Not a lot to report...

Went to Blacktoft on Friday 25th and saw a kestrel on King's Causeway, south-east of Swinefleet. Funnily enough as I sometimes see something good on the narrow road north from the causeway to Whitgift, the camera was already seatbelted to the front seat. I fired a few shots from the driver's seat before it flew away on the breeze.

Kestrel

Blacktoft was very quiet: distant marsh harriers, a few wildfowl and herons. I found this the other day: a reminder of Blacktoft in the summer. Thought it was quite nice...baby avocet playing that game where you try and roll a tiny pebble up and down your bill!

Avocet

Scramble!! 269 squadron in the air!!

We went to Bolton on Saturday 26th or to be precise to the fabulously named Doffcocker area and to Bob Smithy's pub. Sounds an unlikely birding destination but we weren't alone: one scope in attendance and someone I knew from the Leeds area I think. Eventually we had good views of the four glossy ibises through someone else's scope. In spite of spending some time there and walking through the cow muck/mud of a farmyard I never got really close. They were soon off high and then they would circle round and come in very low somewhere else! Still here's 269 squadron in the air!

Glossy Ibis

A bit like a scene from Jurassic Park, don't you think?

Glossy Ibis

Why 269 squadron? 269th tick of 2013.

Sunday 27th October: touchdown in Hartlepool

Funny old business, birding. I wasn't expecting to get out with Barry again until next week but he got in touch and was free Sunday afternoon. A slav-grebe had been reported at Swillington so we thought we might go there and call in at Fairburn too. However in the early afternoon a glossy ibis popped up at Hartlepool - a lifer for Barry I suspected and a chance [by the sound of the location] of better photographs than the Doffcocker birds.

The satnav got us to Valley Drive and we set off. We had to walk all of 150m before we saw the bird grazing by a flood in a field quite unconcerned by the line of birders who had gathered. As you can see!

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Here's one on the Fire Station field at Saltholme in October 2011 just to show a bird in flight a bit closer than at Doffcocker.

Glossy Ibis

Asda used to have a catchline that ran: 'There's more to come!' I hope there is.

More later!