Treecreeper

All quiet on the Fen this morning. The Bearded tits were heard but not seen, making the long walk and long wait seem a bit disappointing, but such is wildlife photography. On the way back I spotted a Little Egret, hunched up in the wet fen. There’s water everywhere, the fen is a damp place anyway, but I’ve never seen it so wet. The flooded areas reflect the big Norfolk sky and the golden sun gilds the reeds, a little corner of wilderness.

I notice a bird in a tree and set the camera up to have a look. It’s a Water rail, a secretive creature that’s rarely seen. I think there are quite a few on the Fen, as I’ve often heard their eerie shrieking call, but I’ve only seen them here a couple of times. Looks like this one was trying to keep his feet dry. He was too distant for a decent photo, but I thought I’d show you this for interest.

Walking back through the wood, a group of Long-tailed, Great and Blue tits were foraging in the tree tops, a pair of Treecreepers were with them. Back at the car park, I found a Treecreeper on one of the oaks and tried to photograph this small mouse like bird as it crept up the tree, using it’s needle thin beak to prize insects from the bark. It would creep to the higher branches and then tumble like a falling leaf back to the bottom to begin searching the tree again, always working upwards. Only after repeating this process numerous times was the Treecreeper satisfied that every crevice had been checked and it moved off to search another tree.

The soft winter sun wasn’t quite strong enough to capture this fast moving little bird, but I was pleased to get one photo!

 
(Click images to view larger…)

If you like what you see, please consider sharing![social_share/]

UK & Eire Natural History Bloggers

Similar Posts

  • Keeping it local

    Out and about with my new camera yesterday. Decided to upgrade to the D300s, and I’m really impressed with it. I have to admit I was sorry to see my trusty D200 go, it’s been a real reliable workhorse for me. The D300s is great though, better noise handling and weather proofing, larger LCD screen…

  • White Wings

    Change is part of life. Every new day is an opportunity to begin again. The seasons turn, the tides change, the sun rises and sets. We humans assume we can always remain the same, but we are part of nature, and therefore change is inevitable for us too. Something I have discovered only too painfully….

  • Close encounters

    A dull and dreary start to the day at the Fen, with a heavy blanket of low cloud and mist. Nothing doing with the Sedge and Reed warblers, they were keeping low down in the reedbed, but still singing. Spotted the Little Grebe on his regular pool, shame there’s nowhere to get a clear view…

  • Winter Wonderland

    My first meaningful photography trip out this year, and what a beautiful morning. There’s nothing better at this time of year, crisp and frosty, and great light. Headed over to the fen and started trying to capture the frosty reeds and fen plants, a tough job with a 500mm lens, but at least it gives…

  • The Month of June

    Time for a quick update, apologies for the blog silence of late. During June I took part in the Wildlife Trusts ’30 Days Wild’ project, connecting with nature every single day for a whole month. I documented my adventures right here on my website, click on this link to take a look at my: 30…

  • Practice Robin

    Well the Robin is certainly giving me a lot of photography practice whilst waiting for the Turtle dove. The light was beautiful last night, I was set up ready and waiting, then came the purring Turtle dove song from the hedgerow… but of course he didn’t come down. I was out later yesterday evening, the…

3 Comments

Leave a Reply