My Old Pal

              Just thought I'd post a pic of my Old Pal from a spot nr Leeds.
                           The Guvnor.

Local Little Owls and Stoat (Original post by Allan)

                                              Little Owl. Small bird with a big personality

                              This stoat was very close at times to the Little Owl on top of the wall. It seems as keen on looking at us as we were were of it.

Four of us went for a walk in the local area to spot and photograph Dippers and Little Owls. Though we dipped out on the Dippers we were treated to good views of Little Owls (Graham even managed to photograph a Green Woodpecker) Missing out on the Dippers was more than made up by the appearance of a very inquisitive Stoat. A great time out in our local area and a big thanks to Bruce for leading our trek.

Day Out At Blacktoft

Two of us, Barry and myself, had another great day out watching and photographing some of the birds at the RSPB reserve Blackoft Sands. Great to see the Marsh  Harriers making their food passes. (This is where the male flys above the femail and drops food for her to catch.) We had not only great views of Marsh Harriers, but were treated to views of a pair of Montagu's Harriers and a pair of Garganey. Yet another great day out.

Barry has already put a post so I've added just a few more.

                                                                      Avocets

                                       Avocets giving one of the Marsh Harriers some grief

                                                         Male and female Gadwell

                                               Male Garganey. A great looking duck

                                        Male and female Shellducks in mating mood

                                                         Male Shoveller looking his best

                                                          Those Garganey's again

                                         Little Grebe in breeding plumage

                                       Reed Wabler skulking around in the reeds

                         Flight of Avocets taking flight because of the approach of a Marsh Harrier

Trip out to Blacktoft

As no one else seems to want to go anywhere A couple of us decided to trip out to Blacktoft Sands on Saturday.
We had the usual Bacon & Egg butty at North Cave followed by a quick look round, nothing special to report there on the day, & then off to Blacktoft.
Near the car park there was a Cetti's Warbler in the reeds & a hopeful chap trying to photograph it, he was still there up to just before we left, hope he got a few shots! We heard it a few times, what a powerful call they have, but we needed to check out the rest of the site.
In Xerox there were a few people looking at a wader, it was far off & I needed a quick look in somebodies scope to ID it. I said maybe Greenshank & everybody decided against me & said it wasn't!!! So I decided if not Greenshank maybe a winter Godwit, Allan puzzled upon Winter Spotted Redshank.

Here's a record shot for reference:

Later Allan showed a Warden & they said it was a Greenshank! Thanks to those who convinced me I was wrong! I will maybe stick to my own instincts next time!

 

That didn't stop us getting stuck into the rest of the birds.

 

 Little Grebes were everywhere:

 

Quite a few Shoveler were around too

 

Avocets are trying to breed again

They take flight when the Marsh Harriers pass over. 

Quite a few Shelduck too.

& Teal.

We sat in Singleton for a while & observed Food passes & lots of long distance views of a pair of Montagu's Harriers, as well as the resident Marsh Harriers.

A few Marsh Harrier shots for you:

 

These still were not my Birds of the day -

A Spoonbill flyover was a cracking moment.

 

This was followed by a first for me - First time I ever had one of these close enough to Photograph.

 

A cracking Male Garganey came right over & paraded in front of us for a few seconds. I'm not a big Duck person but these are really striking.

 

We had all the usual suspects, Greylag, Swans, Warblers, Robins, Herons, etc. Considering the dull day it was this turned out to be a decent trip with some good birding.

Good Day at Bempton

                           Gannets galore are to be seen this time of the year at Bempton Cliffs

                      Love is in the air. Gannets renewing their bonds after being apart all winter

                                                                  Razorbills

Three of us (See Barry's Post) had a great day out at Bempton on Saturday 18th of April. Another day is planned for May. Get in touch with Barry for more details.