bird Archives - Page 7 of 13 - Craig Rogers Photography

The European Bee-Eaters Have Started To Dig Their Tunnels

13th April 201913th April 2019Craig Rogers

I was out just after sunrise this morning and hidden near the “meeting tree” that the Bee-Eaters have been gathering in. However, today, they chose another tree about 50 meters away. I waited for a while and eventually one pair turned up and got the shot below.

Afterwards I was able to walk away and get a good look at them, they have started to build their tunnels in preparation for breeding. In case you don’t know Bee-Eaters dig tunnels in near-vertical banks that they nest in and build new tunnels every year (see video below).

Luckily, the land on overlooking this area I where they are building we own and although extremely difficult to get to I will be looking in a way to get closer. Here is a shot that I did manage to get.

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Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers In Abundance

6th April 20198th April 2019Craig Rogers

Due to the terrain and the number of trees in the local area, we have large numbers of Woodpeckers and it seems that the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker outnumbers all the other species (Greater Spotted, Iberian Green and Wryneck).

I often hear them tapping away on trees and their call which is similar to the Iberian Green’s “laughing call” but softer and cuter. The name “Lesser” is often thought that its because they are seen less often but it actually means smaller. In other words a smaller version of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. They are the size of a sparrow and the female is often overlooked due to its black and white colours. The male as seen in the photo below has a red crown.

Here is a photo from a few mornings ago. It’s quite heavily cropped so not my usual quality of detail.

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A Local Little Owl

4th April 20194th April 2019Craig Rogers

Portugal has a large population of Little Owls and can often be heard calling and seen at anytime of day. However, locally to myself they are not found in large numbers. 2 years ago I spotted one near the Quinta on a few occasions but then never seen again. Until yesterday, I was heading into the village late afternoon and I spotted one sitting on the electricity cable in the same place I spotted one before.

This afternoon I decided to take a look and there it was sitting on an old tree stump. I almost missed it as it blended in so well. Armed with just my 80-400 lens I snapped these shots. It was incredibly tolerant of me being there too letting me get very close. As they are quite small, I need to go back with my 500mm lens (maybe even with the 1.4x converter) to grab some great detail shots. Hopefully more pictures soon, but for now, here you go.

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A Little Closer To The Blue Rock Thrushes

23rd March 201923rd March 2019Craig Rogers

Yesterday afternoon I dressed up in my Army clothing, took my camo-bag and tried to sneak close to the ruin that the pair of Blue Rock Thrushes are nesting in. It didn’t go well, the male was sitting at the location I was trying to get to and even though he moved away I think he was watching me and seemed uncomfortable so I abandoned the idea. Back at the house it got me thinking, earlier in the day he was less worried when I walked through with the dog in normal clothing. So this morning, I tried something different, I put a 1.4x teleconverter on my 500mm lens (which gives me a 700mm with minimal quality loss on such a great lens) and took it out using a Monopod rather than a Tripod for ease of carrying.

I walked my usual route and the female was sitting on a nearby telephone pole and I could see the male on the roof of the ruin. I positioned myself near to the ruin in full visibility of the birds. They seemed far more relaxed with my presence, the male even more so as he came to the roof top. Although not the perfection I’m looking for I did come away with some nice photos.

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Morning Dog Walk:…..And Now The Female Blue Rock Thrush!

21st March 201921st March 2019Craig Rogers

I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.

Yesterday morning, after searching for weeks I finally spotted the Male Blue Rock Thrush. This morning we walked through the same location and I spotted a Female.

As you can see, the female has no blue colouring, she is dark brown with a spotted chest. She wasn’t so relaxed around me as the male and moved perch constantly. However, she flew in almost exactly the same pattern as the Male, circling the ruined building. I think it’s pretty certain that they are nesting in this building. I won’t go investigating as I am not interested in disturbing the nest (and what seems like hundreds of House Sparrows) but I will be monitoring this site to hopefully capture some great shots.

House Sparrows Are Busy Building Their New Breeding Nests

20th March 201920th March 2019Craig Rogers

It’s that time of year again where many birds are preparing to lay eggs. We have a large population of House Sparrows at the Quinta and they are busy building new nests to lay. Both the male and female are working hard collecting material.

A few pairs build nests inside the porch of our front door and this morning there was a mating pair busy early. They were backlit by the rising sun so I grabbed a shot of both the male and female with material.

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