Birds Archives - Page 33 of 46 - Craig Rogers Photography

Nice Weather For Du……What The Duck?

21st April 201821st April 2018Craig Rogers

The camera got left behind on this morning’s Wally Walk as the rain has yet again returned.

I was just approaching the river and Wally looked up and I actually said to him “Nice weather for ducks!”, just 10 seconds later I arrive at the river to find……a Duck!

Just standing there in a shallow part of the river was a Muscovy Duck. This is not a native species to Portugal, it’s roots are South America. However, it is a common Duck here in Portugal as an Egg layer and perhaps meat. The fact that this particular Duck was almost completely White puts it in the “Domestic” category, although there are many Feral species in Portugal too. At some stage they would of escaped captivity.

As I didn’t have a camera, I did my best to snap a photo from a distance on my phone. It eventually flew thanks to Wally, although he was actually scared of it, but it soon turned around and came back to land in the same spot.

The photos don’t show what one looks like, so here is a photo from Wikipedia, as you can see, a strange-looking Duck! This photo is a Drake where as the female doesn’t grow such a substantial Caruncle (The red warty thing on their face).

CC0

Morning Dog Walk

19th April 20186th May 2018Craig Rogers

Every morning (unless I’m out photographing) I take Wally for his morning walk, we usually head down to the river to look for anything interesting and then play in an open area. Now that spring is most definitely under way, I’ve decided to take a camera. It’s difficult to juggle the attentions of a mad dog and carry a camera, therefore, I use my crop camera (Nikon D7100) fitted with the Nikon AF-S 80-400 VRII for size and weight. The idea of the photos is not great quality, but just to report back on sightings in the area.

Today was a pleasant surprise all happening within 500 meters of the house! European Bee Eaters, Short Toed Eagles and I could also hear a Golden Oriole (unless it was a Starling which has been mimicking one all winter!)

First up, the European Bee Eaters. The local colony returned yesterday and are now busy flying around catching food, they will be selecting a nesting site soon and I am monitoring their movements closely. Expect many Bee Eater posts this summer.

Yay! The Bee Eaters Are Back!

4th April 20185th April 2018Craig Rogers

Yesterday I heard my first Nightingale, but today I’ve heard the first Bee Eater of the year. They are late, they always appear on the 1st April in this area, but they are 4 days late, probably due to the weather and of course the wind that we’ve had!

Last year, they even nested on our land, so I’ll bee-keeping (see what I did there!) a keen eye on them and expect many photos.

Here are a few from last year and below a video of them attempting to build nests before deciding this was not a suitable location.

{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}

Iberian Magpie – Not Azure-Winged Magpie!

28th March 201828th March 2018Craig Rogers

This is an Iberian Magpie. It is often called an Azure-Winged Magpie here in Portugal, however, this is not strictly correct! Although very similar, the Azure-Winged Magpie is found in Eastern Asia. It was once thought to be the same species, however, they are different.

The Iberian Magpie is found in Central and Southern parts of Spain and Portugal and occur in large, sometimes huge flocks. I have noticed that the flocks tend to follow a similar route every day as they fly from area to area.

{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}

Male Serin

27th March 201827th March 2018Craig Rogers

This is a new first for me, I have never photographed a Serin before. I was awake before sunrise this morning and the forecast was a for a great day, so decided to get my camo kit on and hide in the garden near a dead Oak Tree which has frequent visitors. I missed out on an Iberian Green Woodpecker that landed behind a branch and didn’t stay long enough, but soon after this Male Serin landed and started to sing it’s head off.

When it first landed, from behind the camo net I couldn’t work out if it was a Serin or a Siskin. As I’ve never photographed a Serin before, I was really hoping for one. Then I noticed the lack of a black cap that the Male Siskin has and therefore knew it was a Serin.

{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}

The White Storks of Silves

20th February 201823rd February 2018Craig Rogers

As promised a week ago, here is a collection of shots after spending a large part of the day in Silves photographing White Storks. I won’t go into too much detail about the White Stork as later this week I will hopefully have another post explaining some news about why I was photographing these giants, so for now, enjoy the photos.

First some shots of the birds on the ground and nests. In the 2nd shot, can you see the Sparrows nesting in the bottom of the Stork Nest?:

{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}

All images are protected by international copyright!
All of the content displayed on this website (unless otherwise stated) remains the copyright of Craig Rogers. It is illegal to download, copy (including copy by reference) or distribute any content without prior permission and/or licensing. Please read my Copyright Statement.