22nd January 2012

A chance for a day up North & picking good mate up Rich Dawkins from Barton,Lincs on route had us for the 2nd time in 6wks heading for Bempton Cliffs RSPB,E.Yorks for the Desert Wheatear on arrival the breezy weather forecast had turned into a near gale & with no sign we decided to head for Tophill low for the Cattle Egret which was reported as showing well in the compound (It was but what they don't tell you is that its only viewable thru a 7ft metal fence,hence no pics) then a msg from Birdguides had us doubling back to Bempton for the Wheatear which was now showing well on the footpath!!! After finding the bird at Staple Newk we decided to seed (Robin insect food) a favourable place nearer to the RSPB centre & sat & waited with a few other birders where we were rewarded with great views (just a pity the light & weather were against us for most parts) after having our fill of the bird we headed down to Worlaby for the S E Owls but no luck with the only bird seen being a ring tail Hen Harrier (not a bad end to the day!!!)

21st January 2012

With news of a Night Heron on the canal at Atherstone reaching me during the week (which was being kept quiet due to access restrictions),but being on nights decided that Sat morning i would head over for a look! Sat morning & a cpl of msgs from John Judge & Tom Perrins saying that the news was out in the public domain & was showing!! had me getting my gear together & heading over after about 1/2hr the bird was located roosting in a tree on the opposite bank & showing well,i set about getting some photos when the bird put its righr foot down revealing a ring (always bad news!!) a cpl of shots using a converter & we were able to read the details (Burgers' Zoo,Arnhem,Holland 12730) a quick phone call by Mark Maddox revealed it had been sold to an British Zoo (Prob Twycross hopefully we will find out with the ring number!!) a nice bird all the same!!!

15th January 2012

A cold start this morning with good friend Andy Jones,destination Calshot,Hants for the Spanish Sparrow (A British tick for both of us) a good journey down with 2 Woodcock over the car just before dawn & a probable Long-eared Owl over (that or a S E Owl but habitat suggesting LE Owl) on arrival at Calshot we had about an hour wait before the bird showed with brief flight views before it showed well in the garden hedge (No photos but a cracking bird) the large crowd started to disperse & Andy took the chance to have better views from inside the house as the home owner was allowing access (I really should have gone in judging by some of the pics on the web) after about 2 hours we decided to head for the Dark-eyed Junco which was only 15mins away in the New Forest!!! the bird showed a few times but was distant so only  a cpl of record shots taken with a few Crossbills being an added bonus!! 3rd stop of the day was to Gosport for the ad winter Ring-billed Gull at Walpole Park which showed very well with an ad winter Mediterranean Gull & made for a great end to the day............

13th January 2012

Finally decided to head out for a cpl of hours today having not really done any birding for the last month & no photography at all!! I was meant to be heading to the east coast but just couldn't be bothered with the drive so a quick trip out to Staffs for the Great Grey Shrike at Upper Longdon a good start to the proper year listing! the bird showed well but always distant for any decent shots!!

10th December 2011

Travelled upto Bempton Cliffs RSPB,E.Yorks  for the male Desert Wheatear stopping off at Barton to pick Rich Dawkins up,however the bird just didn't want to play ball & only had distant views all day so concentrated on getting some photos of Tree Sparrow instead also had a cpl of flyover Snow Buntings & a Short-eared Owl which was a nice end to the day!!

3rd December 2011

Yet another trip down to Titterstone Clee Hill,Shropshire for the Desert Wheatear with not much else on offer apart from the Semi P/Western Sandpiper in Norfolk the Wheatear won hands down at least this has been ID'd & is photogenic,yet again it was rather windy with a big chill factor the bird was also very mobile until late afternoon but gave some cracking views at times.............

27th November 2011

With the forecast for bright weather the lure of the Desert Wheatear again was the only option having Txt Pete Walkden & Steve Seal the night before about going,Pete was up for it Steve has been stuck at work for the last cpl of wks so hopefully the bird will stay long enough for him to connect? anyway met up with Pete at 11am in the carpark with the wind still blowing a gale but at least the sun was shining, an even bigger crowd today with many of Y'days togs having the same idea!!! The bird showed well at times & would come to you if you sat still long enough unfortunately some decided to stand up & walk towards it when it was coming to us WHY? just can't fathom some people out! still an enjoyable few hrs & a cpl of bonus birds with Peregrine over & a Short-eared Owl being mobbed over the Clee!!!

26th November 2011

With news of a  prob Pied Wheatear in Shropshire breaking on Fri night i put myself on standby for Sat morning by 10am the news was that it was a female Desert Wheatear,even better having only ever seen 1 in Britain,so car packed & within 1 1/2hrs was on site in what can only be described as difficult conditions with poor light & a very strong winds,with quite a crowd there the bird at times performed really well (But where's the light when you need it?) A lot of familiar faces on site from Warks & neighbouring counties with myself & Chris Cook taking the chance the bird would come onto the summit we were soon rewarded with fantastic views before the rest of the crowd caught us up!!

19th November 2011

Early start this morning for the long trip north to Northumberland for the Greater Yellowlegs at Hauxley NR & the Eastern Black Redstart on Holy Island! With Andy Jones arriving at mine for 4:30am a quick packing of the car & we were on our way! on arrival at Hauxley we had cracking views of the Yellowlegs but due to the amount of birders in the hide no pics of note were taken but a great start & a lifer for myself & Andy,with satisfied views we decided to head upto Holy Island for the Redstart stopping a short distance up the road with  Leicester birders John Hague & Dave Gray for the European White Fronted Geese with Dave picking out flyover Snow Bunting & about 20 Twite heading south,nxt stop Holy Island where we had cracking views of the Eastern Black Redstart & several Pale Bellied Brent Geese padded out the list for the day!! A great day out superb weather,good birds & a lifer in the bag!!!

 

6th November 2011

The plan was to travel upto Spurn for the Isabelline Wheatear today with a stop at Attenborough NR for the Squacco Heron again where i was hoping to get some better pics whilst waiting for news! so picked Andy Jones up at 7:30 & we made our way upto Notts,the weather was cold but bright ideal for photography!! on arrival i was amazed how many birders were on site (Again!!) I stood on the bridge & made a quick txt to Darren Chapman who was with John Dickenson down the bank to see if there was room for another a quick  hand gesture & i'd joined them which seemed to open a tidal wave of about 10-15 others following suit! the bird then put on a cracking show & with negative news on the Wheatear at Spurn spent the nxt 3hrs getting fantastic views & some rather pleasing shots............