Bird of the day! - Page 71

pressld2 · #**1751** (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 12:56 PM

Goldfinches!

After fourteen years living in this house and never once seeing a finch of any description, I finally followed the advice of this forum and bought some niger seeds. I hung them out for the first time on 1st April and this morning - bingo!

This was taken through double-glazing and from a great distance so it's heavily cropped but I'm very happy!

Dave P.

John · #**1752** (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 09:27 PM

Today I went after an extremely rare gull that isn't seen that often on these shores. This one arrived at Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, about two weeks ago. Thankfully it stayed long enough for me to get there and grab these photos.

Most definitely my Bird of the day, plus it is a first for the gallery. Here are some of the many photos I took of the bird.

John

mrs fish · #**1753** (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 06:07 AM

That was a good day then John

I done some detective work and found out it is a Ross's Gull

John · #**1754** (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 05:01 PM

I hadn't realised that I hadn't put the species name down. Well spotted and good detective work too.

Spot on. Ross's Gull.

I found a few more new birds for the year today but one of them (sadly too far away for a photo) was an absolute cracker. It was a full summer plumaged Black Tern. What smart birds they are.

John

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs fish

That was a good day then John

I done some detective work and found out it is a Ross's Gull

aeshna5 · #**1755** (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

Today I went after an extremely rare gull that isn't seen that often on these shores. This one arrived at Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, about two weeks ago. Thankfully it stayed long enough for me to get there and grab these photos.

Most definitely my Bird of the day, plus it is a first for the gallery. Here are some of the many photos I took of the bird.

John

Great photos of this stunning bird. I've only ever seen 1 over a decade ago up in the NW.

John · #**1756** (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 07:18 PM

They are smart birds aren't they. I have only ever seen one other myself and that was in Scarborough on 03/04/2002.

John

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Great photos of this stunning bird. I've only ever seen 1 over a decade ago up in the NW.

nutmeg · #**1757** (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 07:38 PM

Hearing (but not seeing) grasshopper warblers at a local nature reserve at dawn

GME · #**1758** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

Today I went after an extremely rare gull that isn't seen that often on these shores. This one arrived at Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, about two weeks ago. Thankfully it stayed long enough for me to get there and grab these photos.

Most definitely my Bird of the day, plus it is a first for the gallery. Here are some of the many photos I took of the bird.

John

I went along today but wasn't lucky enough to see it

Well done to you though, John. I may try again tomorrow when it presumably won't be as busy with holiday makers as it was on a Bank Hol

Deer Stalker · #**1759** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 07:50 PM

Kingfishers nesting on a stream in the New Forest.

John · #**1760** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 07:57 PM

It's a shame you missed it as it was reported as being there.

John

Quote:

Originally Posted by GME

I went along today but wasn't lucky enough to see it

Well done to you though, John. I may try again tomorrow when it presumably won't be as busy with holiday makers as it was on a Bank Hol

John · #**1761** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 08:04 PM

I was determined not to do any birding today as I needed a bit of a rest plus I wanted to transplant some seedlings I had been growing.

I was relaxed in the garden when the pager went off alerting me to 2 Sponbills only 20 miles away. What could one do?

Within 45 minutes I had changed my clothes and was on site. They were very distant but it wasn't long before they took off and disappeared flying north East. At least I had a chance of a few flight shots, two of them shown here. Definitely my bird of the day.

John

Crested Newt · #**1762** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 08:06 PM

I,m very happy!!! I saw a Lapwing hunting and watched it for 1 hour straight

pressld2 · #**1763** (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 09:06 PM

Had a fantastic day at Elmley marshes today. It was a day of firsts for me, starting with first time I've missed the Sheppey exit from the M2. A twenty-two mile detour got me back on track and fortunately that was about the only thing that went wrong all day.

Saw my first Temminck's Stint (at least that's what everyone else in the hide said it was - I got some very distant shots, which I'll post later, that might confirm it), first common sandpiper, and - my bird of the day - first yellow wagtail. I got some pretty good shots of it too, better than I've ever managed with pied or grey wagtails. I have about a week's worth of editing to do but they'll turn up in the gallery over the next few days.

I also saw my first hares and first Orange-tip butterfly and it was the first time I've been to Elmley and not seen a stonechat. Where've they all gone?

Dave P.

pressld2 · #**1764** (**permalink**) 07-05-2008, 08:45 AM

Still got loads of editing to do but these are my favourite yellow wagtails from Monday so far...

Dave P.

John · #**1765** (**permalink**) 07-05-2008, 04:15 PM

They are lovely, elegant birds aren't they Dave.

Where did you take these?

John

Quote:

Originally Posted by pressld2

Still got loads of editing to do but these are my favourite yellow wagtails from Monday so far...

Dave P.

Pete Collins · #**1766** (**permalink**) 07-05-2008, 04:23 PM

This afternoon I went to see the Black Terns that had been reported at Wilstone Reservoir (near Tring). (Does that make me a twitcher?

)

They were too far off in the middle of the reservoir for a photo, but I could see them clearly through my binoculars. They were a first for me, so they are my Bird of the Day.

I also enjoyed watching my first Hobby of the year, and was rather surprised to see a Pintail.

pressld2 · #**1767** (**permalink**) 07-05-2008, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

They are lovely, elegant birds aren't they Dave.

Where did you take these?

John

They certainly are John. These were at RSPB Elmley Marshes in Kent, and were taken from the car on the long drive up from the entrance. But they were everywhere and I got some more shots as I was leaving one of the hides. One of them let me get within about six or seven feet.

Elmley is the only place I know where it's possible to fill a 4Gb memory card before you reach the car park!

Dave P.

Paul mabbott · #**1768** (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 07:16 PM

My bird of the week is ... blue tit - just one seen (today). Mind, there aren't many other birds in numbers or regularity of attendance. Pigeons and magpies appear when any scraps are thrown out but, a the hopper, only coal tits regularly, consistently seen.

The disapperance of the blue tits does stand out though. Normally they are the most abundant, regular attenders at the feeders but about eight years ago they disappeared entirely from our garden and the rest of the neighbourhood and were hardly seen for nine months.

Interesting to see that great tits are coping with climate change in UK:
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Great tits cope well with warming
Might blue tits be having a prolem adapting?

Goatboy · #**1769** (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 09:40 PM

My BOTD was a Little Owl. We knew one had been putting in good appearances at a local cliff face. Took us ages to find it but when we did we got a great view.

aeshna5 · #**1770** (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 08:22 AM

I took a party to Stodmarsh yesterday + was pleased to see 6 species of raptor there (most I've seen there!) with 2 Kestrel, c20 Hobby, Sparrowhawk, c6 Marsh Harrier with some food passes, Buzzard + 3 Red Kites. Turtle Doves, Nightingale Cuckoos, Kingfisher + many others the icing on the cake.

A great day at a fabulous wetland reserve!

John · #**1771** (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 09:07 AM

Sounds like you had a great day at Stodmarsh Neil. I envy you getting out as I am stuck at home.

Unfortunately my car is off the road for a few days. It's a really sick motor at the moment. That meant I am staying in on these two glorious days and there was a White-winged Black Tern all day only 13 miles away from me at Draycote Reservoir and I couldn't go for it.

Yesterday I was doing gardening all day when a surprise bird was seen on my feeders. A male Bullfinch.

I get them regularly in the winter but I can't recall ever seeing them in my garden at this time of the year.

John

Pete Collins · #**1772** (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 10:27 AM

Sorry, couldn't resist - this Ostrich was my Bird Of The Day yesterday! It had clearly been blown off course on it's annual migration flight, and ended up in deepest, darkest Buckinhamshire!

Oh alright - it was actually on an Ostrich farm (I saw a Llama a bit later on the same walk! Made a change from the usual Alpacas which are becoming increasingly popular round here).

My real BOTD for yesterday was a Nuthatch, which I spotted briefly in a wood near Ley Hill, Bucks. I don't see them very often as we don't get them in the garden - this was the first one I'd seen for two years, and was the first I'd seen when I've been out on a walk.

JAYS · #**1773** (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 02:16 PM

A nice part of "bird of the day" is that people so often nominate very common birds. I too can get great pleasure from just watching a robin or a great tit. And they are far less infuriating than some of the rarer species: I have spent a couple of hours a day for 4 days trying to photograph a dipper. These seem very conscious of my presence, even if I hide myself away. They know I am there. They spend their time, in full view, 30 yards away on the other side of the river. Walking to the other side of the river makes no difference: they move too. I hid myself away, 15 yards from the nestsite, camera on a long lead, and the birds would U-turn away from the nest. But today whilst I was hidden in a bush, failing again with the dippers, a tree creeper landed about 4 feet in front of me on an overhanging tree. Delightful. So even though I was unable to train the camera on it