June 2008
A couple of hours in the Turf field hide this morning.
22/06/08
Hobby, hawking over the pool in front of the Turf field hide this morning.
It was quite a breezy day, with dull weather giving way to bright spells later in the morning, so I decided on a leisurely couple of hours sat in the Turf field hide at Grove Ferry, waiting to see what would fly past the windows. I started with a walk along the river bank, noting Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and numerous Wrens, with a pair of Turtle Doves purring from deep inside the paddock. Also a Lesser Whitethroat was heard from within the paddock area, and a Chiffchaff was seen and heard a little further down the river. I could see Martyn Wilson on the ramp, but I carried on down the river, and made my way back to the Turf field hide. Whilst in the hide, a pair of Grey Herons dropped in, and immediately started squabbling with the resident Greylags, and a tufted duck flew by, before 7 Gadwall landed. A Hobby was seen, hawking across the pool in front of the hide, and three Marsh Harriers were noted, returning on and off throughout my stay during the morning. I was joined in the hide by Martyn and Mike Gould, and we spent an hour talking cameras and clicking at anything that moved past the windows. By accident, I did learn that by putting Martyn’s Canon 2 x converter on to my lens and 1.4 converter, I could still auto focus, albeit a little slowly, but it opens up possibilities. I think Mike worked it out to be equivalent to a 1600mm lens. The Drake Red Crested Pochard was still present on the pool, and a Kingfisher was seen.