End of An Era

 It is with a heavy heart that after 12 Years of posting to my wildlife photography blog that I have decided to call it a day.I am currently having mobility problems and am finding great difficulty in getting around as I would like.

It has indeed been a wonderful twelve years when I have taken many thousands of images of Lancashire's wonderful wildlife and put the best of these regularly on the blog.In those twelve years I have made 559 postings to my blog.I look back regularly through my work as a wildlife photographer and am very pleased at what I have achieved. It will remain as a legacy to twelve very happy years.

I will still post images to the internet but they will be on my Flickr site. www.flickr.com/photos/brianrafferty  Thanks for looking in and hope you can continue to keep in touch via Flickr. Enjoy Christmas if you can and keep safe and well in these very difficult times

Swans..Geese..and..Stonechats

 It has been another mixed week weatherwise with mostly dull and gloomy though dry days.Monday however was different with blue skies and strong winter sunshine.The perfect recipe for me to head off to Cockerham and Pilling again to see what was about.The first stop was down near the abbey at Cockerham.Here the main flock of whooper swans had moved to the fields near Lighthouse Cottage,apparently disturbed and moved by the farmer from their previous location.The 350 swans looked very nice in the sunshine.Also looking splendid were a pair of stonechats feeding in the set aside area close to Lighthouse cottage.From time to time they perched on fence posts and obligingly posed for me showing off their colourful winter plumage.

I then moved on to Pilling looking for geese and found a large but distant flock and I stopped to take many images as many more pinkfeet were arriving from the north.I wasn't able to get any closer but still managed a few flight shots of the geese.My final port of call was to Eagland Hill where a nice group of around 30 whooper swans were feeding in the wet fields.They were nicely lit by the afternoon sun and made for some nice images.

Hope you enjoy the latest selection and I will be out again soon if we get some decent weather.In the meantime stay safe and thanks for looking in.

Cockersand...Snow Buntings

 I paid another visit to Cockersand Abbey in the hope of getting better images of the snow buntings that were still around.Previously I did manage some shots but the buntings were very active in some very tussocky vegetation and it was tricky to photograph them.So on Tuesday last I decided to visit again.The weather was dry for a change with sunshine and a strong and cold wind from the north.I arrived around midday just as the tide was turning and uncovering the favoured feeding area below the ancient Abbey

Cockersands Abbey was occupied centuries ago but parts still exist on this delightful part of the Lancashire coastline.Just below the abbey is a small pebbly sandy beach where I was pleased to find two buntings feeding when I arrived.I managed some images before they quickly departed.I looked for but couldn't find them.However when I returned to the Abbey there were two snow buntings feeding amongst the seaweed etc left by the high tide.

For the next hour or so the buntings stayed on this area and I had them to myself as they rooted around looking for seeds left by the tide.As they say I "filled my boots" with this opportunity and took many images of these lovely little birds.Some more birders arrived but I decided to leave as it had become very cold standing around.I returned to the car very satisfied and pleased that I had persevered over the weeks and my persistence had eventually paid off.

Thanks for looking in and hope you enjoy the images of Cockersands Abbey and it's delightful snow buntings.Stay safe and well in these difficult coronavirus days and hopefully with the arrival of a vaccine things will improve.

Coastal Beauties

 The weather recently has been awful with many wet and gloomy days.Not conducive at all to getting out with the camera.There were some drier and brighter spells and I made a few trips to my current hunting ground around Cockerham and Pilling.This time I have been concentrating on the smaller birds and have had some nice sightings.

A few snow buntings turned up at Fleetwood and Cockerham and I was determined to get some images.I did eventually photograph the snow buntings at Cockerham Abbey but my timing was not good and it took a few attempts to get them.On one of the Cockerham trips I managed a shot of the Black Redstart that passed through Cockerham Sands country park one of a few present along the coast.Two of the snow bunting images are from last year at Fleetwood and Rossall.Whilst at Rossall this year a pair of Stonechats posed for me alongside Fleetwood Golf Course.

Probably my best sighting has been a female merlin perching on a fence post at Lytham Moss where I had gone to see a flock of pinkfoot geese.I thought it was a kestrel but later at home on the computer saw that it was definitely a merlin.Not an easy bird to photograph so I was very pleased to have captured this smart little raptor.Currently the weather has settled down with a frosty start to December so I am looking forward to going out as Coronavirus lockdown ends tomorrow.Thanks for looking in and stay safe and well in these difficult times