Kingfisher at Hubbards Hills

I had to go to Louth, a Lincolnshire Wolds Market town today so took Jet for a walk through Hubbards Hills.  It was not the most pleasant of days and the rain was starting to come down heavily as we set off on our walk along the River Ludd though the parkland section of the walk.  I was surprised but delighted to spot a kingfisher sitting on some metal piping across the river.  I stopped and then moved forward slowly and was rewarded with excellent close views of the bird, before it sped off, sapphire-like along the river ahead of me.  Imagine my surprise, then, when a hundred yards later I again caught excellent close views of the bird.  This was repeated several more times over the next half mile or so of river.  What a treat.  It was also good to hear both jay and green woodpecker calling and to see some of the beeches still sporting Autumn colour.

The images below are not from today but are from the archives.

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Kingfisher

Jay in the snow.

Success with the Watervoles and Kingfishers at the Country Park

As the weather had been grey and very cold yesterday and I had failed with the water voles, I decided to revisit Cleethorpes Country Park this morning.  As the forecast was favourable, I was up and out at 6.00 am for the sunrise at 6.30. The sun was just  beginning to lighten the eastern sky, where the morning star, Venus, hung, shining brightly.  It was an absolute pleasure to have the world, even a busy country park, to myself as the sun rose majestically above the horizon.  Sadly, there were no clouds whatsoever to reflect the light of the rising sun, but it was a joy nonetheless.  Once the sun was up I made my way to the drain to try again for the water voles.  Today they were out in force busying themselves with feeding.  Although very confiding, they were surprisingly difficult to photograph; it is amazing how grass and dead stems from last year can intrude in the picture, spoiling a clean image.  Earlier the drain bottom was in deep shade although I was looking into the bright sun making things awkward and then when the sun rose high enough the light was very contrasty.  As is often the case bright overcast would have been preferable.  Still, we shouldn't complain about the warm weather, and warm it was, reaching 21.5 degrees; beautiful.  The kingfisher was much in evidence flying up and down the drain and I did manage one reasonable image but sadly with a busy distracting background.  Still a wonderful bird to watch however. Other birds of note included a hunting sparrowhawk which flew over a couple of times, little egrets(illustrated below) and curlew.

 I was also pleased to see several early butterflies on the wing: small tortoiseshell, peacock and brimstone (illustrated below).  Pussy willow is coming out and there is a flush of green on the hawthorns.  Spring would appear to have arrived, but I am sure we shall experience some cold weather yet.  It was a pleasure as well to meet up with several local photography friends who were all after the same subjects as myself; always good to compare notes and share stories.
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Water Voles at Cleethorpes Country Park

As water voles have been seen and photographed at the Country Park, I decided to pay a visit to try myself and also to, hopefully, photograph the kingfisher.  Although, at first light, the weather looked promising, it soon clouded over and the brisk wind made it feel very cold.  After parking up I made my way to the drain where the voles had been seen and it looked encouraging; reasonable clear water and plenty of watercress.  As I reached the second bridge over the drain I met some other photographers who had seen the kingfisher and photographed a vole, the burrow of which was in the bank opposite.  It would appear to have been very confiding.  However, despite 3 hours of waiting and watching and getting colder by the minute, my luck was out.  I did get a brief glimpse of one animal in a different part of the drain, though.  I did better with the kingfisher, getting several good sightings and even some distant images.  At one point it flew low along the drain and straight through the pipe where it went under the bank.  There were plenty of black headed gulls and magpies about and a couple of times a heron flew over as well as a little egret and a curlew.  On the main lake I had a good sight of the female goosander that has been present for some time and I noticed that at least one great crested grebe is back; I look forward to watching and photographing their beautiful courtship ritual in the weeks to come.  I include some photographs from previous years below.

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Kingfisher hiding in blackthorn blossom

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Great crested Grebe courtship ritual.

Great crested grebes displaying.

Another go for the Kingfisher at The Country Park

As it was an excellent forecast again for today, I was up and down at Cleethorpes Country Park by 8.30 for another session trying for the kingfisher.  I was determined this time though to remain focused on the perch where I wanted to photograph it rather than chase the bird.  Unfortunately it had other ideas and not once did it settle on the perch.  I did get several good sightings of it though as it flew down the channel.  As always, though, there was always plenty to see.  Other birds included coot, moorhen, mallard, tufted duck, a large and noisy flock of greylag geese, oystercatchers, pochard, magpie, wood pigeon and goosander.  Unfortunately the black throated diver that has been present for around three weeks appears to have moved on.  The other good sighting was that of one of the foxes that have taken up residence on the island.

All photographs taken with canon 7D and 500mm lens with 1.4 converter.

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Coot

Magpie

Moorhen

Moorhen

Wood pigeon

Waiting for the Kingfisher.

As the weather today unexpectedly turned clear and sunny, although cold, I decided to pay another visit to Cleethorpes Country Park to try for the kingfisher, this time complete with camera gear.  The plan was to settle down set up for the prepared perch where I knew it frequented; I even took a chair to make things more comfortable.  There were other birdwatchers and photographers about though and I made the fatal error of chasing the bird when it was seen in the channel round the nearby island.  True to form when I left my spot that was where it settled and I missed it this way not once, but three times.  I shan't make the same mistake next time I go!!  I did manage some distant shots though.

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Kingfisher

While waiting for the kingfisher the black-throated diver and goosander both came very close and allowed for photography.  The goosander is a fabulous bird, but, although very special, the diver is in winter plumage and a pale imitation of the same bird in full breeding colours.  Wouldn't it be nice if stayed long enough but by then it will have headed back north.  It was interesting to see that the black-headed gulls were beginning to moult into their breeding plumage.

Black-throated Diver.

Goosander

Black-headed Gull, winter plumage

Black-headed Gull, developing summer plumage

Black-Throated Diver.

Goosander

All images taken with Canon 7D and 500mm +1.4 converter.

Dog Walking and Kingfisher Hunting.

It was damp and drizzly today and no good for photography but it was good to be out anyway.  I had volunteered to take Jet, the dog, for a walk so headed for Cleethorpes Country Park to see if I could see the kingfisher that had been showing well.  When I arrived there were other photographers there for the goosander and black-throated diver and they had seen the kingfisher but had only captured distant shots of it.  On a walk round the lake I saw both the diver and the goosander but no sign of the kingfisher.  Other birds present included mallard, coot, moorhen, pochard, tufted duck, black headed gulls, woodpigeon, magpie and sparrowhawk.  While out and about in recent days I had seen hazel catkins fully out and snowdrops just coming into flower.  The aconites in our garden are also beginning to poke through.

Pochard