What birds or bird have you seen today – communal thread, I hope!

Heads or Tails, two contrasting styles of looking for food...

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Little Egret

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And just how Little Egrets look for food ....

View: https://youtu.be/ph3Z1wVYWH8
 
I've now run out of meal worms, again. 2 large bags in less than a week...... And it's all down to these little things...

Juvenile Starling, on a log in the garden.

Shot through the patio doors using the vertical blinds as cover, camera on a low tripod.

X-T2, 100-400 @ f5.0. 400ISO.

Juvenile Starling by Steve Jelly, on Flickr
 
Jelster said:
I've now run out of meal worms, again. 2 large bags in less than a week...... And it's all down to these little things...

Juvenile Starling, on a log in the garden.

Shot through the patio doors using the vertical blinds as cover, camera on a low tripod.

X-T2, 100-400 @ f5.0. 400ISO.

Juvenile Starling by Steve Jelly, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Their numbers overall are still worryingly low compared to 30years........but oh boy can they eat you out of house & home :LOL:

As a single/couple they are but pathfinders, once the flock arrives the disappears as you watch!!!
 
In Richmond Park - trying to get my step count above 12500..

Little Owl and Skylark

I found the little owl location during a nordic walk (no camera) so returned to the same location and found this delightful critter... sadly, it flew off and I managed only a few measly frames.... next time I WFH I return to the same spot (earlier! as light was fading at 1930 at this spot)... not got round to checking the skylark (but oh! do I need to get the settings on my D500/200-500 sorted for BIF)

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For years I've spent many hours and miles looking for Kingfishers only to see brief glimpses of blue and red as they disappear along the river or canal. Kingfishers are territorial and have their favourite perches, but it seems like they also have their favourite times to visit various parts of their territory. For the past two weeks now I've seen one around the weir at roughly the same time in the evening - between 7pm and 8pm - you can almost set your clock by it....

It's a pity that it's favourite perches are either 100-150ft away or in places where the light is pretty poor. This one is from yesterday and a fairly hefty crop as it was on the other side of the river from me at around 150ft...

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Well my D850 developed a problem with the rear LCD screen so it had to go back to Nikon.
Quick shuffle to have a cheap camera to use in the meantime ... enter a used D300s, a quick learning curve (or reminder of how controlling a DSLR used to be!) :)

Went to a hide that initially seemed very, very quiet and then I spotted an angry looking Mute Swan and a couple of Greylag Geese.
I have seen before how swans do not seem to like Greylags and this one was on a mission but it wasn't until a few moments of watching that I realized that the Swan's attention wasn't on the adult geese but rather on their single gosling!
At one point the swan got very close to the gosling and I thought it had caught it in the longer grass but fortuately the little bird managed to outwit the swan and make an escape.

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Realising that the gosling had escaped the swan gave chase again and the gosling took to nearby water, followed by the swan.
I heard some thrashing noises coming from behind the reeds, where both the gosling and swan had gone and I feared the worse ... however after a few moments the gosling appeard from the reeds, apparently none the worse and scampered back to it's parents. I expect it'll have an aversion to swans for the rest of its life! :)

Apologies for poor quality, the camera is new to me and the shots were distant.
 
gramps said:
the Swan's attention wasn't on the adult geese but rather on their single gosling!
Click to expand...
Will it kill it Roger? It seems odd, but that did seem to be its mission.
 
Cobra said:
Will it kill it Roger? It seems odd, but that did seem to be its mission.
Click to expand...

I've never personally seen a swan kill Chris but I have seen some very angry encounters and heard some tales.
It puzzled me that its attention was primarily on the youngster and I certainly had the feeling that it would have killed it, had it successfully captured it.
 
I did a bit of Googling after I posted that, Roger, and there are confirmed reports and some videos of swans killing and eating chicks, but they seem to be smaller, duckling sizes.
I must admit I'm surprised though.
 
Cobra said:
I did a bit of Googling after I posted that, Roger, and there are confirmed reports and some videos of swans killing and eating chicks, but they seem to be smaller, duckling sizes.
I must admit I'm surprised though.
Click to expand...
Interesting Chris ... I'm not surprised, though I've never witnessed it myself before this 'nearly' event.
 
Swans, sometimes nasty pasties. :confused:

My bird for today, although not strictly today but one I took 2 days ago (and a bit) Friday evening and one of the ones I've processed out of 165 images I took of it over a 10 minute period.

Looking straight at me and seems content, even preening herself now and again.

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Bobsyeruncle said:
Boring blue one my @rse :)
I'm so jealous. Great shots.
I'd maybe clone out the oof "mark" below the kingfishers perch.
Click to expand...

Cheers Robert, but I see them quite often when I go to the reserve ;)
Never noticed that mark, dunno what it is ?
 
Out for a hike with my Daughter today and on a remotish, quiet track, this carrion crow just kept following us, walking behind us, it came within 10 feet at times.

A Hithcock moment. :eek:

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