Zim Girl's 2nd Big Year 2019

[Zim Girl]

This pair have been showing really well in the last few weeks and I finally managed to get a shot of both of them.

 

35.  Eurasian Stonechat

 

Female

 

Male

 

Marton Mere  -  13/02/19

 

 

[michael-ibk]

You have been busy Angie! Great additions, very nice capture of the Water Rail and a Bittern always is an exceptional sight. I also have Tree Sparrows in the garden btw but nobody would get excited about that here - they are very common in Austria.

[Kitsafari]

Interesting info on the tree sparrow as they are flourishing in singape so much so that they've nudged the house sparrow out.  The latter is seldom seen here now. 

 

Great news that they are nesting in your garden!

Edited February 21, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Zim Girl]

Thanks both of you.  Again, it is interesting to find out what is common and what is not, in different areas.

 

I hope you had a great time in Botswana, I am sure there will be lots of lovely new additions on your BY's soon.

[mvecht]

@Kitsafari  Same situation in Denmark with Tree vs House Sparrows. House Sparrows used to be one of the most common birds in Denmark but is not a common sight anymore with Tree Sparrows taking over

[Zim Girl]

We only live a half hour drive away from the Forest of Bowland.  The River Brock runs through it on it's western edge and this is a very good place to see Dippers. We have seen them on every visit this year and we think there are at least 2 possibly 3 territories along the stretch of river we usually walk.  On our last visit we also saw 2 flying together (presumably male and female).

Getting a decent photo isn't easy as most of the river is in shade, but these are the best so far.

 

36.  Dipper

River Brock  -  09/02/19

River Brock  -  23/02/19

River Brock  -  23/02/19  (Different bird)

[Zim Girl]

This one was a bonus while we were Dipper hunting

 

37.  Grey Wagtail

River Brock  -  25/02/19

 

[Zim Girl]

Back to some much easier subjects.

 

38.  Herring Gull

Near Marton Mere  -  06/02/19

[Zim Girl]

39.  Great Crested Grebe

Stanley Park  -  26/02/19

[Zim Girl]

40.  Oystercatcher

Knott End  -  25/02/19

 

[xelas]

Lovely Dipper, @Zim Girl; not that easy to nail the focus and the exposure right, but you did it. Oystercatcher is even more notorious for exposure, again, extra good photo.

[PeterHG]

I'm impressed, too, with your Dippers. Well caught!

[Galana]

Nice photos. I say it every time but Dippers really do it for me.

[Zim Girl]

Thank you, and I agree they are lovely birds. I am pleased we have somewhere we can find them fairly easily.

 

20 hours ago, xelas said:

Lovely Dipper, @Zim Girl; not that easy to nail the focus and the exposure right, but you did it. Oystercatcher is even more notorious for exposure, again, extra good photo.

Thank you Alex.  I am trying hard not to 'blow the whites' on these birds.  I use the 'highlight blinking' function and exposure compensation a lot when taking photos.

[Zim Girl]

Two more 'new' birds coming up.

 

The first is fairly unusual for around here.

It was taken a while ago, I went back a couple of times to try for better pictures but no luck and now they are not being reported any more so I think they have gone.

 

41.  Egyptian Goose

Conder Pool, Glasson Dock  -  17/01/19

 

[Zim Girl]

Now this one I am really pleased with.  I saw this bird for the first time ever last week, but just couldn't get anything more than a smudge of a picture, it was moving around so quick.  I went out again this morning and just on the off chance I waited around the group of trees I had seen it in.  After around 15 minutes there it was, and this time I did a bit better.

 

42.  Goldcrest

 

 

Stanley Park  -  04/03/19

[Galana]

Terrific Goldcrest. Always tricky on account of size and behavior. Well done.

[Zim Girl]

Thank you @Galana

[Zim Girl]

A few more very local birds.

 

43.  Mute Swan

 

Stanley Park  -   04/03/19

 

[Zim Girl]

Pretty happy with the ID for this one - dark grey back and yellow legs.  See a good number of these in with the Herring gulls.

 

44.  Lesser Black-backed Gull

Stanley Park  -  04/03/19

 

[Zim Girl]

45.  Great Tit

Stanley Park  -  04/03/19

 

[xelas]

1 minute ago, Zim Girl said:

Pretty happy with the ID for this one - dark grey back and yellow legs. 

Lucky You; I am never comfortable with any gull ... too often they are not what I think they are .

[Peter Connan]

Some really cracking shots again!

[Zim Girl]

@Peter Connan Thank you Peter.

 

22 hours ago, xelas said:

Lucky You; I am never comfortable with any gull ... too often they are not what I think they are .

Well there are not too many to choose from locally, plus I cheat a bit by always checking the bird club sightings lists.

 

[Zim Girl]

Great to be back on ST and the BY.

 

A very common visitor to our garden.  The more confident ones will often peer in through our upstairs bedroom window hoping for a raisin snack, which we sometimes put out on the window sill.

 

46.  Blackbird

Male

Front garden  -  23/03/19

 

Female

Stanley Park  -  20/03/19