WRENTHAM BLACK KITE

   For the last year or so there have been regular sightings and reports of a Black Kite in the area of Wrentham church and because these birds are so rarely seen in this country it was concluded that it must have escaped from captivity at some point which appears to have been confirmed by the presence of a red coloured ring on one of its legs. Nobody really thought that it would remain in the area for so long so it must not be having any trouble getting food.

   This spring the bird began to display behaviour that indicated it was trying to attract a mate by collecting nest building material and constructing a rather untidy nesting platform. Because there are so few in the country the likelihood of any success was extremely remote but a few weeks ago it did attract the attention of a passing Red Kite that spent a few days with the Black version before moving on. There was speculation that the two could raise a brood together as there have been a few documented occasions when the species have cross bred successfully but this now seems to be unlikely as the Red Kite has not been seen for some time but this has not prevented the resident bird from continuing to display and call whilst still collecting various nesting material.

   On my recent visit the Black Kite was initially spotted in a tree at quite a distance but it soon took to the air and landed in another tree much closer where it appeared to be watching me. As I walked along the road it followed me and at some points was only about 20ft above me which was much too close to use the 500mm lens that I had on the camera. Continuing to observe the bird I watched it fly around collecting straw type material but didn't take it to the nest but instead flew from tree to tree gradually losing bits of the straw each time it landed. A beautiful bird definitely worth another visit sometime soon.

GOLDEN PLOVERS AT ELLOUGH

   All winter there has been a flock of Golden Plover feeding and roosting on some of the arable fields near to the aerodrome at Ellough but they have been so distant that any photography has been pointless, however last week after a trip out with my wife and daughter we passed the aerodrome on the way home and I realised that the flock was fairly close to the road. Running indoors I grabbed my camera gear, jumped back in the car and drove back up to the field pulling over on the side of the road. The flock had moved slightly further out into the field but were still within range so I rested the camera on the passenger window sill and took my chance.

   The golden plumage blended in with the old cut stems from last years wheat crop so the birds don't stand out well but I couldn't be fussy as I didn't think that the flock would be around for much longer. Indeed in the week since the pictures were taken the flock has decreased in size dramatically and there are now only a dozen or so birds left at the time of writing. The flock was feeding on worms as you can see from one of the pictures where I caught a bird trying to tug a worm out of the ground. I would love to get the chance of some better pictures up in Yorkshire later in the spring.

BEST BITTERN PICTURES YET

   Recently on one of the warmer days we have had this spring I headed over to RSPB Minsmere and went underneath Island mere hide to get some lower level shots of whatever put in an appearance. After a little while I was joined by local wildlife photographer Jon Evans who is also a warden at the reserve and we didn't have to wait long before a Bittern came into view from the reeds to our left. The bird was very wary and reluctant to come out fully into the open which was possibly due to the amount of noise coming from the hide above us where the people seemed oblivious to the Bittern and more concerned about laughing and joking and dragging the furniture around.

   Eventually they went quiet when they realised that a Bittern was outside and the bird began to come out onto the cut area of reeds and we could see that it was a female. Bitterns are not easy to sex especially from a distance but in general the males tend to have a bluish colouration to the cheek area and the females have a more yellowish colour to the base of the bill and around the eyes. All of a sudden another Bittern appeared from the reeds about 10 yards from the first and a closer examination revealed this too to be a female but this bird seemed much more confident and immediately walked out into the open which resulted in the first bird taking off and flying across the mere out of sight.

   The Bittern walked across the front of the hide only about 20 feet from Jon and myself who were both snapping away like crazy as it gave fantastically good views. I ended up taking about 800 shots and Jon nearly 1000 but I still had space on the card for a few shots of a Little Egret that had landed in the shallow water behind us while we were preoccupied with the Bittern. By far and away my best encounter with these rare and elusive birds, now I just have to get some similar quality shots of a male!