December

Weather Stats This Month

Max Temp =  12.2 deg C               Min Temp =   -3.7 C            

 Max Wind  23.4 mph              Max Rain in 24 hr Period = 39.3 mm

 Max Rain in 1 hr Period = 7.2 mm          Total Rain For Month = 242.9 mm

Diary

31st.  Yesterday we visited Formby where the National Trust runs a site with a Red Squirrel reserve. we have been several times before but never managed a reasonable photo. We set off armed with are photo gear and most importantly monkey nuts and the irresistable hazel nuts (at some cost). We arrived at about 09:15 and set off looking for a reasonably open bit of pine forest as the light available was not great and with the dense forest it made it worse. A spot was found and a squirrel was detected. I threw a few hazel nuts around but it ignored them. I then threw some monkey nuts which it sought out readily and grabbed them and quickly ripped the shell off to get at the nuts. It ran off and buried them whilst we set up out "stage". A reasonably comfortably spot was found to sit and set up the tripods whilst I then placed a few nuts around the stumps of trees. After about 1 1/2 hours at least six of them were now quite comfortable in taking nuts from around where we had placed them without us bothering them. A few other photographers joined us in enjoying the spectacle and we all clicked away hoping for some decent shots despite the failing light. The hazel nuts were soon the order of the day as the monkey nuts were now largely ingnored.

Inquisition

We were rewarded with the patience of sitting there with great "cute" views and even very close encounters where the odd one would wander up to us at about 2-3' distance. Sadly this utopia was soon destroyed by the same old culprits.....dog walkers. Up the hill came bounding some hound and went bananas at any squirrel in sight. It had no chance in catching any but it was having a great time. It then shot off and kept going until we could not see it! WE collectivly shouted get it on a lead to the two owners walking up the hill thinking they are the only ones there. The dog owner said it is under control what is the problem? I explained that it just chased all the squirrels and that it should be on a lead. The remarks are always the same...it doesn't chase squirrels he said and anyhow why do I need it on a lead. It was mentioned because they were on national trust land and they state dogs have to be on a lead. He said where does it say this? Pointing out that in the car park and around the reserve he just said that he was not parked in the car park. So it turns out he also is a skin flint. He walked away shouting his dog which guess what did not reappear! I hope it did not bring a toddler back in it's mouth as a gift, but all would be OK when he could say !it's alright it does not bite". Dog walkers you are not alone on this planet please have some consideration. That really ruined the fluidity of the appearance of the squirrels so at about 13:30 we called it a day. We wished the remaining photographers good luck and made our way home in anticipation of some decent pics.

                                                Joy?                                                                         Apprehention?

Always Good Manners To Keep The Elbows Off The Table.

26th.  Mandy and myself have been looking forward to getting out photographing birds this Christmas holiday and with the weather staying bright and crisp right up to the 21st I thought our look was in. How wrong I was, as it has turned out dull damp and very dismal!. We did manage a trip out today with my new Nikon P5100 digiscoping camera and Mandys' D80 and 300 F4 with a 1.4 teleconverter. We set off to a great spot in Leigh named Pennington Flash. The sun tried to come out but sadly this limited our photographic chances but between us we got one or two reasonable results and what it did show was that come spring time when the light is better I think it fairly certain that the camera equipment will come into it's own and produce some great shots. Here are a few shots that were reasonable.

                                       Bullfinch                                                                                  Chaffinch

                                          Willow Tit                                                                     Great Spotted Woodpecker

                                     Reed Bunting                                                                           "Our Robin"

                                     Song Thrush                                                                                Blue Tit

Ol' Ratty

16th.  The day did not provide the light I was hoping for to test the new lens further. I did manage to get an odd picture of a few welcome visitors in the shape of Siskin and Mistle Thrush.

These pics were taken through double glazing in poor light. I think I mention that to much! Anyway I hope to use this lens a bit more when the light returns in the spring but I shall be adding some extension tubes to this as the minimum focus is about 5m which makes it impossible to get a full frame image from a small bird that is close to me. This is still all dependant on the price of the lens though. Having watched the garden for a while today I also noticed the small flock of at least 30 siskin back feeding in the Alder trees again which was a treat. I hope when they have exhausted the cone supply they will stick around the garden as this fantastic male is doing. It is odd to watch this male as it seems to travel on it's own and does not join with the flock. The Mistle Thrush has now attracted a mate to the area with these two now being seen together all the time. I shall take make a special effort to listen out for song as is normall present around the 25th of this month. As is stands he is still fighting off all comers to the bird table with the sultanas on which is quite comical to watch.

15th.  It has taken another 7 days to see the Siskin return but this time in numbers! Today I saw a small flock take to the air form the little wood behind the house which came to settle in the Sycamore over the garden. Binoculars were on hand to see a flock of about 20 all say wiping thier beaks on the branches. The light was not good so no photo oportunities arose but with the weather supposed to be sunny tomorrow I hope to change that. They have been drawn to the area by the Alder trees in the area and it is great watching them tease the seed acrobatically from the seed cases. I am in the process of purchasing a new lens for the camera and early tests show promise.

The weather was bright but non of the direct sun was in the garden so considering this I was pleased with the results. Most of these shots of the Blue Tits were taken about 25ft away except the Long Tailed Tit which was taken at about 35ft.The lens is a Nikkor 600mm F4 ED and that amount of reach is vital for bird photography. i look forward to possibly owning this beauty if the price is right.

8th.  A nice start to the day which was nothing to do with the weather, but a winter visitor in the shape of a lovely Male Siskin which came to feed with a flock of Goldfinch. It stayed quite a while as it perched nervous like on one of the feeder trays. I shall keep an eye out tommorrow for it and hope a photo opportunity may arise. This is unusually early for visiting the garden as normally it is in the new year that I am lucky enough to have them visit. I wonder if this is a sign of a poor back end to the wild food availability like alder seeds and the like. It really has been poor of late and when you consider the amount of rain that has fallen in the last eight days (almost an average of 19mm a day) it is no surprise that birds are opting for an "easy feed" in the boundaries of the garden.

A new lens has entered the setup for Mandys' DSLR in the shape of a Nikon 600mm F4. I am hoping to test it out and see if a mutually acceptable price can be agreed with the present owner. It may take a little time to get this lens setup as due to it's age a lot of the usual auto metering and exposure settings will have to be done manually. I have checked the weather report tommorrow and a small chance of decent light may come our way in the afternoon so I hope to be ready to do a few remedial tests. I hope it is successsful as a 600mm lens would be a good addition.

2nd.  The weekend could not come quick enough as on the 28th Nov a relatively rare bird for Rossendale turned up at Clowbridge Reservoir not half hour away from me. With work commitments not allowing me to see the bird in the hours of daylight my hope was that it stayed for the weekend. I was sure it would as they are renowned for stopping a short while where they have landed. To find out more please click HERE. The weather was poor but it did stay dry which was a bonus. The idea was to get a reasonable photo from either Mandys DSLR equipment of my own digiscoping. The wind was very strong and the light was always fading from the moment we arrived. We soon located it and whilst trying to get into a comfy spot it dived and turned up about 500 yards further out!! It moved out when it felt it was to close to human activity so I decided to stay in the same position and hope it would return. It did to some degree but with the wind and light the pictures were only a "record". None the less it was great to see this lovely bird.

Great Northern Diver

The weather today is pretty poor with much rain and strong wind, not really photography weather. This weather had made the garden busy though with lots of visits from several species inc Blackbirds, Chaffinch, Mistle Thrush, Grey Wagtail and a few Greenfinch. I am keeping a close eye on the chance visit of a Brambling.