Wednesday 14 November 2012

'Barred' from Reculver

With a nice sunny day in east Kent today and Matt Hindle alerting me to 3 Waxwings at Chambers Wall at Reculver this afternoon, I decided to make a dash after work to see if I could connect with these splendid birds. Matt had also found a skulking Barred Warbler near the railway crossing at Chambers Wall so this would also be a new bird if I could connect. As I crossed the railway line the 3 Waxwings (177) were immediately seen in the tree Matt had told me they would be in and with the sun just about still shining I made some efforts to get some photos. As most Waxwings do, they showed very well and allowed me to get some lovely views of them and considering the light I got some nice shots. If I was here an hour earlier no doubt the shots would have been brilliant! 



Waxwing

With the Waxwings in the bag I turned around and looked in the area near the railway crossing where Matt had seen the Barred Warbler. I spent some time just scanning the bushes when suddenly I caught some movement. I raised my bins to see nothing there but felt that it at least might be the bird that I was looking for. There didn't seem to be any other bird life in the bush so I kept looking. A little movement again soon after and a bird was seen this time in the bins as it moved through the undergrowth. As it moved into a slightly easier area to see it stopped and at this point I could see it was a Barred Warbler (178), a new Reculver bird for me and my 235th species to be seen there. It was a bulky large greyish bird with a stout bill and long tail. It let me watch it for c20 seconds before it again skulked off. I made a call to Chidders who happened to be nearby at Shuart and soon after he joined me where he had a brief view of the bird moving through the vegetation. Other birds we noted included small groups of Redwing, 1 Water Rail calling, 2 Goldcrest and as we made our way back to the car in the fading light 1 Long eared Owl was seen. A great session with a new Reculver bird seen, some stunning Waxwings and a Long eared Owl all within the hour. That's great birding!




Waxwing

17 comments:

  1. Lovely images Marc, I finally connected with these birds today too, but poor light for great shots. You never know tomorrow for us both!

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  2. wonderful shots - such beautiful birds - there have been quite a few sightings near me in North Wales and I'm hoping they stick around for my day off on Friday - so annoying having to work when you'd rather be out there exploring nature!

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  3. I can feel the excitement through you all the way up her in't north Marc....Great Stuff.

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  4. Great hour it was as well photos came out well

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  5. Brilliant Waxwings, they are a superb bird. Well done Marc.

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  6. Fabulous Waxwing pics! Well done on the Barred Warbler, that's a pretty late one!

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  7. Gorgeous shots of the Waxwings, Marc! I like the head tufts and the berry shot is wonderful! Great blog header, too!

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  8. Plenty to keep you occupied Marc, some nice shots as well.

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  9. Hi Marc, greetings from Montreal, Canada. Your photos are fantastic. I also love your blog header.

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  10. Marc ,
    The late afternoon light gives a beautiful softness to the shots .
    Good job it wasn't today with all the fog about .
    Well done with the Barred Warbler too .

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  11. Many thanks for all the comments. I was worried the fading light in the shots would ruin them but they have worked out alright in the end with some of them catching the last few rays of the day making for some interesting light.

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  12. Brilliant Marc, what a great visit and as ever your pics are superb :-)

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  13. Well done Marc,
    The light on the Waxwings was just perfect :-)
    I'm surprised by the amount of Hawthorn berries on the bushes there though, nearly all the berries on my patch have gone!

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  14. Well up to your usual standard Marc. Push them over towards me a bit, they're my bogey bird.

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  15. Marc.Superb waxwing images..they really are stunning subjects for us photographers..very well done.

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