B.Y. 2019. The Tortoise rules!

[Dave Williams]

26) Teal

Another at the inland lake behind the cob at Malltraeth.

Teal   Anas crecca by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited January 18, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

27) Wigeon

Having checked a nearby woodland at Malltraeth with no luck we decided that we would nip in to a known hideout Newborough which would guarantee both Coot and Moorhen. This particular birding pal of mine I was with is an avid lister and doesn't take photographs at all. Boosting the daily count is what matters and I think we arrived on about 60 for the day , many which didn't offer a photo opportunity or have already featured in my BY.

Wigeon are common around the North wales coast during winter time so getting a shot is easy, still I might as well add this one taken as the sun was setting.

Wigeon    Mareca penelope by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

28) Redwing

My day ended with this one. It was in a group of 4 or 5 feeding distantly in a field with no chance of getting closer. There have been few winter Thrushes about so I'll take this for this years BY entry in case I don't get another chance. History has proven that you don't necessarily have a second bite later in the year!!

Redwing Turdus iliacus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

29) Greylag Goose

I saw a few yesterday but this better image from 9 days ago was one I forgot to post . Burton Mere RSPB.

Greylag Goose  Anser anser by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

30) Eurasian Curlew

Taken at RSPB Conwy a couple of weeks ago, the shot is taken in weather typical of the last few weeks. Still I have decided to tip the scale to 30 in a vain attempt at keeping within sighting distance of @mvecht (Martin?) who, if @xelas is a hare, must be a Gazelle. This poor tortoise has his work cut out once again.

Curlew   Numenius arquata by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Mind you both Hares and Gazelles run out of steam eventually.

Hopefully.

 

[PeterHG]

Unpredictable weather up there, but you got some good birds to add to the list and some great shots. The distant Snowdon summit is indeed incredibly detailed for such a distance. Your Pintail is absolutely brilliant!

[TonyQ]

Wonderful additioins Dave - a beautiful pintail and lovely to see the grebe out of the water

[mvecht]

mvecht = Michael

@Dave Williams  Dont worry I will run out of steam shortly  

With no major trips planned this year I will struggle later in the year just doing Danish birds.

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful shots!

[xelas]

Great effort, Dave! Poor hare will have to go out over the weekend, not to lost sight of the tortoise, and it is cold and snowy out there .

[Galana]

Looks like a great day out, despite the duff forecast.

Good photos too. Strange how BY affects us all.

[michael-ibk]

Ah, another Michael! Love the Pintail Dave, that's one bird I've never ben able to get close to.

[Dave Williams]

31) Ruddy Turnstone

In winter plumage. A very high tide today so the birds were close to the promenade spot I usually see them roosting.

Ruddy Turnstone  Arenaria interpres by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Trouble with big telephoto lenses is the depth of field is very shallow and I should have used a smaller aperture. I should have taken more shots too but the Purple Sandpipers are a more unusual subject and I'm easily distracted. 

Purple Sandpiper   Calidris maritima by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited January 23, 2019 by Dave Williams

[TonyQ]

Are you not counting the Purple Sandpiper @Dave Williams ?

Lovely photos

[Dave Williams]

Thanks Tony...the Purple Sand was already in.

[Dave Williams]

32) Black Redstart

My trip to Spain is nearly over and I don't think I'm likely to get many additional birds whilst I'm here. It's a long way to come to photograph Black Redstart when there are a pair over wintering around 20 miles from home but I doubt the male is as handsome as this one!

Black Redstart.   Phoenicurus ochruros by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited February 1, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

33) Blue Rock Thrush

I have only seen one once before and that at a fairly huge distance so to see one close up was a bonus. Unfortunately it only visited once just as we arrived at this particular hide and I was lucky to get a shot of any kind. Our group of 6 people was split in to two sets of three, the other set got lucky and had several visits by the same bird the following day. There was also another hide where it was a rock solid guarantee one would show up. Once again our set were unlucky, the other set had it sat in front of the hide for ages. The luck of the draw, literally!

Blue Rock Thrush.   Monticola solitarius by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Kitsafari]

i agree - that's a handsome redstart. 

[Galana]

47 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

rock solid guarantee

Would that be Blue Rock solid?

I like the Redstart too.

[TonyQ]

Beautiful additions Dave!

[Dave Williams]

34)Hoopoe

This one was dubbed "Psycho". There was a small hole near the corner of the mirrored one way glass the hide was fitted with. The Hoopoe would initially just tap the glass near the hole, I think because at some stage it's been fed from within the hide by pushing food out. As it wasn't getting any it would suddenly go berserk attacking reflections of it's self or perhaps it could see the people inside the hide if it was right up against the glass.

On our second visit to the same hide we had hoped to see the Blue Rock Thrush which had appeared briefly on our first visit but apparently it had been in a huge scrap with Psycho the day before and had come off worst which is hardly surprising when you see the sword of a bill the Hoopoe owns compared to The Thrush's pen knife.

Eurasian Hoopoe  Upupa epops by Dave Williams, on Flickr

We had a bit of fun trying to catch the mealworm in flight too!

Eurasian Hoopoe  Upupa epops by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited February 4, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Peter Connan]

Stunning shots Dave!

[Dave Williams]

35) Black Wheatear

Only seen by me previously on a visit to Morocco the Black Wheatear was an unexpected bonus. Along with the next few postings, it was taken in a disused quarry on the outskirts of Valencia in Southern Spain.

Without a doubt I think the most challenging species I had to photograph, well the male anyway. Black and white in bright sunshine is a bit of a nightmare for me.

 Black Wheatear  Oenanthe leucura by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Lots of shots ended up in the recycle bin

Black Wheatear  Oenanthe leucura by Dave Williams, on Flickr

The browner female wasn't quite so difficult. Fortunately they were frequent visitors.

Black Wheatear  Oenanthe leucura by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited February 5, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Galana]

Nice shots. It's gotta be called Psycho with a hairdo like that first shot.

Cute mealworm in flight too. Never knew they flew.

[Dave Williams]

36) White Wagtail.

The White Wagtails ( take note @Galana!!) were a constant presence and harassed all the birds that were smaller than they were. Real bullies!

White Wagtail  Motacilla alba by Dave Williams, on Flickr