December 6th 2010

A txt from my old wing man Steve Seal encouraged me to get out & do some photography today (as Steve put it get out in the fantstic light!!)Well 3/4hr later i was at Draycote Water where it was -3 & thick fog (Oh well!!!) decided to have a look anyway fog fog & more fog couldnt even see the water but moved down to the shoreline & was rewarded with Sanderling & Dunlin (which showed well,typical no sun hardly any light & the birds are performing!!) after 1/2hr i gave up & went back to the motor where a cpl of Redwings were showing well (never really had the chance to photograph them properly before & yep the fog was getting worse,so can't grumble bout my shots!!)
Redwing





Sanderling


Dunlin

November 15th 2010

Red-breasted Merganser


After my 4th attempt at the Red-breasted Merganser at nearby Shustoke Reservoir i finally managed to get the bird in much better light!

Red-breasted Merganser (female)




Whilst waiting for the Merganser to come within range had a little play with the commoner birds!!

Coot


Canada Goose



Mallard

November 11th & 12th 2010

A txt from Tom Perrins alerted me to the fact a female/juv Red-breasted Merganser was present at Shustoke Reservoir,only 15-20 mins up the rd but with the weather blowing a gale & heavy rain showers i left it till late afternoon on the 11th,the bird showed well but conditions were awfull so headed over agin this morning with the conditions only slightly better! but quite happy with the shots especially with it being a good county bird.

3 from this morning 12/11/10




photo taken late afternoon 11/11/10

November 6th 2010

After seeing the fantastic images on the web taken by Pete Walkden & Kevin Groocock of the Great Grey Shrike at Napton,Warks i was just chomping at the bit to have a go myself but with work all week & the gas man due on my 1st day off had to wait till sat morning, on arrival i was met by a few familiar faces & a lot of new faces (it was gonna be a hard day!!) the bird showed well but was skittish,not suprising with the amount of people coming & going!!! but kept on plugging away for the best part of 5 1/2hrs... Results below

Great Grey Shrike

October 30th 2010

A quick trip down to Oxfordshire this morning for the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs at Port Meadow,having seen some of the recent photos on the net i thought id have a go for it,alas the bird stayed distant on the flood the whole time i was present!! other birds on site included 200+ Golden Plover,3 Ruff,Dunlin & Redshank

Lesser Yellowlegs (Bird from Norfolk 07)

October 19th 2010

After 2 attemps finally connected with the male Bearded Tit at Napton Reservoir,Warks a much needed Warks tick taking me to 234 species for the county (Only bout 30 to go before i'm up with the very top Warks listers?)no pics as the bird was always distant & flighty but a quick visit to Draycote produced a Large Wainscot on the VC on the 18th (New for me) & a Green-brindled Crescent on the 19th

Large Wainscot




Green-brindled Crescent

October 17th 2010

A txt from Tom Perrins this morning alerted me to the fact a female Scaup was on Shustoke,so took a trip over early afternoon to try for a cpl of pics!! bumped into Paul Johnson on the way around who directed me in the right directiod & in passing asked how Marsh Lane was doing (Nothing much doing!! hope he was there later when a Lesser Yellowlegs dropped in briefly!!) anyway back to the Scaup which was in the east of the reservoir before being spooked & relocating on the anglers pool!!!
Scaup (female)

October 14th 2010

Solitary Sandpiper


With the chance of a world lifer in the form of a 1st winter Solitary Sandpiper in Devon the lure soon became to much,It had been present for a few days at Black Hole Marsh,Seaton & i just happened to have the day free,a quick call to an old friend (John Liggins) & all was organised for a 5:30am start a good journey down & we were soon watching this smart wader (35th record for Britain & Ireland) & not a nappy tick as Mr perrins put it!! the light was poor & wasn't expected to get any better so photos not the best,a celebratory breakfast American style at the Route66 diner & we headed for home (Other birds on site a juv Curlew Sandpiper several Dunlin,1 Little Egret & a few late Swallow)
Solitary Sandpiper

October 9th 2010

Lesser Scaup






Headed over to Draycote water today afer having a poor day in Norfolk on friday missing both my target birds of RB Shrike & Lapland Bunting (best birds seen RT Diver,2 Spotted Redshank & 3 Whinchat,1 Bonxie & about 30 Bearded Tit) again very quiet with the best birds being the target bird drake Lesser Scaup (eclipse) back for it's 3rd winter,1 Wheatear along Farborough bank & 30+ Redwing over.The Lesser Scaup was off Hensborough bank untill flushed by the motor launch from the sailing club then relocated to Toft where it showed well in the poor misty light!!!

September 28th 2010

Brambling


Spotted Flycatcher



DO I NOT LIKE BLAKENEY POINT!!

An early start today for the Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Most probably Alder) in Norfolk at 1 of the hardest sites to get to Blakeney Point (a 4mile hike over soft shingle) having yomped all the way up with my camera gear it soon became obvious the bird had departed overnight!! migrants were dropping in like Brambling,Redwing,Wheatears,3 Ring Ouzel,10+ Common Redstarts & Spotted Flycatcher but hardly compensation when most of these can be found on my local patch!! A slow (very slow) walk back composed myself & headed to Salthouse for the Barred Warbler (good views but no pics)

Spotted Flycatcher


Common Redstart

September 22nd 2010

After missing out on Wryneck last week at Heanor,Derbys i decided to head down to Buckinghamshire to Bacombe Hill,Wendover for the bird there! With only a few distant photos on the web i wasn't hopefull of getting any decent photos (How wrong was i?)on arrival i joined the birders & set up behind them & sat down watching the bird which was about 50ft away,after about 1/2 hr the bird suddenly started running up the mound towards me at 1 point less than 10ft away with me scrambling backwards trying to get away from it,with my lens not focussing down to less than about 20ft,amusing the assembled birders & photographers present. A cracking bird & a very enjoyable few hrs....