Long-eared Owls from Lancashire

Today was my first visit to what has become a well-known location for Long-eared Owls, with people coming far and wide to see them here.  There's also been a lot of bad feeling about photographing them and some disagreements have even turned violent.  This has kept me away from the site which I've known about for around 10 years,  I don't like crowds and particularly crowds of photographers, so I'd rather stay away than get embroiled in all the fuss.

However, knowing that the owlets had fledged (you can't keep anything secret for long nowadays), I decided an early midweek opportunity in decent weather should be missed. I needed something to kickstart my flailing birding mojo and I wasn't disappointed.

Long-eared Owls are mainly nocturnal hunters and like to stay buried deeply in vegetation making them normally very difficult to find and see during the day. That is, unless it's the breeding season, when they hunt during the day to feed hungry mouths.  They are very prone to disturbance and will often leave an area if ti becomes too much. That said, these owls have been here a long time, and so whatever has occurred in the past, it hasn't caused them to move.

As the breeding season was largely over, I decided this was the time to go.  As can be seen from the above photo, the owlets have fledged and are almost full size although they still retain their brown faces and some downy feathers.

I've only had one good view of a Long-eared Owl before with most of my previous sightings being partial and distant.  Frequently it's only an eye or ear on show, with most of the bird being covered by vegetation, so to see them out in the open here is a real treat.

I did see one bird fly a couple of times but didn't manage to get a decent flight shot. So I may go back once more this year but now I know where it is I'll definitely be going again next year.

Red-Throated Diver in Amble Marina

There has been a long-staying Red-throated Diver in summer plumage at Amble in Northumberland recently and as it looked to be staying for a while more I decided to go for it today.  I made the three and a half drive from Manchester to the free car park at Amble Braid and after a walking only a couple of hundred yards there it was, happily sleeping in the marina.

I've seen plenty of these birds before both on the sea and sometimes inland but usually in their winter plumage when they don't have the red throat and are mainly grey and white.  So to see one so close in summer plumage was a real real treat.

Apart from the very obvious red throat, I particular like the striping on the back of the head and neck as well as the red eye.

This bird did spend a lot of time asleep or partially asleep and drifting with the flow of water in the marina.  When it did awake it set off fishing amongst the boats and I lost it for a while.  So I left it for a while and had a walk around Amble Harbour, a place I really like. There were the usual Eider ducks and various Gulls in the harbour area and one or two Terns diving for fish, but nothing to keep me there too long.

I returned to find the Diver asleep again but back out in the open. As I was staying in Ashington tonight, which is only 20 minutes from Amble, I could spend as long as it took to get some more photos.  The bird eventually did awake and as the tide was rising and filling the marina, it came pretty close at times.

Woodchat Shrike in Daresbury - Lifer

It's been quite a while since I had a new bird to see, a Lifer as birders call them. This is really all I go out for nowadays as, since Covid, my birding mojo has at an all time low.  This is despite getting a new mirrorless camera over 18 months ago, but I am determined to resume bird photography as I enjoy being out and about so much.

And even if there is a rare bird about, I tend to wait to see if it hangs around for a while - there's nothing more frustrating than going for a bird which departed before you arrived.  Anyway, this Woodchat Shrike was being reported for a few days in Daresbury and so I decided to go for it.

I've seen a Red-tailed or Turkestan Shrike, a Red-backed Shrike and several Great Grey Shrikes before so this makes the fourth species I've ticked of this bird. I often think that it should be thought of a 'bird of prey' because I've seen them catch lizards and frogs and I believe they will take even small birds.

A Long-Expected Visit to Teesside

The Zinc Works Road in Teesside always seemed a rather odd place to go to see Owls, but over the years it has become quite famous for them giving good views there, especially Short-eared Owls. It would be a long way to go just to to see them and there are several places nearer to me where I can, if I'm lucky, find them, but as I was journeying home from Ashington in Northumberland to Tyldesley in Greater Manchester I decided it wouldn't be too much of a detour to call in.

With Hartlepool Power Station in the background, the Short-eared Owls frequent the salt marsh that forms Seaton Common and can appear anywhere in this area.  On my short visit I actually found I had better luck down North Gare Road which runs parallel to Zinc Works Road and eventually on to North Gare breakwater.

There are several lay-bys to pull in a wait along both these roads but I ended up driving to the small free car park along North Gare Road and walking around the area. It's always best to stay in or close to the car in places like this, but as the birds were quite distant most of the time I thought it wouldn't matter being out in the open a little more.

It's a place I shall certainly revisit at some point in the future and hopefully spend a lot longer there without the pressure to get home.

As well as the Owls, there are many other birds on show here and the whole area is part of Teesmouth National Nature Reserve. Unfortunately I didn't have time to investigate further.

White-billed Diver at Druridge Bay Country Park

It was my birthday yesterday and I dipped on this White-billed Diver which was only 15 minutes away from from me at Cresswell Pond in Northumberland. As I was ready to go to see it for a nice birthday present lifer, I got a message that it had flown north - dagnabbit!  Whilst I was out about later I asked a birder if he'd seen it on the sea, but he didn't seem to even know it was here.

So I was really pleased when I discovered that it had been relocated the next day, this time on Ladyburn Lake at Druridge Bay Country Park in Northumberland.  I hurried over there, but I needn't have bothered as it hung around for several days, giving excellent views to the many birders who turned up to see it.