Cosmeston - Bearded one

Many thanks for the South Wales hospitality provided by Bob and Rannveig Wallis (especially if they are reading this) and a brief session watching their garden feeders Saturday morning produced a visit from this juvenile Sparrowhawk!! Not surprisingly, the feeders were quiet for a while....






Sunday was a free day and having come away image-less on two occasions last December, I thought I'd see if the Cosmeston Bearded Tit would oblige?? It did - but took an eternity to even vaguely show itself clearly! Just like the Hawfinch - there was always something in the way!! Still, these were better than nowt and are representative of the sort of view this bird is providing (largely hidden!)













No sign of the Ferruginous duck and with Lesser Scaup now moved down the road - it was Cardiff bay next stop......

Brown Clee - Shropshire Hawfinch at last

I was all set for a weekend of alpine talks down in South Wales. I rather fancied getting some birding in down there but equally, the Brown Clee Hawfinch was a real tempter.

In the end it was no contest and Friday morning (plus a bit of the afternoon) was spent in Shropshire!

A patient wait was necessary and after an hour or so the bird didn't disappoint. Getting a decent image was absolutely impossible however, the bird always partly obscured by the annoying amount of the twiggy Hawthorn bush it was feeding in!!

Never mind, record shots they may be but a nice memory of a second Shropshire lifer in the past week!

Here's the bush....






And here's the bird (with bits of bush in the way!!)....












At least another hour was spent scouring the summit area for a Great grey Shrike with several other birders but with no success. It was treacherous terrain up there too with freeze/thaw conditions giving rise to a lot of ice!






There were role models too for at least one less enterprising 'youngster' who found the slog to the top a little too much to try!! Richard Dodwell is 83 and yomped (well sort of) up and down the steep track TWICE in search of Shrike and Hawfinch. This ice patch may have been a bridge too far but Richard, pictured here with his good lady wife - I salute you both (and I did take my hat off!!!)






Next stop was South Wales and knowing I still had a little time to spare, a quick pit stop at Hereford cathedral where within minutes, the maleBlack Redstart announced he was still in residence!








A couple more record shots before he was off towards the nearby houses and then, as I only had a few minutes, so was I.....

BIRDGUIDES Photo of the Year 2008 - Running up nicely!

Well, Jim is over the moon after seeing the Photo of the year 2008 verdict on BIRDGUIDES today. After drooling over the winning entry (congratulations Dean!!) I realised I had TWO pictures in the 'runners up' frame - wow, blown away or what!!

Just in case you haven't seen the images which caught the judges eye? My Holkham Hobby encounter will now evoke even happier memories!!






Plus, as I've learnt - 'never ignore the ordinary bird' such as this Cormorant - you might just be lucky enough to freeze an extraordinary moment in time.....






And if you want to admire the other images which contributed to the BIRDGUIDES Picture of the Year final selections, click here

Now, it's all about a New Year, new birds, new images and attempting to see if I can capture something special yet again. Requests for talks are rolling in - if you have links with a Bird/Nature/Photography group and are interested, check out the information on the right side of this page and contact me for further details.

Thanks for looking.....

Jim's gone to Iceland!

Having found this first local White Winger of the year in pretty atrocious light conditions, I was anxious to get some shots for record!

Jason fancied seeing it too, so we set off to Priorslee, hoping this second winter Iceland Gull would return? Fingers were crossed and plenty of layers were donned - it was rather cold out there!

What should greet us - none other than the bird in question with a decent gathering of Herring and Lesser Black backed Gulls plus at least 20 Great Black backed Gulls on show. There was no sign of the Caspian Gull - a few of the Herring Gulls are now sporting 'white heads' - despite a 'claim' of one on arrival, no convincing Gull was seen.

There was certainly not a lot of activity from this individual....

A quick drink....








Than a walk around...














Before going to sleep!






I missed it fly off too, as I was getting some feeling back into my feet with the car heater on!!

South Shropshire - fog free zone!

Shrewsbury and Telford were amongst most of central Shropshire, enveloped in a sea of fog - and if you don't believe me - check out the later images. I was hoping with Yvonne to get amongst the Waxwings but despite visits to Stokesay at 9.30 and 1.30 - they'd gone!!!






The reason could of course be the local aggressively territorial Missile Thrush (yes that is spelt correctly). I didn't see it eat a single berry but it certianly did it's utmost to prevent any other birds eating them too. Undoubtedly it's destined to be reincarnated as a Sparrowhawk!! Needless to say, I couldn't catch it in flight!








One or two of the Blackbirds were allowed pickings off the ground....












No Holly, so had to make do with a gravestone for the Robin....






The only other worthwhile Bird image of the day came at Vernalls Common - a speculative cruise around the area, just in case the Black Redstart reported in 2008 had stuck? The only bird seen catching flies on a rooftop was, unbelievably a Grey Wagtail!!






A Longmynd finale - check out these atmospheric pics of Mid Shropshire bathed in a sea of fog.....








......followed by the most amazing views of a pair of Hen Harriers flying in to roost, not enough light for photography sadly. The male came in first, only to be unceremoniously ousted from the heather by the female and giving an extended display. Brrr, the temperature was now -8'C!!

Stokesay - Waxwings

It suddenly dawned on me, having ignored the Stokesay Waxwings on New Years Day, what if they decided to go.....

A quick session was planned and luckily they were there on arrival! Nothing new or innovative here, just more record shots of these amazing birds!

Just look how the light can affect images - before the sun got through to the tree....








The portrait....






Berry shots, including one toss.....














A few close up crops....










And would you believe it - they did leave overnight!!!!

New Year Chase?

A bit of New Year's Day County 'loyalty' was twinned with a search for some decent birds in neighbouring Staffs....

The year list got rolling at VP and Priorslee - there were just over 50 species in the bag by mid morning. Highlights being Jack Snipe and Yellow-legged Gull. I then decided to start the new year as the old one ended with hopes of another 'Coppice Hill' Hawfich show? - it didn't and neither did the Stubber's Green Caspian Gull!

There were plenty of waxwings however, at least 90 seen in the Chasewater area. They were very mobile however, all the berries were frozen solid and this is my one and only record of a 28 strong single group!






The drake Smew was showing well but quite distant on Chasewater....






Given the apalling light, it was record shots all the way provided by Coal/Willow Tits and a frosty Yellowhammer at Coppice Hill










Happy New Year!!