14th to 20th February 2012

The first images here were taken either in my garden or down by the R. Stour at the back of Waitrose in the town.  (That's where I was hoping to catch sight of the elusive Treecreeper that I'd spotted on an earlier walk.)

Blackbird

Remember Stumpy?  This is his third winter in the garden.  He appeared in February as usual and seems in fine form.  He certainly bosses the others about a lot.

Stumpy (Blackbird)

Goldfinch continue to hog the feeders.  They get through a feeder of sunflower-hearts in a day.  Usually there are about 8-12 present, but I have counted 40.  That was the exception.  I think they must have got their visiting schedules mixed up.

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

 I 'textured' this image to make it look as if it were on fine canvas.

Goldfinch

House Sparrows continue to amuse.  They have a working agreement with the Goldfinch and eat at separate feeders.  Sometimes they'll swap over.

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

"Prêt à manger" (House Sparrow)

Tits are less frequent visitors, but this little chap(ess) did appear whilst I was photographing the sparrows.

Blue Tit

When I went over to Stourhead I found the following during my walk round the lake.

Blackbird (fighting)

They came rolling out of the bushes right up to my feet in a blur of feathers.  I think the result was a 'score draw'.  Both walked away with dignity (?)

Coot

This is a hard-water area. ☺☺☺

Chaffinch ♂

Robin

Robin

This next image was a grabbed shot and was taken through double-glazing on a rainy day.  It did have to perch on the scruffiest bit of the garden that it could find.  (You should have seen the ones I threw away.  Well, perhaps not.)

Wren

I managed to squeeze in a visit to the town meadows at Blandford Forum.  The prize shots there had to be the Kingfisher.

Before them, I took this picture of a Moorhen and its reflection.

Moorhen

Now, the Kingfisher images.

Him ...

... and Her

I've called this one "360° Lookout"

I'd heeded my own advice from the previous visit and taken an extra extension out with me.  There's always something on the box that these come in to the effect of 'do not use two together'.  Ignoring that, the final kit with which I took the shot was:

Canon 1DMkIV body with a Canon 300mm f2.8 lens plus a 2x extension and a 1.4x extension.

I recovered from that and looked around.  An Otter had passed by unnoticed by me and this Black-headed Gull seemed to think it was safe to do what gulls do best.

Black-headed Gull