Buff Breasted Sandpiper, Crossapol, Tiree, Outer Hebrides 30th September 2010

With 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.
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.
Within 30 minutes of leaving Oban harbour, we had news that the bird had flown. (Just my luck).
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.
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)!
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.
With that, we headed towards Crossapol, where a pair of Buff Breasted Sandpipers had been seen near to a nearby football pitch.
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.

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.

Marmora's Warbler, Blorenge, Gwent, Wales, 10th June 2010

A 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.
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.
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.

American Wigeon, Caerlaverock, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland 20th February 2010

News 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.
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.
Straight in front of the hide window, swimming around with Eurasian Wigeon, Shoveler, Mallard etc was the bird I'd travelled for.

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.
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.
 

 It did exactly this and wasn't phased by me or anyone else who was watching it.

A great day, connecting with two birds, and getting some images as well.

Black Throated Thrush, Newholm, North Yorkshire 21st January 2010

Thrushes 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.

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.

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.