Welcome to my new blog for 2012, i hope you enjoy sharing my travels.
A new toy!
After a year of not having a 500mm f4 lens i decided that i could not live without one and took the plunge again! A trip was arranged to Devon where i was intending to switch systems to Nikon; however, upon arriving i was greeted with news that Canon's long awaited mk2 500mm f4 had just arrived, needless to say it was soon in the car and heading to Prawle Point to try it out on the local Cirl Bunting population.
Initial results were impressive and so far i ma delighted.
Very few birds around but the fish and chips on Dartmouth seafront were very impressive.
A good day in the end!
After what for me has been a frustratingly quite summer, the lure of two half decent birds in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk looked promising.
However, after two hours spent at Sutton Gault not seeing a Purple Heron and two hours at Sheringham not seeing an Alpine Swift it looked like the birding gods would have the last laugh.
Thankfully we had only got as far as Blakeney when the Swift returned, a quick dash back and a 20 minute wait were rewarded with some excellent views. With fresh enthusiasm we called in at Sutton Gault on the way home to be greeted with forlorn faces, however, 20 minutes later the Heron flew in from the south and showed well on the pool.
Sometimes you are just made to work for birds!
Little Bittern 15th June 2012
A quite day sauntering around Kent, grabbing Roseate Tern for the year list and visiting the gull and tern colonies at Rye Harbour where it was good to see that around 50 pairs of Med Gull are reportedly nesting followed by a rare tourist wander around Rye (a beautiful English town complete with cobbled streets).
Whilst returning home we diverted to Rickmansworth where the Little Bittern was showing exceptionally well on the far side of the river (well 10 yards away!). A pleasant 45 minutes was spent photographing this delightful bird as it terrorised the local fish and frog population.
Roller in Yorkshire
A lingering Roller tempted us north to Yorkshire, the bird was never really close but gave great scope views, only the second record for me after the bird in Dumfries in the late 90's.
Even better (from a photography standpoint) was the visit to Bempton Cliffs seabird colony, the Gannet colony is very close with birds flying at eye level within 10 metres of the viewpoint, Puffin, Guillemots and Razorbills were all noted, plus a very respectable colony of Tree Sparrows.
After dipping the Mash Warbler at Blacktoft Sands (not to worry we got the Rainham bird the following day!), we headed to the summering Red-necked Grebe at Hatfield Moor, a stunning bird back for at least its second summer.
Norfolk 19th May 2012
A fine day in Norfolk started with a visit to Lakenheath RSPB, a superb site this time of year, Golden Oriole (2 males), Common Cranes, Bitterns, Bearded Tits, Hobby and Cuckoo's were all showing well.
News that the Temmincks Stints were still present at Cley sent us onwards to the North Norfolf coast, 4 birds were present.
Whilst deciding where to go next news broke of a Red-backed Shrike at Stiffkey, after a brief delay for lunch we duly arrived and enjoyed god views of what appeared to be a 1st summer male; whilst searching i was lucky enough to be in the right spot when a stunning Red-spotted Bluethroat was located, the bird showed brilliantly for 4 of us before disappearing before the crowd arrived.
The day ended at Titchwell where a Curlew Sandpiper was added to my year list.
Year list ended the day on 199 species.
