Emptying skies!

September 30th 2010

The Barn Owl was over Black Hole Marsh between 8am and 9am this morning, swooping down twice and making a catch on both attempts. The Osprey seems to have gone, at least it wasn't seen flying around this morning. I gave up at around 12:30. Here are a few of the shots I took of the Barn Owl.

My first Wryneck sighting!!

September 27th 2010

The Barn Owl was hunting for a short while around 8am this morning, but poor light led to limited success with the photographs. After the owl flew off and out of sight, I headed up to Seaton Hide in the hope of seeing the Wryneck. Surprisingly, it was already there posing. However, again, bad lighting meant that no decent photographs were taken. There was also a Kestrel on the wires approaching the hide.

Good day for birding!

September 26th 2010

I spent pretty much the entire day at the River Axe. Interesting sightings include Barn Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Osprey.......... And I FINALLY managed to get some Osprey shots in some decent lighting!!!

Osprey attempt #6

September 24th 2010

Got up early to see the Osprey in some lovely morning sun. The bird however, had other ideas. The Osprey turned up at around 10 o'clock, when everything was overcast and gloomy. Which was a shame for taking photographs.
Annoyingly, as it started to drizzle and my camera was away in its bag, a Marsh Harrier did a quick fly-by over near Seaton hide.
Here are a few of the Osprey pics I took this morning:

Osprey attempt #5

September 23rd 2010

Here are a couple of pics from this morning.

Osprey attempt #4

September 22nd 2010

After having some success photographing the Osprey from Coronation Corner, I stationed myself opposite to the Tram Workshop, in the hope of getting some shots of the Osprey fishing. However, the pictures taken of the dives were blurry, to say the least, but here is a selection of the shots I managed to get.

Surprise when looking through todays pics from the River Axe!!!

September 21st 2010

After looking through my photos carefully, I noticed that one of the birds of prey was neither an Osprey nor a Buzzard. It was a Marsh Harrier passing through, at a fair altitude! I was distracted by all the gulls flying off and therefore assumed the Osprey was nearby so I didn't pursue this unexpected BOP (bird of prey) any further. MISTAKE! The shot was from a distance, so the bird looks a bit like a fluffy blob, but is still recognisable.

Osprey attempt #3

September 21st 2010

Having seen the Osprey for the last two days, I was keen to get out early this morning and give it another shot. I waited at Coronation Corner in Axmouth. The bird showed up at around 10:30, and caught a fish on it's first attempt. Here are some of the photos I managed to take this morning.





(More) Osprey, River Axe

September 20th, 2010

After limited success photographing the Osprey yesterday, I set out straight after work to see if I could see the bird again. After a long wait, the Osprey made a brief appearance at around 3pm, but was chased off (see photographs below). However, the bird did return to fish at raound 15:30, and flew around for about 20-25 minutes before making a catch and leaving.

Not a bad days shooting overall!

Osprey, River Axe

September 19th 2010.

Set out at 10:30 am and watched over the Estuary from Colyford Hide until about 13:00. Saw the seagulls all fly up a couple of times, but no sign of the Osprey. However, after retiring for some lunch, I went to Coronation Corner late afternoon, around 4pm. Osprey was soon present and was fishing for around 15 minutes.