Pennington Flash

The weather has not been particularly kind at the weekends, and it's looking the same again this. Dark skies, rain and wind. Not a great prospect when you work all week and just want a bit of sunshine, or light cloud. So last weekend I headed to an old haunt of mine, Pennington Flash, to sit in the hides out of the rain and see what turned up. If I'm honest, I was really looking for the Willow Tit that can be found here. Not an easy bird to find and on a sharp decline across the country, but usually quite reliable at this site.

I sat for nearly an hour and a half just observing the comings and goings. There were plenty of species and a nice fly through of a Sparrowhawk. An enjoyable time on what was then a very miserable day. Hurry up Spring.

Blue Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Nuthatch

Reed Bunting

Robin

It turned up eventually. The Willow Tit.

Dumfries and Galloway

I spent a nice long weekend in Scotland last weekend, staying in Dumfries and Galloway. It was a good base to explore some of the tremendous sites on the Scottish south west coast. The main attraction and spectacle are the geese. Large numbers of Barnacle Geese winter here, and it was nice to be able to watch them on mudflats, fields, marsh and in flight. In fact they were everywhere. Considering I'd never really seen wild flocks on this scale before, it was a real joy.

Barnacle Geese

On the shoreline at Caresthorn there were waders, gulls and yes, more geese. We picked up some good birds here in the form of Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Pintail. A great little spot where you just had to stand and wait and look through the scope. Great birding.

Dunlin

Pintail pair in flight.

Ringed Plover

We spent a morning at Calaverock wildfowl and wetland reserve and added some more great birds. Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammers were found in the hedges, with Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Snipe and Whooper Swan found on the first pool. We moved on to a different hide and watched a super looking male Hen Harrier hunt over some marsh. Fields were full of Barnacle geese once again, but also joined by Lapwings. We were able to add White Fronted Geese, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Peregrine, Rock Pipit, Golden Plover and Red Kite to the list at various other locations. A fantastic few days, and somewhere I'd really like to go back to next winter.

Whooper Swan

Yellowhammer

Glossy Ibis

I didn't expect to be adding Glossy Ibis to my year list this year, so was surprised to hear of one just 5 minutes down the road from where I live. This meant taking an early lunch to go and take a look. It was well worth it. 

It was cold and frosty, but there was sunlight, which has been sadly lacking of late. This bird was busy foraging in the hedge-lined field. These hedges also gave it protection from disturbance. All my photos were taken through gaps in the hedge. It looks settled, so hopefully stays for a while. This made it species 90 for the year so far. I dare say I'll get an easier one.

Happy New Year

Happy New Birding Year to you all. Thank you once again for all your comments. They do mean so much, and remind me that people are actually looking and enjoying the posts I put on here. I hope to bring you lots more this year.

I started the year off nice and early. Well as early as the sun would allow. It's the worst thing about the winter months for me. I much prefer to be out at 5am and get a good few hours in before the world wakes up. Hey ho, roll on Summer. There were some really good birds around too, and lots of them quite local. That said, I headed to the Wirral to give the new year list a real boost. I started at Shotwick to tick a fairly long staying Long-tailed Duck. It's usually a bird I have to make a special effort for each year, so thought I'd get it out of the way early. 

I found it fairly quickly, on what was quite a substantial bit of water. On my way back to the car, I was escorted by a pair of Stonechats. Cracking little birds, and always a joy to see them.

Stonechat

The Long-tailed Duck on the right, with a Tufted Duck on the left. It kept it's distance, so no more than a record shot.

I headed up to Wallasey where there were reports of 5 Snow Buntings on the beach and dunes. When I arrived it was absolutely manic with people on the beach. I thought there was no way they'd still be around, but these were the most tolerant birds ever. They just took off and later a few feet away each time they were disturbed. Gloomy light by this time unfortunately, so the shots are not too good.

Snow Bunting

The Atlantic Puffin

I spent a weekend in Northumberland with my Dad back in the summer, with the Farne Islands the main focus. Puffins in particular were the real focus, as my Dad had always wanted to see one, and what better place to see them in their thousands than these islands off the north east coast. It wasn't exactly wall to wall sunshine, and it was pretty gloomy on the day we took the boat out to the islands, so the pictures are not the best, but this little sea bird lights up any occasion. 

Hobby

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to see a couple of Hobbies in my local area. The first I was able to see was a juvenile bird, but already very adept at catching it's prey. The second bird was an adult.

You don't get a lot of time to watch these birds as they fly over and often carry on through. I managed to point the camera up to get a few shots as it went on it's way.

Redwing

Redwings have been pouring in in their thousands over recent weeks. It's always exciting for me when there is a new arrival and these, the first of our Autumn Thrushes, are no exception. It's nice to have something new to look for or listen for. They're not the easiest of birds to see at this time of year though. With trees and hedges still holding onto leaves, they provide great cover for these berry lovers. Listening out for their call is usually the best way to know they are around, and then you have to be patient as they will take off at the slightest movement.

I think I waited along a hedgerow for about 45 minutes for these pictures at the weekend. I was positioned with the sun behind me and almost in amongst the tree line. The hedge they were in had a quiet road the other side. Every time cyclists went past they would fly across to the trees, wait a few minutes and then head back. This happened constantly while I was there, but I soon got to know the pattern. One would return and then followed by another and another. It made it easier to know where they would fly to first to perch, and how they would do it. I had no worthy pictures in the first half an hour, but then suddenly I cracked their code and was able to get quite a few.

The light was perfect and it the air was still. A very enjoyable morning spent with these good looking birds.