Scozmo's Photery

February 11th – My usual loop, along the top of the field, down to the wild cam site and up to the feeding post. I’m starting to realise I have a few stopping points on these walks, which vary depending on activity and the route I take.

The wildlife camera site, two feeding posts and two hedges, these definitely vary with the weather and quite often there’s things going on. The ponds and the route to them varies but as the year goes on and the weather improves, hopefully, those start to draw me more often.

Today was the Green Lane Loop, the lane itself is closed off so i just walk parallel to it in the field.

I’m very aware of how lucky we are here, the wildlife right on the doorstep and the access to it that I now have. The wildlife cam site is where a Robin and a pair of Stonechats now fly up to meet me, how wonderful is that?

I love these opportunities to get closer shots than I’d ever imagined, especially when the pair perch together; the Robin was a no-show today, hmmmmmmm.

If I take the route across the fields rather than along the fence / hedge, I rarely see much until I get to the top lane and the first feeding post and that one is more often quiet so, on to the the old Oak feeding post. Possibly my favourite birds and wildlife setup space, I can drop food here and step back, only a little and they are all there, right in front of me, sometimes too close 🙂

Treecreepers are traditionally very shy birds so it is fantastic for me to get them this close. I’ve left the first shot in deliberately because, they rarely stay still so tracking one up a tree trunk has its issues 🙂 The last shot looks like it’s shouting at me!!

There are more and more Chaffinches turning up at the tree and why wouldn’t they? There’s food on the go but they are one of the shyest birds there, hanging back until there’s a lull in the activity, I’ve always thought of them as quite gregarious but not here, for now anyway.

This male was hanging back on branches behind the feeding area, if you look carefully, there’s a female above and behind him.

There are currently at least two Treecreepers turning up, when another arrives there’s chaos and they whizz around, I’ve almost been hit by one zooming round the tree when I was standing next to the trunk!! They’ll probably fade into the background when nesting season starts.

I’ve managed to get a few shots of two of them on the same tree or branch and I assume them to be a pair, there’s no whizzing around after each other 🙂

Finally, one of the Chaffinch made it down onto the branch I’ve placed above the feeding post.

Bonny birds, I’m beginning to notice colour variations on them, there are a lot outside my window here and I think they colour up a bit more as we head into Spring.

No visit to the old Oak would be complete without the Nuthatches

I call that the Squirrel stump, it’s where I put a mix out for the Red Squirrels but they’ve been a rarity recently…… soon 🙂

There are Blue, Coal and Great Tits at this location, all over actually, the other that I hear and glimpse fairly often are the Long-tailed Tits, very flighty and hard to capture because they rarely keep still but absolutely gorgeous wee birds, maybe one of our prettiest?

Only this week, I have started seeing a couple of Nuthatches turn up and share a perch …. a pair getting ready for Spring? I’ve been trying to capture them but they’re either too quick for me or, I see them too late ….

This was an opportunity missed for a pair together, see the Nuthatch butt in the second shot? 🙂

And that was it for the 11th! The weather is against me as ever at this time of year, too cold, too wet, both!

I tell myself regularly, be patient.

Stay safe and well.

patch photos