Stephen Burch's Birding Website UK Bird Pics Spring/Summer 2020

UK Bird Pics Spring/Summer 2020
	Buzzard, South Wales 27 August 2020 Time for another visit to Ian Howells' great Woodland hide in South Wales! This time the possibilities included Sparrowhawk (as previously in July - see below), Buzzard and most excitingly Goshawk! Unfortunately, the weather was poor for a substantial part of the day and there was no sign of the Goshawk. However the Buzzard performed well before and after the rain. Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Buzzard photos from this session, click here.
	Buzzard, South Wales 27 August 2020 Close up on the branch intended for the Sparrowhawk! Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Buzzard photos from this session, click here.
	Buzzard, South Wales 27 August 2020 On the stump with prey, where I think it was supposed to be! Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Buzzard photos from this session, click here.
	Buzzard, South Wales 27 August 2020 My only semi action shot of the day. Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Buzzard photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 27 August 2020 The juvenile male Sparrowhawk also came in during the morning, and was dramatically changed in appearance since mid July. Its moult was well progressed giving a rather "patchy" effect. In a few weeks time, he should be looking rather fine (if still visiting)... Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Sparrowhawk photos from this session and that in July, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 27 August 2020 Close up. The bird was intent on a small bird hiding in the vegetation just below! Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Sparrowhawk photos from this session and that in July, click here.
	Grey Heron, Bourne, Lincs 5 - 6 August 2020 From a great session at Wildlife Photography Hides. Also present during the night were up to 3 Otters and a Tawny Owl or two. During the day there were male and female Kingfishers to be seen. The setup was clearly intended for reflection photos, which were helped by it being a calm night. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session.
	Grey Heron, Bourne, Lincs 5 - 6 August 2020 See above. Zoomed in a bit for more detail, but no reflection Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Grey Heron, Bourne, Lincs 5 - 6 August 2020 See above. And another. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Tawny Owl, Bourne, Lincs 5 - 6 August 2020 Also in view, from time to time, were 1 or 2 Tawny Owls that would appear, sometimes announcing their presence with calls, and then fly off shortly afterwards with their "prey". Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Tawny Owl, Bourne, Lincs 5 - 6 August 2020 Another Tawny shot on a different perch. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Kingfishers, Bourne, Lincs 6 August 2020 Very early in the morning, shortly after all the night time visitors had melted away, this pair of Kingfishers appeared. As the light was very poor, I tried supplementing the natural light with one the flash units. I was lucky to catch this shot of them mating - it was very brief -all over in a fraction of a second! Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Kingfishers, Bourne, Lincs 6 August 2020 Another photo taken very early in the morning using supplementary flash. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Kingfishers, Bourne, Lincs 6 August 2020 A little later - all natural light for this photo of both of them together - not something I've ever seen before this session. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Kingfisher, Bourne, Lincs 6 August 2020 Unfortunately there were only a couple of dives during the day, and this is the only one worth showing. Click to enlarge Click here to go to a gallery of photos from this session
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 This juvenile Sparrowhawk had recently started to come into Ian Howells' perches and even feed on mice etc. So I arranged a session with the hope of getting some nice photos. This involved a meeting time of 7am, which required a rather early start in the morning! As well as the more usual perched shots, I thought I'd make an attempt at some action shots as well using my 100-400 zoom. This is the first of three that turned out reasonably sharp despite the dull conditions which made for difficult compromises between ISO, shutter time and aperture. Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 As above - another action shot, but this time a fraction of a a second earlier when the bird was still coming down. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 Another flight shot; note the eye focused on the perch. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 On one of the more distant perches, using the 500mm lens. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 Close up, again with the 500mm lens. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 Another shot. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Sparrowhawk, South Wales 15 July 2020 And another, this time head on. For a gallery of all my photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 Had a great session in the morning at Pete Whieldon's Woodland Hide, despite the rain and wind! The afternoon from 13:30 was less productive with no shows, perhaps due to the strengthening wind. However by then I feel I had secured a good number of photos. This is the male about to make short work of a mouse! Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The female (on the left) had just given the juvenile a morsel of food prior to this photo. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The female on a post with a nice dark background in the rain. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The female on a more natural perch. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The male just landing. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The male with mouse. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The male with mouse striking an impressive pose. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Kestrel, Otterbourne, Hampshire 27 June 2020 The male in the rain. Click to enlarge. For a Gallery of all my Kestrel photos from this session, click here.
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 My final visit of 2020, only about 3 days before he departed. Given his age, a return next year is probably too much to hope for. By now, the glorious lockdown weather had well and truly broken and this was a largely cloudy afternoon. He was around, on & off, from about 16:00 onwards, but spent much of this time sitting in the nearby tree and on the perchs. Nevertheless, I managed a few flight shots even in the dull conditions. Click to enlarge. For a gallery of all my Cuckoo photos, click here.
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 Similar to one of my photos from the 27 May (see below), but not as symmetric, although the light was a bit better. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 A low perch gave this unusual view from above. Shame he was facing away from me. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 Again on the low perch. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 For once, not on an artificial perch but out in the open on the nearby tree. Click to enlarge
	Stonechat, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 Today the Stonechat was coming in much regularly than previously. Click to enlarge
	Redstart, Thursley Common, Surrey 11 June 2020 Unlike previously, the Redstart was on the perch less often. A ground shot makes for something a bit different! Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 29 May 2020 After my two earlier sessions (see below), I returned two days after the last visit with high hopes given the much improved sunny conditions. Sadly it was not to be! I again arrived at about 15:00 but this time there was no immediate sign of Colin. At around 18:15 he appeared in a nearby tree only to fly off into the distance, apparently to see off another calling male. He didn't arrive on the perch until around 18:45 which gave only about half an hour before the sun went off the perch. During that time, he didn't perform well and spent most of the time feeding on the ground - there must have been a glut of mealworms left by earlier photographers. So no flight shots but there was some compensation in this ground shot, taken after the sun had gone and everyone was packing up to go. Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Cuckoo photos, click here.
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 29 May 2020 After the evening sun had left the perch but was still strongly shining on the bushes behind. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 29 May 2020 On the perch in the early evening sun. Click to enlarge
	Redstart, Thursley Common, Surrey 29 May 2020 This Redstart (and a Stonechat occasionally) was around on all visits and presented me with a dilemma. The best lens for the smaller birds was my 500f4 but this was too long Colin for which my 100-400 was ideal. Trying for Redstart and Stonechat photos with the 500f4 lens on, I always had the risk of missing Colin's arrival for one of his less frequent visits. Fortunately he would generally announce his arrival with a loud Cuckoo before flying in - cue a rapid change of setup on my part! Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 27 May 2020 After the mammoth session the week before (see below), I decided to return almost a week later but for a shorter period in the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately the afternoon turned out to be largely cloudy, but Colin performed pretty well. He turned up for almost half an hour only about 20mins after my 15:00 arrival, and then for a longer session from about 18:30. This photo was taken in a brief sunny spell, note the golden light of the late afternoon sun. Click to enlarge For a gallery of all my Cuckoo photos, click here.
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 27 May 2020 A photo taken in the more usual overcast conditions that day. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 27 May 2020 Incoming onto the perch. These actions shots needed a high ISO setting to freeze the movement in the dull early evening light, whilst trying to maintain a reasonable depth of field. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 27 May 2020 The classic wings outstretched photo coming in from directly behind the perch. Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 21 May 2020 With the lockdown eased so that driving reasonable distances for day trips was back on the cards, I was keen to find out if Colin had returned for what would be his sixth season. I couldn't find out anything but Mark Chivers, who is more in-tune with social media, found a single report saying he was back! So shortly afterwards, I made the trip. With an early start, I was on-site around 8am only to find out that he hadn't shown at all so far. It was a hot sunny day, and it wasn't until 12:20 that he first made an appearance. The light was then very harsh and he didn't stay long. By 18:00 there had been no further sign, and having spent 10hrs in the sun I was thinking of departing. It is just as well I didn't as he then promptly appeared. He only stayed about 10mins but the light was superb now and I got a few worthwhile shots - see here and below. Click to enlarge. For a gallery of all my Cuckoo photos, click here.
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 21 May 2020 On the perch! Click to enlarge
	Cuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 21 May 2020 Just landing on the perch! Click to enlarge
	CCuckoo, Thursley Common, Surrey 21 May 2020 Incoming on the perch! Click to enlarge
© All pictures copyright Stephen Burch

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