23/11/2013 Walton, Merseyside

Ring-billed Gull: Not too bad for my first day back in the UK from Cyprus, my first Ring-billed Gull, this second-winter bird true to their nature turned up at a very busy Saturday Asda car park -  probably one of the worst places I've been birding!

The bird was seen in the morning and again picked up in the afternoon hanging around with the local Black Headed Gulls. When I spotted it high up on a lamp post it was very flighty.

10/11/2012 Collingham Pits, Notts

Pied Wheatear: OK it's not a male or the most exciting Wheatear, but still a cracking little bird!

Just bear in mind its like the 69th UK record.

We got lucky when we arrived as the bird was only 50 yards away before working it's way to the far side of one of the pits.

Thanks to Alan McBride for the lift, good company as well as a good bird, cheers.

Oh and Dawn for giving up our couple day for a spot of twitching, cheers babe.

02/11/2012 Hayle Estuary

White Rump Sandpiper: Hermit Thrush mega dip!

Mark Payne and Pod were kind enough to invite me down to Cornwall in hope of seeing the Hermit Thrush.

After a very early start and a very long drive down south we ended up dipping the bird along with a huge amount of Balearic Shearwater and an Albatross fly by!

OK we didn't go down for anything else apart from the Thrush but after dipping that and seeing on bird guides that we missed some other cool stuff, well it was extra salt in the wound.

Bar-tailed Godwit: We did however head across to Hayle Estuary in search for White Rump Sands.

I was really impressed with Hayle and after a longish wait we finally caught up with a couple of white rumps.






Hayle also had a family of Barnacle Goose and a hand full of Med Gulls all viewable from the roadside.

Deeper in the mouth of Hayle we also spotted a Black Necked Grebe.



It was also great to meet Tom Whiley who we picked up on the way and chatted about cameras and birds! My favorite topics.

27/10/2013 Gronant

Grey Phalarope:  This was my second visit here in two days as yesterday Dawn and I took a trip to see this little cracker, but we were on a tight schedule and we only had an hour or so.

Within that hour the bird didn't really move from the farthest end of the pool. Needless to say I was gutted as we had to go and I knew if I put some proper 'birding' time in the phal might of come closer.

But today I had time to wait and the wait paid off!

The phal came incredibly close, constantly swirling and feeding.

Before the bird came close another birder spotted a Lapland Bunting in the sand dunes, but after a quick look we only had a fleeting glimpse and a short call.

What a bird!

Well worth muddy knees and elbows and the embarrassment of showing my bum crack to the world, while laying on the ground, camera poised!

It was also nice to bump in to all the old BMW regulars and catch up with Paul Brewster, Rhys Richards and Bob, hopefully these autumn storms will blow something special here and we will all be out doing a local twitch next weekend.

Ring Tail Hen Harrier: Always nice to see where ever you are!

27/10/2013 The River Clwyd

Hoopoe: First stop the Clwyd where Mr Alex Jones found one of these great little birds on his local patch and as soon as I arrived and shook his hand I was greeted by my first UK Hoopoe.


The bird showed well, if a little distant for my lens before flying off for half an hour or so.




During this time I got talking to some of the old Burton Mere regulars who had just come back from Gronant where they said the Grey Phalarope was showing down to a few feet.

I decided to take a look for myself.

05/10/2013 Leighton Moss

Bearded Tit: Over the last few days the Bearded Tits at Leighton have been showing incredibly well and in some superb numbers with 15 individuals showing on the grit trays.

After arriving at 7am on a very cold Autumn morning and standing in one place for a few chilly hours I was thrilled when the birds turned up. One female came early on in the morning but only stayed briefly before melting in to the reeds.

I had to wait two hours before I saw another but just like bus's when one turns up nine do!

Mr John Wilson was in the reedbed behind us with his mist nets up and recordings to lure the birds over.

John was kind enough to emerge out of the reeds to show me a male and female Bearded Tit in the hand this was totally awesome.

It was great to see the detail you can often miss, like the birds black  under-tail coverts.

Another thing I enjoyed making a note of was the bird's coloured rings, for example the bird in John's hand is purple over white which I saw again on the grit trays when it was released.




I spotted four males in all and five females all of whom could be tracked and traced by monitoring their rings.






John told me that he had caught two young birds a few days earlier of which he had put new rings on showing that they had once again successfully bred at Leighton Moss, cracking stuff!

04/10/2013 Audenshaw Reservoir

Great Skua: I was told today that we make our own luck when it comes to birding, well I tend to agree and that's why I took a quick detour to Asda on the way and picked up a pack of fresh fish!

This was to lure the Skua closer to my camera lens as well as helping the bird out as I'm sure a bit of free fish would be greatly received - as you can see!

It was good to bump in to Jaz a local birder from the Manchester area who got some suburb shots and had the same idea as me and came prepared with some sprats.

The bird was very confiding and came right up to me before flying off to the middle of the pool to digest its free meal.

It was such a shame about the lighting though as if we had blue skies and sunshine these pics would be a lot better - not bad I guess considering the light.



Other birds of note included a single female Wheatear and half a dozen Goosander.

01/10/2013 Leasowe Lighthouse

Yellow-browed Warbler:  I placed my bets today on seeing a YBW on the Wirral over the Red Necked Grebe at Marton Mere.


I struck luck as one turned up at Leasowe, where I also bumped in to Scott, Liam and Allan to name a few.



In my opinion this is one of the most stunning LBJ's I have come across. But what a total bugger to pin down. This individual was almost totally silent and extremely elusive and when it does make an appearance everyone sees the bird but me!




I was gutted - better directions needed, but after another long wait the bird came back and gave me some stunning views and after not seeing it the first time I decided to put the camera down and enjoy the bird.

The bird showed for several minutes before becoming invisible again as it skulked behind the bush. After another short appearance when the bird came back this time foraging on the ground I decided its time to take a few pics, these are the best I could do! Gives me something to improve on for my next YBW.

29/09/2013 Horwich Moors

Glossy Ibis: There has been four glossies hanging around the moors of Horwich particularly around the Bob Smithy pub.

So after a 6am start today and an hour wait on a windy Horwich moor without any sign of the bloody birds, I went to work, but came back!

Once I arrived I spotted two birds feeding just a few metres away from me. They were oblivious of the long line of photographers and birders until they decided to stretch their wings and fly a bit further up the field.

In the end they disappeared around the corner and across the road to a farm field. Where I was shooting in to the sun so decided to put the camera down and enjoy these awesome birds!


It was also great to bump in to David Shallcross from Leigh Ornithological Society (or L.O.S.) and some other great guys from the group.


http://www.leighos.org.uk/p/about-los.html

http://shallcross-images.blogspot.co.uk/

17/09/2013 Brockholes

Black Tern: OK so I turned down a trip to Suffolk for the Lesser Grey Shrike and this goes against rule number one! Never say no to a twitch. But I made up for it a little by getting my first Black Tern at Brockholes.

This has been another one of this years bogey birds, dipping at Pennington Flash, Eccleston Mere and New Brighton, but one which I have been looking forward to seeing for ages.

When I arrived a local birder pointed it out to me as it roosted on the island in number one pit - as I think they call it. I then got the briefest of views before I got a call from Paul Brady regarding some work stuff then subsequently I lost the bird.

I searched for well over an hour and a half dodging the autumn showers before finally stumbling upon the bird on the Ribbleton Pool.

 

16/09/2013 North Wirral Shore

1st Winter Mediterranean Gull: Despite the wind the sand and the rain showers I had an excellent day out on the wonderful North Wirral shore.

First I headed across to New Brighton where I huddled against the life guard station with a gang of birders, trying to shelter from the gale force winds.

Here I spotted my first of five LEACH'S STORM PETREL and ended up spotting five birds.

As the cold started to penetrate my thermals I decided to go for a wander to warm up and was told I just missed some Storm Petrels.....gutted!

Adult Winter Mediterranean Gull: I did however spot a 1st inter Med Gull on the grassy field behind where we were standing.

And I spotted this adult Med Gull on West Kirby Marina Lake, this bird has been hanging around here for a while now. Well worth keeping an eye out if you're passing.

Unfortunately I didn't get any shots of the Leach's but Zac did check this out http://zacswildlifeblog.blogspot.co.uk/

10/09/2013 Billinge Hill

Yellow Wagtail:  This was my first visit up the highest point in St Helens and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was Paul Brady who invited me for a spot of patching and we met Damain another local Billing Hill patcher.

Pied Wagtail: On the way up we spotted a few Yellowhammer a single willow tit and a female Sparrowhawk. One the way down we spotted a load of Tree Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat and a few Common Gull passing over head.

Wheatear: As we approached the fields near the horse paddocks, on the hill. Paul and I spotted at least 10 Wheatear bouncing around. This was the highlight as it was a little unexpected.

We then had a call saying that a Black Tern had made an appearance down the road at Eccleston Mere so me and Paul raced over but had no luck although we did have some great fly-buy views of the Kingfisher there.


I was very impressed with Billinge Hill and St Helens in general and will be making an effort to bird that area now that I am a local Wigan lad.

09/09/2013 Pennington Flash

Lesser Scaup: With autumn the changing winds bring with it American migrants, like this diving duck that migrates across the pond.

In America it is colloquially known as the Little Bluebill or Broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill.

Here its called a Lesser Scaup! Well I think I prefer Little Bluebill.

This bird has taken up residence at Pennington Flash and has been showing incredibly well due to its appetite for bread.

So on my way to penny I stopped off at Morrison's and picked up a brown loaf, when I arrived on the far side of the flash the bird was enticed in by a few slices.

I thought this behavior was very unusual as the rest of the Tufted Ducks it was flocking with never came close to the bread. And the only other Lesser Scaup I had seen last year at Burton Mere was very flighty and you could tell it would never come for the bread.



I am assured its not an escapee, no ring! And people were telling me this behavior is not all that unusual, someone even told me they were feeding Goosander bread the other week.