Foxy has a cunning plan onwards and upwards.

[shazdwn]

I really enjoyed your ‘not a trip report’ of Goa, glad you got your kingfisher 

[Dave Williams]

A week last Saturday, a friend persuaded me to drive over to the RSPB site at Burton Mere across the border in to England and on the Wirral,Cheshire.

An alien species, a Long-billed Dowitcher has been in residence there for quite a while and has attracted twitchers from across the UK. He wanted to go and have a look so I volunteered to drive. I had an alternative mission in mind, I was on a booze run. Believe it or not it's much cheaper in England than in Wales where a minimum price per unit of alcohol is imposed on sales. A few trays and not only had I covered the cost of the petrol but I was in profit too.I know, it's my excuse and I'm sticking to this warped logic.

It was a long walk from the visitor centre to the viewing hide but on the way Betti's Warblers were singing and at one spot one actually popped up in to plain view but by the time I got my camera ready to fire it was gone. Damn!

On arriving at the packed hide this was the sight that greeted us.

Black-tailed Godwit.    425 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

A huge roost of waders over 100m away. The Dowitcher was in there somewhere.

Instructions were being passed around as to where it was which included in front of the Golden Plover.

595)Golden Plover? That would do nicely for the count anyway!

Golden Plover.      595 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

The problem was there were several Golden Plovers in the roost...which one did they mean.

A kindly chap offered me a view through his telescope but I was still unable to find it. Then a Sparrowhawk put them all to flight and the search would begin all over again.

All change by Dave Williams, on Flickr

At that point I gave up and we headed elsewhere via Aldi and my beer quest.

[Dave Williams]

Amongst all the waders at Burton Mere there were several 596)Spotted Redshanks but I'd seen a pair at our local reserve the day before, and in much better light too.

Spotted Redshank.    596 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[xelas]

The so-called "expert" is busy with Thai bulbuls .

[Soukous]

On 3/31/2023 at 3:10 PM, Dave Williams said:

if you saw the number of deleted shots you'd realise my photographic skills are not that good!

 

as long as you get one good one th eothers don't matter and no-one needs to know about them

[Soukous]

On 3/31/2023 at 3:25 PM, Dave Williams said:

As the guide walked away Lloyd mentioned he always wore Wellington Boots as he was afraid of getting bitten by a snake

 

true that

[Soukous]

A super haul from Goa Dave. Really nice photos  it look sas though you enjoyed excellent light too.

[michael-ibk]

You have been busy Dave - a great haul of birds you got in Goa!

[pedro maia]

Just caught up here, I enjoyed a lot to read about you Goa trip and I´m glad you got your Kingfisher, along with many other cool species.

[Soukous]

Was this obvious while you were there Dave?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/22/bird-flu-outbreak-the-gambia-threat-poultry-uk-aoe

 

"Avian flu outbreak in the Gambia threatens birds on East Atlantic Flyway

Hundreds of dead birds found in past three weeks as conservationists call for international funding to help stop the disease spreading on migration routes"

[Dave Williams]

On 4/23/2023 at 2:19 PM, Soukous said:

Was this obvious while you were there Dave?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/22/bird-flu-outbreak-the-gambia-threat-poultry-uk-aoe

 

"Avian flu outbreak in the Gambia threatens birds on East Atlantic Flyway

Hundreds of dead birds found in past three weeks as conservationists call for international funding to help stop the disease spreading on migration routes"

I haven’t been to The Gambia for quite some time Martin. From the reports I have seen there are many avian casualties though and it’s worrying that they will bring another wave of illness to the UK breeding grounds and beyond.

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

I haven’t been to The Gambia for quite some time Martin. From the reports I have seen there are many avian casualties though and it’s worrying that they will bring another wave of illness to the UK breeding grounds and beyond.

 

That shows how dopey I am. I noticed you'd been posting some Gambia pics and assumed you were there again. never assume. 

[Dave Williams]

13 hours ago, Soukous said:

 

That shows how dopey I am. I noticed you'd been posting some Gambia pics and assumed you were there again. never assume. 

 

Posting on Flickr and Facebook, not on here Martin! I have booked to go back to the Gambia next winter despite all the negative comments that I'm reading on Trip Advisor about being hassled for money all the time. We'll see.

[Dave Williams]

Claire and I  got back from 2 weeks in Lesvos on Sunday having had an excellent trip. Flying directly from Manchester on a Jet2 package, the 7th of May was the first available date. I had originally booked to fly on the 30th of April, paid in full upfront only to be sent an email with no apology or even an offer of alternative dates, just a refund notice. I wasn't aware of earlier Stanstead flights or even when they intended flying from Manchester so didn't immediately re-book. Bad customer service from an otherwise excellent company.

How was it then, the 7th -21st of May. Everyone seemed to be telling me the weather was unseasonal and indeed it wasn't ideal for my other half who like to fly and flop by the pool with a good book. 2.5 days of sun out of the first 7 wasn't ideal from her perspective whereas the seconed week was. From a birding point of view the first week was noticeably better in volume and indeed some species than the second but there was still plenty about, you just had to look harder or spend more time finding them. Our only other experience was a week in late April in to May 10 years ago and the weather then wasn't too good. Next year it's rumoured there will be earlier flights. If I was going without my non birding wife I would consider it but with her the 7th was pretty much ideal

The highlights for me were 6 "lifers" which is pretty good as I'm reasonably well travelled, some great photo opportunities and meeting some really nice people on my travels.

The downside was meeting just a few who obviously have no social skills and don't respond to a simple "good morning" even with a nod. I doubt they will be social media users either! The other negative was I missed a days photography as my camera died on Day 13. I have no back-up at the moment so I was just grateful it wasn't Day 1.

My favourite bird? We all have our own and it's a tough choice with so many beauties to consider but for me, not one of the "lifers" as it happens but one I have longed to get close up sightings of for quite some years.

597)White-winged Black Terns were quite abundant in the first week but all but disappeared in week two.

White-winged Black Tern.  BY597  Lesvos 2023 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Tdgraves]

Isn’t it a new camera Dave?

[Dave Williams]

3 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

Isn’t it a new camera Dave?

I have had it since October '20. It's amazing how time flies by! Canon rang me this morning to tell me what is needed and the cost which isn't too bad and since it's a grey import from Panamoz  I got a 3 year warranty with it instead of the standard 2 year from UK dealers. Panamoz also offered to give me £200 towards a rental camera as I'm off to the Isle of May in a couple of weeks. Renting an R5 is £85 a day so I declined that offer! Anyway, I'm told I'll have it back before then anyway.

Believe it or not the camera has registered nearly 500,000 actuations which is way,way higher than any bodies I have previously owned but using electronic shutter at 20fps it soon mounts up.I asked the technician if it really needed doing and he said my choice. I told him the shutter doesn't get used that much, basically just once for each time I press the button so in reality the true number of times it's lifted is a fraction of that number. I decided not to replace it but Claire overheard the conversation and said just do it so I have! People get obsessed about shutter counts on used cameras but the truth is it only cost's £140+20% VAT to replace one in the R5.

[PeterHG]

A really beautiful shot of the white-winged tern, definitely one of my favourites, too. I'm sorry to hear about your camera problems, but. like you mentioned, fortunately it fif not happen earlier in your stay. I am looking forward to more shots and especially yur lifers!

[TonyQ]

A beautiful photo of the Tern @Dave Williams.

Sorry to hear about the camera, but as you say, lucky it was at the end of the trip.

[Galana]

Great tern. Rotten airline. The only time I used them they diddled me. That never happens twice with me.

Shame about the camera but it could have been worse.

Looking forward to more.

[BRACQUENE]

Beautiful shot of the White-winged Black tern Dave @Dave Williamseven rarer than the  Black Term I saw last week !

[Dave Williams]

7 minutes ago, BRACQUENE said:

Beautiful shot of the White-winged Black tern Dave @Dave Williamseven rarer than the  Black Term I saw last week !

I was hoping to see a Black Tern but failed. A few were reported amongst the flocks of White-winged ones so one might turn up in a photo yet!

[Dave Williams]

Olive-tree Warbler is a top sighting in Lesvos but not the easiest to see and photograph. A French guy I befriended was desperate to see one and I took him to a couple of places in search. Hearing them was one thing, seeing another. Little birds flitting from tree to tree in the distance but could we be certain what they were? No! I took a couple of shots of the tree one has flown in to about 40m away which was a hopeless attempt ...or so I thought! I was going to format the card in camera when I returned to the hotel but forgot. Consequently they were still there with the images I took next morning when I downloaded the card to the laptop. I was going to delete them but something told me to have a closer look. I was astonished!!

....with Warbler! by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Perched amongst the branches there was my bird and a "lifer" to boot!! 598) Olive -tree Warbler

Olive-tree Warbler  BY598.  Lesvos 2023 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

The shot was a huge 200% crop but still looked reasonable after playing about with it.

I even had a flight shot and with it's wings open I needed less of a crop, just 100%

Olive-tree Warbler  BY598.  Lesvos 2023 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited May 25, 2023 by Dave Williams

[Soukous]

You did well to spot that Dave. It took me ages to find it among the leaves.

[Dave Williams]

First day of our trip and it was straight out with the camera as soon as we had checked in to our Skala Kalloni hotel. The Kalloni Salt Pans are only a 10 minute drive away and with Claire's blessing I was making the best of the opportunities whilst they were there. I had already seen some Avocets at Burton mere RSPB reserve a few weeks previously but the light was poor so I didn't add any photos to my Big Years as I knew I would see some in Lesvos. What I didn't know was they were gone the next day and now I regret not spending more time for a more interesting shot if there was one to be had.

Never mind.599)Avocet

Avocet   BY599.   Lesvos 2023 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[xelas]

500.000 photos in two years?! Where did you find time to see them all?!

 

Finding the OTW required a fine comb and a sharp eye!