A day in the Life [of a persistent birder!]

Left home about 6am and was on site at Whisby Nature Park before 8am. Immediately heard a nightingale near the footbridge over the railway line.

Next hour was spent trying to locate the bird. A bird suddenly appeared on a branch deep in the thicket. Shoot first ask questions later!

Dunnock! Oh well! Keep looking and listening.

In the past I've made sound recordings of birds with my iphone but couldn't upload the recordings to my website. The website didn't seem to recognise the file type. So, I thought, I'll just film the undergrowth when the bird is singing. It sort of worked.

Turn your computer's sound up really high, press play on the button below, then scroll down to see the actual bird that you can hear perched up high in the bush. I know it's technically flawed! [A video would be the answer I can hear you say!] but I think it's cool! A singing photograph!

When I did eventually spot the bird I shuffled about trying to navigate a route through the twigs and foliage to get a focus lock on my 500mm lens. Here are the results. I was even able to keep track as it moved through the bush. Final shot somehow typifies all that's wonderful about Springtime, I think.

This nightingale was the 330th species of British bird that I have photographed in the last 9 years.

You don't have to pay to park at Whisby until 10am. Downside of that is that everybody, and I mean everybody, walks their dog before 10am. Upside was that I was ready to set off on my travels on the stroke of 10 o'clock. 

Next stop Little Scrubbs Meadow at Chambers Farm Wood. I wanted to revisit the wonderful marsh fritillaries. I was not disappointed - there were hundreds flying, mating, fighting... I spent a wonderful hour with them.

100mm macro lens for this section. Green-veined white and four-spotted chaser on the walk to the meadow. Dingy skipper in the meadow.

Marsh fritillaries. The plan was to go to Covenham Reservoir as I headed back north but there were no reports of black tern/white-winged black tern so whatever was there the previous evening had moved on. I decided to go to Frampton Marsh.... Rumours of a ruff lek... Someone posted on twitter you could save yourself the cost of a flight to the far north by going to Frampton Marsh. So I did.

Lots of heat haze but I think you get an impression of the total chaos of three strutting, fighting, chasing males. Females present. Black-tailed godwits and gulls unperturbed but dodging out of the way when things got manic!

Good game: see if you can spot any female ruffs [reeves].

205 UK 2018

Quiet times...

It seems somehow I can't stir myself to go out birding. Everything seems such a long way from here that I keep changing my mind about going out. Anyway, here's a few photos from not very far away...

A couple of visits to North Duffield to listen to the corncrake. Eight hours in total over two mornings. Heard only. View from Geoff Smith hide - corncrake off to the right somewhere!

May 13th I started at Skipwith Common. Tiger beetles... ...and a four-spotted chaser dragonfly.

Visited Tophill Low to see the reed warblers. They were very active but also very tricky to photograph as they kept low in the reeds which, maybe, aren't yet tall enough to hide the birds fully. Orange tip on its food plant, cuckoo flower. Another four-spot at Tophill Low. North Marsh.

May 16th in our garden - Sheila spotted a mouse coming to drink at our bird bath. I grabbed the camera [Always keep one handy!] Later that day I watched distant hobbies at Wheldrake Ings.

View from the Pool hide at Wheldrake Ings plus the old wind pump.

A pair of common terns were on a raft

May 18th: Blacktoft Sands RSPB

Marsh harriers and a tricky blackcap that kept eluding me!

Quiet times, I said. Maybe I was wrong! Juliet turned up. I spoke loudly in Townend hide: 'There she is!' 'Where?' the other 3 birders asked. I tried to explain without taking my eye off her. 

Now the purists will tell me I can't call her Juliet because she was a Capulet and the Montagues had an 'e' at the end. Who cares! I'd spotted Juliet over Blacktoft. Here she is...my 200th bird of 2018 There was a nice drake garganey at Ousefleet. Worth the walk! May 20th: last minute decision to go to Broomhill with Sheila to see if the red-necked phalarope was still around. Judging by the number of cars in the car park we guessed it was. Room downstairs only. Always distant, as Juliet was, but these shots didn't turn out too badly.

201 UK 2018

THE MEGABLOG!

Sorry to raise your hopes as the title is not intended to presage a feature on a new birding mega - it is rather to warn you that this is going to be a rather long post...a megablog.

So let's get on with it!

April 23rd: brief afternoon visit to a windy, cold North Cave. Wondering if I could somehow find Spring! Few birds seen. A coot was sitting on her nest. April 25th: nice to meet the Spavins up on Hasty Bank heading for the Wainstones on an unsuccessful hunt for an eagle owl. Great views and a few pipits but little else to report.

Looking north-east - Roseberry Topping in the distance. Middlesbrough - the transporter bridge and Riverside stadium in the haze. Saltholme beyond, between the two.

Much cropped; it was a long way away!

No sign of the 'defensive' eagle owl, alas.

April 26th: another cold, windy day, not at all spring-like. I went to Fairburn in the afternoon. A great crested grebe was battling the choppy waters of main lake. On to Lin Dike. Cuckooflower [ cardamine pratensis] in the car park.

Common terns.

April 27th: a bit more promising. I always like to photograph sedge warblers in spring when they are doing their display flights and singing prominently. Here they are at Dorman's Pool, Saltholme. Looking for breakfast?

Also seen: linnet, whitethroat and a smart looking pochard.

A wren from the top car park at Dorman's.

I headed for Bowesfield nature reserve at Stockton. All seemed quiet until I spotted a pair of great crested grebes starting to display...I think it warrants the award of:

Intimate encounter #7 2018

You've probably seen pictures of the weed dance - here's a new variant: the rag dance. I hope Mrs Grebe was impressed!

A fine stand of cuckooflower nearby. I finished the day at South Gare on the beach watching the sanderlings. They were taking on their summer colours and looked really pretty.

Dunlin and ringed plover too. A wheatear flew in.

April 28th: Tophill Low to see a purple heron. Eventually located at Hempholme meadow.

April 30th: Wombwell & Broomhill Ings: Main target was a wood sandpiper at Wombwell Ings. Little gull appeared but fled to Broomhill. I followed. Woodsand first.

Redshank and wood sandpiper size comparison.

Little gull was very difficult to track with a 500mm lens. So tern-like as they shift direction, twisting and turning - I had to try to predict where it would turn up next.

May 1st: One of those very memorable birding days...

Druridge Pools for a glossy ibis. However before we look for the ibis, after the runaway success of my 'Spot the Black-necked Grebe' competition the team has decided to run a second competition: 'Spot the Little Owl.' Answer later. Also at Druridge: a black-necked grebe - distant and not as pristine as others seen this spring. A lesser-black: cruel and ultra-smart! I just failed to catch it swallow a frog in one gulp. The owl was on a nearby farm building.

I drove south calling at the big roundabout by Saltholme to scan for some reported whimbrel. Very distant, I did as Spock would do and 'gave it my best shot.' [Leonard Nimoy: 'The Voyage Home'] Final call  was at Sutton Bank after closing time. Hoping for a turtle dove. 

Siskin after bathing. Dig the punk hair-style!

Year tick number 4 that day:-

May 3rd: a quick trip to Swinefleet to see dotterel shimmering in a heat haze well out of range of even my big lens. Another 'best shot' was called for. Not very good but you can [just about] tell they're dotterel. 3 in this image. Megacropped!

May 8th: Crimdon Beach for my annual pilgrimage to see the little terns. As I drove off the main road I looked out for a patch of early purple orchids I'd seen previously. Thrilled to see it still there. I put the 100mm macro lens on. Tide was high and the terns were out fishing. They never came ashore but could be watched fishing out at sea. Unusual to see a tern having a scratch whilst in mid-flight! 

Quality deteriorates a little but you can see the bird is ringed on the cropped version.

Ringed plover in the tern enclosure. A few flowers from Crimdon Dene. Green alkanet [I think] pentaglottis sempervirens Ramsons [allium ursinum] Whitethroat

FINIS

196 UK 2018