Major Project The Farm and inital findings

Today's Antics.

Farm Wildlife Day 1

Today I decided to start the farm project, this I wanted to do as before when I have been on the farm. I decided that I would establish some feed stations on the farm to see what birds come to them. The location of the farm I will not divulge on here, however it is near a RSPB reserve so there should be a lot of wildlife in the area.

I decided that I would establish them in the wood next to the barns. I decided to do some scouting about around the rest of the farm, whilst doing this I found a tree that had been pecked by a Woodpecker. Excellent I thought, it was ideal for establishing a feeding station and a hide, the problem was that there are someone else's horses in there so I had to abandon that one. This will keep for the future.

I went into the ash tree plantation and found a few ideal places to establish a hide. The main concern for me was light. At the end the plantation was a clearing which was ideal. I decided to establish my first feeding station here. There were plenty of very photogenic perches there and there were many that I could put into place as well.

Further in to the wood I started to see some tracks. I think from a fox as the grass was not disturbed. Following these tracks led me to a bank which I climbed and found another tree that had been pecked by a Woodpecker. As there was a clearing there I decided to establish the second feeding station here.

After establishing them I decided to look around the farm to see what other wildlife was about that day.

I found a small roost of about 100 starlings that were flying oblivious to my presence.

I saw two Red Kites

On the edge of the boundary next to the forestry plantation, I discovered the following wildlife:

Long tailed tits

Goldcrest or a firecrest

Tree creeper

I saw a potential site on the edge of the reeds to place a hide to get shots of birds of prey with some feeding done.

And this is only day one.

I will leave the feeding stations for about 4 days and then go to check them, if they are not touched I will think about moving them up to the top of the farm.

Point to note:

After watching Simon King's programme on BBC2 about wildlife in Scotland, he said when establishing a hide two of you should go there and then one leave. He said the birds will be none the wiser as long as you are quiet.

Young Greater Spotted Woodpeckers

Hi all sorry for the delay in putting any new images on lately have been very busy taking pictures of young Greater Spotted Woodpeckers.

This time of year is great for seeing young fledgelings and in the month of June and July is great for seeing the young of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers. I missed them last year as I was having a interview for my degree and they never really came back last year.

This year however, 5 young ones came in with the parents. The first two weeks are the best time to take photographs of them as they are less weary of people. If you have ever photographed woodpeckers in the past or had the pleasure of being in the presence of them, you will know what I am on about. To take the images I was in a portable Hide. This was made by my father in-law Tommy as he has just invested in a 500 f4 lens. (see pic of hide below.)

As you can see it a is a simple Hide made up of Bamboo canes with a camouflage net put over the top. In the picture is my camera setup on a wimberley head. You can see that the lens has been camouflaged by using a cover available from wildlife watching supplies. This cover helps break the outline of the lens up helping it less likely to spook wary wildlife.

At the back of the hide is a brown screen, this was put in place as it helped break up the outline of the person that is using the hide. When I was using this hide I also wore clothing that would help break up my outline. Such Items as a DPM Jacket.

To get the pictures of the woodpeckers and to get them to come in range took some preparation. As I new roughly the time of year that the young woodpeckers would fledge, around easter time I spoke to my father in law and asked him could I set up a tree branch in the garden. This log had holes drilled in it to take peanuts and peanut butter. I could not believe how quick that the adult woodpeckers came to feed on it. Within hours they were confident at feeding on it and after a few days we moved it closer to the house. They still came and were not bothered at all. This pre planning is sometimes vital to get the shots that you need and the proof is in the pudding as they say. Below are some of the images that have been taken in the garden. fstops ranged from f4 to f8 and the shutter speed I was aiming for was over 1/500 of a second. I could allow this to go to around 1/200 of a second as long as I used the shutter release and locked the mirror up to eliminate camera shake.

Below are the best of the pictures that I took during my time in the hide.