Picture of 2009 (UK final poll)

(Please Note - current posts during December will appear further below -after the Picture of the Year selections)

Here are a final 'Top Twenty' favourite pictures (in no particular order) taken during 2009. This includes the top three Shropshire birds - congratulations to the COMMON SNIPE who just pipped the Willow Warbler and Peregrines by a single vote, it was a close run thing though!

You will find an voting box to the right, to keep things simple and by popular request simply check the FIVE pictures you like most! (click thumbs to open a larger image) FIVE votes maximum only please! (Only one voter is possible per PC sorry!)

I make no excuse for including TWO Grey Phalarope pictures!!

I will let this poll run until December 31st and then YOUR No 1 Picture of the Year will be declared on New Years Day....

Have a fantastic Christmas and here's wishing everyone great birding in 2010!




Picture 1 - Waxwings - Chasewater, Staffs (January)





Picture 2 - Cattle Egret - Powderham, Devon (February)







Picture 3 - Penduline Tit - Paignton, Devon (March)





Picture 4 - Ptarmigan - Ben Macdui, Highland (May)






Picture 5 - Parrot Crossbill - Abernethy, Highland (May)





Picture 6 - Knot and Godwit take off - Titchwell, Norfolk (June)






Picture 7 - Willow Warbler - Stiperstones, Shropshire (May)





Picture 8 - Peregrine food pass - Shropshire (June)





Picture 9 - Marsh Harrier - Norfolk (June)





Picture 10 - Grey Phalarope 'droplets' - Crosby Marine Park (November)





Picture 11 - Rock Pipit - Marazion, Cornwall (September)






Picture 12 - Little Stint - Marazion, Cornwall (September)






Picture 13 - Baird's Sandpiper - Marazion, Cornwall (September)






Picture 14 - Leach's Storm Petrel - Stewartby Lake, Beds (September)





Picture 15 - Barn Owl - Parkgate, Wirral (October)





Picture 16 - Shore Lark - Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk (October)







Picture 17 - Short-eared Owl - Salthouse, Norfolk (October)






Picture 18 - Grey Phalarope 'close up' - Crosby Marine Park (November)





Picture 19 - Common Snipe - Venus Pool, Shropshire (October)






Picture 20 - Mediterranean Gull - Mumbles, Swansea (December)

Stubbers Green - Ice and Iceland

After a pretty unproductive Saturday - checking out the Meres, VP and Priorslee (BNG still there) a decent bird was called for! A long haul was knocked on the head - (glad about this as the Gower Gyr didn't show!) and I opted for a drive over to Stubbers Green with Andy (so he could tell me all about the Gyr he'd had the previous day!!)

Another good Stubbers Green Gull had been about recently and it was an icy scene which welcomed us mid-morning....

We'd just got out of the car, when the Iceland Gull flew overhead! It joined the rest of the Gulls in the middle of the ice covered pool - they were all giving the grassy bank a miss! Nevertheless, it was showing quite well (irritatingly with it's back to us most of the time) and a fair distance away......

Fleshy coloured black tipped bill, pale iris and quite uniformly marked wings and tail - characteristic of a 2nd winter bird.








After a brief flight which I missed, it was relocated and went walkabout amongst the other gulls....






A bit of a wingflap....






A running take off - showing a clean pair of heels....






and it was way back to the tip.... (where the Caspian Gull presumably was?? - didn't see this bird at all although it was reported in the afternoon)






Shame it was too cold to hang about and wait for it to return!!

Mumbles - Meds galore!!

A significant and spectacular increase in the numbers of Northern European Mediterranean Gulls has led to some very welcome 'UK hotspots' for the overwintering population. One such area is the Mumbles, west of Swansea and in particular - Bracelet Bay. Jim had escaped from the confines of a steamy Swansea swimming pool to spend an hour or two in the company of at least 24 (undoubtedly double this in the area) Mediterranean Gulls of various ages.....

Thanks to ringing studies, the birds here are known to regularly travel here from Belgium, Netherlands and countries farther east with a Serbian bird being recorded this year!

One white colour ringed bird 38J0 (seen below) is a regular visitor, commuting between Belgium and Swansea....






Another great opportunity to get some great views of birds which are never 'easy' in Shropshire. Going through the stages of development (different birds featured) in Winter plumage both posing and in flight....




First winter:










Second Winter:










Adult:










A golden opportunuity for some close up drinking shots too ....










and then, the 'droplet' shot, I quite like this one!






Lots more I haven't looked at..... (yet)

Priorslee - Black necked Grebe action

Took another look at the Black-necked Grebe today hoping for some action and this time, a bit of sun on the subject!








Enough of portraits though, time to try and catch a bit of action? The post preen 'shake'.....








Or the moment of entry during a dive, not the easiest moment to capture but these will do for starters.....












That's probably all from me for now, away in Swansea for the weekend on swimming duty with Gemma plus a talk in Gloucs. Saturday afternoon - I might get an hour away from it all?? Who knows.....

Picture of the Year (2009) - Shropshire

(Please Note - current posts during December will appear further below -after the Picture of the Year selections)

Here we go again for the annual end of year picture accumulation. It's been a very successful year on the birding front with a best ever UK yearlist (253 to date) and a decent Shropshire count (166 so far), with no more than the usual effort involved....

I've selected below a selection - of twenty favourite pictures (in no particular order) taken in Shropshire during 2009. You can simply select your favourite photo(s) from the assembly - always interesting to see which is the most popular!

You will find an voting box to the right, for this first round simply check the FIVE pictures you like most! (click thumbs to open a larger image) Five votes maximum only please! (Only one voter is possible per PC sorry!)

I will let this poll run until December 18th and then, the top three pictures will be included with more photos taken elsewhere in the UK during 2009. Voting will then begin again over the Christmas period with YOUR No 1 Picture of the Year being declared on New Years Day....




Picture 1 - Red kite at Clunton (January)





Picture 2 - Glaucous Gull at Priorslee (February)





Picture 3 - Bittern - Venus Pool (February)





Picture 4 - Red Kite - South Shropshire (March)





Picture 5 - Osprey - Venus Pool (April)






Picture 6 - Grasshopper Warbler - Longmynd (April)





Picture 7 - Willow Warbler - Stiperstones (May)





Picture 8 - Hobby - Venus Pool (June)





Picture 9 - Peregrines - Shropshire (June)





Picture 10 - Little Egret - Venus Pool (July)





Picture 11 - Wood Sandpiper - Chelmarsh (July)





Picture 12 - Kingfisher - Venus Pool (August)





Picture 13 - Kingfisher - Venus Pool (August)





Picture 14 - Osprey - Venus Pool (July)





Picture 15 - Cormorant - Venus Pool (July)





Picture 16 - Cuckoo - Venus Pool (July)





Picture 17 - Purple Heron (flight)- Rednal (September)





Picture 18 - Purple Heron - Rednal (September)





Picture 19 - Common Snipe - Venus Pool (October)





Picture 20 - Kestrel pair - Venus Pool (November)

Priorslee - Black necked Grebe

I've been keeping an eye on Priorslee lake whenever possible lately, there HAS to be a Caspian Gull by Christmas!! One or two adult Yellow legged Gulls have been showing regularly but the star turn of today was this newly arrived cracking Black-necked Grebe!!








Busy keeping that red eye on the look out for danger but totally confiding and a ten minute burst of close up activity provided my clearest images to date......







Head on shots seem to have much more character!






My favourite!






That's the portraits done then - hopefully it will hang around for some action shots??

Grimley - Glossy Ibis (eventually)

This was one of those lucky, lucky days when everything falls into place - eventually! It all started with a decision to check out the very obliging Beachley Pom Skua down near Chepstow. Yvonne was keen to give her new lens a try out too....

However, the chance of two birds for the price of one was tempting? Worcestershire (with Glossy Ibis - 'somewhere') is on a sort of twisty direct line from Shropshire to the Severn estuary isn't it? Homework completed as to where the Ibis might be, we arrived on the bank of the Severn at Holt Fleet hoping for a quick sighting and off? This was going to take some time as the 'bird had flown'!

The Gods were smiling though. Also searching the riverside fields, was a young local, Craig Reed - a blogger too - 'Midlands Birder'. He was getting some very useful news via his mobile too..... The local 'network' had sparked into action with the welcome news: "Glossy Ibis - now relocated down at Grimley, off Wagon Wheel Lane". In hot pursuit, we followed Craig's Dad's birding taxi!

A short walk down a very muddy lane and we were soon admiring (a very distant) Glossy Ibis! Time for a few record shots...










Well over an hour had been lost, the M5 and a date with a Pom was beckoning....