Redstart in colour

The drake Redstart in south Lincolnshire, was giving it large this morning and was great to see in colour.

Lockdown Firsts!

Last weekend, on a lockdown wander, I heard an unfamiliar song which sounded (to my ear) like an off Lesser Whitethroat. Something wasn't quite right but I couldn't locate it and having just heard my first Lesser Whitethroat shortly before, I put it down as just being another Lesser Whitethroat. Having visited the site several times during the week (but not in the mornings), I was surprised to hear it again this morning. Didn't take long to locate the bird- a stunning drake Redstart! Sadly, the light was awful but managed to get some sound recordings and some record shots. A really rare breeding bird for Lincolnshire so will be interesting to see if this develops into anything. 

Redstart has long been a bogey bird for me in the Deepings, having always managed to miss them in the past and I nearly missed out on this one- rare for one to be able to correct one's own mistakes in birding! So was thrilled to add this new species to my Deepings list and certainly didn't think I would add another almost immediately after! Josh Jones called with news of two Cranes drifting south over Langtoft, 10 minutes or so I was on them- another Deeping's tick for me! I lost them to view south west towards West Deeping/Maxey.

From the archives No. 6

Yesterday morning, on my daily exercise route, I was fortunate enough to find a 'pinging' drake Bearded Tit on a local patch. First time I have seen them this close to home so thought I would recycle these photos of a drake I took at Titchwell in Norfolk during 2009. This is the 199th species I have seen/heard within three miles of my house- not bad for an inland site.

From the archives No. 5

North American Red Squirrel, taken in Canada in February 2014 (with Kev DuRose cameo appearance). These wee chaps were often very confiding in the sub-zero conditions and were grateful of food we were able to provide them.

In the coming months, whilst lockdown is happening I hope to share some more 'from the archives'.

Even more Barn Owls!

We are lucky with how many Barn Owls we have around us but this weather is doing them no favours.

Gone Barny

Sorry for the Owl overload of late. The wind and rain has been awful the last few weeks and made hunting hard for the local Barn Owls. We are really lucky that one field nearby is surrounded by river bank and hedgerow/trees creating shelter for hunting and roosting, with up to 7 individuals using the field. There has been no sign of the Short-eared Owl- perhaps it's preferred area is too exposed.

Barn Owl

The last few weeks have been reasonable for Barn Owl photography but sadly, probably because they are desperate for food. However, ten in a mile stretch was remarkable. Look forward to trying again soon.

SEO

This Short-eared Owl showed well on the first two occasions. However perhaps isn't as easy as I first thought? Look forward to trying to get some more photos of this, one of my favourite birds, over the next few weeks. I famously say February is the best month for photographing Owls....

LEO

The Deeping Lakes Long-eared Owls seem to be mixing up their roosting sites this winter and using their old haunt of the Gully where the views are really much better.

More Otter action

We reckon this is a young dog. He performed well again over the weekend and this time the sun shone which made it much easier capturing the action compared to last weekend. This time prey items weren't just Roach, we also watched it catch Bream.

Otter in Sunshine

Remarkable what a bit of sunshine does.......