Squirrel fun

Went to Alverstone bird hide this morning with Rob. The squirrels were running round like headless chickens, must have been trying to keep warm! I don't think the temperature got above zero in the hour or so we spent there, but watching these little fellas running round took our mind off of the weather.

Lots of birds were visiting the feeders, including blue tits, chaffinch, great tit, reed bunting and the beautiful long-tailed tits.

A jay was around but didn't want to have his photo taken. A dunnock was skulking in the undergrowth, and a squirrel was playing with a rat, which kept us amused!
After an hour or so we decided to move on as hypothermia was setting in. We popped into Oasis for a hot chocolate and scone (cheers Rob!)
Then after warming up we went to see the Glossy Ibis, now in its 4th day on Brading marsh. Today he was keeping his distance, so just managed a record shot.

Glossy Ibis alert on the IOW !!

Hi everyone,
Not been here for a while, but had a rather exciting day, so I thought I would share it with you all!
Yesterday evening I heard that a Glossy Ibis was back on Brading marshes again. When I finished work today I checked online and saw it was still around so I hot footed it down there, and thanks to the online reports I found this fella straight away. The light was fading so I set to work straight away, and got my camera clicking. The best shots are below...



I may go there again tomorrow after work if the weather is a bit brighter, after all I may never see one again who knows!

Yesterday Carol and I visited Pulborough Brooks RSPB, in West Sussex. It was only a flying visit, but whilst there I managed to see a flock of  Fieldfare, which was a new bird to us.
Before we left there, we had a lovely hot chocolate in the yard while we watched the birds visiting the feeders. As we left we did a bit of browsing in the shop. All of a sudden carol shouted "David" and beckoned me to a large viewing window. Lo and behold there was a Water Rail about 15 foot away, another lifer to add to my list. Managed to get a quick snap or two before he ran for cover...

 So, this year has started well, a Glossy Ibis and Water rail in two consecutive days, lets hope my good luck continues!!

All quiet on the coast

All quiet here on the island. Birds are busy moulting, bugs and butterflies waiting for the sun to shine.
Could be a long wait!!
10th august, had a walk up to Ventnor radar station, the views from the top of Nansen hill looking towards Sandown bay were breathtaking despite the overcast weather. The heather was stunning.

A meadow brown butterfly was carrying red mites.

Despite the dull weather I had a lot of fresh air and the excercise coming up nansen hill wont have done me any harm!!

Spotted in my back garden last week was a Common Darter which was a surprise as I have no pond, just a birdbath...

A family of speckled bush crickets has taken residence in my helleborus, Ive seen 3 males and two females so far. Male shown below...

A trip to Bembride ponds with Rob on the 15th was quiet on the birding front, except for 15 Little egrets and a heron all packed into a corner of the large pond, not seen that many in one place before.

Last night I dragged the wife out for a walk to Alverstone, we were hoping to catch something unusual maybe an owl or two? A chap we chatted to, saw a kingfisher half an hour previous, he told us to keep an eye open, but it wasnt our lucky night. So a nice walk, plenty of blackberries picked, and the scenery was lovely...

This morning I met up with Rog who I met on the wildaboutbritain website. As I wasnt meeting him till 9:30am I had a look around before we met. I had a brief glimpse of a jay, but no photos. I spotted a buzzard on a pole so got this digiscoped shot through my scope...

We had a good old chat about cameras, wildlife, lenses, and life in general. Not much to see this morning. A green woodpecker flew past at a rate of knots, and the butterflies seemed to love these Hemp agrimony flowers,  would love some in my garden!!

Fingers crossed for an indian summer!!!

A bugs life....

All quiet on the birding front lately, so my attention has wandered towards other subjects, namely, bugs and butterflies.Have spotted several different ladybirds in my own garden, 2-spot, 7-spot, 14 spot (below)...

Also the unwanted but beautiful harlequin..

I have an old holly tree stump in my garden, which has been invaded by aphids, this in turn attracts many ladybirds and hoverflies, mostly Hoverfly-Episyrphus blteatus (marmalade fly)...

 Had a lovely walk yesterday with the wife and our friends (Hi Tina and Peter!!) ...
Peter lifted up a sheet of plywood which someone had discarded and I captured the slow worms underneath, a total of 7 seeking shelter from the hot sun...

Peter was acting as my spotter, and he spotted this beautiful banded demoiselle ....

 The Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) were happily making hay while the sun shone, precariously hanging from a grass stem....

The black ants were devouring aphids...

Back to birding with a visit to Alverstone hide, a lovely juvenile Robin was visiting the bird table...

Joined by a Great tit...

In the afternoon we drove to Luccombe and found a nice clearing to have our picnic, my attention soon wandered to the many butterflies feeding nearby, including the beautiful comma ...

and one of many Gatekeepers....





All in all, a lovely day to be outdoors!!



I love to go a-wandering ... Newtown and Yarmouth

Day off from work, and the wife at work, so decided on a visit to the west wight, Newtown NR and Yarmouth. A chance to try out my scope again, any excuse, lol....
Had a nice surprise at Newtown car park, at the entrance to the toilets, I noticed a swallows nest. This was right next to the toilet door, what a brave/daft bird to make a nest there. It was nice and sheltered but far from private, due to the visitors using the loo! I set my camera up a few yards away and took some film of the babies being fed. Also a few stills, trying not to disturb them, using my zoom lens. A very big highlight of the day.

Many more swallows were swooping over the estuary, once again trying the near impossible task of taking a picture of them in flight. This was the best I could manage ..

The parent swallows didnt seem to mind us being close to the nest, swooping over our heads to deliver the feed for the chicks.

Onto Yarmouth ponds and estuary. I got my first sighting of a curlew ...

A cormorant flew overhead ...

An Oystercatcher was next posing for me by the shoreline ...

A digiscoped pic of a Little Egret rounded off my day nicely ...

Note to self . . . Must update my year/life list on here soon!!

Back on the mainland... Petworth House and Park

Once again ventured onto the mainland, this time to West Sussex. We decided to walk to Petworth park, which was only a short walk away from where we were staying.
As we entered the park the deer were a lovely sight.

After a few minutes walking we reached the lake, where we spotted two egyptian geese, a first for us...

The canada geese were aplenty, with their juveniles, as were Greylags.

Wanted to take this one home!!

More pics of the beautiful canada geese ...

A wonderful day out :)
The following day we visited Pulborough brooks, West Sussex.
The day was overcast and drizzly, all the birds seemed to disappear to shelter. We decided to call it a day, and went to the cafe onsite for a cuppa.
Imagine our surprise when we caught sight of the feeders outside the cafe. They were a hive of activity, with several grey squirrels, and many other birds visiting. We had many more sightings here than on the reserve!
Everything scattered when this jay visited the table ...

Another pleasant day ....