Sunday 1 November 2015

New birds spotted!

I'm just doing a short update this week, mainly because I've had teething problems with my new lens and am not too happy with the shots I've been getting (it turns out it needed some micro adjustments).
As a result I'll simply be posting the two new birds I saw, which should bring my total to 140.

Fieldfare
I saw a Fieldfare for the first time last year, but I was unable to get a photo of it.
I saw this one in Wales, while visiting my sister. It was part of a fairly large flock and a few Redwings were there as well (again, I missed images).
Fieldfares are thrushes and typically live in countries such as Scandanavia. They travel to the UK in October, typically staying until Mar-May. They are gorgeous looking birds and are easy to pick out in the field due to their grey heads and distinctive spotted breasts. They love berries and fruit, and will typically strip any bushes and trees they come across.


This fellow was high up in a tree, meaning this was the best shot I could get.

Common Gull
I headed off to Radipole Lake in search of Bearded Tits. While I did see some, they were too far out for good photos. The hide was also a wasted trip due to workers scaring all the birds away. Oh well, there's always next time.
Common Gulls are so named, not because they are exceedingly common (they're not) but because they favour common ground. They look quite similar to Herring Gulls but has gentler looking features, a black eye and greenish legs. This one was swimming, which made it harder to identify, luckily, a fellow birdwatcher pointed him out to me.

An uncropped shot of the Common Gull.