tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60623792719907621492024-03-04T20:11:49.135-08:00Gary Jenkins Bird PhotographyGary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-41297607220458793502011-11-20T06:34:00.000-08:002011-12-23T06:37:59.141-08:00Desert Wheatear, Bempton, Yorkshire 27 November 2011Had a great day out today with my good mate Mike Watson. He rung last night asking if I was up for a trip to Bempton, Yaarkshire for the Desert Wheatear thats been at the cliffs RSPB reserve. We set off at 0600 and had arrived by 0930.<br />
The wind blowing in off the sea was abysmal and because of this it took nearly an hour for the wheatear to show. The sun came out (even though it was still wild), and the bird stared to feed on the insects that were obviously warming up under the weak sunshine.<br />
I photographed a desert wheatear in December 2007 at Burniston just a bit further up the coast, which was unbelievably obliging, and this bird was no different. It regularly walked past the watching birders without a problem as it fed in the stubble field.<br />
The one negative was the birder who blatently walked AT the bird without ant care for its welfare.<br />
Sad to hear also on the way home that Gary Speed had died.<br />
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<br />Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-18098013838552364352011-11-14T04:32:00.000-08:002011-12-23T04:54:42.315-08:00Greater Yellowlegs, Hauxley Nature Reserve, Northumberland, 14 November 2011Ive had a real rush today. I dropped Ellie off at school at 0830 in order to get up to Northumberland for the cracking Greater Yellowlegs that has been residing at Hauxley Nature Reserve for the past 2 days. I was hoping to see and photograph the bird, and then get back in time to pick Ellie up at 3 15pm.<br />
It couldn't have gone any better really. I arrived at Hauxley about 1030, to be told by a leaving birder that the bird had disappeared. AAAARGH!<br />
I decided to walk, quite briskly to the Eric Hide by the South Pool where the bird had been seen last. As I was walking up towards the small hide (not much bigger than a shed), birders were all stood on the bank viewing the bird at distance. I had a look over the fence, and indeed, the bird was feeding with a grey phalarope. Excellent.<br />
Already in the bag, now the wait for it to come closer.<br />
A birder then stepped out of the hide, and walked away. obviously satisfied with his views.<br />
I asked if anyone was sitting in the now vacated spot (bang centre of the hide), to which I was told 'No'. I took my position in the hope the bird would walk past.<br />
Within minutes, the bird took off and flew the opposite direction to the other side of the lake. Superb!<br />
Its fed on the far bank for approximately 15 minutes, then flew back to where it had been earlier. All of a sudden it called, then flew again an landed right in front of the hide. It stood on a rock for a while then walked left before feeding on presumably a stickleback. Blinding views!<br />
The bird then flew again, this time left in the direction of the Wader Hide. Most of us got up and headed to the other hide, which was massive compared to Eric Hide.<br />
The bird had indeed flown round and was feeding on the perimeter edge of the lake. It then headed past the window and landed on the rocky area towards the left of the hide. The bird stood for a while before flying off to the island in the middle of the lake and out of site.<br />
I took this opportunity to set off back, and go and pick Ellie up. I arrived at school with 40 minutes to spare, and a superb bird in the bag.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMHGBSYcFqsMdEfckB8xD2Y8su5amEJRibOhaGdawseDpUsGwGJGTurB7CaZfLwo3pFTjNtJHPHX-8imVFYxKTW99U52MkVwwHdFy77vN7HVmmPn4bk4pHLs2SAMj0mrgkUDOqeU8otY/s1600/Greater-Yellowlegs-18-4x6-H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMHGBSYcFqsMdEfckB8xD2Y8su5amEJRibOhaGdawseDpUsGwGJGTurB7CaZfLwo3pFTjNtJHPHX-8imVFYxKTW99U52MkVwwHdFy77vN7HVmmPn4bk4pHLs2SAMj0mrgkUDOqeU8otY/s320/Greater-Yellowlegs-18-4x6-H.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-74159226470550519442011-10-04T11:35:00.000-07:002011-12-23T03:26:55.171-08:00Sandhill Crane, Boyton Marsh, Suffolk, 4th October 2011<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Having dipped on the Sandhill Crane on Friday, Jeff Haworth, Mike Watson, Brian Stevenson and myself set off from Burnley at midnight last night. After an early/late start to get the miles under our belt, we arrived at Boyston Marsh Suffolk, to try and catch up with the crane just in case it decided to migrate sometime during the day. Four hours and fifty minutes later, we parked up in the village hall car park which was empty! I realised having arrived on site, that me food id prepared earlier, had been left in the car back in Burnley. D'oh!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We set off in the direction of the marsh, hoping it had roosted in the same area as it had done the previous night. Fortunately Jeff had his torch with him, so we headed south east from the village hall, along Mill Lane in the direction of the marsh.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We decided to stand around until it got a little lighter, before walking to the sea wall, where its seemed from Birdforum, most views of the crane had been obtained. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We didnt want to stride on in the dark, disturb the bird and then never see it again. Four more birders arrived and at 0630 hrs it was agreed by all that we should head across to the wall, and set up cameras, scopes by the gate. As we waited, a short eared owl quartered around the nearby boats but at 0650, the crane could be seen about 3/4 mile away with a flock of geese. Fantastic. What a relief to see it so distant. We now waited in the hope it would come closer.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">It then flew into a field far nearer, but still too far away to photograph. Patience was the order of the day, and while waiting chiff chaffs and wheatears were moving south.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">The bird seemed to want to cross into the field to our left, but birders had decided to stand in the middle of the track, so eventually it flew straight through, unfortunately against the sun, but far nearer now for images, though not near enough. It then took off and flew south.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Mike and I walked a good way, only to be told it had flown towards Shingle Street. Oh well, its obviously headed south but at least we'd seen it. We packed our cameras up into the rucksacks and made our way back to the gate we had previously stood at. Half an hour later, as we arrived at the gate, we heard what we thought was the crane coming from behind. Its here! We couldnt believe it. It flew straight over our heads and probably nearly 2 miles in the other direction. Bloody typical. We hung around for another couple of hours, but it never came back close enough. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">A fantastic bird, and a relief to catch up with it having missed it in Filey. Weve had a brilliant day, had a real laugh, and all come home happy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Having dipped on the Sandhill Crane on Friday, Jeff Haworth, Mike Watson, Brian Stevenson and myself set off from Burnley at midnight last night. After an early/late start to get the miles under our belt, we arrived at Boyston Marsh Suffolk, to try and catch up with the crane just in case it decided to migrate sometime during the day. Four hours and fifty minutes later, we parked up in the village hall car park which was empty! I realised having arrived on site, that me food id prepared earlier, had been left in the car back in Burnley. D'oh!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We set off in the direction of the marsh, hoping it had roosted in the same area as it had done the previous night. Fortunately Jeff had his torch with him, so we headed south east from the village hall, along Mill Lane in the direction of the marsh.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We decided to stand around until it got a little lighter, before walking to the sea wall, where its seemed from Birdforum, most views of the crane had been obtained. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We didnt want to stride on in the dark, disturb the bird and then never see it again. Four more birders arrived and at 0630 hrs it was agreed by all that we should head across to the wall, and set up cameras, scopes by the gate. As we waited, a short eared owl quartered around the nearby boats but at 0650, the crane could be seen about 3/4 mile away with a flock of geese. Fantastic. What a relief to see it so distant. We now waited in the hope it would come closer.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">It then flew into a field far nearer, but still too far away to photograph. Patience was the order of the day, and while waiting chiff chaffs and wheatears were moving south.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">The bird seemed to want to cross into the field to our left, but birders had decided to stand in the middle of the track, so eventually it flew straight through, unfortunately against the sun, but far nearer now for images, though not near enough. It then took off and flew south.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Mike and I walked a good way, only to be told it had flown towards Shingle Street. Oh well, its obviously headed south but at least we'd seen it. We packed our cameras up into the rucksacks and made our way back to the gate we had previously stood at. Half an hour later, as we arrived at the gate, we heard what we thought was the crane coming from behind. Its here! We couldnt believe it. It flew straight over our heads and probably nearly 2 miles in the other direction. Bloody typical. We hung around for another couple of hours, but it never came back close enough. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">A fantastic bird, and a relief to catch up with it having missed it in Filey. Weve had a brilliant day, had a real laugh, and all come home happy.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></span>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-8371337185801057562011-06-09T13:57:00.001-07:002011-07-03T05:15:18.351-07:00White Throated Robin, Hartlepool, Durham 9th June 2011I decided last night after reading yesterdays account on BirdForum that the White Throated Robin was favouring the nearby bowling green, so today I decided to pay another visit to this superb little migrant, in order to try an obtain some decent images.<br />
I set off at 0315am and was on site for 0535am. There was approximately 30 people surrounding the bowling green and the WT Robin could be seen straight away.<br />
The sun was the biggest problem as we were facing into the light with the bird in between . Add to that, shadows galore. <br />
It was good to catch up with Mike Lawrence, Simon Stirrup and John Carter who were, like me after getting a good image of this very rare vagrant.<br />
The bird kept very loyal to the hedged area at the rear of the bowling green, and when it moved from there, it gave everyone the run around by hopping into the rose bed. Every time it was near, the light played havoc so a few of us moved to view from a different angle.<br />
The bird disappeared just as I was talking to Mike Lawrence, and we watched it fly east towards the headland. <br />
Everyone set off looking for the bird, and it was eventually found on the headland, behind the second bowling green, sifting through the leaf litter behind the large wooden boarded fence. The sound of shutters going off amazed me, as there were really only 'photographers' there. Eventually news had got back to the bowling green, and birders gradually arrived to see this superb little bird. Great to catch up with Kev Hale, who'd travelled through the night from Plymouth, such was the pull of this bird.<br />
The bird would hop through the wooden slats of the fencing, and then back onto the headlands grassed area.<br />
The bird then flew back in the direction of the bowling on Olive Street, and carried on feeding as it had done earlier on.<br />
Birders came and went, then the bird flew off again, and again was refound on the headland.<br />
Once again it fed for a while before flying back to its regular patch, just as it had done earlier.<br />
By dinnertime though the bird did totally the opposite. Whilst feeding in the bowling green area amongst the poppies and the roses, it flew up and headed over the garden wall as if to reach the doctors garden. Birders were still turning up, and there is nothing worse than hearing the words, 'ya just missed it mate', but that's how it was. I waited around til 1330 hours and decided that it wasn't going to get any better than the morning I'd had.<br />
With that, I returned to my car, and started the same journey home I had taken 48 hours previous, albeit this time I'd managed to get some images.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPz1jo1xOLHkfcmOgoF776Md8JiWjXkpq1loRJjS4fmdDFGAQsOaY5AaB0C8PkefIs0QgPqw8q3Upda6gYQXaxxVA7RS24l4Zwuwx_jrcm4VKegMzgSaCjb6NKHCTOK-vDYAuWBqY6Sw/s1600/White-Throated-Robin-4-6x4-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPz1jo1xOLHkfcmOgoF776Md8JiWjXkpq1loRJjS4fmdDFGAQsOaY5AaB0C8PkefIs0QgPqw8q3Upda6gYQXaxxVA7RS24l4Zwuwx_jrcm4VKegMzgSaCjb6NKHCTOK-vDYAuWBqY6Sw/s320/White-Throated-Robin-4-6x4-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-11766008564050439782011-06-07T13:14:00.000-07:002011-06-13T12:56:13.060-07:00White Throated Robin, Hartlepool, Durham 7th June 2011Ive just got home from a tiring day. I finished me night shift at 0700hrs and drove straight up to Hartlepool to see the cracking White Throated Robin. I didn't expect to see the bird as it had been found yesterday in a mist net, then been ringed, fed all day, and whilst driving north this morning I felt that the clear night would move the bird on.<br />
I got up yesterday at 1400hrs having been in the middle of a set of four night shifts, to a phone full of texts, and voicemail messages from people wondering where I was. Mike Watson, Ian Corbett, Mike and Jane Malpass had all been good enough to think of me whilst I snored the morning away.<br />
Talk about amazed when I read the text of what bird had been found, a White Throated Thrush was in Hartlepool which certainly wasn't a million miles away.<br />
So with that, I went to work last night at 1900hrs, accompanied with all me birding gear. Bins, camera, tripod, waterproofs etc willing the hours away so i could drive north this morning.<br />
At 0645 hrs I had a missed call from Mike Watson. I rung him back asking him whether he knew whether the bird was still there.<br />
He quickly asked,<br />
<i>'Are you on ya way?'</i><br />
'I didnt know it was still, there, and I finish in 15 minutes'<br />
<i>'Its been on BirdForum that its still there'</i><br />
'Superb, im on me way'<br />
As soon as it was 0700am, I was on me way up the M6 north. It only took me 2 hours to get to the site which was a doctors garden near the headland. I had seen the images of yesterdays twitch which looked manic, with twitchers stood on a van roof, ladders, even peoples heads to get a vantage point over the large perimeter wall that surrounded the garden.<br />
No such antics today. When I arrived, around 20 - 30 birders were stood at the garage door waiting to be asked into the garden where the bird still was.<br />
The doctor was asked by a local birder, (I presumed the actual ringer of the WT Robin) and access was gained. Some familiar faces had made the journey, Rob Pocklington from Cumbria, Lee Fuller had made the long journey from Hampshire and John Dempsey had travelled from Merseyside.<br />
Immediately the bird showed in the far corner of the garden, frequenting the compost heap and the surrounding wall that divided the gardens.<br />
It was too far away to photograph, but a record image of this superb rarity would suffice as at least Id seen it, not worth keeping or publishing though. <br />
The bird seemed settled in its area and so I made my exit after a few hours watching it. Superb little bird.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-64476357666919347622011-05-24T06:04:00.000-07:002011-06-09T13:12:28.663-07:00Corncrake, Iona, Inner Hebrides 24th May 2011Ive been on the isle of Iona today in search of Corncrakes which breed on the island. Ive been retracing my footsteps of two years ago when I came here to photograph them with my family. I was unsuccessful due to the abysmal weather conditions back then, which stayed on the island for the 4 days that we spent up here. Very heavy rain accompanied by extremely strong winds ruined the previous trip to Mull, so Ive returned to have a more successful trip.<br />
I arrived on Mull 2 days ago, and hoped to travel over to Iona yesterday, but again, as happened two year back, the storms had arrived and cancelled all the ferries to and from the island.<br />
Whilst waiting in Fionnphorts waiting room yesterday, I met some other East Lancs birders, Glenn and Ian Hodkinson, Mark Jones and Jonathon Slater (Budgie) who were all trying to get over to Iona. They have been good enough to offer me some accommodation whilst on Mull, at Killunaig near Pennyghael which I duly accepted and very thankful for. Last nights 'sleep'?? in the car at Fidden was ruined by the car rocking due to the high winds, rain sounding like golf balls on the roof and the general uncomfortable car seat I was trying to sleep on!<br />
This morning though, we all woke up to some sun!!<br />
Ian, Glenn Budgie and myself, drove down to Fionnphort from our accommodation for the 0830 ferry, and were very happy to see it arrive into the small harbour. The return fare of £4.50 was handed over, and the 10 minute trip was now on.<br />
When we arrived on Iona, we could hear Corncrakes calling from behind the shops, We all headed to where the calls were coming from, but as the irises were so tall, the bird(s) couldn't be located.<br />
We then walked up the Prayer House, as they could be heard up near there, but again, none could be located. We walked back down to the nunnery, past the primary school and headed towards the gardens of Columba Hotel. We could hear one calling from the field to the left.<br />
We got brief views of one calling, but again the grass was very long.<br />
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Within minutes another had flown over from the gardens and into the field then disappeared, although it did call for a good time afterwards.<br />
As we had had good, if not brief views, Glenn, Ian and Budgie decided to go sea watching from the North beach area of the island.<br />
I said I would meet them later as I was determined to get a decent photograph of a bird 'in the open'.<br />
I had a walk towards the abbey and the girl on the information desk had seen one walking around the garden near the front wall. I waited, but only got a brief view as it flew over my head back towards the Hotel Columbas back garden.<br />
I walked towards the back expanse of grass behind the garden, when I nearly trod on the bird as it ran through the thistles.<br />
The bird that had been calling previous from the Columba Hotel gardens was still still calling in the distance, so I decided to have a walk round the gardens to hopefully catch up with it.<br />
I'd checked with someone whether I was allowed into the gardens and was told it was open access.<br />
I then set my camera up in the area the Corncrake was calling. The grass was very long and I didn't think I had a chance of it coming out into the open. Time went by and eventually I saw the grass moving. Still no sign. All of a sudden, the bird was close, as the rasping call was very loud. I stayed still hoping not to flush it, when I saw it preening near some rhubarb leaves. Every time it stuck its head under its wing preening, I moved gradually closer until I was close enough to photograph.<br />
The bird hadn't seen me and started calling, I couldn't believe my luck as it stood, called, looked around, called again, all while my shutter was going off.<br />
Eventually it walked off into the long grass and disappeared. I was more than happy to get some images.<br />
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I decided I would have a walk round the village and see what other birds were about. Numerous Song Thrushes were busy feeding young, as were Starlings in and out of the old stone walls which surround the village, and a cuckoo called from the over looking fell.<br />
I then walked back to the abbey, and saw another Corncrake (possibly the same bird that gave brief views earlier) fly over to the field once more.<br />
I then walked through the field to the wall of the gardens as the 'photographed' bird, was again calling. I stood patiently by the wall with my camera set up, when the bird called out in the open, giving me more photographic opportunities. It just couldn't get any better.<br />
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Eventually, Glenn, Ian and Budgie returned back from sea watching, and we walked back to the harbour to get the ferry back to Mull.<br />
Has to be said, a superb day.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-56140627328255578922011-04-27T07:53:00.000-07:002011-05-11T12:38:29.048-07:00Dotterel, Fair Snape Fell, Bowland, Lancashire 25 April 2011Having been at work Sunday, when the birds were broadcast, I had to wait 'til the next morning to be able to get the chance to view them. Me good mate Ian Walker had been up that day with his wife Michelle and viewed the birds and was prepared to go up again early on Bank Holiday Monday morning to photograph them, before we went to Turf Moor to watch the Clarets.<br />
Gettin up Parlick Pike with me gear made me realise how unfit I was! Once on top it was a nice walk over to Fair Snape Fell where we soon caught up with 5 Dotterels (3 males, 2 females).<br />
Whilst up there, we were joined by Lancashire birders Brian Rafferty and me good mate Mike Watson.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgve-YFsav59i6hUyCa1f8bYAhqDaEDS2VI_g9vVyCScXjDWe1LGEZAkjLOJ2-noQY8rl_qTj48CyMRlO2RvC7C7xShNHg9cNh3mE0GfkzXk3vjEIEcyQBtgJSjk3VjbeapFwtbCF004KE/s1600/Dotterel-18-original%252C-Fairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgve-YFsav59i6hUyCa1f8bYAhqDaEDS2VI_g9vVyCScXjDWe1LGEZAkjLOJ2-noQY8rl_qTj48CyMRlO2RvC7C7xShNHg9cNh3mE0GfkzXk3vjEIEcyQBtgJSjk3VjbeapFwtbCF004KE/s320/Dotterel-18-original%252C-Fairs.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfBTmZORBpy25XwxqOkraRMANZnPPQ1h5tF9eU-LUuRvvi43Dw_04p_Wcgj6-CymVMrM8CXnSWQWi3eat48qeIScigoYwejXyAZQBkzvsxyR_MH6M24QsdxlPs-jkGyIV-bb6e1uOUiM/s1600/dotterel%252C+Fairsnape+Fell+Bowland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfBTmZORBpy25XwxqOkraRMANZnPPQ1h5tF9eU-LUuRvvi43Dw_04p_Wcgj6-CymVMrM8CXnSWQWi3eat48qeIScigoYwejXyAZQBkzvsxyR_MH6M24QsdxlPs-jkGyIV-bb6e1uOUiM/s320/dotterel%252C+Fairsnape+Fell+Bowland.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Many thanks to Brian Rafferty for allowing permission in using this image.</div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-69639765075383509152011-04-17T07:42:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:06:38.060-07:00In search of Nightingales in Cambridgeshire, 17th April 2011<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">One bird that has always eluded me, is a nightingale. I've spent hours at Salthouse in Norfolk and also at Paxton Pits in Cambridgeshire in search of this superb passerine. I suggested to Ian Walker that we needed a trip to Paxton to finally catch up with this bird.<br />
We set off at midnight, and by 0400am we were on scene. A quick snooze followed, and by 0600am we were in search down the tracks.<br />
We soon heard nightingales singing in bushes next to the paths, but again, the density stopped us from seeing them, just as they had done previously wherever I'd been!<br />
Local birder Gary then heard one further down the track, and called us over. Before we got to him though, it had disappeared over the tops and back down.<br />
Again, the nightingale could be heard, and when we walked round the back of the area the bird could be seen in the tree. Finally I'd seen a nightingale, and I managed a couple of images.</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jI9AC43cYW6TGIe9r-1S1lzCTKitS07a7CqtBPSUaTpqEkLwofYYCoTz1Ro3MkKVv5ailhkqAvcxonxeG92i8l7Am4lAaBroWn8cGEf0mK5zTHRmcphaG_fUUGRM2fjv9I27KJBjG_4/s1600/Nightingale-2-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jI9AC43cYW6TGIe9r-1S1lzCTKitS07a7CqtBPSUaTpqEkLwofYYCoTz1Ro3MkKVv5ailhkqAvcxonxeG92i8l7Am4lAaBroWn8cGEf0mK5zTHRmcphaG_fUUGRM2fjv9I27KJBjG_4/s320/Nightingale-2-original.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAAtSLSFvluoV-n92E33SoqDqRoSH5Gwz-LAqE0bsn-4rWRExoWiWmjAuLD04TgzDEGMG7iEFw1EEbBAspmnEgcA8_OhRp7Qkys39B0F3quaz1ohD_QlIaLTh1xVPgbjI3sqsbqHFv7g/s1600/Nightingale-1-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAAtSLSFvluoV-n92E33SoqDqRoSH5Gwz-LAqE0bsn-4rWRExoWiWmjAuLD04TgzDEGMG7iEFw1EEbBAspmnEgcA8_OhRp7Qkys39B0F3quaz1ohD_QlIaLTh1xVPgbjI3sqsbqHFv7g/s320/Nightingale-1-original.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Having caught up with our target bird, we then drove down to Ouse Washes RSPB reserve in Cambridgeshire for the Blue Winged Teal that had been there a few days. On arrival, birders were leaving and when asked if the bird was here, all stated that it was close and easy to see. Great.<br />
Once inside the hide, the bird couldn't be seen at all. Great White Egret, Little Egret, Shoveler, Teal were all seen but no Blue Winged Teal. I could hear conversation through the door on my right and when I went through the unlocked door, two birders said that the bird <i>had</i> been showing well, but had disappeared down the channel on the other side of the canal, and was heading right with a Shoveler.<br />
It was obvious that if it had carried on going right, we wouldn't see it.<br />
After a period of absence, the Teal eventually swam back into view, but it wasn't close, and must have been 40 meters away. Add to that, facing into blinding sun, no images were worth saving.<br />
Good views were had of a resident Green Woodpecker and also flight views of a Yellow Wagtail.<br />
Time was on our side, and after arriving in the car park, we asked another birder if he had any information on the Bluethroat at Welney WWT in Norfolk. He'd seen it earlier that morning, so with that, we headed off to Norfolk to see if we could both see it.<br />
<br />
Welney was heaving with folk, but we had arrived and with that, set off in search of the elusive Bluethroat. On our way to the area it had last been seen, Sedge Warblers were seen singing in the reeds, and near to the area was a Whitethroat singing its heart out.<br />
The area was thick with reeds, and getting a photo, never mind seeing the bird looked ominous.<br />
We stood for a while, and I wondered whether we would get a better view from the nearby hide. The dilemma was whether to stay put, or head to the hide. Ian said he'd check the hide for room, and wave from there if there was enough room in there, whilst I stayed in my spot. Ian was approximately 25 meters away, when I saw a bird fly through the reeds. I quickly saw that it was indeed the Bluethroat. I managed to attract Ian's attention, and he came back. The bird was too far away to photograph, but then flew towards us both into a bush, where it sang from for a couple of minutes, before flying off again, further and into dense undergrowth. Whilst it sang singing, I managed a few images, which were unfortunately spoiled by a rogue reed.</div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSlGBQ-A_5aAmruy3N9DQpxqGapQ_vhY4_KgSmos_YBahnWr_7sol1-GenqdsCoLrsyHzx94CiZpgEw2ai_0brb7diGq7krkgeE8dY8Kmt5Spz32P0L64r-CaB3PDErJXfGDxh0FAyUs/s1600/Bluethroat-2-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSlGBQ-A_5aAmruy3N9DQpxqGapQ_vhY4_KgSmos_YBahnWr_7sol1-GenqdsCoLrsyHzx94CiZpgEw2ai_0brb7diGq7krkgeE8dY8Kmt5Spz32P0L64r-CaB3PDErJXfGDxh0FAyUs/s320/Bluethroat-2-original.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLBBcqHYQXreRFLyWZOzdaLt20NI_Ftz38kiubIjD1UyVMogU3PJoPjyCfbDhpfP85WEBxSH5FUz5xTVA2_CrGOa2CIzWj4HaF5oevAQIMVQZQ2kDVDE9uJu4O7Mya5x417T8XV74yyo/s1600/Bluethroat-3-original-by-Ga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLBBcqHYQXreRFLyWZOzdaLt20NI_Ftz38kiubIjD1UyVMogU3PJoPjyCfbDhpfP85WEBxSH5FUz5xTVA2_CrGOa2CIzWj4HaF5oevAQIMVQZQ2kDVDE9uJu4O7Mya5x417T8XV74yyo/s320/Bluethroat-3-original-by-Ga.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
We had had a superb day out with fantastic birds, and with that, made our way back to Lancashire.</div></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-9661380394630449762011-03-28T07:33:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:07:54.189-07:00Hawfinch, Sizergh Castle, Cumbria, March 28th 2011<div style="text-align: justify;">I got up early and arrived at Sizergh for 0630am. Fortunately the gate was open so I drove to where I wanted to park. I baited the area with seed, on the gravel, around the car and under the hornbeams. <br />
First bird to arrive was a Jay, which was joined by goldfinch, chaffinch, bullfinch, great tits, blue tits, robin and then finally a nuthatch. <br />
Eventually at 0732am, a pair of Hawfinch dropped out of nowhere and landed about 25ft away. Fantastic. Rattled a few images off, then watched them come and go for about 15 minutes. <br />
At 0750am, Rob Pocklington turned up, and I gestured that 3 were about (by this time they were on the grass or up in the trees). <br />
Other birders started to turn up, and by 0800am i'd made my exit. <br />
Never been as close to these wonderful birds, and today for a change, it hadn't rained. <br />
There was probably about 7 birds around, and the most I had in the baited area at one time was 3, (2 males and 1 female). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwaMQ-oNLwzPyNPlsSbarIiO5ZR_Rw0OMCn34gAb5g2sIVgEF4zSeRLNmKMLPcQYpa4pJOZgMDU0mslFouNiwKhWFOuYoa4soEMLBIvTr321OSNOIfBqx6bvT_bmgDqJC4WgdMzUmTNAs/s1600/Hawfinch-1-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwaMQ-oNLwzPyNPlsSbarIiO5ZR_Rw0OMCn34gAb5g2sIVgEF4zSeRLNmKMLPcQYpa4pJOZgMDU0mslFouNiwKhWFOuYoa4soEMLBIvTr321OSNOIfBqx6bvT_bmgDqJC4WgdMzUmTNAs/s320/Hawfinch-1-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtjN3fJCE35rMBt6CALveSvSqTc7l_7PXhCVhqgNmGSaMoTXLcxbQ-1HP1xyd4VbNONaOn-bEE6sVUADljdj54_ADZz5qCJjgAlmBmrZ67SoFDSyVXmA2m-pAqPSzgvr-DYdF9tbtOgs/s1600/Hawfinch-2-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtjN3fJCE35rMBt6CALveSvSqTc7l_7PXhCVhqgNmGSaMoTXLcxbQ-1HP1xyd4VbNONaOn-bEE6sVUADljdj54_ADZz5qCJjgAlmBmrZ67SoFDSyVXmA2m-pAqPSzgvr-DYdF9tbtOgs/s320/Hawfinch-2-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVODIf0EXIb1BmH1lVUGuuhz172ovoUcwWvzwah0krCY1WGre0ey_7h-C13DakPKAicwftCxPUO0B7EPRYcGItURxHjlWHdwFdmxH9owyAR-l2EI73E_GdcuZL1hzE_TAHa-W2xrDcDf8/s1600/Hawfinch-3-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVODIf0EXIb1BmH1lVUGuuhz172ovoUcwWvzwah0krCY1WGre0ey_7h-C13DakPKAicwftCxPUO0B7EPRYcGItURxHjlWHdwFdmxH9owyAR-l2EI73E_GdcuZL1hzE_TAHa-W2xrDcDf8/s320/Hawfinch-3-by-Gary-Jenkins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-751022705003482672011-02-22T09:10:00.000-08:002011-05-13T10:09:17.112-07:00Oriental Turtle Dove, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, 22nd February 2011Just the same situation as the Pied-Billed Grebe, I was on shifts when the news of a mega came in. With this though, (Oriental Turtle Dove) I had 4 day shifts to get through, before the first chance rose for me to travel.<br />
I'd received an email from Tony Bennett, a good mate from Burnley that he was thinking of going, and would I like to share the fuel costs. Damn right!<br />
We decided to meet at The Tickled Trout and head down from there.<br />
Tony drove and explained that he'd already been down for the dove, but had dipped amongst the massive throng of twitchers that had descended on The Leys, Chipping Norton, early in the week.<br />
We arrived at 0700 am, and there were two other birders who had arrived before we had.<br />
Neither had seen the bird, but it was early and the more eyes viewing, the more chance we had.<br />
At 0715 am, the owner of the house, Stephen Akers, opened the door of his house, in his house coat, and beckoned us all to his house, from across the road from where we had been viewing.<br />
He asked us to remove our shoes, be quiet, as his family was still in bed, and walk through to the kitchen and view out into his garden from the patio doors.<br />
It couldn't be any better. A warm, central heated tiled floor warmed our feet, backsides, as the six/seven of us waited patiently for the dove to arrive.<br />
Blackcap, Bullfinch, Brambling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, all put in an appearance, and at 0830am, the call was up that the dove had landed in next doors tree.<br />
Typically the bird was out of view from where I was sat.<br />
Eventually it landed on the feeding table where I managed some images. It disappeared numerous times, but came back eventually, each time to the feeding table. In the bag!<br />
By dinnertime, Tony and me were on our way back to Lancashire.<br />
An excellent day out, with a superb bird in the bag, and great company.<br />
<br />
<br />
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Special thanks to Stephen for all his efforts in helping everyone see the bird from the comforts of his own kitchen!Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-46064376002785461042011-01-08T10:00:00.000-08:002011-05-13T10:09:56.998-07:00Red Necked Grebe, Fairhaven Lake, Lancashire, January 8th 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>A quick trip down to Fairhaven Lake with Ian Walker I'd been at work when Ian had seen it the previous day, and he'd said it came close to the waters edge, so photographic opportunities might arise. He wasn't wrong as we were all rewarded with great views as it swam around the boating lake.Good to catch up with photographers Chris Galvin and Steve Young.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HH0bOjHMyOuAVJNtLbyvHAP7sVe7n4hDviZRrM0vcCgUVneq7byo-DoaZkBMiaBc0ZXbSsoOdPWdriF2U7GhM3OvTkT8XCvLMW-koy2NOFXsnbmlLynL3Ex-RMaXF7iggBq16rrdkDs/s1600/Red-Necked-Grebe-4-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HH0bOjHMyOuAVJNtLbyvHAP7sVe7n4hDviZRrM0vcCgUVneq7byo-DoaZkBMiaBc0ZXbSsoOdPWdriF2U7GhM3OvTkT8XCvLMW-koy2NOFXsnbmlLynL3Ex-RMaXF7iggBq16rrdkDs/s320/Red-Necked-Grebe-4-original.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-56432220923247451342010-11-10T09:39:00.000-08:002011-05-13T10:10:25.531-07:00Pied-Billed Grebe, Hollingsworth Lake, Greater Manchester, 10th November 2010Whilst at work, me mate Ian Corbett from York rung me that a Pied-Billed Grebe had been found at Hollingsworth Lake, Greater Manchester. Fantastic, the grebe I was missing from the set. I finished work, got home and saw the images on Birdguides that the bird could be photographed reasonably close.<br />
Next morning I drove to the Country Park, and the leaving birders all said the bird was showing.<br />
I quickly walked the perimeter of the Lake, to where 50 odd birders were viewing the grebe which was showing across the small mere.<br />
I had a walk down to the very small hide and entered, and to my amazement was virtually empty. Ivan Ellison was sat on the right hand side, and showed me some of his images on the back of his camera.<br />
He explained that the bird would swim through the narrow channel, that joined the main lake (that the grebe was now favouring) back to the small mere.<br />
I got into position as the bird was now right at the mouth of the channel, about to swim back into the small mere. <br />
As it entered the channel, I got ready and the bird dived. It rose way off to the right having been underwater right past where i was sat. Typical! It then swam further off to right and seemed to roost for a while before wandering around the mere.<br />
It then looked like it was about to swim left back through the channel, but turned back from where it had come from. Aaarrgghh!<br />
I waited patiently and then all of a sudden it popped up right in front of the hide (which by now was heaving with twitchers).<br />
I rattled numerous frames off as it was so close. There was no more room in the hide, and I felt I'd got what I'd gone for, so made my exit.<br />
My good mate Mike Malpass was in the crowd getting images and all in all, I was glad I'd got down there early.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCIVERowKNZB22pPOVQIVbPYOg97-jqHCN8qaZPf_07BDsaXU_sP0schwlLbr1NBbQ6aeJ0Sq0N3SCh2XH1HaJioUcxBMDeo547n4kggLNfDny76XZfy4aI3e9fKkdxv2oQ-S9IIW9es/s1600/Pied-Billed-Grebe-11-origin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCIVERowKNZB22pPOVQIVbPYOg97-jqHCN8qaZPf_07BDsaXU_sP0schwlLbr1NBbQ6aeJ0Sq0N3SCh2XH1HaJioUcxBMDeo547n4kggLNfDny76XZfy4aI3e9fKkdxv2oQ-S9IIW9es/s320/Pied-Billed-Grebe-11-origin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-65285859977453646432010-10-30T06:57:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:10:57.322-07:00Waxwing, Barrow, Lancashire, 30th October 2010An invasion of 88 Waxwings at nearby Barrow had Ian and Michelle Walker and myself heading for what we hoped would be excellant photographic opportunities. <br />
We weren't disappointed as the flock were gorging themselves on Rowan berries, much to the delight of the watching birders. There was a constant noise of waxwings and camera shutters going off!<br />
We were all happy with our images.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh387k4At2ZM3M91ei98njVpmAclu4kbmWVNWNSlx3FCn6-LOx_1kZfYVlIJPedxrbWhQppL86f1Pg8NgZ0SbRTL3qdfn4_Raf37bdU8U5ztn_vID82KUPd_R3Jra5KVKYSxWYg2ym-W6k/s1600/Waxwing-13-original-Barrow%252C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh387k4At2ZM3M91ei98njVpmAclu4kbmWVNWNSlx3FCn6-LOx_1kZfYVlIJPedxrbWhQppL86f1Pg8NgZ0SbRTL3qdfn4_Raf37bdU8U5ztn_vID82KUPd_R3Jra5KVKYSxWYg2ym-W6k/s320/Waxwing-13-original-Barrow%252C.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-46005619220616196802010-09-30T11:36:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:11:16.472-07:00Buff Breasted Sandpiper, Crossapol, Tiree, Outer Hebrides 30th September 2010With the news of a Northern Parula residing on Tiree, I was itching to go. It was my last day of a set of 4 shifts and the allure was too much. My good friends Mike and Jane Malpass were guiding at Leighton Moss, but when I asked if they were interested in going, both were up for it.<br />
I left home that night at 2300pm and arrived in Bury to pick them up. We arrived in Oban for 0500am, ready to catch the 4 hour ferry trip to Tiree at 0830am.<br />
Within 30 minutes of leaving Oban harbour, we had news that the bird had flown. (Just my luck).<br />
Robert Pocklington was also on the ferry, and on arrival at Tiree at 1230pm, via stops at Mull and Colonsay, we all made our way to the little wood at Carnan Mor where the Parula had last been seen.<br />
The message had been correct, the bird had gone. There were some long faces there, but if you stay at home, you don't see the bird, so you make the best of it, and get on with it. (Still had a long face though)!<br />
We had Greenland Redpoll to keep our eyes open, and it had real bull neck on it compared to the other Redpolls that were frequenting the nearby area.<br />
With that, we headed towards Crossapol, where a pair of Buff Breasted Sandpipers had been seen near to a nearby football pitch.<br />
It didnt take to long to find them, so Mike an me tried to photograph them. They were so close they were running round our feet. It helped with the disappointment of the Parula no-show.<br />
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With that, we headed back to the ferry port for the 1800 pm ferry back to Oban. We landed at Oban at 2200pm and the drive back home followed. I got back into bed at 0300am the next day.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-59258569696146890202010-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:11:38.068-07:00Marmora's Warbler, Blorenge, Gwent, Wales, 10th June 2010A visit to The Blorenge with Mike Watson to hopefully see the Marmora's Warbler was the order of the 'early' day. We struggled finding the site which was shrouded in thick mist after we missed our turning (even though Mike had visited days earlier. The mist was that bad. We arrived safely on site just after 0200am and tried for some shut-eye before first light. At 0410am the Marmora’s Warbler singing could be heard from the car, and so we had a walk round to try and locate it through the mist. Its silhouette could be seen from the top of gorse bushes as it sang whilst flying round its territory.<br />
The weather deteriorated and the mist came lower, so we decided to head down the valley to get a brew and a bacon butty in nearby Abergavenny. Having been refreshed we drove back up to the car park, and walked down the road to where more birders were assembled. Usual suspects were around, Tristan Reid, Dave Hutton and the bird didnt disappoint landing feet away from where we all were. No one invaded its privacy and all stayed on the road.<br />
Id seen Marmora's Warbler before in Corsica, so it was nice to get one on me British list. Great day, great company, and a superb bird.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xLgsjxV6mCdk3GwbamrlK0ZBsZCT6y3KzNa24JyDtwK_qMBNKOiCcL0SZAMEs-Moer_Ml1zoKqNwZUXcXamNz6NvSuorlfCJTJ3Ggdzkbd-0qeoEUsgCS_KdiZ4hw5kWGzshlVW11r4/s1600/Marmoras-Warbler-4-6x4-by-G.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xLgsjxV6mCdk3GwbamrlK0ZBsZCT6y3KzNa24JyDtwK_qMBNKOiCcL0SZAMEs-Moer_Ml1zoKqNwZUXcXamNz6NvSuorlfCJTJ3Ggdzkbd-0qeoEUsgCS_KdiZ4hw5kWGzshlVW11r4/s320/Marmoras-Warbler-4-6x4-by-G.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-27645158907587106312010-02-20T06:21:00.000-08:002011-05-13T10:56:43.371-07:00American Wigeon, Caerlaverock, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland 20th February 2010News of an American Wigeon at Caerlaverock had me heading up the M6 north to see this American duck that had eluded me for ages. Every time I'd set off for one of these birds, I'd failed to connect. Not the rarest bird in the world, but surely today I had to make contact.<br />
I wasn't to be disappointed, as on arrival the staff told me which pool it had been seen on. I paid the entrance fee, and headed to where it had last been seen.<br />
Straight in front of the hide window, swimming around with Eurasian Wigeon, Shoveler, Mallard etc was the bird I'd travelled for.<br />
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Whilst photographing the bird, Ian Corbett texted me to say there was a juvenile Rose Coloured Starling coming to a feeding station in someones front garden in Kendal. So it was there I headed to as there was plenty of the day to go at.<br />
Arriving in Kendal about an hour later, I parked up across from where the bird had been seen. It wasn't about, but there was enough food to keep it going for a while. I got me camera set up and waited patiently. Within minutes, it was sat on the house roof, so it was inevitable that it was going to come down and feed on the apples that were laid out on the garden.<br />
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</a></div> It did exactly this and wasn't phased by me or anyone else who was watching it.<br />
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A great day, connecting with two birds, and getting some images as well.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-21486821009982264852010-01-21T10:40:00.000-08:002011-05-13T10:12:21.164-07:00Black Throated Thrush, Newholm, North Yorkshire 21st January 2010Thrushes have to be one of my favourite birds. They are always elegant and always catch your attention if a rarity is found. I'd travelled to Swansea to see my first Black Throated Thrush, so a trip up to North Yorkshire wouldn't be too difficult.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I arrived in Newholm, and the road was void of anyone, never mind twitchers. I positioned myself on the opposite side of the road, to where the bird was being seen regularly. The house with feeders.More birders were turning up, and as they did, the Thrush appeared in the garden already mentioned. It came and went, and when it did go missing it did so for quite a while, always returning to the same garden. A quality bird that didn't disappoint.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOQubZ0pWmoKT4foVCGSyKe5dsk-ws3ffNi8VCaal73lRYO4Qsv3LdlK-8258tJrsWbPP8AW0NxhGyvUdrqQUgY8EvJBWDsJjywJDjm_pJMvB0PyPyCkbkZw7kap9KeHwIROr1L4FofY/s1600/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C8%252C6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOQubZ0pWmoKT4foVCGSyKe5dsk-ws3ffNi8VCaal73lRYO4Qsv3LdlK-8258tJrsWbPP8AW0NxhGyvUdrqQUgY8EvJBWDsJjywJDjm_pJMvB0PyPyCkbkZw7kap9KeHwIROr1L4FofY/s320/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C8%252C6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV12JlLg0GBaFyVVD5iVnNQkSVp_haaZANXQtwIvzPeoJa5nQSVZflvwIGg_cvI7jOAo7GLX0CAA_XWEWecUgivWira2RG2QzTCYQ-SDcvcRZOBz2RroUGvlVogKhCmwhuZXv67sZMUKs/s1600/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C3%252C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV12JlLg0GBaFyVVD5iVnNQkSVp_haaZANXQtwIvzPeoJa5nQSVZflvwIGg_cvI7jOAo7GLX0CAA_XWEWecUgivWira2RG2QzTCYQ-SDcvcRZOBz2RroUGvlVogKhCmwhuZXv67sZMUKs/s320/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C3%252C.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYpbKMzCo9SVvr2VT4QHvAimUpHVFXZAULzI5Svq65-8IBl8slSXi5OM3wmrhZYQIrkJKqvzvinf3fNUvuomUVWvD-OScfzge026KTzaOqk3-xDKzHHdvCYtIPy4xvIBF-zLN7e8Owjo/s1600/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYpbKMzCo9SVvr2VT4QHvAimUpHVFXZAULzI5Svq65-8IBl8slSXi5OM3wmrhZYQIrkJKqvzvinf3fNUvuomUVWvD-OScfzge026KTzaOqk3-xDKzHHdvCYtIPy4xvIBF-zLN7e8Owjo/s320/Black-Throated-Thrush%252C7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-61810498446165585982009-06-16T08:39:00.000-07:002011-06-07T08:58:37.113-07:00Hen Harrier, Undisclosed location, Lancashire. 16th June 2009<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><pre wrap=""><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today has been a superb day that I will never forget. Anyone who knows
me will no that my favourite bird is the hen harrier, and its cause of
my love for the bird that I volunteer for Natural England's Hen Harrier
project.
At the forefront of this project is my very good friend Stephen Murphy.
He's responsible for fitting satellite tracking devices to young birds
whilst still in the nest, this enables close monitoring of the birds
wherever they travel in the world, providing unique data on the species'
complex dispersal ecology.
Stephen kindly invited me up to a nest site, to check on the welfare of
a brood of 5 young high on the Lancashire moors on a privately owned
grouse moor. Stephen is licensed for nest visits, to ring the chicks and
fit transmitters, I acted as his accredited agent for the day giving me
a rare opportunity to visit a hen harrier's nest and photograph young
hen harriers.
We had a fair walk from where we had to leave the vehicle, but was it
worth it. Nestled in a patch of heather were 5 young harriers all sat
there looking at us. A fantastic site to behold. There was one addled
egg among the young birds which sadly had obviously failed.
The parents weren't about initially, so time was of the essence for us
to weigh and measure the birds. We left the brood within 5 minutes of
arriving and when we got back to the vehicle, we saw the female land in
the nest with food
To top it all, whilst in the nesting area, the male bird flew nearby and
as a meadow pipit flew up out of the heather, the harrier stuck
out its right leg and plucked it from the sky. Both of us seen this
within 30m of where we stood. Absolutely breathtaking; the agility of
these birds is amazing.
Today really was a day ill never forget, and many thanks to Stephen for
asking me to assist him. </span> </pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifiu3v6GpaXR87mFVT7qcyYhq4OogKBKr6y9d6bTELaSI2pDJG-ne1V3oelFQlwEFi3TD323Wqgy68Mj62lj9hMQ8VBaMZyuyB9_RYU1k16ukRvdRXBUqAJImrv0qIrpUyXgSYHC4op7I/s1600/Hen-Harrier-brood-6%252C-Trough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifiu3v6GpaXR87mFVT7qcyYhq4OogKBKr6y9d6bTELaSI2pDJG-ne1V3oelFQlwEFi3TD323Wqgy68Mj62lj9hMQ8VBaMZyuyB9_RYU1k16ukRvdRXBUqAJImrv0qIrpUyXgSYHC4op7I/s320/Hen-Harrier-brood-6%252C-Trough.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><pre wrap=""></pre><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABNzcgJ_A0WOsbcyOFOAtaJmD-sIzDSp8m7F-Eo5y_AcUSh82pCUY_OdWJqwEroCI27kSseL9WXdxDdC9kBYXSpwPAH64d9OlV3BPZilcVjBPNDGPDXgD-PFpvQzWk65ZpsvGCOWGgo4/s1600/Hen-Harrier-brood-4%252C-Trough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABNzcgJ_A0WOsbcyOFOAtaJmD-sIzDSp8m7F-Eo5y_AcUSh82pCUY_OdWJqwEroCI27kSseL9WXdxDdC9kBYXSpwPAH64d9OlV3BPZilcVjBPNDGPDXgD-PFpvQzWk65ZpsvGCOWGgo4/s320/Hen-Harrier-brood-4%252C-Trough.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-550953812349820912009-04-15T10:19:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:54:12.372-07:00White Throated Sparrow, Old Winchester Hill,Natural England Reserve,Hampshire. 15th April 2009Me and Hazel and our newborn daughter have travelled down to Hampshire today to see a stunning White Throated Sparrow. Its was the second White Throated Sparrow that I'd twitched, after dipping a one day bird in a garden in Caldy in Cheshire in May 2003.<br />
No road works all the way down, and relatively easy to find. The bird had been seen by many, and had been seen by people leaving the site, but on arrival had gone missing. It was a good opportunity for Hazel to walk around the park with our daughter in her pram.<br />
The bird didnt let us down. It flew out of the dense hawthorn bush and fed on the seeded area. I managed a few images before it disappeared again.<br />
Very few birders were around now, so me and a local birder (Lee Fuller) decided we would get closer to the seeded area in order to try an get better images.<br />
The bird again came down onto the seed and performed superbly, allowing both me and Lee time to get images we wanted.<br />
Its been a long drive home, but well worth it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMM419LVbDGI5Hj3Ig80ZCRXfImM3FDidX24DLEitCB9gGum_8bbsG6cqp5XpQv9eBg4oIUjvIcAzU9syL_vNF2BlEWtHIfRIVIFUIFPjfe9vTPNx0nCTbyXk3vrfcb-kp69W-hLdq44/s1600/White-Throated-Sparrow-14-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMM419LVbDGI5Hj3Ig80ZCRXfImM3FDidX24DLEitCB9gGum_8bbsG6cqp5XpQv9eBg4oIUjvIcAzU9syL_vNF2BlEWtHIfRIVIFUIFPjfe9vTPNx0nCTbyXk3vrfcb-kp69W-hLdq44/s320/White-Throated-Sparrow-14-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgWNStHy8SXeNghYuxskqWoGJHOdhy90Ow9taSFcRLvL68mrDD3V4b7OiXGD4EEQKbRl_DcZGm0fBhNlu0yOg_-iT4sUN3JnwQA_WU5epNGjt8UteDvsEwkJ_soeiEWnfHeByT-XrWlk/s1600/White-Throated-Sparrow-6-6x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgWNStHy8SXeNghYuxskqWoGJHOdhy90Ow9taSFcRLvL68mrDD3V4b7OiXGD4EEQKbRl_DcZGm0fBhNlu0yOg_-iT4sUN3JnwQA_WU5epNGjt8UteDvsEwkJ_soeiEWnfHeByT-XrWlk/s320/White-Throated-Sparrow-6-6x.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFT8G8Gg5wJOSbwCQssNLuc74vFsTfXiu8p7TGDd_kz_R4UV2WB0ts3mi5aHkORNllKuxnISi0f7vUg3n0pxR2IBWA4EK9BKKqSOiesoEzbLCUBgmGBTWoxZa5owwPJ7FUr3Hoh6vfeHI/s1600/White-Throated-Sparrow-9-6x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFT8G8Gg5wJOSbwCQssNLuc74vFsTfXiu8p7TGDd_kz_R4UV2WB0ts3mi5aHkORNllKuxnISi0f7vUg3n0pxR2IBWA4EK9BKKqSOiesoEzbLCUBgmGBTWoxZa5owwPJ7FUr3Hoh6vfeHI/s320/White-Throated-Sparrow-9-6x.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHmCbaNYrB9nOQRAOtBzGvVoMTPlbncbu5z5QmoDRCBN9zZQJbCcxv3aSJscH0SjykZVHY3J7a3YSJYcddb54I2gGIa4W1SeEiNElVAFUoCWEtJBrX90MTH-1T4lv776wI7W_SidsN9c/s1600/White-Throated-Sparrow-13-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHmCbaNYrB9nOQRAOtBzGvVoMTPlbncbu5z5QmoDRCBN9zZQJbCcxv3aSJscH0SjykZVHY3J7a3YSJYcddb54I2gGIa4W1SeEiNElVAFUoCWEtJBrX90MTH-1T4lv776wI7W_SidsN9c/s320/White-Throated-Sparrow-13-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-31981819826003952262008-11-11T05:48:00.000-08:002011-06-04T06:51:54.279-07:00Two Barred Crossbill, Garfitts Farm, Bilsdale, North Yorkshire. 11th November 2008Ive been to Bilsdale today with me good mate Ian Corbett for the Two Barred Crossbill that's been visiting a feeder on a farm in the area. I met Ian at North Allerton railway station as he'd travelled up from York.<br />
The farm was up on a hill and could be reached by driving up the long private track to the property.<br />
On arrival at the farm, the owners were still around and explained how long the bird had been there, and what time it usually appears on the peanut feeder in the front garden.<br />
We were the only birders around at that time, but a constant stream of arrivals started arriving before the bird eventually showed. <br />
Ian located the bird by call in the trees opposite the house, and immediately it landed on the peanut feeder. From there it flew onto the bird bath, had a drink, then fly off.<br />
I didn't want an image of the bird on the feeder, and wanted one in a more natural setting, so I waited to see what the bird would do when it arrived to feed again.<br />
Again it called from the trees, flew to the peanuts, then to the bird bath, then disappeared.<br />
Most people stood by the peanut feeder which was giving good views when the bird appeared, so I decided to walk to the opposite end of the garden and hope that it landed on the bird bath when it next came to feed.<br />
Time went by, as did the birders when the crossbill called from its usual vantage point. It flew straight down to the feeder, consumed some peanuts and then flew towards me landing on the birdbath. It bent over and drunk some water, before sitting up allowing me some chance of an image. It really was a cracking little finch. Once it had finished, it then flew off on another circuit.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysuYr00ftGQg4BEHSh0QWAyBs8mIXszxwOzcJG8x46jkA6_cDqSjA8wQsm20xCn1RhgVrGLfqeBlve7qkXAan9scOv_jzw2NQpyvxhgaEfl3ylNPjc37TaMvDK3ZV4PI3aN4X2wkgaHw/s1600/Two-barred-crossbill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysuYr00ftGQg4BEHSh0QWAyBs8mIXszxwOzcJG8x46jkA6_cDqSjA8wQsm20xCn1RhgVrGLfqeBlve7qkXAan9scOv_jzw2NQpyvxhgaEfl3ylNPjc37TaMvDK3ZV4PI3aN4X2wkgaHw/s320/Two-barred-crossbill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-83590645372305726352008-09-20T02:55:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:12:46.009-07:00Corsican Nuthatches, September 2008For the second part of our honeymoon,<br />
Hazel and me took a budget flight to Corsica,<br />
to spend a week photographing their endemic<br />
Corsican Nuthatch.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZ_HopbOwym_42z9UMYC5m3kiEzDtsKvJgFQbpdaPHd0a6HAXIx6pn6I41BcJRsr35NXcXwkMW9Y9SuGwXm_ohEKs5NIGdc6xLKEh8Vwd3Mk_mrwz6tisaMGsM76dAMltgpALwZMjfxY/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-3-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZ_HopbOwym_42z9UMYC5m3kiEzDtsKvJgFQbpdaPHd0a6HAXIx6pn6I41BcJRsr35NXcXwkMW9Y9SuGwXm_ohEKs5NIGdc6xLKEh8Vwd3Mk_mrwz6tisaMGsM76dAMltgpALwZMjfxY/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-3-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgCdypb8bdL52uoPV1qjs2CsuEu0yhMo0FfsHsbi9wh07Q0C4syAZO0uAjKdPjyDEnEwn23JBY7A1fHHde_j4ky8DR0Vj8RfQEaZOkaBmfh6NHQuzYIAlDqaQjG8gMtMoqs2Y0BUyu-k/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Fmale%2529-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZ_HopbOwym_42z9UMYC5m3kiEzDtsKvJgFQbpdaPHd0a6HAXIx6pn6I41BcJRsr35NXcXwkMW9Y9SuGwXm_ohEKs5NIGdc6xLKEh8Vwd3Mk_mrwz6tisaMGsM76dAMltgpALwZMjfxY/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-3-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYKuM535j2QAI0uCTH71qq0NK7V968RICXqj72Yapc3JPx9_2F3jlLEFKGqOrrWaQ_-AJLQe7QRyojkPZkek18SC4t1k0dlpwBpaAnMFTjDH7vW0NWGesIqIWgjiY_vUbAEDzihy4xnA/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLbvToO3e6DGoCUELQNrcC-vmi70PyBSgvBFNWs0lH2r5UxYdJAmM_SFCgXPOGKLRHEToHcyLuKkEGxtwdfGUwhXWTc1xtIUHYXIQxsXnzqmcKaoFcJeftmM0eSHuojbkXKzDEj9Rr70/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Female%2529-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
Four species of nuthatch breed in Europe and,<br />
of these, the delightful little Corsican Nuthatch<br />
<i>Sitta whiteheadi</i> is the most restricted in range.<br />
It is endemic to the western Mediterranean<br />
island of Corsica, where it is confined to the<br />
Corsican Pine forests of the mountainous spine<br />
of the island.<br />
Corsica is administratively part of France. It<br />
lies about 100 miles southeast of the south<br />
coast of mainland France, but it is actually closer<br />
to Italy (c.50 miles to the east) while the larger,<br />
Italian island of Sardinia lies only 11 miles from<br />
its southern tip.<br />
In September 2008, we flew<br />
from London Stansted to Alghero in Sardinia,<br />
hired a car there, and then drove north and took<br />
one of the daily car ferries from Santa Theresa<br />
across the Strait of Bonifacio to Corsica. The<br />
crossing to the beautiful port of Bonifacio takes<br />
only about an hour.<br />
Hoping to see and photograph the nuthatch,<br />
we based ourselves for a week at the Gorges de<br />
la Restonica (at the Hotel Dominique), southwest<br />
of the northern town of Corte, and this put<br />
us within easy reach of the mountain pine<br />
forests where we hoped to find the birds. From<br />
Corte, we headed south on the N193 for about<br />
22km to Vivario. At the south end of this small<br />
town, a restaurant on the left hand side of the<br />
road marks the junction of the D69, which leads<br />
to the village of Ghisoni in about 30km. But,<br />
after only about 3km along this road from<br />
Vivario, well before the Col de Sorba, you are<br />
already in the habitat of the tall pines that the<br />
nuthatch favours.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq_diy1bGUxypIbwdIiKnt28Bkutntus5eDMn0hAIsf9Hr6VCa9Swj1bEmAcrQdaukxBMTthYNP3Fa090B4dprEFwsGGXSkn2hASelF7nE7OIS_7aeC5LfsTL8Z8nXw38-P15U3TzWgA/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-5-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq_diy1bGUxypIbwdIiKnt28Bkutntus5eDMn0hAIsf9Hr6VCa9Swj1bEmAcrQdaukxBMTthYNP3Fa090B4dprEFwsGGXSkn2hASelF7nE7OIS_7aeC5LfsTL8Z8nXw38-P15U3TzWgA/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-5-.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPMW5cnvfvKkhDQM2ioHPticK-FYU1_HQrNsE5eybFXzE8rdofncx5l_gObl5BNVgfnJ07GOgTOZ4SQGODlFnJfto-yi0SxDZl9T8fRDHl2oo3ndjmJzsbq6hTP5ao24rcqocpTsoVRA/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-6-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPMW5cnvfvKkhDQM2ioHPticK-FYU1_HQrNsE5eybFXzE8rdofncx5l_gObl5BNVgfnJ07GOgTOZ4SQGODlFnJfto-yi0SxDZl9T8fRDHl2oo3ndjmJzsbq6hTP5ao24rcqocpTsoVRA/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-6-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYKuM535j2QAI0uCTH71qq0NK7V968RICXqj72Yapc3JPx9_2F3jlLEFKGqOrrWaQ_-AJLQe7QRyojkPZkek18SC4t1k0dlpwBpaAnMFTjDH7vW0NWGesIqIWgjiY_vUbAEDzihy4xnA/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYKuM535j2QAI0uCTH71qq0NK7V968RICXqj72Yapc3JPx9_2F3jlLEFKGqOrrWaQ_-AJLQe7QRyojkPZkek18SC4t1k0dlpwBpaAnMFTjDH7vW0NWGesIqIWgjiY_vUbAEDzihy4xnA/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-14.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPMW5cnvfvKkhDQM2ioHPticK-FYU1_HQrNsE5eybFXzE8rdofncx5l_gObl5BNVgfnJ07GOgTOZ4SQGODlFnJfto-yi0SxDZl9T8fRDHl2oo3ndjmJzsbq6hTP5ao24rcqocpTsoVRA/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-6-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLbvToO3e6DGoCUELQNrcC-vmi70PyBSgvBFNWs0lH2r5UxYdJAmM_SFCgXPOGKLRHEToHcyLuKkEGxtwdfGUwhXWTc1xtIUHYXIQxsXnzqmcKaoFcJeftmM0eSHuojbkXKzDEj9Rr70/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Female%2529-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLbvToO3e6DGoCUELQNrcC-vmi70PyBSgvBFNWs0lH2r5UxYdJAmM_SFCgXPOGKLRHEToHcyLuKkEGxtwdfGUwhXWTc1xtIUHYXIQxsXnzqmcKaoFcJeftmM0eSHuojbkXKzDEj9Rr70/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Female%2529-.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Corsican nuthatch were especially hard to locate, rarely coming down from the tops of the pines</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgCdypb8bdL52uoPV1qjs2CsuEu0yhMo0FfsHsbi9wh07Q0C4syAZO0uAjKdPjyDEnEwn23JBY7A1fHHde_j4ky8DR0Vj8RfQEaZOkaBmfh6NHQuzYIAlDqaQjG8gMtMoqs2Y0BUyu-k/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Fmale%2529-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgCdypb8bdL52uoPV1qjs2CsuEu0yhMo0FfsHsbi9wh07Q0C4syAZO0uAjKdPjyDEnEwn23JBY7A1fHHde_j4ky8DR0Vj8RfQEaZOkaBmfh6NHQuzYIAlDqaQjG8gMtMoqs2Y0BUyu-k/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Fmale%2529-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
We parked, and could hear the nuthatches<br />
calling almost immediately. Before too long, we<br />
had enjoyed excellent views of at least one<br />
(albeit high up in the trees). It was obvious that,<br />
to photograph the nuthatches, we would have to<br />
be higher than the area we were in, so that<br />
we could look down on them. So we drove<br />
further up the valley towards Ghisoni and<br />
parked again.<br />
We could hear Corsican Nuthatches again as<br />
soon as we opened our car doors. Our height<br />
relative to the trees seemed potentially better<br />
for photography here, but we quickly decided<br />
that our best chances of obtaining some good<br />
images would be to move a few dead and fallen<br />
branches into a spot that would suit both us and<br />
the birds. With time and patience, it worked: the<br />
inquisitive birds eventually came into view at<br />
photographic range.<br />
Later in our trip, however, we enjoyed even<br />
better views of the nuthatches back in the<br />
Gorges de la Restonica, where we were staying.<br />
It seemed clear that wherever good Corsican<br />
Pine forest was to be found, so too would the<br />
nuthatch. During our week’s stay on Corsica, we<br />
also visited the ski resort Haut Asco, another<br />
well-known area for the nuthatches. We did not<br />
actually see any here, but we heard them several<br />
times. By the end of the week, driving between<br />
the various nuthatch areas, we hoped we had<br />
obtained enough images of the bird, which does<br />
not seem to have been photographed very often.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2ZUiC_UF9ZLxnaO8BFirzuzpi4iI4QbLEXBetdm6KyIjSAuDgkc26qCgwEGrkkVvPKFGyimUeMMC4dMGKjEEINf1yoow7sQPNqq3mFRayyqM3837LANvJvgkX47E0bhYoLDkLI5N5zY/s1600/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-9-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2ZUiC_UF9ZLxnaO8BFirzuzpi4iI4QbLEXBetdm6KyIjSAuDgkc26qCgwEGrkkVvPKFGyimUeMMC4dMGKjEEINf1yoow7sQPNqq3mFRayyqM3837LANvJvgkX47E0bhYoLDkLI5N5zY/s320/Corsican-Nuthatch-%2528Male%2529-9-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We can thoroughly recommend Corsica for a<br />
birding trip. It is an inexpensive place to visit,<br />
the scenery is spectacular, the roads are excellent,<br />
the climate is warm and, besides the<br />
endemic nuthatch, the other endemic, Corsican<br />
Finch can also be seen (although, in September,<br />
they did not seem to be as common as I had<br />
thought they might be). Amongst other species,<br />
we also saw Marmora’s Warblers in the Gorges<br />
du Tavignano and Audouin’s Gulls in the southwestern<br />
port of Propriano.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-67039261771807473862008-06-12T06:38:00.000-07:002011-05-16T08:46:21.258-07:00Rose Coloured Starling, Inskip, Preston, Lancashire. 12th June 2008The news of an adult Rose Coloured Starling last night on Birdguides had me scampering down the A6 to Inskip this morning. Being a new bird for me, it was important to catch up with it while it was in the area.<br />
I arrived early and there was only a handful of birders present. Chris Batty was putting food out to try an entice it into a photographable position, on the lawn on the opposite side of the road to the row of houses. There was no sign of the bird, so I positioned myself next to a tree in close proximity to the laid out apples and waited.<br />
Eventually the bird appeared high up on a television aerial on one of the houses. Surely it would come down to apples!<br />
It didn't, and kept disappearing further down the road, then reappearing on the house roofs once more.<br />
People came and went, and still the bird wouldn't come close. I'd sat for 4/5 hours waiting for it to come down, and decided to stretch me legs in a bid to find the bird elsewhere.<br />
I'd walked about 100 metres down from where everyone was, although there was even less hanging around by now when I thought I saw the bird land on a feeder in another front garden. My view was obscured by the front bush, but I was convinced that the bird landing was the Rose Coloured Starling. <br />
It was. I walked slowly towards it, in order to try and get a record image. As I approached though, a farmer was approaching on his quad bike. As soon as he got near the front garden the Starling was in, the bird rose up and disappeared. Typical!<br />
The farmer stopped on the road, right where I was stood. He asked whether I'd photographed it, to which I replied no!<br />
He then asked me to join him in his house for a coffee, as the bird came regularly onto his back lawn. I couldn't believe it. I took up his offer on his condition that no one else followed us, and took me shoes off before wandering through his house, into his dining room. He opened the patio doors, and I set me camera up ready for the bird to come back.<br />
We sat and waited, when all of a sudden the Starling landed about 20 feet away.<br />
It couldnt get any better!<br />
I took some record images and relaxed at the thought that at least I'd got something. The farmer said he was leaving after a time, and said I could stay in his back garden for as long as I wanted. I said that my wife was on her way, and could she come round the back, and that my good friends Mike and Jane Malpass were on their way and could they come and meet me in the garden. This was no problem to the bloke, so I sat there holding court until they arrived. Both Hazel and Mike rang me to find out where I was, and I explained that they could enter the garden, but not let the masses in. They managed to find me, and the bird showed just as it had done earlier.<br />
I will be sending a photograph to the finder/farmer as an acknowlegement for all his help. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9dKReL5mllL8RLiYD-1O-FT9cxJTIGfX5YJ3ghhnuzboCVrTiq7ODDAOsnI1nIgnVK-EQHeTLUCK9F_6Dcs09ohPFJlyUdVIhCIRz-LlIPLJEfv-I-r5FdK-b2QqAlNqvsoWbSAhLFo/s1600/Rose-Coloured-Starling-12-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9dKReL5mllL8RLiYD-1O-FT9cxJTIGfX5YJ3ghhnuzboCVrTiq7ODDAOsnI1nIgnVK-EQHeTLUCK9F_6Dcs09ohPFJlyUdVIhCIRz-LlIPLJEfv-I-r5FdK-b2QqAlNqvsoWbSAhLFo/s320/Rose-Coloured-Starling-12-4.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuUcgWLv_MQ7TMYoyGRmzG5cm0B9pkisKqthwH4xR-IVTKvVgf5xQeLzWt3yAyAA1ZIrMtJZvnHVOrmn_N6vSyJFUOb_wYBhLxB6_VMwMarMPxQkafeT-zZUJiUQFNum6pN2zb9lv_JY/s1600/RC-Starling-1-l-by-Gary-Jen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuUcgWLv_MQ7TMYoyGRmzG5cm0B9pkisKqthwH4xR-IVTKvVgf5xQeLzWt3yAyAA1ZIrMtJZvnHVOrmn_N6vSyJFUOb_wYBhLxB6_VMwMarMPxQkafeT-zZUJiUQFNum6pN2zb9lv_JY/s320/RC-Starling-1-l-by-Gary-Jen.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrq-6j5XreS6Vok1PxF5N918yzwUZ4QABkJs2hXqfaStCNLQzQntl8B8383i8EhlSxgjwct8LxsQr0r2IoBAcOA3mrrNH7B-DusXsV_eyfoppvpo-G0N3Y1HyzHNXQLAuevgLjcgxOk4/s1600/RCStarling-5-4x6-by-Gary-Je.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrq-6j5XreS6Vok1PxF5N918yzwUZ4QABkJs2hXqfaStCNLQzQntl8B8383i8EhlSxgjwct8LxsQr0r2IoBAcOA3mrrNH7B-DusXsV_eyfoppvpo-G0N3Y1HyzHNXQLAuevgLjcgxOk4/s320/RCStarling-5-4x6-by-Gary-Je.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-46563202617659389302008-05-30T12:49:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:13:39.885-07:00Bluethroat (Luscinia Svecica), Rossall School,Cleveleys,Lancashire. 30th May 2008Having seen and photographed a (white spot) Bluethroat at Aldcliffe near Lancaster on the 8th April, the news of a (red spot) Bluethroat down the road at Cleveleys, certainly whetted the appetite. I wasn't at work, but had no vehicle. I had to wait for Hazel to come home from work before we could set off.<br />
Everything was ready, (as I'd left me wellies at home a few weeks earlier), nothing was left to chance.<br />
We set off, and got to the site for about 1800pm. On arrival, a group of birders were stood watching an area of scrub, in the corner of a field. We walked down to the crowd, and the bird could be seen from where we were all stood, albeit partially obscured by the various branches in front of it.<br />
No chance of any images, as we were too far away, and the branches were everywhere. I walked away to set up me camera, in the hope it might come out into the open.<br />
We both stood watching from afar, when I saw the Bluethroat fly over towards the sea wall. Everyone else stood staring at the bush it had left!!<br />
I called over to say that the bird had left the bush, and was now near to the sea wall. It was now in the open, but 30 metres away. The birders walked towards the bird, but it went even further away.<br />
No worries I thought, it'll come back. (I hoped).<br />
Within ten minutes and everyone gone, we watched the Bluethroat fly down to the long grass by the footpath, down from the original bush it was seen in.<br />
We walked over slowly, and the bird just sat there, singing its heart out.<br />
I managed a few record images and we went home happy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DPk_qchBV7aNI022rjPqfodjNmSYgJ5Am-MYs78hEU_ExLoJ8O_DkAx51_XYCGt40OckAtsUIOEh4NqeAmlP0esU3NGGCfWNmuljWw4O03oNUXRbLnPx0XSOy3Vq5DZfEIyQaGydqQU/s1600/RS-Bluethroat-2a-6x4-by-Gar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DPk_qchBV7aNI022rjPqfodjNmSYgJ5Am-MYs78hEU_ExLoJ8O_DkAx51_XYCGt40OckAtsUIOEh4NqeAmlP0esU3NGGCfWNmuljWw4O03oNUXRbLnPx0XSOy3Vq5DZfEIyQaGydqQU/s320/RS-Bluethroat-2a-6x4-by-Gar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Bluethroats aren't very common in the North West, yet in the last five weeks, I'd caught up with both red spot and white spotted Bluethroats.Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-91383259782541526722008-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:13:13.520-07:00Bluethroat (Luscinia Cyanecula) Aldcliffe Marshes,Lancaster,Lancashire. 8th April 2008I was at work today when I was about to hand over a patient when me phone started vibrating in me pocket. Obviously I couldn't answer it. <br />
Again, and again it kept going off, but for what reason?<br />
I handed over me patient and exited the building and checked me phone, and their were numerous missed calls. <br />
I checked the history and they were from Ian Corbett. It was obvious that a decent bird was about. I immediately rung Ian back to see what all the fuss was about.<br />
'Where are you?' he said,<br />
'Im at work why?'<br />
'(White spotted) Bluethroat near you'<br />
'How near?'<br />
'Aldcliffe Marsh' was the answer.<br />
Now from where I was at the hospital, Aldcliffe Marsh is approximately 1 1/2 miles from where I was stood.<br />
I explained that I couldn't get there as I was at work, and the earliest I could get there was after 1900pm.<br />
I had some planning to do.<br />
I rung Hazel and asked her to put all my camera equipment in the car for when I get home. I explained I would be home, change vehicles, then shoot off for a Bluethroat.<br />
I did just that. I finished work, dashed home, changed vehicles and was at Aldcliffe for 1930pm.<br />
I walked (briskly) towards where I thought the bird was. In the distance a lone birder stood scanning the area. As I approached him, I realised it was Mark Prestwood. Mark hadnt seen the bird, but there was still time.<br />
It was at this moment that something was missing. Wellies!<br />
I was stood on the marsh in a pair of trainers upto me ankles in water. (Must remember wellies next time).<br />
No worries, as as I was thinking, the bird popped up on a piece of driftwood. I knelt down to keep low, and fired off some images. <br />
It had been a bit of a rush, and I was soaked up to me knees, but well worth it.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Sqb06vAlllN3Wjdr7kjs_lW6z_HY71yH9A-UnqbCF7DGTrXQaP9be-8Kk-MMJfIDszcVpm3pQR5902TMx1dNNM5Yf6sSI97XdBEaGI0kib8m9Pm3h1ZouMmyyGo1JSgjm34Ih5JLHU4/s1600/WS-Bluethroat-3%2540-Aldcliffe-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Sqb06vAlllN3Wjdr7kjs_lW6z_HY71yH9A-UnqbCF7DGTrXQaP9be-8Kk-MMJfIDszcVpm3pQR5902TMx1dNNM5Yf6sSI97XdBEaGI0kib8m9Pm3h1ZouMmyyGo1JSgjm34Ih5JLHU4/s320/WS-Bluethroat-3%2540-Aldcliffe-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062379271990762149.post-2650278541981252212008-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:002011-05-13T12:05:24.584-07:00White Crowned Sparrow, Cley-next-the-Sea,Norfolk. 14th January 2008Ive been down to Norfolk today to finally see the White Crowned Sparrow that's been thrilling the crowds down there. Shifts have been in the way of me going, so to catch up with the bird this morning was fantastic.<br />
I set off at 2200 hrs last night as traffic would be quiet and I could have a sleep before first light. I arrived in Cley at 0230 hrs and reclined the car seat and had a snooze.<br />
Man was it cold!<br />
It was obvious where the bird had been, as the opposite grass verge from where the previous hundreds of birders had stood, had turned into a quagmire.<br />
The first birder to arrive was Richard Millington, editor of Birding World magazine, which is based in Cley-next-the-Sea. He suggested that as there was no one about, I should stand by the gate of the garden the sparrow had been frequenting and a photo opportunity might arise.<br />
I crossed the road, and set me stall up! <br />
A few other birders arrived, some stood by the gate, others on the road. The sparrow showed briefly at the end of the driveway, a little to far away, even when stood at the gate! It is my first American sparrow and a superb bird to see in Britain.<br />
I decided to leave my position and see how it went later in the day.<br />
I had a short drive through the village to the beach at Salthouse where another bird I hadnt seen before was coming to seed thrown onto the pebbles. A Lapland Bunting was coming into the seed with a large flock of Snow Buntings. Ive never seen as many Snow Buntings and it made a great spectacle. I managed a few images and decided to drive back to Cley, to see if the Sparrow was showing.<br />
<br />
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On arrival, the White Crowned Sparrow was on the gravel path with the resident Chaffinchs and Sparrows feeding as if it had been there all its life.<br />
Steve Gantlett, editor of Birding World magazine arrived and came and stood with me at the gate, whilst the Sparrow went along with what it was doing.<br />
Its been a great day with a superb little bird and good company. The drive home was a bit ,ore hectic due to the traffic, but the journey home couldnt spoil my day.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_h92jNgVcVF2oDJkOsqSsU9nb1xIAHKegD0mtjIfL-Gcd3cWw9YhmZsoeMkkc5xLQIG6_tSZ8bCti5MfnjNJKLRdiYgrOarGhro4Sx1RCKm2BmACDzVrO5DbRGOQURguScwAuo7RZz2o/s1600/White-Crowned-Sparrow-14-or.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_h92jNgVcVF2oDJkOsqSsU9nb1xIAHKegD0mtjIfL-Gcd3cWw9YhmZsoeMkkc5xLQIG6_tSZ8bCti5MfnjNJKLRdiYgrOarGhro4Sx1RCKm2BmACDzVrO5DbRGOQURguScwAuo7RZz2o/s320/White-Crowned-Sparrow-14-or.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gary Jenkins Bird Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857794688150920687noreply@blogger.com0