Bramblings part 1

There seems to be plenty of Bramblings about at the moment and they always seem to stand out from the winter bird crowd! Males are always to preferred quarry but a female within range will do nicely! They brighten up any day.....

Rummaging through the litter....

Add a bit of sunshine?

Lovely birds seen close up :-)

Now where's a nice male......

Kingfisher

I've never known such a busy November - talks, meetings, projects the list goes on! And I've now got an eye problem which means less time spent in front of a montitor :-( Been fitting in local birding sessions when I can - nothing 'special' but some obliging common birds.....

Like this Kingfisher!

And a windswept attempt at landing with a fish!

Which ended in.... whoooops!

I meant to that?

A quick hover and then gone!

Chesterfield - Crag Martin

Twitching the Chesterfield Crag Martin the previous day had not been an option as I was down in a Swansea cinema when news broke..... Once news broke on Monday morning, it was a refreshing change to be setting the satnav for a lifer bird?

The local council have got in on the act too - hastily adding new signage for this new 'atttraction'!

A closer view.....

Despite the pouring rain, hundreds of penniless birders were lining the streets, hoping the Martin would be on show ...

I  ticked from the randomly parked car on arrival just after 11.00 but then it promptly did the customary disappearing act! Only to reappear 30 minutes later when it  showed rather well albeit in a gale and horizontal rain - please don't expect much from the images!!!!

Photographing from an alley with tall buildings all around is not easy, add a fast moving bird in driving rain it's nigh on impossible!

But we try :-)

At least a vague view of the tail windows are apparent here in this final dodgy offering.....

Question is, do I return on a better day? If I get the opportunity.....

Polemere - Garganey

Always hard to summon up enthusiasm when suffering from Scilly hangover but this Garganey at Polemere, was a nice find by James Grundy!

And it couldn't have been further away!

Busy preening .....

A (little) bit closer?

Despite this, still suffering from the hangover!

Lands End - Rose-coloured Starling

Following an overnight stop in Penzance, I was hoping for a decent bird to be in the area? The nearest one to tick the box was the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling at Lands End, some 28 miles from the Scillies according to the sign.....

It wasn't noticeable on arrival but knowing it favoured the lifeboat, so gave it a few minutes!

It didn't take long and proceeded to have a good preen - anyone would think it wanted it's picture taken??

Another birder stirred things up by throwing some bread down. The 300mm lens was next to useless this close so here's a couple of random iphone images!

'We need more feather detail' implored the masses after tweeting it out!

So, the 300mm lens came back out and I obliged - keeping a respectful distance with a variety of backgrounds?

A few close-ups beckoned!

Back on the grass and after having sheltered in the car for 40 minutes as the rain came down - the sune even peeked out!

Completely mobile, a chance image on one of the miniature houses on show, shame they didn't have a starling to scale?

And just to prove birds like this don't need bread, it was quite happy to pick up seeds and tasty titbits....

This was the scene awaiting me when I decided I'd had enough and was ready to start the long journey home!

Complete with burly minders, a celebrity Starling if ever there was one!

Scilly day 21- St Mary's mini pelagic

A mini-pelagic around the islands this afternoon and taking a quick look at the open sea through Tresco sound, quite sensible to be seeking shelter!!

Spoonbill still present.....

And quite adept at standing on one leg!

Or two?

Especially when take off beckons!

Then frame filling flight shots....

Other waders seen included Greenshank.....

A single Grey Plover was a trip tick ....  And here's part of an estimated 75+  strong Sanderling flock

The highlight was two Minke whales seen roughly a mile north west off St Mary's.

Quite distant but pretty amazing prolonged views :-)

Star bird display was courtesy of this Merlin, engaged in an acrobatic dogfight near one of the Western Isles - prolonged chasing of Pipits which managed to elude capture!!

A nice ending :-) And that's probably it from me..... I'll do a summary post with some galleries etc. once I get sorted back home (where I have three weeks of 'catch up' waiting!