Alan's Ramblings

It was bright but a bit breezy this morning when I set off to try my luck at Blacktoft Sands. There weren’t many other cars in the car park when I got there, but when I reached Ousefleet hide at the far end, it was heaving with birders. It was a bit like being in an episode of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ though, listening to their accents and dialectic contortions as they discussed the birds we could see before us! Aye lad, tha’s right an all!

There was a good selection of Godwits, Teal, Wigeon, Shelducks, a lone Ruff and a couple of roosting Spotted Redshank there. My first waders in a while.

The konik ponies looked well with the February sun on them. It was just as I was considering leaving when I spotted a fine Marsh Harrier which put on a flying display for a few minutes – nice bird.

However, my real photographic prize of the day came after I’d driven over to nearby North Cave YWT. (I was hoping for another chance to photograph last week’s fabulous Red Kite, if I’m honest!)

I was standing looking at the feeders near the car park when a fabulous Kestrel appeared and began hovering just a few yards in front of me. A beautiful specimen.

I saw a lovely pair of Bramblings at the feeders enroute to the Turret Hide. All in all, a good day’s birding!

After a night of terrible winds sweeping the country I’d rather thought today would be one for staying indoors. However, as the morning progressed, the winds died down and the sun came out, so I decided to have a run out to Old Moor.

It was quiet there today. Evidently the weather had put many people off. The friendly lady at reception, who welcomed me, pointed out my good luck at finding a break in the weather; and she was right, it was very balmy and sunny for the hour and a half or so that I was there.

The water levels on the reserve are still very high, with many of the usual islands favoured so much by the various waders regularly seen at Old Moor still completely submerged. So, it was the Bird garden and the Tree Sparrow Farm which once again proved to be the most popular locations with both birds and birders.

My highlights of the day were a beautiful male Brambling and a few Yellowhammers at the TS Farm. Also, I just can’t resist photographing the Long Tailed Tits in the Bird Garden. They are just so cute!

164 – Red Kite

I was very pleased to get a new bird today, taking my total up to 164 fully wild birds photographed by me in the UK, so far; a magnificent Red Kite.

A Red Kite scanning for prey

The day started off really sunny, with favourable weather forecasts for our region. I decided to visit North Cave YWT, (my third visit there, and the site of some really pleasing photos of a hunting Barn Owl taken from the Turret Hide on my last visit).

It was still a beautiful morning by the time I arrived, and was very pleased to observe a Kestrel hunting in the field immediately adjacent to the reserve – a good omen, I decided.

Just by the car park, the feeders were absolutely teeming with huge numbers of birds: Sparrows (both Tree & House varieties), Dunnocks, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Reed Buntings, Robins, Blackbirds and three individuals from not-so-common species: Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll.

Out on the Village Lake were all the usual suspects plus a couple of Cormorants flying overhead and a few Redshanks – my first waders in a couple of weeks! Phew!

On walking along the pathway towards the Turret Hide I was treated so another hunting Kestrel overhead. A real beauty too!

A fabulous Kestrel

However, it was just as I was approaching the Turret Hide that I spotted a Red Kite flying over the Island Lake to my right. Frantically, I began rattling off shots, fully expecting that each shot I got might well be the last one I would get! I had a real dilemma on my hands though – did I run up the banking (I know, I know – you’re not supposed to do that!), or did I make a dash for the stairs to the Turret and hope that the Kite might still be on view once I got inside? Well, I chose the former and managed six or seven shots, most of which have out-of-focus grass and reeds in the foreground – however, much better than nothing at all! Once inside the hide the bird was nowhere to be seen, so it appeared I had made the right decision.

Other birds I saw from the Turret Hide on this occasion included, Buzzard, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Coot, Lapwing, Moorhen, various Gulls that were a bit too far off to identify, Tufted Duck, Curlew and Shelduck. There were also some Rooks and Carrion Crows in the fields beyond the Island Lake.

North Cave truly is a great reserve, and the Turret Hide is a superb location with a high vantage point and a near 360 degree field of view.

It was the Red Kite that made the day truly special, however; a great bird, and a very pleasing addition to my list!

Helen and I made a quick stop at Old Moor yesterday for the last hour of daylight. We would have like to go down to the Reedbed Hide area to look for the Bearded Tits that have been there in the last few days, but alas, by the time we arrived the light was already fading fast. We did see a rather lovely Long Tailed Tit in the Bird Garden and a beautiful male Yellowhammer in the Tree Sparrow Farm though.

Last weekend it was a Leighton Moss trip for Helen and me. It was very cold indeed; the weather forecast had been for sunshine earlier in the week, but as Saturday approached the forecasts began to look less and less hopeful.

On arrival at Leighton Moss we quickly discovered that all the water in the lakes was completely frozen over – no water birds to be seen. Not to be daunted though, we pressed on regardless. First we tried the new ‘Sky Tower’ viewing point. What a view! The view from the top confirmed what we had already discovered though – ice everywhere!

My first thoughts were that there would be no birds to see, let alone photograph. Boy was I proven wrong!

I had remembered from our previous trip here that there was a fantastic location along the path enroute to the Tim Jackson & Grisedale hides where we’d seen loads of birds, including Marsh Tits quite close-up. It was a wider part of the path with several huge trees providing a dense canopy overhead, and one old dead one lying on its side which made a perfect perching area.

When we arrived there, a fellow birder had already ‘set up shop’ with a video camera on a tripod and a stills camera complete with long lens. Very helpfully, he had put down loads of seeds and nuts to attract the birds. In that one spot we were treated to a plethora of excellent bird sightings including: Jay, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and a host of other more common birds as well. We almost couldn’t decide just what to point our cameras at as we were spoilt for choice! We spent a magic hour or so at the spot and came away with a very impressive haul of bird shots for a single location!

The following morning we went and waited at the grit trays down the Causeway for the best part of an hour, hoping to see the much-anticipated Bearded Tits. Alas, it was not to be. Despite having heard that they were ‘showing very well’ by the volunteers at the Visitor Centre, plus hearing a long account from a fellow birder who regaled us with stories of how good they had been the day before, the little beggars failed to appear! Grrrr!

Two last highlights of the weekend which need a mention were the fabulous female Great Spotted Woodpecker that gave us lots of photo opportunities just as it was beginning to snow on the Saturday afternoon, and the begging Robins that literally fed from our hands!

Despite an almost total lack of water birds, (don’t even mention the elusive Bitterns – do they really exist, or is it just a wind-up by every other birder in the world?) we had a fabulous weekend all the same. That’s twice we’ve been to Leighton Moss – both times in January – we must go there in the Spring next time!

A beautiful Blue Tit in the Bird Garden at Old Moor RSPB

From today this will be my birding blog where i’ll keep records of the birds I have seen and photographed on my outings. Currently my photography total stands at 163 different species. All birds photographed were completely wild and free.