Waxwing Wednesday

This morning I decided to head out for a wander around the campus this morning to see what I could see. The weather is slightly better today (it's not raining), so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go out and take a few pictures. It was about 9:30 when I went out, and I stayed out for over two hours looking around. The campus is quite a large area, so it takes a little while to look around all of it. 

I started around the lake area, which I've not really checked out for a couple of weeks. The first sight that greeted me was this Mute Swan: 

I was then pleasantly surprised to come across this Egyptian goose family with goslings. Spring really must be on the way! 

Along with the Swans and Egyptian Geese were Mallards and Canada Geese. The photo below shows a few of those birds together...

Lots more water birds could be seen along the edges of the lake, including Coots and Moorhens. 

Robins, a few Wrens, Blue, Great and Long-Tailed Tits, Blackbirds and a Song Thrush were all seen as I wandered on the path around the lake. As I got nearer to the end of the lake path, I spotted a group of Chaffinches and Goldfinches flitting around in the trees. I watched them for a couple of minutes, and then watched as a group of Siskins joined them at the top of an Alder tree. I had been told that Siskins could be seen around the campus at the moment, so it was good to spot them. We don't usually get too many of them where I live so it was a bonus to see them here. A bad record shot of a Siskin that refused to face the camera is below: 

I saw a couple more Wrens around the last part of the lake path, and a cormorant flying overhead, and then I decided to head to the woodland area of the campus to see what I could see. Blue and Great Tits were the first birds I saw as I started my walk, but I was unable to get any decent photos. It wasn't long before I came across a group of about 5-6 birdwatchers looking at the Firecrest in a tree surrounded by ivy. It seemed as though the bird had already been there for a little while before I got there, and the only view I got of it was a very brief glimpse of the bird as it flew off. It was good to see that the bird is still around though. It was also very pleasing to see that so many people had an interest in this tiny bird. 

After a few minutes of trying and failing to see the Firecrest again in the area, I decided to head off further into the woodland to see what else was around. There was lots more activity to be seen, and I was thrilled to see a Treecreeper again which I've now seen on my last two visits to the woodland. I managed an average photo of the bird as it climbed a tree in its unique fashion. 

I decided to stick around the area which I saw the Treecreeper for a while, as there was lots of activity in this area. I saw another Wren, and lots of other common birds too. I was  very surprised to then see a Pheasant in the distance, a bird I've never seen on campus and didn't really expect to see on campus. I managed a record shot below: 

I came across two or three more people wandering round the woodland with binoculars around this area, including a woman who was watching a Goldcrest flitting through the brambles low to the ground. I was able to get really close to the bird but it just kept moving every time I had it in frame. In the end I only managed this record shot as it hung upside down off a little branch. 

A couple of minutes later, this Song Thrush was seen foraging around on the woodland floor looking for grubs: 

And this Blackbird a bit further on. Near to where I saw this Blackbird, I also saw a Nuthatch on the trunk of a tree in its characteristic pose, which was another good bird to see, and one which I've seen on nearly every outing on the campus.

After some time looking through the woods, I decided to make my way back to my halls. But I had one more bird to look for. Over the last week or so, Waxwings have been seen on campus, and there had been sightings both yesterday, and this morning. They had apparently been seen just outside the Chemistry building on campus, in a tree containing lots of berries. I headed over that way, although to be honest, I went there only on the off chance that I might see them. The fact that they had been seen earlier in the morning while I was looking around the rest of campus made me think that they might have disappeared by the time I got to the area they had been sighted. 

But I was in luck. I walked on the path alongside the Chemistry building and saw a small group of around 10 birds flying from the top of one tree to another. They were very vocal and almost immediately I could see that they were Waxwings, with their distinctive behaviour and appearance. It was fascinating to listen to them as they appeared to be chatting to one another. They are really such striking birds. I had never seen them before, so it was such a nice surprise to see them on the university campus. Whilst they were at the tops of the trees I got a few record shots: 

Even just seeing these birds was enough for me, but I had even more luck, as one or two of the birds flew down to a much smaller tree bearing lots of berries, and allowed me to get a few better photos. These birds seemed remarkably tame and allowed me to get pretty close to them. Only a few of these photos are any good, but I was so glad to get any kind of photo to be honest. The low light meant that I bumped the ISO up to 800 for some shots, and 1600 for others. So the images are a bit grainy but I'm still pleased with them.

The photo below was probably the best of the bunch and shows the bird most clearly:

The tuft on the top of the Waxwing's head is so exxagerated in the photo below, making an otherwise terrible photo of the bird facing away from the camera quite interesting.

The thing that amazed me most about these birds is how opportunistic these birds are. The Chemistry building is relatively close to the centre of campus, and lots of people wander along the paths beside that building, so seeing them there really was a surprise. From what I've been hearing, the Waxwings that have migrated here from Scandinavia have split up into smaller groups than usual, explaining why there were only 10 or so birds here on campus. It's great to think that some of the trees here on campus are supporting such a range of species.  

Overall today I saw a total of 31 species, which is really quite impressive for a couple of hours walking around. The Waxwings truly made my day, and fingers crossed they'll stay around for a little while get so I can get a couple more sightings of these gorgeous birds. 

I'll leave today's post at that I think. I need to make a quick trip into town and get some work done, so lots more stuff to be done today. Thanks for reading and have a great week :D 

Unusual colours

My most recent visit to the Rye (local patch) provided me with some great experiences to share with you. Firstly I would like to say that the visit was actually the weekend before last, so this post is a little late. I simply had too much to talk about then, so I have left the post until now. This time of year is great for ducks as they have aready moulted and have a new, clean, colourful set of feathers. But even moulting won't change the colour of one of the ducks I saw!

I didn't see anything too incredible in terms of uncommon birds such as Herons and Kingfishers, but I saw some interesting variations of more common species. One thing I was surprised to see was a swan cygnet. I must admit that they look very cute, but I was surprised to see one at this time of year. The water was very clear that day, and it created a brilliant reflection on the water's surface. I took a pictures of it and the one that just shows the head was one of my favourites.

Some of the birds at the park really don't show themselves very well. A good example of this is the Grey Heron. It will quite often be wading right under cover of overhanging trees, so it can be very difficult to see them, despite their size. My mum does a daily run in the park and she says she sees the Heron 2-3 times every week. I guess I have just been unlucky so far with the days I have been, because I haven't seen one since I started visiting regularly. Maybe my next visit will be my lucky one. Fingers crossed for that.

To be honest though, overall I was pleased with what I saw there. As I told you in my last post I am very new to water birds so a strange, so the duck in the next picture completely baffled me. I saw it and knew that it wasn't something I had seen before. So I took a few pictures, went home and got the bird book out. Much to my surprise, no such duck was in the book. I thought that it might be a bird from another country, like the Fulvous Whistling Duck I saw on the South Coast.

But, at closer look at the photos, I noticed that the duck was very similar in shape and size to the Mallard. I then looked at my previous Mallard photos and confirmed that they were indeed of the same shape and size. It was even with a group of Mallards. So I considered that some Mallards change their plumage for the winter. I was obviously wrong here, and a bit of research found that the Mallard doesn't change its plumage this significantly.

So then I really was stuck. I wasn't sure, but I had heard of leucism before and wondered if this had anything to do with it. As Wikipedia says, "Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals." I have seen pictures and read about other people's experiences with leucistic birds. I began to convince myself that this was the explanation. It really did look strange in the crowds of other ducks.

The fantastic Birdforum helped me to my answer once again. I asked the question, "At a small river near us I spotted what I think is a Mallard, but it has strange colouring. Is it leucistic?" I posted a small picture of it too. The response was very quick and helpful and said, "Domestic mallards come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. That one cold be said to be leucistic, as it is lacking in stong pigment, but shows plenty of other mallard charicteristics."

While I was looking through these pictures, I was wondering if this condition, affects the bird's life in any way. I don't know if they stand out more to predators, or if the colours actually help the duck in the breeding season. It was the only white coloured duck there, but I'd love to know if anyone else has seen something like this one.

All photos taken at the Rye on 14/10/08

My local patch in the mist

In BBC Springwatch, Bill Oddie especially is always urging the viewers to visit their "local patches". Well, this morning, I did. It was great to get out early in the morning too which meant that I could see this morning's mist. The effect was quite stunning, so out came my camera! I loved every minute of it, but was a bit disappointed with the lack of birds I saw. Before I start blithering about what I saw, I had better explain what my local wildlife patch is. It is a large park with a river running through it, and some woodland. It is called the Rye park and is pretty much on my doorstep.

I'm afraid that I only have some swans and ducks to show you today but they are such photogenic birds, so I am quite pleased with the results. On the river before, I have seen Grey Herons very often, and occasionally, Kingfishers too. Thrushes and blackbirds are normally also seen on the grass of the park. But none of these were seen today. The bad visibility probably didn't help, and on another day, it could have been a very different story. The bad visibility changed throughout the day however, as you will find out in my next post.

The Mute Swan is such an elegant bird and they are great to watch. They are a little dominant and the small ducks keep their distance, but they are very funny as they follow you along the path begging for food. I tried using some new camera modes to capture them in a different way today but I think I need some more practice. The swans make such loud noises when they flap their wings too. The swan is such a large bird and they are hard to miss. This is why I am surprised that I found it difficult to see the also large Grey Heron today. The pictures below show some snippets of the swans today. There weren't many different species of ducks out today either, but I did see the Tufted Duck. I posted on Tufted Ducks recently too but I think I got better photos this time. They are less tame than the Mallards, and are smaller too so they are harder to photograph. The males have a shiny look to their plumage and are more striking than the Mallard. My mum does a daily jog through this park and says that there were some colourful ducks yesterday. Just my luck that I saw none of them today :-(

The coots have a brilliant soft look about them, and although they are of a similar colour to the Tufted duck the plumage texture looks very different and they are quite different in how they act. Pictures of the Mallard, Coot and Tufted Duck are below.

I hope that I will be able to visit the Rye again on the weekends and hope that I see a bit more next time. This afternoon was a completely different story, and I have a more successful session of wildlife watching to talk about soon.

All images were taken by me at the Rye park this morning