Outer Hebs/Speyside Trip

 

Yes, unfortunately we dipped Harlequin and Snowy Owl, good start to the post. I'll let the photos do the talking:

Corncrake at Balranald

Curlew Sandpiper in Stinky Bay, Benbecula

Dotterel on Cairn Gorm

Golden Eagles Everywhere! Taken on North Uist.

Hen Harrier on North Uist

Little Gull at Stinky Bay, Benbecula

Ptarmigan on Cairn Gorm

Corn Bunting at Balranald

Short-Eared Owl

Recent Sightings 9/9/12 - 22/9/12

 Baird's Sandpiper and Sanderling at Seaton Snook 9/9/12

 Peregrine at Seaton Snook 9/9/12

 Very Showy Ringed Plover at St. Mary's 22/9/12

 Short-Eared Owls continuing to show well at St. Mary's tonight! 22/9/12

 Snow Bunting at The Brier Dene car park, amazed to find this bird in September! 20/9/12

 St. Mary's Yellow-Browed Warbler showing well on and off this morning.

Happy Birding 2012 - Favourite Photos from 2011

I thought I'd follow the trend of the 'final post' on the year with a summary of my favourite moments and photos from 2011:

To start, a photograph taken at sunset of 4 whooper swans coming into land at Marton Mere reserve at Blackpool.

Another of my favourites is this one, from mine and my dads annual Scotland visits, this time to the Uists, this short-eared owl was taken by the road on North Uist.

A photograph of a parent and juvenile tree sparrows at Big Waters. After spending so long without a decent photo of a tree sparrow, this opportunity came along.

A recent one, taken at the start of the month at the redeveloped Gosforth Park, fantastically cut back and allows views of birds like this secretive bittern, I was lucky enough to photograph this bird at about 10 metres.

Now for my favourite bird of all time, the kestrel. This female showed very little fear of me as I followed it around the car park at Big Waters watching it catch worms and mice in the wooded area next to the car park.

This bird has always been the one I couldn't not get, no matter how long I tried for, so I visited my local patch, St. Mary's, which provided me with an opportunity I couldn't refuse, a low-flying swift.

My only mammal pf the collection is this wood mouse photographed at Low Newton, again showing no fear whatsoever as this photo is taken with a 18-105mm lens, at 105mm this photo is uncropped, I had never seen a wood mouse so close which made the experience so special.

Another of my favourites from the year, taken at Northumberland Park was this beautiful drake mandarin, another bird that showed little fear of people.

For a lot of May, June and July, I was attempting to photograph this species in many different locations, including St. Mary's, Druridge Pools and finally where this photo was taken, Arcot Pond.

I thought it would be rude not to include this beauty in my collection, this desert wheatear at Newbiggin I have photographed on many occasions and never ceases to amaze me how approachable this bird is, such a stunning bird as well.

And finally my favourite image of 2011. We have had many rarities in Northumberland this year including, Greater Yellowlegs - Hauxley, Desert Wheatear - Newbiggin, Lesser Scaup - Marden Quarry, Eastern Black Redstart - Holy Island and many more but my favourite photograph of 2011 was taken 5 minutes from my house at St. Mary's Island. I felt that the colours, light and the pose of this stunning bar-tailed godwit couldn't be beaten...

Happy New Year and Good Birding to all in 2012!

Prestwick Carr Owls and a Strange Pintail 18/9/11

After reading many blogs about the short-eared and long-eared owls at Prestwick Carr, I finally gave in and went to see them. On arrival, I was greeted by 3 short-eared owls hunting over the fields. A fantastic county tick for me, then I heard the words 'long-eared owl' and made for the group of birders huddled around one spot near the bushes and sure enough, there was a beautiful long-eared owl sitting in the bushes with only a few branches blocking my view. A wonderful second county tick! I met up with Cain, Stephen, Morgan, Venetia, John and a few other birders for St. Mary's which made the trip even better.

Short-Eared OwlLong-Eared Owl

I was at St. Mary's on Wednesday which produced some unusual sightings such as this male-eclipse pintail which amazingly took off from the sea and landed on the grass next to me very briefly before flying back out to see. A very nice bird to see on patch, only my second.

Pintail

Outer Hebrides and Highlands

Just come back from Scotland on Saturday, we went to the Uists, Lewis and Harris and visited Skye on the last day. Fantastic trip, saw 120 species in total, including 69 buzzards and 26 short-eared owls. Including 6 I had never seen: Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Corncrake, Corn Bunting and Red-Necked Phalarope. Here is a selection of photos:

Short-Eared Owl Corn Bunting

Redshank

White-Tailed Eagle on Skye Golden Plover Buzzard

Corncrake

Sanderling Whimbrel

Dunlin Hooded Crow Common Sandpiper