30/11/2017 Walton-le-Dale, Preston

Firecrest: It was great to finally catch up with Prestons tiny restless jewel of a bird which has been in the area of  sewage works in Walton-le-Dale for a week or so now.

The bird appears to favour the right hand pathway which leads past the entrance, bordered by the sewage works fence and a tall linear hedgerow and woodland.

When I arrived the frost was still soft on the fence and the ground still frozen hard. I'm always amazed how such small birds survive the coldest nights, their physiology and ability to store and consume energy is amazing.

Typically the bird was constantly foraging for food, picking off small spiders from the hawthorn and brambles.

Hence the reason why I ended up getting mainly shots of the bird which was out of focus, behind some foliage or just the foliage and no bird!

27/11/2017 Crosby

Snow Bunting: Despite the very windy conditions and having around 10 tons of sand blown in to my eyes it was great to finally catch up with a local snow bunt. 

I managed an early dart from work having banked some time in lieu after working away last week.

Starting my new role as an ecologist at Amey has really eaten in to my free time to get out birding, as now my workload has massively increased and what little down time I have I want to spent it with Dawn.

So when I'm out, even in the wind and rain its always valued.

The snow bunt was at the far end of the boating lake in between the walkway that takes you on to the beach and it was associating with a couple of skylark. 

Skylark: The birds were getting moved around alot by being flushed by dogs and their walkers although they stayed in the same area, favouring the grass near the small pool.

These birds are stunning, a far cry from a LBJ (little brown job), take a look at their caramel and french roast coloring.

A nice afternoon out.