pewit

Iceland Gull again

2012-01-25T19:47:00.003Z

amazing how different this bird looks in different light conditions - although not sunny today it was a bit brighter and it started to look truly pallid and like a typical 3cy glaucoides Iceland Gull

Turnstones

2012-01-25T19:13:00.000Z

the omnivorous and highly sociable scavenger

4th Mediterranean Gull in 4 days

2012-01-25T17:27:00.001Z

this 2cy Mediterranean Gull was the 4th bird seen on the docks since Saturday with 3 adults previously; just how many are in the area?

Shoveler display

2012-01-25T16:49:00.001Z

January sees the local Shoveler drakes getting into display flights but they always take off into the wind so a persistent west or south-west wind means no head on shots in fact we need a southerly for that and in mid winter that is pretty damned unlikely

Iceland ? Kumlien's gene type Gull revisited

2012-01-22T20:10:00.000Z

note how the iris colour appears to change from black to dark amber in sun and at close range v more distant views; the bill colour also seems to have changed from yesterday's poor light -- also the primary colour seems to vary with light; is the head shape slightly more Kumlieni ---is the bill too long and robust for glaucoides? or is it just a male - and note the darker outer webs to the centres of the outer primaries in flight from above -- an interesting bird

Please note that cameras are not allowed on the ABP docks without an ABP photo permit --

Rough-legged Buzzard Withern

2012-01-22T17:35:00.001Z

a quick view before it dropped into the rough grass and stayed put

Iceland Gull

2012-01-21T20:37:00.000Z

overall a second winter with the grey mantle feathers and bill pattern but the dark iris and rather blotchy plumage tones on the underparts and underwings suggest it is quite a retarded bird -- most photos taken in very poor light the last at 16:39hrs

a few gulls

2012-01-21T19:55:00.000Z

spent the afternoon at Grimsby Docks but gulls are few compared to the fishing years; some nice Common Gulls at close range kept me occupied and a couple of adult Meds plus eventually found a presumed second winter Iceland

old timer Bittern

2012-01-21T19:26:00.001Z

I must look back at my images and work out when this male Bittern was first seen at Far Ings; it has a distinctive kink in its secondaries and has been around for at least 4 years but probably much longer

Bittern

2012-01-19T19:39:00.001Z

I get the impression that odd Bitterns will put up with a hide full of photographers and machine gun shutters blasting at them but a lot more will not; I think this is one that will not -- it was late afternoon when it appeared in the open in deep shade but it then put on an interesting dancing display before flying to roost in the adjacent reedbed; the difference in exposure between the deep shade and the last rays of the sun was 4-5 stops -- as usual I was in manual exposure mode so just spun the wheel as it hit the sun to change exposure and guessed ---

Barnacles and hybrids

2012-01-19T19:00:00.000Z

the Humber Barnacle Goose flock contains 3 hybrid type birds; one is large and with grey-brown in the plumage and appears to be a Greylag / Barnacle hybrid as odd broods have been seen in most years; the other two are quite similar with a lot of Barnacle characters and are Barnacle sized and with a similar jizz but are they hybrids or birds with a plumage pigment problem? and if hybrids with what;

Marsh Harriers roost time

2012-01-16T20:17:00.002Z

probably my favourite photographic subject -- today these two, a female and a young adult male, were not very co-operative but a nice sunset at roost time presented a different opportunity for some silhouettes and other shots -- how many birders would actually identify these birds as a shape in silhouette and which is the male and which the female?

Goldeneye flock and Whoopers

2012-01-16T19:58:00.003Z

a perfect day for a Goldeneye count on the Humber and sorting out the rarities -- just 2 female Scaup and 7 Whooper Swans but an excellent count of 638 Goldeneye a recent record and maybe an all time high count - now where's that Barrow's?

Lammergeier

2012-01-13T12:06:00.001Z

a November 2011 highlight

Great White Egret Kirkby

2012-01-12T19:56:00.001Z

had a look at this nice bird today hoping to acquaint myself with some Caspian Gulls but after about 4 hours could not find a single gull of note so gave up

shot of the day

2012-01-09T20:07:00.002Z

just one I liked -- its down to light

Greenland White-fronted Geese and a European

2012-01-09T20:03:00.001Z

the flock of 6 Greenland White-fronted Geese still present today with their attendant first-winter European White-front which they chase off if it tries to feed too close to them; following a first-winter that was found with the Pink-feet on the Humber in Jan - Feb 2011 this record Lincolnshire flock was most unexpected; they never associate with the 120+ European White-fronts that are in the same area and fly past them several times daily -- note in pics 4 and 5 (from the top) the European White-front is on the left of all the Greenland and in 7 to the right of the two birds

past Lincolnshire records are few:

The first record noted in Smith andCordeaux 1952 was of a bird identified on Croft Marsh in December 1950; it wasnot noted if it was an adult or first-winter.

Gibraltar Point January 2^nd 1964

Donna Nook January 23^rd 1969

Holbeach on February 16^th 1972

A party of 4 at Gibraltar Point on February5^th 1996,

Gibraltar Point March 13^th 1997

Adult with Pink-feet Winteringham October 8^th – 26^th 2000

First-winter January 24^th 2001 Winteringham and Roxby 28^th2001

Barton Wolds first-winter November 1^st2003

First-winter between West Halton and Read’sIsland January 13^th – February 26^th 2011

Greenland White-front

first-winter Greenland White-front

big guns on the Tundra Beans

2012-01-09T19:18:00.001Z

had the 500 in the car with the 2x converter today and for about 40 seconds the sun was out -- the first-winter European White-front still with the flock -- orange legs really stood out in the sun today

Hen Harriers today

2012-01-09T19:14:00.001Z

the first bird and head-on composite clearly a first-winter male with an obvious pale iris but is the second bird (6-8 down) a first-winter male as well? it was too dark and not close enough to resolve iris colour but a dramatic difference in underwing pattern visible in photos -- two of the birds roosting at Blacktoft and passing through Alkborough

geese

2012-01-07T08:55:00.000Z

Tundra Beans (46) Pink-feet 500, European White-front 1 first-winter, Greylags and nearby 129 European White-fronts -- a good goose day

images of 2011 GGO

2012-01-06T07:53:00.001Z

a fine memory from Sweden in May

comparing Great Grey Shrikes

2012-01-04T19:11:00.001Z

right bird in both shots trapped Spurn November 7th 2011 left bird Wroot Lincs December 31st 2011

first Bittern of the year

2012-01-04T15:00:00.001Z

flew across the road in front of me and started fishing on the edge of the reedbed

Greenland White-fronted Geese

2012-01-03T19:07:00.002Z

another excellent goose winter continues to produce new records with this flock of 6 Greenland White-fronts at Alkborough today being the largest ever local flock -- comparison with a single Eurasian White-front and Greylags in some of the pics --

Desert Wheatear

2012-01-02T19:14:00.002Z

after weeks of procrastination we went for the Bempton Desert Wheatear on a very blustery and cold day -- it was mobile and elusive spending much of the day feeding in winter wheat fields inland of the cliffs and making a few erratic appearances on the path -- best of the day's efforts in less than optimal conditions all taken late afternoon after 6 hours of waiting

Lammergeiers part 2

2012-01-02T19:06:00.002Z

Tundra Bean Geese

2012-01-01T16:07:00.002Z

there has never been a better time to get acquainted with these subtle geese -- first-winter White-front included

Jan 1st Short-eared Owl

2012-01-01T16:04:00.001Z

a nice surprise on the local patch on the first day of the new year

interesting Great Grey Shrike in Lincs

2011-12-31T21:15:00.001Z

the bird at Wroot on the Yorks border -- some interesting features -- lots of photos for ID discussion! Do Great Grey Shrikes have grey lesser upperwing coverts?

Quick response from eagle eyed Tim Jones -- check out this photos of a Great Grey ringed at Spurn on November 7th 2011 --ggs071111is.jpg looks very similar to the Wroot bird?
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spurn-...01601189880071

Tundra Bean Geese

2011-12-30T19:29:00.001Z

some records of the flock of 46 with the first-winter White-front and some Greylags; I have found the striking blackish axillaries and underwings of the Tundras to be a good ID feature this winter contrasting as they do with the whiter underparts than the more uniform Pink-feet

Great White Egret

2011-12-30T19:05:00.002Z

very much record shots of the bird near Messingham

a few Lammergeiers

2011-12-28T19:53:00.002Z

some left overs from the Spanish hide trip -- this bird made all too brief visits so not a lot of time to frame any images -- all with Canon 1D4 and 300 2.8 II

Spurn Point

2011-12-28T19:36:00.002Z

a windy late afternoon at Spurn

Short-eared Owl testing

2011-12-22T20:48:00.001Z

since getting the new Canon 300 2.8 II I have spent little time actually testing its performance just putting it on the settings I used with the old lens -- in the last day or two I have been testing the Image stabiliser mode 3 which only works when you press the shutter; it looks odd as the image is wandering about while you are looking through the viewfinder but -- all these images taken late afternoon, very dull, Canon 1D4 with 300 2.8 II and 1.4x III converter all hand held; mostly ISO 1600 with shutter speeds of 200th second down to 50th second on the perched post shots -- flight shot at 125th second the second image with neat image applied

drake Pochard

2011-12-20T20:51:00.001Z

one of the best ducks

Snow Buntings

2011-12-20T20:50:00.000Z

the sunny start soon deteriorated and then it was ISO 800 with minimum depth of field so impossible to get the whole flock in focus in fact usually just 2-5 birds were in the focus depth and their position in the frame was seemingly random! I was trying to capture the vibrance of the excitable flock with the dune vegetation in the shot; one thing that was immediately obvious is the huge volume of human detritus on the beach pervading every shot -- surely at a popular tourist destination a beach clean up would not be too much trouble --

Black-headed and Common Gulls

2011-12-20T20:42:00.001Z

not all small finches on the beach are Twite

2011-12-20T19:59:00.002Z

spent some time today watching a flock of Snow Buntings at Cleethorpes -- initially a flock of 80 - 90 small finches were also on the beach and a quick assumption was that they would be Twite but a closer view revealed they were all Linnets; I have struggled to get any decent flight shots of flocks of Linnet but by shooting against the poor low light I managed to get something that was a lot better than I had imagined -- sometimes when you look at images on the computer you get a nice surprise, he middle image, mostly you tend to be disappointed!

a few big gulls

2011-12-20T19:54:00.001Z

Herring and a single Great Black-back -- argenteus plus one agentatus?

Little Egret high contrast

2011-12-20T17:20:00.000Z

Humber Barnacle Geese

2011-12-20T17:10:00.001Z

part of the extensive local flock with one of the hybrid types amongst them

Curlew

2011-12-14T18:48:00.003Z

spent an afternoon waiting for a Hen Harrier to hunt a favoured area but it failed to appear though a late afternoon arrival of Curlew by the hide was a bonus

a mix of oddments

2011-12-14T18:00:00.004Z

Whooper Swans in a gale

2011-12-11T19:44:00.001Z

struggling to land or stand up last week -- the difference between cloud and sun within a few minutes

Spanish scenes

2011-12-11T19:40:00.001Z

one or two more Griffons

2011-12-11T19:24:00.001Z

Griffon flock

2011-12-08T20:47:00.001Z

Canon 5DII and Canon 24-105 lens

which has more impact -- Griffon

2011-12-08T20:34:00.001Z

three images in quick succession with head turning but which creates the most impressive image or is it just down to personal preference? all exposed and converted with same criteria

Griffon Vultures

2011-12-08T19:22:00.001Z

odd birds

Red Kites encore

2011-12-08T19:15:00.001Z

Little Bustards

2011-12-08T19:13:00.001Z

a brief encounter en route to the Pyrenees

Thekla Lark

2011-12-07T20:53:00.001Z

not always and easy bird to photograph

White Wagtails

2011-12-06T07:43:00.001Z

enjoying the late abundance of flies around the bones -- there were up to 6 White Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail present

another Red Kite or two

2011-12-05T21:16:00.001Z

for a raptor lover kites are a dream bird -- most images with 300 2.8 II or 300 2.8 II and 1.4 converter

Ravens

2011-12-05T20:59:00.001Z

not an easy species to get well exposed images of -- no good relying on AV mode its strictly manual exposure with these beasts -- but what a difference sunshine makes on a winter day

odd Griffons

2011-12-05T19:44:00.001Z

still trying to find time to sort through a few 1000 images from the Spain trip --- upper image waiting for breakfast -- superb light makes so much difference to bird photography and these are all taken through 2-way glass in the hide

Red Kite and 300 2.8

2011-12-03T20:16:00.001Z

just sorting a few of my shots from 3 days in a hide in the pre-Pyrenees (more details when I get a bit of time) for now three shots of a Red Kite coming at the camera with the Canon 1D4 and 300 2.8 II lens -- the performance of this lens in good light and clean air was superb -- all three shots in a quick approach sequence with the bird preparing to dive

Griffon

2011-12-02T18:29:00.001Z

been away for a few days

Marsh Harrier a young male

2011-11-25T19:05:00.001Z

Easily mistaken for a female at any distance the underwing being the most obvious feature from a long way off

a few oddments from today

2011-11-25T19:01:00.001Z

Tundra Beans

2011-11-25T18:59:00.001Z

there have been several local parties in the last 2 weeks but this 21 is the largest to date; they were accompanied by a single Pink-foot usually we have about 2000 Pinks and 1 Tundra! poor record shots just before the torrential rain and wind blacked things out

autumn in the forest

2011-11-23T15:55:00.001Z

the mild weather in November has led to a late abundance of fungi -- very quiet bird wise

first-winter male Kestrel

2011-11-22T10:55:00.001Z

A confiding bird but the light was against me as usual apart from one very short spell when the sun almost appeared for about 15 minutes -- it was only catching small insect prey and spent long periods just sitting looking for prey; most shots with Canon 1D4 and 300 2.8 II no converters

Grey Heron

2011-11-19T21:04:00.001Z

trying to land on the bridge!

Short-eared local

2011-11-19T21:00:00.001Z

a nice patch bird on the Humber -- have been looking for them in some good rough fields buy only found a pair of Barn Owls

Goldeneye

2011-11-19T20:59:00.001Z

adult female Hen Harrier

2011-11-18T19:18:00.001Z

a well marked adult female but are there any features that identify adult female Northern Harrriers? from looking at photos it would appear not?

Snow Buntings on the Humber

2011-11-18T19:14:00.001Z

still a few birds appearing on the upper estuary with 2 at Barton yesterday and these 2 at a different location today

Woodcock

2011-11-16T20:32:00.001Z

incoming

Bewick's Swans

2011-11-16T20:21:00.001Z

after many years a notable east coast arrival with the all the geese --

murky day on the patch

2011-11-13T19:18:00.001Z

four Red-breasted Mergansers was probably a local record flock; a Swallow flew south-west, 2 juvenile skuas that appeared to be Long-tailed Skuas flew west in the murk over the bridge, 5 Bewick's Swans dropped in briefly before heading off south-west but no sign of any eastern vagrants

White-fronted Geese

2011-11-12T20:58:00.001Z

following on from last winter's super geese show there seems to be a particularly unusual influx of European White-fronts and Tundra Beans down the REast coast at the moment; what is causing it? these are some of the 16 White-fronts at Donna Nook yesterday where there were also 2 Tundra Beans --

a few additional Lesser Whitethroat images

2011-11-12T20:44:00.001Z

again taken in very dull conditions on 11th -- it would seem to meet all? of the criteria proposed by Colin Bradshaw in his 2009 paper see below -- in some of the images there is an out of focus branch across the bird's wing -- the feathers on the forecrown were wet due to foraging in the marram grass

• Field-only claims if ever acceptable would require :

• Watched for a protracted period of time with close views

• Brown on nape

• Lack of contrast between crown and mantle

• White throat contrasting with peachy or buffy flanks and breast

• Lack of clear dark mask

• Lores paler than usual

• Sandy or pale to mid-brown upperparts

• Short-winged/long-tailed jizz

• Tit-like call

• Preferably tail noted as lots of white in outer tail and centre not contrasting with mantle

Desert / Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat

2011-11-10T19:21:00.000Z

On the morning of November 8^th at Donna NookLincs there had clearly been a good arrival of thrushes, mainly Blackbirds, butalso up to 30 Robins and a few other birds; one of the first birds we cameacross was a small sandy colouredwarbler that I immediately thought looked good for an eastern, recently centralasian, Lesser Whitethroat. The bird landed in a small hawthorn but then quicklywent down into the marram where it was catching caterpillars; it could beeasily overlooked and we lost it for an hour or so but it could generally befound in the grass or low in the scattered elders and hawthorns where it seemedto go when disturbed. It was strikingly pale sandy on the upperparts and with acontrasting whitish throat and upper breast then a peachy – buff lower breast,belly and flanks. The bill was short and the head pattern weakly markedcompared to nominate Lesser Whitethroat with a white crescent below the eyebeing more obvious than the weak crescent above; most of the features of thebird are shown in the attached photos with a poor OOF flight shot that showsthe extent of white in the outer tail feathers. Its jizz was often reminiscent of Desert Warbler tipping forward when feeding and even burrowing into clumps of marram when searching for food;

The most distinctive feature ofthe bird apart from its looks was its call a mid toned dry rattles series ofnotes described as trrrrrrrrrt total dissimilar to the call of nominate birds.
I have attempted to upload two poor quality recordings of the call on YouTube link below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0js9PwYsWo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3NMx_GruXQ

Compare the calls with this recording of minula
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Sylvia-minula

It looks very similar to the bird in Aberdeen British Birds98 (11) Eastern Lesser Whitethroat in Aberdeen and the same bird in BirdingWorld 17 (12) 502 – 504 Apparent Desert Lesser Whitethroat in Aberdeen. But asall authorities seem to say making sub-specific identification between minula and halimodendri in a vagrant context is not practicable; the plumageand calls however, make these birds a different bird to our summer breedingLesser Whites.

Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat?

2011-11-10T08:27:00.000Z

more pics and discussion later but a quick post on this Lesser Whitethroat that presumably can be fitted into the central asian box the only result from 15 miles of Lincs coast flogging for rare wheatears and desert warblers yesterday -- Donna Nook November 9th --

Lesser Yellowlegs

2011-11-06T18:22:00.000Z

nice bird

Whoopers

2011-11-06T17:54:00.001Z

a fresh northerly did not really live up to expectations on the Humber especially as I missed the only Little Auk of the day -- these 17 Whoopers flew west and quickly reached Alkborough before heading south; 2 Common Scoter, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Diver and a Short-eared Owl were the best bits

Isabelline Wheatear desperation

2011-11-05T20:57:00.000Z

so why did I arrive at Spurn at 15:00hrs in light levels that were below those at tonights bonfire? well I have to blame Sweden and that is unusual; not often is my birding thwarted by family commitments indeed I famously abandoned my daughters 5th birthday party to twitch a Pied Wheatear at Gib Point (I am sure she will never remember) but having put off a swedish wooden trip all autumn pressure was on for this weekend and lets face it by Friday it looked a safe bet -- trust the MET office to get it wrong again and Spurn to get its only bird of the autumn -- then there is East Riding highways department which seems to have an excess of 30mph road signs and puts them on the majority of the road between Hull and Spurn - you can drive through Hull at 40 and then come to a virtual standstill in the open countryside!

So by 15:00 it was windy, cool and light was allowing 1/400th sec at 2000 ISO and it was flighty to boot so these are rubbish! -- not a patch on my shots of the 1990 Kilnsea bird that came to within 20 feet of my then full frame manual SLR and 400 5.6 lens with trusty Kodachrome 64 -- just dug them out as they were prints

Ruff and the outsider

2011-11-03T19:59:00.003Z

spot the oddity but then again most Ruff look odd --

Reed Bunting

2011-11-03T19:53:00.001Z

Canon 1D4, 300 2.8 II and 2x mark 3 hand held ISO 800 1/800th sec at 5.6

Lesser Yellowlegs at Alkborough

2011-11-01T20:35:00.001Z

difficult lighting conditions and not the most aesthetic of habitats; very mobile today and flew off ESE at 11:50 over Alkborough church

Water Pipit

2011-11-01T20:31:00.001Z

never the easiest of birds to get good views of so any image is a bonus;

Golden Plovers

2011-11-01T20:29:00.000Z

what images cannot convey is the sound of 14000 Goldies in flight at break-neck speed low over your head as the sun set - amazing spectacle

Lesser Yellowlegs

2011-10-31T20:52:00.001Z

a first-winter present at a private site yesterday -- relocated this evening at Alkborough -- yet another wader for the site

Hen Harrier Ruckland

2011-10-31T19:55:00.003Z

distant images on a very dull and dismal morning

more Snow Bunts

2011-10-30T19:45:00.001Z

in the dullest of lights with some drizzle and rain this morning

Snow Bunting

2011-10-29T21:30:00.002+01:00

a first-winter nominate male nivalis -- the classic time of year for an arrival on the local patch -- totally oblivious to people

Asio flammeus

2011-10-29T09:52:00.001+01:00

different light

when is a Snipe interesting

2011-10-28T08:18:00.003+01:00

possibly when its upperparts look like a Jack Snipe and its head pattern has solid black lateral crown stripes BUT when it sits in the same place for 5 hours and refuses to reveal anything else until it just flies off at dusk you wonder why / if / what and was 5 hours well spent?

Oddly the same bird was back in exactly the same location today 29th but again it refused to show any other features so in very poor light I took a few blurred images as it took off -- confirmation that it is a Common Snipe from the underwing pattern but the upperpart coloration remains striking

subtle whites

2011-10-28T08:11:00.002+01:00

Little Egret with Canon 1D4, Canon 300 2.8 II and 2x III 800th sec at 800 ISO straight out of the camera converted from RAW with Bridge / Photoshop 4 no adjustments --

a few Short-eared Owls

2011-10-26T19:21:00.000+01:00

looks like being a good winter for them --

Black Brant records

2011-10-26T08:38:00.001+01:00

at a great distance in dull light -- a day at Donna Nook produced a fly by Pectoral Sandpiper, quickly disappearing Great Grey Shrike, distant Rough-legged Buzzard, a possible Pallas' call only and this bird -- the autumn has produced so few good views of migrants on the coast that even after tomorrow's forecast easterly I am totally uninspired

juvenile Bonxie

2011-10-24T19:12:00.000+01:00

in dull light late afternoon over the Humber the 300 2.8 and 2x held focus on the Bonxie and I was surprised at the amount of plumage details revealed from the RAW file as the bird was not at all close

Pomarine Skuas

2011-10-24T19:08:00.001+01:00

the regular bird still around today targeting the local gulls and 7 other birds west plus 8 Bonxies, 43 Gannets, an adult Little Gull, 2cy Med Gull and 6 Dark-bellied Brents

Pomarine Skua and Common Gull

2011-10-23T18:18:00.002+01:00

on the Humber at Barton yesterday but is it the same skua sp that has been around for a week?

Grey Plover

2011-10-23T17:35:00.001+01:00

Canon 300 2.8 II + 2x III and 1D4 -- hand held