Mikepércs: In Frost

The real cold has come. The pool has been frozen completely. I brought some warm water, but it has frozen on the ice within an hour. So, the birds can't drink.

The sparrow hawk hasn't landed in front of me for long, so it would be great if it showed itself again. The nuthatch hasn't come recently either.

I get into the hide and in a few minutes the jays are in front of me:

Jay

Then a few tit photos come:

Blue Tit

Marsh Tit

I manage to get some of them perch on the thuja branch:

Marsh Tit

This jay perhaps can sniff up a few drops of water:

Jay

Tree Sparrow

The tits sometimes produce their alarm calls because the sparrow hawk often strikes in. This tree sparrow however doesn't fly away at once, but it's skulking tensely, so that it could launch itself in every moment:

Tree Sparrow

Later a hawfinch lands to drink, but it doesn't find any water:

Hawfinch

Suddenly a female sparrow hawk strikes in ..., a few wing-beats in the bush and if I see well ..., is it the white and black head of a great tit near its foot? Everything  happens so quickly, in the next moment the sparrow hawk is gone, I can't follow it with my eyes.
After half a minute the small birds are back again, they don't care about anything that's happened in the last minute.

Later I'm trying to record some scene:

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Meanwhile the nuthatch appears a few times, it seems to be still collecting seeds for hard times.

The blue tit looks nice between these small blue berries:

Blue Tit

Mikepércs: Some Action Again

It seemed to be sunny today, so I prepared for some action shots.

The first sunbeams create a nice background:

Tree Sparrow

The sparrows begin the quarrel:

Tree Sparrows

Tree Sparrow and Great Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Landing:

Great Tit

The tits are also quarreling sometimes:

Great Tits

Great Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Later I'm making some attempts with a thuja branch as well:

Marsh Tit

Mikepércs: Fighting

It seemed to be sunny this morning, so I've had the opportunity for shooting some action.
Besides the tits the tree sparrows have come for food. Unlike the tits the sparrows have a different method of eating seeds. The tits come for every seed, take them to a bush to break it in the safty of the branches and twigs. The sparrows however land near the seeds, usually in a group and start eating side by side. If they don't have enough space, they peck each other, but often they start to fight with beaks and claws. I try to catch these scenes:

Tree Sparrows

Tree Sparrows

Tree Sparrows

When the sparrows occupy the feeding place the tits can hardly get the seeds, but if they are hungry they stand up against the sparrows:

Great Tit and Tree Sparrow

Great Tit and Tree Sparrow

Mikepércs: The Woodpecker Appears

According to the weather forecast I expected some sunshine for today, but yesterday evening I was delighted to see some fog settle down on the area. This morning however there was very little fog left, and the same happened with light conditions.
The tits have already been waiting for me, they have run out of food!
While fussing around the pool I found a fat worm in the water, dead of course. Eh, this would be looking nice in the beak of a bird! So I placed it in a more visible place in the water.

The photography begins with the tits, of course:

Marsh Tit

Soon two jays appear, one of them starts to dabble at the end of the pool, ...:

Jay

... and spotting the worm picks it up ...:

Jay

... and lands with it right on the branch placed for them and starts eating it. But what a "luck" I have: the other jay is standing right in front of it :(
Oh no!!!

Then some weeding takes place:

Jay

Jay

The jays eat and dabble alternately:

Jay

Then a female woodpecker comes, she's searching on the right place:

Great Spotted Woodpecker (female)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (female)

Soon the nuthatch appears as well:

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Then comes the jays' turn:

Jay

Jay

I'm trying to match the tits with the tiny mushrooms grown on this branch:

Marsh Tit

The male sparrowhawk is striking two times, ...:

Sparrow Hawk (male)

... but after the unsuccessful attacks he flies off. On the third occasion he lands on the bush nearby. He's sitting there for a few minutes, then he starts staring down towards the end of the pool. Suddenly he gets down and in that moment a small bird is flying out under the pool. The sparrow hawk starts for it, but doesn't catch it. He returns soon landing somewhere behind the pool. He's sitting there for a while before he finds the best place:

Sparrow Hawk (male)

He doesn't stay long, flies away, so the tits can return:

Great Tit

Great Tit

Mikepércs: Morning Hoarfrost

It's been freezing at night and everything has been covered by hoarfrost. I'm glad to see this, as it will surely have a good effect on the photos. The pool was full of ice, so I poured some water on it so that the birds could drink.
The hoary vegetation have a good effect on the first shots:

Great Tit

Blue Tit

The rising sun creates beautiful colors:

Marsh Tit

I didn't see the nuthatch yesterday, but now I can hear it again and soon it appears at the end of the pool:

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Having plenty of light I can make a few flight shots of the tits:

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Then suddenly, a female sparrow hawk appears at the side of the pool, but I can only make a portrait of her:

Sparrow Hawk (female)

During the morning the male sparrow hawk has stroken two times, he was lightning fast, and once landed even, but he didn't look very nice getting the sunshine from one side and flew away after a few moments. However it's good having seen the female too, I hope she will spend more time here in the future.