First Session in the Hide
Bob - ever the poser!
I have had my first session in the hide now, and what a session it was! But let me backtrack a bit…
The day before the session I was at the hide doing some work and was taking a break with a coffee and a packet of chocolate Hobnobs, just watching the birds at the feeders. It was so peaceful just sat there watching and listening. It cleared my mind, and I was grateful that I had left my camera at home, so I was able to soak it all in without my field of view limited by my 300mm lens. Sometimes it is just nice to watch wildlife without a camera.
But then suddenly, I wasn’t grateful that I left my camera at home when I nuthatch came to the fat ball feeder! I had been hearing nuthatches close by in the woods for months, but it seemed like they just weren’t interested in the feeders. Now finally, I was watching a nuthatch at my little set-up. I was chuffed.
A nuthatch in its classic pose.
I was just about to grab my phone to text William (the landowner) that we finally had a nuthatch when another one flew into the fat ball feeder! We had a pair of nuthatches! I could not believe it. I watched them for a good ten minutes as they flew back and forth from the feeder to the woods before I messaged William to inform him of the good news. It was turning into a good day.
Whilst the nuthatches continued to fill their beaks with fat balls, goldfinches, siskins, blue tits, great tits and long tailed tits all enjoyed the banquet at the feeders. Then something brown caught my eye. It had its back to me on one of the sunflower heart feeders, and at first glance I thought it was a sparrow. That’s pretty cool I thought, I had never seen sparrows at the set-up, they never seem to venture down to the woods, preferring to stay up in the farmhouse area. Just as I was thinking that sparrow would be a nice addition to the species list, it turned to face me. In an instant my mind was blown. It was a redpoll! Today was a really good day!
My first ever picture of a redpoll.
I know some people are fortunate to have redpolls visit their gardens, but I had never even seen one before, and after all of the hours spent working at the set-up, worrying about if it would even work as I hoped and wishing for new species to show up, the feeling of joy that washed over me was absolutely worth all of the work and worry. I also felt a huge amount of satisfaction. It was vindicating to know that my vision for this little patch of land was truly starting to take shape.
That first session took place the next day, and as I walked the 400 or so metres down to the hide, I was filled with apprehension. Was the previous day a one-off? Would the new species come to the perches I was about to set-up? I need not have worried. The nuthatches came in after only ten minutes, although getting a shot I was happy with took a lot longer! And the redpolls also came in quickly – both a male and female.
As usual, Bob provided entertainment during the session by chasing off any intruding males and making sure his ladies (he has 11 to keep in check) were where he could see them. The header shot of Bob was taken on a wide-angle lens with him only 30cm in front of it, he’s such a poser! I know many people regard pheasants as pests, but just look at those colours. He is stunning.
I haven’t done much work at the hide since the last post, just a bit of turf laying as I don’t have the patience to wait for all of the grass to grow back. The next phase of work is to build a new pool, and this will hopefully be completed in the next couple of weeks, at which point I will report back!
Laying some turf to speed up the recovery process.
