Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
Friday 16th November - Saturday 24th November 2012
Morality tales or fables
1: What have I told you?
On Friday a bittern was paged at North Duffield Carrs, right in front of the Geoffrey Smith hide, so off I went with the camera. The hide was pretty full. After a while Alan Whitehead, aka Duffbirder, arrived revisiting his old haunts. Perhaps he's missing NDC - it's a fair way from Holmpton. Anyway from 10.45 until 13.15 I waited and saw very little. The whooper swans were distant and it was cold. The fog rolled back in and visibility became poor.
So at 13.15 I left. I sometimes talk about being a persistent birder: the bird appeared again at 14.20. Should have stayed until the bittern end!
2:You don't know how lucky you are!!
Saturday pm I went to Blacktoft again looking for barn owls.
I was told to go to Singleton for the best chance of barn owls. 'Where's that?' I asked.
'Just follow Fred, he'll show you the way.'
OK, Fred. Lead on, mate!
The light was poor, then quite good but the birds remained obstinately distant. I did see merlin, two barn owls, about ten marsh harriers and a female stonechat, a Blacktoft lifer for me, if you know what I mean! Nothing of note was in camera range and I was battling the oncoming dark. A pair of little grebes swam by...
I should be satisfied with what I did see. After all I'm lucky to be able to get here as often as I do. The images aren't all bad - only the snipe photo has been brightened significantly - and for a reason. Here it is. Question is, how many snipe can you see?
The marsh harrier and shovelers are 'as shot'...
There were four males but one was so far behind I cropped him off!
Starlings were dropping like raindrops into the reeds.
By the time I reached Tiggy, the light had gone - the moon from Blacktoft Sands car park.
Answer: there are 6 snipe. 3 in the centre, one on each end and one on the left on the bank. Looks like an inanimate lump!
3: Two days at Saltholme
Day 1: Look everywhere. You never know what's there!
After a rotten week weather-wise Friday augured well for a day's birding so I headed up to Saltholme for the best of the weather and the light. On arrival at 9am a group of birders were lined up by the workshops just beyond the Phil Stead hide. Looking at a pair of waxwings on a hawthorn bush. Redwings were there too but here are the two waxies.
Back in the hide for a while, things were fairly quiet. A redshank dropped in.
The light was good and this gadwall looked really well in the early sunshine.
I decided to keep moving: there's so many birding spots in the area. North Gare road might have the caspian gull that has been recorded in the last few days. There were lots of curlews and geese.
With high tide checked the night before [subscribe free to EasyTide for 7-day predictions for most places] for 11.59, I knew that the wader roost at Newburn Bridge would be good any time after 10.30. So I parked up there in the re-opened little car park. [At last the building site has gone. I can't tell what on earth they did during all that time either!!] I don't think I have ever seen so many redshank. Here are just a few of them...
As the tide advanced the birds were pushed further up the beach. I spotted my good friend the resident mediterranean gull sunning himself. Note the different profile of the black-headed gull behind.
Teesside airport gets pretty busy at times so you can always do a bit of plane spotting too.
My friend is watching a flight going back to Malta or somewhere else in the Med!!
A turnstone was having a bathe in a rock pool...
...then a good shake...
...and a good flap of the wings.
Back into Tiggy and a few miles north to Hartlepool Headland. There were some female common scoter close inshore. Waiting to be photographed.
Walking along the promenade towards the fish dock I came across a female eider up against the pilot pier. She didn't mind me looking over the wall at her and stayed close.
She deserved two views, I think. Oystercatchers were on the shingle and a cormorant was swimming close to me off the pier.
As I walked back a pair of scoter were now close in.
The pager announced that the caspian gull was showing off the Zinc Works Road so off we went. A kind birder [Andrew Kinghorn - the Fog Blog] helped me get on the bird. Smart second winter, white head, long neck, some grey mottling on back - unfortunately it soon flew off along with the rest of the flock, back to the recycling hill.
Finally it was back to Saltholme to end the day. The light soon goes at this time of year. On the walk to see the long-eared owls I saw the new 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party' sculpture. It's very impressive. Here's the Mad Hatter.
I never found the owls - it was unbelievably muddy too. The shetland sheep must have watched in amusement.
Old 'Amber Eyes'. Afraid that's as close to Shetland as I'll get for a while.
I ended up in the Paddy's Pool hide. A merlin and a magpie were perched in a bush. The merlin soon put everything up. Bit of what I call a cuckoo shot but you can see enough I think.
A pair of red-breasted mergansers were also there.
The day was dying. I walked back to the visitor centre to buy some fat balls for the garden feeders. A group of barnacle geese [over forty present apparently] were by the fence.
Saltholme day two: Something's bound to turn up!
Barry and I set off at about 8.45am [late for us] for Saltholme etc. We began with the etc bit by going to North Gare to see if the caspian gull was about. Unfortunately the sunshine had turned to fog that only got thicker as time went by. We saw a lot of gulls in the fog but that was all. We decided to call back later if the visibility improved. Next stop: Newburn Bridge for the waders.
A couple of red-throated divers were just off the beach, giving great views.
As the birds were pushed up the beach we saw redshank, dunlin, knot, ringed plover, oystercatcher, purple sandpiper. Sanderling were missing but after a while one dropped in.
The med gull was present too. It was cold and, looking back to North Gare, we were glad to be out of the fog. Hartlepool Headland looked clear too so we headed up there.
We saw good numbers of eider and scoter on the sea. The eider looked stunning.
I've always wanted to be good at drawing and painting. Using Adobe I can become a painter!! Here's my eider daub!!
I spotted a pipit on the tarmac. While looking through the pictures I found a picture [taken a few minutes later] of the pipit up on the stone behind the promenade. I noticed the ring on its right leg.
Here's the original picture which, when I paid attention, also showed the ring. It's a rock pipit.
Down on the shingle beach I spotted a gull that looked different. I don't know why but I seem to be able to pick med gulls easily these days! This one looked really smart and I edged nearer which worked fine until a family with a dog drove everything off!
Off went the med gull.
Off went the oystercatchers.
A flock of turnstones flew out to sea.
Looking into the encroaching mist, a group of cormorants were resting on semi-submerged rocks.
Time to go. We set off for Saltholme. En route Barry spotted a short-eared owl on a post near Greenabella marsh. From the roadside I fired off a few shots.
When we got to Saltholme we went to the Phil Stead hide. Goldfinch were feeding up for the night.
A walk down to Paddy's Pool hide in hope of barnacle geese confirmed that we were beaten by the weather. Only a foggy shoveler remained to finish the sequence.
Let's hope for better birding conditions soon.
Wednesday 7th November - Monday 12th November 2012
Yorkshire Miscellany
Harking back
Barry and I went to Blacktoft on 2.11.12 and Barry photographed an insect on the glass in one of the hides. Later he e-mailed me the photo and those super naturalists at ispot identified it as a cinnamon sedge (limnephilus marmoratus). Here it is.
© Barry Bishop 2012
ISO 1600
On Wednesday November 7th I went to Blacktoft again, hoping for barn owls in late afternoon. Unfortunately the weather forecast let me down and it became very grey - I had read that the Blacktoft barn owls show best on nice afternoons! - so dull I had to punch the ISO up to 1600: something I had never done before. There was little to photograph too. Snipe were buried in the grass with little visible other than the tops of their heads; the marsh harriers were distant and the male hen harrier, splendid though he was, was far away over the Trent near Alkborough. I took a few shots of a heron. Uncropped the graininess is not apparent and I was pleasantly surprised with the result. It captures the light that afternoon too. It did however teach me a lesson...
Not Tiggy but Tiggywinkle?!
In our garden my wife found a tiny hedgehog on Saturday 10th November. She was sure it was too small to survive the winter and wanted me to find out what to do! I tried to phone the RSPCA but, as usual, no-one answered. Trawling the internet I eventually found a good website: the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. They have members across the country who take in injured or immature hedgehogs. I spoke to Julie who was wonderful and, putting Miss Tiggywinkle in Tiggy we all went to see her near Easingwold. Soon we discovered that Miss Tiggywinkle was a boy! What's more, a boy with ticks and fleas. I iphoned some photos of Julie inspecting the little fellow and removing the two ticks.
Julie confirmed that he was too small to survive the winter without help. She would feed him up and keep him warm and we hope he will wake up next spring. If he does Julie will let us know and we will collect him and return him to the garden! Here's hoping!
go to:- http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
Lesser yellowlegs: 2nd attempt
Just hoping for a good year tick. I've seen quite a few. My first was probably about 8 years ago in Thornham harbour, Norfolk when it was chased down a gully by over-excited photographers. The more they approached the bird, the further it went. I was quite new to obsessive birding then and was amazed because we were just exploring the harbour when lots of cars suddenly started arriving full of birders. Obviously I hadn't even heard of pagers then.
Anyway, I drove to Aldcliffe Marsh, just south-west of Lancaster. Congratulations to TomTom who took me, correctly, all the way to the quagmire car park! Lancashire roads were very often littered with enormous puddles. Mud was the only descriptor for the place. But, the yellowlegs was showing quite well. 278 UK 2012.
The quality of the photos was disappointing. Because the bird was some way off, I had to crop considerably. However, remember the heron? Well, I forgot to put the ISO back to 400, my normal setting unless the light is wonderful, so these were taken at ISO 1600 and when cropped the pictures soon fall apart. Still there'll be another yellowlegs one day...
'Perch, weed and grebe'
- a visit to Far Ings LWT Tuesday 13th November 2012
I went in hope of photographing a drake smew. No-one had seen it but I went to the hide where it had been reported. Two birders were there watching goldeneye. 'What's that down by the hotel?' I asked. They'd obviously been chatting too much. Drake smew. I took a long walk round to the hotel. Ground staff at Reed's Hotel were very helpful and basically said it was ok to wander. The bird had disappeared however down the other end in the reeds. Typical smew.
A flock of greylag came over. Greylag wallpaper for a computer screen?
A magpie cackled but let me get unusually close.
I returned to the same hide after a long circuit of the reserve. I saw little other than a young girl from the hotel having a quiet smoke behind a bush!
A great crested grebe swam into the small pool in front of the hide. It caught a perch! All photos are of the same bird.
The plan that day was to see a white drake smew, then go to Alkborough for the long-billed dowitcher and then finish the day at Blacktoft - yet again in hope of barn owls.
I didn't see the dowitcher and my camera battery died at Alkborough so I didn't bother going to Blacktoft. The day was fading anyway. I did have an interesting time at Alkborough however.
On the scrapes on the left as you approach the first hide I saw some waders with yellowlegs. Ruff!
There were lots of waders, hundreds of lapwing and golden plover. From the hide I photographed a lonesome dunlin...
..and a very co-operative shelduck.
Some curlew flew past several times. I noticed that I often heard a curlew call just before they took off. So, I was ready next time as these birds came towards me.
Another birder with a big camera said: 'You were quick! They'd gone before I was ready!' You can't do what I manage hand-held if you are tied to a tripod - that's the one big advantage of the 400mm lens over the real big boys.
The battery having died, I decided to head for home. As I left Alkborough in the wrong direction [something always baffles me about the place! Although I did find it ok this time, Barry!!] I saw an information board in the middle of a piece of fenced off ground. I stopped, reversed a little and drove into a brand new car park, big enough for about 30 cars with a path down to the eastern section of the reserve - a part I had never been to. Perhaps that's where the dowitcher lives!! I used the phone to capture these images which made the visit a useful 'recce' for the future.
Monthly notes on what's been seen...
...and a nice reserve map. There are 3 hides on the map too. I think a whole day visit might pay dividends!
St. George's Field, York
The pager claimed 200+ waxwings in the car park at 1pm so after lunch and after digging up a large clump of tree poppy romneya coulteri [Great plant by the way. Hard to establish, hates being moved and then after a decade goes mad!] I went to the recycling depot via the aforementioned car park.
Romneya coulteri in the garden September 2011
The waxwings - about 50 - were high up in the trees or flying around so no great shots but here's a couple of views plus a nice grey wagtail that was on the lockside of the Foss at Castle Mills.
What's the pink thing?
My Dad's Lake District 1957-1966
My Dad's Lake District
My dad, Andrew Downes - or Andy, I suspect, to many of his friends, died when I was in my late teens, over 45 years ago. After my mum died two years ago I brought home boxes of family slides taken throughout my childhood. Amongst them were many photographs of his beloved Lake District. I felt something should be done to preserve this record and the quality images he produced with his early Exakta SLR. 
I'm on the left with the bins, my mum is in the mddle and brother Tony on the right - as it says, taken in 1964 - at Kentmere.
Within the website is a gallery called 'Dad's Lake District'. Most slides, but not all unfortunately, were clearly labelled and this information has been added to every image in the gallery where there was info available. The order is random both by geography and by date. The majority of the later pictures from 1965-1966 were shot on Kodachrome slide film. Ektachrome [which gives colours I really like] and Ferraniacolor [too red!] were used too alongside others such as Perutz and Agfa. Dad did a lot of his own processing on filmstock like Ferraniacolor. In fact, throughout his life he was rarely without his camera, as evidenced by this photo of the great fire at Preston engine shed. He came home and gleefully told us he drove through a gate calling 'Press!' to policemen as he went by!
However, the gallery to which I wish to draw attention is about the Lake District. We had a caravan near Newby Bridge and dad loved to head up there to walk the hills, one of the Wainwright books he loved so much as his guide. Below are a few samples. Many were dirty or even suffering from damage to the emulsions so I have cleaned them up as best as I can whilst allowing evidence of their age to remain.
Here are just a few samples...
Haweswater, Ektachrome 1963 - 49 years ago!
Longsleddale
Small Water & Haweswater from Nan Bield
I intend to put this posting online once there are at least one hundred photos to enjoy. The gallery will continue to expand when bad weather forces the persistent birder to remain indoors!
Just to give an idea of what I mean by 'cleaning up' I have added below an image of Patterdale and Ullswater showing a 'before and after' look. I did some minor cropping to remove the worst of the 'fungus'.
Please have a look. Go to the gallery section, select Dad's Lake District and, perhaps, go to slideshow. I hope you enjoy these vintage images.
Chris Downes November 2012
Friday 2nd November -Sunday 4th November 2012
387 -388!
1: Autumn Sunshine 02.11.12
Barry and I managed to fit in an afternoon at Blacktoft, working around our other commitments like car servicing and shopping. Water pipts were on the menu but once we arrived they were off it again as far as we were concerned!
We called in briefly at Marshland hide. Apart from a group of shelduck it was deserted.
On then to Ousefleet: the long drag you could almost call it! However we did have a pleasant couple of hours down at Ousefleet, where the pipit had been seen. As we walked down golden plover were in the field, in good numbers, on our right. I think this sort of shot improves in letter box format!
Marsh harriers were active in front of the hide, battling with some crows after something in the reedbed. The harriers came back time and time again throughout the afternoon. The light was wonderful with an autumnal glow.
Not long after settling into the hide a group of pinkfooted geese came overhead.
A wren was clicking away in front of the hide. I managed eventually to catch it on a post with the ISO rammed up high as the light in the shade where the sun wasn't reaching was poor.
The light was amazing. This shot across the reedbed captures it well.
I'll end this posting with views of the harriers, including some less usual views as they sought to oust the crows from the spot where, presumably, something tasty was hidden from our view in the reeds.
2: Scarborough fair but windy! 03.11.12
Sheila and I drove to Scarborough in search of a juvenile glaucous gull. I can't resist gulls even though it wasn't a tick. They are such attractive photogenic birds. like pink milky coffee. Anyway, half-way there the pager said it had gone. We carried on. I left the camera in the car, Sheila had her camera, a Canon 500D with a 70-300mm zoom. The following pictures were taken by her. Setting up in competition? Not really, if I'm the persistent birder, then she's the reluctant birder! But the images are ok.
We spotted a red-throated diver near the harbour mouth...
...and a cormorant was giving exceptionally close views as Sheila looked down on it from the pier.
An immature gull was quite happy to let me talk to him whilst the photographer clicked away...
We spotted a young auk on the sea. A little auk has been reported off the pier but I have a feeling this is a young razorbill - or was the little auk mistakenly identified? Or am I wrong? Here's a selection of her pictures of this bird.
On our walk a herring gull flew straight at us!
Eventually I said, suddenly: 'Keep an eye on that bird!' As it flew over I realised it had no dark markings. It landed. I ran towards it to check. The photographer caught me up. Here it is: Sheila's glaucous gull.
The rest of the Scarborough photos - not many - were taken by yours truly! I went to get the camera to photograph the glaucous gull. When I got back I couldn't find it! It reappeared on the pager on the way home. I photographed a great black-backed gull:
Lots [30+] of turnstones were running around in the car park. Only one was ringed, in fact he had 5 rings: 4 colour rings and one metal ring. I wonder what project is involved in this fellow. He's showing off his jewelery!!
3: I had a dream... Sunday 04.11.12
Since I first started my website, the welcome page has included a few personal details, together with the fact that the bird I should most like to see is a bee-eater.
Well, on Sunday I had a dream. I dreamt that a bee-eater came up north and settled on a TV aerial in Dartford Street, Seaburn, near Sunderland. What's more, I dreamt I photographed it flying about and catching the wasps that were nesting in the chimney of number 22!
Yes, I had a dream.
In my dream I imagined I was on Lesbos...
Silhouetted into the brilliant Mediterranean sunlight...
This dream bird began to show off for me. A man, in my dream of course, with a giant lens on a giant tripod said: 'Too fast to get flight shots.' Ok, let's do an aerial display. Cue aerial!!
Or just watch this, Mr. Wasp!!
Time to go!
Waxwings were reported at Blaydon railway station. 18 miles according to the satnav. Off we went. I parked and went up onto a footbridge linking the station to the town centre. It trembled every time an HGV went by [the bridge, not the town centre]. A bit scary but it was very high and gave good tree top views. Eventually I spotted a party of three waxwings.
I finished the day with a trip to Elba Park, Houghton-le-Spring, a former coke works that is a recently established country park. We stood in a row in front of a hedge, in the fog, waiting. And waiting for an hour and a half. Eventually someone said it was calling. I couldn't hear a thing. Then, there it was, in the grass, on the floor, in front of me. A little bunting, my 19th lifer of the year and second of the day.
Don't wake me up.
388 UK ever; 277 UK 2012
Sunday 28th October-Wednesday 31st October 2012
Spurn calling!
Sunday 28th October
First of all, let me take you back to 10th September at Seaton Snook, Cleveland. My photo of a Baird's sandpiper is featured in the November issue of BirdWatching magazine. Always a thrill to open a magazine and see one of your photos. Here's a reminder!
I decided this would be a day for Spurn. Anything was possible: waxwing or warbler! I did see a chiffchaff but let's start from where I started, at the cemetery in Easington. A good row of scopes were trained on the field adjacent to the cemetery. I knew from the pager they were watching a great grey shrike and I soon had it in the scope.
I drove back into Easington and by the church among rather derelict farm buildings were a number of birders. They were watching bramblings and, they said, redstarts. Turned out they were blackstarts! Female black redstarts - more than one was present. Someone claimed up to six! And one male later turned up - the only one to drop down to the ground while I was there.
I guess this smart fellow is the male!
Next we all rushed down Vicarage Lane for a little bunting but it had disappeared among houses and was not relocated. After that excitement I went to the Canal Scrape hide for a coffee. Redwings and Fieldfares were present as was a ring ouzel. A woodcock flew in too - a nice tick. I chatted to a birder from Boroughbridge. Then I went to the seawatch hide as I knew there were a lot of little auks going north. I soon saw some, pretty close in. Also saw eider fly past close to the shore.
The weather deteriorated after a fine start and I decided to head home via North Cave as two jack snipe were 'showing well'. I saw one bobbing away quite easily but things are never photographically close at North Cave.
Yorkshire round-up
Tuesday 30th October
Barry and I set off at 8am - quite late for us - and we headed for Alkborough Flats LWT, over the Humber Bridge into Lincolnshire to catch up with a lesser yellowlegs that was in the area. The views from the hide were impressive, with lots of golden plover plus lapwings, ruff, a number of dunlin. Lots of teal plus shoveler, heron and marsh harrier. A sparrowhawk flew past us on the path but we failed to find the yellowlegs, just a few red legged redshank!
Next we called in very briefly at Far Ings LWT to see if the ferruginous duck was about. Again no sign, just a few tufties. The whole place was very quiet. On now to North Cave, back over the suspension bridge. Here we were more fortunate: good variety of birds including a tick for Barry in the form of a very well concealed jack snipe. Bobbing only rarely it was a challenge to pick out but that's what jack snipes are like!
Fourth and final destination was Blacktoft Sands. Although it was pretty quiet here too we did go home having seen 53 species of bird. Not a bad day at all. As I said to Barry, you could see a quarter of year total in one day by repeating our round trip!
There were no amazing things to photograph but here's the best of what I took that day, starting with male and female teal and a moorhen.
It may sound silly but I don't find it easy to get a really good image of a moorhen.
The teasels are all dead and dry by now but Barry spotted one plant just at its best. Funny how nature organises these little insurance policies just in case...
On the same theme, the marsh sow thistle sonchus palustris are well and truly dead but I thought might make an interesting image.
As the afternoon drew towards dusk now summer time has ended and the days grow short, the marsh harriers came reasonably close. Photographed at a high ISO they dominate the marsh.
The blue is the woodlands on the hillside on the far side of the Tiver Trent.
No Bee-eater for me!
Wednesday 31st October
After a morning in the garden a bee-eater was reported near a cemetery in Seaburn, Sunderland. I set off in hope! By the time I reached Saltholme the trail had evidently gone cold. I bought peanuts [for the birds] and lingered a while in the Phil Stead hide.
A few more attempts at a decent moorhen shot...
This drake mallard looked very proud and smart.
It's good to see the wigeon looking good too!
Ready for home. It was cold, bleak and very windy. The waxwings and redpolls had vanished. Who can blame them? In the car park a female kestrel was hunting.
As I packed everything away a noisy flock of canada geese flew overhead. I grabbed part of the group in the fading light.
