And now for something completely different!

If you're mystified, there are birds here: just skip the flowers...

Some of you may know that for over a dozen years we opened the garden in the Yellow Book. We no longer do that but we still maintain our large garden as well as we can. About 4 years ago I bought a small collection of nerines - wonderful South African bulbs. Some are hardy here in Britain but many aren't. It's taken some time to get them to flower so I though I'd celebrate that with some photos. They have flowered this year for the first time through October and some are still going well.

Nerine bowdenii - the standard hardy nerine often grown in the UK

A strong growing deep pink form of Nerine bowdenii

This one came to us labelled 'Elegance'

My favorite, nerine corusca major a sarniensis cultivar - tender and spends the summer dry in a greenhouse with a large label reminding us not to water it till September

Nerine flexuosa alba

Dwarf and late flowering 'Hera'

Back to normal service!

November 5th 2018: Fairburn

A great grey shrike was reported at Fairburn Ings down by Hickson's Flash so I decided to try my luck. Unfortunately there was no sign of the bird but I did see a peregrine, a great white egret and a cattle egret. Here's some photos of the two egrets...

It was quite misty when I arrived. The great white and the cattle egret were not very active...

Over at Hickson's a heron was a chilly sentinel on the canal bank...until a dog walker scared it off. Returning to the Lin Dike area I saw that the great white had moved much nearer the road. I sensed an opportunity.

A heron was walking towards the great white and I felt the bird didn't like this approaching bird. When Mr. Grey came too close Mr. White flew off with Mr. Grey in pursuit!

November 8th: Meols near Hoylake on the Wirral

Set off reasonably early to see a pied wheatear that was performing on the promenade. I didn't have any trouble finding the twitch site! The bird's on the seawall somewhere...

You could get ridiculously close to the bird! Don't know why but I'm not sure this chap's lens is pointing quite the right way!

Here are my efforts - including some rather unconventional shots that I quite liked.

Later I called at Parkgate and saw 2 ringtail hen harriers, a raven, a great white egret, a peregrine and marsh harriers. Only photographed this little egret. I can still remember when sighting one of them got birders quite excited...

November 9th: Trip up to County Durham

Hoping to catch up with a hoopoe at Murton Park. Rather shy it stayed very much inside the scrub but I was content with this shot.

November 10th: Sheila asked if we could go see LEO!

Sheila knew they had been showing in Haverton Scrub at Saltholme and she loves to see owls especially long-eared owls. We were pleased with the new boardwalk but felt there was a design error of thinking. The boardwalk broadens out where the owls roost. However they can, of course, roost in slightly different places! On Saturday the LEO site was very busy and when the owls [2 of them] were located they were best seen from the narrow part of the boardwalk only intended for people to use approaching the site! Lots of bumping and good-natured manoeuvring with tripod legs threatening to topple people off into the mud at any moment!

However, the views were great.

To make Sheila's day we spent only 20 minutes down the North Gare road before heading home.

Magpie... ...and then 3 shorties seen. So Sheila saw 5 owls in one afternoon. Not bad going! Here, inevitably, are a few more shorties.

259 UK 2018