Hen Harrier, Undisclosed location, Lancashire. 16th June 2009

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.  

White Throated Sparrow, Old Winchester Hill,Natural England Reserve,Hampshire. 15th April 2009

Me 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.
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.
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.
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.
The bird again came down onto the seed and performed superbly, allowing both me and Lee time to get images we wanted.
Its been a long drive home, but well worth it.

Two Barred Crossbill, Garfitts Farm, Bilsdale, North Yorkshire. 11th November 2008

Ive 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.
The farm was up on a hill and could be reached by driving up the long private track to the property.
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.
We were the only birders around at that time, but a constant stream of arrivals started arriving before the bird eventually showed.
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.
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.
Again it called from the trees, flew to the peanuts, then to the bird bath, then disappeared.
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.
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.

Corsican Nuthatches, September 2008

For the second part of our honeymoon,
Hazel and me took a budget flight to Corsica,
to spend a week photographing their endemic
Corsican Nuthatch.

Four species of nuthatch breed in Europe and,
of these, the delightful little Corsican Nuthatch
Sitta whiteheadi is the most restricted in range.
It is endemic to the western Mediterranean
island of Corsica, where it is confined to the
Corsican Pine forests of the mountainous spine
of the island.
Corsica is administratively part of France. It
lies about 100 miles southeast of the south
coast of mainland France, but it is actually closer
to Italy (c.50 miles to the east) while the larger,
Italian island of Sardinia lies only 11 miles from
its southern tip.
In September 2008, we flew
from London Stansted to Alghero in Sardinia,
hired a car there, and then drove north and took
one of the daily car ferries from Santa Theresa
across the Strait of Bonifacio to Corsica. The
crossing to the beautiful port of Bonifacio takes
only about an hour.
Hoping to see and photograph the nuthatch,
we based ourselves for a week at the Gorges de
la Restonica (at the Hotel Dominique), southwest
of the northern town of Corte, and this put
us within easy reach of the mountain pine
forests where we hoped to find the birds. From
Corte, we headed south on the N193 for about
22km to Vivario. At the south end of this small
town, a restaurant on the left hand side of the
road marks the junction of the D69, which leads
to the village of Ghisoni in about 30km. But,
after only about 3km along this road from
Vivario, well before the Col de Sorba, you are
already in the habitat of the tall pines that the
nuthatch favours.

 

Female Corsican nuthatch were especially hard to locate, rarely coming down from the tops of the pines

We parked, and could hear the nuthatches
calling almost immediately. Before too long, we
had enjoyed excellent views of at least one
(albeit high up in the trees). It was obvious that,
to photograph the nuthatches, we would have to
be higher than the area we were in, so that
we could look down on them. So we drove
further up the valley towards Ghisoni and
parked again.
We could hear Corsican Nuthatches again as
soon as we opened our car doors. Our height
relative to the trees seemed potentially better
for photography here, but we quickly decided
that our best chances of obtaining some good
images would be to move a few dead and fallen
branches into a spot that would suit both us and
the birds. With time and patience, it worked: the
inquisitive birds eventually came into view at
photographic range.
Later in our trip, however, we enjoyed even
better views of the nuthatches back in the
Gorges de la Restonica, where we were staying.
It seemed clear that wherever good Corsican
Pine forest was to be found, so too would the
nuthatch. During our week’s stay on Corsica, we
also visited the ski resort Haut Asco, another
well-known area for the nuthatches. We did not
actually see any here, but we heard them several
times. By the end of the week, driving between
the various nuthatch areas, we hoped we had
obtained enough images of the bird, which does
not seem to have been photographed very often.

We can thoroughly recommend Corsica for a
birding trip. It is an inexpensive place to visit,
the scenery is spectacular, the roads are excellent,
the climate is warm and, besides the
endemic nuthatch, the other endemic, Corsican
Finch can also be seen (although, in September,
they did not seem to be as common as I had
thought they might be). Amongst other species,
we also saw Marmora’s Warblers in the Gorges
du Tavignano and Audouin’s Gulls in the southwestern
port of Propriano.

Rose Coloured Starling, Inskip, Preston, Lancashire. 12th June 2008

The 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.
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.
Eventually the bird appeared high up on a television aerial on one of the houses. Surely it would come down to apples!
It didn't, and kept disappearing further down the road, then reappearing on the house roofs once more.
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.
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.
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!
The farmer stopped on the road, right where I was stood. He asked whether I'd photographed it, to which I replied no!
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.
We sat and waited, when all of a sudden the Starling landed about 20 feet away.
It couldnt get any better!
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.
I will be sending a photograph to the finder/farmer as an acknowlegement for all his help.

Bluethroat (Luscinia Svecica), Rossall School,Cleveleys,Lancashire. 30th May 2008

Having 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.
Everything was ready, (as I'd left me wellies at home a few weeks earlier), nothing was left to chance.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
No worries I thought, it'll come back. (I hoped).
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.
We walked over slowly, and the bird just sat there, singing its heart out.
I managed a few record images and we went home happy.

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.

Bluethroat (Luscinia Cyanecula) Aldcliffe Marshes,Lancaster,Lancashire. 8th April 2008

I 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.
Again, and again it kept going off, but for what reason?
I handed over me patient and exited the building and checked me phone, and their were numerous missed calls.
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.
'Where are you?' he said,
'Im at work why?'
'(White spotted) Bluethroat near you'
'How near?'
'Aldcliffe Marsh' was the answer.
Now from where I was at the hospital, Aldcliffe Marsh is approximately 1 1/2 miles from where I was stood.
I explained that I couldn't get there as I was at work, and the earliest I could get there was after 1900pm.
I had some planning to do.
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.
I did just that. I finished work, dashed home, changed vehicles and was at Aldcliffe for  1930pm.
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.
It was at this moment that something was missing. Wellies!
I was stood on the marsh in a pair of trainers upto me ankles in water. (Must remember wellies next time).
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.
It had been a bit of a rush, and I was soaked up to me knees, but well worth it.