Garden Visitors 4

With the garden being so abundant, it has been hard to fit all my images into least amount of Blogs possible...lol. So this shows the rest that call our garden home most of the time...

First up is the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. A pair (in fact at one point 4 were seen) make daily stops on the Peanut cages at various spots in the garden. The images I have are from a branch I set up extending from the feeder station and only some 25-30ft away from the window shooting from. I have also brought in a dead tree's trunk and fixed it onto a fence post with feeders either side at the bottom of he garden, but time and weather has prevented me from capturing them sitting on it. They are very nervy but bold against other birds on their feeder. We believe to have the Lesser Spotted turn up too but I have yet to capture them. 

 

Looking Disgruntled

Posing

   

I am so privileged to have the wonderful birds visit our garden so regularly. It backs up how safe all the birds in the area feel in our garden. 

Of all the Tit species, this one, the Coal Tit is the most elusive in the garden. A pair do spend a lot of time in the garden picking a Peanut and flying off somewhere to eat it. But they move so quick and within all the shrubbery/ Cherry Tree branches that its been nigh on impossible to capture them. I have managed 2 shots but not of what I really want of them. The first is of a brief landing on the washing line and the second only 7ft or so from my bedroom window.

Life on the Line...

They are like the badgers of the bird world with their White stripe down the back of their heads. The colouring is great too with the Grey wings offset by the Yellow/ Greenish breast area. 

One Storm ridden evening a Song Thrush decided to sing on top of next doors Connifer. With the dark cloud in the distance, it gave me a perfect backdrop to capture him singing (if not quite in the Rain). The light hitting it really made it stand out giving a pleasing record of this behaviour. 

Distance wise it was around 35-40ft away but luckily having the 500mm lens I could get the reach required. 

Every shooting season sees the release of Pheasants on the Park behind us. Some of those each year also become brave and tame I would say, as able to get 12ft from one particular male in 2014. They come in to feed on the seed in the Apple cage like other birds. But with one advantage over the others, in that, they have the height to knock the feeder to get seed to drop out of it onto the ground. Its like ringing the "Dinner Bell". The following captures this in action plus some of the "Tame" Cock Pheasant and the Hen in lovely light.

In this last frame I was actually against the fence looking back to the house, which shows how trusting she and he was. Even though a common sight in the countryside, they are so full of colour and patterning that is always pleasing to see and even more special when seen up close with a wild one.