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

  • Teased by the Turtle Dove

    Well the last few days have been pretty frustrating. Attempting to get some more photos of the Turtle dove, but not doing very well! A mix of sunshine and showers have made for interesting and difficult lighting conditions. Here are a few that I’ve managed to process today, still got more to go through though….

  • Operation Turtle Dove

    Regular readers will know I have a real passion for this wonderful rare bird. I’ve just heard about Operation Turtle Dove – a three year project to reverse the decline of the Turtle dove. The project is a partnership between the RSPB, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, Natural England, and Conservation Grade. For more information visit their…

  • Autumn

    The golden season. Hedgerows heavy with fruits lead me to the earthy scented forest. Fungi, like this Fly Agaric push through the dark, damp soil. A Jay flies overhead with a beak full of acorns, and a Squirrel scampers up a tree to watch me walk by. Away from the forest into the open parkland…

  • Japan – Part 2

    The next wildlife stop on our tour of Japan was Nara, which is near Osaka, nearly 300 miles south east of Tokyo. Nara is famous for it’s very special sacred deer. They are Sika deer (Cervus nippon), and they roam freely in the town of Nara, and it’s wonderful park. As we walked up the…

  • Spot the bird

    Wildlife photographers have a habit of showing only their very best work, which is of course understandable. It does leave aspiring wildlife photographers a little disillusioned or disappointed with their own efforts, because it’s a fact that for every amazing photo taken, there’s ten, twenty, or a hundred (or more!) ‘misses’. After all, we’re dealing…

  • Short eared owl

    A wonderful first for me today. I’ve always wanted to see and photograph Short-eared owls, but I’ve never quite managed it, for some reason they have always eluded me. So today, on the advice of the wonderful and talented John Richardson (CLICK to have a look at his blog) I headed over to a beautiful…

3 Comments

Leave a Reply