tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80467031415665268152024-03-14T07:25:58.973+00:00The wild sideMariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-39071185303994022572016-09-28T16:32:00.002+01:002016-09-28T16:32:32.395+01:00BBC Wildlife, October 2016Just a short one. If you happen to buy <i>BBC Wildlife</i> magazine this month (or you're a subscriber), check out my 'Island Odyssey' feature, starting on page 66. The feature covers my June trip around the Scottish isles, from the Hebrides to St Kilda, North Rona, Shetland and finally Orkney. I'm very, very happy to be in this brilliant magazine for the first time - as happy as this Razorbill :)<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-9919234108923811272016-09-04T14:03:00.000+01:002016-09-04T14:03:42.432+01:00Dungeness delightsOn Friday, Phil and I went to Dungeness, arriving in fairly bright and breezy conditions at about 10am. The first bird we found, from the access track to the main reserve, was a Cattle Egret, and it was gratifying to see other birders watching 'our' bird later on. Actually it was Phil's really, he found it.<br />
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Cattle Egret hanging out with its bovine chums. Sadly very distant.<br />
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A couple of first-winter Wheatears bounded off the track as we continued, this one pausing briefly on a stump by the track to eyeball us.<br />
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The first hides - Frith and Makepeace - proved quite productive. We started slowly with a couple of Pied Wagtails...<br />
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... but then on the more distant islands we started to find waders, including this Ruff, and also a few Ringed Plovers and Knots, a Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper.<br />
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There were Common Terns going back and forth and also a small dark tern way out across the water which was, of course, a Black Tern but I couldn't get any worthwhile flight pics of it - all were blurred.<br />
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Eventually it went to an island to rest, alongside its bigger cousins, and I was able to take some photos (still distant but at least in focus).<br />
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A big gang of Cormorants came steaming along, clearly following a fish shoal. They were keeping close together and diving repeatedly, surfacing with small fish.<br />
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There were a fair few Greylags on the water too, including a creamy leucistic one. Other Anatidae included Tufties, Teals and Shovelers.<br />
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The walk round to Dengemarsh hide was insect-filled, with lots of Common Blue Damselflies among the bushes, and dragons including Common Darter, Emperor and Migrant Hawker.<br />
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There were also a few butterflies about, including Gatekeepers and this Small Copper.<br />
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At Dengemarsh hide, there were still Common Terns with well-grown young on the rafts. This young Black-headed Gull showed up and started haranguing one of the adult terns.<br />
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A Great White Egret flew across the back of the lake, keeping its distance (alas).<br />
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A bit closer to hand were these two Mute Swans.<br />
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We walked on, back to the visitor centre. We were nearly there, walking along the short and as far as I can see pointless bit of boardwalk just by the main track, when Phil exclaimed 'Stop!' and I looked down to see that I'd been about to step on a truly immense and stunning Great Green Bush-cricket.<br />
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I lay down flat for these pics. After we'd both taken plenty, I picked it up to ensure no-one actually did step on it, and also so that Phil could take pics of it on my hand (to show how enormous it was). But it wasn't keen on this idea and clumsily leapt/flew off into the shingle.<br />
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The weather started to turn gloomy after this, and so did the birding, a bit. We found another GWE from the small hide by the visitor centre, and then went over to the ARC pit where we met Phil's friends Terry and Martin, who informed us we'd just missed a flyover Honey-buzzard. D'oh.<br />
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From the ARC hide we could see many sleeping eclipse-plumaged ducks, one of which was allegedly a Garganey but neither of us could pick it out. However, this beautiful leucistic Pintail stood out like an anaemic thumb.<br />
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The viewscreen offered nothing new, though we did have a fly-by Hobby on our way there. We decided to go to the sea, despite news from Terry and Martin that there wasn't much going on there, and as we drove along the coast path it began to rain.<br />
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We took shelter in the lea of the seawatching hide, and had a look out over a very grey and grumpy sea. A few Sandwich Terns were heading west, all at quite a distance. Some gulls, including this juv Herring, went by closer. The rain got heavier and we decided to call it a day.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-37388205477097611392016-09-04T13:32:00.002+01:002016-09-04T13:40:40.492+01:00Rainham and not enough wadersRainham's been raking in the waders lately, with both stints and Wood Sandpiper all seen in the last week or so. When I went there on Wednesday with Graham and Shane, we didn't have a lot of luck wader-wise but the usual late-summer Hobby-and-Migrant-Hawker-fest was in full swing, on a mostly sunny day.<br />
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We did the walk clockwise. Pretty much the first bird was this Stock Dove obligingly zooming past at close range.<br />
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There was little to see from Purfleet hide - vegetation in front of the windows was very tall and lush. We hung around long enough to unearth a couple of Snipes. On leaving the hide we just about got a look at a Kingfisher as it sped by.<br />
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There were a few Migrant Hawkers over the ditches, and an unseen Bearded Tit pinged from the reeds around the dragonfly pools. We spotted our first Hobby round here, and the Tower Butts hide provided good views of at least five Hobbies hawking over the marshes.<br />
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A male Migrant Hawker taking a rest from chasing and being chased.<br />
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The viewpoints over the pools on the return loop produced some waders - a couple of Ruffs and a few Black-tailed Godwits. Also more Little Egrets than I've ever seen here before, including a group of about a dozen all perched together. <br />
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A fine Wasp Spider near the Ken Barratt hide. As is usual with these spiders, her position low in the grass made it very difficult to photograph her properly.<br />
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The Willow Emeralds are out but when we reached their spot it had become a bit cool and overcast, and we couldn't see any. We continued into the Cordite store and found insects aplenty here. <br />
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Female Common Darter, Green-veined White, and a Common Carder Bee having a spot of bother getting out of a Greater Bindweed flower.<br />
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On the way out of the Cordite store, Shane spotted this Hobby perched on a happily leafless side branch of a big Horse Chestnut tree, and it put up with us staring at it for some time before lifting off to get back to slaying dragons.<br />
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A nice male Holly Blue on the last bit of path... just before we found...<br />
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... this glorious male Southern Hawker, which was really mellow and let us approach closely for photos. What a stunner.<br />
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Ridiculous close-up of his lovely eyes.<br />
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We didn't go back to the visitor centre but on to the Purfleet hide to begin another mini-loop, pausing on the bridge to take bad photos of this Small Red-eyed Damselfly. <br />
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The customary walk back along the riverbank didn't produce a lot, but we did add a couple more butterflies to the day list.<br />
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A Common Blue and a Small Heath. The sun was back out by this point, and shone on us all the way home.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-36410372980745826712016-09-04T13:11:00.002+01:002016-09-04T13:11:22.609+01:00An hour at dawn in HastingsIt's been a while, in fact ages, since I took my camera to Hastings, but last week I did and it and I spent an enjoyable hour or so on the beach photographing gulls, early on a sunny morning before the holiday hordes descended.<br />
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The first pic shows Lesser Black-backed with an adult Herring and a juvvie Great Black-backed. Lesser BBs are not regular round here so that was (very slightly) exciting. There were a few Fulmars wheeling about well offshore, and a sparse passage of Swallows overhead.<br />
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To pad this extremely short post out a little, here are a few recent bits of artiness.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-71152771478025929212016-08-25T14:15:00.003+01:002016-08-25T14:15:38.956+01:00Just a quickie to very proudly announce the publication today of <a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/birds-myth-lore-and-legend-9781472922861/">Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend</a>. My co-author and I are so delighted with this book - it's a bit of a departure subject-wise for me but it was great fun to write, and the design team have made it look very pretty indeed. A happy day :)Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-91378450886819356722016-08-19T21:37:00.000+01:002016-08-19T21:37:21.985+01:00Of local interest...I've been to Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve a couple of times lately, armed just with my macro lens (oh, and the camera to stick it to). Seen nothing of any great note but here are some photos of various (mainly) insects for you.<br />
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As usual for the time of year, damsel numbers have thinned out a bit and I've not found a single Azure, but there are Common Blues aplenty. Also some Red-eyed, Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselles but none of those have been in the mood for photos. Dragon-wise there are unphotographable Southern and Brown Hawkers.<br />
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Butterflies, too, have been the usual suspects. Here a Red Admiral, Green-veined White and Speckled Wood. There are still plenty of Gatekeepers around and a few Meadow Browns too.<br />
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The impressively huge Hornet Hoverfly, Volucella zonaria. I've also seen a couple of actual Hornets.<br />
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I noticed this mad little beast scampering along a weeping sedge stem in the wildlife garden. I thought it was an ant at first, then I thought it was a spider, and then I looked at it properly and realised it was neither. I have since found out it's the nymph of the Ant Damsel Bug<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Himacerus mirmicoides</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and it's a crazy-looking little critter indeed. The adult isn't at all ant-like - you can see pics of it at various ages <a href="http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Nabidae/himacerus_mirmicoides.html">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bird-wise, I've not seen an awful lot on the reserve, no waders except Lapwings, no new wildfowl yet. Here are some of the resident Canada Geese against a fetchingly cloudy sky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While checking out the big sheep field I did enjoy the sight of this ewe suckling her monster lamb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A quick glance at Knole Park the other day produced a Small Copper butterfly which skipped off before I could photograph it. The deer are in mellow pre-rut mood, this white buck not even bothered by the local flies holding a meeting on his face.<strong><em></em></strong></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><em></em></strong><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><em><strong></strong></em></span></span></i>Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-4301961687266573362016-07-23T08:18:00.000+01:002016-07-23T08:18:05.504+01:00Scotland againCan't give any details about this trip for work reasons, but I need to blog about <i>something </i>this month. So here are a lot of photos, which I hope you enjoy :)<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-44970686966917901882016-06-11T07:43:00.000+01:002016-06-11T07:43:11.623+01:00Ardnamurchan photo-dump part 4 - Sanna and Ardnamurchan PointSanna Bay lies on the north-west shore of the peninsula and Arnamurchan Point pokes out on the west coast. Sanna is achingly picturesque - the point a bit less so but it's a fine spot for sea-watching. The weather (including not much wind) meant not much was coming close inshore though. <br />
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Seawatching from the lighthouse yielded lots of Manx
Shearwaters beyond camera range, It was while watching a flock of these through the scope as they banked
and turned and dropping into the sea that I saw the grey back of a
Minke Whale briefly break surface - my first whale-from-land.<br />
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You can climb down the rocks here and get pretty near the sea. Here's a Whimbrel sitting at the sea edge.<br />
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And a fly-by Raven. Both these pics were taken on our first morning, when we had a few hours of grey skies.<br />
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On our second visit to the lighthouse the skies were glorious blue - a nice backdrop to these mountaineering Red Deer.<br />
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And now Sanna. It was in the car park here that we met (for the first time out of three) local wildlife photographer Hamza Yassin, who gave us lots of top tips for where to go to see various stuff. Oh, and we met this environmentally aware female Wheatear as well.<br />
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In the bay itself - a Great Northern Diver - one of several seen, in full stunning breeding plumage, over the week.<br />
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The beach here is a) glorious and b) good for waders. We found Sanderlings and Dunlins, lots of Oystercatchers, and many Ringed Plovers. I like the contrast between these two - one camouflaged and the other not-so-camouflaged.<br />
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A walk over the heathery duney bits behind the beach produced these orchids, which I haven't got round to identifying.<br />
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Also some of these brilliant little beasts - Green Tiger Beetle.<br />
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Sanna, even on the sunny day of our second visit there, was quiet - the archetypal undisturbed beautiful Scottish beach. There were a few others there though. We saw a pair of snorkelers and a pair of canoeists enjoying the water, and this artist having a bit of a paint.<br />
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And finally a couple of little ones at Sanna - Skylark, and Meadow Pipit against the unfeasibly blue sea.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-3775299631506111432016-06-11T07:32:00.000+01:002016-06-11T11:26:08.352+01:00Ardnamurchan photo-dump part 3 - the mainlandNext post from our mid-May week in Ardnamurchan. I must say (because I've forgotten to do so til now) how AMAZING the weather was. Warm sunshine every day, except for our very first morning which as a little bit grey and drizzly, but had become glorious by lunchtime. I've never known Scotland to do that before. It made things much more inviting, photo-wise. And I'm not sure I've ever eaten as much ice-cream north of the border.<br />
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First off, things seen around Kilchoan. We went for walks near the bothy where we stayed (<a href="http://www.ardnamurchanstudycentre.co.uk/bothy.php">here</a> - recommended!) every day. Some of the locals.<br />
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Robin right outside our door. There were also Great Tits and Pied Wagtails nesting in the various buildings on the (small, lovely) campsite.<br />
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Twites were numerous in the fields lining the little road into the village. Lovely to see lots of them at close range.<br />
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On our first morning, this fabulous beast flew overhead as we walked into Kilchoan. One of two White-tailed Eagles we saw on the mainland during our week.<br />
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Sedge Warblers are very common round here. This one was on the way to the ferry port. We saw him several times. Also in this area were singing Grasshopper Warblers but we couldn't see them.<br />
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Ahhh. Fledgling House Sparow and her mum, again on the way to the port.<br />
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And in the same area, all on his own for some reason, this Red Deer stag. We did see many more Reds up on the hills. Oh, on the subject of mammals, Nick saw an Otter on the beach near Kilchoan but I missed it - did get a distant one on Mull though.<br />
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A bit of landscape - taken from the beach at Kilchoan.<br />
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A pukka British Bluebell, one of lots lining the road.<br />
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More of our neighbours. From the top - Common Buzzard, Common Whitethroat, Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear, Sand Martin, Swallow.<br />
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And a little further out of the village - a lovely male Whinchat. We saw a number of Stonechats too but I didn't get any pics.<br />
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The day after our Mull trip, we drove east a bit to visit Glenborrodale, the RSPB reserve that climbs through woodland out onto the moors (a bit) then back again.<br />
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We'd hoped for a Wood Warbler here and we found one. Also Tree Pipit, and a ton of Willow Warblers.<br />
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AND a couple of butterflies - Green Hairstreak and an <i>oblita </i>Speckled Wood. There were many Latticed Heath moths around too.<br />
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It was while I was trying to photograph one of these lepidopterans that Nick quietly pointed out a Tawny Owl perched in a tree right in front of us. This photo is pretty much uncropped. WOW.<br />
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The Tawny didn't much like us staring at it and flopped away to a slightly more distant tree, where it was actually a little easier to photograph.<br />
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We went for a cup of tea after that at the nearby Ardnamurchan Natural History Visitor Centre, and were entertained by these two. The female was clearly mad for it - every time the male dismounted she'd yell and yell until he came back and did it again.<br />
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I was going to talk about Sanna Bay and Ardnamurchan Point here too but this post is already pretty long so I shall do a fourth one in a minute <br />
<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-3586518329218755312016-06-10T22:11:00.003+01:002016-06-10T22:11:55.051+01:00Ardnamurchan photo-dump part 2 - a day on MullOn our third day, we took the ferry over to Tobermory where we met up with Phil (his fab blog <a href="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/07/70/61/28/staffa-tours.jpg">here</a>) and Carol, who by happy chance were on holiday on Mull for the week. They very kindly drove us about all day and showed us some great places and wonderful wildlife. Sadly I didn't make notes on what was where so this is going to be a bit (OK, very) sketchy details-wise.<br />
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First off, though, the wonderful sight of several Harbour Porpoises from the ferry.<br />
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We headed inland from Tobermory, pausing at a small lake to look for Hen Harriers but finding something much rarer (in a Mull context) - a Jay! Then it was on to a stunning sea-loch inlet at Dervaig.<br />
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Here we found waders including these Common Sandpipers, also Shelducks and plenty of Common Gulls.<br />
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One of said Common Gulls, looking very lovely in its fresh breeding plumage.<br />
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We drove a long way cross-country then, heading for... I'm not sure which sea-loch, but it was a spot for eagles and it was a long way off. On the way I spotted a Cuckoo on a fencepost right at the roadside and, happily, we were able to reverse back to it.<br />
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It wasn't too impressed by that but stayed put just long enough for a few photos. My best shots ever of a Cuckoo, and he was a gorgeous-looking bird indeed.<br />
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We arrived at the eagle spot and waited a while, scanning the skies. Then I wandered off to photograph Hooded Crows in the field behind the road.<br />
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Then the others called over to advise me that I was missing a Golden Eagle. This adult or nearly-adult glided overhead, looking lovely if a bit far up for nice shots.<br />
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We drove on a bit, and stopped further along for another scan, this time finding a superb adult White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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We called in at Phil and Carol's holiday cottage - an idyllic spot by a wooded river. Sadly the resident Dippers were hiding but this Grey Heron looked lovely in the sunshine.<br />
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The cottage is close to Loch Baa, and we went for a walk along the loch's shores, adding Red-breasted Merganser and Goosander along the way.<br />
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The loch also produced an odonate for us - this female Large Red Damselfly.<br />
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It was nearly time to head back for our ferry. We paused on the way at a Short-eared Owl spot but the owls were not playing ball. Then it was back to Tobermory for a bit of food shopping (the nearest supermarket to Kilchoan is here!) and we bade Phil and Carol a fond farewell and boarded the last boat back.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-23760369760445830382016-06-10T21:30:00.001+01:002016-06-10T21:30:26.224+01:00Ardnamurchan photo-dump - part 1 (Treshnish Isles and Staffa)OK, it's time to blog about our mid-May week in Ardnamurchan - first off, our day out with Staffa Tours to the Treshnish Isles and Staffa.<br />
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We walked down to the port at Kilchoan, and while waiting for the boat enjoyed watching Meadow Pipits, Rock Doves and whatnot.<br />
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Then I spotted an apparently dead Sea Slater on the harbour wall. I was just lining up a photo when it jumped to its many feet and scuttled across the wall, back towards the sea.<br />
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The boat showed up soon afterwards, already busy with passengers (it starts at Mull). We boarded, took our places on the top viewing deck, and chugged off alongside the Ardnamurchan peninsula, soon saying goodbye to the Herring Gulls and hello to the Kittiwakes.<br />
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The seawatch from the boat wasn't all that exciting - a few auks, a few Gannets, one or two Manx Shearwaters that shot by without letting me photograph them. As we neared our first stop, Lunga in the Treshnish islands, we started meeting Puffins.<br />
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Lunga is a small, steep-sided grassy island, with no human inhabitants but lots of seabirds, most notably a shedload of Puffins. These were what most folk had come to see - many for the first time and there was much excitement on board.<br />
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The boat crew grabbed a floating pontoon and we towed it to the rocky beach. Getting across that was a trial (VERY uneven and slippery). Then there was a very, very steep loose-gravel path up to the high grassy bits. Once we got up that, we were in Puffin City.<br />
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The cliff edge was full of burrows and the burrows were full of Puffins. This shows how close you can get... Although shots of flying birds were much more difficult to get than on the Farnes, the scenery made for more pleasant backdrops.<br />
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A bit of green and a bit of blue, and a mellow-looking posing Puffin.<br />
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This one's doing its best 'cuddle me?' face and having a flap.<br />
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I've never seen Puffin courtship before. Pairs walked towards each other in an exaggeratedly slow, high-stepping gait with heads bowed, before tenderly bumping bills.<br />
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A slightly less adorable side of Puffin-ness - this one has spotted the remains of a Rabbit...<br />
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... and decided to have a bit of a chew. Maybe it was after nesting material. I did see others carrying pebbles and bits of grass around.<br />
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My best try of a flying Puffin. They would appear just at the cliff edge and immediately land - none were going overhead (they didn't need to).<br />
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An alive-and-kicking Rabbit, thinking I can't see it. Rabbits and Puffins compete for underground real estate here. I discovered afterwards that Lunga has a fair few black Rabbits and I wished I'd tried to find one.<br />
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Fulmars were skimming along the cliffs. Down below, rafts of Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the water, and a big bad Bonxie flapped slowly by.<br />
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A Lunga Wren showing off what his lungs can do. There were also Rock and Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails on the island.<br />
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We stayed a couple of hours, then it was back across the Beach of Doom and back onto the boat. We chugged out of the Treshnish zone (having a Shag on the way, as it were), and out into open sea towards Staffa.<br />
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Somewhere between Lunga and Staffa, we were joined by a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins - a UK tick for me! They quickly surrounded us, making photography very hard indeed with my long lens, but I managed a few shots.<br />
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This one was pure fluke - it just popped up in my viewfinder as I was flailing about trying to follow a different one.<br />
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At Staffa, we lingered in front of Fingal's Cave - stunning, a deep elliptical aperture in the rock with its surround of hexagonal pillars. I didn't change lenses though, because I spotted this Purple Sandpiper making its way along the rocks in front of the cave. None of the photos I can find online of the cave do it justice, so chances are I wouldn't have, either. <a href="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/07/70/61/28/staffa-tours.jpg">Here's</a> a shot of it from a Staffa Tours boat, anyway.<br />
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Staffa itself, a larger island with a grassy top and undulating profile, didn't have a lot of wildlife - a few Shags and Fulmars on the cliffs... but we passed a pleasant hour yomping across it.<br />
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Then it was back on the boat and back to Kilchoan, adding a fourth auk (Black Guillemot) on the way.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-9148949442058104122016-05-26T23:00:00.001+01:002016-05-26T23:00:26.384+01:00A Sevenoaks twitchNo, not THAT twitch. Oriental Turtle Dove is not on my list. I had a very VERY busy time towards the end of April/start of May. But I did go out for a couple of hours on Saturday 30th and bagged myself the lovely Wood Warbler that showed up at the wildlife reserve.<br />
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I went the wrong way at first, not realising the warbler was not <i>quite</i> on the reserve itself - found it by its song but couldn't see it and had to retrace my steps and take a different route. On the way I found this Great Crested Grebe and this Grey Heron.<br />
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I easily located the Wood Warbler then and spent rather too long taking pics of it. A lovely and most obliging little bird. Then onto the main reserve, where I hoped to find the Green Sandpiper reported the day before, but I didn't.<br />
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What I did find was lots of warblers - here two Blackcaps, two Chiffchaffs and (a first for the year) Garden Warbler.<br />
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Another welcome 2016 first - an alderfly. Love these creatures with their wingveins and docile nature.<br />
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No waders from Tyler hide but I enjoyed watching this Greylag family, and this hyperactive Rabbit.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-45072808119060192582016-05-26T22:46:00.000+01:002016-05-26T23:01:28.867+01:00Woolston and Connah's QuayOh lordy - I am so far behind now (more than a month) that I seriously considered allowing this blog to die... but after a mammoth photo-filing session last night I've decided to try to revive it. So - here are photos from a weekend Up North in mid-April - a Saturday at Woolston Eyes and a Sunday at Connah's Quay and RSPB Burton Mere. The Saturday was sunny, the Sunday really really wasn't, at first, though did brighten up later. And I was using a new (to me) camera - Nick's D300s (with my usual birding lens attached). The D300s is a pretty minor upgrade from the D300, so it wasn't that weird for me, though I forgot to check the date setting and the camera thought it was January.<br />
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So Woolston first. A beautiful and ringed Chiffchaff on the walk to the main hide. There was ringing going on at the reserve when we arrived, with tape-luring. Luckily we figured this out and did not tick off the singing Wood Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler...<br />
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And from the main hide, a couple of Black-necked Grebes on view... but sadly distant.<br />
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Another distant delight - first-winter Little Gull, who's been here for a few weeks.<br />
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On walkabout round the rest of the reserve - this corking Peacock. There were a fair few Peacocks and Small Torties around, enjoying the sunshineyness.<br />
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We then went for a walk down a different part of the reserve. This was most lovely - much of it along an embankment bordering what looked like a really excellent patch of scrub, ideal for Grasshopper Warblers (and indeed N found one or two there on a subsequent visit). No Groppers for us on this occasion but ample compensation came in the form of this beautiful male Redstart.<br />
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And now on to Connah's Quay, the Deeside reserve just over the border into Welshlands.<br />
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From the main hide, highlights were baby bunnies making tentative forays from their burrows, and hirundines (all three) skimming over the pond. Also a Common Sandpiper patrolling the pond margins. The muddy marsh was quietish, just Shelducks and Oystercatchers to-and-froing.<br />
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We set off along the path, finding Wheatears in the fields and this distant dingy Whinchat on the riverside.<br />
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We met no other humans on the path today, just this Fox.<br />
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The other hides produced very little. Here's a Common Sandpiper on patrol, and a lovely first-summer Black-headed Gull.<br />
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An irresistable Robin posed for me on the walk back to the car.<br />
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Done and dusted earlier than expected, we decided to call in at Burton Mere on the way back.<br />
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While Nick unearthed a few Spotted Redshanks from the wader flocks in front of the visitor centre, I was outside trying to phtoograph the House Martins skimming over the water. I failed, though the Black-tailed Godwit's slower speed and larger size made it an easier target.<br />
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We walked down to the far hide and watched Avocets, more godwits, a pair of Dunlins and assorted ducks. A raptor put up all the waders back at the visitor centre, and these godwits flew over, accompanied by their Ruff friend.<br />
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Avocets and Black-headed Gulls were also put up in the kerfuffle. I bared glimpsed the raptor responsible but the visitor centre folks confirmed it had been a Peregrine.<br />
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A couple of Oystercatchers trying to land on the island without crashing into each other.<br />
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Little Egret - a flyby against a very moody sky.<br />
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On the walk back, a couple of little 'uns showed nicely - this Wren...<br />
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... and a pair of Robins courtship-feeding.<br />
<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-59382259440488275232016-05-06T08:03:00.004+01:002016-05-06T08:03:47.230+01:00Spring on HavergateI'm so far behind with the blog. And have three more outings to post about after this, but I'm going away today, so I'm just doing this one post and in great haste. Blame proper work...<br />
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This one's about Lisa and I returning to Havergate Island, on April 16th. It was, unfortunately, a bitterly cold and slightly rainy day, and the exciting hare activity we hoped to witness was NOT happening. Still, we had a good day and did see a couple of hares, plus a few nice birds including a distant Short-eared Owl and an extremely ringtail Hen Harrier. The island has a LOT of pairs of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and I pointed my camera at them more than anything else. Some photos!<br />
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Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-36886051837164166712016-04-02T16:08:00.005+01:002016-04-07T20:06:59.276+01:00Firecrest-fest at DungeOn Easter Sunday, Nick and I went to Dungeness, lured there by the promise of a whole lot of Firecrests. It was a bright (at first) but very blustery day. We kicked off at the obs and were soon seeing Firecrests aplenty, darting in and out of the scrub. We then went down to the lighthouse garden and saw a bunch more.<br />
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Here are two of at least six that were bouncing about on the lawn like tiny, colourful thrushes. This garden is very sheltered, so a good place for them to hang out while they wait for the wind to drop before making the sea crossing back home (presumably!). Getting pics was really difficult, which is why this pic is so rubbish.<br />
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We then walked down to the patch. On the way Nick found this lovely male Wheatear in the little vegetated strip between the path and the power station. It was very flighty...<br />
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... not helped by the fact that it was being harrassed by a couple of Pied Wagtails. Here's one of those, falling off the wall.<br />
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There wasn't a lot happening offshore. The patch was, as usual, gull-filled, but neither of us could pick out anything out of the ordinary.<br />
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The only other action was a series of skeins of Brent Geese going by. So we went back to the reserve.<br />
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The first few hides produced nothing in particular - the usual array of dabbling ducks, Cormorants busy nesting, that kind of thing. Then a hirundine came through - a Sand Martin.<br />
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It was Dengemarsh hide that proved the winner for us. On the very far bank there were a small group of Barnacle Geese among the Greylags.<br />
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Then three more Greylags flew in, except one of them wasn't a Greylag, it was a Tundra Bean Goose.<br />
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Nick asked me to look at a very distant white bird hunkered on the far bank behind a bush. I could see no useful details and thought it was probably a domestic Greylag. We left the hide, but Nick continued to wonder about this bird and we decided to go back and try for a clearer view from the other end of the hide. We could indeed see it a bit better from here, and after much staring and me taking dozens of photos of it, realised that in fact it was a Spoonbill, and we were glad we'd returned.<br />
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So with the Firecrests, Sand Martin, Wheatear, Barnacle and Bean Geese and Spoonbill, plus the Water Pipit and scoters from Rainham and the Woodlark from Broadwater Warren, the Easter weekend brought me nine year-ticks and advanced my list to 139. It brought Nick 10 year-ticks, because Chiffchaff was new for him (we heard them at all three places, but I forgot to mention them til now, and he's on 140. NOT that we are competing. Much.<br />
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Two last birds from the Dengemarsh hide - a lovely pristine Common Gull, and a Cormorant carrying nesting material. We were caught in torrential rain and hail on the walk back to the car, but we didn't really mind.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-84617148769591250122016-04-02T09:44:00.001+01:002016-04-02T09:44:46.815+01:00Broadwater Warren and no photosEaster Saturday was MISERABLE - drizzly and very grey. My camera stayed in its bag all morning as Nick, James, Imi and I walked around Broadwater Warren RSPB (near Tunbridge Wells).<br />
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I often just don't blog when there are no photos, but I thought I would this time. This site is somewhere I used to visit often, when I lived in Groombridge (it's walking distance from there). Once a rather neglected conifer plantation, it's now being 'RSPB-ed'. There's much evidence of ongoing management - regeneration of heath, some new ponds, well-marked trails and boardwalks, and signs saying 'ground-nesting birds - please keep dogs on leads', which were largely being ignored. There was also a sign saying that thanks to RSPB work 'nightjars had returned' which amused me because the Nightjars have been here all along... but the RSPB are obviously working very hard to improve habitat so I shall forgive them.<br />
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We'd come in the hope of Woodlark, and very soon we did hear one singing, though it was way off in a no-entry area so we couldn't try to get a look at it. Lovely to hear, nonetheless. The feeding station in the car park was attended by Siskins as well as the usual tits and whatnot, and there were also Siskins singing around the place, so maybe they will breed here. The open bits held several Stonechats including singing males so they are getting down to business too.<br />
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That aside, the birds we saw/heard were mainly the usual woodland stuff. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, lots of Coal Tits, Grey Wagtail down by the (lovely) Decoy Pond, Common Buzzard overhead. The new trail is quite lovely (if muddy), with a particularly lovely loop through a stand of mature pines that had 'crossbills' written all over it (though sadly no actual Crossbills) and the open heathy areas bristled with Whitethroat potential. There are allegedly Yellowhammers here though we didn't see any. The new pools looked the business for Odonata as well, and with time/maturity I'd be hopeful of the likes of Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Keeled Skimmer, Black Darter, Brilliant Emerald and Small Red Damselfly here.<br />
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Hopefully I'll get the chance to come back on a sunny day in summer, and look for Nightjars/Woodcocks, plus all the other nice things that might be about in the daytime.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-41730839819772540042016-04-02T09:30:00.000+01:002016-04-02T09:30:00.472+01:00Rainham and SevenoaksOn Good Friday, the sun shone and it was lovely, and Nick and I went to Rainham Marshes in the morning and Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve in the afternoon. Things got off to a good start when we arrived at Rainham - some of the staff were on the far side of the drawbridge (it was pre-opening time) scoping the river, and pointed out a small flock of Common Scoters.<br />
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Here they are. Far, far away but you can see what they are (I hope) - can see a couple of sticky-up tails, at least.<br />
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We ambled down the river and back, in time for opening, not seeing terribly much on the way but it was such a lovely sunny morning that it didn't matter.<br />
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We settled down in Purfleet hide and started trying to find the Jack Snipe that had been there of late. We couldn't, nor could anyone else. There was a bit of compensation though when a small beige-ish grey-ish bird dropped in and revealed itself to be a Water Pipit. Otherwise, here were the usual dabbling ducks (numbers clearly dwindling now) and some Redshanks and Lapwings that were gearing up for the breeding season.<br />
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The MDZ was stuffed with people poking their lenses through the mesh at a Kingfisher perched close to the nesting bank.<br />
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The rest of the open areas produced much what you'd expect - Marsh Harrier at the far end, Reed Buntings... all over, a few more additions to the day duck-list. When we got to the sheltered woodland we added a couple of butterflies - Peacock and Brimstone.<br />
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The feeding station back at the centre was oddly quiet, perhaps because of these two miscreants.<br />
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We went back to the Purfleet hide for another try for the Jack Snipe - no joy again. Instead, here is a selection of male dabbling ducks showing off their backsides. I have not seen a Pintail from here before, so that was very nice.<br />
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Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler.<br />
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And as we left this hide, the female Kingfisher decided to provide me with a brief photo opportunity.<br />
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As it was still very much daytime, we called in at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve for a couple of hours in the afternoon.<br />
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A couple of early spring insects enjoying the sunny weather - Hairy-footed Flower Bee and Bee-fly.<br />
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We wandered down to Tyler hide and enjoyed views of Black-headed and Common Gulls, Teals and other ducks, Great Crested Grebe, Lapwings, you know the deal... then a Sparrowhawk came blazing over the Serengeti and up over the hide. I thought that was that, but then a chap who'd just left the hide came back in to say the Sprawk was perched in clear view outside, so I went out for a look.<br />
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Sprawky McSprawkface. I think after much deliberation that this is an adult female, with a bit of a rusty tinge here and there as mature females often have - what you can't see from the photo is how big she was.<br />
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We carried on down to the Sutton hide and then the Slingsby hide. Not a lot on the water (though there were four distant Wigeons - unusual for them to be here rather than Snipe Bog Lake) but these two little ones showed at close range from Slingsby, also a very dark female Reed Bunting who I didn't manage to photograph properly.<br />
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We went up to Willow hide to end the day. From here, not much to see. Intriguingly there was what looked like a tern raft out on the water - surely not for actual terns? I've hardly ever seen them here... There were numerous Canada Geese on the water and watching them perform their somersaulting ablutions was most diverting.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-4943862658934520212016-03-18T11:11:00.002+00:002016-03-18T11:19:26.764+00:00Bushy ParkOver the last week I've spent some quality time in Bushy Park with my camera - here are photos from two days (one of which was sunny, both of which were COLD). These pics were mostly taken around the Heron Pond.<br />
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As ever, the park's heaving with Ring-necked Parakeets, and their screeches provide a constant bizarre soundtrack.<br />
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The other green kid on the block. The open areas are full of anthills and so attract lots of Green Woodpeckers.<br />
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A confiding Jackdaw.<br />
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And another, this one showing some partly white wing feathers, a sign of poor nutrition. Lots of people feed bread to the ducks here...<br />
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This Jackdaw looks OK, though was not being allowed to land on the bridge. Most of the adult Black-headed Gulls now have full hoods and will be off to breeding grounds soon.<br />
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First-winter Black-headed, in b/w. To be fair the original photo was almost monochrome anyway.<br />
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Only a few Common Gulls were here, plus one or two Lesser Black-backs.<br />
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One of the rather few Feral Pigeons here. I am pretty chuffed with the sharpness of this pic (though there were 30 more that went in the bin).<br />
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Grey Heron, poised to pounce on a slice of bread.<br />
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DUCK! Or maybe DRAKE! Male Mallard coming in to land. All the wildfowl is getting frisky, lots of 'three-bird flights' going on.<br />
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These two seemed mellow enough. The photo is a reversal of those old field guide illustrations where the male bird would invariably be shown in front of the female and partly obscuring her. I'm subverting this trope even further by having the male completely out of focus.<br />
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It was not just the ducks feeling frisky. I am not sure exactly what this Coot hoped to achieve but the Red-crested Pochard was NOT into it. After it got away it spent several minutes bathing.<br />
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That's better.<br />
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The result of a previous unconventional coupling, this Tufted x Red-crested Pochard hybrid was a startling sight. He seemed to consider himself to be a Tuftie and was consorting with a female Tuftie - clearly she admired his punky style.<br />
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Female RCP having a preen.<br />
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Male Gadwall. They are confiding here and it was nice to have some very close views, to properly appreciate those lovely scalloped and vermiculated markings.<br />
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Geese present were the predictable triptych of Canada, Greylag and Egyptian - all of non-native origin of course.<br />
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Little birds were harder to find and photograph. Here is a female Reed Bunting, one of at least three on the south shore of the lake. Also seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Redwing, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Goldcrest.<br />
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Oh yes, and Mistle Thrush.<br />
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And finally a couple of Red Deer stags. The rut long over and hostilities suspended, they are in their bachelor herds and several have dropped one or both antlers. The stag on the left here has broken off a bit of one of his but in a few months' time will have a shiny new set.Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-87665009970836733982016-03-14T17:47:00.001+00:002016-03-14T17:47:07.483+00:00Dove Stone (but not really) and Etherow Country ParkThe day after Frodsham, we drove east into the Peak on the assumption that the snow of a few days ago would have thawed by now. How wrong we were. The Peak was snow-tastic and the tarmac path up from Dove Stone reservoir was a slippery nightmare. The car park at Binn Grene was also a slippery nightmare (actually it was fine going in but getting out again took some serious driving skill from N).<br />
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So my hopes of finding Mountain Hares fell apart and I came away with
only a pic of this smug male Pheasant and this smirking female
Chaffinch.<br />
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All was not lost though as the way back took
us to a place called Etherow Country Park, on the edge of Stockport,
where Nick said we would find Mandarins (a year-tick for him) and
Dippers (a year-tick for both of us).<br />
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Here there was much less snow, though the weather remained very dull and dark. We parked
by a big lake full of manky Mallards, dodgy farmyard geese and a lot of
Black-headed Gulls. The path took us along a wall-sided canal, that ran
alongside an actual river.<br />
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People were feeding the ducks on this river - and most of said ducks were Mandarins - proper free-flying wild ones.<br />
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The path crossed the canal and we could finally see down to the proper river that rushed along at the bottom of a steep gorge. It looked good for Dippers, especially when we found a Dipper, standing on a boulder in true Dipper style and contemplating the rapids. A little way ahead was a rather spectacular weir.<br />
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We veered away from the river at this point and followed an uneventful looping path through hilly woodland, where we found a small party of Goldcrests but nothing else.<br />
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Back at the top of the weir we found a pair of Grey Wagtails.<br />
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The return walk didn't produce anything new apart from rain. I couldn't resist another quick go at the beautiful Mandarins though.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-38460649133646679332016-03-14T17:32:00.001+00:002016-03-14T17:32:20.847+00:00Frodsham Marsh and MooreOops, this trip was more than a week ago. Let's see if I can remember what happened. Frodsham Marsh is a great big site but we only saw a little bit of it because some paths were closed. The bit that we did see, though, was a place I have been to before... but quite a few years ago, when I was at uni in Sheffield and twitched a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the Weaver Bend. It was a quite bright but very cold and breezy day.<br />
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For me, the day was already a winner when we drove through the town of Frodsham and a Sparrowhak nipped across the road ahead of us. My first of the year, unbelievably. Nick didn't see it properly but as luck would have it we saw two more Sprawks later on.<br />
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On the way to the main part of the reserve, we found this Fox, eyeing us from across a marshy field. When it jogged away it revealed a sadly threadbare backside and tail. In the same area were Redwings, one Fieldfare, a Linnet flock and a number of Pied Wagtails, but then we found the path ahead was closed and we turned back.<br />
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On the way back towards the Weaver Bend, this Common Buzzard wheeled overhead, and a pair of Ravens went croaking past.<br />
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The path down to the river became extremely boggy and muddy as we got closer, but we battled through and made it to the riverside. The view stirred vague memories of that day one autumn many years ago, scoping a stint-sized wader on a bit of muddy shore. There was no mud today though - the water was high and birds were few. There were a number of Goldeneyes bobbing about, and on a small grassy spit Nick found a Black-tailed Godwit alongside a couple of Oystercatchers. The odd Lesser Black-backed Gull wafted by.<br />
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We were meant to be meeting Hazel and Mike here. They'd arrived before us and embarked on a full loop but from a different direction, so they didn't find the blocked path until they had already done a very long walk, and they had to retrace their steps. We arranged a place to meet in an hour's time, and Nick and I had a walk alongside fields full of sheep and newborn lambs, where we hoped to find some interesting gulls.<br />
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There were lots of Starlings enjoying the sheepy pasture, and a few Black-headed Gulls - also more Ravens.<br />
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We met H and M and escorted them back to the Weaver Bend, this time finding a slightly less soggy path.<br />
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Two more raptors on the way - Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. We also met a couple of birders who said they'd found Grey Partridge in the fields by the river. We actually flushed a couple of Red-legged Partridges as we continued but alas no Greys.<br />
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At the river we showed H and M the same birds we'd seen before, plus a flock of Redshanks that flashed by but didn't stop.<br />
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Two more Ravens to round off the morning. H and M headed home after that, while Nick and I went on to Moore Nature Reserve near Warrington.<br />
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This lovely reserve incorporates woodland and lakes, and a bit of open grassland. It is rather similar to Sevenoaks Nature Reserve, actually. Nick saw Lesser Spotted Woodpecker here recently. I wasn't so lucky - in fact we didn't see anything very exciting but had a very nice walk around nonetheless.<br />
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Male Pochard having a Timotei moment.<br />
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There is a very nice feeding station here, with a little pond (though Nick says the pond isn't always there). On this occasion, it was not only there but had Teals in it.<br />
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The actual feeders were attended by this male Great Spotted Woodpecker, plus Great and Blue Tits, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Reed Buntings.<br />
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We explored a bit more of the reserve, and went back via the LSW spot - no luck again but found some Siskins demolishing what was left of the alder cone crop.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-918095215265942162016-02-12T17:47:00.000+00:002016-02-12T18:26:54.527+00:00Here and there on SheppeyI'd planned to go birding with Phil (read his fab blog <a href="http://sharpbynature.blogspot.co.uk/">HERE</a>) on Friday. The weather forecast was looking ominous and I was sure we'd take a raincheck, but it turned out that both of us could do Thursday instead, so we did. We had sunny weather most of the day, making things almost warm-ish by midday, and breezes were light. All very pleasant indeed.<br />
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We kicked off with a drive down the Elmley access track, and stopped almost immediately to admire this little charmer sitting on top of the big barn roof. The first Little Owl I've seen here.<br />
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The track produced large numbers of Lapwings, mixed in with a few Ruffs. The winter seed area was devoid of finch-life apart from three Linnets. We reached the start of the reserve proper and had a sneaky look for the Barn Owl in its box, but it wasn't at home. There was, however, a very large flock of Golden Plovers in the fields beyond.<br />
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This female Stonechat was by the track on the way back. No sign of her fella (I presume there was one, somewhere). We enjoyed close views of a couple of Skylarks dustbathing on the track ahead of us (sadly not photographable because of the windscreen!). A Marsh Harrier went over, and two Buzzards wheeled and miaowed in the distance. We found a lone Snipe crouched by one of the small pools, but our search for Brown Hares proved futile.<br />
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We went on to the raptor viewpoint at Capel Fleet after that. Scanning from the mound produced more Common Buzzards and Marsh Harriers, all very distant, and a couple of even more distant things that could have been male and female Hen Harriers, but could also have been another Buzzard and a gull. From the reedbeds Bearded Tits pinged but refused to show properly, and we had close but brief (very very brief in my case) views of a Water Rail. We met a fellow birder here, who'd seen the Richard's Pipit at Shellness earlier that day, but had failed to find the Shore Lark at Minster. We resolved to try for them both, and headed towards Minster first, aiming to be at Shellness for high tide at 3ish.<br />
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We located the right car park at Minster beach without any trouble - you park right on top of the shingle ridge which has been frequented by a lone Shore Lark for some weeks. Gulls were around, mainly Black-headed, several of which were testily dive-bombing this poor Herring Gull.<br />
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The car park was also host to this adorable Sanderling, and it was soon evident that there were plenty more waders down at the shore, very close to hand as the tide was already a long way in.<br />
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Part of a large flock of Ringed Plovers and Dunlins, which we tried not to disturb (but they were constantly being bumped along the beach by walkers and dogs anyway).<br />
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We met a couple of people in the car park who'd seen the Shore Lark just 20 minutes before, and as we were talking to them it dropped down and landed on the beach very near us. Then it flew off again, and didn't return for a good 15 minutes.<br />
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I spent those 15 minutes photographing the little waders (here a Sanderling and a couple of Turnstones) that were
going back and forth, and lamenting the fact that the sun seemed to have
been consumed by a very grey cloud (pretty much the only cloud in the
sky at the time).<br />
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I was also a bit peeved that I kept missing the Mediterranean Gulls overhead until it was almost too late. This was one of three seen while we were there.<br />
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Then the lark made a welcome return, and we spent a happy 15 minutes taking its photo while it fossicked among the shingle vegetation, quite unworried by our presence.<br />
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Lovely little bird. Much more confiding than the Norfolk trio I saw in December, and the light (though still clouded out a bit) was a LOT better than it had been that day. Hence my best Shore Lark pics so far.<br />
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We left Minster, just as the cloud rolled away and the sun came out (typical), and drove towards Shellness. The plan was to walk parallel to the coast along the flood defence wall, and look for a certain pipit. It was a lovely walk - tide-flooded and bird-filled saltmarsh on one side and open fields on the other. We found plenty of pipits but all were Meadows and none were Richard's.<br />
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But who can complain about that when this happened? A stunning male Hen Harrier came wafting along over the field. It was distant, and my record shots are even worse than I thought they'd be, but what the hell - what a bird.<br />
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Scanning distant gateposts produced what we're fairly sure was a pair of Peregrines. Closer at hand, Reed Buntings kept whizzing along the little reedy ditch.<br />
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There were also many Skylarks about.<br />
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Where the path suddenly gets bendy, there's a view over a shallow bit of water. Here were geese - mainly Greylags but also a few White-fronted. Shovelers dabbled on the open water, and there were a handful of Brents here.<br />
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There were, however, absolutely tons of Brents on the saltmarsh side. Their grumbly calls were a constant backdrop, and they kept coming in, in lines and clumps, joining the masses already there (alongside many Curlews, Redshanks and Shelducks).<br />
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On the walk back, we found the very fresh (virtually still steaming) remains of a Dunlin, which I'm SURE hadn't been there on our outward walk. I wonder what drama had gone on behind our backs?<br />
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Reaching the Shellness beach involved much careful stepping over and around flooded bits from the high tide.On the way we did find this lovely Kestrel. Although the waters were high on the marsh, the tide was already retreating when we reached the beach and sat down. We jumped up almost immediately after sitting down, because we heard a huge load of Brent Geese approaching us from the landward side. They flew low and directly over us and the sight and sound was quite staggering.<br />
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They arced round and gave us some stonkingly good views.<br />
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We settled down to watch the birds going along the shoreline. As ever, the gulls were most obliging - here a Common and a Great Black-back.<br />
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There were plenty of Oystercatchers - some close, some not so close.<br />
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As the tide ebbed, the waders wandered a bit closer. Here's a Grey Plover...<br />
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... and a Dunlin coming in to land. Soon there were about 100 Dunlins feeding in front of us.<br />
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This Curlew wasn't stopping though. And as the sun set slowly in the west, we made our way back over a slightly less flooded saltmarsh and homewards.<br />
<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-65646021102559866442016-02-12T14:29:00.004+00:002016-02-12T14:29:49.997+00:00Article for The IndependentThis is an exciting thing that happened recently. My trip to the Highlands last autumn with Heatherlea (blogged <a href="http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/highland-highlights.html">here</a>), was on commission for <i>The Independent</i> newspaper. The piece was printed in their mini-version, <i>i </i>newspaper, a couple of weeks ago, and is online <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/scottish-highlands-in-search-of-some-of-britains-rarest-and-most-elusive-species-a6819341.html">here</a>. Hope you like it!Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-50736710149872283242016-02-02T20:18:00.004+00:002016-02-02T20:18:54.991+00:00Pennington rainy dayNick, being the brilliant person that he is, was the driving force behind us going to Pennington Flash on a Sunday that was so wet and miserable that I could easily have spent it indoors feeling glum. I decided the camera could stay in the camera-bag in between hides, and this tactic worked pretty well.<br />
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From the first hide, which overlooks the main flash itself, there were lots of Black-headed Gulls, with a few Herring and Lesser Black-backed further off. On the spit a couple of Oystercatchers wandered about and there were Teals dotted about, with a handful of distant Great Crested Grebes and a Goldeneye or two.<br />
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This Goldeneye eventually came over quite close to us. I think the darkish eye must make it a first-winter. Probably female as there's no sign of adult male plumage starting to appear.<br />
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The next hide produced - not much. A few dabbling ducks, and a far-off perched Kingfisher. The hide after that - a pair of Teals very close, though they heard us coming in and quickly paddled away.<br />
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There have been sightings of a Bittern from the next hide (the Teal hide if I remember rightly). No Bittern for us but several Goosanders snoozing on this island alongside Mallards, Gadwalls and Teals.<br />
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There was also a single female Goosander in the water. I tried some shots at slower shutter speeds (1/200th) to reduce noise, bracing the lens on the hide window to reduce shake. As you can see, this didn't work particularly brilliantly.<br />
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Two Cormorants, one of them generously filoplumed, dropped in for a short while then left again.<br />
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I held out for the Bittern for a good while but had no luck, so it was on to the Bunting hide, where the feeding stations were attracting the usual pageant of small and not-so-small avian visitors.<br />
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A selection of the many (many) shots taken here. I took off the teleconverter as it really wasn't needed (and more light really really WAS needed). From the top, Stock Dove, male Reed Bunting, Willow Tit, Nuthatch, male Chaffinch, female Bullfinch. Also present - Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits, Greenfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Moorhen, Mallard, Woodpigeon, Magpie. I really must come here on a sunny day sometime.<br />
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Yearlist update - after the weekend, I finish January on 117 species. Wonder what will be next...Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-9088979133593302972016-02-02T19:55:00.003+00:002016-02-02T19:56:59.074+00:00Connah's QuayI'm just back from another trip to the north-west. On Saturday, we went somewhere new - the Deeside Naturalists' reserve at Connah's Quay, on the Wales side of the Dee Estuary. This reserve is for permit-holders only but our permit-holding friends Hazel and Mike managed to get permission to bring Nick and I there before our permits have actually arrived - so thank you very much to the DNS and Hazel and Mike for that :) The day was bright and sunny, also quite windy and VERY cold. We arrived at about 9am and headed straight for the main hide.<br />
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We immediately bumped into a flock of Twites, which was nice, although they were very flighty. Then it was into the hide, and I have to say that this is one of the best hides I've ever been to. It's a tower hide and there are windows on all sides. So on one side you are looking out onto the mudflats of the Dee; on another you have an expanse of wet meadowland; on the next you have views across a pool with some reedbeds; and the fourth side looks out over... the car park. But even this proved very worthwhile in the end...<br />
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I started out looking at the mud, which was dotted with Redshanks. Now and then, they'd all fly over to one of the little creeks to bathe, before returning to the mud to feed. Among them were tiny numbers of Dunlins, also a few Teals.<br />
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Lots more Teals were opposite, on and around the little pool, and now and then they'd all take flight. This shot shows the generally industrial nature of the area - there's a power station and various other big ugly buildings right behind the reserve. Other wildfowl around included plenty of Shovelers and Wigeons, and a solo Little Grebe. Sadly the Barnacle Goose that Hazel and Mike had found among Canada Geese here two days before was not around today.<br />
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The Twites, which we'd unavoidably scared off when we arrived, came back not long after we'd settled in the hide. The flock was about 50-strong. They came down to feed in the car park...<br />
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... and gradually came a bit closer...<br />
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... and even closer. It was a real treat to watch these beautiful little finches at close-ish range.<br />
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Hazel threw out a bit of sunflower seed for them, but most of it was snaffled by this Magpie.<br />
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A female-type Marsh Harrier appeared at the back of the reedy pool, and spent a long time bobbing around here, until a Carrion Crow came along and hassled it into moving on.<br />
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The wet meadow held more geese, Curlews and the odd Shelduck, and this Rock Pipit showed up at its muddy edge.<br />
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We left the hide then and headed along the path to visit three more hides along the estuary, all of which overlook small bits of fresh water rather than the estuary itself.<br />
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From the first, a Little Egret was the only bird not to flee at our arrival, but a few Redshanks soon arrived to keep it company.<br />
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A flock of Wigeons was very active in one corner of the water, the lone female enduring enthusiastic attention from a group of males.<br />
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Flying away didn't seem to solve the problem.<br />
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A single Stock Dove was feeding on the bank, then flying off to pastures new. A few Woodpigeons also flew by.<br />
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More excitingly (though more distantly), a trio of Bewick's Swans appeared over the far horizon. There were another seven or so further off and lower down.<br />
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The next hide produced one of the day's star birds. Can you spot the Spotshank? There were at least three Spotted Redshanks among the Common Redshanks roosting at the back of the pool - you can see one of them here, third from the right.<br />
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This pool also came up trumps with three Greenshanks (the third was just out of shot to the left).<br />
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There were feeders out the front here, which attracted the usual little birds. I'm not sure about that layer of green in the feeder, but the Goldfinch didn't seem bothered.<br />
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The last hide of the three produced fewer birds, and viewing was more tricky as there was a generous stand of teasels and burdock right in front of the windows.<br />
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That wasn't all bad though, as this Wren dived into the burdocks and emerged clutching a hefty green caterpillar.<br />
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We walked back to the main hide after that, finding this Common Buzzard on the way.<br />
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Lots of Curlews flew across the path just before the main hide. We didn't see anything new from the hide and decided to head back to Knutsford, to do the Big Garden Birdwatch in Mike and Hazel's big garden. We logged good numbers and I took a few pics during the allotted hour (through glass so they're not great).<br />
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The resident garden Grey Wagtail, known as Wilma :)<br />
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Female Great Spotted Woodpecker.<br />
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Male and female Siskins on a HUGE feeder full of sunflower seed. These birds are spoiled rotten!<br />
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A pretty Stock Dove.<br />
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And not quite so pretty - two Woodpigeons having a really full-on fight right in front of us. Hazel was better placed for photos of this and got some corkers - you can see the full sequence on her thread on the RSPB forum <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/13609/t/135245.aspx">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8046703141566526815.post-31781599317825085032016-01-22T10:33:00.001+00:002016-01-22T10:33:38.382+00:00Rainham double-dateI ended up going to Rainham Marshes twice this week - on Wednesday with Shane and on Thursday with Ian. I am STILL without Dartford Warbler on my yearlist despite spending much time staring into what I think is the correct bramble clump... oh well. Wednesday brought nice views of Short-eared Owls and there were a few other things worth enthusing about. Both days were very cold and mostly cloudy.<br />
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OK, Wednesday. A very still day, stillest I've ever known at Rainham. All the waters were frozen and wildfowl-free. The Cetti's are beginning to sing properly and this one even let me take a terrible photo of it.<br />
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There are quite a few Stonechat pairs around the reserve.<br />
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We went through the gate out to the river wall, and turned towards the tip, hoping for Short-eared Owls. We took the low path but then a Shortie bobbed up and down again over the high path. So we hurried up the slope and soon located the owl, which had landed on a post.<br />
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There it is :)<br />
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A closer crop to show off that wonderful frowny face. It took off soon after and crossed the rough field behind the firing range numbers, eventually going out of view.<br />
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We followed the river path along towards the stone barges. The river was flat calm and busy with wildfowl. Here some Teals in difficult... I mean atmospheric... light.<br />
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Having noticed a Shortie or two over the top of the tip, we left the river path to cross the road and head up there. A big flock of Linnets was moving over the slope, and among them were a couple of Skylarks.<br />
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Then a Shortie appeared from our left and flew directly overhead. The light was completely wrong but it was amazing to have such a close fly-by.<br />
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After it went over us, this owl had a brief contre-temps with a Carrion Crow before heading away.<br />
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We climbed up the path to the top, and here had further views of a couple of Shorties hunting low over the rough vegetation up here. Then we headed back down to return to the visitor centre.<br />
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Returning along the riverside, we met a pretty large flock of Dunlins (guesstimated at 50 birds), feeding on the shore as the tide ebbed. There were plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares zipping about near the visitor centre.<br />
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Wigeons in the murk. Sounds like a film.<br />
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The last pics are from the car park - a camera-shy female Greenfinch, a more confident female House Sparrow, and a meditative Collared Dove.<br />
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Puffed up and blue-tinged in the cold. Lots of food out for all the birds here though.<br />
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And so to Thursday. I took the train and arrived before 8am, just as the sun was rising.<br />
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Some pretty intense colours going on there. The actual sun appeared briefly behind the Dartford bridge, then slipped under a wall of cloud, where it stayed for most of the rest of the day.<br />
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Along the river wall I found this Weasel...<br />
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... and this female Stonechat who seems to have mislaid part of her anatomy. Still very early and dark so some serious noise levels in these pics.<br />
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I was due to meet Ian on the Serin mound at 9am. But there was an accident on the A13 and he was delayed until gone 10am. I spent most of that time on the mound, enjoying a mixed flock of Goldfinches and Linnets, a passing Goldcrest, distant Marsh Harriers but no Short-eared Owls.<br />
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I did go for a short walk at one point when it was getting too cold standing still, and photographed this Kestrel.<br />
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Once Ian arrived, we spent a while longer on the mound and failed to find any Shorties. Then we moved on to the stone barges to look for Black-tailed Godwits (some of which I'd seen on my way to the Serin mound). Again, no joy. Here is a bunch of Common and Black-headed Gulls against a gritty industrial backdrop. Wader-wise there were several Redshanks and a lone Snipe.<br />
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We drove on down to the reserve then, had some warming tea, and then walked an uneventful lap around. Ian found a Peregrine pair on a pylon.<br />
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Two Pintails near the Ken Barratt hide. <br />
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Yet another Stonechat, this one from the Tower Butts hide. There wasn't too much else from here, except a ton of Wigeons with a few Shovelers, Teals, Gadwalls and Pochards on the tiny bit of unfrozen water.<br />
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A Kestrel and its lucky number.<br />
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We walked back on the riverside, and here Ian finally found a far-off Shortie to add to his yearlist. He also found a Rock Pipit for me to add to mine. <br />
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<br />Mariannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664459716979166280noreply@blogger.com1