I have visited the hide on many occasions over a period of 18 months or so, the development of the hide during this period is astonishing, a sign of the hard and dedicated work that Stephen and Linda have put in to the project.
I was met by Linda who loaded the bird feed stations, and we had a chat about the hide and how it has improved and developed over the months and years.
Whilst we were chatting the small birds were fizzing about, obviously they knew they were going to get some food.
Once the feed was set, Linda left me to get on with the photography.
I soon had the camera mounted on the gimbal for which there are two mounting plates if you choose to use them, bean bags are also available to use if required.
A couple of improvements that I noted right away once I got settled in the hide were that it now had a solid wooden floor installed and two fully adjustable office type chairs have been provided, very comfortable they are too.
It was not long to the small finches, and tits began diving down for the food that was on offer for them, and I was surprised how out of practice I was in trying to capture them as they landed and took off from the feeding areas.
Linda had placed some food to entice the Sparrow hawk on to one of the perches, as with all wildlife there are no guarantees that they will show, but we are always hopeful.
After a hour or so, there was a brown flash across the front of the hide, not more that three feet away from me, the bird landed, and took off in a split second, and in total silence.
It was only after the bird had disappeared that I realised that the bird was a female Sparrow Hawk which had caught on of the small tits on the ground, that was its dinner for today, sad, but that is nature.
The little birds scattered after this and took a little while for them to return, they are not so daft.
The selection of birds on view was amazing, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Nuthatch, Robin, Sparrow Hawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tree Creeper, and more, these certainly keep you busy.
After a couple of hours my luck was in, in a blink of an eye the male Sparrow Hawk landed on the perch, not far from the food, but it seemed very edgy and cautious, I fired off some frames in the camera, but then as suddenly as it arrived it was off, obviously something spooked it.
As disappointed as I was that the hawk did not hang around, it is still a privilege to be able to photograph one in the wild.
For the remaining time that I was at the hide, the small birds just kept coming, a couple of times I glanced up as a large bird circling above the hide, I surmised that this was the Sparrow Hawk, as there was food on offer for it, but it did not land again whilst I was there.
On this occasion I was at the hide for just over 3 hours, 3 hours of great enjoyment and satisfaction.
If you fancy a go at bird photography, please contact Stephen of Linda via Facebook, they provide bags of advice and will guide you through the learning process if you need it. If you are an experienced wildlife photographer, please consider a visit to the hide, I am confident you will not be disappointed.
I hope you find this news article interesting, until next time, stay safe and enjoy what you do.
