Cley

A visit to my parents recently saw a good opportunity to sea watch and also sit in the hides at Cley. It was pretty blustery to say the least while we were there and it did push the sea birds closer to the shore. The hides in the good morning light gave the opportunity to watch and photograph some of the raptors that were causing havoc amongst the waders and waterfowl.

A Marsh Harrier hunting over the reeds.

A Peregrine Falcon tormented the waders but was unsuccessful with each attempt.

Razorbills were in abundance along the coast, sprinkled with the odd Guillemot.

A rare sight for me, a Common Shrew. Ver quick and easy to miss, but this one ran across a road towards us before darting off into the safety of the grass.

North Wales Birding

Alarm set for 4.20am and out the door by 5am can only mean one thing. A birding day trip.
With the clocks now on British Summer time, it is getting light by 6 o'clock, and when you want to travel 120 miles to North West Wales it requires an early start.
We arrived at South Stack with a grey blanket of cloud overhead. Not the blue skies we were promised. A pair of Chough greeted us in the car park, and these were one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. Unfortunately they didn't hang around but they are super birds.

We took the path down towards the cliffs to see what sea birds were about when I noticed a Peregrine sat nicely on a rock surveying the landscape. It stayed sat there for a good 15 minutes or so, which allowed Phil and I to get some decent close views and pictures.
Pipits of the Rock and Meadow variety were heard and seen with some regularity.

Peregrine Falcon keeping watch.

We went in search of Stonechats, which we knew should be in the vicinity. There is a great area of heather and gorse which is ideal for them, and after just a few minutes of looking a stunning male popped up. He was shortly followed by a female.

Male Stonechat on the gorse.

The female.

A Northern Wheatear. Probably fresh in after it's migration.

RSPB South Stack - Peregrines

Back at the end of April I made the trip to RSPB South Stack on Anglesey in North Wales. I was fortunate to get some very close views of a pair of nesting Peregrines on the cliffs. It was nice to be able to look down on these birds rather than looking up high to see them.

I think I counted three eggs in total, but sadly only one has made it and being fed by the adults.

Keeping a lookout while the partner is on the eggs.

Gauntlet Bird of Prey Centre Part 2

Continuing on from my last post. I decided to focus on the heads of certain birds. More to get me used to the camera again and it's capabilities than anything else. Anyway, I had great fun and there's not much else to say. I was quite please with the results, although some may say it doesn't matter because they are not wild birds. Well it's not my intention to mislead anyone. These are captive birds, but they helped me rediscover my mojo for birding and my camera. So thank you Gauntlet.

 The beautiful Peregrine Falcon

Common Buzzard

The White-tailed Sea Eagle

Golden Eagle

Bald Eagle

 

The lovely Black chested Buzzard Eagle

Hoylake

When I left home it was cold and bright with not a cloud in the sky. As I headed West out to the Wirral, I could see the cloud on the horizon. Fingers were crossed that it wouldn't empty on me at any point. I arrived at Hoylake just as a little drizzle started, but nothing to put me off. I donned my boots and headed off to the shore line, which was a little further than it first looked. Still, I could see waders whisking around in flocks and continued. I passed a group of Shelduck then a few Ringed Plover stopped by. There were lots of Oystercatchers and Dunlin skimming around.
As I was walking towards the Lifeboat ramp a bird of prey spooked everything. At first I couldn't quite see what it was as it skimmed low over the sand, but then it landed. A Peregrine Falcon, sat on the beach, some 40 yards away. Absolutely superb.

You can just make out the rainbow that was sat over the building in the centre.

Hundreds of Cormorants were constantly on the move.

Dunlin and Oystercatchers.

Oystercatchers on the move.

As the tide comes in, the birds keep getting moved on.

One of three Grey Plovers that did a low fly past over me.

A welcome visitor. A Peregrine Falcon that spooked nearly everything.