Friday, 20 July 2012

BIRDING FROM MY CAR






A couple of days ago I decided to see if I could find the Corn Buntings that had been reported as showing well  about ten miles from my house. I arrived at the location, a small car park,  around mid morning. The weather was quite windy and overcast with just a few brief glimpses of the sun (so what's new!!).

I positioned the car so that I had a good view over the car park and almost immediately I saw that a few birds, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit and Linnet  were coming down to bathe in the puddles left by the recent rain. Unfortunately they were frequently spooked by walkers crossing the car park and also by other cars arriving and leaving making photography rather difficult!

Linnet




Yellowhammer

 
It wasn't long before I heard the "little bit of bread and no cheeeese" song of a Yellowhammer coming from the overhead power lines, closely followed by a singing Corn Bunting (another tick for the list!) and after a few minutes a Dunnock started to serenade me from the bushes close by.


Corn Bunting

Dunnock

 
I also had a fascinating few minutes watching two Magpies (juveniles, I think!) as they explored, constantly chattering to each other,  all around the car park  with one spending some time interacting with a discarded yogurt pot.



 
So, without leaving the car, I'd had a couple of hours of good birding and had noted sixteen different species, apart from the above I'd also seen Jackdaw and Carrion Crows in the adjacent fields, Starling, Goldfinch and Great Tit in the bushes, a hovering Kestrel, two soaring Buzzards, as well  as overflying  Woodpigeons and Swifts.


The Videos...





 
This weekend and next week promises to be warm and sunny here (Summer at last!!) and I'm looking forwards to getting out and about in some descend weather for a change. Wherever you are I wish you all a great weekend and upcoming week.

21 comments:

holdingmoments said...

Great videos Trevor; those Magpies were brilliant.
Quite a list too, and it just goes to show what can be seen if we take the time to look.
Corn Buntings, now that's a bird that still eludes me.

The Herald said...

Cheers Keith.

Those Magpies entertained me for some time, they were like two inquisitive kids..lol!

Yeh, the Corn Buntings were a new tick for me!...[;o)

FOREST SNAPPER said...

great photos,just shows how the birds have got use to the motor car

peter

The Herald said...

Thanks Peter.

You can't beat a portable hide..lol...[;o)

Carole M. said...

ejoyed each of your birding photographs and the videos too. I'm really intruiged with the blue hues on your magpies wings; quite different to the magpies I see here on the east coast, Australia (one is in this blog post, you will spot it)

The Herald said...

Hi Carole, Thanks for visiting my blog and for the kind comments.

I checked out your blog and videos, great photos by the way, and your Magpies appear to have only black and white colouring (more white than ours) whereas ours have an iridescence that ranges from purple through green, blue and bronze depending on how the sunlight catches them. A truly beautiful bird, in the right light!

The ones I've shown here are juveniles which have much duller plumage than the adults...[;o)

ShySongbird said...

Hi Trevor, Well!! I think that's what they call jammy ;-) all that without getting out of the car! Most of us walk miles for just a couple of them!!

Great stuff! Lovely photos as always and the video was very entertaining. Like other commenters I've never seen a Corn Bunting.

Mike said...

I'd have to say that sitting in your parked car turned out to be very productive, good photos.

The Herald said...

Hi Jan. Thank you. Yeh, birding with no effort...couldn't get any better...lol.

The Corn Bunting is not a spectacular bird, by a long way, but they were showing well close to home so I had to have a look!

That Magpie was the star of the day though...[;o)

The Herald said...

Mike, thank you.

The perfect way to go birding!...[;o)

grammie g said...

Hi Trevor..That Magpie sure was persistent on find a morsel to eat from those containers..what a funny and great video!!
Your photos are just awesome..the yellowhammer in the puddle of water is great!! : }
To think all you had to do was sit on your laurels($%#%)and point out the window!! ; }
I I thought I had commented on your last post ..I do remember seeing it, but if I didn't they are fabulous..The Marbled White is a show stopper...welll hmmm now are black and white colors lol ; }
Grace

The Herald said...

Hi Grace, thank you.

That Magpie certainly made the day and all I had to do was kick back, take it easy and watch the greatest show there is...nature at its best!

Now, now, Grace! let's not raise that old chestnut again my brain still hurts from last time!...lol...[;o)

Roy said...

Beautiful images Trevor and a lovely new header.
The car makes a great hide.

The Herald said...

Thanks Roy.
Yeh, it saves on all that unnecessary exercise as well!..lol...[;o)

Bob Bushell said...

They are beautiful, especially the Corn Bunting, superb.

theconstantwalker said...

A wonderful post Trevor... the Corn Bunting images are fantastic to see..

The Herald said...

Thanks Bob...[;o)


Andrew, thank you...[;o)

Ruby said...

Beautiful videos Trevor. Lovely post. xoxo Ruby

The Herald said...

Thanks Ruby...[;o)

Liz said...

Another wonderful post full of delightful birds! I'm glad the sun came out for you.

The Herald said...

Thanks Liz...[;o)