The search continues.........

Another mixed bag from me this week. The search for Waxwings goes on. Numerous miles travelled but still no joy. I will find them one day and hopefully in good light. Still, I did find some Whooper Swans. These are shown here at the top, disappearing into the distance.

Whooper Swans

Here's a Meadow Pipit having a good scratch on this fence post.

The light wasn't great, but compared to most of the weekend this was not too bad.

This Grey Heron was on the active lookout for some fish.

In the land of Macc

I've had little success with the camera of late, so I have once again delved into the archives for some shots taken this summer in the Macclesfield area. This area has rapidly become my birding area of choice. So many habitats for so many different species. It's always a pleasure to wander around here.
Here are some of the birds I had the pleasure of seeing in the last few months.

Little Owl

Stonechat (female)

Northern Wheatear

Common Redstart. Possibly now my favourite bird, having watched them so closely this year.

Attenborough Nature Reserve

I've not had much time to get this week, so I have delved into the archives again for this post.
I visited Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottingham last summer. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place. Plenty of bird life and all very varied too. Lots of Common Tern, Little Egrets, Herons, Hobby, plus many different varieties of warblers. All in all, it's somewhere I'd love to go back to. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Early morning sunrise.

Linnet

Egyptian Goose

Common Tern



Redesmere

With not  a lot going on in my usual birding places, I popped over to Redesmere once again. Only things on note really were a couple of Goosander at the far side. They were too far away for my lens, but they are a lovely bird to see.
I made do with some birds that came closer to me.

Coot.

Tufted Duck.

 

A Mallard having a stretch

 

Jackdaw

I find Jackdaws quite an attractive bird. Lovely blue eyes and inquisitive. I came across this bird at in my parent's garden. It kindly settled on the TV aerial so I could get a few shots.

I noticed that just above it the moon was still out, so managed to get it in shot.

Let me out, please!

I've not been able to get out this weekend, and it's done my head in a bit. I only need a few hours at the weekend to satisfy my need to see some birds. So to cheer me up, I've gone back to some pictures taken on holiday in North Wales in the Summer. This bird is the Common Redshank and was along the shoreline one morning minding it's own business and looking for food.

Seen here with a Black-headed Gull for size comparison.

Autumn

Some really beautiful mornings recently have led to some great images of the sunshine through the trees. When the leaves have all fallen this should give some better opportunities to improve on these. Of course, it becomes easier to see the birds too when there are no leaves. Hopefully I can get some of our winter visitors too.

 

 

This is a Jay in the hazy sunshine.

A Common Gull on the frosty ground.

Black-headed Gull

Someone was watching me.

Gadwall

At the lake near my parent's house I came across several pairs of Gadwall. A nice duck but quite shy. I've never had them stay around long once they've clocked me. Still, I was getting some nice shots of them while hiding behind a bush.

 

Then, a bloody dog came and scared them to the middle of the lake.

As annoyed as I was with the dog at the time, I was quite pleased with some of the results.

Out and About

Taking advantage of the good weather recently, I managed to capture a couple of common birds that have so far eluded my camera lens. The first was a Long Tailed Tit. A lovely bird that is nearly always in a flock. This one was with 11 other birds. They are always on the move though and make it difficult to get decent shots of. I was quite happy with this one.

My patch has been inundated with Pied Wagtails, but they again tend to be on the move and don't like you getting too close. This one however sat nicely on a fence post for me.

A nice Stonechat, that I came across while watching some Red Grouse.

Look how big he's grown.

You may remember some weeks back, I wrote about a line cygnet. It was very cute looking, but was the only one with it's parents. Well, I returned last week and am quite sure I found the little fellow. Although he is not so little any more. It looked to be doing very well and in good shape.

How I found the cygnet a month or so ago.

And how I found him just last week.

It managed to give me a very similar pose.

Growing into quite a handsome beast.

Red Grouse

Can't wait for the clocks to go back next weekend. I like to go out early, but that's difficult when it's only getting light at 7.30 on a clear day. Still, it was a cracking morning on Sunday. I've missed the Macclesfield area recently, having gone to some different places at the weekend. Birds were quite thin on the ground, but I got some fantastically close views of a pair of Red Grouse. I've always wanted to get close to them, but they are a rather shy bird. Having said that, these two birds seemed oblivious to me. I didn't have to move, as they came to within 5 metres of me. Unfortunately, they do tend to stick to long grassy areas, so some of these pics have grass in front of them, but they're the best I've got so far.

A stunning female, putting on a show.

The male, with lovely red eyebrows.

Sunny Days

Luck seems to have been on my side just recently. By that I mean that it has been pretty dry and bright at the weekends. It always makes birding so much more fun. The birds are easier to see and tend to show more. Add to that some nice cold weather and you have all the ingredients for some great birding and better photos.
Here are some pictures taken on my patch in Woodford last weekend when on my Winter Thrush survey.

The first Redwing sighting of the Autumn for me.

There were a good flock, but a little too far away to get decent shots.

Dunnock

Tree Sparrow

Robin

Reed Bunting