Friday 31 December 2010

Friday 31st December 2010


Back in Barming after the Christmas tour.  I was confined to the house most of the day, but still managed to see huge flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares that were spooked by a Sparrowhawk that made at least four passes down South Street.  A couple of blog followers had emailed me while I was away with reports of Waxwings locally and late in the afternoon I followed up the lead from Donna. 

The Barming Dozen - reduced to silhouettes in the glum of the last day of 2010.

I was really glad she'd contacted me because when I arrived at the location she'd told me about I saw 12x Waxwings perched together in a tree.  Sorry if all this Waxwing talk is getting boring, but these were the first Waxwings I'd seen on the Barming section of the patch and even more satisfying that they were only a few minutes walk away from home. The birds were constantly dropping down into a private garden and conscious that the area is PRIVATE I knocked on the door of the garden owner to ask their permission to take some photos from outside their house.  The owner was very interested in the birds an invited me to go into their back garden to take some snaps.  The birds were feeding voraciously on a Rowan tree not 10ft away but the light was absolutely awful and most of the 'perfect' shots suffered from camera shake (not helped by my excitement).


The birds were even drinking out of the guttering at the front of the house as I bade farewell to Colin, the owner.  I've posted a few record shots and wanted to thank Colin, the owner, for allowing me to see these birds so close up and Donna for alerting me in the first place, a great way to finish the year!

I so wanted this one to turn out OK!  Oh well, New Year's Resolution - persuade someone to buy me a better camera (always blame the tools!).

A Happy New Year to one and all!

5 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Cant get fed up with waxers Adam, they wont be here again in such numbers for many a year, so best get out and enjoy them, maybe even get some more cracking photo's................:-) :-) :-)

Phil said...

Bored, Waxwings.....don't understand Adam!
I've noticed the same pink berries in lots of people's pictures, obviously a Waxwing magnet!
Happy new year Adam.

Ken. said...

Hi Adam.
Welldone with the Waxwings. I know what you mean about picture quality, I am stil waiting for decent weather to get some good shots.They are turning up everywhere at the mo, arent they?

Greenie said...

Adam ,
You've certainly had your fill of Waxwings , amazingly still none at the Research Station .
Have thoroughlt enjoyed your shots .
Best wishes to you and yours for the New Year .

Paul said...

Hi Adam, some great pics there. Despite the fact that it seems Waxwings are somewhat of a common sight just now, I would imagine that it will be a few years before they are "all over" the UK in such numbers again. I dont think we could ever get bored of such a beautiful bird.