Red Deer Stag

Another shot from my trip to Richmond park in London. This shot is one of only two that i was actually happy with by the end of the day and proof that you don't put your camera away until you are in the car. My first memory card had filled up. As we were near the car i thought about putting the camera away then my dad started taking photos of a small group of stags being kept company by the Jackdaws you can see in the back ground. So instead i put in my spare card and took three or four shots, and i am glad i did :).

f/7.1

1/500

ISO-1000

500mm

Wild Bird Wednesday - Wren

Today's wild bird was pure luck, no planning the shot or anything like that, i was walking from one location to another when it flew past and landed in front of me and waited as if waiting for its photo :).

f/6.3

1/320

ISO - 3200

500mm

City Wren

Every time i do the washing up i stare out of the window day dreaming, trying to not think about washing up as i am sure a lot of people do (who don't own dishwashers). Recently i have notice a very active and bold wren. He happily site calling out in the open and on the top of telegraph poles singing very loudly. Over the weekend i decided to take advantage of this and managed to get this shot in the middle of Southampton outside my flat :).

1/1250

ISO-3200

f/5.6

289mm

Dunnock

I took this photo of a Dunnock on the same day as the two Siskin Photographs previously posted. Whilst all the other birds where fighting over the feeder, far fewer were feeding on the ground. This little Dunnock was hardly noticeable and really highlighted to me how effective their camouflage is. I was there a good 20 minutes before i even noticed birds on the ground, and they were only 6 or 7 feet away. 

Mystery raptor... reveal ! (Wild Bird Wednesday)

The mystery raptor from the photograph was in fact a common buzzard (buteo buteo). The common buzzard has a very varied plumage. The reason that this one was particularly white could be one of two things (I must point out that this was after substantial research :) ).

Firstly it could be simply a juvenile as they have paler plumage, it is its full size but may not have developed its adult plumage yet.

The second and in my opinion more like reason for the large amount of white on its chest could be that it is a visiting buzzard from Scandinavia, where the buzzards there are in general a lot paler in appearance due to the more snowy habitat they live in. However they cannot hunt in permanent thick snow cover and so some migrate to relatively warmer places such as here in the south of England for the winter.

Apologies for the poor quality photo, but it has been edited to make it as clear as possible :).
(Information from the BTO and RSPB).

Sika Hind, Sparsholt

I am lucky enough to attend sparsholt agricultural college which has some fantastic facilities. One of its most well appreciated assets are its herd of Sika Deer ( Cervus Nippon). They have had a herd of deer there for educational purposes for years, they are well looked after and well managed. You can usually get a half decent sighting across their enclosure to see them but this day they were a little closer than usual so i took the chance and got out my camera. So as not to waste time i used the automatic mode and this was the result :).