After rugby practise Jaden and I met up with Daniele Occhiato, a visiting birder and great photographer from Florence in Italy to spend a morning at the Pivot Fields, where we were kindly granted access in one car. Although still quite brisk temperatures, the trickle of arriving migrants put a feel of Spring in the air.
Daniele is a great Western Palearctic birder and a master with his Canon outfit (1DM4 and 600mm coupled with either 1.4 or 2x extender) and I learnt a lot from him during the morning, although the 50D is much slower in focussing than the 1DM4 with the same lens combination. Nevertheless, I was more pleased with the results, than with my first attempt. As I promised to myself for 2012, I have also started shooting in RAW, but the post-processing changes will still take time to become more familiar.
During the morning we noted an influx of Wheatears, still the most common was Isabelline Wheatear
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| Isabelline Wheater (Oenanthe isabellina) |
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| Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
We also found a very strangely marked Pied Wheatear, so were not sure if this is an aberrant vittata - any opinions out there?
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| Pied Wheatear - odd vittata? |
Many Stonechats were aslo seen, these are European
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| European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) |
Shrikes were represented by Woodchat
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| Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) |
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| Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) |
As is to be expected, the White Wagtails are thinning out and are now replaced by Black-headed Wagtails (feldegg)
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| Black-headed Wagtail (Motacilla f. feldegg) |
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| Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) |
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| Female Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) |
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| Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) |
Stopping to check out the Croc Pond , we had this impressive beast nonchalantly stare back at us
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| Nile Crocodile |
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