Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Regent's Park, London.
© Fraser Simpson www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com
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Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Side-lit Heron
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Regent's Park, London.
© Fraser Simpson www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com
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No image on this blog or related sites may be used, copied, or re-posted without permission or payment.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Eyeballing
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Regent's Park, London.
© Fraser Simpson www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com
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No image on this blog or related sites may be used, copied, or re-posted without permission or payment.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Battersea Pigeon Station
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia domest.) at Battersea Power Station, London.
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
City Gulls around The Shard
Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) feeding around London Bridge with The Shard in the background.
More: www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com/londonbirdsslide.htm
More: www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com/londonbirdsslide.htm
Monday, November 12, 2012
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Glimpse of a heron
Shot through sunlit foliage in soft, early morning winter light.
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| Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) |
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Florida Keys Birding Trip Report
I've uploaded a trip list detailing observations on my recent trip with work to Summerland Key in the Florida Keys including species such as: Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great White Heron, Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Broad-winged Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Swallow-tailed Kite, Bald Eagle, Pectoral Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Royal Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, Florida Prairie Warber, American Redstart,Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Northern Waterthrush.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Twilight Herons
Last weekend some beautiful autumnal light and careful camera exposure allowed me make these contrasting images of Grey Herons. Low light illuminates the whites and subtle greys of the birds' plumage but is not strong enough to penetrate the shaded woodland.
Further Grey Heron images here:
Monday, October 08, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Cycling 250 miles in one day (and noting some birds)
The 2.75 miles Outer Circle of Regent’s Park is probably the
safest place for road cycling in London. Being keen to break my previous
maximum mileage of 175 miles in one day I attempted 250 miles (400 Km) or
roughly 90 laps of the park on the August bank holiday. The cycling wasn't really the difficult part – it
was the boredom of the same route after 180 miles, then the willpower to carry
on to 250. After fifteen hours of cycling I was glad to arrive home and even though I felt
that I could do more, I could barely walk after dismounting.
Fortunately lots of birds enlivened the
day from the Grey Herons cranking at dawn and dusk to the Egyptian Geese with
sore throats calling loudly from dead trees. Subtler sounds included a calling
migrant Willow Warbler, a family brood of Long-tailed Tits, and high-pitched
passerine alarm calls in response to passing Sparrowhawks.
Bird list for the day (including rest stops at the lake):
Green Woodpecker, Jay, Kestrel, Ring-necked Parakeet, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Robin,
Grey Heron, Chaffinch, Wren, Mallard,
Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Sparrowhawk, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch,
Little Grebe, House Martin, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Tufted
Duck, Pochard, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Egyptian Goose,
Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Crested Grebe, Herring Gull,
Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Cormorant, and Greenfinch.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Key West Chickens
Last weekend we had a day off from fieldwork so headed down to Key West for the day. We didn't go to see chickens (or any other birds - but did add Purple Martin to the trip list) but you can't help noticing some of the estimated 2-3000 feral, free-roaming cocks and hens. They are a bit like Ring-necked Parakeets in London (though marginally less noisy) - nobody knows for sure how they originated on the island. Or maybe like Feral Pigeons (though more aesthetically pleasing) - cleaning up the streets for free and occasionally making less healthy choices, such investigating cigarettes. Below we see François trying to look cool with a rooster, another chicken waiting to cross the road, François with a chick, and another posing outside the Monroe County Court House. We ate fish.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Green Heron, Summerland Key, Florida
Observed from the kayak, this juvenile Green Heron (Butorides virescens) was resting on a boat. Carefully inching closer, I managed to get some images using my compact Canon G12 before it flew into a tree to join its sibling. These small herons have loads of character and I've logged over 30 sightings so far this week. Reminds me of a previous post when an adult turned up on the wrong side of the pond in 2008: Green Heron, West Hythe, Kent
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Kayaking through pelicans, herons, egrets and ibises
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| Great White Heron - white morph of the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis) occurring in the Caribbean and southern Florida. |
On Saturday (22-Sep) our fieldwork also produced many close views of birds as we kayaked from Mote Marine Lab to the southern tip of Summerland Key, them out to the round mangrove island approximately 700 metres offshore. I had decided not to bring any SLR gear this time, so relied on my compact Canon G12 to take this image (in 16:9 aspect ratio) of the Great White Heron from the kayak. Bird highlights of the day included 20 Brown Pelicans, 4 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, 2 Little Blue Herons, 4 Ospreys, 7 Belted Kingfishers, 2 Royal Terns, 7 Tricoloured Herons, 13 Laughing Gulls, 1 Magnificent Frigatebird, 3 Black-crowned Night-Herons, 36 Double-crested Cormorants, 4 Great White Herons, 2 Great Blue Herons, 6 Green Herons, 5 Snowy Egrets, 6 Cattle Egrets, 3 American Redstarts, 1 Yellow-throated Warbler, 6 Prairie Warblers, 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 2 White-crowned Pigeons, 12 Cliff Swallows & 7 Northern Rough-winged Swallows.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Melbourne, Australia
A few days later (Tuesday 3 July) we touched down in Australia, pausing for a few days before heading to our ultimate destination of New Caledonia. After the heat and humidity of Thailand it was pleasant to arrive in the cool of a southern winter, though it felt more like autumn or spring. Shortly after boarding the SkyBus from the airport into the city centre, we were soon picking up some exciting new species: Australian Magpie, Little Raven, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (on a lamppost!), Spotted Dove, Silver Gull, Brown Flacon, Black-shouldered Kite, oh and Eurasian Starling and Little Egret.
After checking in to the Southbank Travelodge we explored the area around Federation Square and the Yarra river before heading through Alexandra Gardens to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Even though most local birders would probably take the following species for granted (as we would with our own local birds), I was fascinated to observe Magpie-Larks, Willie Wagtails, and the abundant Silver Gulls. The botanic gardens provided many good birds including Bell Miner, Red Wattlebird, Little Wattlebird, Australian Wood Duck, Little Black Cormorant, 22 roosting Nankeen Night-Herons, 80+ Dusky Moorhens, Chestnut Teal, 50+ Pacific Black Ducks, Black Swan, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant, Purple Swamphen… and some familiar introductions such as Eurasian Blackbird. At dusk we left to the outrageous cacophonic sounds of a Laughing Kookabuura.
After checking in to the Southbank Travelodge we explored the area around Federation Square and the Yarra river before heading through Alexandra Gardens to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Even though most local birders would probably take the following species for granted (as we would with our own local birds), I was fascinated to observe Magpie-Larks, Willie Wagtails, and the abundant Silver Gulls. The botanic gardens provided many good birds including Bell Miner, Red Wattlebird, Little Wattlebird, Australian Wood Duck, Little Black Cormorant, 22 roosting Nankeen Night-Herons, 80+ Dusky Moorhens, Chestnut Teal, 50+ Pacific Black Ducks, Black Swan, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant, Purple Swamphen… and some familiar introductions such as Eurasian Blackbird. At dusk we left to the outrageous cacophonic sounds of a Laughing Kookabuura.
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| Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) |
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| Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) - female |
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| Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) - male |
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| Silver Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) |
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