Last Walk of Jan 2015

I’m guessing today will be my last walk of January 2015. I may manage one on Friday but may not. It depends on weather and. well. if I feel like it (got to work nights over the weekend, boo). Unfortunately it was only a quick one today as I had shopping to do first, and the sun didn’t last long. While I’m no fair weather birder, not much point being out taking photos if the light is poor.

Anyway I guess I’ve waffled enough for this mornings intro!

Last Walk of Jan 2015

With only limited light today (I knew it would start failing around lunch time, well I say knew I guess I mean it was reported that…) I headed straight for the lakes just to make sure I wasn’t missing a wader or exciting duck before heading off around the rest of the patch (at the moment the birds on the Manor Farm pits are just that little to far away to photograph well, with the coming hides I hope that will change).

Of note on the lakes was very little, the usual ducks like Tufted Duck, Teal and Wigeon a Mute Swan or two and the odd Canada Goose but very little else. So I started my walk proper.

The first bird I thought I would try to grab a photo of was a rather confiding Carrion Crow (see title picture), not a bird I often photograph but they can be a striking bird and this one posed well and allowed me to capture the flight shot below (which I am pretty pleased with, I hope you like it too).

Carrion Crow in Flight – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

Further sightings

I continued on round the lakes, noting little of any substance, a brief flight view of a Little Egret (see photo below) another lovely Grey Wagtail that gave close views, some Pochard and Great Crested Grebe on the camp-site lakes and a stunning Sparrowhawk darting through the bushes along the river, but that was all on the walk up to the Aqueduct and the cattle creep.

Little Egret in flight – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

Birds I’ve Never Managed to Photograph Well

Just a bit of an aside here.

There are a few birds I see on a regular occasion but that I have never quite managed to get good photos of, I’ve managed record shots and OK shots, but nothing special, those include Great Tit, Bullfinch, Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker, I don’t know if it is just because I never seem to manage to be on a level with them or what but I do struggle with them, the photos below are evidence of what I mean, they are OK, but not quite good enough.

Bullfinch (male) – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

Bullfinch (female) – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

Great Tit – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

On with the walk

After passing through the cattle creep I headed up past the old lock, again not seeing much but finally adding Green Woodpecker to my patch year list (can’t believe it has taken this long), first the sound of his yaffle only but then the stunning green and yellow back of the bird flew past me (the rest of the bird was attached to the colours).

There was little else of note but I’m getting some quite nice Robin photos at the moment so here is another for you (I hope I’ll get one in the snow soon for next Christmas’s cards).

European Robin – Manor Farm, Milton Keynes

Date: 26/01/2015
Time: 1 hour 50 mins
Distance: 3.9 miles

Last Walk of Jan 2015 Full Species List