THE SECOND CHANCE SEDGE

Well this was lucky ..

I cold only stand there and watch these the day before and had decided I was going to be in too much pain to go back and film them. My camera equipment was also buried .. deep.

But I dragged out my .. Nikon P900 after I realised I was being .. forced outside once again and I managed to get lucky ..

And film and photograph that Sedge Warbler ..

https://www.flickr.com/gp/89426160@N05/06FnQH

EDIT: 

I forgot to add that just prior to seeing this Sedge Warbler I heard what I thought sounded like a loud .. grasshopper. I then thought "Wait a minute? That is not a Grasshopper Warbler is it?" and then a warbler appears. There had been a rumour of one being seen or heard and I thought this is what this bird was.

I have not been an avid bird watcher since I was a child, concentrating more on other animals like exotic finches, reptiles, amphibians and fish over the years. As soon as I saw the pictures in a book I remembered what a Grasshopper Warbler looked like and could not believe that I did not remember its pattern and colour ..

But then I do have this memory issue which I have had a number of years that has progressively gotten worse over a long period of time.

THE SCAUP & THE GOLDENEYE

I visited a new site while I was down here.

We had many days of snowing and freezing temperatures which was days on end of misery which ended up a day of getting some very sad and distressing news. It was pretty bad and still is .. something else for my corruption blog in time I guess?

I was about fit to burst .. or throw myself under a bus and had to get out. My brother said he wanted to go to a place where a Little Bunting had been spotted. He had also said there were reports of Scaup and Goldeneye ducks and at first I decided I was not going. But then I changed my mind ..

I did decide to only take my Nikon P900 .. but I am going back today with the Sony A99 II and a couple lenses and a monopod!

This is why ..

There was indeed a Scaup ..

You can see a higher resolution picture and others on my Flickr account..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89426160@N05/40598581772/in/dateposted-public/

Oh and there was a Goldeneye .. or two ..

See Higher res pictures and leave a like at ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89426160@N05/26768978378/in/dateposted-public/

There were also Linnets .. though when they flew away we could have sworn we see a greenish yellow colour and thought they were Siskins .. until we got back and took one look at the pictures ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89426160@N05/39744792245/in/dateposted-public/

I thought the day was already a result when the first things I saw and filmed, ooh fils to all the above .. below, a Goldcrest ..

Here are a few videos ..

SCAUP

GOLDENEYE

LINNETS

Goldcrest ..

Goldfinch feeding on floor ..

Chaffinch .. maybe?

THE KING AND THE CRESTS

Well I have not published much but .. I have been out several times ..

I have been visiting a spot between Walthamstow and Hackney in East London where it technically borders a part of North London really considered to be East London .. lol.

Now I was told of three species of bird were seen here and these are Goldcrests, Kingfishers and Firecrests? I will tell you what I said to that .. "No fucking way!"

You see I frequented this areas as a kid and collected Common Newts and Palmate Newts from this site and .. no one was supposed to be in there. There used to be a hole in a wallk we used to get through.

I was a keen bird watcher when I was a kid and .. the very idea of even seeing something like Goldcrests there and anywhere else in this area was ludicrous and never happened. Ever!

But blow me down all three are indeed there as I now have photographic evidence of it .. despite killing my back with my very heavy photographic equipment. My Sony A99II is not particularly heavy but the Sony f2.8 70-200mm lens has crushed my vertebrae several times! Lol.

Photos not great but at least I know that these birds are there and now I can work on getting far better photos!!

Now let me see if I can link my photos in from FlickR .. umm .. NOPE ..

Just like Google and their Adsense crap, their Chrome Browser and now Google's Blogger .. nothing bloody works! LMAO! But they are alooof and refuse to talk to you because they think all their crap works!!

Oh well .. here are some pictures and links .. there are a lot more photos and will be more coming ..

Oh and there is video too ..

You can like this Kingfisher photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/23mf22L

You can like this Firecrest photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/234M32n

You can like thias Firecrest photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/234M5X2

You can like this Kingfisher photo here ..https://flic.kr/p/21FdMsw

You can like this Goldcrest photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/24r5YQt

You can like this Goldcrest photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/24r63aV

You can like this Goldrest photo here .. https://flic.kr/p/24r5YQt

Long way away butin the distance you will note a blob of orange .. a Kingfisher and it did land right underneath our noses just out of sight a few minutes later .. the good but washed out photo above .. which I got purely because I see the reeds bend a certain way .. stood up and there it was .. got a photo but it raced off before I could hit the video button on my DSLT.

If you freeze the last video at 4 seconds exactly you should see a Firecrest and it should be unmistakable as to what it is.

SOME WATER FOUL - SHOVELLERS, TEAL, LAPWINGS

A little earlier than the Greater Spotted Woodpecker shots and videos are these few water fould species ...

Remember, camera now faulty, replacement in couple of weeks.

Teal, Shovellers, Gadwalls and Lapwings ...

Lapwings and Shovellers ..

 Teal taking flight ..

Shovellers ..

Lapwings ..

Lapwings and Shovellers ..

BACK IN ACTION - GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER

I finally have a video of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopus major, hammering!

I have hoped for several years I would get to film this!

A shame then that I get it when my camera is now faulty and six months overdue getting a replacement. A replacement that I hope I will acquire in around two weeks time?!

Fingers crossed.

Some Photos ...

THE SPOT, THE BIKE ..

Here are the videos I put on YouTube ...

THE GREY WAGTAIL - Motocilla cinerea

Spotted in a rough part of Enfield where the people that are undesirable and treat nature and wildlife like its their personal dump liver in large numbers ...

So imagine my surprise when I spot two Grey Wagtails likely stopping off on their way to somewhere else, if they have any sense at all?

After some local idiots go right past me I manage to film and photograph them... barking dogs and other barking dogs on chains scaring the shite out of the devil himself ... ERRR EFFING CAMERA HERE YOU HBRAIN DEAD FAGGITS!! Lol!

Well once they returned after flying over the top of some houses and I thought I had missed the opportunity I then filmed and photographed them!

I would not eat there son, you don't know where its been?!

Or to be more precise, you do not know what effing crap the locals have thrown out and the insects have eaten!!

Now was it along here and then ... left?!

Oi! NO BALL GAMES!

Come back! I am not the idiot with the barking dogs!

Careful where you prod that thing!

THE JACKDAW of CONFUSION

I got a surprise when I spotted this near my home and at first it looked so light I thought it was a Hooded Crow?!

I had not seen one of those since I was in Italy some years ago and my brain was confused because it should not have been there! But after looking at the video again I realised it was a Jackdaw! Buggering fool!

Still not used to seeing these and cannot remeber the last time I saw one ... couple of pictures and then a video ...

The video of the Jackdaw of confusion ...

THE FIRST FINCH FILMED

A hen Chaffinch I managed to get when I went out on a wildlife hunt.

Oddly I have been out a few times in horrible muggy heat and yet the leaves are still to appear!

I cannot decribe how weird that appears to me, I was sweating and had only a t-shirt on and yet I was looking at bare trees as if it was still mid winter!! At the time as this was over a week ago now. This was in an earlier spell of warm weather....ooooh no I am getting this wrong I am thinking about when I was at Lea Valley Park but there was nothing about!

This was the day before yesterday! Yes I was in Forty Hall and a nasty bailiff had left a notice for me despite them bing told I not only do not owe money, but not supposed to pay the money anyway and also they have broken the law by coming to me! Yes that was the day and I am not getting into that about Bailiffs here and it is covered in much detail on my corruption blog

asaintcalledallnights.blogspot.com

It is over Council Tax and they have been sent by the Council but despite my Doctor telling me I know more about my condition than he does and that I am teaching him everyone else thinks that not having that pieve of paper from him that they can then totally disregard the law. Infortunately for them I have trapped them which is shown on that blog and they will clearly be shown to be totally ignoring the facts because of a piece of paper! Except on my corruption blog you will see a piece of paper that states that I have an upcoming appointment with Guy's Hospital who are the leaders in the UK for my condition of Fibromyalgia which causes loads of pains around the body that are not actually there, yeah I know mad, right?! It screws up the signals in the nervous system all over the place and causes some really horrible things! I have 120 symptoms and all down to this one condition though they told me for 13 years it was not possible! Oh and I diagnosed it! They knew for sometime what I had and kept it from me I just do not know how long. They definately knew for over 6 months and I think it has been several years! So much so that the Parliamentary Health Services Ombudsman have asked me how much money I want? lol!

Personally I am annoyed the PHSO asked me that! I certainly was not expecting it.

Amy how that is for another place but it has the potential to disrupt the many blogs I have been working very hard on! So a little warning things might go a bit dead for awhile, lol.

That hen Chaffinch...

VIDEOS of LITTLE RINGED PLOVER - CHARADIUS DUBIUS

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER - CHARADIUS DUBIUS

At Cornmill Stream were these guys, lol confused me until I got home!

VIDEO of A BIRD SKULKING IN THE GRASS

Most likely a Hen Pheasant but I spotted her and she, or indeed he, kept popping up to keep an eye on where I was, lol.

VIDEO OF A JAY

VIDEOS of FAMILY OF LITTLE EGRETS - EGRETTA GARZETTA

OOPS I fogot to post these videos of a family, or group, of FIVe, count them, Little Egrets that were feeding alongside a pair of Northern Lapwings.

FAMILY OF LITTLE EGRETS - EGRETTA GARZETTA

Along with the two Lapwings I sptted no less than THREE Little Egrets together and all feeding?!

This is an unsual site and while I was filiming, yes I filmed them and over on my YouTube account along with the Lapwings, a guy came up behind me and said 'wow that IS unusual....you don't normally see three together!'

Well within minutes of him walking away two more appeared out of nowhere and they must have been hiding in the grass?! So there was a total of FIVE in all, all together and I think it must have been a pair and their chicks. I would wager that they bred on the Lea Valley Park somewhere between Hook Marsh Scrape and Holyfield Lake?!

THE NORTHERN LAPWING - VANELLUS VANELLUS

This was a bit of a surprise as this spot at Hook Marsh Scrapes does not have too much there in the summer months whereas the winter can have some real great birds. Today was very different though as you will see from both this post and the next one.