I paid a visit to Reculver, after work, this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, sunny with some cloud, and though cold the north easterly wind wasn't so strong which made a difference from the strong winds we've had recently.
I had a walk towards the sea wall, via the towers, and saw a Blackbird catch a huge earthworm. I really didn’t think that it would be able to swallow it, particularly as it attempted to swallow it whole. It took it a few minutes, and quite a struggle, to manage to swallow it and it had to pause and just sit with the tip of the worms tail still visible in its open bill once it had almost succeeded, before finally being able to completely swallow it. Amazingly, afterwards, the Blackbird immediately started hunting again. I was somewhat surprised it could even move. I tried for a series of photos but the initial ones were very blurred, as my shutter speed was too slow, so although I have included the one that gives a good idea how big the worm was, they pick up again with much of the poor worm already swallowed.
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| Blackbird and worm |
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| Blackbird and worm |
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| Blackbird and worm |
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| Almost gone! |
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| Hungrey again! |
When I reached the sea wall there was a female/immature Marsh Harrier hunting at the back of the fields, near the railway line. I hoped that it might come closer for some photos but it went over Brook direction instead. I could also see 12 Mute Swans in the back fields. There were 11 Mallard out to sea. I saw a yacht passing the red buoy out to sea and it looked great as the sun caught its sails.
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| Yacht |
I carried on along the seawall. Every now and then Redshank's would call or fly over . The tide was falling and gradually little patches of shore were being exposed. I was really pleased to see a distant Short-eared Owl (77) over the oyster farm and hoped that I might see it again a little closer, once I was further along the sea wall. A very sweet Robin was feeding amongst the churned up mud. It was a real little fluff ball. Out to sea some Mallards flew past close to shore and I was able to grab a shot of a couple of them.
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| Mallards in flight |
I was very pleased to see the Short-eared Owl again a few times. It was mainly very distant but it did, on occasions, come a little closer so I tried for some shots. They have not come out very well, as I had to use a very high ISO, but they do make good memory shots. I love watching owls.
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Short-eared Owl on patrol |
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| Short-eared Owl |
It was getting very cold by now and I started to make my way back. A Little Egret flew over and landed on the shore. I did try for some photos but there was not really enough light. The sky looked quite spectacular.
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| Sunset |
There is due to be a total eclipse of the moon tonight, it will be a super blood wolf moon. Super because the moon will be near its closest approach to earth, wolf because that is what full moons in January are called, apparently, and red because of the earths shadow. When I looked behind me I could see the rising moon just beginning to be clear of the clouds. I grabbed a shot before it was totally obscured again and then further along, once it was clear of the clouds, I tried for another shot, this time using spot metering.
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| Rising Moon |
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| Rising Moon |
As I came up to the towers I could hear a Little Owl (78) calling. I took a photo of the ruins with the moon in the background and then one of the towers with the moon. I liked the edging to the clouds. Once I got to the car park I tried another photo of the towers with the moon just above. Hopefully I might see the totality of the eclipse before I go to work in the morning. Apparently it will be the last full one visible from here for quite a while. The forecast looks hopeful that the sky will be clear.
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| Reculver Ruins and moon |
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| Reculver Towers and moon |
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| Reculver Towers and moon |
In the early hours of Monday morning I took a photo of the blood moon and have included it here.
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| Blood Moon |
Birds seen this visit included: 3 Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Marsh Harrier, 15 Redshank, 18 Mallard, 5 Sanderling, 6 Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstone, 2 Curlew, 10 Oystercatcher, 5 Dunlin, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Brent Geese, 1 Little Egret, 2 Stonechat, 5 Meadow Pipit,1 Magpie, Carrion Crow, 12 Mute Swan, 1 Mistle Thrush, Little Owl heard calling.
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