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............

2nd November 2011

Up & about early after my Niteshift (about 2hrs sleep!!) Picked John Liggins up & headed upto Cannock Chase,Staffs for the Great Grey Shrike,the weather not as good as the other day with the wind a lot stronger but the bird showed well but for a lot shorter periods also at least 10 Crossbill over,decided then to head up to Attenborough NR,Notts for another look at the Squacco Heron which was again very popular with it seems more birders etc than the average rare bird twitch!! no photos of the Heron as i only took my bins down!! cpl of pics below with the Squacco photo from Mondays visit........ It seems that Blogger are blocking any links on the posts wether its on a label or direct on the post so Link on the right hand side of the homepage to my NEW WEBSITE...............

31st October 2011

A quick trip up into Notts today for the Juv Squacco Heron at Attenborough NR only my 2nd in the country a seemingly popular bird with plenty on site today & the bird performed well if a little distant for any really good shots & eventually flushed by a dog walking birder who just looked at us all & said 'well u've seen it' before walking off (Luckily the bird did come back but by that time i'd already left as the weather was closing in )

30th October 2011

After dipping the Pied Wheatear on Sunday i'd decided to stay local today picked Andy Jones up about 8ish & the weather was dull with drizzle however a quick call from good friend Steve Seal had us heading for Cannock Chase in Staffs where Steve assured me the weather was going to brighten up into a nice day & that the Great Grey Shrike was going to show well (He was right on both!!) The Shrike was soon around its favoured tree & we spent the next 3+ hrs photographing it More Photos can be found on my Website. Link at bottom of the page!!!

25th October 2011

With the weather forecast terrible for Norfolk i'd planned to stay local however after seeing some of the images on Birdguides of the Isabelline (Daurian) Shrike at Horsey,Norfolk i just couldn't resist telling myself it would be the weatherman who was wrong!! No such look about 50miles before i got there the rain started & by the looks of the roads had been very heavy! I didn't arrive on site till 1pm but the weather was bloody awful & to top it off the bird was distant,I spent the best part of 2hrs getting reasonable images before giving up & heading for the car,on the walk back which was a good mile or so i got chatting to 1 birder & was convinced the Shrike
had just flew past us & landed nearby & sure enough it had & what's more it was giving fantastic views. Some record shots from earlier in the afternoon for the best pics go to my New Website http://www.davehutton.zenfolio.com/ also had 2 Common Crane on the walk back to the car!!!

18th October 2011

With the weather bright but blowy decided to try for the White-rumped Sandpiper at Rutland Water a welcome year tick & my 1st for a few years!! on arrival at the hide i could see that it was going to be a challenge with the sun at a horrible angle & the bird distant & when it did come closer the noise from some of the locals in the hide was out of order!! After about an hr i gave up with no sign of the bloody foghorns shutting up or buggering off !! maybe another day........... record shots below