Dodging the April showers in the Derwent Valley

Been back in the UK for the past 10 days or so and its been wonderful to catch up with friends and family although, as per usual, there never seems to be enough time to see everybody!

The weather has been appalling! Wettest April on record by all accounts and birding and photographic opportunities have been limited to say the least. I did manage a half day out and about with my old mucker and birding mate Mark in the Derwent Valley last Thursday and in between the showers we actually had a spectacular day starting off just 5 minutes after we got out of the car with 4 Common Cranes flying North East over Allerthorpe Common a cracking good record!

Got plenty of pics of them and we also saw them again later in the day nr Wheldrake Ings .... who knows maybe they'll breed. There's a reasonable sized and growing colony in Norfolk and a pair nesting every year on Hatfield Moor in South Yorks.

Those Cranes were a lucky sighting and given the poor weather ... rain and bad light, lucky to get any pics at all. Tragically then I'm having to post some pics of my best mate and birding pal Mark .... almost smiling on the 2nd one!

Very close to where I took these pics of photogenic Mark on the Pocklington Canal we saw something rippling in the water, then a brown shape came into view and lo and behold realised we were clocking an Otter! Shame I didn't get a pic, tried in vain but wasn't quick enough, but a few moments later we saw it again, closer this time and as we just stood, stock still in wonderment (this was a first for both of us) we were amazed and enthralled to see it emerge from the reeds up the bank and walk across the path right in front of us! Awesome memory. (pic right taken at nearby Wheldrake Ings - courtesy of York Evening Press)

We really did have a splendid day tramping around the Derwent Valley getting our feet wet, lots of good banter and the enforced rain breaks gave us time to plan our next birding trip .... the Camargue in May. The Cranes and the Otter were special moments but despite the weather this was a good birding day. In between the showers there was sunshine, blue sky and most importantly Southwesterly winds bringing in good selection of migrants including a couple of Swifts beating North right across our heads, at least 2 Cuckoos, Sedge Warbler, a magnificent flock of about 30 Black Tailed Godwits and Wheldrake Ings and an unexpected gem of a bird at Thornton Ings - a Black Tern, looking very incongruous flitting around in the chilly rain. We also had a good Peregrine Falcon that appeared to be nesting in one of the big pylons near Melbourne, a couple of Yellow Wagtails and several singing Corn Buntings. Add to this a late Wigeon, several burbling Curlews, Redshank and a nice little flock of 20 or so summer plumaged Dunlin and you have to say we pulled out the best of what was about in trying conditions! I leave you with a nice view of the Pocklington Canal and a very wet Linnet at Wheldrake Ings!



'Beyond the Gap' Summer tour promo clip

Band is complete, we have 50 plus songs ready n rehearsed and ready to tour this Summer ..... camp sites, local bars, hotels, festivals and anywhere else that will have us! We set off in June, still taking bookings and will update our tour dates as we have them!

Enjoy the clip - please email us at beyondthegap@hotmail.com for any booking requests

Free as bird, cuckoos n wags by the river

Still not convinced I'm getting the very best out of the new lens, 400mm just seems to be leaving me struggling for a bit more reach but given that most of the birds I shoot are 'on the hoof' and not from a hide I can't ever get very close. Still these aren't bad. A nice soaring Buzzard is one of the best I have taken of this ubiquitous raptor. Could have cropped this more but I kinda like the sense of space beneath the bird.

Stalked a Cuckoo the other day and got within 100m before this one spotted me and flew off.

Been trying to photograph cuckoos for ages and thought my best chance was one on flight so this perched and calling male bird was a bit of a bonus, even though I never got close enough for it to fill the frame.





And (before a certain somebody tells me that you should never begin a sentence with 'and') .... here's a bird you might see quite often flying around your garden or local park but rarely caught on film flying so feel rather smug about this shot of a White Wagtail (the European sub species of the Pied Wagtail).

Getting down and dirty!

Well at long last my new lens has arrived .... all been a bit of a do to be honest and have to say that after placing my order on Feb 28th and paying an extra £30 for express delivery I'm less than impressed to be unwrapping my Canon EF 400mm lens some 6 weeks later and with a wapping 267 euros import / VAT tax to pay to boot!

Still getting to grips with it and trying not to compare it with the excellent results I got from my defunct Tamron big lens but early results are ok.

I seem to have got into photographing closer to hand subjects like flowers and butterflies of late, keeping my eyes trained less on the skies and more on the hedgerows; new lens or not, this habit seems to have stuck with me but hey the results have been good and already had several wild flower and butterfly pics accepted by stock sites.

New flowers coming up all the time at the moment of course and not being much of a botanist it's been a real challenge id'ing the flowers I photograph (thank you Google images!). So here's an opportunity to show off my new found knowledge ..... first off are some lovely Grape Hyacinths (left)








For me, getting good pics of wild flowers is all about 2 things - good light and interesting angles. Light I can usually gauge ok and can usually be rectified with any decent photographic software if necessary but as I have discovered the interesting angles usually involve some degree of getting horizontal .... in other words lying down and getting dirty on the earth!

Apart from getting grubby, thorned and nettled I also lost a mobile phone out of my jacket pocket taking some of these!

From top to bottom - Buttercups against the blue sky, early emerging Wood Anemones at eye level and Cuckoo Flowers (or lady's smock) against the river.

Whilst scrambling about like this in a local meadow recently I was lucky enough to spot a different looking butterfly flitting about which was quickly joined by another of the same kind. Swallowtails! Dashing and stunningly beautiful here's the best shot of one of them and although the second shot is out of focus I've included because it only very nearly captures the pair of them mating!

Swallowtails are just awesome and being relatively scarce even in these parts they certainly add a taste of the exotic to a morning walk in the early Springtime. A lot more common are the yellow Brimstones that have been out for a few weeks now - tricky to photograph as they never seem to settle but this one did rest a while on a Lungwort flower head, albeit with closed wings (pic right) producing a pleasing image, and to complete my little collection of April flutterbies here's what I believe is a Speckled Wood (below)

You never know what you might find when you're scrabbling around in the grass trying to get a decent photographic angle and this big beetle (sorry, but no idea what species) certainly seemed nosey so I snapped him with my macro lens!

Now then, before you all start thinking I've turned into an amateur botanist come bug hunter, although my eyes have spent more time than usual trained on the ground my main prey is always the birds and here's a couple with the new lens. First up is a nice female Blackcap (right), a returning Summer migrant and one of many that are singing from nearly every hedgerow at the moment, and pictured below are a couple of the best shots of a briefly glimpsed male Montague's Harrier.

Have to that so far I've not really noticed a huge amount of difference between the Canon and my old Tamron which at 500mm had more reach but I guess time will tell. I'm considering a 1.4 or even a 2 x converter for the Canon now (more expense!)

Early Spring wild flowers compensate for late delivery of mega lens!

Still waiting for my new lens to arrive, been over a month since  ordered my Canon EF400 and although I've received a reassuring email to say it will be delivered tomorrow I'm sure missing many opportunities with several great birds passing over the barn in recent days ..... more in the March bird report but an Osprey, Black Kite and Black Stork in the last few days of March were all noteworthy!

Meanwhile, I've been more or less forced into using my other lenses and whilst neither are any good for bird shots I have been rather enjoying the challenge of trying to catch some of the early spring flowers that have been been emerging. Here's a few decent flower 'portraits'

From to to bottom here we have 'Lesser Celandines', 'White Campion', 'Orange Flame wild Tulips', 'Pink Apple Blossom' and lastly 'Common Lungwort'.

Bird Report Jan / Feb 2012

I found the coldest of the Winter months here in the heart of rural France to be a strangely quiet affair so far as birds are concerned and whilst there were a few good records with one or two surprises, my impression is that many semi resident birds fly out of the area (probably south and west towards the coast) where food is maybe more plentiful.

There was a very cold snap here during the first couple of weeks of February with daytime
temperatures plunging to well below zero, with heavy snowfall that laid on the ground for weeks. There was a marked influx of finches and buntings around this time with up to 300 Reed Buntings (pic left)and similar numbers of Chaffinches feeding in local stubble fields. Slightly smaller numbers of Cirl Buntings but 150 on the 12th Feb was notable, with c30 Yellowhamers, c60 Greenfinches and c50 Goldfinches on the same day. A single Brambling on the 17th Feb in amongst a big finch flock is a poor return and my only record of the year so far. Surprisingly few Meadow Pipits around, with only single figure numbers most days with a flock of 60 or so on the 31st Jan the biggest gathering.

The very cold weather brought stacks of finches, tits and thrushes to mt bird feeding station in the garden and as often happens when all the waterways freeze over, on the 9th of Feb I had both Snipe and Woodcock flying around looking for unfrozen ground to probe. I rather think the arctic conditions did for any overwintering warblers in the village with my last Chiff Chaff and Blackcaps (pic right) on the 15th and 16th respectively, after that nothing until the following month. No Kingfishers in this period either and in fact none to date and although I know they take a hammering during cold snaps I hope not too many have perished.

Good numbers of overwintering Skylarks & Woodlarks in local fields with flocks of 20 - 30 of the former typical and smaller numbers of the latter with 12 on the 15th Jan the biggest number recorded though I'm pretty sure I've had more some days.

Fieldfares and Redwings have been thin on the ground all Winter here and whilst there's been a handful of Redwings here and there I had only one Fieldfare during the whole 2 months on 22nd Jan. Both Mistle and Song Thrushes have been fairly noticeable with almost daily sightings and of course plenty of over wintering Blackbirds still about.

A stunning male Peregrine Falcon on the 21st Jan stood in the middle of stubble field near Pleasance was a sight to behold, albeit all too brief before it took off. Other good raptors around the same time included several good Hen Harrier sightings with single males flushed and seen quartering the fields a regular occurrence with a hunting pair on the 12th Feb. On the same day I had a possible Goshawk (pic right) fly towards me as I was trying to take a photograph of a Kestrel. Just about got a good shot of it but hard to tell whether it is a Gos or just a Sparrowhawk - if you have a field guide to hand judge for yourself!

There was a noticeable cold weather movement of Common Cranes at the end of Jan / beginning of Feb with c90 overhead on the 31st Jan and 45 on the 12th Feb. I'm not sure where they came from or where they were going but seemed to drifting SW. I noticed that whenever Cranes are moving so do Lapwings with c150 and c200 heading in the same direction on the corresponding days.

The last few days of February brought rising temperatures and the ground was fully thawed out by the end of the month. With some wonderfully bright and sunny days from the 25th onwards it was as if new life was being breathed into the countryside and I had some good local records including the first Common Cranes (pic left) heading North with c200 on the 25th and c600 on the 28th over the village. I also had 3 White Storks (pic below) calling and heading North on the 28th and a Great White Egret over the barn on the same day. A single male Black Redstart in the garden, also on the 28th, was my first returning breeding bird and Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Great Tits all started to sing from about this time.
















The 29th of February was a glorious spring like day and a trip out to Le Brenne parc naturale was rewarded by a couple of displaying Marsh Harriers and plenty more passage activity with some 800 Common Cranes in total, c200 Lapwings and a very marked passage of Sklarks with maybe 300 - 400 north during the day.

So, into March and I've already had the first returning Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps, Swallows, Cuckoos, Hoopoes and Corn Buntings. The nest time of the year is just around the corner so stay tuned for all of March's sightings.

'Wagon Wheel' - Mark's big contre bass entrance!

The long awaited debut of our long suffering sound man Mark on le old contre bass and accompanying us on another of our favourite tunes 'Wagon Wheel'

Check out the clean cobble stones, recently hoovered by Janey Jane!