A Sea Duck Visits Bolton

I really should have been working on the presentation I'm giving to the Leigh Ornithological Society this Friday, but when the opportunity arises to have a close view of a bird that is normally way out to sea, you just can't ignore it.

I'm not a great fan of sea-watching: the birds are normally just distant specks on the horizon, your scope is wobbling in the wind, your eyes watering and it's often bitterly cold as winter is the best time to do it.

High Rid Reservoir has produced a number of good birds for me over the last few years.

Another 'Lifer' ticked, I went back home to resume work on my 'Adventures in a Birdmobile' presentation.

White-winged Black Tern at High Rid Reservoir

I spent a lovely sunny afternoon at High Rid Reservoir near Doffcocker in Bolton today, with the target bird being a juvenile White-winged Black Tern. This was a lifer for me having missed a  chance of seeing one at Elton Reservoir in the last few years.

This was my first day out photographing birds since I had my nose operation nearly three weeks ago, and so I was little unsure about how holding the camera up to my face would go, but as it turns out it wasn't a problem.

UPDATE: The photo below has just been given a 'Notable' award on BirdGuides.



I met some great people today and we had a good chat as we watched this special bird repeatedly resting on an orange buoy at one end of the reservoir and then flying down to the end where we were standing before turning into the wind to feed by skimming flies off the water.

A bit more text to follow tomorrow, but for now, here's some more of my photos: