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Saturday 12 November 2016

Hovering Chaffinches at RSPB Greylake and the 'Pigeon-Man' of Radipole Lake!

I've not had much chance to take photo's this week, apart from a couple of lunch-breaks at the car-park at RSPB Greylake in Somerset and one at RSPB Radipole Lake in Weymouth, Dorset.
    At Greylake the approaching Winter has started to see birds coming to the feeders in the car park! Great for a photographer who hasn't much time!
    I always carry some Sunflower Hearts with me, so put some out then sat in my van, camera at the ready to photograph any visitors. My main plan was to photograph hovering Chaffinches! Some fly in and land immediately, but there's always one or 2 that will hover for a couple of seconds.
   These are still tough to capture, especially if you have background bushes that will grab the focus of the camera before you can get a focus on the hovering bird! You literally have a split second to get the shot, and even with a high shutter-speed, you're still not guaranteed a sharp shot!
    I had some success, but as always, I'll keep returning, trying to get better pictures!
Also photographed were Blue Tits, Great Tits, Wrens, Robins, Starlings, Reed Buntings and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
   At Radipole Lake in Dorset I photographed a couple of rare Mediterranean Gulls. I'd only ever seen them once before, at Apex Park in Burnham on Sea. There were also quite a few Great Black Backed Gulls, which are rarely seen in Somerset!
   One jovial chap turned up to feed the Feral Pigeons that spend much of the time on the RSPB buildings roof. They were pleased to see him, using his arms as a perch!
    I also photographed Rats looking for dropped seed by the benches!

Below are some of the photos I've taken in the last week;











^Above^ - Hovering Chaffinches at RSPB Greylake!











^Above^ - Non- hovering Chaffinches at Greylake!







^Above^ - Reed Buntings at Greylake.




^Above^ - Fluffed-up Blue Tit after a bath at Greylake!








^Above^ - Great Tits at Greylake.









^Above^ - Starlings at Greylake.





^Above^ - Robins at Greylake.








^Above^ - Wrens at Greylake.



^Above^ - Great Spotted Woodpeckers at Greylake.


^Above^ - A comfy Dunnock at Greylake!


^Above^ - A late Red Admiral at Greylake.




^Above^ - Starlings having a bath in a puddle near Queen Camel in Somerset.




^Above^ - A male Kestrel with a bloody beak between Othery and Greylake.


^Above^ - Buzzard between Othery and Greylake.


^Above^ - Autumn leaves at Greylake.





^Above^ - Dunnock at RSPB Radipole Lake in Weymouth, Dorset.



^Above^ - Cormorants at Radipole Lake.



^Above^ - Mediterranean Gulls at Radipole Lake.





^Above^ - Great Black Back Gulls at Radipole Lake (With Cormorant, bottom pic.)

 






^Above^ - Herring Gulls at Radipole Lake.




^Above^ - Black Headed Gulls at Radipole Lake.









^Above^ - Tufted Ducks at Radipole Lake.


^Above^ - Snipe at Radipole Lake.









^Above^ - Robin at Radipole Lake.


^Above^ - Moorhen at Radipole Lake.



^Above^ - Mallards at Radipole Lake.






^Above^ - Rats at Radipole Lake.










^Above^ - Feral Pigeons and the 'Pigeon-Man' at Radipole Lake.



^Above^ - Female House Sparrows at Corscombe in Somerset.


^Above^ - Pheasant at Burton Bradstock in Dorset.

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