Sunday 2 December 2012

Now That Was Cold!!

I was out scraping the car this morning at 5.45 and not long after was on my way driving around some of the lanes at Reculver in search of any nocturnal noises. The temperature at this time of the morning was -1.5 degrees celsius. I opted to go to Chambers Wall again and whilst driving slowly up the concrete track I picked out a Barn Owl in my headlights. I continued to drive towards it and stopped only c15 metres away. Surely I was not going to get another shot of a Barn Owl in the darkness. I got the camera out of the bag and changed the lenses and just opened the window when as I turned back there was no Owl. At least I had a nice view of it. After parking up and the light got a bit better I wandered on down towards Coldharbour and looked at the sea before returning to look at the bushes once more. It was freezing cold and my hands and face were pretty numb throughout the session, thats the price I pay I suppose for going out early! Birds noted were 1 Sparrowhawk, c200 Cormorant, 2 Goldcrest, Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackbirds seemingly everywhere, 2 Marsh Harrier and the Barn Owl was seen distantly hunting as the sun broke the horizon. I later met Julian Perry who had seen the Owl fly over my car in the sunshine. As usual, the wrong place at the wrong time. There were 2 Kestrel, 2 Wigeon, 30 Oystercatcher, 8 Ringed Plover, 8 Redshank, 1 Snipe, c200 Brent Geese in the fields, 2 Green Woodpecker, 1 Grey Heron and c300 Lapwing. I had no luck with any Waxwing hunting and I would rather find my own than go and twitch hundreds else where off the patch. On my way home I called in at Brook and saw c20 Gadwall, c10 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Egret and I caught sight of a large Egret dropping down to the south of Brook which may have been a Great White Egret. I drove quickly to higher ground but was unable to locate any large white birds except 5 Mute Swan flying south over the Thanet Way.

Redwing

8 comments:

  1. Yep, that was a cold one Marc :-) I had difficulty turning the focus wheel on my bins, my fingers were that numb!

    Jealous of that Redwing image, I cant find any to get close to :-(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pity about the Barn Owl, now you see me....now you don't.

    Determination and enthusiasm to the fore again Marc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Magnifica fotografia de este zorzal alirrojo.Un saludo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful bird and photo!!!!

    Hugs and love.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great pic Marc, there were loads of Redwings along Faversham Creek yesterday, would have liked to get a shot like that!

    ReplyDelete