12/08/2014 Pennington Flash

Green Sandpiper: A nice day off and a nice trip around penny through up some surprises.

Nice to see three green sands bobbing around the edges of teal scrape.

Two of these guys kept their distance roosting on the far bank while one of them came pretty close before getting spooked by a gang of Mallard which were busily flapping.

Roe Deer:  The biggest surprise was watching a pair of Roe that appeared out of nowhere and started running around the edges of teal scrape.

Dawn and I enjoyed watching them jumping through the water and in between the reeds, well worth the trip.

09/08/2014 Seeswood Pool, Warwickshire

Night Heron: Feeling disappointed after dipping the BW Prat Garry and I were keen to pick up the Night Heron as we were practically passing the bird on the way back up the M6.

 However finding the site was a real mission, massive thanks to Elise (Garry's better half) who saved the day and directed us when we got lost.

When we arrived the light had almost gone although we didn't have to wait too long before the bird made an appearance. There was a guy there who had been waiting four hours before we arrived and that was the first time he had seen it in all that time.

So I guess our luck kind of changed.

The bird was mooching about on the far side of the lake between the bank and a jetty before a dog walker came ambling past and spooked the bird.






It took off and circled the lake a couple of times before resting on the nearside in a tree on the edge of the lake. Thanks again to Elise who would make a very good sat nav if she ever wanted a career change.

09/08/2014 Ouse Washes RSPB, Cambridgeshire

Common Crane: Sometimes it all goes wrong!
After a three and a half hour drive, one MacDonald's breakfast and a hell of a long walk from the car park to the site, Garry and I arrived 15 minutes after the BW Part got spooked by a Marsh Harrier and flew off not to be seen again!

We waited a few hours got some nice views of Kingfsher and a pair of Crane but no prat.

03/08/2014 Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB

Spotted Crake: OK you might have to take my word for this one, its not the best picture, it just might probably be the worst picture I have taken.
However that brown spotty blob in the middle of the image is a Spotted Crake.

I arrived early at BMW and got lucky straight away as the bird was standing out in the open preening itself only for a brief moment before skulking back in to the reeds.


A special thanks to Alex who originally found said bird, and who I bumped in to at Carr Lane pools this evening looking for the Pec Sand which after a frustrating search among a Dozen Dunlin I relocated.

02/08/2014 Middleton Lakes RSPB, Warks

Pacific Golden Plover: My first new tick in a long while and not because my list is huge and I am struggling for new birds, far from it.

Too much work and not enough time!

Dawn and I left early to get ahead of any traffic which paid off looking at the queues on the way back. We arrived around 9am and headed straight over to the viewing platforms where the bird was last sighted

We didn't have to wait long until I caught my first glimpse of the bird in flight before landing on the far bank, it showed really well allowing me to reel off a few digiscoped images on Dawns phone before trying with my camera.

The reserve was ace, massive and full of birds!

01/08/2014 Liverpool Bay

Gannet: As a Liverpool native, who has lived away from the city since my childhood years, it seemed like a long time since I last set sail on the Mersey.

Common Tern: This time it was under the guidance of Liverpool Bay Marine Trust - a great local charity working across the Mersey, Wirral, Dee and across to Morecambe and are dedicated to the study of its biodiversity and educating the public.

Our route took us up the Mersey and out of the estuary towards the nearby wind farm and down to Hilbre and back.

The first interesting birds we came across were tons of Common Tern fishing in the Mersey.



Gannet: As we approached the wind turbines we spotted several adult Gannet loafing around on the water. Probably too full of fish to soar off in to the distance. We also saw plenty of Common and Sandwich Tern around this area.

Grey Seal: The signature mammal of the Dee and Hilbre; the Grey Seal, bobbing up and down around the boat while we stopped for a breather off Hilbre.

Here we spotted this female Common Scoter and a male on the other side, both really close to the island. We also got super views of Ringed Plover and Dunlin flocking past the boat.

Sandwich Tern: After a quick cup of tea and some awesome views of the seals the we took the boat all the way around Hilbre where we saw hundreds of Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Knot roosting on the red cliffs and ledges of Hilbre.





Dunlin: Unfortunately we didn't see any cetaceans and at times it was wet, very wet! But that didn't dampen the spirits of the boat's enthusiastic passengers.  

Overall the trip was a fantastic reminder of what a wonderful part of the world I live in and how proud we should be of it. I would recommend anyone to check out the fantastic work of Liverpool Bay Marine Trust.

They are involved in some really exciting projects from shark tagging and cetacean monitoring, so get in touch and get involved people!! 

www.liverpoolbaymlt.org

www.facebook.com/LiverpoolBayMarineLifeTrust

04/07/2014 Norton Marsh, Warrington

Osprey: Another after work trip but this time with Dawn. I was hoping to see the bird perching on the fence posts however when I arrived it was miles away feeding on a fish and guarding it from several scally Magpies.

I went back the following morning as Phil Oddy reported the bird going to roost at around 9.30pm, I arrived at 6.30am, but alas the bird still remained on the far side of the marsh.

After feeding this back to Tom at the Cheshire Wildlife Trust it was really good to be involved with some reactive media reporting. Tom was able to get this in the Warrington and Runcorn press.

30/06/2014 Burnley, Lancs

Rose Colored Starling: After finishing work early I shot up to Burnley to see my first rosy starling.

And just in case I was unable to find a pink bird among a flock of black birds my guide for the evening was Alan McBride.

Alan came in handy as he had cased the joint the evening before and was able to take us closer to the bird, which when I arrived was miles away across a playing field.

The bird was happily loafing around with some locals beside Woodbine Gardens and appeared to be feeding in a private garden while periodically perching upon a dead tree within the same garden.





We got some funny looks from the residents and a few people stopping us and asking 'what are you looking for?' Obviously we where happy to stop and tell them that we twitchers descend when a special bird turns up.

29/06/2014 Carr Lane Pools, Hale

Wood Sandpiper: My first visit to Carr Lane Pools after a couple of hours working at Wigg Island.

After parking up I started my search from the gap in the hedgerow near the speed bump and give way for about half an hour.



It was from here I could see a large flock of Black Tailed Godwit a couple of ringed plover and several smart looking Snipe.

I then moved on up the road to the next viewing point where I eventually pinned down the wood sand feeding in one of the pools just past the fence.

A cracking bird to pick up after a Sunday spent at work.

21/06/2014 Crosby Marina Lake

Common Swift: After Pete Kinsella's excellent work finding a 1st summer Caspian Gull at Crosby, Dawn and I decided to spend a sunny Saturday down by the marina lake.

When we arrived we were surrounded by huge numbers of passerines and was astonished how low and fast Swift would actually come.

Dawn and I scanned over the small flocks of gulls loafing around on the border pool next to the larger Marina Lake for the caspo. However I was getting very distracted photographing these awesome Swift zooming past our heads.

Herring Gull: After a long search and some time scratching our heads we came across this bird. Distinctively different from the resident juv Herring Gulls but yet not quite what I was hoping for.







We monitored the bird until it came closer and until it took to the sky and still I wasn't convinced.  I have recently showed it to Pete who assures me it is a Herring Gull.

As I suspected a Herring Gull! Or is it a  worn 2CY Lesser Black-backed?? Bloody gulls

27/06/2014 Milnthorpe, Cumbria

Glossy Ibis: It looks like these cracking birds are extending their range and we might be having a lot more sightings in the future.

This would be my fourth including the Horwich and Hindley birds and the most showiest bird of the lot.

When I first arrived it was a black lump sleeping on the far side of the River Bela but after a short wait the bird got spooked by some neighbouring Swans and flew down river.

I caught up with the bird feeding a few hundred yards down river and watched it for a good 20 minutes before I had to get off.  This was a lovely little river bank, fast flowing and green and buzzing with birds the highlights being two Kingfisher and a couple of Little Egret.  

26/05/2014 Elton Reservoir, Bury

Little Bittern: I was gutted yesterday when I saw the news come through as I had a photography gig at Anfield no less, and couldn't pass that opportunity up not even for a Little Bittern.

However I was relieved after missing the bird the first day, to catch up with it the next day and in the lovely bank holiday sunshine and only after a relatively short wait.

Whats weird is that I was surrounded by these cracking birds a few weeks ago in Croatia but unable to get a good enough view to get any pictures, as they were always flying away! And here one is up the road and showing well, brilliant.

Elton res has been throwing up some excellent birds over the last few weeks - I wonder what will be next?

17/05/2014 Elton Reservoir, Bury

White Winged Black Tern: What a cracking birthday pressie, my first white wing Tern on my first visit to Elton res not one but two.

No morning cup of tea, breakfast or time to have a proper wash, and I was out winging my way to Bury.

The little buggers were incredibly difficult to photograph, small and fast and non stop as they chased small insects across the top of the water.

It was nice to bump in to Dennis Atherton and co who had the pleasure of a free day, me on the other hand could only spare half an hour before heading back to some family commitments.

03/05/2014 Winwick, Warrington

Yellow Wagtail: After spending a few days trying for a  few decent shots of Yellow Wags down Barrow, one finally came close enough to reel off a few decent frames.

Also flushed a couple of Grey Partridge and spotted several Yellow Hammer.