Iris by the Pond x 2 Exposure settings

 

and an Orange-tip Butterfly visiting the lilac Honesty flowers for good measure.

Kestrel nest box : Turf wars begin...

 As promised, here are a few shot (1 minute long) recordings from the nestbox, seems that it is in high demand with Stockdoves, Jackdaws and Kestrels all wanting the real-estate for 2024 nesting. None of the pairs has started to lay eggs yet but clealry there is a lot of enthusiam to secure the site. Time will tell who will win out, I'm quietly routing for the Kestrels! 

Jackdaw and Male Kestrel fisty cuffs...

Stock Dove gets short shrift from Male Kestrel

Male & Female Kestrel 'singing' to each other.

Chiffchaff Enjoying the Blackthorn

 

Lights, Camera, Action! But not yet!

 

I put this nest box up last year in March 2023 Kestrel Nest Box the hope that it would attract a mating pair. Over the last few days I have seen the male and female kestrels making sporradic trips to the box and showing some interest in it as a potential nest site. I took this picture from a distance with my Nikon, as I thought I could see something in the nest box opening but it was too far away to be clear.  As I zoomed in I was able to see it was the male, the female was with him moments earlier.  This picture is however not the main prize; I had previously tied a camera trap to one of the branches (see red arrow) in anticipation of some 2024 Kestrel activity. I have so far resisted the urge to retrive the camera, and will leave it in place for a few days until the batteries die.  Hope to have some good close up action to share soon, watch this space...  We had Kestrels successfully nest in the barn owl box last year and I suspect these may be the same pair as I have not seen any action back at the barn owl box just yet. May be this year we will be lucky and get raptors in both boxes.

What!

 I have to admit that when it comes to grey squirrels, I'm not a fan, but this encounter did make me smile. That said, he has to vacate the bird box or there will be a forced eviction!

Just Lazy...

You can't knock 'em - Gotta love a little Blue Tit - I Filled the feeder up and sat back for an hour with the camera. Spent half the session with ISO and shutter settings too high.  Grainy images lacking detail, but that's not the birds fault!  As spring is springing now is the time to get familair with the camera settings again and test out image quality on some easy to find garden birds. 7/10 for these!

Not so common House Sparrow - The Cockney Bird of the countryside - Salt of the earth!

Muntjac Hide and Seek

Its now officially a thing... Everytime I wander around my little plot, I expect to see at least one deer, typically they are always one step ahead of me and moving in the opposite direction away from my twig-cracking footsteps. 

The Goldfiches were out in number today, probably about ten or so in in a smal flock that were doing the rounds with the LTTs.

Fieldfare, Jelly Ears and Long-tailed Tits.

 

Difficult to get a clear picture at the top of the trees, these pictures were about as good as it got from a flock of approximately 20 birds.

Jelly Ear (Edible) Fungus on Field Maple

Somehow looks angry!

Goldcrest showing why it got its name - Clearest image so far but high ISO and not quite in focus! 

Another Roe young male showing the velvet on its new year antlers.

Gang of about eight Long-Tailed T's working their way through the wood. Grainy image!

What you doing here?

 

Once again, it’s a Saturday afternoon and I'm standing in the copse waiting for the Goldcrests to show themselves from behind the laurel leaves - unobligingly, they never did, their chirps suggested that they were discussing my presence. After about 10 minutes of unsuccessful Goldcrest bingo, this young roe deer ran right up to me, almost within touching distance, he did not appear to see me and I dare not move for fear of scaring him. After a few seconds he slowly moved away and circled around the Goldcrest's laurel tree. 

I thought I had missed the opportunity, however unlike the Goldcrests, he came back into clear view a few just a few meters further away.   Not quite believing my luck, I slowly raised the camera and snapped the first picture of him feeding (tongue out); on hearing the click of camera shutter, he turned to look in my direction, I quickly snapped the second picture, and as soon as he heard the second click, he took off at pace. Had the camera been set to continuous high-speed mode, who knows what additional frames may have been captured!

Muntjac Buck - Literally Barking Mad!

Muntjac Deer Slots

 

Roe Deer Slot 

Popped out with the Nikon for an hour today, Mr. Fox put in a brief showing but I was unable to capture a picture.  Two Muntjac deer broke cover out of the treeline by the bounday fence and one of them was kind enough to stop, look back at me and then 'bark' to sound his discontent at my disrupting his day. Yesterday there were approximately six Roe deer in the adjacent field which I had seen taking a drink from around my pond before moving on into the open countryside.

Close but no cigar...

Low light conditions in my little wood/copse but have been able to see two Goldcrests flitting from tree to tree in search of insects, spiders etc. Only managed this one grainy and out of focus image as birds were mostly hidden behind branches and twigs and never sat still for more than a second. 'Slightly better' pictures taken in 2023 are here on this blog Goldcrest

Better news from today however was that walking in search of Goldcrests, I put up a woodcock RSPB Woodcock Information on the boundary ditch next to the wood; it was sadly too fast for me to get a picture but its the first one I can confirm a sighting for at Longbeach farm and flew away showing that classic woodcock outline of wings, beak and ; it has been added to my species list of birds in the left sidebar.  That's one new species added to the list in January, so I can't complaint about that. 

Sparrowhawk Death Stare...

Sadly my camera has been put away over winter but on Saturday morning I just happened to spot this Sparrowhawk [Female] out of the window as I was going down for breakfast.  It's far from a great picture and the twig crossing her face does not add to the aesthetic, but given that it had been so long since I 'clicked' a picture, I wanted to capture this as a reminder of the potential nature photo opportunities that Longbeach Farm will yeild in 2024. 

Let's hope the phtography imporoves along with the weather and that I find the time to get out and about again on my little piece of Fenland soil to capture all creatures great and small.   

Longbeach Farm Moth Hunters!

Last year (2023) I was lucky enough to be introduced to two brilliant Moth enthusiasts Ian and Jeremy (Jem) who were keen to spend some time on my little 6 acre plot, looking for all things moth related.  Having the opportunity to have an expert catalog the species found at Longbeach was an opportunity too good to miss - it was a win-win situation, Ian and Jem had the opportunity to search in a new location, and I got to benefit from their dedication, expertise and time.   

The document showcases the findings and is the result of a lot of meticulous recording and identification by Ian. 687 moths of 118 species were recorded over the three nights in total. - Amazing! 

Having had the benefit of this experience, I am hoping to find further opportunities to have experts/dedicated enthusiastic amateurs record other flora and fauna at LBF so that I can compile a comprehensive catalog of wildlife on my little plot and add to my own observations.  Hope you enjoy the report!

Macro Tryouts 3

 Dock Beetle

Earwig

Slug

Macro Tryouts 2

Twin-lobed Deerfly

 

Red Soldier Beetle

Hoverfly

Flesh Fly eating carrion (Dead Bird)

Common Darter headshot

Random Macro Images from today @ LBF

Unidentified (tiny) spider - Morning rainfall & Small Leafhopper larvae

Common Blue Detail

Inkcap

Red Admiral 

Small Red Eyed Damselfly

Small Copper

Spotted Wolf Spider with egg sack

Wild Borage

Snail hiding in wild carrot flower cluster