Venus Pool - Hobby

Raptors and luck have gone hand in hand with me over the past few weeks but one of my favourites has escaped attention - a Hobby!

That all changed with an hour long session of inctivity at Venus Pool - climaxed by a fly through from this individual....









Taxi service duties and collection of Kate from Uni beckoned for the rest of the day!!

Venus Pool - Greenshank

Another Greenshank passing through at VP and a very obliging bird despite the marginal vegetation which constantly ruined many a shot.....








A chance for a close up study?








A bird in calm water always oozes potential for including reflections? They don't always work but pleased with this one.......






And what was the attraction? Well, Greenshank can put Herons to shame on the fish catching front!






And if you don't believe me!

Shropshire - Peregrine moment!

A young female Peregrine, basking in the warm evening glow before a brief flight overhead - moments such as this never fail to give pleasure.....








I've had lots of 'Peregrine moments' - they never disappoint but an aerial manoeuvre is often over in the blink of an eye! On vitually the anniversary of a much celebrated image, I managed to catch the pass of a small bird from female adult to young male offspring!

What was interesting (if you look at the first image) the female was carrying the bird in her bill rather than talons - takes some nerve trusting the youngster with those trather sharp talons.......










What a moment!

Upton Warren - Phalarope finale

My last twitched Red necked Phalarope (Belvide) ended up in dip tray, having missed it literally by minutes! Here I was contemplating an early finish and firing over to Upton Warren on the way home! Daft or what?

I succumbed to temptation, largely due to effects of pollen (tearing my eyes out) and the thought of missing the Kings Lynn traffic mayhem.......

(About) three hours later......

The sailing club car park was quiet - not a good sign but a birder driving off cheered me up - it was "still there but distant". I settled for that!

Now, for Upton Warren such a small bird is always likely to be distant but at least it was just beyond the islands on the near bank. I got my bins on it first and then..... it promptly disappeared behind vegetation.....

A few minutes passed and at least I got a record shot or two ......








(and lets face it - that's all they are!)

Constantly harrassed by either Coots or Gulls....










It was not surprising that eventually, it took shelter by the reed bed on the far bank. And, slightly knackered, I concluded the journey home......

Norfolk - out and about

A brief review of the weekend which didn't provide much in the way of imagery - better late than never!

A pre-breakfast look at Cley produced three Spoonbills in excess of 100 Avocet, numerous Black-tailed Godwits and other common waders, including this obliging Redshank!






The whole of Saturday morning was spent at Swanton Nover and Great Ryburgh - eventually provided distant views of one Honey Buzzard - a not so distant but record quality shot of Barn Owl carrying a vole was the only time the shutter got into action!






The afternoon and evening was spent at Titchwell - due to heavy storms I never made it to the beach - but most of the Knot and Barwits were to the left of the second hide!








After a season of clinging on to reed stems, Bearded Tits are starting to look in need of a fresh set of tail feathers!!








Sunday morning got underway with a bang - a Firecrest near Sheringham. Hopes were high for Kelling Heath to produce? No Woodlark or Dartford Warbler, plenty of common birds posing well though including this Whitethroat and female Yellowhammer.....








The highlight of Sunday came whilst on the road with a chance encounter with a male Marsh Harrier working a roadside field - I pulled in off the road to check it out and to my surprise, it came closer - within 50m or so - before dropping on prey unseen.....









Unbelievably, the field opposite the road also yielded brief but distant views of a male Montagu's Harrier!!










Now that is one classy raptor!! I stayed a while hoping for a repeat performance (which never came). Eventually the effects of the local grasses took their toll as I started to scratch my eyes out! It was decision time, the beach at Titchwell where nothing new was likely to turn up or an early return - via a minor detour to Upton Warren where a Red necked Phalarope currently showing......

Suffolk - Orioles and Rosies

With two nights in North Norfolk booked for the weekend, a 'productive' route was planned - not necessarily in the right direction but at least the disappearing Lincs Terek Sandpiper had saved me from temptation further North!!

The day started at Lakenheath where a pair of Golden Orioles have been showing well for the past few weeks. I joined the crowd at the 'official' viewpoint, the birds quite distant but everyone was going away happy! They were not always easy to find, often obscured behind poplar braches in the gusty wind. Never guaranteed at this site, I left with a couple of record record shots......








Also here, a long awaited year tick in the form of Marsh Harrier plus other decent birds, Bittern and Cuckoo in flight. I had to settle for just 'seeing' both these and a solitary Stone Curlew at Cavenham Heath.

By midday, I'd become tempted by Roseate Terns at Minsmere which were queing up for display portraits for the locals by all accounts! Of course, by the time I got there, they had moved on from the South hide. Question was - where??

All I had to admire were Sandwich Terns trying impress the girls with an offering or two!











Why are there so many Sandwich Terns?







The scrapes as ever, even at this time of year producing plenty of waders, including three cracking Spotted Redshank in summer plumage!










Numerous Avocet and Black tailed Godwit of course.....








Plus an adult Mediterranean Gull....






After completing two circuits of the reserve, I eventually caught up with two of the Roseate Terns a couple of hours later - from the West hide and at least 100m distant. Forget feather detail - strictly record shot time!!!

Nice to compare with nearby Sandwich Terns, the rosy flush to underparts, smaller size, lack of yellow tip to bill and leg colour....








making them pretty obvious - shown graphically here....






A day that starts with Golden Oriole and Stone Curlew then ends with Roseate Tern can't be that bad eh?

Despite a vigil at the South hide, the Rosies never returned to the wooden posts and the drive up to Sheringham beckoned.....

South Shropshire - raptor weekend!

I'm shattered as I write - a female Nightjar was successfully ticked on successive (Fri / Sat) evenings - flying about on territory and down to 10m in the South of the County - fantastic views, together with Woodcock! I need a nightsight camera for this sort of action though! Given the sensitive nature of some of the species involved, some sensible economy of 'whereabouts' too!

A relative absence of images from this weekend considering the number of hours spent in the field. I'm not disappointed though, it was good birds here and there to keep the enthusiasm going - with the emphasis on Raptors.

Seven species of raptor were seen on Saturday (with more repeats on Sunday) but I never got the object of my quest..... I can moan as much as anyone when 'nowts about' but Common Buzzard(loads), Kestrel....






Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Peregrine....






Hobby and at least three Goshawk point to relative success?






Grasshopper Warblers continue to feature on the Longmynd and a cruise (not a single Merlin) followed by a rather squelchy remote tramp of the area with Yvonne on Saturday witnessed an amazing three birds seen! Checking the same sites out on Sunday, only one bird was reeling then!






Little chance of migrants locally now but I'm hoping for a Norfolk visit next weekend......