My Friend, the Redstart

Some of you may remember a family of Redstarts I was following recently. The male had a silver ring on one of it's legs. This was put on by the BTO when it was captured in a mist net at some point in it's life, and then released once again. Before being released the bird was sexed, aged and generally checked over.
Well a birding friend of mine managed to decipher the number on the ring this summer and sent it off to the BTO to see what information they held. It was quite astonishing really.
It was initially ringed in Devon in 2007, when it was at least 2 years old. That makes our bird at least 7 years old. I am told that the oldest Redstart ever recorded was aged 8.
Some great information to receive and shows the usefulness of the BTO ringing scheme.

What a handsome devil? I hope to see him again next year.

Butterflies

When the birds are hiding in the trees I find it hard to look for nothing, so I turn my attention to butterflies and insects. At this time of year they are easier to see than most birds.
They're so colourful, but not always easy to capture as they are always on the move.

Gatekeeper

Small Tortoiseshell

Peacock

Comma

Green-veined White

Patch Work

Back on the patch in Woodford just recently numbers of Canada Geese are building up. Counts have topped over 400. We've also had a couple of juvenile Little Ringed Plovers drop in. A very difficult bird to find in the muddy verges of the floodede pool. Next to it on the cricket pitch, have been incredible numbers of Pied Wagtails too. Some counts approaching close to 50 birds.

Big build up of Canada Geese.

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover.

Macclesfield Forest

The last day of my two week summer holiday started off as a stunningly bright and calm morning. I made my way to Macclesfield Forest to make the most of it. I wasn't disappointed, with plenty of activity and plenty of peace and quiet.
In terms of birds, I picked out a Spotted Flycatcher early on, then a Chiffchaff singing in the near distance. Quite late for these, but the sun seems to spur them on. I said earlier in the year that I get tired of the Chiffchaff song, but knowing that they will soon depart, made this one a little special.
The Whinchats were still around from the other day, along with plenty of Meadow Pipits and a Tree Pipit. I also got startled by a Roe Deer while I was sat out of view. It broke a twig as it stood up out of the long grass. The air was blue for a moment. A lovely animal though and fantastically wild.

Spotted Flycatcher

Tree Pipit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The Roe Deer that scared me just a little.

 

My, what big ears you have?

Black Terns

Wow! What a sight on Saturday? I'd had notification of an American Black Tern and a juvenile European Black Tern on Pennington Flash. I had never seen either, so it was a no brainer that I had to go and take a look. It was just a matter of when I could do it without upsetting anybody.
That window came at around 1pm, and after checking it was still around made the 30 minute journey.
There were quite a number of birders lined up outside Horrocks hide, so I knew they were still around. Helpfully, they seemed to be working the water together, so it was easy to follow both. Although they stayed out in the middle of the flash, the light was good, so it was quite easy to track them. They were always too far away to give me anything decent with a 300mm lens, but here are my best efforts. A nice shot of the pair together.

American Black Tern doing the chasing. Quite a lot smaller than the European neighbour.

No you can't! There's only room for one on here!

Common Buzzard

When I hear the call of the Common Buzzard it has quite a haunting effect. I find there to be something just a little eerie about it. When the juveniles start calling they seem to do so constantly for minutes on end. I am not sure if this one below is a juvenile but it was calling for quite a considerable time whilst sat on a post. It then took to the air still calling. It had something on it's mind, maybe it was breakfast.

Whinchat

For a few years now I've been chasing this bird around the North West with no joy at all. I've researched where they may be at what time of year. I have read other peoples accounts of where they saw them, with happiness for them but green with envy for me. Due to a combination of time constraints, bad weather and bad planning by me, I've always missed out. Until the 28th August 2012. The day I saw my first Whinchat. Two in fact. My pictures are not great at all, but they are OK record shots of a bird that I have found ridiculously hard to find.

 

 

 

 

Redshank

I've just spent a week in North Wales on a family holiday. Most of my birding was done with just the naked eye as it's really only me that gets any enjoyment from it. So I rarely got the camera out, but I did for about an hour one morning while looking for waders and anything that may be around.
I ventured to Kinmel Bay in Rhyl and came across 100+ Sandwich Terns that were sat on the beach, but at quite some distance away. A couple of Ringed Plovers, a Little Egret, a Redshank and many Oystercatchers were the only highlights. Nothing out of the ordinary but it gave me something to point my camera at for a short time.

I think this Redshank was a juvenile. It's legs were rather more yellow/orange than the adults red.

Pennington Flash

I spent a few hours at Pennington Flash in Manchester at the weekend. There were plenty of birds around, but just too far away for my camera. Still, I got good views through the bins of Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler and many more.
Just a few shots below for you.

Great Crested Grebe

 

 



Dunnock

Bullfinch

A very scruffy looking Blackcap

North Wales coast.

Not a great deal of birding activity on my holiday, but here are a few shots I did manage of the various wildlife in North Wales.

A Curlew on the Conwy estuary.

 I think this is a Mink scampering across the beach.

It was harassed all the way by a group of Jackdaws.

 

A rabbit that my daughter Eleanor thought was very cute.

Kashmiri goats on the Great Orme

Dippers, again

Well it all seems very quiet on the birding front of late. This morning I went out with high hopes of seeing many different varieties, but struggled to find anything out of the ordinary. I did manage to come across more Dippers though. So I spent most of my time trying to photograph these again. I realise my last post was about Dippers too, but they're not easy to capture, so I make the most of it when I do. Here are a few of my shots.

Dipper de doo dah....

I came across a family of Dippers on Sunday. I wasn't expecting them as I got out of the car, but I soon picked up on their call and tracked them down. I think this is a well developed juvenile. I've not come across one with such an unusual white marking, very low down. Any suggestions are gratefully accepted.
It does seem to have a rather unusual orange digit on it's left foot. It appears to be a bit swollen and hopefully it won't cause it too many problems. It certainly seemed fine when I was there.

This was taken at Etherow Park earlier this year. You can really see the difference in the plumage of both.

A Kestrel waiting patiently for movement in the grass below.