L.O.S. Trip to Leighton Moss RSPB

A good day was had yesterday at Leighton Moss RSPB with Leigh Ornithological Society. Highlights included Long-tailed Duck, Marsh Tit, Marsh Harrier and Great White Egret along with a large supporting cast. The Bearded Tits didn't show for us unfortunately, perhaps we were a bit late.

Marsh Tit

Drake Gadwall

Female Marsh Harrier

Female Long-tailed Duck

Cormorant

Drake Shoveler

Great White Egret

Common Snipe

Grey Heron

Backlit Robin

Drake Teal

Female Marsh Harrier 

Back For Second Helpings

Today I returned to South Yorkshire to try for some more Osprey shots. This time I was at Sprotbrough Flash near Doncaster, a place famous for its crazy Bittern dancing and Kingfishers.

Lesser Yellowlegs at Marshside RSPB

This beautiful juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs has been at Marshside RSPB in South port for the last few days. and I was very pleased to catch up with it today.

  

Bird Guides have just published an article on the new National Nature Reserve being created around the Wigan Flashes and have used my Willow Tit photograph as an example of why it has been chosen.

Full article here: https://www.birdguides.com/news/former-industrial-area-becomes-one-of-uks-biggest-urban-nature-reserve/

A View To A Kill - Osprey Dive and Catch

Last Sunday I spent a very enjoyable day at Ecclesfield Dam in Sheffield photographing this juvenile Osprey. It was great to meet up with some familiar faces as well as some new ones, Martin Byron, Mike Barth and Martin Fairbairn amongst others.

Before I knew it an incredible 10 hours had passed (7am until 5pm) and I thought I had blown my chance of the 'money' shot - one of this magnificent bird catching a fish. But through the magic of Photoshop and Topaz, I managed to resurrect photographs that were almost completely black on the back of the camera (see last photo) and produce some half decent images with which I am very pleased.

 

Please make sure the video is set in HD mode (using the Settings cog, bottom left of screen).

Red-tailed Shrike - 300 UP!

What a cracking bird to see me reach 300 UK bird species!  This mega rare Red-tailed or Turkestan Shrike has been at Bempton Cliffs RSPB for a few weeks now and today I finally made the two and a half hour drive to see it.  

I just can't bear the heat, so there was no way I was going to spend a day in sun at Bempton in the recent unprecedented heatwaves we've been having.  But with the promise of slightly lower temperatures as autumn progresses, I decided to go for it and I really wasn't disappointed.

There have only been seven previous recorded sightings of this bird in the UK, with the first being seen in 1995.  It normally breeds in Asia and overwinter in the Middle East.

Shrikes are carnivorous passerines or songbird, but sometimes I think they should be classified as raptors as they eat small birds, mammals and amphibians as well as beetles, wasps, bees and flies.

It was feeding well today and its tail feathers have mostly regrown after being damaged a few weeks back.

So who knows, it may well be shortly off back home soon.

I wonder how the Black-winged Stilt got it's Name?

The Black-winged Stilt is a bird I've been hoping to see for a few years now and I thought I'd need to go down to Lincolnshire or Norfolk to eventually see one.  But success comes to those who wait and as luck would have it, one turned up fairly locally at Marshside RSPB in Southport this week.

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Look What's 'Terned' Up!

I was very surprised to see that a Black Tern had appeared at Carr Mill Dam near St. Helens this week as it seems very early for them.  Moreover, it seemed to be sticking around for a few days when normally the seem to fly though very quickly.  My only previous photographs of them were taken at Audenshaw Reservoirs in Manchester and so I hoped to improve on those record shots today.

Well the bird stayed distant whilst I was there and the light was variable, but I did get a couple of better shots than on previous attempts, but still not that great.  I tried a few locations on both sides of the water but although the bird often seems that it's closer on the 'other side', it rarely is!

Still, it was nice to catch up with Karl Bishop and learn about his migration to a compact mirrorless Olympus camera system from his big heavy Canon gear.  Something I'm almost considering myself now that Nikon seem to have produced a decent mirrorless camera with the new Z9. Not sure yet though.

This is the Real Teal!

There has been a mega rare Baikal Teal at Swine Moor near Beverly in East Yorkshire for a few weeks now, but as it is around two and half hours travel for me to get there I've been 'um-ing and arr-ing' about going.  However, the Leigh Ornithological Society's fieldtrip was to North Cave Wetlands in West Yorkshire today and, as Swine Moor was only another 30 minutes up the road from there, I decided to go for it.  It was worth it!

L.O.S. Fieldtrip to North Cave Wetlands