Sunday, March 29, 2009
Burnham Beeches
You can go to the ponds in Burnham Beeches and get close views of Mandarins - but it was much nicer seeing these two by chance, flying low across a path in the woods. They flew side-by-side calling, then swooped up onto the branch of a beech tree.
I clicked off three shots with Greger's new camera on full zoom, lowered the camera - and when I looked up again, they were gone.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
West Berkshire
We did only a short walk today from Bury Down car park, as Greger wasn't feeling well. However - he has bought a new camera (a Nikon Coolpix P90) and was determined to try it out. He took the yellowhammer at full zoom, handheld in a strong gusty wind and cropped it further on the computer.
On Hodcott Down there were two grey partridges and a fine but wary male wheatear.
This local shower is typical of the weather today - several times we saw columns of rain falling in the distance, but apart from a few spatters of hail, they missed us.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A firecrest was a fantastic surprise on our walk out west, in woodland near Down Barn, on West Ginge Down. Manic as ever, it foraged one moment high in the canopy and next moment on the ground. A goldcrest was also present.
February 12th
My first walk in the BB area for some time brought a male lesser spotted woodpecker - its crown a nice splash of red in the leafless woods.
