Dave Williams Big Year 2017

[xelas]

For me, being "too serious" means I woke up 7 am on Saturday, get out of the bed and into the car, then cruising the filed roads for next 3-4 hrs  and being happy with 1-2 new birds. 

[Galana]

@Dave Williams

If I had known it was serious I would never have joined.

[Dave Williams]

8 minutes ago, Galana said:

@Dave Williams

If I had known it was serious I would never have joined.

 

@Galana If I'd have realised I was up against a three legged man I wouldn't have entered the race either. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by Dave Williams

[xelas]

C'mon boys, it is all great fun, educational on so many levels !!

[Dave Williams]

@xelasI'm really enjoying the banter . A bit of light entertainment goes a long way to making life so much better!

Edited October 24, 2017 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

@xelas I'm still gunning for you

 

[Dave Williams]

316) Common Gull   Larus canus

The Common Gull isn't that common around my home area so I was grateful to have an opportunity to grab a shot of one with a borrowed camera whist on my monthly Cetacean watch on the Holyhead to Dublin ferry.

As this was the last trip of the year I got lucky as around a dozen were seen just outside Dublin Port. On the first trip at the beginning of March there were about 400 there but by April they had all gone.

No apologies for image quality, those white wing panels are all you need to nail the ID!

 

[Dave Williams]

317 Carrion Crow

I lost a few on doing my recheck but also discovered some obvious and easy replacements, just need to go out and get them! We see Crows everywhere locally but this was down at the RSPB reserve where I had hoped to find something extra. It wasn't to be today though.

Carrion Crow     Corvus corone by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Having spent the beautiful autumnal day working in the garden, and seeing at very close quarters two target birds that would have added to my score had I had a camera, instead I offer these to the jury in their place.

 

318) Artic Tern  I'm 99% certain, the bill shows remnants of red.

 

319)Bank Cormorant.??

 

Both were taken in Namibia in February, in Walvis Bay. There are thousands of Cormorants flying around the place in big groups, most are Cape Cormorants but this one I'm thinking is a bit different .It's a poor crop shot but I think it shows the steep forehead of the species. I wait to be corrected!  I realise there is no white on the rump but presumably a non breeding bird.

[xelas]

I feel someone breathing down my neck ; time to get out and get more birds .

 

To me, it looks like another Cape Cormorant !

Edited October 27, 2017 by xelas

[Dave Williams]

I think you are probably correct @xelas, I'll make an attempt for both a Treecreeper and a Goldcrest on Sunday if the weather looks promising. Tomorrow I'm off to Liverpool for more anguish watching my team play.

(Note I didn't comment on the 7-0 win the other day against Maribor)

[xelas]

@Dave Williams, anyone can beat Maribor. Even Olimpija. With Huddersfield it will be a different game altogether.

We will watch the same game on Saturday, so no one will have an edge on this  . BTW good luck with Treecreeper and Goldcrest. My target is Green Woodpecker.

[Dave Williams]

Well, nothing added this weekend, well nothing to the BY anyway. Didn't find much spare time for photography to be honest but did find 30 minutes for a wander. Failed to find Goldcrest and Treecreeper but managed to find a Blackcap but failed to get a photo as it was being typically elusive in bushy undergrowth.

What I did manage to add was another trip for next year. I have persuaded Claire who surprisingly agreed without any persuasion  to sign up for a 22 day camping/ B&B safari journey from Cape Town to Windhoek. 14 of the nights in a roof top tent in one of those Hilux Campers with twin tents on the roof and as yet, unknown neighbours sharing! ( @xelas)  12 people, 3 vehicles.  I'm going to book a couple of extra nights in Cape Town beforehand too. 

Another mad impulse decision when a friend who is organising it posted details on her Facebook page . Looks like it could be amazing fun..... there again, only if we don't fall out with our travelling companions!

So next year the target has already been set at 500+

[Galana]

2 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

So next year the target has already been set at 500+

So we will all hold you to that. No pressure!

[Dave Williams]

My current Far East holiday tour is not going too well bird wise, maybe 5 really bad shots ( really,really,bad) and the only two from China I have already added.

[xelas]

Forget about birds, enjoy the trip!

[elefromoz]

@Dave Williams, as long as theres a nice pool for Claire, thats what really matters

[Galana]

Enjoy the trip. The birds can wait.

[Dave Williams]

319) Red-footed Booby

One of the few birds seen from our cruise ship  despite being on it for 2 weeks sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore. The harbours we called at were bird free and I saw one pair of Booby's and two singles out at sea. Two Barn Swallows appeared nearing Singapore and we left Hong Kong with a resident pair of Pied Wagtails that got off in Vietnam.

The South China Sea was basically an avian desert. Still, this one showed well .

Red-footed Booby.   Sula Sula. South China Sea by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Galana]

When in a desert even the smallest drop of water is a comfort. NIce photo.

[Dave Williams]

6 hours ago, Galana said:

When in a desert even the smallest drop of water is a comfort. NIce photo.

 

@GalanaWater was unfortunately consumed too often, the price of the drinks was scandalous!

Edited December 6, 2017 by Dave Williams

[xelas]

Not an AI cruise then ? At least the pool(s) were free ?

[Dave Williams]

I have been feeling quite rough all week suffering a case of genuine Delhi belly from the named source but silly me for accepting BBQ offerings in the half light of the night sky that I suspected might be undercooked. Seems they probably are the cause as a few others from our tour are still suffering too.

My great adventure to the Far East certainly fell short on many expectations, birds being one of them however I'm not too disappointed. I took your good advice and went with the flow savouring what was on offer, both the good and the not so good. I decided to set a new objective of photographing birds with well known background locations. I wasn't particularly successful but it made for an interesting challenge until the novelty wore off mainly due to my lack of success.

 

Black Kites. I presume the same species classification to those I saw in Spain earlier in the year.

Black Kites over the Taj Mahal by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited December 8, 2017 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

Here's a new one!

Taken in Ocean Park, a theme park in Hong Kong which was included in our tour but somewhere I didn't really fancy going to. Turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip with the few captive species they keep there appearing to be well looked after and in decent accommodation.

320) Red-whiskered Bulbul.

Red-whiskered Bulbul.  Pycnonotus jocosus. Hong Kong by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Peter Connan]

That must be pretty unique! Well done.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Peter Connan