American Black Tern at Long Nanny in Northumberland

 American Black Tern at Long Nanny in Northumberland

Bridled Tern at Coquet Island, Northumberland

Bridled Tern at Coquet Island, Northumberland 

Robin Singing in Response to a Dunnock

L.O.S. Winter Trip To Lincolnshire and Norfolk - February 2024

Here's a compilation video slideshow of some of my better photographs from a recent birding trip to Lincolnshire and Norfolk with the Leigh Ornithological Society:

L.O.S. Winter Trip to Lincolnshire and Norfolk 2024

I went to Lincolnshire and Norfolk with members of the Leigh Ornithological Society for five days in February 2024.  Here are video slideshow of some of the birds we saw. They are best viewed full screen in HD quality with the sound on. The settings can be changed at the bottom of each video.

Day 1 - Frampton Marsh RSPB 

   

Day 2 - Barton Broad, Winterton Dunes, Hickling Broad and Stubb Mill 

   

Day 3 - Titchwell Marsh RSPB 

   

Day 4 - Strumpshaw Fen RSPB and Buckenham Marshes RSPB 

   

Day 5 - Hunstanton Beach and Cliffs 

 

Waxwing Lyrical

It's been a Waxwing Winter this year but I haven't been really motivated to go and see them because there have been so many photos from other people. However, breakfast out in North Wales with my wife beckoned so it would have been rude not to look. Unfortunately the weather was grey and dismal with plenty of rain and so we only got a few distant glimpses of the large flock that has been flying around the Halkyn mountain area.

So after a hearty meal at Billy Jean's cafe, we set off and this is what we saw. Only blurry distant record shots I'm afraid but with around 60 birds in the flock we saw it was an impressive sight as they raided the Hawthorn berry trees.

Drake Ring-necked Duck in St. Helens

It was great to get close to this lovely little North American visitor at Taylor Park in St. Helens today. But why is it called a Ring-necked Duck and not a Ring-billed Duck?

Well, the reason is only obvious in good light when it raises its head slightly, thus revealing a faint cinnamon ring around its neck.

My only previous sighting of a drake Ring-necked Duck was at Llyn Brant in North Wales a few years ago, and it was very distant.

From a distance it looks quite like a Tufted Duck, to which it is related and often interbreeds.  But close up it shows the differences quite clearly, particularly the lovely white markings on its bill. It also has a peaked head with no tuft and the flanks are pure white only at the front, unlike in a Tufty where all the flank is white.

This is a first winter male distinguished by a few remaining buff coloured rather than light grey feathers on its flanks.  Full adult males show a much clearer vertical white 'spur' on the flank below the neck.

But although I really enjoyed photographing this bird very much, what I most enjoyed was meeting up with a few fellow bird photographers and having a good chinwag.  It was really nice to catch up with Mike Barth, Steve Round, Kerry Round, Dennis Eagling and John Raynor too. I've not been out for so long I'd almost forgotten what it's like. A great day out.

Everyone Loves a Stonechat!

Everyone loves a Stonechat!

Short-eared Owls Hunting at Dusk

It's been a long, long time since I photographed any Short-eared Owls, well before COVID struck.  So it was nice to get out and find some today at this undisclosed site.  It was actually my second visit here, my first lasting over five hours in the freezing cold temperatures and seeing nothing.  At only four hours, this session was a little shorter because I went out later.  And then just before it got a bit too dark, two of them appeared!

Shorelarks at Newbiggin-by-the Sea

My wife Sarah is now working as a paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and so has bought a house in Ashington, Northumberland.  I made a short trip up there from Greater Manchester and stayed a few days over the New Year. It's a great county for birders with many well-known sites for a good variety of birds. But I never though of Newbiggin as being one of them until very recently. The best that I've seen up to now are this wonderful pair of Shorelarks at Beacon Point, Newbiggin. A great start to the New Year!

Garden Warbler - A Bogey Bird Finally Captured!

I don't know why but Garden Warblers have been one of my main bogey birds ever since I started birding. I've been told I've seen them as they flit past as well hearing their wonderful song, but I've never nailed one down until today. It was all down to my friend Dave Wilson who had been told of one singing and perching quite well in a favourite tree at Pennington Flash. So off we went early this morning to find it and, as if by magic, there it was! Well, for a short while anyway, until a dog walker inadvertently flushed it. 

Dave had actually heard the bird quite a long way and as soon as he pointed it out I'd latched on to it's song. I've probably heard this song countless times in the past, but without seeing the bird, I've not recognised it for what it was. Some say it's a bit like a Blackcap, but Dave disagrees and says it's quite different when you listen carefully. Apparently Blackcaps sing a snippet of Dvořák's New World Symphony at the end of their song. Trust Dave to hear that! 

Anyway, Dave was going to a meeting of the Young Birders Club (which I coudn't make due to a prior appointment) so off he went leaving me to try for some better shots, as my initial attempts were only record shots. I stayed around two hours during which time the bird came and went a few times, but I managed something fairly decent on it's last visit to the favourite tree. I can now tick one of the remaining two birds in my child's bird book which I've been keeping since I started. Just need a Storm Petrel now.