B.Y. 2019. The Tortoise rules!

[Dave Williams]

12)Grey Plover

There were a handful of winter plumage birds at Gronant too, perhaps these are the first I have taken photos of in the UK. I usually see them in The Gambia which is my preference for the winter months too.

Grey Plover   Pluvialis squatarola by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[TonyQ]

Good point @Dave Williams  and your stunning starling shot illustrates it very well.

[PeterHG]

Brilliant starling shot, Dave!

[Galana]

A great start by the Tortoise. Loved the SE Owl shot and the contrast between the Hen Harrier and the gull alongside. I have often made that mistake too and grabbed the wrong bird.

[Zim Girl]

Yes, the picture with the Hen Harrier is interesting.  We have been in the Bowland area before and seen what we dismissed as being a gull but now I wonder if it was actually a Harrier.

[Towlersonsafari]

I love the Hen Harrier and gull togther . A wise old birder I know was convinced the Hen Harriers look like that to fool smaller prey into thinking it was a gull-i ma not convinced-as gulls are predators too-but when you look at the photo its very easy to see how one could think that  @Dave Williams

Edited January 11, 2019 by Towlersonsafari

[Tdgraves]

15 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

 

Each and every bird is an EBC but it's also the January photo on the RSPB's 2019 calendar so someone thought it was OK!

 

Not sure that being January 2019 on a calendar counts towards this years’ BY @Dave Williams surely it was taken last year?!? (Congratulations by the way )

[Dave Williams]

Ah, but the Starlings haven't been counted unless I back date them to my one and only entry for BY2016!!

[Tdgraves]

49 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Ah, but the Starlings haven't been counted unless I back date them to my one and only entry for BY2016!!

 

But have you seen any in 2019??

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, Tdgraves said:

 

But have you seen any in 2019??

 

As Churchill would say..."Oh yes!"

 

No 13) Common Starling

Common Starling    Sturnus vulgaris by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[michael-ibk]

I love your Starling photo Dave! Interesting that Grey Plovers are overwintering in the UK, I thought all of them would go South.

[Peter Connan]

Some more really stunning shots Dave!

[Dave Williams]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone, it's yet another miserable day here so I'm going to do a bit of digging and photoshopping to boost my numbers.

 

14) Green Sandpiper

Another from Burton Mere RSPB. The bird was stood on the frozen pond with the sun directly behind it and I only got two shots before it decided to fly. They didn't look at all promising so I have ignored them up to now.Come up quite nicely considering, if you look to the right of the bird you can make out were I erased a single reed stem that put a line through the picture. I could have done a better job if I'd checked it too!

Green Sandpiper    Tringa ochropus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited January 13, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

15) Jackdaw

One of the few species that it's legal to shoot here in the UK as they are considered a pest . We have fairly huge numbers locally and they make quite a spectacle as they fly in a huge flock before deciding where to roost.

This one was another from Burton Mere RSPB though.

Jackdaw   Corvus monedula by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

16) Tufted Duck

The sun isn't always a photographers friend. The water creates reflections that appear as lines across the subject when it's bright. 

Burton Mere again.

 

Tufted Duck     Aythya fuligula by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

17) Mallard

One of the most recognisable birds in the world and consequently usually overlooked but it certainly counts towards my Big Year 2019 total score!

Mallard  Anas platyrhynchos by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

18) Pheasant

Here in North Wales the Pheasant isn't that common by January as most have been shot by now. This was a female seen looking for discarded seeds from the bird feeders above and yet another from Burton Mere RSPB. Hopefully the bird might stay within the safety of the reserve!

Common Pheasant     Phasianus colchicus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

19)Stonechat

Burton Mere RSPB again!

I'm not that keen on man made objects in my photos but I was reading an article about one of Canon's ambassador photographers who has decided to change the way he photographs wildlife by concentrating on how  wildlife interacts with human activities. He has a point, how many birds use wires and posts  to perch on to their advantage?

Stonechat   Saxicola rubicola by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Galana]

How to make the best of a miserable day indeed. Good work.

[Dave Williams]

Yesterday the forecast for Angelesy in North Wales had promised wall to wall sunshine with only partial cloud for a short while around midday.

Wrong!

It started off well enough with some beautiful sunshine which actually made photography quite difficult especially when my first subjects have white feathers.

20) Pale-bellied Brent Goose.

This was what's known as the inland sea near Holyhead. The sought for Black-throated Diver was nowhere to be seen but these were a compensation!

Brent Goose  Branta bernicla by Dave Williams, on Flickr

There were  a few hundred around and about the area but they mainly over winter in Ireland.

Brent Goose  Branta bernicla by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

21) Redshank

Another from the inland sea near Holyhead

Common Redshank  Tringa totanus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

22)Black Guillemot

On to Holyhead itself and a reliable spot in the harbour for Black Guillemot, well not so black in winter plumage.

Black Guillemot  Cepphus grylle by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

23)Shag

By midday the forecast had been proven to be totally inaccurate. Full cloud, dark, a howling gale off the sea and it was starting to drizzle.

This Shag was huddled down in the seaweed off the harbour wall. I'll see many in full breeding plumage later in the year but nice to get a close up in winter plumage for a change.

Shag   Phalacrocorax aristotelis by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

24) Little Grebe

We ( my birding pal and I)  left Holyhead behind having sat in the car during torrential rain and hail whilst we ate our picnic lunch. The best laid plan looked as if it had gone horribly wrong because from the high point of South Stack at the north end of Anglesey you could see that it was still sunny 20 miles away on the Welsh mainland. We headed south wards and things improved dramatically.

Suddenly we were back in full sun and over on the mainland there wasn't a cloud to be seen, Snowdonia looked bright with a covering of snow right across the range. This shot of the summit of Snowdon was taken from at least 10 miles distance and probably more. I was impressed with the resolution of my camera combination, if you click on the image you can see two figures just below the summit!

Snowdon summit by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Oh, nearly forgot the Little Grebe! Not the best of shots I have taken of the species but unusual so this distant grab shot in to the sun has been chosen for this year's BY.

Little Grebe   Tachybaptus ruficollis by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

25) Pintail

By now we were at Malltraeth, an excellent birding spot which is where the famed wildlife artist Charles Tunnicliffe lived for much of his life.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Tunnicliffe

He was apparently very pally with author Ian Niall who for many years lived in our cottage before reluctantly moving south to his wife's inherited home in Buckinghamshire. Tunnicliffe  provided drawings for the latter's wildlife books. Niall in turn wrote the introduction to his autobiography. I was in Ibiza a few years ago and I picked up a copy of the book to thumb through which was for sale at the Hippy Market. I was taken aback to see our address being listed in the introduction. Why I didn't buy the book is a bit of a mystery but there you go, must have been asking too much!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Niall 

 

Oh and the Pintail, it's a great spot for guaranteed sightings in winter.

Northern Pintail  Anas acuta by Dave Williams, on Flickr