A Grand Day Out...Christmas Eve.

After all the dull and very gloomy mild weather recently, it was nice to see brighter conditions forecast for the Christmas period.Christmas Eve promised some sunny conditions but with very strong winds.Mike and I had decided on a trip to the Lancashire Coast as the very high tides and stormy weather might produce some good birding.Our first port of call was to Fleetwood and Rossall.It was a surprise to see that the Marine Lake had been drained leaving large muddy areas.This attracted numerous waders including four purple sandpipers.The sandpipers were roosting in the shelter of an island with a very large flock of turnstones.This made for some interesting images of the many turnstones,redshanks and purple sandpipers.It was also very convenient as the birds could be safely photographed from the comfort of the car thus avoiding the gale force winds pounding the coast.

Also nearby were three red breasted mergansers on the boating lake and again giving excellent photo opportunities from the comfort of the car.It's not often you get the opportunity to photograph these fish eating ducks at such close range.They provided some memorable images as they surfed the waves on the lake.We then moved on a short distance to see the much photographed shorelark at Rossall picnic site.

From there we took the coastal road through Blackpool and heading for St Annes to have a look for the Great Grey Shrike which has been present for a few weeks.The road along Blackpool seafront was being battered by the high tide and I stopped briefly to take a picture of the angry sea.Eventually we made our way to St Annes and the shrike site.The bird was still around but we only managed a brief view before it departed.

Next we went to Fairhaven Lake at Lytham.Another marine duck,the scaup was present here and showing well as they also rode the waves .I had never photographed scaup and this was an ideal opportunity to grab some images of these scarce marine ducks.We finished off our Fylde safari calling at Newton Marsh at Freckleton where many hundreds of wigeon were on the roadside lakes.However the highlight here was a very obliging roadside brown hare which posed beautifully for the camera.It was a super ending to what had been a grand day out along the Lancashire coastline.

Shown above are images from the day of the turnstones ,redshanks and purple sandpipers at the Marine Lake. The bird of the day for me was the Red Breasted Merganser and I have shown a few images of both male and female enjoying the stormy weather at Fleetwood.I had to publish an image of the shorelark,a rare visitor to the west coast but I felt this bird has been been harrased and photographed by too many bird photographers.A shot of the wild seas off Blackpool is shown as we made our way along the coast.My final selection from a very busy day with the camera is of the scaup at Fairhaven Lake and the lovely brown hare at Newton Marsh.An excellent day with good company and some memorable images from the stormy Lancashire Coast. Thanks for looking in ,may squeeze in another posting before the year ends.    

Christmas Selection

Another year has flown by. It has been a good year with some lovely weather through the summer. It has also been a good year for me with the camera and I have made many visits to some of my favourite locations. The highlight had to be the pelagic trip out of Liverpool with a party of like minded photographers. We enjoyed a ten hour trip to capture some great images of gannets and dolphins about thirty miles offshore.I also discovered the delights of wader watching from Hoylake on the Wirral.

On the home front I did well with kingfishers this year.They seem to have done well following population crashes in previous years.Well known locations at Martin Mere and Yarrow Valley provided some nice images. Leighton Moss also came up trumps with three Great White Egrets present for many weeks.I also managed for the first time to photograph the bearded tits coming to the grit trays in the Autumn.The red deer rut was also excellent and some fine stags were on view and posing for the camera.

I enjoyed very much my early morning visits to Bowland in the Summer when I was able to photograph the brown hares and was also lucky to see one or two tawny owls. My first selection of images show Red Deer Stag,Great White and Little Egrets,Bearded Tit and Buzzard from Leighton Moss.Great Crested Grebe from Mere Sands Wood .Waders from Hoylake on The Wirral and kingfishers from Yarrow Valley Country Park.I will post another selection of my favourites from 2014 before the end of the year.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the forthcoming festivities.

Pilling Whoopers

There has been a taste of winter recently with a dusting of snow on the fell tops and icy and frosty mornings.For a while now there has been a flock of well over one hundred whooper swans at Eagland Hill,Pilling. I decided therefore to try and capture some images of these winter visitors.I had a couple of brief afternoon visits when the light was at its best.All the images were taken from the comfort of the car and I was hoping to capture the birds in flight as they went to roost. The swans were feeding on the remains of a potato crop which was lying all over the very wet and muddy field.

From about 2pm some of the swans decided to leave and gave me the opportunity to grab some flight shots. I decided to leave around 3pm and on the way back home I had a very brief view of a barn owl. I had not seen any barn owls for a long time. I understand they have had an excellent breeding season in the Pilling and Cockerham area.I will certainly be back again to hopefully obtain more images of  these very special birds.This could be my last posting before Christmas and if so may I wish all my followers a very happy festive season.Thanks for looking in.

A Gathering Of Goosanders

Don't think there is a collective noun for a group of goosanders but I think a gathering sounds about right. Around this time of the year Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve at Rufford plays host to numbers of goosanders. This is no doubt due to the healthy population of fish to be found in the meres at the reserve. So it was this week that I visited Mere Sands mid week on a couple of occasions when the weather was excellent. Following early frost the days turned out to be lovely and sunny with little or no wind and feeling very pleasant in the sun.

There were sixteen goosanders present enjoying the winter sunshine.From a photographic point of view they were not easy to approach and for the most part kept well away from the hides. The long lens came in very handy and I was able to obtain some reasonable images of these handsome birds.I didn't see them catch any fish and they spent most of their time preening and enjoying the very nice weather.

I have posted above my better images from the day and I may return in due course to see if I can do better. Thanks for looking in and enjoy the weekend. Looks like a taste of winter might be on the cards. More from Lancashire's wildlife soon. 

Martin Mere and Mitch

A week ago I visited the annual Bird Fair at Martin Mere. On the way I called to see some cats at a rescue centre at Tarleton.One of the cats "Mitch" is now living with me.Mitch is a lively young cat and will certainly keep me on my toes as he settles in.An image of Mitch is shown above

I always enjoy a visit to the Bird Fair meeting up with fellow birdwatchers and photographers and enjoying looking at the various stalls selling books,holidays,artwork and so on.There was just time later in the day to pay a quick visit to the Swan Link Hide to see the birds on show .Lots of whooper swans are now present and they are fed daily giving nice close views. I didn't have my usual big lens with me and the images above were taken with a small compact camera. I was pleased with the images of the ruff showing the lovely plumage highlighted by the setting sun.The sunset too was memorable and made a nice ending to a good day out.Thanks for looking in and I hope to get out and about again soon.

A Better Week

After last week's upsets this week has been much better.I am thinking of getting another cat and have been to look at some currently residing at the Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary at St.Annes.

On the wildlife front Tuesday was a very pleasant day with light winds and sunshine.I decided on a visit to Yarrow Valley Country Park near Chorley.I had noticed that the regular kingfisher was appearing daily and would hopefully provide some opportunities for the camera.On arrival at the fishing spot the kingfisher prefers ,the news was that it had been showing well but had departed. However there was not long to wait for it's return and myself and the other assembled photographers were then treated to it posing for the next three quarters of an hour or so.We all  " filled our boots " with many images and some video of the lovely male kingfisher.The spot it chooses to visit is unfortunately in a dark gulley and makes for difficult photography to obtain the correct exposures and shutter speeds.I am however quite pleased with the results and my better efforts are posted above.

The three jays have also been visiting my garden on a daily basis for peanuts I have put out for them.Again giving great opportunities for the camera and photographed from my bedroom window.They do seem to take peanuts like there is no tomorrow and will be stashing them away for when the colder weather arrives.Again a few more images above of these colourful but very shy birds.Thanks for looking in and hopefully more next week from Lancashire's wildlife.