pecker

 

2nd December

Almost first thing in through the East gate and I see this dunnock. She/He flits over to a headstone and even better, poses on the apex until I get 3 or 4 steady shots. What a great start to the day. He/she did a small lozenge / pill shaped white poop just below but I can photoshop that out in post. Makes up for the lack of sun. Where is the sun? Well I suppose it is December.

bullfinch (f)
note eyelashes

The bullfinches are straight in there at the feeding table, although the robin isn't their fan and chases them off if they look like they are making themselves too much at home.

mr angry

I tend to shoo the pigeons away from the tables as they will eat everything in one go if given the chance. Which they will get when I leave. 

The robin takes up his dramatic stance again. He likes to watch for any intruders. Usually he does that from the ivy as here, by the bricks, he has to look up into the ivy where his mortal enemies may be hiding.

I have put last time's sunny version photo next, to compare and contrast. I always used to feel that direct sunlight was the best possible lighting for wildlife photos because it is brightest. I had heard others (often with quality DSLRs) claim they prefer a bit of cloud cover as it makes for less strong shadows and you can see the subject more clearly. It is worth comparing these 2 nearly identical scenes taken in different lighting. I was surprised it is not as cut and dried as I had thought. I suspect I am drawn to sunny conditions because I prefer being in a sunny environment. And it brings out strong colours and contrasts. However if your camera can work in diffuse light it perhaps gives an overall detail that is not lost in the shadows. In the past I have always used equipment that worked better in more light. More recently I can stand to work in less light. I do like the warmth of the sunny photo though, and if I had to choose one, that would the one I'd post.

sunny side of the street
(from previous blog)

great tit on lichen

blackbird

This female blackbird watched me closely as I stealthily moved forward. You can see the speckled breast of thrush-like markings below the brown colour, reminding us that blackbirds are members of the thrush family. Can you name the 6 UK thrushes? I couldn't although to be fair we don't get Ring Ouzels round here. Answer as we go.

Thrush 2 the redwing.
They are a bit flighty around Warriston and I couldn't get close.

I then saw a woodpecker. Near the crypts (just North of) and very casually hopping about unusually low in a large tree. I got a few photos as it moved from low in a tree to higher, then into a different tree. It was not making much in the way of drumming noise and I only saw it because I was scanning trees for birds. Makes me wonder how many times I have missed one walking underneath an occupied tree.

they like to peck and hammer at rotten wood and loose bits

the red mark on the back of head means this is a male.
Like a treecreeper, it uses 2 similarly pointed tailfeathers to balance

Eventually it flew off and I realised I'd been holding my breath. I rarely do chimping. That is the hilarious and slightly derogatory term for looking at your photos on the LCD screen (or EVF) to check you have what you hope, and that it is in focus etc. I'd heard the term came from Checking Image Preview but apparently it is because of the "Ooh ooh ooh" noise* people make upon seeing their masterpieces. Mostly I wait till I get the image on the computer at home. And once the woodpecker has flown there is no option for a reshoot. Most of the time a really good shot announces itself at the point you take it and I don't need to check. Sometimes the camera is canny enough to flatter its own photos and it looks good in camera, but not so great when it is on a full sized monitor. 

*citation needed

big plinth for a small bird with a big voice

wren

LTT

I was stood around trying to get closer to these bullfinches when a thrush flew really close to where I was stood and settled on a nice flat headstone to have a look. Very slowly I turned the camera and managed to get half a dozen shots. I have a feeling there is just the one like this; the same one that has come into the secret garden and sat looking from a distance.

I remember them as regular garden visitors as kids, common as blackbirds. Then somewhere along the way they thinned out. And are maybe making a comeback. I was never sure the difference between Mistle and Song Thrush. Bit of a check on RSPB site and this (below) would be a Song Thrush, the Mistle being larger and less brown. 

The last of the 6 thrushes is the fieldfare which has eluded me this season so far. I often see them in the Winter at Gullane near the car park in smallish trees in good numbers. Went looking recently and failed to find any.

same bullfinch as earlier although in a different part of the cemetery
(note the one and a half extra eye lashes.)

So I was creeping through the cemetery not a million miles from the secret garden area and the sg robin found me. He announced himself by flying in front. Then sat looking at me with such familiarity and proximity that I recognised him. I got out some bread and he confirmed it by taking it from my hand. I was cursing the sun had gone in as he was happy to sit nearby and do a photo shoot in places outwith the usual. But the light was pretty poor and they didn't come out that well. 

dunnock with the claw blisters

One more tour of the secret garden, then a bit more through the rest on the way back to the East Gate, then home. You would think I'd get tired of the same place and the same wildlife but it has become such a habit that when I'm not there for a few days (if there is shitty weather or work is hectic) I really miss the place. And wonder how the birds and squirrels are getting on!

wren