Christmas Greetings

We wish all our viewers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Seasonal Robin

Couldn't resist taking these shots of this Robin that was almost posing for a photo in nice lighting conditions.

and then ended the day at the starling roost with a nice sunset.

Starling Murmuration

An evening visit to the local starling roost over the weekend didn’t disappoint with a spectacular display on show.

Click here for video http://youtu.be/pDotZwz57pc

A single starling showing off its fine winter plumage

A few more Citrine Wagtail shots

Dancing Woodcock

This Woodcock crash landed on the beach at Danes Dyke, Flamborough head flushing the Citrine Wagtail we were watching in the process.  It then did a little bobbing up and down before settling down for a little rest after the long sea crossing.  While publishing this to the blog the chefs on Masterchef on the TV were plucking a Woodcock and preparing to cook it – how on earth anyone can kill and eat one of these magnificent creatures is beyond me.

Click here for videohttp://http://youtu.ben/6pFNR_iJg7c

Fly catching feast for Citrine Wagtail

Here is a short video showing the Citrine Wagtail on the beach at Danes Dyke, Flamborough.

Click here for video http://youtu.be/SWxvHQN3RrM

Citrine Wagtail

A last minute decision was made to travel back over the bridge into Yorkshire to catch up with the Citrine Wagtail at Flamborough and have another look at the nearby Rough-legged Buzzard.

When the sun came out there was an explosion of flies flying above the tide rack.  All the Citrine Wagtail had to do was stand there and snap open it's bill and a fly was caught.

 While photographing the Citrine this Woodcock flew in off the sea and almost landed on the wagtail before it settled down to rest after the long sea crossing.  It wasn't though too impressed on all the flies crawling over it while it was trying to get a little shut eye.

 Was a little delayed getting to the Rough-leg site due to the showy wagtail and Woodcock so just missed out on seeing the buzzard at close range but it was still nice in the afternoon sunshine.

Showy Rough-legged Buzzard

Decided to hop over the bridge into Yorkshire to see one of many Rough-legged Buzzards that have arrived in the country and was it worth it.  We only arrived with the last 2 hours of day light left but the bird performed well giving spectacular views straight over head. This made digiscoping difficult but did manage a few shots with the rest of the time spent just admiring the bird.

Winter Visitors Arriving

Winter visitors are now flooding into the UK as well as locally which includes some of the largest numbers of Pink-footed Geese on the Humber for years.  There has also been a good number of Rock Pipits moving through the Humber as well as the 3 Whooper Swans below.

 Rock Pipit

Whooper Swans

Poland to Alkborough - Colour banded Dunlin

Not the best of photos but this colour banded Dunlin was found amongst other Dunlin at Alkborough Flats last weekend.  It was near impossible to read the letters on the white band through the scope as the bird was constantly on the move.  That's where digiscoping with a camera capable of shooting 9 frames a second comes in handy.  After taking a couple of hundred shots of the bird and then going through them that night on the PC I eventually found this photo where it was possible to read the letters.

A quick e-mail revealed that the bird was ringed this year on the Vistula Estuary in northern Poland.

Sea Hares (Aplysia)

Just back from a couple of days in Portugal where we found the most amazing creatures - Sea Hares! I am embarrassed to say I had never heard of them before and have certainly never seen them while rock pooling at Filey.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Weekend Waders & Wildfowl

With light winds and good early morning light, Sunday 5th Oct was a good morning for photography.  What a contrast 24hrs later with strong winds, heavy rain and very poor light conditions as the first big Atlantic depression of the autumn hits the UK.

A few more Egrets

Couldn't resist a few more shots of these egrets in the nice low light which included a colour ringed bird.

Black-headed Gull joins in with the easy fishing

This Black-headed Gull joined the Little Egrets in hunting for fish and pulled out a Stickleback.  It did however have a little difficulty swallowing it due to the spines on the back of the fish.  After a lot of throwing the fish around and dropping it several times it eventually went down the hatch.
Double click images for better view of Stickleback!