them in a neighbour's garden.  

[Tdgraves]

There have been loads reported at different sites around me this winter, but I have NEVER seen one, much less out of my window. What an excellent start to a (big) year. And you saved on petrol too!

[TonyQ]

What an excellent start to your Big Year.

I am pleased you are taking part again

[PeterHG]

That is an amazing start of the BY! Waxwings are always something special and seeing five of them from your own window is just incredible.

Edited January 10 by PeterHG

[Kitsafari]

Brilliant garden discovery! so lucky to find these beautiful birds at the start of the year. 

[Peter Connan]

Waxwings out the window? Is this an omen of things to come?

Surely a year that starts like this can only get better?

[Soukous]

Well done with the Waxwings. We've had plenty of local(ish) sightings but they are almost always very mobile and not often seen in the same place 2 days running.  I'm still hopeful

[BRACQUENE]

Amazing start with a magnificent bird I would love to see in my garden !

[xelas]

What a fine sighting is has to be, having Waxwings just outside of the window! 

[JimS]

Thank you @xelas@BRACQUENE@Soukous@Peter Connan@Kitsafari@PeterHG@TonyQ@Tdgraves@Zim Girl, I've still hoped to find them in the neighbourhood again so I can get a better look at them and some closer photos in better light. No luck so far, I might still take a drive over to Hazlemere after all as I'm hearing reports of 50 or so being seen regularly in a particular tree.

 

[JimS]

 

A couple more from last weekend before I post any of today's photos.

 

BY2: Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
Oxfordshire, UK - 6 Jan 2024

OM1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/500s, f6.3, ISO200

 

BY3: Redwing (Turdus iliacus)
Oxfordshire, UK - 6 Jan 2024

OM1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO500

[JimS]

BY4: House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Oxfordshire, UK - 7 Jan 2024

 

The quintessential British LBJ as far as my childhood memories are concerned, but they've declined enough that I didn't manage to photograph a single sparrow in my 2 months of participation last year. It was a pleasant surprise to find a large group making a racket in a nearby hedge on the first weekend of this new year. I read recently that numbers have roughly halved since 1980 but there are indications of recovery.

 

Male:

OM1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO1000

 

Female:

OM1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO1600

 

BY5: European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Oxfordshire, UK - 7 Jan 2024

OM1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO250

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful photos Jim!

[JimS]

Thanks @Peter Connan

 

For now I'm going to have to pause new additions to BY2024 for a moment to update with some more photos of waxings! Heard reports of a lot of them hanging out nearby and took a drive at lunchtime today. They were certainly posing for the cameras with their juggling acts and punk hairstyle. What charismatic birds!

 

 

 

 

It was fascinating watching how they maneuver the berries in their beaks then toss them into the air to catch them in their throats...

 

 

 

 

 

They don't always catch them though!

 

Edited January 15 by JimS

[JimS]

With the waxwing excitement out of my system, here are some from last weekend...

 

BY6: Red kite (Milvus milvus)

Oxfordshire, UK - 13 Jan 2024

 

Common in these parts for a while, but a new development is to see them perching in trees in town. Not sure if that's a bad sign regarding their behaviour shifting to depend on either human waste or generosity (there was a BBC news clip recently of people feeding them in their back garden, which the BBC presented as a light-hearted curiousity piece, but I believe the 'official' view is that they shouldn't be fed).

 

In any case, this one put on a nice aerial display for me with some low level flying, allowing some really nice shots as the light played across its wings.

 

 

 

 

[JimS]

BY7: Common blackbird (Turdus merula)

Oxfordshire, UK - 13 Jan 2024

 

Took me a surprising amount of time to 'bag' one of these last year, but this year she makes her appearance before we get to double digits.

 

 

BY8: Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Oxfordshire, UK - 13 Jan 2024

 

I saw many of these last year, but they always moved on way too fast to get a shot. Comical little things aren't they?

 

 

 

BY9: Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Oxfordshire, UK - 13 Jan 2024

 

 

 

BY10: Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Oxfordshire, UK - 6 and 13 Jan 2024

 

 

 

BY11: European robin (Erithacus rubecula)

 

 

Edited January 16 by JimS

[TonyQ]

Excellent Waxwing sequence.

Your other additions are also beautiful.

I can see you are really getting into this

[xelas]

It took some time to master a mirrorless camera, but once it is done, results are very good!

[Galana]

Red Kites used to be very common in the streets of London once long ago.

Like their cousins in Asia and Africa they are good scavengers and cleaned up nicely after the Great Plague.

[JimS]

Thanks @TonyQ, you’re right, it’s strangely addictive. Like a few others have mentioned, to a non-birder this is a nice way to keep improving skills as a photographer. And before you know it the non-birder becomes avid birder!
 

@xelas - I’ll confess, I sometimes look with a little envy at the beautiful clarity of some images from the Canon and Nikon users, but have to remind myself that M43 is a quality vs cost/size/weight compromise I bought into long ago. It’s the right system for me, and when all’s said and done I’m really happy with what it can do. Especially so now I’m getting to grips with the OM-1.

 

@Galana- do they break your rule? Perhaps they should be called a “London Kite” or a “Grey-headed Kite”, they don’t seem very red 

[Soukous]

13 hours ago, JimS said:

I’ll confess, I sometimes look with a little envy at the beautiful clarity of some images from the Canon and Nikon users, but have to remind myself that M43 is a quality vs cost/size/weight compromise I bought into long ago.

 

I really don't think it is that much of a compromise. If you look at the outstanding images posted by OM/Olympus users they are in no way inferior to those posted by Nikon or Canon users. Especially when you consider that we are looking at images that have been optimised for the web.

It all comes down to the user and we have some great ones here.

[xelas]

19 hours ago, JimS said:

I’ll confess, I sometimes look with a little envy at the beautiful clarity of some images from the Canon and Nikon users

 

It is useless to compare photos of different cameras if not shot side-by-side and processed exactly the same way. Bigger impact than camera or its sensor has the lens used. As in my case, the lens is not always at 100% when new.

[michael-ibk]

Good to see you in for your first full year Jim! What a great start with the Waxwings, such awesome birds. Great photos! 

[JimS]

4 hours ago, xelas said:

 

As in my case, the lens is not always at 100% when new.

 

I'm hopeful that I have a good version, but sometimes doubt and paranoia creeps in. You take a shot you think will be a stunner, then view it on big screen and it disappoints. Is it you, or the lens?

 

I have enough good shots that I *think* the lens is good, and any bad results are down to me. Did you have obviously poor results that made you suspect (other than the noise) something was not right with your lens?