Newbiggin for Desert !!

Friday morning saw my good lady and I food shopping at Killingworth in readiness for the family onslaught on New years day, this went quicker than expected so a trip up to Newbiggin to see the Desert Wheatear was on the cards.On arrival there was no sign of it at Church point so I scanned the bay to the left about two thirds of the way along I could see two tripods set up and made my way towards them,I met with birders/photographers on there way back who informed me the bird was still present but very skittish as I got nearer it looked like the bird was making its way towards me so i would lay in wait (as per Holywell Birder ! ).It soon became apparent that this new camouflage jacket does not work on sandunes as the bird turned and fled the other way (drat) anyway had good viewing thru the bins then managed a couple of hurried shots.

                      Happy New-year everyone.

Boom-Boom

 My first visit to this local reserve on Wednesday with my mate Bob proved quite productive,after enjoying a good hour at the feeding station we moved on to one of the hide's which had two people with v/large lenses poised at the ready for a bittern which had just been seen in the reeds to our right.We listened to them for a while saying how well the Bittern was camouflaged and the auto focus would only latch on to the reeds (rings a bell )before we move to another hide which we had all to  our-self, opening the shutters there was no birds evident other than a pair of cormorants way off in a large tree i then caught site of a brown bird flying across from my right Bittern i shouted just as it stated to go down in the reeds i managed a couple of shots not great but nice to get one in flight. 

Boxing day Bramblings

It was a windy overcast Boxing day morning as I made my way down to the pond, stopping off at the feeding station for a look, first of note were the tree sparrows with a count of five I looked harder and longer but couldn't make any more, next to catch my eye was this nice Brambling which kept itself hidden for most of the time calling occasionally before putting in  brief appearances .I moved on down to the hide which seems to have taken a big hit from the new feeding station as there were no birds at all around the hide.Here's a couple of high ISO shots of the Brambling.

Cauliflower ear / nice pair

Just about sums them up really! Both taken earlier this year in Holywell and up the coast at Beal.

New kids on the block

A mid morning trip around the pond this morning surprised me with another breed of sheep in the adjacent field,these look like a more ancient breed I managed a few pics when they came closer.They looked like they were mixing in well with the other flock.

A morning at Kielder

The chance of a lift to Kielder for a few hours whilst my son did a small job there was gratefully received. On arrival it was quite misty and very cold with a strong wind blowing straight into the shutters on the  front of the hide, not what I had hoped for.With the light levels just above zero photo's were going to be a no no.
If you like Chaffinches this is the place to be as there seemed to be hundreds of them and very little else,birds seen were Great,Coal and Blue Tit,Chaffinch and Greenfinch,Gs woodpecker and Nuthatch and two Carrion Crows, no Siskins and no Red Squirrels!! I managed a couple of pics just before I was picked up you can see how strong the wind was by the crest on the Chaffinches head .

Big Waters and Frosty

A trip to Big Waters was on the cards for this morning, the weather was very cold but fine and bright, a few pics was the order of the day,seed had been put out by another gent in the hide so the usual birds in the feeding station were tucking in when through came the Sparrow Hawk .While I was waiting for birds to return another gent entered the hide and we got talking (as ya do)Canon 500mm f4 came up in the conversation only for him to produce one from his bag and offer me a trial (prayers answered) After15 mins play a lot of my questions had been answered and I think I may have saved myself a lot of money ! (if I had it ),I didn't get the gents name and thank him for the try.Anyway here's a few pics with the 400.

I just love the pose on the Cygnet.

Northumberland Park

A quick visit to the park with the camera came up trumps with this little fella who was very obliging.