Gauntelt Bird of Prey Centre Part 1

Now, I know some birders and photographers will not like what I am about to do, and that is to share some pictures that I took at the weekend at a bird of prey centre. Yes, captive birds. My excuse though is a real one. I'd not picked up the camera in over seven months and I needed some easy practise. So I spent half an hour watching a display put on at Gauntlet Bird of Prey Centre near Tatton Park in Cheshire. Some fantastic birds were flown, including a White-tailed sea eagle, a Bald eagle, Kites and the enormous Marabou stork.
I'll say no more but allow you to see the results of my practise session.

The White-tailed sea eagle. Absolutely massive.

 

 

A rather ugly looking vulture

The stunning Red Kite

 

Black Kite

A Marabou Stork from Africa. A truly enormous bird to see in flight.

 

Carsington Water

While I had the bit between my teeth on Sunday, I carried on from Macclesfield towards Derbyshire and Carsington Water. It's somewhere I've visited a few times now and somewhere I really like. Although usually busy, I feel like it's just me and nature, and the birds in particular.
Stopping at Sheepwash car park, I was hoping to catch up with some Bullfinches and Tree Sparrows that are quite common around the bird tables situated here. But it was a bit later in the day than I'd seen them before and people were picnicking close by. How rude?
So I ventured on down to the Sheepwash hide. To my delight I was the only person in there. Looking out I could see two Common Sandpipers nice and close scurrying along the shore line, and also two Grey Heron patrolling. Cormorants were sunning themselves close by but not a lot else was going on, so I moved round to the Paul Stanley hide. Plenty more of the common species here. With plenty of Coots, Tufted ducks, Gadwall, Lapwings, Great Crested Grebes and one Common Tern. Long grass made it difficult to get any decent shots, so I moved out to a feeder near the hide. I didn't have to wait long before a tatty looking Nuthatch appeared. I always enjoy seeing these birds.

View from the Sheepwash hide

One of the two busy Common Sandpipers.

 

Cormorants, doing what Cormorants do.

A juvenile Great Tit taking a peak

 

A tatty looking Nuthatch.

Back at Macc

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. I took myself out to Macclesfield Forest today to go over some familiar ground and to try and get back in to the swing of things with the camera. I wasn't expecting to see too much, but you really never know with this area. Quite often it's just the usuals but then at other times it throws up some real beauties.
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with my list when I looked back on it. Straight from the car park at Standing Stone I spotted two birds working along in the near undergrowth. Bingo!! Two juvenile Redstarts. Probably my favourite summer visitor.
I watched these for some time. They were joined by many juvenile Willow Warblers, a juvenile Robin and a Wren.
I moved away in time to see a mixed flock of 30+ finches taking flight into a tree. Right behind them came a Hobby, which carried on through to join up with another. What a great start, and only 15 minutes in.
I ventured down the road and came across many Meadow Pipits and then another surprise, a lovely juvenile Wheatear. I've not seen them in this area before, but I guess the young are venturing out on there own and finding their own way.
Making my way up to Danebower it was pretty cold and raw. One Curlew and one Raven plus the usual Meadow Pipits were as exciting as it got, so I moved onto Carsington Waters. But I'll save that for another post later this week ;-)

One of the two juvenile Redstarts I came across this morning

 

Juvenile Wheatear

 

Meadow Pipits were in abundance.

This juvenile Robin looked a bit lost and as though he'd left the nest a little too early.

On the sea shore......

Salthouse Shingle Ridge in Norfolk was cold but bright. Shelducks were appearing quite frequently.
Very nice in flight, and here below you can see the lovely colours in all their glory.

The larger gull in the centre is a Common Gull, while the two to the left are Black headed gulls. Turnstones are foraging around beneath them.

A nice close up of a Turnstone

Snow Bunting - Norfolk

One of my lifer birds on my Norfolk trip was the Snow Bunting. I'd made numerous trips up to Winter Hill on the Horwich Moors to try and catch a glimpse of one of these birds. Weather conditions were always against me. Whether it was fog, rain or falling ice, I always drew a blank. So when I managed to catch up with these lovely little birds in Norfolk at the end of January, I was absolutely delighted. Once again using the car as a hide, I managed some ok shots. Not great, but pleased to get something of a bird that had proved to be rather elusive for me.

Not a great shot but it looks like the Snow Bunting and Turnstone are having a nice little chat.

Golden Plover - Norfolk

While in Norfolk we came across several groups of Golden Plover. I've never got that close to them, but this time we spotted one lone individual on some mudflats. It kindly let us drive up and park alongside it, which gave me a good opportunity to put the lens out of the window and snap away. The colours are quite beautiful.

Really quite unusual to be able to get this close to the Golden Plover. Just 20 feet away.

This is my favourite shot.

Turnstone - Norfolk

One the lifers that I did see in Norfolk was the Turnstone. A bird that I have always been keen to see, but have never made a conscious effort find. I wasn't disappointed with these little beauties. We came across several groups of them along the shingle beaches, and some of them were very confiding. One particular bird was practically walking between our feet. Quite an amazing sight. Better than that though, was the noise these guys made as they tossed over shingle. To hear the stones clanging together made me laugh. It was quite a comical thing to hear. I don't know why. Tiny things please tiny minds I suppose.

Annoyingly, the sun was situated behind the birds, but I think it actually made for some nice shots.

There once was an angry Mute Swan

Never exactly elegant, but always captivating to watch a Swan in flight. Even better when you can watch them taking to the air or coming into land. Here at Titchwell there were several pairs on the water.

 

From the pictures above, all looks peaceful. That is until the neighbourhood bully turns up. Yep, this guy was seeing off all and sundry, and he wasn't happy.

 

 

 Have that, and don't come back! Yes, this is the first Swan (on the left) pictured above that was minding it's own business, being harassed by the angry bully.

Geese a plenty - Norfolk

Geese are always plentiful in Norfolk during the winter months, and I managed to come across a couple of species that I'd never seen before. The first was the Black-bellied Brent Goose. They winter largely on the East coast, and Norfolk holds good populations. They depart again in March. I don't know if it was because I'd not seen them before, but I did find them to be quite a good looking goose. Certainly nicer to look at than the numerous Canada Geese we see all year round.
The second species I'd not seen before was the European White-fronted Goose. I only saw two and didn't manage to get any shots of them, but it always makes a trip worthwhile when you see something new.

Black-bellied Brent Geese

Pink footed Geese were always on the move, or so it seemed. Huge skeins could be seen high up in the classic V formation.

Pink footed geese overhead.

 

Egyptian Geese were quite plentiful. They seemed to turn up in most places.