Martyn Pitt

Russell ... London have been on the phone ... what are you doing on the 31st December this year Anyway my first effort for 2017 a Pied Wagtail

Thought I would say farewell to 2016 with an unassuming Robin ... hope you all have a happy new year

We had a rare visitor today, this little beauty should be mid Atlantic off the coast of Africa, it is a Grey Phalarope and was as close to tame as I have seen a wild bird at Belvide, it would happily swim within a few metres of us on the shore, at one point it was swimming under the Pike anglers rods. First one for three years, so it drew a good crowd

Cheers Pete, our garden is one massive ant nest and Green Woodpeckers love ants and their eggs, we often get them in the garden, however they are extremely skittish and easily spooked so I have to be careful when I try to photograph them.

A regular visitor to my garden to fill it's belly ... a Green Woodpecker

A Grey Wagtail in the gloom of the reed bed

That would be me he is referring to Dave, not cruel at all, but certainly funny and close to the truth Anyway also clocked this record breaker as well yesterday, it is a Common Sandpiper and it should be back in sunny Africa now, this is the latest recorded date for the species on the reservoir ... it obviously likes the cold

A Black Headed Gull reflecting

Been a while since I posted anything on here, anyway a couple of Pied Wagtails, an adult and a juvenile

Knowing Steve, the pink ones with the fluffy bow

Hi Ted, hope everything went well and that you are up and about soon All the best Martyn & Carol xxx

Poor Jess that's an awful thing to happen, I hope she gets better soon Steve

A real treat for us today at Belvide, a Gannet, only the second ever record of one for the reservoir, and seeing as we are about as far away from the sea as you can get in the UK no surprise that we only get them once in a blue moon. It is believed this bird had been at a pool south of Worcester yesterday, so had probably followed the Severn north yesterday evening and rested over night on the reservoir.

A juvenile Marsh Harrier has been on the prowl for food most of the day, didn't see it catch anything so I expect he is getting peckish

A first ever for Belvide, I suspect a fugitive on the lamb ... anyone missing a Peacock? He was trying to hide on a bough across a pond, in the woods.

Send this up .. and play it loud

Spaceark ... Do What You Can Do

I was knelt down No to Bury Have another one for your cheek

A Small Skipper

Peter The female flew off as soon as he put his ladder up by the owl box, the male was still in the box. He put the bird in a cotton bag, it keeps them calm, he leaves the feet out as it makes it easier to handle. He measured the wing length, and weighed the bird ... 377grams this one, a breeding female would be around 450g. No mate still at the same house, I was just being deliberately vague as to where it was located.

We have Barn Owl boxes dotted around the various farms in the area, so I was pleased to be asked if I wanted to accompany one of the bird ringers who was checking out a box for chicks. He did not find any chicks but he did find this young male (around 2 years old). This was the first time I had seen one "in the hand" and they are a lot smaller than you imagine them to be from seeing them in flight. I managed a couple of photo's with my phone

I can point my lens at one a mile away and the bloody thing will fly off Good to see Smiffy's images improving

We just got back from a week in Taormina, Sicily ... nice view of Etna from our balcony, Castelmola perched above us and some bloke with a glass of local brew

Basically what Dave said, I always found the Canon Ixus range produce pretty good results, and it does not need to be the latest model either, it all depends how much you want to spend. One piece of free advice ... always try and get the sun behind you when taking a photo,with the light coming over your shoulder, the image will be miles better than if it is backlit.