25th April - Nightingale - Leybourne Lakes Country Park, Kent

We were away for the weekend at my daughter's in Kent.  For some time now they have been trying to get me there in early spring to coincide with the arrival of the Nightingales at Leybourne Country Park, which is literally just across the road for them.  My son-in-law Graham's recent interest in photography and the birds was also a factor as he has been able to find them and locate their territories.  

So on arrival we set off for the short walk into the park.  As we came into the park we could hear one singing, I was told not to spend too much time trying to find it as there were better options.  We walked along the side of one of the lakes and came across another singing.  This time I did manage to see it, although the view wasn't that good.

Once again I was told to walk on as there would be better opportunities and we could hear at least three other birds singing.  Finally we came to an open area, where there were plenty of perches.  A Nightingale was singing but not in view.  Be patient and it would show, and it did this time in the scrub.

There was confidence that it would show better and it did a little, but it still required viewing through branches.  At first with its back to me.

This was better, a turn of the head  and you can appreciate that lovely rich reddish brown plumage.

Then finally some song, but still slightly hiding behind the leaves and branches.

Then it was gone, but I was told once again, it will be back and after a few minutes it was back and this time perched in the open, on what looks like a favourite perch.

Immortalised first in Keats poem "Ode to a Nightingale", a piece written when a Nightingale nested in the garden shared with a friend Charles Armitage Brown.  He wrote:  "Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song and one morning he took a chair from the breakfast table and sat under a plum tree for two to three hours."  It was their he composed his piece.  Unfortunately it would have been the male bird singing and they will sing throughout the night until they have found a mate after which the singing is r.estricted to dawn and dusk

Sadly the enduring immortality of the Nightingale has not come to pass.  Over the last twenty five years the breeding population has declined by a half they now can only be found reliably in a few small areas of southern and eastern England.  Here at Leybourne is definitely a stronghold with many birds singing around the lakes.

I was able to edge a little closer, wading through the nettles

Nightingales love dense thickets so seeing them is normally a challenge, but thanks to the numbers here at Leybourne and the great work by Graham in finding their territories and more importantly knowing where they will sing in a prominent place for the photographs.

Some suggest that the Nightingale has such a beautiful song, because it is a plain brown bird, but I feel there is a definite beauty in them and this one turned to show off the rufous brown plumage on the back and tail.

It moved once again, out of sight to start with then it popped up onto a bramble branch.

The Nightingale's songs are extremely complex with over 200 different types of song recorded, containing a selection of whistles and trills from across the melodic spectrum.  Another defining feature is the volume at which it is delivered.  Males have been recorded sing at 95 decibels, about as loud as a chain saw operating a metre away from your head.

A snatch of video to capture the Nightingale singing.

It was back to the stills as the Nightingale continued to show so well in the open.

A wonderful encounter and a great big thank you to Graham for his work in tracking down this enigmatic bird, a great start to the day.  It was time to move on.

23rd April - Hobby - Fishlake Meadows

So after picking up my lunch I made my way back to the screens path.  As I walked along the canal path I could see at least three, maybe four Hobby around the Poplars, I was just hoping that they would come out across the reeds and the path.

I needn't have worried because they showed incredibly well.  To start with there were two and they would interact and could be seen calling to each other.  A little late they were joined by a third bird, but I have to admit I never saw a fourth, although I had seen four earlier.

Ther path runs north to south, so if the birds were north of me the light wasn't too bad, to the south it was a little harder to get the exposure right.

The word falcon is derived from the Latin falx/falcis meaning sickle referring to either the shape of its talons or their scythe like silhouette when seen in the sky.  There is no finer example of this elegant shape than can be seen in the Hobby.

A fly past in the right light.

Sleek and refined in the air with a dark slate grey back and streaked front and belly, a chequered pattern on the underwing, all contrasting with burnt red feathering around the legs and undertail.

The Hobby is our only migratory falcon and returns from Africa in spring, following the hirundines that they will hunt, although, here at Fishlake they were showing off their aerobatic skills catch insects, some dragonflies and chafers.

The Latin name for the Hobby is Falco Subbuteo, which refers to the bird being a small hawk, "sub buteo".  The inventor of the football game, Subbuteo, Peter Adolph had wanted to call the game "Hobby" but couldn't get the trademark.  He got round this thanks to his keen interest in ornithology – he knew the Latin name for the Hobby was Falco Subbuteo so he used that Latin word, which is now known round the world as the name of a football game.

They would fly around sticking close to the trees and then out over the reed bed. 

Most of the time they would glide with outstretched wings, but once they spotted something, they would speed up, wings flapping as they honed in on an insect and they throw the legs forward to catch it and then eat it all in one action.

Look, flying while not looking!

They are mesmerising to watch as they fly back and forth catching insects.

I never knew I had this but am pleased to have caught this action.  The Hobby is targeting an insect, the legs coming up ready to pounce.

Then in the next frame the target becomes visible, a dragonfly or maybe a damselfly and those talons are ready to catch it in mid air.

Another attack, this time it looks like a chafer.

As they twist and turn as they pick out possible prey they can flip themselves over as they chase whatever they are after.  So the last image i one of the Hobby flipping itself as it turns to dive on to something, incredible flying.

Before i knew it I had spent two hours photographing these delightful falcons, I took many images and only managed to get these from them, but it was all worth it.  Great to have this little falcon back.

23rd April - Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

I was back at Fishlake Meadows this morning, hoping to catch at some time with Hobby, but they normally don't show up until late morning, so it was catching up, once again, with the song birds around the reserve, hoping that just maybe the Reed Warbler would show.

A beautiful sunny morning although the breeze was still rather chilly, coming from the east which was producing some good sea watching on the coast.  The Garden Warbler was singing just after the turn from the car park, but I didn't stop to try and find it.  I did search for the second one though and after a wait it finally gave itself up, but nothing stunning this time, but then again I would have to go some way to beat the shots from last week.

A little further along a male Blackcap was displaying to a female, who seemed a little interested.

And the male interested in her.

Walking across the centre path there were Cetti's and Sedge Warbler singing and Orange Tip butterflies in the meadow showing interest in the Cuckoo Flower.

An amazing sight in the canal along side the path was a huge shoal of fish.  Mainly Roach but I did also see a Perch.

Wren have been very vocal recently, almost as if they were trying to out volume the Cetti's Warbler.  Normally delivering their song from low on a log or branch, this one was very brazen, singing from the top of a tree.

I had heard the Cuckoo calling, but hadn't been able to find it, but as I walked down the path towards the screens I picked it out in the distance on a dead tree.

A Red Kite appeared over the path, one of two in the area.

Then a Buzzard, which must have just taken off as it circled above me trying to get some lift.

There were two Reed Warbler singing in the small patch of reeds close to the screens, they kept low down and I was able to get brief glimpses of them, but never enough to get the photograph.  Reed Warblers will stay low at this time of year and even build their nests low down, they then rise up as the reeds grow.

Finally giving up on the Reed Warblers I walked back.  The Cuckoo then flew over from the Poplars and settled in a tree on the path.  I walked back, but was only able to get this shot before it flew off once again.

Walking back along the centre path the Wren was singing in the same tree.

A little further along a stunning male Stonechat sat on a perch in the meadow.

Back on the canal path I picked up a Hobby at the back of the Poplars, so I decided to head back to the car to get my lunch so that I could return to the screens path to hopefully photograph them while having lunch.

As I walked back I had to stop for the Sedge Warbler singing in the reeds.

Just before the turn to the car park I picked up this male Beautiful Demoiselle on the nettles.

It kept flicking its wings as if in display.

The Hobby performed well and I took a lot of shots.  As a result I will devote a separate post to the falcon.  So some other stuff that happened just before the Hobby on the screens path and on the walk back to the car.

The Cuckoo called and then flew straight at and over me.

This was interesting, the Red Kite and Buzzard interacting, but there didn't appear to be any malice they seemed to be enjoying flying with each other.

On the centre path as I walked back a different Wren was singing and then flew to a moss covered log where it laid out either sunbathing or anting, it wasn't clear what.

The along the canal path these two male Brimstones were duelling.

So some nice support acts ahead of the main event, which will be coming up.