Spotted Redshanks

Afternoon visit to Holywell today produced two nice surprises, in the form of these Spotted Redshanks.

Back again in the evening and only one Short-Eared Owl was hunting the fields, I sat until it was almost completely dark, I'm pleased I did as this Barn Owl quartered the ground, coming close on occasions. (My camera struggle to focus in the light, shooting at ISO 6400, 1/60, f5.6)

The past couple of days

I've been working on a roof with my dad all week down on the seafront, the promising winds on Friday had me out on Rocky Island on Saturday morning, where I bumped into  BrianB. He'd had a good sea-watch. Myself and BD continued on to check the island for migrants, which consisted of a single male Stonechat, and a Wheatear which I missed.

The dene was the next location on the cards, only Blackcap, a few Bullfinch and a Tit party with a few Willow Warbler and Chiff Chaff here. Towards the pond the Beehive flash was quiet.

Not until I reached the pond at 12:00 did things begin to liven up. BrianB was already in the Public hide on my arrival. Not long after I sat down a couple of Ruff headed into the the Bay, but never had the chance to land as they were chased off by a Jackdaw, unfortunate. It was clear the ponds wildfowl had recently had a boost, with 37 Wigeon, 26 Teal, 11 Tufted, and a few Pochard present, it seemed to give a new life to the quiet pond. The number of Black Headed Gulls, and the 400+ Lapwing moving between fields and pond to bathe helped add to this lively feeling. 

BD had arrived, and soon got his eye onto a strange looking bird over the far side of the pond which had us all stumped, until it gave a better view being chased by a couple of Black Headed Gulls. It was a Cockatiel! The Gulls and corvids drove it into the willows by the public hide, were it voiced it disapproval loudly for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Cockatiel's lyme light had soon been pinched as a stunning Spotted Redshank graced the shores. It fed solely on small fish, catching quite a number and staying for a good few hours, plenty time for SP to get down and see it.

Back home for a quick tea and I was out again with Stephen, heading for Peter's patch, in search of Owls. We weren't disappointed. The pleasure of 3 Long-Eared Owls, and up to 8 Short-Eared Owls gave brilliant views from arrival, the rest of the night was spent filming their antics, and chatting with a few familiar and unfamiliar faces. A great evening, not to be forgotten.

This morning a quick look for Little Owls proved fruitless, but Holywell added a Dunlin to it shore.

Tonight and the Owls were revisited, this time with my dad, Stephen and Phil. Again they didn't disappoint. Here's a short bit of footage, you can hear the mass of local photographers in the background! Excused the focus at some points, these beautiful birds are difficult to keep track of manually, although I am getting better :)

Best viewed in HD

Quick Visit

Quick visit to Holywell tonight, (with Brian and Tom), 2 Black Necked Grebes still present, see Tim's blog for some nice shots. Also 11 Gadwall, and a eclipse male Wigeon. No sign of any waders, apart from 7 fly over Golden Plover.


Spotted Redshank was present on Beehive Flash.


I'm expecting an interesting post from Phil tonight.

I love my patch, Part 2

August 3rd was my first evening back on patch, heading down quite late the aim of the night was to see how the Barn Owls had faired, I was extremely pleased to find 3 individuals, of which 2 I think are this years fledge chicks. Moving on to the Dene a Tawny Owl family could be heard calling, the first young I've heard calling on patch. BD text me informing me of a Green Sandpiper, which I could just make out in the failing light, along with a lone Redshank and 4 Snipe.


Back the next day to find Joe's Spotted Redshank, which was showing extremely well, joined by 2 Green Sandpiper. BD joined me later, but with a lack of Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank made a brief appearance but didn't hang around. We headed up to the North Pool, and were rewarded with an adult Barn Owl, Joe arrived not long after this, but the Shank still wasn't present, just as we turned to leave it came plummeting out of the air, presumably from the Beehive Flash.


The next morning I arrived at Holywell for 04:00am with the plan being to photograph some of the passage waders, kitted up I headed for my chosen site, getting into position before the light began to break. As the light began to build I could pick out both Greenshank and Green Sandpiper, it was now a waiting game. The time passed relatively quickly with the whirring of ducks close over head, and the very close proximity to a Moorhen, I began snapping, firstly distance objects then steadily closer as the light grew. Following the Greenshank it gradually moved closer and closer towards me, until it was literally 30cm from the lens, to close to focus, happily feeding. The feeding must have been good as the Green Sandpiper soon joined it, and I sat watching both birds for a good while before they began moving into range, stopping to the noise of the shutter, then continuing on. The chance of great light and better shots was lost when a female Sparrowhawk flew from the North Wood, where her family could be heard calling.


A Grey Wagtail family and a lone Dipper were down the Dene that morning as well.


It wasn't long before I was back, picking Brian and Stephen up at 17:30 in search of the waders and the reported juv Black Necked Grebe. It proved to be an exciting and busy evening at Holywell, with Stephen picking up 4 lifers, including a juv Med Gull. Bumped into John down there as well.


Here's some photo's from the night, but my best images are below this post.

Juv Med Gull

Two leggy birds (Ruff and Greenshank)

Black Necked Grebe

This post was planned to be published yesterday, but I had an unexpected visit, and over night stay to the Hospital. I was discharged this morning, not wanting to waste the rest of the day my Dad and I headed for Whitburn in search of the Humpback, unfortunately we didn't connect with it, but it was good to get out.

Tonight I've been rearranging my blog, I'm planning to post my better images as the size below from now on, but as always with the smaller images, double click for some more detail. Any feedback on the new layout would be great, especially its causing any problems or difficulties :)

And finally I have a new blog to plug, a volunteer from SLS, she's now in South Africa and proving to be a challenge to keep up with ! 

http://ladyhollysiddons.blogspot.com/