Hawfinch, Sizergh Castle, Cumbria, March 28th 2011

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.
First bird to arrive was a Jay, which was joined by goldfinch, chaffinch, bullfinch, great tits, blue tits, robin and then finally a nuthatch.
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.
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).
Other birders started to turn up, and by 0800am i'd made my exit.
Never been as close to these wonderful birds, and today for a change, it hadn't rained.
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).

Oriental Turtle Dove, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, 22nd February 2011

Just 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.
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!
We decided to meet at The Tickled Trout and head down from there.
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.
We arrived at 0700 am, and there were two other birders who had arrived before we had.
Neither had seen the bird, but it was early and the more eyes viewing, the more chance we had.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Typically the bird was out of view from where I was sat.
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!
By dinnertime, Tony and me were on our way back to Lancashire.
An excellent day out, with a superb bird in the bag, and great company.

Special thanks to Stephen for all his efforts in helping everyone see the bird from the comforts of his own kitchen!

Red Necked Grebe, Fairhaven Lake, Lancashire, January 8th 2011

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.

Pied-Billed Grebe, Hollingsworth Lake, Greater Manchester, 10th November 2010

Whilst 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.
Next morning I drove to the Country Park, and the leaving birders all said the bird was showing.
I quickly walked the perimeter of the Lake, to where 50 odd birders were viewing the grebe which was showing across the small mere.
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.
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.
I got into position as the bird was now right at the mouth of the channel, about to swim back into the small mere.
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.
It then looked like it was about to swim left back through the channel, but turned back from where it had come from. Aaarrgghh!
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).
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.
My good mate Mike Malpass was in the crowd getting images and all in all, I was glad I'd got down there early.

Waxwing, Barrow, Lancashire, 30th October 2010

An invasion of  88 Waxwings at nearby Barrow had Ian and Michelle Walker and myself heading for what we hoped would be excellant photographic opportunities.
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!
We were all happy with our images.

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.