I’ve booked in here at Clachtoll for another five days. It is grand. The dogs can go where they like, I can see the sea and if the wind would stay westerly I could see the rain coming. The Skylarks sing nonstop.
I’ve been a birding. There are lots of Skylarks here. I never realised till I went on the RSPB site that Rock Pipets, Meadow Pipets and Skylarks all look the same. I suspect it isn’t me. I have come to the conclusion that they are all much the same but for the fact that certain ones can fly higher and sing without flapping away like crazy. For what it’s worth I’ve given them a few hours closeish inspection.
This is my favourite shot. Meadow Pipet.
Skylark. They look similar to me but this one flies much higher and doesn’t dangle it’s legs while singing. I watched the little blighter it goes up and up and out of my eyesight, all the while tweeting away. I have maybe got confused as I see them drop but is it the same one dropped as went?
Here is another one sitting in the flowers. I don’t have to panic over the flower IDs. They are Machair….Yes all of them. Machair is what they are. For the ignoramuses out their Machair is Gaelic for I don’t know. The locals say it means low lying fertile pasture. It’s a bit of grass and a few flowers on an old sand dune. I may be daft but I’m not that daft.
Yesterday I went out after pissing about with the snails, the dogs need walks. I’m glad they do but was a little sad that I’d gone out with them with a100mm macro lens still attached. This is Lady Eider with five ducklings. If you doubt it then click. If you still are dubious then hold Ctrll and press + till it pixelates then come back by pressing –. I have only seen such birds and broods in muddy pens. Quite made my day. I went looking for them this morning but couldn’t find them. Where does she hide the babies when the sea gets choppy?
I did sit for ages whilst getting this snap of Black Throated Divers. Little beggars keep on diving.
This one was the outcast. He was closer and all were shot at 400mm.
I like seeing birds close up but I’ll be buggered before I’ll go to Slumbridge.
(John, these Skylarks look just like your Pipet. Bet you saw a Skylark….What colour was the last millimetre of your ones third claw?)
That’s all for today.
Brilliant Adrian, no wonder you are going to stop here for another 5 days, and you caught the Divers, well.
ReplyDeleteBob, Divers are two a penny up here. The Eider ducklings made my day. Yeesterday if I'm honest.
DeleteThat No2 photo is a cracker Adrian, your getting on well with that new lens.
ReplyDeletepeter
Peter it is a light weight and suits me. I take it out every day. It has already had more use than the f2.8 400mm. I like to see little birds sitting where they sit or swim so only crop to square. Everyone but me knows the birds.
DeleteWell done on the Eiders their call always remind me of Frankie Howard
ReplyDeleteI like the posing Skylark and are too amazed at how high they fly their descent reminds me of parachutist. ..If that makes sense
Douglas, she wasn't calling she was teaching them to swim. Not drawing attention to herself and her brood at all. Is it a Skylark...maybe it has a wee tuft on the back of it's head. They don't have to flap whilst they sing. Amazing to watch them better still that their are a dozen or more within a ten minute walk.
DeleteAdrian, I bet the lab technicians that have to use these 'pipets' are really pissed off?....after they've first caught them then where the hell do they squeeze to suck up the fluid?
ReplyDeleteSkylarks and Pipits are another one of those bird groups that are difficult to tell apart ( I bet grown up birders can do it easy?)
Those first two shots are beauties, all you've got to do now is watch and wait for those Eiders and Divers to venture a little closer...good luck!...[;o)
Sorry Trevor, I thought they were named after the thing I used to sample fuel with, I blame Spill Chucker. It is dumber than me. It should have got the gist of the post.
DeleteYou never said it was this complicated. I'm snided out with Skylarks but there are also PIPITs here. Some sit on rocks and some sit in grass. As do the bloody Skylarks.
Are you birders sure what you are on about? I'm tempted to classify them as to where I see them. Grass, Meadow. Rocks, Rock, Sky.,Lark.. no it doesn't make sense.
I like getting birds in their habitat, you can call me lazy but....No buts I am lazy.
I've only ever seen a skylark on the ground once. Well done, you. (I would add that much of my life has been spend in the country.)
ReplyDeleteBtw are there any cuckoos near you, Adrian? I haven't heard one for several years now. I know there's a scarcity of them.
Frances are you sure. It could have been a Pipit. The birders classify them by behaviour and sound. I take the piss a bit because they know I take my dogs out birding with them. The dogs can flush all sorts out and quick sticks but if I set a camera up they lie down quietly. We sat for an hour to see this Pipit or Skylark. The difference to me is that the Skylark has an extra feather or three on the back of it's head.
DeleteI've not seen a Cuckoo but have heard plenty calling. Little devils they are to spot,
I saw a baby cuckoo once. It huge, and was in (or rather, on) a tiny nest belonging to someone else. It always astonishes me that the foster parents don't notice.
DeletePlenty of Cuckoos on Lewis this year Frances. Corncrakes too. The Cuckoos sit atop fence posts around here because there are so few trees.
DeleteGraham flap your arms about and chase a couple over here please.
DeleteFrances, the Cuckoo is a cunning bird. I saw on Spring Watch that they imitate egg colour of the host parents.
DeleteNice report Adrian! You are dead on about ID'ing the pipits, etc. They are some of the trickiest birds to figure out. A lot of it comes down to behaviors. Sure sounds like a Skylark:) Either way, you've got some great birds here. Keep on!
ReplyDeleteChris, this is what I go on. Skylarks fly high and the others don't but they can all hover.
Deleteall very nice, I love especially the color of the lake water ...
ReplyDeleteLaura, this is the sea. It is crystal clear.
DeleteVery nice, the Lark is so elegant!
ReplyDeleteMaria, It has taken three days to get one this close. I could crop in but I like to see their surroundings.
DeleteI'm not sure about your skylarks, I know that if a pair of Canada geese swim by with nine little ones, when the come back they might have seven. Next time eleven. They keep on exchanging goslings. If a lost gosling is brought to us we go to the nearest pond with a pair of Canada geese and throw the little guy in and he's taken.
ReplyDeleteRed, I don't think the larks do it but the geese certainly do.
DeleteSon pequeños pero los cogistes bien;)
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo
Laura, si hace clic en la imagen se trata más grande.
DeleteOkay que son pequeños.