2023 for better or worse _ Soukous

[Soukous]

There was just 1 more bird from my Handa visit, this fella poking among the seaweed as we returned to Tarbet

 

# 149 - Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus

 

 

Of course on Sunday morning, when it was not possible to visit Handa Island, we woke to bright sunshine.  Still, it was a good opportunity to let the tent dry and take it down.

And grab a photo from the clifftop of a lone visitor to the bay.

 

# 150 - Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator

 

 

 

[Soukous]

18 hours ago, Galana said:

I do know s/c places that will book part weeks.

 

any recommendations will be gratefully received

[Galana]

Leave it til I get home but happy to oblige.

Booking .com do quite a lot. Kulberry near Aviemore took us for last year. A place near Dalbeattie a couple of autumns ago and Caerlavrock Farm inside the reserve do so. OK, maybe min of 4 nights I recall there.

[Soukous]

Well, Scotland was magnificent as always, but disappointing from a birding perspective.

 

Our journey home was an opportunity to stop off at one of my favourite places and collect a few more ticks.

 

# 151 - Sanderling - Calidris alba

Low Newton, England. May 2023

 

 

 

 

# 152 - Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Low Newton, England. May 2023

 

 

# 153 - Rock Pipit - Anthus petrosus

Low Newton, England. May 2023

 

 

 

# 154 - Ringed Plover - Charadrius hiaticula

Low Newton, England. May 2023

 

 

[pedro maia]

Camping in Scottland sounds like the most appealing thing to do. 

[Soukous]

2 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

Camping in Scottland sounds like the most appealing thing to do. 

 

It can be.... if you manage to hit the 1 week of good weather in the year. 

[Galana]

7 hours ago, pedro maia said:

Camping in Scottland sounds like the most appealing thing to do. 

True. I cut my camping teeth in Scotland. First here in Galloway in the late '50s and later in the sixties, pre nuptual. Fond memories of the cinema in Portree when the rain drove us inside.

Then Lady G had a quiet word and I got a rush of common sense to the head. If you don't die of exposure the bloody midges will send you crazy.

Over to you Martin.

 

[Soukous]

13 hours ago, Galana said:

If you don't die of exposure the bloody midges will send you crazy.

 

Well, no midges to contend with. One of, perhaps the only, benefit of cold wet windy weather. 

My first Scotland camping trip was also to Skye, backpacking (in the days when that meant carrying everything you needed in a bag on your back) in the rain. I didn't learn. 

[michael-ibk]

I can see why you found the birding a bit unsatisfying but any Puffin sighting is marvellous from this landlocked European‘s pov. 

[Soukous]

19 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

I can see why you found the birding a bit unsatisfying but any Puffin sighting is marvellous from this landlocked European‘s pov. 

 

I know it is sacrilege to mention it here, but for me travelling is about more than birds. 

[Peter Connan]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:48 AM, Soukous said:

, backpacking (in the days when that meant carrying everything you needed in a bag on your back) in the rain. 

Does it mean something else now?

[xelas]

13 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Does it mean something else now?

Most of today's backpackers are staying at hostels with free wifi and a charging station .

[Galana]

some even borrow Mummy's 4x4 to carry all they 'need'. I used to carry three socks to save weight. Kids eh?

[Soukous]

15 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Does it mean something else now?

 

don't get me started

[Peter Connan]

On 5/29/2023 at 10:17 AM, Galana said:

some even borrow Mummy's 4x4 to carry all they 'need'. I used to carry three socks to save weight. Kids eh?

 

Well, I do this now (sort of, it's not Mummy's but my own) but I don't have the audacity to call it backpacking.

[Soukous]

# 155 - Common Tern - Sterna hirundo

Scotland, May 2023

 

 

About 10 days ago I thougth I'd pay a visit to one of our Little Tern nesting sites at Winterton-on-Sea in East Norfolk.

With my unfailing knack for picking the day with the worst weather I braved grey skies, a bitter easterly wind and occasional rain to find that there was not a single Tern at the site. I saw 4 Ringed Plovers, 2 Grey Seals and a few crows. . I hope now that the weather in our corner of UK has improved the Terns will arrive.

 

# 156 - Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Suffolk, June 2023

 

Normally seen in large numbers but apparently this year the numbers are well down due to avian flu. The British Trust for Ornithology thinks that infected birds flew in from Europe.

 

# 157 - Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

One from the garden. June 2023

 

 

 

# 158 - Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus

Norfolk, June 2023

 

For some reason I have not been motivated to photograph the pairs of Blue Tits using our nesting boxes this year, so it falls to Norfolk to give me a tick that I could have got in the garden.

So many young birds around at the moment.

 

 

 

# 159 - Mute Swan - Cygnus olor

Norfolk, June 2023

 

another bird I see almost every day but which I have ignored. The scarcity of new species for me to photograph obliges me to photograph whatever is available.

 

# 160 - Common Redshank - Tringa totanus

Norfolk, June 2023

 

another bird which is quite almost guaranteed close to home

 

# 161 - Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus

Norfolk, June 2023

 

 

# 162 - Wood Pigeon - Columba palumbus

Norfolk, June 2023

 

Something of a pattern emerging here as I post birds I can see every day in the garden, but which I drove 2.5 hours for

 

# 163 - House Sparrow - Passer domesticus

Norfolk, June 2023

 

Male

 

female

 

# 164 - Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos

Norfolk, June 2023

 

 

 

# 165 - Spoonbill - Platalea leucorodia

Cley Marshes, Norfolk. June 2023

 

I volunteer at an RSPB reserve where we have a Spoonbill nesting site with 8 pairs on nests but I have to travel to Norfolk to get a photo . Our Spoonbills are in a completely inaccessible location that cannot be seen from land or the water. To check on them we need to use a drone.

 

 

At least at Cley Marshes I got a reasonable view. They stood with their bills under their wings for 4 hours, apart from the occasional bout of preening, then walked off in the opposite direction. They didn't feed for the whole 5 hours I was there.

 

 

 

 

# 166 - Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis

Cley Marshes, Norfolk. June 2023

 

Lots of these flying around

 

 

# 167 - Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti

Cley Marshes, Norfolk. June 2023

 

easily heard but harder to see

 

So, a very enjoyable day out with not a great deal to show for it.

 

The Sedge Warblers were definitely enjoying the combination of sunshine and reduced winds.

 

 

and the light was good so that even a distant Kestrel was worth a couple of shots

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

Good to see you have found the blue backcloth for your shots at last.

Nice photos.

[TonyQ]

Lovely photos @Soukous

I really like the second Sedge Warbler 

[PeterHG]

The species may not always have been exciting, but the photos certainly are!

[Soukous]

Dancing Capercaillie bird makes a tentative comeback in Scotland

 

"Before dawn, male capercaillie will begin their courtship rituals, their black tail feathers erect and fanning out, chests puffed out, their heads thrust high into the cold spring air.

Their dancefloors are forest clearings in the Highlands which echo the males’ wheezing, popping and clattering mating calls. Often perched in surrounding pine trees, hens will carefully watch as their potential mates compete to win their affection."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/17/capercaillie-bird-tentative-comeback-scotland

[Soukous]

Lean pickings at the moment, largely due to the fact I've not been out looking.

 

I do have a couple though

 

# 168 Yellowhammer - Emberiza citrinella

Sutton Common, Suffolk. June 2023

 

 

# 169 - Stonechat - saxicola rubicola

Sutton Common, Suffolk. June 2023

 

I've had many better, closer, sightings but didn't have a camera in hand.

 

 

[Soukous]

Glacial progress at the moment.

 

While out with the dog I did see a small brown bird that took me a moment to ID. I thought it might be a juvenile Dartford Warbler.

 

 

I managed to grab a quick photo which allowed me to confirm the ID.

Dartfords are probably my favourite Warbler and I had not seen them in this location before so I returned later in the day to try and get better photos. No luck, although I did see several of them flying about.

I went back again this morning and once again could see that there were quite a few of them in this location, although they steadfastly declined to come closer that 50 metres. I did grab a distant shot (heavily cropped here) but this is still work in progress.

 

# 170 - Dartford Warbler - Sylvia undata

Sutton Common, Suffolk. June 2023

 

 

In other news, I discovered why our cherries have been disappearing

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Soukous

[TonyQ]

Well done with the Dartford Warbler- I have still never seen one!

[Soukous]

37 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

Well done with the Dartford Warbler- I have still never seen one!

 

Shame. It is one of those birds that is very easy to love

[Soukous]

8 hours ago, Soukous said:

this is still work in progress.

 

Indeed it was.

 

The clear blue skies of the past couple of weeks gave way to clouds today but, more importantly, the wind died down. Now that I knew where I would find the Dartford Warblers I wanted another crack at them.

This time I took a chair and plonked myself down among the heather that they had made their home, giving myself a good view of a few heather bushes that looked to me like good perches.

 

For the first 15 minutes or so I did not see or hear them, but gradually they started to appear, erupting out of the dense heather and flying off at speed. There were quite a good number of them but they flew fast and disappeared into the heather before I could get a bead on them.

For the next hour and a half they teased me mercilessly, popping up and then disappearing again like targets in a fairground shooting gallery. Sometimes they were really close, but hidden, at other times they'd pose on top of a clump of heather giving me nothing but a silhouette.

 

I fired off quite a few shots, often at an empty space just vacated, and when the clouds grew darker and a few spots of rain started to hit me I decided to head for home and see how I had fared.

 

I was pleasantly surprised. Yes I had to crop quite a bit, but the results were not bad at all.

 

So, especially for @TonyQhere are a few shots of this stunning warbler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got a distant shot of what I thought might be a Lesser Whitethroat and a much needed tick, but I think it is the other one, The Common Whitethroat.