23rd & 24th September 2014

Spent a cpl of days locally again at Shustoke Reservoir photographing the 1 remaining Ruff & a confiding juv Ringed Plover..........

21st September 2014

With news breaking of a juv Masked Shrike breaking on Sat morning a few txts/calls were made but nobody was interested in going straight away so  a few more txts made making arrangements for the Sunday were made, after a nervous drive up with Leics birders John Hague & Dave Gray & Warks banking birder Archie news filtered thru that it was still present!! A cracking day with plenty of laughs & a good supporting cast of birds with 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers,Redstarts,Wheatears,Spotted & Pied Flys & a showy Barred Warbler..........

19th -20th September 2014

Had a few hours around Shustoke on the Fri afternoon & Sat morning! The 4 Ruff still present, Garganey,Common Sandpiper & new in juv Ringed Plover & a fly thru Greenshank........

13th-14th September 2014

Decided to stay local over the weekend & headed over to Shustoke reservoir a quick walk round produced 3 Ruff all juv males with a juv female joining them on the Sunday!! Iv'e always loved waders & given time & patience can become very confiding which proved so with 1 of the juv males on the Sat & then the female on the Sun..........

More Photos Here

3rd September 2014

Popped over to Draycote Water,Warks for the Juv Shags that had been present for a cpl of days only 1 left by the time I got on site but it showed very well........

1st September 2014

With a few days off work the chance to head back to Norfolk for a second go at the confiding Red-backed Shrike at Winterton Dunes proved to be the right choice with the bird performing  very well with just the 4 of us there......

More Photos Here

24th August 2014

With not much nationally still I decided to head to Norfolk for the Red-backed Shrike which had showed well over the last cpl of days judging by the photos on the web!! Arrived on site just before 8 & had to wait 20mins for the carpark to open! after a further hike of about 1/2hr  I was soon watching a stunning ad male bird but stayed distant!! After about an hour the bird started becoming more active & eventually gave suberb views...........

 

More Photos Here 

23rd August 2014

With the Night Heron finally moving on from Seeswood Pool on the 18th & not much else being seen I decided to give Middleton Lakes a go!! Very quiet but did get Black-tailed Godwit, juv Whinchat & Stonechat with the latter giving good views.........

2nd August 2014

Spent the best part of Saturday back at Middleton Lakes RSPB trying for better photos of the Pacific Golden Plover,the bird showed well on & off but the weather was awful  & even more surprising is that the bird started calling  before suddenly taking of doing a circuit gaining hight & going, all this in an almighty downpour,after a quick change of clothes I headed up the pool to show Chris Bromley the Night Heron as I'd promised him he'd have good views!! He wasn't disappointed..........