Desert Wheatear, Bempton, Yorkshire 27 November 2011

Had 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.
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.
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.
The one negative was the birder who blatently walked AT the bird without ant care for its welfare.
Sad to hear also on the way home that Gary Speed had died.

Greater Yellowlegs, Hauxley Nature Reserve, Northumberland, 14 November 2011

Ive 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.
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!
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.
Already in the bag, now the wait for it to come closer.
A birder then stepped out of the hide, and walked away. obviously satisfied with his views.
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.
Within minutes, the bird took off and flew the opposite direction to the other side of the lake. Superb!
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!
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.
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.
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.

Sandhill Crane, Boyton Marsh, Suffolk, 4th October 2011

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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
 

White Throated Robin, Hartlepool, Durham 9th June 2011

I 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.
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.
The sun was the biggest problem as we were facing into the light with the bird in between . Add to that, shadows galore.
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.
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.
The bird disappeared just as I was talking to Mike Lawrence, and we watched it fly east towards the headland. 
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.
The bird would hop through the wooden slats of the fencing, and then back onto the headlands grassed area.
The bird then flew back in the direction of the bowling on Olive Street, and carried on feeding as it had done earlier on.
Birders came and went, then the bird flew off again, and again was refound on the headland.
Once again it fed for a while before flying back to its regular patch, just as it had done earlier.
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.
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.

White Throated Robin, Hartlepool, Durham 7th June 2011

Ive 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
He quickly asked,
'Are you on ya way?'
'I didnt know it was still, there, and I finish in 15 minutes'
'Its been on BirdForum that its still there'
'Superb, im on me way'
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.
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.
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.
Immediately the bird showed in the far corner of the garden, frequenting the compost heap and the surrounding wall that divided the gardens.
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.
The bird seemed settled in its area and so I made my exit after a few hours watching it. Superb little bird.

Corncrake, Iona, Inner Hebrides 24th May 2011

Ive 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.
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.
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!
This morning though, we all woke up to some sun!!
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.
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.
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.
We got brief views of one calling, but again the grass was very long.

Within minutes another had flown over from the gardens and into the field then disappeared, although it did call for a good time afterwards.
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.
I said I would meet them later as I was determined to get a decent photograph of a bird 'in the open'.
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.
I walked towards the back expanse of grass behind the garden, when I nearly trod on the bird as it ran through the thistles.
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.
I'd checked with someone whether I was allowed into the gardens and was told it was open access.
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.
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.
Eventually it walked off into the long grass and disappeared. I was more than happy to get some images.

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.
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.
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.

Eventually, Glenn, Ian and Budgie returned back from sea watching, and we walked back to the harbour to get the ferry back to Mull.
Has to be said, a superb day.

Dotterel, Fair Snape Fell, Bowland, Lancashire 25 April 2011

Having 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.
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).
Whilst up there, we were joined by Lancashire birders Brian Rafferty and me good mate Mike Watson.

 

Many thanks to Brian Rafferty for allowing permission in using this image.