The Bramfield Hawfinches

A couple of winters ago, Hawfinches could be seen high in the trees in Bramfield churchyard, and it was never clear whether these were resident or migrant birds. I don't recall any being reported last winter, but this year they have returned. I arrived on site at 12.30pm and took up position under the tall trees by the gate. It wasn't until 1.15 pm that three birds flew in from the Old Rectory gardens opposite and settled high in the trees above me. Photography was very difficult as they were high up and against a sky background. They only stayed for 20 seconds and then flew back across the road. I did at least manage to get a record shot. Could these be the same birds, and where are they for the rest of the year?

I waited to see if they would return, but I was distracted by the chip, chip call of a Nuthatch coming from the Old Rectory grounds. The bird duly appeared and flew up into a large tree and started searching for food in  the bark. OK, not as rare as a Hawfinch, but far more obliging from a photography perspective.

A Trip down the Valley

The first port of call was Amwell to see if there were any Water Rails performing in front of the viewpoint. Nothing doing there, but a few minutes later Bill Last and Paul Trigg arrived back from Tumbling Bay and said that they had been watching a small flock of Lesser Redpolls feeding on seed heads just back along the track. So the Water Rail vigil was abandoned and I hurried to the place where they had be seen.

Luckily they were still there and feeding just 10-15 yards on the other side of the fence. Unfortunately, for a while they were in deep shade and with their backs towards me but eventually one bird moved into the sun and posed for a couple of shots.

After that lucky interlude I head off to Fishers Green to try my luck with a Water Rail in front of the Bittern Hide. As I left the car park and headed across the picnic area, the air was filled with the calls of a sizeable tit flock. Tit flocks are always worth checking as, not only are there the usual suspects such as Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, but they often have with them Chiffchaffs and , in the dim and distant past, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. However, on this occasion the prize was a Goldcrest which, instead of lurking deep inside ivy, was feeding in the branches of some trees that had completely lost their leaves.

On into the Bittern Hide where the Bittern has been seen recently, not in front of the hide, but in the reed bed in the distance to the left. No sign of any Water Rails, but somehow a winter-plumaged Great Crested Grebe had managed to get behind the reed bed and was fishing right in front of the hide where the water is only 18 inches deep. You could actually see it swimming around under water.

And now for the final diversion, the bird feeders. As I have often said in the past, I refuse to photograph birds on feeders as the background is so artificial. However, with a bit of patience it is possible to grab some shots as they make their way through the branches of an adjacent tree before flying on to the feeders themselves.

An Intriguing Duck at Welney

Although Welney is most famous for its swans, it is also a good place for seeing and photographing ducks at close quarters. Also, when the water is not too high, there are often quite a few species of wader to be seen from the hides. On this occasion the early winter rains had swollen the water levels to such an extent that the only visible land was a narrow spit jutting out into the floods. However, even this was sufficient to hold some roosting Redshank, Snipe and about 100 Black-tailed Godwits. The waders were too far away to photograph , but whenever a Marsh Harrier floated past, the godwits would take to the air in a tight flock for security and would perform a flypast. Note the conspicuous wing bars which separate them from Bar-tailed Godwits.

There are always hundreds of duck in front of the observatory, but of very few species primarily just Mallard and Pochard. Although other species such as Tufted Duck and Teal are present on the reserve they tend to keep way from the hides and feeding areas. Mallard, a very common duck which most of us take for granted, has a very colourful plumage, especially the head which is an iridescent green and changes colour depending on the direction of the light.

Pochard are also very showy, especially in these superb light conditions, which not only illuminate the bird but also casts a deep blue glow on the watery background. The males as shown in the first two photos are immaculate with their brown head, piercing red eye, black breast and silvery grey mantle.

The females, as usual, are far more sombre so that they are less conspicuous when they are sitting on the nest. Note on both sexes the large black tip to the bill, which you will need to remember later.

So what is the duck of intrigue? Well, for some days now the WWT website has been stating that there was a female Ferruginous Duck in front of the observatory. Well, although my main mission was to photograph the swans, the addition of a relatively rare Ferruginous Duck would have been a bonus. What was confusing, however, was that by the time I arrived at the reserve, the bird was now being reported as a 1st winter male.

The duck was lurking in some reeds in front of the southern wing hide, but was out of view for most of the time. It was necessary, therefore, to settle down and wait for the ducks along the bank and in the reed bed to be disturbed. I didn't have to wait long before a Marsh Harrier wafted across causing great alarm amongst the ducks resulting in those on the bank and in the reed bed swimming out in front of the observatory. Now was my chance.

Ferruginous Ducks are like female Tufted Ducks but are more chestnut with a smooth profile head and conspicuous white under-tail coverts. This one certainly looked the part, but what was the sex?

Once I got home I had a good look through the photos to find some that showed the eye-colour well, which would be white for a male and brown for a female. What I noticed was that many of them showed the duck as having white eye-lids with a brown eye. The bird was therefore as first reported, a female. Just to be sure I sent a photo to Barry Reed for confirmation. Barry replied by saying that if the bird was a Ferruginous Duck it would indeed be a female, but the extensive black tip strongly suggests that this is a Ferruginous x Pochard hybrid. This is absolutely correct as pure Ferruginous Ducks have a minute black tip to the bill. Also, as it is a hybrid, sexing by eye colour goes out of the window. I passed the information and the photo to WWT Welney which have subsequently amended their records, and my shot of a pure Ferruginous Duck will have to wait for another date.

The Waxwings are Back

Waxwings come from Scandinavia and visit the UK in most winters, although their numbers are extremely variable. Last year was a bumper year and they were present across a number of sites in Hertfordshire. This year could be another good year as the crop in Scandinavia has failed and Waxwings have been turning up in large numbers across the north of the country and have been gradually moving south. At last, they have appeared in Hertfordshire at a number of traditional sites, mainly because they have their favourite food, Sorbus (Rowan) berries .

I started off at Tanners Crescent as it is just down the road. Unfortunately, here the birds are either high in a tree or feeding off berries in the shade, neither of which are much good for photography. I therefore went on to The Avenue in Bengeo where they were feeding in a pink-berried Sorbus in a front garden in full sun.

Sun out, sun behind me, birds up close, how could I ever complain.

Whooper Swan 812, you are cleared to land.

Have you ever wondered how Whooper Swans land? Well, all that I can say is that they have been watching the Royal Air Force, as their techniques are incredibly similar. First of all, having selected the desired landing position, they fly down-range to ensure that they approach the landing site into the wind to maximise aerodynamic control. Then, still flying at a great rate of knots they start to lose height until they are just a few feet above the water. Time now to lower the under-carriage.

The next requirement is to lose speed and it is at this point that any resemblance to the RAF goes out of the window and is replaced by brute force and ignorance. The technique adopted is to lose more height and stab a webbed foot into the water which, not surprisingly, throws you a little off balance.

Once balance is restored this technique is repeated until they are eventually running on the water.

The third manoeuvre is one that any footballer would be proud of, a two-footed tackle with studs showing. That'll do the trick.

Some swans seem to make this procedure look effortless and come into land with grace and elegance.

Whilst others however adopt a more cavalier approach, like this one which seems to be shouting

                                  "GET OUT OF THE WAY"

The Amwell Scaup is Growing Up

The 1st winter male Scaup was found by Barry Reed on the 21st October and is still present, a total of 6 weeks. When I last photographed it on the 2nd November it still had a totally brown head, and just the first signs of grey on the mantle. Today, I thought I would check on its progress.

At the viewpoint Water Rails were still being seen on a fairly regular basis, but just running across the various cuts rather than feeding in the open. The newly dug ditches were frozen today after the hard overnight frosts, but this does have its advantages, as birds such as Snipe will stand out on the ice wheras they would normally seek cover in the reedy margins.

Otherwise fairly quiet apart from a handful of Moorhens and Pheasants feeding on the seed in the newly-cut ride. I always vowed that I would never stoop so low to photograph pheasants, but when you see them up close with their stunning colours illuminated by the sun, they are just irresistible.

So now onto Tumbling Bay to have a look at the progress of the Scaup. It was easy to find in its usual place just past the lock, but I chose to walk along the towpath a little further to get a closer shot. It wasn't very cooperative, hugging the opposite bank and diving continuously for long periods, although I did eventually manage to get a couple of shots.

What a difference those four weeks make. The brown head is now turning green and the mantle has a much more extensive patch of silvery-grey. Overall it is looking much more like a Scaup rather than a stocky round-headed female Tufted Duck.

Welney Wetland Wonderland

It is probably five years since I have been to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Welney. Since then they have built a much larger three-storey visitor centre, which takes you to the bridge over the river for access to the centrally-heated hide. However, the mission today was to photograph Whooper Swans.

Now let's be honest, this isn't a particularly challenging objective as I hadn't even arrived at the reserve when I came across a flock feeding in a field by the road. These were obviously a few family groups as can be seen by the adults with the yellow bills and the young birds with the same bill pattern but with the yellow replaced by a flesh colour. But I hadn't come today to photographs swans standing in a field or swimming around on water. but to try and get some more adventurous shots.

The main hide, or observatory as it is referred to, is glazed with no flaps to lift and therefore you have to photograph through glass which is far from ideal. However, there are two wing hides of a more traditional design either side of the observatory which can be accessed without braving the elements.

I had just got myself settled into one of the wings when a couple of geese flew across my field of view, straightened out and came in the land. No time for a close look or for an attempt at identification, but just rattled off a number of shots during the landing process. The large white panels on the wings show that these are in fact Egyptian Geese, which originated from captive ornamental stock but now breed in the wild, especially Norfolk.

But now on to the swans. At this time of year you would expect to see three species of swan at Welney, our resident Mute Swan, although their numbers can be swelled by visitors from the continent during the winter months, Bewick Swans from Russia and Whooper Swans from Iceland. Unfortunately this year so far, Bewick numbers have been very low and there were none present today.

There were, however, loads of Mute Swans parading up and down in front of the observatory allowing plenty of photo opportunities. Most were swimming round in a calm elegant manner, but one or two decided it was bath time and set about getting wet.

But now for the business in hand - the Whooper Swans. There were plenty of birds present in front of the hide and were as confiding as the Mute Swans. I started off by taking some shots of birds on the water.

 

I then became more adventurous and took some portraits for the first time. A lot more difficult than it looks but the results are very pleasing.

But now on to a bit of fun. For example, how do Whooper Swans land? Watch this space!!!