|
|
Stephen Burch's Birding & Dragonfly Website |
|
|
Home | Trip Reports | Gallery | UK index | Oxon pics | UK pics | Dragonflies | Other Nature | Contact | Links |
||
|
|
Stephen Burch's Birding & Dragonfly Website |
|
|
Home | Trip Reports | Gallery | UK index | Oxon pics | UK pics | Dragonflies | Other Nature | Contact | Links |
||
|
|
|
 |
Stonechat, Childrey Field, Oxon 20 February 2024 Whenever I am passing, I always stop and spend a few minutes at the muck heap on the east side of Childrey Field. Usually there is nothing much around, but today there was a nice pair of Stonechat present briefly. This one even posed nicely and close-ish to the car for a few seconds! Shame about the unnatural perch though. Click to enlarge |
 |
Grey Wagtail, Letcombe Brook, Oxon 7 February 2024 Another remote control shot (see 23 November), but this time with the camera at ground level. This gave me a nice low angle photo while I was sitting comfortably in the car nearby! Click to enlarge |
 |
Grey Wagtail, Letcombe Brook, Oxon 7 February 2024 As above, but a head on view. |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 1 February 2023 Taken on a sunny morning at last, with the water level now considerably lower. This bird was hunting some way off, but as I tracked it, it suddenly grabbed this unfortunate huge fish, considered to be a (smallish!) Pike. In only a few seconds it started tossing it around prior to swallowing it. I don't usually like backlit photos, but this time I think it adds something to the image. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 1 February 2023 Crop of photo above. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 1 February 2023 A few moments after the photo above: on the process of swallowing the Pike. The bird became very sedentary shortly afterwards! Click to enlarge |
 |
Grey Heron, West Oxon 1 February 2024 This bird suddenly appeared quite close, and I just managed to get onto it before it disappeared. Click to enlarge |
 |
Goldeneye, West Oxon 1 February 2024 This bird came quite close once in nice light. Click to enlarge |
 |
Pintail, West Oxon 1 February 2024 An unusual bird to get (just) within photo range at this site. This image has cropped quite well considering its distance. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 18 January 2024 After months of flooding I was finally able to access this site on a very cold but wonderfully sunny morning, only to find the water mostly frozen over! As a result everything was very distant, including this bird. From the leg colour, it appears this bird is beginning to take on breeding plumage, despite it being only mid-January. Click to enlarge |
 |
Waxwing, Medivet, Wantage/Grove, Oxon 11 January 2024 This single bird was spotted by John Kearvell and I managed to get to the spot only about 1/2 hour later to find no sign. However it then re-appeared briefly before being flushed and chased by a Sparrowhawk! In the short time it was present it was difficult to get un-obscured shots and these two are the best I could manage. For this shot, the building behind prevented it being a silhouette against the grey sky. Click to enlarge |
 |
Waxwing, Medivet, Wantage/Grove, Oxon 11 January 2024 Crop of the shot above to remove most of the out of focus twig running across the birds back. Click to enlarge |
 |
Waxwing, Medivet, Wantage/Grove, Oxon 11 January 2024 A clean shot of this bird but with a cluttered background and being a silhouette against the leaden sky. Click to enlarge |
 |
Grey Wagtail, Letcombe Brook, Oxon 23 November 2023 I noticed that this bird had been coming to this post quite regularly recently, so I decided to try my hand at remote shooting with the camera being operated by WIFI from a tablet, a few meters away. This allowed me to get a much closer view than the one I achieved earlier in October (see below). Click to enlarge |
 |
Stonechat, Scary Hill, Oxon 17 November 2023 Struggling to get photos at the moment, so good that a pair of Stonechats are back beside the road at Scary Hill. Having found them easily, I only managed a few shots before they vanished. Click to enlarge |
 |
Stonechat, Scary Hill, Oxon 17 November 2023 The male. |
 |
Kingfisher, Letcombe Brook, Oxon 31 October 2023 Great to see a Kingfisher again at this spot for the first time in almost a year. As usual here it was a fleeting visit before it was disturbed. However very luckily its short time on this somewhat distant post coincided with a brief sunny spell. The high contrast certainly helped with the AF on this one, compared with the duller Grey Wagtail below. Click to enlarge |
 |
Grey Wagtail, Letcombe Brook, Oxon 26 October 2023 Surprisingly, this bird decided to land on the nearer of the two metal posts a couple of times while it preened, and also unusually hung around for more than a few seconds. It's not often it is possible to get a photo of this species almost level with the camera. Close to the maximum useful distance though with the R7 and the 100-500, even using the x1.4TC. Click to enlarge |
 |
Marsh Harrier, West Oxon 10 October 2023 Lovely sunny conditions after the mist had cleared and the before the cloud rolled in. This bird showed better than usual, resulting in this photo which is probably my closest to date in the UK. Click to enlarge |
 |
Marsh Harrier, West Oxon 10 October 2023 A slightly closer approach but the wings aren't in an ideal position. Click to enlarge |
 |
Kingfisher, West Oxon 10 October 2023 Nice to see the immature male Kingfisher is still around, this far into the autumn, albeit only briefly. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 13 September 2023 An unusual very close approach! Probably the same bird as last week, but the legs have now progressed to being almost all black. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 13 September 2023 Crop of photo above Click to enlarge |
 |
Marsh Harrier West Oxon 13 September 2023 Also a closer than usual approach. Click to enlarge |
 |
Great White Egret, West Oxon 6 September 2023 The legs on this bird are still partially in their yellow breeding colour but the bill has already turned into winter yellow. Click to enlarge |
 |
Mute Swan, West Oxon 2 September 2023 Flying in this bird presented itself briefly for the camera. Click to enlarge |
 |
Kingfisher, West Oxon 2 September 2023 Last year, at least three different Kingfishers turned up at this site briefly in late August and into September. This year, they seem less reliable and visit only infrequently. This looks like a juvenile male that stayed for a full 10mins, early morning. That's an extended visit for this site! Click to enlarge |
 |
Kingfisher, West Oxon 2 September 2023 Looking for a fish! It made one unsuccessful dive before it was off. Click to enlarge |
© All pictures copyright Stephen Burch |
|
