30th December 2012

After seeing Glyn Sellors photos on Surfbirds of the Velvet Scoter/s at Swithland Reservoir,Leics I just had to give it a go,having only ever had 1 inland bird Years ago at Draycote which wasn't photographable the chance to see 1 up close rather than distantly at sea was not to be sniffed at!! Arrived on site about midday where the 1 bird was showing reasonably well on & off but hard work with the sun being at a funny angle (Certainly not worth getting there early as it would be directly into the sun!) a few shots below..........

16th December 2012

Hadn't planned do do anything all weekend just a bit of local birding & all was going to plan Saturday  out & about with Long-tailed Duck being about the best bird but no pics,then a txt Sat night from Archie Archer asking if I'd be interested in joining Jules Allen,Steve 'Snapper' Richards & himself for a leisurely drive down to Berkshire for a rather confiding American Buff-bellied Pipit on the banks of the Queen Mother Reservoir on the Sunday morning was a no brainer,after meeting up at the Pretty Pigs carpark we made our way down where we were treated to fantastic views often down to a few feet & to close to photograph!! A few pics below............

4th December 2012

With the weather not looking to promising again decided to stay localish with a quick trip to Lichfield,Staffs for the Waxwings but gave up after a few hrs with only 1 bird present with another 6 briefly! On the way home I took a slight detour to Shustoke Reservoir,Warks for the Great Northern Divers where both birds were still present & managed to finally get a shot of one of the birds!!

3rd December 2012

Finally cracked & went after some Waxwings today after 2 days of trying for more shots of the Divers at Shustoke & Chasewater & not getting a single shot!! arrived in Lichfield at about 1pm & had an hour or so with about 30 birds present on & off!! Shots below also a record shot of the Long-tailed Duck from Sunday at Dosthill main lake,Warks

25th November 2012

Had a trip over to Chasewater,Staffs this morning for the juv Great Northern Diver on the swag was then planning on going for the Waxwings nearby in Lichfield but got carried away with the Diver & with having a single Waxwing fly over just after midday decided to stay with the Diver!!

21st November 2012

The Waxwing invasion has finally hit Nuneaton with 3 birds in trees opposite the shop on Kingswood Rd opp the Pennine way jnc! not a bad find on the 30 sec walk from the house to get the paper!! No pics as the weather is bloody awful! The birds are coming to the same 2 Rowans as the birds in the 2010/11 winter invasion! that time they slowly built up from a single bird to nearly 200 over a few days!! Here's hoping!!

31st October 2012

A txt from Tom Perrins on Tues morning letting me know of a Slavonian Grebe at Shustoke Reservoir had me cussing as the car had just gone in for a service,so had to wait till the Wed morning before i could get over!! The bird was duly reported Wed morning on BG's & off i set,arrived on site & eventually found the bird at the far end by the outflow showing down to less than 20ft at times!! The bird showed very well for about an hr until the dog walkers etc started arriving when it became much more unsettled & rather distant much to the disappointment  of several photographers (my only gripe I could have done with better light!!)

 

Shetland Isles Sep 30th -Oct 7th 2012

A week on Shetland with Tom Perrins & Julian Allen started with the 1st of 2 flights from Birmingham-Aberdeen then Aberdeen-Sumburgh (Well worth flying with flight time less than 2 1/2 hrs rather than the long slog driving up) We landed at Sumburgh late afternoon & went from the airport straight for the Little Bunting & a flyover Hawfinch before driving to Hoswick where i was soon watching my 1st Siberian Stonechat (Not a bad start to the trip!! Wont bore you with all the trip details but ended up with 3 Lifers in the week as well as some good year ticks! (American Golden Plover,Sibe Stonechat & Pechora Pipit {which was a lifer for all 3 off us} ) Photos below of some of the birds seen............

Little Bunting

Spotted Sandpiper

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll

Isabelline Shrike

Buff-bellied Pipit

Twite

Black Guillemot

Siberian Stonechat

American Golden Plover

A great week but hard work with a trip list of just under 100 will update with a full trip report link when Tom has had the time to do the write up!!

Pectoral Sandpiper

With still being restricted with my neck/back injury (My C6 Vertabra) times have been frustrating with so much turning up but not been able to drive far or carry my equipment!! But having to drive to Oxford for Physio i decided that if i could do that then i could get out & about a little & if there was anything about which didn't require to much walking with the camera then i was going!! With a confiding Pec Sand at Toft Res,Lincs a txt to Dean Eades had me with all the info i needed! Met up with Darren Chapman,Rich "Tricky Dicky " Dawkins ,Anthony Bentley & Deano where we had fantastic views down to just feet only a short walk from the carpark so a bonus!!!

8th September 2012

Been a while since iv'e been out & about due to ongoing problems with nerve problems in my shoulder & back & not being able to drive! so the chance to get out for the day with Tom Perrins & Jules Allen was seized on (Plenty of fluids & painkillers) Destination Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset for the juv Short-billed Dowitcher (only the 2nd for Britain) I didn't need the bird but having been cooped up for the best part of 5 weeks I just had to get out!! The bird showed ok but distant with no pics as I still can't carry the big lens about so resorted to just carrying my Macro set up..... Which worked out well as Gary Thoburn pointed out a Jersey Tiger (moth) a lifer for me on site!! We then headed off to Portland for the Monarch Butterfly (Another lifer all the way from America) Many thanks to Jules (for driving) & Tom (for the entertainment) Few pics below...........