CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

That time of the year has arrived again, unfortuneatly no snow yet so this one is from stock.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.

Memory of a robin

The sun shone earlier so a trip down to the Wetlands was in order. After a spot of lunch I left Jacque with a book in the warmth of the centre and I took a stroll round the lake. After a few minutes I noticed a robin quite close. I took the opportunity of a photograph. Walking on a bit further I turned and noticed it was right behind me. It was then that I saw he was watching me. Walking a little further I realised I was being followed. I thought for a moment and threw it a couple of mealworms that I just happen to have in my pocket it was then that I remembered this happened a couple of weeks ago and this must be the same robin and that I had been recognised. Unfortunately a couple of noisey kids burst onto the scene and frightened him away. I will go prepared with mealworms in my pocket on future trips.

Comming alive again

Most of this year has been devoid of garden wildlife. Hedgehogs were driven off after several were killed by a neighbour, foxes by local building works and the birds ?????
Yesterday it all changed with an invasion of birds. The blue tit which hadn't been seen for several months appeared on the feeders.

The blackbird was after the berries on the tree we planted a couple of years ago. He brought along a couple of friends.

The first coal tit of the year joined in and fed very well.

And the robin came to see what was going on. First time since last Christmas. I am at a puzzle as to what is going on. Now I must get to work on the animals and get that badger calling again. I have noticed that the RSPB at Pulborough have stopped feeding the birds again. I wonder what the pathetic excuse is this time.

Bewicks bath time

 I have said before that my advancing years became a huge handicap for my photography. Most of my photographs are taken from or very near to my car. I now visit the WWT Arundel where I can enjoy a coffee with my camera in the warmth of  the centre. Some of the birds have their wing clipped but many are visiters and are free to come and go as they wish. I am looking forward to the winter migrants to visit.

 In the meantime I content myself with photographing the Bewicks. I have done this before with wild ones many years ago but never got pictures like these.

Bath time over, now it can  show just what a beautiful bird this is. I was a huge fan of Sir Peter Scott many years ago and Iam a great admirer of his work. He offered me a job over 60 years ago but declined as it was too far for me travel. Looking back I wish I had accepted it.

Bewick swan

 A visit to the Wetlands earlier was not very fruitful, no small wild birds which are usually in abundance. So I had to be satisfied with the imports. The bewick swan is a favourite of mine and the pair at the wetlands love the camera.

 I have photographed them in the wild but never this close. They migrate and spend the winter just a few miles away but to get this opportunity for portraits is too good to miss.

This bird was less than 2 metres away and posed for me quite gladly.

I'm going bats.

 I have spent a lot of time over the past few months searching for the wildlife that has disappeared from my neighborhood. The hedgehogs have gone, the foxes are rarely seen, barn owls, all the small garden birds, red kites that have been seen over my house, all gone. Because I have not been up to it the garden has fallen into a bit of  a wild area this has resulted in many wild flowers growing on the lawn, which in turn has attracted the insects. This summer we have grasshoppers, crickets loads of butterflies and moths and now we have bats every evening. This has given me a new area for my photography. These two photo's are my first attempt at capturing movement with the aid of flash. I am not a lover of flash but I can see a good use for it. I can now sit in my garden in the evening and enjoy my photography again. Not my best photo's but I have the will to improve.

Fallow deer

 Where I live in Sussex there is an abundance of deer and local to me we have many fallow deer.

 It has always amazed me on the many colours they are found in. This is mum and offspring.

This is the dark variety of which there are large herds present. As usual all of these pictures were taken from my car.

Infra-red camera

 Been busy at home with not much energy left at the end of the day I have resorted to what is going on in the garden. This is Beatie seems more interested in the smell of the flowers than his supper.

This is a younger fox. You can see in the background the hedgehog dining room with one having its evening meal.

This is Beatie again, always last to leave having made sure there is no food left.

Oyster catcher

The camera hasn't been very rewarding lately. The field where I usually watch a barn owl was used as an overspill car park for a local museum, the grass was flattened and therefor the voles scarpered and left nothing for the owls. The foxes still visit the garden but I don't fancy sitting up till 3 in the morning on the off-chance of a shot. I did pop down to the wetlands for coffee one day and got this shot from one of the hides of an oyster catcher hiding in amongst the daisies. It now sits on one of my birthday cards, hoping that it sells well.

Still keeping busy

With my age is creeping up on me and I am not so avtive as I would like to be. Nevertheless some of my wildlife visits me in my garden. With my infra-red cameras I can go to bed at night and let my visitors photograph themselves and I can study the results in the morning. This is Beatie the fox a regular caller for his supper..

I get out in the car on some nice evenings and I have a favourite spot where I can sit in the car and photograph through the drivers window and you would be surprised at some of the creatures I get. This barn owl is one of a pair. I think they have young nearby, so I have my fingers crossed.

From the same spot as the barn owl I look out the other side and I and I have this steep chalk cliff the remains of a quarry and high up near the top is the nest site of a pair of peregrines. I am not sure whether they have been successful this year so my fingers are crossed for that one too.

This is the male, he's getting quite used to me, although he is a long way off.

I got both male and female in this shot and I didn't notice the wood pidgeon fly across but the male peregrine certainly did. Lucky wood pidgeon.

Still looking

I am being tormented at the moment. EE and BT cannot make up their minds on whose fault it was when I was cut off for over a week because of a loose wire in a box down the road from me. I lost my internet, my home phone and safe-link which is very important for Jacque's welfare. On top of that I have to drive a couple of miles from my home to get a signal on my mobile. Not even a letter of apology. On top of this the hedgehogs have been driven away by the people next door, builders a hundred yards away from me have cut down trees that shaded the site they were working on which has disturbed the birds nesting and on top of all this my village has been classed as one of the most polluted places in the country. No wonder there is a lack of wildlife here, except of course the peregrines who never seem to let me down.

Barn Owl

 The hedgehogs having disappeared from my garden and no news on the badger, I took a trip down to see how the peregrines were doing, no luck there either. While I was searchig for signs of the peregrines an old friend turned up.

I have been photographing this barn owl for some three years now, he made one pass when I was able to grab a couple of shots before he flew into the  into the bushes.

And there he stayed. It was cold and damp so I left him to it and headed for home.

SUCCESS !

I have had for some time had small holes dug in the grass in my front garden. I had thought it was one of the foxes so I decided to put an infra-red camera out and see if I could find the culprit. Nothing happened for a few nights just the odd fox. Then this happened, the camera captured this image. It appears to be a badger (female) leaving the garden through a hole in the hedge. I must now find a way of getting her to visit on a more regular basis. It looks as though she has got a family so who knows. Wild animal count in the garden has now gone up to five. Grey squirrel, wood mouse, hedgehog, fox, badger.

Yellow hammer

Firstly I would like to apologise, I have been disconected for over a week, no internet, no mobile and no landline because somebody pulled a wire off in a box down the road from me. I was palmed off with all the excuses under the sun until I got really angry and it was fixed within the hour.
I kept myself busy in the meantime and made several visits to my new spot.

A little bit of bread and no cheese

I was greeted each time by a pair of yellow hammers.

Infra-red in the garden

 Not the best pictures I ever took but they are a good record of what goes on in my garden after hours. This fox is broken tail (BT for short) he has been coming for some two years now.

 Here he is again tucking in to some dog biscuits. He usually has a small dish of dog food which the hedgehog love and will eat if they get there first.

 This is a stranger and looks as though he needs a good feed.

This is BT again with one of his youngsters. I don't give them large meals just a small pleasent tasre to let them know they are welcome.

New Patch

 As many of you know I am now into my eighties and my legs will not carry me far from the car. Just lately I have had a great deal of trouble finding sites that do not include much walking.  Today I found a nice quiet car park on top of a hill surrounded with trees and bushey undergrowth. The weather was foul, dark and pouring with rain but I stuck it out and it soon cleared. Within minutes of the rain stopping a linnet appeared and began to serenade me.

When the linnet decided that it had enough it was quickly replaced by this yellowhammer who then told me what it had for its tea. It took him about 15 minutes to tell me about its little bit of bread but no cheese. The rain clouds brought this little party to an end and the birds soon disappeared.

Mealworms for hedgehogs?

I have been feeding the hedgehogs mealworms for several years now when I discovered from an expert on such matters that mealworms although they are a popular bird food they are harmful to hedgehogs. They affect the bone structure by causing serious weakening and other ailments. So they immediately withdrawn from my shopping list and replaced with tinned dog food. Well, I tried it for the first time to-night and what a success. Within 30 seconds of me putting the dish out Prickles was tucking in. By the time I had got my camera out this was all that was left.
So no more mealworms just cheap old dog food they like it much more.

Busy day

This is a white front goose. This is the species that Sir Peter Scott saved from being wiped out by game shooters and of course was the start of the WWT.

A pair of white fronts happily pairing up for the season.

Returning home in the evening with lots to do with the days photography and old friend appeared. This is BT (broken tail) who disappeared almost a year ago, looking very healthy and fit.

He was a little startled at first but soon settled down and came back later and had a meal of dog biscuits.

Another visit from Prickles, he is becoming quite a  regular. He will no tolerate me in the garden to take the pictures. Now my neighbours can see what all the flashings about.

Should have known better

Decided to pay a visit to the wetlands and have a spot of lunch and take my camera with me of course. It turned out to be a silly move because I forgot the kids were on Easter Hols from school  With all the noise and running around in their games the wild life was almost non-exsistant. I did find this smew that couldn't care less and was trying to sleep..

So it was back home to the hedgehogs which I am pleased to say seem to have recovered from last years incident. This one is called Spike and as yet I don't know whether it is male or female.

As you can see this is a much younger one and is easily recognised by the spines are all over the place and pointing in all directions. I am yet to give it a name.

Smew

 Went down to the wetlands at Arundel for lunch today. It was a bit miserable, wet and cold. nevertheless I took my camera and through the window I saw my first smew for quite a few years. They are normally a shy bird but this one seemed quite content with all the other birds around.

There was a female too but she was shy and stayed well away so I had to be content with just the male. It made my day and the lunch wasn't bad too.