On a recent trip to the wood I spotted this blue tit wrestling with some potential nest material. The pink thread was caught on a branch and the bird was struggling to get it free. The thread looked like it had snagged from a walkers coat and the blue tit had spotted something with which to line the nest. It wasn’t going to let this find go and pulled and pulled. Somewhere in the woods there is a nest with a lovely pink thread running through it as the blue tit did finally pull it free. I did think at one point the bird was standing on it and causing its own problems.
When I first visited the Piece Hall to photograph and watch the peregrines I noticed that both were ringed but the male had a distinctive orange/red band on the left leg. I thought that if I could get a clear shot of the ring I could use the internet to try and find out where he was ringed and hopefully a little of his history. On a subsequent visit the male was sitting high on the spire preening in the evening sunshine and on a couple of the pictures I took the leg ring was much more visible. At home on the computer I was able to really zoom in and I could make out the letters ZS. I began searching on Google for pages about peregrine ringing and the colours used and it threw up a link to th
Last year whilst watching the woodpeckers nesting I noticed lots of treecreepers flitting around and I decided that this year I would try and find a treecreeper nest to watch. It took me a little while but not only did I find an active one I also watched another being built. When people ask me what I’m photographing and I tell them, almost everyone says they’ve never seen a treecreeper. But they’re not as rare as you think, they’re just incredibly hard to spot. About the size of a wren with a long tail and down curved bill they are perfectly camouflaged for life in a wood blending perfectly against the trunk of the trees. When it comes to building a nest they don’t take the easy option and h
On a recent visit to St Aidans a RSPB reserve near Leeds I decided to try and practice getting some in flight shots. It’s never been something I’ve really had much success with so I did a bit of reading and had a play around with some new settings. The results were quite good but it was when I was photographing a pair of tufted ducks I got something a bit more than I bargained for. The ducks took off and I started panning with them and firing away. As they passed me the male grabbed the female in the rear and definitely goosed her!! As with most females experiencing this, she wasn’t impressed and let him know. I wonder if they’re still a pair?
