Reservoir Woods

I took a walk around one of my favourite reservoirs and it's woodland last week, and it was alive with birdsong and wildlife. There was plenty to see, even if some of my subjects didn't make it easy. Their song always gave them away, and helped me locate them. 

There were Pied Flycatchers and Common Redstarts, plus some bonus birds like the Garden Warbler, Sparrowhawk and Common Sandpipers. It was a lovely sunny day, and the temperature lifted nicely too. 

I found some nesting birds, and others in good locations. So that all bodes well for when I return in a few weeks time, to hopefully find some of them feeding young.

Common Sandpiper

Great Crested Grebe

Mandarin Duck

Nuthatch

Pied Flycatcher

Common Redstart

Sparrowhawk

North Wales

At the weekend I went on a guided birding day in North Wales with Alan & Ruth from The Biggest Twitch. http://www.thebiggesttwitch.com I fully recommend a day or three with these guys. Great company, and I guarantee you won't miss a bird that may be nearby. We started off at Conwy RSPB reserve and made our way west right out to Anglesey and South Stack RSPB reserve.
Highlights of the day for me were some of the sea birds. Puffins, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Gannets. Plus we had Ring Ouzel, Crossbill and some great raptors. Over 80 species in the day and 6 lifetime firsts for me.

This Sparrowhawk greeted us as we met in the car park. What a start to the day.

As it flew driectly overhead we could see it was carrying some prey in it's tallons.

A male Ring Ouzel. Best views I've had of one.

Black Guillemot on the sea at Holyhead. You can just see it's ridiculous red feet.

Doing a bit of cleaning.

A Herring Gull looking for some lunch. (Our lunch)

Waders coming in. A mix of Dunlin and Ringed Plover.

Dunlin and Ringed Plover on the beach.

The cliffs at South Stack. Loaded with Guillemots in this shot.

Sparrowhawks

Last weekend at Fishers Green in the Lea Valley, a Sparrowhawk silently glided past my Dad and I. No sooner had I picked up what it was that was going past me that it was gone and out of sight. Unfortunately, most of my Sparrowhawk sightings follow this same trend of spotting them and then they're gone. Just after Christmas though, I was lucky enough to get up close and personal with one, from a hide owned by Charlie Owen. It gave me the best views I've had of a Sparrowhawk and some good shots too. Here are a few of them.

 There's something very encapsulating about those piercing yellow eyes. Scary.

Down on the Farm

I had the pleasure of spending a good five hours in a private hide yesterday in Glazebury, Warrington. The hide is set up superbly, on farmland well away from humankind and is perfect for peaceful birding. It was a cold start with thick frost on the ground, but the sun was up first thing and soon moved into it's perfect position behind the hide. We were then treated to some fantastic bird action, with Tree Sparrows a plenty, Gold Green and Chaffinches, Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Jay, Pheasant, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker and the star of the show for me, a male Sparrowhawk. Sure, these are not particularly uncommon birds, but the opportunity to photograph them at close quarters was where the excitement lay for me. Some of my best pictures are below, but to be honest I am so pleased with a lot of them that I may have to post more later. An amazing day.

I've waited a long time to get a decent shot of a Tree Sparrow. 

Nuthatch

Goldfinch

I love a Great Tit

A little Jenny Wren, as my Nan calls it.

My highlight of the day, a Sparrowhawk.