Shag

This is a bird that I have avoided seeing my whole life. How? I have no idea. I have obviously been to the wrong places at the wrong times. I know that I've missed some by hours, but that's the joy of birding for me. You never know if you'll see what you want to see, or if something better will turn up, and sometimes nothing at all.

Phil and I stopped off in Holyhead harbour on our way to Anglesey. We were looking for Black Guillemots, as they are often seen here. Low and behold, as I peered over the harbour side there was a Shag. I double checked with Phil that it was indeed a Shag and not a Cormorant. I was delighted when it was confirmed and ran for the camera. I often wondered if I'd actually be able to tell the difference between a Cormorant and the Shag, but it was quite easy when I saw this one. It's quite a bit smaller and slender looking. It also has a lovely green colouration.

The Black Guillemots we actually went to see.

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.

Curlew

The sound of the Curlew on my patch really does signal the beginning of Spring. I also recently found out it was my Nan's favourite call from when she was younger on the farms in Ireland. Even more reason to be fond of them.
I caught up with lots of them in Norfolk. The beach at Titchwell held quite a few, and that's where I took these pictures.

The sea was the calmest I've seen it here. Usually it's blowing a gale and it's really choppy. On this day you can see the waves just gently lapping while the birds go about their business.

Curlew (right) with a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Rock Pipit

Well this bird had me flummoxed for a while. At Blakeney Harbour whilst walking to see the Lapland Buntings, a bird flew across the path in front of me. It dropped out of sight and down into a water outlet from one of the sluice gates. When I found it again I was pretty sure that it was a Pipit, but which one?
I ruled out Meadow Pipit. So this left me with Water or Rock Pipit as the main culprits. The location and where I had seen it seemed to suggest Water Pipit. There was a good supercilium above the eye and a grey head. Added to this, later in the day one was reported on one of the news services at the same location. Mystery solved? No, not really.

I wasn't convinced in myself, despite the various clues. So I sought help from the Manchester County Bird Recorder. This resulted in the correct identification of a Scandinavian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis). A very good article can be found here Scandinavian Rock & Water Pipit  on the confusion surrounding the identification of the both. I'm glad I was not alone in my quandry. Next time I will know what to look out for before making my assumption. I still might get it wrong.

Choseley Drying Barns

Choseley drying barns are a great place to stop for a variety of birds at all times of year. Being just a stones throw, inland from Titchwell, I am never far away on my visits to Norfolk. I usually make passing visits as I move on to my next destination and have a good scan of the fields to see what's about.
The barns are used for drying grain and this attracts Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and the odd Tree Sparrow. I have yet to see Corn Bunting here, but was fortunate to see a dozen or so Yellowhammer feeding very close by.
Red-legged Partridge and Grey Partridge were seen in the fields too on what was a really rather nice warm Spring day.

The barns at Choseley. The coastal path follows the hedge line on the left hand side. 

Grey Partridge. Good numbers were seen around the hedge-lined fields.

Yellowhammer in front of the barns.

Water Rail - Titchwell

I got extremely lucky at Titchwell last Friday. On the walk back to the car I came across not one, but two Water Rail. Each were in the ditch at the side of the path, only on different sides. There was already a bit of a crowd, but it didn't seem to disturb the birds in the slightest. They carried on their foraging and allowed me my best and closest views ever. Some late afternoon sunshine just added to the moment and lit the birds up beautifully.

Excuse the grasses once again.

Lapland Bunting - Blakeney Fresh Marsh

A day trip to Norfolk over the Easter holiday started with a quick change of day, due to a storm heading our way on the Saturday. So I turned up a day earlier, as there was sunshine forecast on the Friday.
A quick look at the what was around, and I soon had my radar firmly set on Blakeney fresh marsh for the Lapland Buntings that had been present for a few days. A few stops on the way meant I had already ticked off Hawfinch, Treecreeper and Marsh Tit before 8:30.
I followed the coastal path to where there were already around a dozen birders with scopes set up. I waited for about twenty minutes before the first bird landed in front of us. A very nice looking male. It proceeded to feed on the ground in some really stunning sunshine. The light made for some great shots, as it always does.

A different male sat on a fence.

A female eventually joined and was great to see the comparison.

Skylark

It's not often I am able to get as close to a Skylark as this. I'd stopped in a layby on the moors to see what was about when I spotted this Skylark wandering around on the grassy verge. The camera was in the boot. So I had to stealthily get out of the car and walk crouched to the boot, all the while hoping it hadn't seen me, or at least seen me as a threat. (I was also hoping no one else would drive past and see me behaving in such a way). Anyway, I managed no to scare the bird off and rested on my wing mirror to get these pictures.
So well camouflaged, and nice to see it this close for a change.

Stonechat

I had a little drive around the moors of Cheshire at the weekend. I was mainly looking for Golden Plover up above Wildboarclough. I didn't see any, but I did hear one or two. They're quite difficult to pick out against the light grass and heathers and with dull conditions. I'll return at a later date and on a sunnier day to find them.
A little bird did make me pull over as I drove home though. A nice looking male Stonechat. Of course, once parked up and out of the car it took flight. I managed to track it down though, and watched for a few minutes as it flitted about. Great little birds.

Titchwell

The beach at Titchwell is often just too far away for my little legs to muster the energy. When I do bite the bullet though and follow the path the whole way from the car park it is quite often well worth it. My problem is that I stop (a lot) on the way and look for other things, and it can take me a good while to get there. Then I'm thinking about heading back.
Anyway, on this particular day I was pleased to see some Bar-tailed Godwits on the shore line. A year tick for me.

The bird in flight showing its barred rather than black tail feathers.

One of the obvious differences from the Black-tailed Godwit is the upturned bill. Slight curvature can be seen on this bird.

Brent Geese in flight. Always a safe bet at Titchwell.

A Cormorant taking a breather.

And in flight shortly afterwards.

A Lapwing enjoying the mud in the sunshine.

Nuthatch

Lots of activity from the Nuthatches at the moment as they hold down territories and set up homes for the Spring. There seems to be a constant calling in the Bollin Valley near to where I live. They are a super looking bird and one of my favourite woodland birds. Probably only beaten by woodpeckers.
If you have trouble seeing them, they will help you out at this time of year. Calling frequently, and allowing you to pick them out as they scurry around the trees, quite often upside down.

Common Gull

I rarely manage to get decent pictures for bird comparisons. I think that I'm always too busy focusing on one specific species and getting that nice unobstructed shot to think about how one looks in comparison to another. By chance, and by no means done on purpose, I managed to get a nice comparison picture of  a Common Gull and a Black-headed Gull. Both were stood nicely on the directional post outside Horrocks hide at Pennington Flash.

Common gull on the left, Black-headed gull on the right. Quite a difference.

The Longest Twitch

Two weekends ago my birding friend (Phil) and I embarked on what was to be my longest "Twitch". I have never really classed myself as a twitcher. I prefer to stay local and if something rare is around, casually stroll along and see if I can find it. 

On this occasion, the lure of Britain's 7th ever Hooded Merganser (if proven to be truly wild) was too much for us to resist. A 5:30am meet saw us heading down the M6 before we knew what had hit us. It never dawned on me that it wouldn't be there, as is my nature to be positive at all times. 180 miles later we arrived in Wiltshire at the correct site, to be told by a friend of Phil's that it had, to use his words, "buggered off". The air in that particular car park turned blue for several minutes as the three of us exchanged expletives of varying types. If I was keeping a list of English swear words I'm sure we ticked most of them off at this point.

So, what do you do when you've travelled 180 miles on a Sunday morning to to see a bird that wasn't there? Get straight back in the car and drive to the next target bird is the correct answer. Fortunately for Phil (who had kindly volunteered to drive) and I, it was on our way home. Well it was 25 miles further north if the truth be told, but we were heading in the right direction.

Enter the Penduline Tit! 'Please be there' I thought, as we parked up again. Joy of joys, it was there. Not very easy to see it must be said. I think we waited for 10 minutes or so for the two birds to show in the freezing cold. They didn't make it easy for us to see them either. Superbly camouflaged in the bulrushes. They stayed distant, but it was hard to complain when they had at least bothered to turn up, unlike the Hooded Merganser. It was a life tick for me, so was happy. Shame the pictures were not better, but it could have been a lot worse I suppose. 

From now on, I'm limiting my twitches to a 50 mile radius. That's the plan anyway.

Great Northern Diver - West Kirby

Some weeks back I headed to the Wirral to look for a reported Great Northern Diver. It had apparently been showing well for some time and giving very good views. The day I chose was grey and overcast, and by the time I got to West Kirby on the Wirral it had started to rain. Not ideal for finding a dark bird on dark water. Still, it didn't deter me. I was determined to find this bird and try and get close if I could. Easier said than done. There's not a lot you can do when a bird wants to stay out fishing in the middle of the lake.
I did the best I could, but the light, and anything else I can think of were against me. I had to settle for some more long distance shots. One day I will get some decent pictures of this species, and when I do I'll be over the moon.

Bullfinch

I've been very fortunate to have several pairs of Bullfinch on the feeders outside my lounge window recently. I've counted up to five pairs at once, which I think is the most I've ever seen together. Along with Siskins, Redpolls and lots of the more common species, it really has been a good time to watch out of the window and while away the hours as the rain continues to fall.
I guess it won't be too much longer before they are harder to spot. The leaves will begin to emerge on the trees and Spring will soon be with us. Thankfully, I have some pictures to remind me when this does happen.

A good looking male.

And never far behind him, is the female.

Pennington Flash

A cold frosty morning at Pennington Flash is perfect for me. As long as you wrap up warm, it's ideal for lots of activity and a good variety to be seen more easily than normal.
I spotted a Kingfisher sitting in the red Dogwood. Too distant for the camera but great to watch through the binoculars. Plenty of gulls on the water and Cormorants at the end of the spit.
A pair of Mute Swans swam close to the shore line near to the car park and allowed me to get this nice close up .

Mute Swan

One of many Stock Dove seen from the Bunting hide.

Willow Tit on a frosty branch.