Waders and Egrets

I visited Leighton Moss again this week and decided to visit Lower Hide where I hadn't been for some time.I spent an hour or so there but it was extremely quiet and a move was called for.Simon had joined me and we thought a move to the Allen and Morecambe hides would be better.It proved to be a very good decision as on arrival we could see lots of waders in front of the Eric Morecambe hide.There was a large group of black tailed godwits and a group of redshanks together with a number of little egrets.
These birds were very close to the hide and provided some great views and opportunities for the camera.Even better was the summer plumaged spotted redshank in amongst the redshanks.There was also a winter plumaged spot red and I made the best of this opportunity to photograph these lovely birds.
The waders were spooked by a sparrowhawk and this provided a great shot of all the godwits up in the air.The little egrets also came close in their quest for food and again provided nice images of these elegant herons.After a disappointing start it turned into a great session down at the Morecambe hide.Hope you enjoy the images above of the godwits , redshanks and egrets and thanks for lookijng in.

A First and a Second

On Saturday I had the good fortune to be invited to photograph the two barred crossbill that had been discovered at Browsholme Hall ,Bashall Eaves.This was the first time this bird has been seen in Lancashire and it is indeed a national rarity. I understand there are some currently in Shetland but it is a very scarce bird and one I was lucky to see. The crossbill was coming to seeds at a bird feeding station in a private garden and during my stay returned to feed three or four times. It was a juvenile and lacked the colour of the adult birds but the prominent double wing bar was a striking feature of it's plumage. The images below are the best I could manage and at no time was I able to get all of the bird in shot.It was however an interesting encounter with this scarce visitor to our shores and Mike and I would like to thank Barrie and his wife for their hospitality during our stay.

On returning home I was enjoying a coffee when I noticed an insect hovering around a phlox plant in my garden.I immediately recognised it as a humming bird hawkmoth.I rushed upstairs for my camera and managed to grab some images before it departed. I had seen one a good number of years ago feeding on fuschia in my garden.I was thrilled at managing to capture some images of this striking moth which again is another uncommon visitor to Lancashire.All in all an exciting Saturday and once again thanks to all at Browsholme Hall for the welcome and opportunity to see their special visitor.

 

Leighton Waders

This week I visited Leighton Moss where I hadn't been for some time.The very warm weather continued and was drying out parts of the reserve leading to plenty of mud. This was much to the liking of the various waders I saw during my visit.The star bird was a wood sandpiper which although distant could be seen feeding in the muddy edges and was visible from the Grisedale hide.Although distant I did manage one or two record shots seen above.
On view in front of the hide was a common snipe showing off it's beautifully marked plumage.Three images are shown above of the snipe.Also feeding in front of the Grizedale hide were a group of young lapwings,again showing their lovely plumage.A visit later to the Allen Pool produced another nice wader,a greenshank strutting in front of the hide.It was difficult at the Allen hide as the strong afternoon sun was directly in front and made photography tricky.Hope you enjoy some of the waders from Leighton Moss and thanks for looking in  

More Puffins

As promised I am posting some more of the many images I obtained on my visit last month to the beautiful Island of Skomer.It was an adventure traveling to this remote part of Wales to photograph what must be one of Britain's most photogenic birds.They are most obliging in posing for the camera and were at times too close.I found them most difficult to photograph in flight and I will have to return next summer to sharpen up my reactions to these very fast flying birds.
I was however pleased with the many images of the puffins with beaks full of sandeels returning to feed their youngsters. It was a wonderful experience to observe and photograph these super little birds at such close quarters and I can't wait to renew my acquaintance with them again next year. I hope you enjoy more images from Skomer and thanks for looking in.

Skomer Island..Puffins

The main purpose of my recent trip to Wales was to photograph puffins.I had chosen a settled spell of weather when the boats would be able to make the crossing to Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast.I had seen odd puffins before at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire but had not seen them in numbers or in their classic pose with beaks crammed with sandeels.The reports from Skomer were promising so I made the long journey via the red kites at Gigrin Farm in central Wales as described in my previous posting.
After a sleepless night in the car at Martinshaven,the departure point for Skomer,I joined the early morning queue for tickets for the first crossing at 10am.I was on the first boat and just after ten I landed on Skomer Island.After a brief introduction from one of the wardens we had the beautiful island of Skomer to explore.Puffins were everywhere but I made for an area known as The Wick which is the place for photographers.There was plenty of action with puffins coming and going from their burrows.They were nesting very close to the path and it was at times difficult not to get too close to the birds.Cameras were clicking away and most of the photographers would have gone away with lots of wonderful shots of these very photogenic birds.Some of my efforts are shown above and I hope you enjoy looking at them.There will be more in my next post.Thanks for looking in.