Catching the Pied Flycatcher
This week has been pretty full-on with long days at work, this meant I was longing for the weekend to arrive even more than usual. The weather had been teasing me all week and mercifully the forecast for Saturday was blue skies. Without hesitation, I set my alarm for 04:45am in order to make the most of it.
My only plan for the day was to head up to RSPB Ham Wall for a couple of hours to make the most of the sunrise. I had intended to be home for lunch, but 12 hours later I was still out with the camera…
RSPB Ham Wall Nature Reserve is a favourite of mine. I first started volunteering at the Reserve as an Information Warden in 2013 and moved on to practical Reserve maintenance, guided walks, and the famous Starling events. I know it well and it’s the perfect place to photograph a range of birds and invertebrates.
This morning went like clockwork with a routine I’ve repeated time after time; arrive half an hour before sunrise and stride down to the screens behind ViewPoint 1. The sunrise was spectacular with a light mist ebbing and flowing across the mirror-like water. The birdlife was extra vocal as the dawn chorus was in full swing - with Bitterns Booming, Chiffchaffs singing and Egrets croaking and bubbling. Despite all this noise, there was very little for the camera which is very frustrating when the light was so perfect. I settled for photographing some inquisitive Canada Geese; not as photogenic as the Great Crested Grebes but still nice in their own right. A lone Song Thrush added some welcome variety to the morning.
A Pied Flycatcher from a successful afternoon on the Quantocks.
Once I had strolled back to the car I was weighing up all my options for the day ahead, the weather was far too good to go back home so I had to come up with something. I finally settled on heading across to the Quantocks with the hope of catching up with the magic Pied Flycatchers. After some phone calls, a cup of tea, and some discussion, I was joined by Allis and Graham. The hunt began, and it didn’t take long before we found what we were after.
A Pied Flycatcher in full song.
In a spectacular woodland valley, we picked up the call of the male Pied Flycatcher as he flitted about the treetops. It took a good few minutes before we set eyes on him - the white belly makes spotting them against a bright sky an interesting challenge.
We set ourselves down on the slope to one side of the valley and waited for him to drop below the canopy, and to our delight, it didn’t take long before we had this spectacular bird singing away right in front of us.
He put on quite a show, and with lots of good perches, we got our fill of photographs. There was also a close pass-by from a Roe Deer buck, and a super quick little Wood Mouse to keep us entertained. We watched the Flycatcher for around half an hour before leaving him be (we knew there would be others further up the valley).
Our walk saw us photographing a few more of these joyous little birds along with a few other interesting things. Unfortunately, Grey Wagtails did their best to avoid us and a shy Siskin didn’t want to pose for the camera.
