Today supposedly is the last day before the nice weather breaks and so I got up to the allotment early. Unusually as I drove up no birds flew out from the feeding station. There seemed to be no birds around. I hoped this wasnt an omen for the day to come.

The fence that surrounds my allotment is about eight feet high, green and very ugly. One of the first birds to show up was this female Blackbird. Most birds use this fence as a look out post. Its just a shame it isnt more photogenic.

During the morning I had plenty of views of the female Greater spotted woodpecker. From early on she had been very vocal doing several flyovers. From the evasive way in which she was behaving I could tell that she was interested in coming to feed at the trunk. From the corner of my eye I watched her and the game of hide and seek began. I knew she was there and she knew I knew but still she slowly made her way down the tree popping her head out from behind the branch as she hid behind it. In that time I could have got some wonderful shots of her as eventually she came right out in the open on the branch. I didn’t take them though. I was riveted with watching her and I didn’t want to spook her, and would far rather let her come undisturbed to feed and gradually get used to me. Then just as she thought it was safe to fly down a refuse trunk came revving its engine up the private road at the back making her fly away to try another time.

As it happened however she did return about an hour later. This time she totally wrong footed me. She had appeared from above my car and landed on the same tree as before. As my camera was already pointed in that direction I thought I would photograph her anyway but try and keep really still. I shot a couple of frames and as I went to refocus she disappeared. I moved to slightly find her again but realised in that split second that she had in fact flown down and landed on the trunk. My movement of course spooked her as I didn’t realise she was so close and for the second time she left without feeding. I cant help but feel bad when this happens as I know they need to feed but judging by how much fat is eaten on the trunk Im sure they do not go short of food.

Today it seemed was a day for spooking birds. Once again the pair of jays were around. There are two large holly bushes about one hundred yards from my allotment and I suspect that they are going to nest in there as they have been hanging around that area for a couple of weeks now. Sat in my car one jay suddenly flew down from behind me and landed on top of the feeding trunk. I held my breath as he was stood only about twenty feet away. I knew I would never get my camera up to him and so I just wanted to enjoy his beauty. In the seconds that I saw him however he also saw me and almost immediately he took off and flew to the nearest tree screeching in disgust and alarm as he went. Even where he landed I could get a good shot of him but my luck was out and he never looked back at me. Not long after another jay landed on the fence right in front of me and sat there for a while. A windscreen made photos impossible but at least I was able to admire him at leisure this time as he was in no hurry to move on. At least now these birds have found the feeding station and I have no doubt that they will return.

Of course both the nuthatches were around. At one point I heard the dainty tinkling noise (reminiscent of tits) they make as they fly in and found they were both on the table at the same time. How I longed for a wider angled lens. It was a split second decision and not being able to decide which bird to point my lens at in the end I missed them both. There are times when I also long for a smaller focal length. My lens is fixed at 400mm and often the nuthatches come to within about five feet, far too close to focus on.