Duff photos!

February 28th at North Duffield

Barry and I went to Blacktoft in the afternoon but moved to North Duffield for the last hour to see if the barn owls would show. They did but in increasing gloom. Working with very high ISO numbers the pictures are not perfect as shutter speeds were still poor but they are still quite a nice result!

Barn Owl

Barn Owl Barn Owl Barn Owl

A sparrowhawk joined in the action and came and perched in the scrub beside the hide. For once I used manual focus to lock on to the bird.

Sparrowhawk

There were two barn owls. I lost track of which was which!

Barn Owl Barn Owl

Barn Owl Barn Owl Barn Owl Barn Owl Barn Owl

Wednesday March 4th

A trip north began at Middlesbrough Morrisons by the Old River Tees in search of a grey wagtail. No sign. Plenty of redshanks.

Redshank

The resident green sandpiper is very timid and won't let me anywhere near it! It flies off when redshanks are happily on the mud near to me. Here it goes in a blur as I tried to catch it.

Green Sandpiper

I moved on to Greatham Creek hoping to find the resident whimbrel. I hadn't realised the tide was so big and high so few waders to be seen. A seal was curious. Seal

A few eider came close.

Eider Eider

Thursday 5th March

Another trip to Greatham Creek was more successful. Avocets and, at last, the whimbrel. There was sand too for the seals to bask on!

Seal

The first avocets of the year on a pool off the creek.

Avocet

Finally a poor quality photo, much cropped but of interest [to me at least!] because it shows a whimbrel with a curlew. The size differential is quite striking. I spotted three curlew type birds flying up the estuary and realised one bird was smaller than the other two. I tracked it hoping it would land. It did. In the wind I rested the camera on the scope and fired a few shots.  Whimbrel

As for other recent sightings, I picked up red crested pochard at Tophill Low on D reservoir, white-fronted goose at Scaling, kittiwake and puffin at Bempton and the much reported red-necked grebe at Sewerby.

Current UK total 2015: 167