Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
4th-5th January 2018
A Good Start
January 4th I went up to Fountains Abbey near Ripon to [hopefully] see some hawfinches. I knew to head for the West Gate. I parked and walked towards the entrance scanning the yew trees as I went. I thought I'd better pay and go in to the grounds a bit to explore properly. An unpleasant woman in her little booth said it would cost £15. 'That much?!' I replied. The sarcastic woman replied 'You can pay Gift Aid if you want, then it's £16.50.' I told that was too expensive. I kept my cool and left but, I must admit, I was left feeling very angry. I don't understand how they can charge one adult that kind of money. Perhaps I'm completely out of touch. I think I paid about £7 quid at the Castle Howard Arboretum - and that was for hawfinch too!!
Very expensive birds hawfinches.
Happy ending. I hung around in the rain. Scanning leafless trees as well as the yews. Five showed up, bless them. And free of charge too!
Wasn't sure what to do next as I knew the light would soon fail. Nosterfield sprang to mind. Only 10 miles away.
I was surprised to find a single avocet there...
...and a bedraggled kestrel.
The quarry site was quiet. Redwing and curlew in the rain.
January 5th. Indecision time! Eventually decided to spend the afternoon at Lemonroyd Sewage Works [tourist hot spot] and persist until I saw a water pipit. It took me about a quarter of an hour. No photo because the coarse fine mesh netting makes it tricky. The bird performed beautifully. I watched it for a bit on the sewage bed then it jumped up onto one of the rotating arms and did a full circle in front of me before dropping down again! Beware: there are a few meadow pipits there too [plus grey wagtails].
Time left to go down the causeway at Swillington Ings. I drove round to Methley Bridge. At the far end of the causeway a kingfisher was perched on a bulrush in the sun. To my consternation someone was standing about 4 feet from it. I approached. The rest as they say is mystery! Just a trusting bird.
Also seen: great crested grebe and goldeneyes.
January 1st 2018
The Early Worm catches the Bird!
Early start saw me in Cowpen Bewley country park by 7.55 as the light was still dim. Slowly the birds appeared. Next stop Ward Jackson Park - met a few local birders getting their fix on some reliable species. Parakeets showed well in the early sunshine. Went back to Tiggy for camera - the bird waited patiently!
Newburn Bridge area [via the marina] for the linnets and the lapland bunting. Soon dealt with! Normal stuff on the beach at low tide; pied wagtail on the rock armour.
Then on to North Gare. Skylarks x3 in the car park. Nearly overlooked them hunkered down in the grass. Second bird visible top left.
Snow buntings at Seaton Snook [very flighty] then on to Saltholme area.
Year list building nicely!
By one o'clock decided [as I had planned in my mind if the bird was still around] to bomb off to Whitby for my friend the wheatear. I knew where to park and where to go as this would be my third visit. Wanted it on the 2018 list! Previous visits it was always on the ground. January 1st is obviously Post Day!
Happy New Year Everyone!
2017 Highlights 31st December 2017
2017 Highlights
A few photos from each month - each month titled but no individual captions.
Not all are rarities - often just an image I liked.
Test yourself to see if you can identify them all!
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
Next one's a bit tricky!
MARCH
APRIL
This one's a bit tricky too!
Might make you scratch your head!
MAY
JUNE
I'm no reed warbler!
Careful!
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
Another tricky chap!
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
2017 The Verdict
Overall it was a wonderful year for photos and that has led to me producing 2 photobooks this year - over 350 pages of photos all together. In terms of year ticks [all UK] I reached 273 which is exactly the same as last year - disappointing as I was well ahead of last year right until late September.
As for my targets - the only reason I have them is that they spur me on, make me go out when I'm in two minds...
2017 targets
1: See 40 species in/from the garden – achieved 14/11/17 [2 red kites] – now 42
2: See 100 or more species within the modern York boundary. 53 – more effort needed!
3: 10 lifers in UK in any combination of birds and butterflies. 7 - 6 birds, 1 butterfly
4: Website hits to reach 35,000 – achieved 21/09/17
5: Go on 2 more birding adventures - achieved 1: w/c 29/04/17; 2: w/c 21/10/17
6: BirdGuides Iris photo total to 7,000. 7,000 achieved: 21/05/17
7. Fastest hundred: achieved 10.53 a.m. on January 5th
19th December ff
And it's all over now, Baby Blue
Leave your stepping stones behind, there something a-calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
And it's all over now, Baby Blue
December 19th went to see a lapland bunting near Newburn Bridge. Tricky to photograph because of the traffic but seen nicely. Red-breasted mergansers displaying at Hartlepool Marina.
Synchronised swimming!
Further round the area it was bath time.
Oystercatcher
Redshanks do it more thoroughly!
No sign of 4 reported water pipits at Dorman's Pool. Just moorhens, a single redshank and 8 blackwits.
Later spent a couple of hours at Hurworth Burn reservoir but saw no sign of the [escaped?] gyr falcon.
December 24th saw a desert wheatear very distantly at Abbey Farm close by Whitby Abbey. There was a howling gale and it was very much a case of spot the dot in the bins, then point the camera at about the right place [using the black bath as a guide], and hope. Most were useless [bird not visible] or blurred. But, it was a very long way away. Taken with a 740mm lens, including the extender, and then much cropped, here are my 2 just about usable images...
Christmas then put paid to any birding for a few days. After a string of domestic disasters [dead dishwasher, cupboard lights in kitchen failure, gas leak in greenhouse, shower partly broken]...Sheila encouraged me to get out birding as my reward for getting the problems solved or at least solutions in hand - so I went back to Whitby on the 28th December.
It was cold, sunny, blue skies and the desert wheatear was waiting for me on the farm track only yards from the Abbey car park. There's been a few of what I call classic bird encounters this year. This, as you will see, was one of them. Up there with the best and what a finale to 2017!
A review of the year 2017 will be posted at midnight precisely on December 31st!
10th December ff
There's a Rolling Stones track...
...entitled: 'You can't always get what you want'. It seems appropriate.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIX0ZDqDljA [Copy this and try pasting into your browser! Ignore the advert.]
It's my all time favourite Rolling Stones track. Play it loud.
Cut to the quick, Chris!
Ok. Sunday I went up to South Shields to see a very smart drake long-tailed duck. I broke one of my key rules: never leave it till the third day. Meant to go Saturday. Should have: it had gone. Had to make do with the also-rans.
Rock pipit on the pier.
Sanderling huddle on the beach by the pier.
Best shots were probably my best ever of purple sandpiper [looking quite purple in some shots!] on the rocks [by the pier!]
Here are my 2 favourites.
Tree Sparrow
It's uncanny how Sheila can spot a tree sparrow in our garden with confidence when, with my eyes I need bins to make sure. She's always right. I love to have them in the garden as they come so rarely - some years not at all. But they only come when it's very cold. One has been coming most days this month so, today [16/12], I decided to see if I could get a photo.
Once I got set up in the back bedroom the tree sparrow had disappeared. I snapped a couple of house sparrows in the winter sunshine.
Eventually the tree sparrow appeared but was partially obscured by twigs.
Another half hour went by and I got these shots on the feeder outside the kitchen window. All shots through double glazing.
