Mikepércs: Harriers and Whinchats

Today I gave again a try with the bluethroat and the whinchats which I discovered yesterday.

The marsh harriers have been very active from early morning, sometimes they swooped down into the reed, like this female did:

Marsh Harrier (female)

Then for my greatest pleasure the wihnchats appeared again settling mostly on the top of the bushes and peeking insects with interest from there.

Whinchat (male)

Whinchat (female)

Whinchat (male)

They spent a few minutes there catching insects then got away.
The harriers kept on flying:

Marsh Harrier (male)

Once the bluethroat settled on the top of the bush in front of my hide, but the light conditions became poor by that time, so I was unable to take a good shot of it again.

Mikepércs: Instead of Bluethroat ...

Today I ran forthe bluethroat which I observed last weekend. I chose an elder bush where the bird sang recently and setup the hide near it. As soon as I got into the hide, a marsh harrier flew across in front of the hide. Unfortunately my equipment wasn't at hand yet, so I missed it. Then a pair of swans appeared and I managed to get one of them:

Mute Swan

Many great reed warblers were singing nearby, one of them settled on the elder bush in front of me ...:

Great Reed Warbler

... and started its croaky song:

Great Reed Warbler

The bluethroat used frequently a bush which was a bit further, so I decided to try there tomorrow. My decision was reinforced when I noticed a few whinchats that were moving close to that place. I had to wait long for the bluethroat to settle once in front of me. But it chose a wrong place according to my point of view, so I wasn't able to take a good shot of it. Never mind! Next time ...

Mikepércs: Pheasant

Today I visited the pond for the first time this year. On my way I met a few pheasants, the cock tried to get away in line with the road, so I was able to take some shots while driving. In the green seeding it looked like this:

Pheasant (male)

Pheasant (male)

One of the hens was getting away on the side of the road but mainly in the vegetation which shrouded it, so I was unable to take a good shot of it.

There wasn't much water in the ponds, the bottom of it could be seen here and there. And there weren't so many birds either then last year. But I decided to set up the hide somewhere soon.

Mikepércs: Lesser Celandine

Variations on a theme

Today afternoon I visited the blooming lesser celandines in the forest. In  changing light conditions they looked like this:

Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine

Fancsika Lake: Tryout of The Floating Hide

On our yesterday trip at the Fancsika Lake I saw a pair of Great Crested Grebe on a part of the lake where photography would be possible. I decided to try out my newly finished floating hide. I assumed that the birds would dislike the new object, but at least I would learn how it behaves on the water. So, I took it to the spot, assembled it and rowed to the right place. However I didn't see a bird. I could only hear the voice of the little grebe in the thick vegetation, but they didn't come closer. Then after about an hour the pair of the great crested grebe appeared in front of my hide. They were approaching but at about 20 meters they stopped and began to watch the hide. Then they continued their usual activities keeping the distance from the hide. So, I wasn't able to take very good shots of them but looking at the following picture one can feel something from the spirit of the spot:

Great Crested Grebe

I was hoping to see other birds as well but they didn't show themselves.
My hide behaves just as I expected however I have to work on the rowing and direction issues.

Lake Fancsika: Snails

Today morning my children and I visited the Fancsika Lake. We saw many snails so I took some photos of them.

Meeting of snails:

Roman Snails

From a little closer:

Roman Snails

They were touching each other, ...:

Roman Snails

Roman Snails

Roman Snails

... then each took its own way.

Mikepércs: Snails and Flowers

Due to the many rains that has fallen recently my hide has got so much water in it that I could sit only in the water. Of course I didn't want to take a sitz-bath. So, I was looking for other photography themes. First one was a snail on a branch:

Then I found the second one struggling against gravity ...:

Roman Snail

... and then finding a good shelter where it could take a rest:

Roman Snail

The following were these lesser celandines in the forest :

Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine

Mikepércs: Tits, Chaffinches, Jays

It's impossible to attract the birds with water to the drinking pool as there's plenty of water everywhere. So I have to do it with feeding. Of course this works only for some species.

When I got to the pool this morning I met a wren for my great pleasure as I haven't seen this lovely bird for long. It flew away soon but I hoped it would return later. I could hear its voice several times during the morning but I couldn't see it any more.

On the other hand the tits and the jays came for some food and later the chaffinches did the same:

Marsh Tit

Marsh Tit

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (male)

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Jay

Blue Tit

Mikepércs: Birds start coming

After yesterday's experience I didn't have too high expectations for today, as yesterday the birds kept themselves off from my hide.

Wheather forecast predicted some sunshine for today, but it was overcast in the morning. However the birds were active around the bathing pool. The tits were the most numerous, they keep coming to the feeder:

Great Tit

Great Tit

Marsh Tit

Great Tit

At times the jays landed to have some sunflower seed. At this time it started snowing:

Jay

Jay

After a while the snow changed to rain but it didn't take long. Anyway, it's the 1st of April. The robins kept on moving around the pool, but they went for insects on the ground mainly. On one occasion however one of them looked round from the side of the pool:

Robin

The tits kept on starring:

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Marsh Tit

Blue Tit

My little garden:

Jay

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

For my greatest pleasure a redstart and a dunnock had found some food around the pool, but the chaffinches appeared as well and were picking the seeds from the ground. One of them dared to land on the side of the pool:

Chaffinch (male)

Yesterday I noticed a redstart on a distant bush, today however it came quite close. I was very happy about it:

Redstart

Blue Tit

I've never seen such a puffed blue tit before like this. It stayed in this pose for about 2 minutes on the side of the pool:

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Telling the truth, I didn't hope to take shots of so many birds today, but I'm expecting the warblers, the finches, the thrushes which are common nearby, not to mention the goldcrests, the long-tailed tits and the woodpeckers.