The Sublime and the Ridiculous

Plus a few other Odds and Ends

1:The Sublime

May 29th: a new destination for me, the Rivelin Valley west of Sheffield. Barry and I hoped to see wood warbler, a bird I haven't seen locally for a couple of years. I did see one near Aviemore last summer but decent photos have eluded me. The area allegedly had six territories this spring. We found two of them without too much difficulty. All thanks to a contact on Twitter who provided site info and a map.

Here I am courtesy of Barry Bishop looking for our target bird. Amazed how young I look.

First bird was singing in and around a rowan tree. Second bird was in a much gloomier location and photography was a struggle with very high ISO rates and low shutter speeds. This one is just what I hoped for.

We moved north slowly, calling first at Anglers' Country Park. Some nice marsh orchid types were seen - some looking very robust.

This one looked a bit different - a bit of a hybrid maybe. Out on the water a pair of mute swans were showing off their cygnets. 

Cygnet #1 had the bright idea of hitching a ride! Final port of call was at St. Aidan's RSPB where we saw a single black tern [no decent photos this time - but here's a poor effort]...

...a shoveler...

...and little owl....

Not a bad day at all!

May 31st: Sheila and I drove up to Hartlepool to see a quail on the bowling green! Sounded a bit ridiculous... No sign although it was evidently still somewhere in the bushes round the green. We decided to go and see the little terns at Crimdon Beach and call back later.

A sea fret had rolled in. We could hear the terns as they headed out into the mist. To give you an idea of how bad it was here are a couple of photos of the birds in the misty conditions. As I shoot everything in RAW it's amazing what you can achieve by processing your images carefully. One thing, however, was apparent: somehow the mist particles in the air did seem to impede pin-sharp focus. Here's a set of photos that I worked on.

First common blue of the year in the dunes.

2: The Ridiculous - a quail at Hartlepool Headland

We returned to the Bowling Green. Eventually the quail came out onto the outside of the green from under the fence.

June 1st: Flamborough, Bempton, Hilla Green and Fen Bog

Thornwick Pool was very quiet. Reed warbler from the hide; wall butterfly outside the hide. Flamborough - I went to have another look at the lesser whitethroat. Common whitethroat too.

No sign of spotted flycatcher at Hilla Green but I may not have been looking in the right place. I explored the area near Dipper Bridge [as Nigel Stewart used to call it] - grey wagtail with food for its young? It was a quiet day overall but I went to nice places that I love. A tree pipit [I think] at Fen Bog. If it's just a mipit then that's fine too.

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Flamboblog!

May 26th: started at St. David's Lane, North Landing, looking for a rose-coloured starling. Not my first this year after a juvenile at Dimlington Bungalows, Easington, early in the year. After a heavy shower it appeared some way off on top of the hedge.

Closer! - on the wires above my head. On a TV aerial too. I headed for Thornwick Pool to see if the Temminck's stint was about. Someone said it flew off at 7.30 but it had been reported since.

Common sandpiper just to fool us!

I like this next photo: one for the novice birder. Little and large together. Temminck's was way off to the right from the hide. It came closer. I wandered back to the rosy pastor site. That's a lot better! Bempton rumours of a red-breasted flycatcher proved a dead end. Obligatory walk down to the cliffs.

Gannet photos like this are relatively easy and quite repetitive. I wanted to see if I could produce something a little different.

Some of the other locals... Picked Sheila up in York and we headed out to Swillington Ings, Lemonroyd Lake to see some black terns. Met a group of birders I'd seen at Bempton!

Oh yes, the terns. Challenging photography but here's the pick of the bunch.

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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].

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