January 21st & 22nd 2011

Upto 90+ birds present this afternoon & the sun even came out for 5mins!

At least 51 Birds present in trees this morning 22nd but being kept at bay by a single Mistle Thrush.

After finishing my nightshift i decided to have a lazy day recovering,at about 3pm decided to head out to visit friends just as i was getting into the car,the familiar sound of Waxwing could be heard & right above me was a single bird (nice garden tick)a quick run down to the main road produced at least another 70+ birds coming down to the 3 rowan trees (fantastic the most ive had in my home town) the birds took flight & all ended up in the hedgerow outside the front of my house!! cpl of record shots in the dimming light above

January 16th 2011

Decided to have a day out in North Norfolk with some good year ticks on offer! 1st stop was the East bank at Cley where i soon found the Shore Larks an impressive 11 birds on the shingle bank between the East bank & coastguards,next was the American Wigeon on Pope's Marsh which showed well in the scope but just to far for any pics! Next stop Salthouse for the Snow Buntings which showed well but were very flighty also seen were thousands of Pink-footed Geese,Brent Geese a flyover Ross's Goose (I presume an escapee,unless it was the Holkham bird?) final stop was at Thornham marsh for the Northern Harrier,on arrival it didn't look good with many birders on site for over 4hrs & not a sighting,so i sat in the car scoping the marsh when the crowd started moving towards me & there it was coming low over the coal barn,a cracking looking bird but in my haste to grab me bins & camera i somehow caught a can of Cherry cola which exploded everywhere much to a few birders amusement!! A brilliant end to the day birdwise but a sticky 2 1/2hr drive home.

Redshank
Turnstone

Pink-footed Goose

Dark-bellied Brent GooseShore Lark

Snow Bunting

January 9th 2011

Well i was planning a trip into Norfolk today but chronic backache & being up most of the night forced a change of plan! so a shorter journey down to Berkshire was the order of the day,with the light the best so far this Year the chance of some more pics of the Glossy Ibis at Freeman's marsh & the nearby Great White Egret proved to be the right choice!!

Great White Egret





Glossy Ibis

January 6th 2011

Headed back over to Bretford for some better photos of the Bewick's Swan (well better light at least!) but the bird was a lot further away but picked up a year tick in the form of John Judge who put me onto the fact the Lawford Pink-footed Goose & Greylags had just dropped into Draycote,so off i shot hoping to get some pics!! bumped into Bob Hazell on the way rnd who'd watched the bird come in & had got some nice shots of it!! I carried on around to the outflow but the birds had already flown (Bugger or words to that effect!!) so made my way back rnd to Farborough bank for a few shots of the drake Smew in far from perfect light!

Smew

January 5th 2011

Despite the awfull dull weather again,ventured out for the Bewick's Swan just out of Bretford on the A428 mixed in with the flock of Mute Swans after a few record shots i dropped in at Draycote water which was cold,wet & very quite bird wise,best bird being the fine drake Smew off Farborough bank,dropped back into Bretford on the way home where the Bewick's was still showing & then onto Kings Newham rd for the Pink-footed Goose in with the Greylags & Canada Geese also present 1 Barnacle Goose with a heavily stained (yellow)face! 2 Good Warks Year birds so not a bad morning

Bewick's Swan

January 4th 2011

Having got up early this morning intending to have a full days birding out & about i was put of with the snow coming down thick & fast,so a quick walk out with the dog a look on the web decided to head down to Berkshire for the Glossy Ibis at Freeman's Marsh,Hungerford,Berks! hoping the weather would be better down south (It wasn't it was freezing cold dull with drizzle)but the bird showed fantastically well!!

Glossy Ibis

January 2nd 2011

My 1st day out in 2011! I decided to head out to Coton Lakes as there was some good county ticks to be had!! 2 Smew (redheads)1 Water Rail,2 Common Snipe & a superb Bittern which showed well briefly despite the cpl who banged around & made as much noise as possible just as it was coming right out into the open!!!
Bittern

December 26th -30th 2010

December 30th 2010
Took another trip over to Kingsbury this morning but didn't even stop the car as the fog was that thick on Bodymoor Heath Rd,however this afternoon it seemed to have lifted quite a lot!! but not at Kingsbury where the birds had departed,no sign of the Bewick's so i dropped in at Coton where Archie Archer had them flying in several mins before,a few quick record shots & the birds were off again (no doubt back to the grazing fields!!)

Bewick's Swan





December 29th 2010
A txt from Tom Perrins alerting me to the news of 55 White-fronted Geese & 1 Pink-footed Goose in with the mixed flock of Canada & Greylag Geese at Kingsbury on the 28th had me leaving it till the nxt morning due to the thick fog,not much better but 2 good Warks birds & popular judging by the amount of birders coming & going!! spent an hour along the River Anker in the afternoon picking up Kingfisher & a fine drake Smew near Mancetter!!

White-fronted Goose




December 26th 2010
Still 9 birds on Thorntons way feeding on Rowan trees & fallen berries on the floor by late afternoon upto 50 birds were being reported!!!

Waxwing (Thorntons Way 26/12/10)

Christmas Day 2010

Travelled over to Hillmorton,Warks for the 18 Waxwings by the A428 on Xmas eve but the birds were difficult as the road was so busy but a nice sight!! Yet again out with the dog Xmas morning to find at least 6 birds 5mins from the house on Thorntons Way (A nice start to Xmas day)

Waxwing (Hillmorton,Warks 24/12/10)

December 22nd 2010

A quick visit over to Kingsbury today for the 8 Bewick's Swans present with Mutes opposite the water park,8 birds present(4ad,4juvs)but the birds are spread out & distant.

Bewick's Swans (with Mutes)

December 19th & 20th 2010

A quick check of Vale View produced at least 15+ Waxwings perched up in the trees behind the flats but by the time i'd gone back to the car & phoned around locally the birds had yet again dispersed!! a quick check this morning produced nothing so headed back home & spent an hour on my carpark photographing Treecreeper from the comfort of the car!!
Common Treecreeper