Sri Lankan odds and ends (plants and trees)

Ok, this is the first of a 2 or 3 Sri Lankan 'stocking fillers' .... the result of reviewing and selecting some of the hundreds of photographs I took whilst we were there. This mini post is devoted to the flora in and around our base near Ngombo and many of these pics were taken in and around the hotel grounds.

Like many tropical countries, there are of course a huge array of colourful plants and trees just about everywhere you look and I'm slightly disappointed that I didn't take more advantage but here's a small selection of Sri Lankan colour.

 


 
Blue Lotus flowers (or Purple Water Lilly) were growing inside the hotel complex and although lacking a bit of definition I was reasonably pleased with this passing shot.

Bouganvillea was everywhere in Sri Lanka and again this was one of several bushes within the hotel ... can you smell it yet?!

Red Hibiscus flower, outrageously exotic and part of a whole bush that had outgrown a nearby garden.

 

Had to google the name of this one, it's called Rathmal or Jungle Flame and again it grows everywhere.

The mysterious White Frangipani, the fragrant flower and source of many a candle and incense burner actually has no nectar and is often associated with death in Buddhist and Hindu culture.

A drab day in York, perfect for organizing photo files, and a chance Coal Tit

Another very drab and cloudy day here in Yorkshire, hopeless for any sort of photography but whilst I was clearing out some rubbish in the summerhouse this afternoon I did manage to capture a couple of half decent pictures of one of several Coal Tits that visit the feeders in my garden.

 

Apart from that it's been a perfect day for staying indoors and sorting out the many hundreds of images I have on my hard drive. A necessary part of any photographer's routine, some regard it as a chore but I can be happily consumed for hours examining any pictures I think are worthy of keeping, editing and putting them into folders for later use ..... only fellow photography geeks would want me to expand here on what is often referred to as 'image workflow' but this would be almost as drab to the majority as the weather is outside!

For anyone struggling though with what to do with all those digital images you've transferred to your PC or portable device here's one of many articles on the topic that may free up some of your image clutter! digital image workflow

It's well worth it, I've just found some odds and ends from my recent holiday in Sri Lanka with Gabz that are worth posting ...... just as soon as I've finished messing!

Anyone got any contributions or comments to make about how they go about sorting their digital images?

More info on Waxwings and recent UK sightings

Find out more about Wawings and if there have been any flocks reported near you by visiting this link -

http://www.birdguides.com/Waxwing sightings

Or let me know here (leave a comment) if you've already seen any or heard about some in your area, I'd love to know.

Waxwing invasion gathers strength in York

Waxwings are spreading like a rash right across the country and at the moment there is no better place to see them than in the middle of York. I was on my way to a job interview this morning and spotted one perched in the top of a tree, then a few more on my way back. I always have the camera in the car (it's chipped, so don't even think about it!) so, looking slightly incongruous in pin striped suit, binocs and long lens I climbed the bar walls nr Bishopthorpe road and managed some half decent photographs. The light wasn't brilliant but the birds were closer than a few days ago, more of them (a fellow birder reckoned on about 300) and from the bar walls the shooting angle was much better.

No need for much more narrative (see my last post for more detail on these marvellous berry eating marauders from the North - Waxwing hunting in York ), so here's a selection from the shoot.

I played around with the light settings in this last shot to bring out the colours a bit more, the original showed little more than silhouettes in the sky, but as with several other of these pics you can see just how rampaging these birds are. They're a bit like locusts in a way, devouring and stripping the berries of trees before moving on en mass to find more! You can see why they're regarded as somewhat of a pest up in Scandinavia, pretty though they are. At this rate they'll soon eat all the berries in York and have to move on but this is what they do and my bet is that the UK influx will move further south into France and maybe Spain before the Winter is out.

Waxwing hunting in York

I went on a rather curious hunting expedition today in York city centre. Early Christmas shopping perhaps? Mmh .... if you knew me well you would know that this would never happen in a month of Micklemas sundays! No, I was of course scouting for birds ... yes out and about with binocs and camera amongst the shoppers and the tourists looking for some very particular birds that sometimes turn up in our cities and gardens in the winter - Waxwings.

They breed in more Northerly climes like Scandinavia and the Baltic states and a few winter here every year but every so often they arrive here in large numbers; this happens because every so often their food supply in the North is not able to sustain their numbers. Waxwings are big finch like birds, about the same size as a Starling, and they feed on flies and berries, they love berries, and this year by all accounts there's been a poor berry crop up in Scandinavia and so there we have it - lots of Waxwings have come to our shores this year. This kind of periodic influx is called an 'irruption' and occurs every 10 years or so as far as Waxwings are concerned and with several other bird species such as Crossbills and Redpolls.

Back to my Waxwing hunt then ...... I'd heard on the grapevine that there were a few flocks in York, some in Rawcliffe and some nr St Georges Field next to the river Ouse. No luck in Rawcliffe, but these birds are quite mobile so its a case of tracking them down. So on to St George's field and result ..... not many and all in big tree tops but at least 15 of these beauties were flying around catching flies in the late afternoon sun. They looked great through the binoculars but too high up in the trees to get any close up shots so I'm going to have another go tomorrow .... here's my best shots from today

Early morning on Hatfield Moor and a very late Swallow record

Decided to stay another day over in the Hatfield Moor area with my mate Mark, late finish and several glasses of wine over a chicken curry and chips equalled an early night plus I'd already emailed the local recorder of Hatfield birding blog that we'd be out again in the area with some better pics to contribute, so we had to make the most of the early morning before the expected rain (forecasted for midday) set in.

So we were up at sunrise and on the moor for 7.00 am

It was cold!










We were soon on to good birds (you can't beat being up and at it first thing) with several flocks of overflying Redpolls, Siskin and a single Brambling. This was about the best of a pretty frustrating attempt to capture Redpolls in the treetops, I took about 30 shots and was a bit dismayed to find this was my best effort!







Fared a bit better with some reasonable shots of Great Spotted Woodpecker (pic right) and Willow Tit (pic below) from a hide that had an adjacent bird feeding station but what with the poor light and some unwanted flash effect from inside the hide these could have been tons better - here's my best couple of shots of both species -

 




So, although not covered in glory as far as my photographic prowess is concerned me and Mark had a good day, always fun to be out and about with my best mate nattering about nothing in particular and putting the world to rights.

No more pics from today but on the way back I had about 400 Pink Footed Geese in fields nr Goole and then stopped off at Skipwith Common. Not much - 4 Jays, a Sparrowhawk, 100 or so Fieldfare and a couple of Goldcrest but then out of nowhere, in grey skies, light rain and a biting wind I had an incredible late Swallow! Not just a glimpse either, I watched it struggling against the elements for a good 10 mins then saw it again about 30 mins later - it had made 200 yards on what will surely be a tricky southward journey. Excellent record and easily my latest ever Swallow record and after a bit of research on the net very close to a UK record for late Swallows - 11th Nov.

I wasn't finished there either, I stopped off at Thorganby to have a look at the flooded Derwent and had a couple of Goosanders along with 6 Pintail, about 600 Wigeon and 250 Teal.

Out and about in North Lincs and Blacktoft Sands

Out and about with me birding pal Mark today around the fields and drains nr the River Torne in North Lincolnshire and then on to Blacktoft Sands RSPB nature reserve. Not a particularly spectacular day for the birds but a fine crisp day weather wise with bright sunshine and blue skies for the most part, it even got semi warm in the sun at midday!

Just a few selected pics here from the day.




Little Grebe on the River Torne



Great Spotted Woodpecker in Haxey Turbery, nr Wroot

Mark pole dancing!

I 've wanted some decent photographs of Tree Sparrows for ages but few and far between in my neck of the woods so it great to see about 20 of them together along a hedgerow at Blacktoft Sands reserve. This is a nice little group of the far prettier cousin of our common or garden House Sparrow (pic left)

Water levels were high on the reserve so not much in the way of wading birds, not much at all really but we did catch maybe 8 Marsh Harriers coming in to roost and a gigantic flock of about 2000 Pink Footed Geese overhead in one flock! They roost at Reede Island in the Humber and clearly their numbers have been swelled by winter visitors from Northern Europe. No pics of either I'm afraid, it was getting too dark by then but earlier we'd seen some decent sized flocks of Snipe which kept flying around (pic right) and this pair of Common Teal looked good in the evening sun (pic below)

We came across this small church, the church of St Pancras in the village of Wroot and a combination of some good light, good aspect and just the way the gravestones were situated and casting shadows was attractive and needed a photograps or 3 .... here's the best one.