| Farnham GPs and Bingley, Yorkshire January 30th 2007 |
| The appearance of potentially the first Pacific Diver for the UK on a gravel pit in North Yorkshire, combined with the American Robin at Bingley was enough to tempt me into doing some birding for the first time in 3 weeks. Picking up Josh Jones early on Tuesday morning, we arrived at Farnham before 9am, greeted by Marc Read and crew, who had already been on site for 5 hours. Fairly distant scope views of the Diver were had from the road, but various identification pointers were evident, including the birds' rather small size. A few Goldeneye were also on the pit, and a Sparrowhawk displayed over the road as we returned to the car. The plan was to go and have a look at the American Robin 20-odd miles down the road at Bingley, then return to Farnham when access to the pit was allowed, hopefully for better views and maybe even a photo or two. A Red Kite and a Peregrine were seen on the journey to Bingley. The Robin was largely disobliging, sitting up in trees or on the edges of gardens for the majority of the time, while the light was also pretty piss poor. Eventually the bird emerged and showed reasonably well for a few minutes at about 20 yards range, allowing a few images to be taken. Ian Butler was on site as we arrived and got the reward for perseverance with some smashing shots. News that two points of access to the pit at Farnham had been allowed prompted us to leave the Robin and return to the Diver. Initially viewing from the Treves factory with generous free access, the views were an improvement on earlier in the day, but still quite poor. Eventually we decided to splash out the tenner and get to the other side of the pit, which had fewer trees around the edge and from which the light would be behind us. After a short wait, the Diver did pass by at reasonably close range, (c. 30-40 yards) allowing a few shots to be taken, before drifting off to the other end of the pit, which is where we left it. Click on the images below for a few more of each bird: |
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| Hayle Estuary, Cornwall March 1st 2007 |
| This White-billed Diver on the Hayle Estuary showed exceptionally well. A great way to complete my British Diver list after the Pacific in North Yorkshire a month or so ago. Spotted Sand, 6+ Great Northern Divers, Mediterranean Gull and some sort of Lesser Whitethroat also seen. Click on the image below for far too many more: |
| Harrow Lodge Park, Hornchurch, London April 9th 2007 |
| This adult drake Ferruginous Duck was the first of a number of obliging rare ducks seen during a 3 day period. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Edinburgh, Loch Venachar, Dumfries & Galloway (Scotland), Warton, Marshside Marsh RSPB (Lancs) and Swadlincote (Derbys) April 10-11th 2007 |
| An enjoyable couple of days out with Marc Read and Josh Jones, visiting various long staying rarities around southern Scotland and northern England. We began with the 1st winter drake Lesser Scaup on St. Margaret's Loch, Edinburgh, which showed so well it almost made up for the fact that the light was crap... Click on the image below for more: |
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| The next stop was Loch Venachar, Stirlingshire/Forth for the drake Barrow's Goldeneye... Pretty good views were had of this smart bird and a couple of record shots were taken. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Having enjoyed good views of the Barrow's, we headed south towards the border, stopping to check the flocks of Barnacle Geese near Caerlaverock in the hope that one of the small race Canada Geese would still be present among them. Thankfully we were in luck, and Josh picked out what proved to be the Taverner's Canada Goose. Beautiful. We continued southwards and slept in the car at Warton, Lancashire, ready to tick off the Glossy Ibis first thing next morning, which we did. Following this we headed towards Marshside Marsh RSPB where the long staying drake Green-winged Teal was easily located. Sadly poor light and its failure to be as obliging as it often has been meant we failed to get any pleasing photos. A brief stop at Crosby Marina revealed 80+ Little Gulls but no Ring-billed Gull, so with the north west pretty much exhausted in terms of rare birds, we headed towards Jones's house in South Lincs, via the drake Ring-necked Duck on a pond near Swadlincote, Derbys. This showed pretty well, along with several rather excitable displaying Little-ringed Plovers. Click on the image below for more: |
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| All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable and productive few days of mainly chasing rare wildfowl - one of my least favourite families due to the regular problem that they favour large, cold, windy reservoirs and may be escapes and/or hybrids! |
| Calshot Marshes, Hampshire April 25th 2007 |
| This Hoopoe showed extremely well along the path to Calshot Marshes, Hampshire, just 20 miles from university. For much of the morning on the 25th it fed on the path, largely oblivious to the dog walkers and the handful of birders who had come to see it. As the number of people increased, the bird spent an increasing amount of time in the horse paddock where it was not quite so ideal for photographs. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Site Updates February 3rd 2008 |
| I'm currently implementing a number of changes to the site including an additional section for photos from trips overseas and galleries of common species. Most rarity photos have been sorted and are online in the gallery section. |
| Goa, India photos added to Overseas Images section Feburary 3rd 2008 |
| c.250 new images of c.90 species added. |
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| Pagham Harbour, West Sussex October 10th 2007 |
| This juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper showed superbly on the saltmarsh at Pagham Harbour. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire October 8th 2007 |
| The Buff-bellied Pipit evetually showed well. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Cley, Norfolk Feburary 6th 2008 |
| My second visit for the White-crowned Sparrow in Norfolk, in the hope that the crowd numbers had died down and the bird would venture out of the driveway. After skulking in a bush for a while, it eventually came out and fed on the ground for a minute or so. Click on the image below for more: |
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| Lesvos, Greece April 2008 |
| c.100 images from a trip to Lesvos are now online in the 'Overseas Images' section. Or click on the scenery shots below for the Lesvos 2008 page: |
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| Above - the view across the north of the island towards the Turkish coast |
| Above - flowers |
| Above and below - we managed to get our Hyundai Atos stuck in this field a couple of times. I think it was the result of an overpowering subconcious desire to get rid of the wretched vehicle. On the second occasion it took the help of 3 German birders to get us out, thanks guys. These shots show the aftermath. |
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| Enough of scenery and car mishaps Click here for the bird photos! |