Pikelow Farm - Bird Photography

A mornings bird photography with Phil Hampson at Pikelow Farm, Nr Macclesfield. The weather was mixed with plenty of cloud and small pockets of sunshine which sadly were to infrequent. We still had a good morning with Male Pheasant, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Treesparrow a single Great Spotted Woodpecker and a lovely bonus with a Male Brambling.

Brambling

 

Bullfinch

 



Nuthatch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Treesparrow

Pheasant



Greater Spotted Woodpecker

A visit to the wonderful Marton Heath Trout Pools in Cheshire for some Woodpecker photography. It was late in the day and extremely hot so the hide was a little uncomfortable at times. A juvenile and an adult male eventually showed well after an hour or so of teasing with flypasts and distant perches on a pre-feed post.

male

 



juvenile having a snooze

 



male

 

 

 

juvenile, now more alert!

 

 

juvenile in search of food....

 

 

Treesparrow

 

 

Goldfinch

 

 

Wildbird Wednesday: a tribute to treeface

Special thanks to Springmans inspiration and now to Stewart for carrying the baton with WBW

Well done guys!

Here is my first entry to the new format 

a tribute to the tree face decoration in my garden and some of the birds that dare stare back at it!

Wren

Siskin - female

Nuthatch

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

The winter vistors keep on coming...

This male Blackcap made a first ever appearance in the garden this week and has settled in so well that he has returned daily. This is one of the new breed  of over wintering birds that refuse to fly to the south of Europe.

The Redpoll numbers continue to rise with a garden hightest count of 17 very early one  morning, although they all seem to be Lesser Redpolls (image below) I may have had a Mealy Redpoll, unfortunatly no image to clarify its true ID.

The Greater Spotted Woodpeckers are now almost daily visitors, although 2 males appeared together this afternoon

even the Moorhen has made a few further visits

as has this Grey Heron who often sits atop of the neighbouring houses keeping watch over the estate

 add a superb sighting of a pair of Goldcrests, Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail and huge numbers of finches its been a busy start to the winter.

An old acquaintance

I dont get too many visits now from Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, however a little over a year ago a small family were virtually ever present during the summer & autumn. This family included a very young male, maybe this is the same bird coming back to a familiar feeding ground, I like to think so.....

He didnt stay too long, but fed on the peanuts and some lard that is smeared on a tree trunk!