A busy week 3: chasing more birds

A winter plumage black-tailed godwit.

We left a still cool and cloudy Mere Sands Wood and headed to the coast a couple of miles to the west. This is more familiar territory - I've walked the Ribble Estuary salt marshes before, albeit always on the northern side. Just north of Southport (but on the southern bank of the river) is a huge expanse of open ground, forming RSPB Marshside. On the landward side of the coast road are a couple of massive stretches of (I guess fresh)water and grass, while on the other are marine mudflats, sandbanks, and apparently some dunes.

Wigeon are such cuties. This is a male...

 But the females are lovely too, many subtle shades of brown.

Straight away my companion spotted some pintails far off, and there was a massive flock of roosting waders, but they were so distant as to be unidentifiable, even in photographs (though judging by size and colour, I'd say they were mostly godwits). We walked down to the main (only?) hide, which was positively luxurious, staffed, and full of visitors with serious-looking scopes and cameras. By this point the sun was out and the light perfect, and out of the wind it was pretty mild. Immediately in front of the hide a lot of birds were feeding, with wigeon, teal, and the odd black-tailed godwit coming especially close, and further off linnet, curlew, and gulls - with a massive flock of golden plover a few hundred metres away.

Sleekness or plumpness are often misleading identifiers in bird photographs. This is the same curlew - looking svelte...

 ...and dumpy with almost no neck, simply by virtue of having puffed up its feathers.

After taking some photographs, we went back out and followed the road. It's raised up above the marshes, so we had good views across and down, and saw more species - lots of pink-footed geese, some little egrets, pintail closer-to, and at last something new to me - a stonechat. She flushed as we walked along, but only to the nearest low hawthorn, and although partially obscured by twigs, I got photographs good enough for ID. I left satisfied.

Just part of one of the flocks of geese.

A closer crop reveals some diagnostic criteria (though where I live, all big flocks of geese seem to be pink-footed). Note the brown heads, and pink beaks with dark bases and tips. And pinkish feet, of course.

Once again, many thanks to David M for taking me along, and all his helpful and interesting advice and information. This is his take on the day.

A little egret in flight. A similar shot proved popular on Flickr, getting over 11,000 views in a week.

Part of a flock of hundreds of golden plover, taking flight due to a hunting great black-backed gull. Mixed in are lots of starlings, and there were some more godwits and a few lapwings, too.

 A male pintail. It was in a pool by the road, affording unusually good views.

A busy week 2: chasing birds

Sometimes you have to take a chance, especially when the reward is something special. Green sandpipers are a rare bird (less than 1000 wintering in the UK, according to the RSPB), so three together within walking distance was worth checking out. "Todderstaffe Hall" is a rather grandly named farm with a small caravan site alongside the railway line, and to the east the fields often flood. They border Main Dyke, the major drainage channel for the Fylde coast (and formed part of the lake bed of Marton Mere before it was largely drained over the last few centuries according to my local contact Davd), and often attract interesting birds. But the view is distant - between 75 and 400 metres (and even further to the next set of fields, which also had birds in them).

I didn't have much hope. I've been thwarted here before - it's a long walk, nearly 8 miles round trip, partly across very rough ground - and even if a species has been seen earlier in the same day (as the sandpipers had), chances of catching it are slim. As it turned out, I was not in luck. There were birds - though it took some staring through my 1400mm lens setup. A pied wagtail, a very distant flock of lapwings, a pair of shelduck in the further field, and a couple of crows (which might have been ravens, as they were reported there, but as I didn't know this at the time, so dismissed them as uninteresting, and took no shots that would later allow me to be sure). The main source of interest was a mixed flock of fieldfares and starlings - and from carefully examining my photographs, at least one redwing too. But all the shots were for record purposes only. No pretty pictures from this distance (see below).

 This is the sort of image I was combing for birds. I took lots - although I did check for signs of life before I took each shot, ultimately you can't see much in the viewfinder, and it's easier to look on a computer screen.

 One of the birds that was present (a fieldfare). You don't get good quality at this distance, but it's enough for ID purposes.

The most attractive view of the day was just as I was returning home, and the sunset turned into something special. Alas, I was at an ugly road junction, but you get the idea. Anyone on the sea front would have had an excellent photo opportunity.

The next day I had an appointment with a very helpful and knowledgable local wildlife expert, David M (whose blog is here). He very kindly invited me to join him on a south Lancashire odyssey, which would give me the opportunity to visit some places I've heard about but never visited (though accessible by train, it's a lot easier in a car).

After a brief, unsuccessful trip back to Todderstaffe to look for the green sandpipers again, we went to Mere Sands Wood, a series of freshwater pools and wetland surrounded by woodland (mostly mixed birch and oak, with a stand of pine in the middle). It was chilly and overcast, not the forecast weather, so I didn't expect much in the way of good shots. Plus, there were very few birds close by, even viewed from the hides.

Three or so gorgeous red-legged partridges were feeding in a freshly-ploughed field just beyond the reserve, along with a pheasant. Blogger has mangled this photo a bit - it seems to apply extra compression to uploaded photographs, especially apparent in areas of grey.

One of many high-quality shots of a great crested grebe. It came close, and the water was very still. Very little cropping was needed, and the light cooperated at last.

 A pair of teal also came close. This is the female.

Back by the visitor centre, the feeders were manic. At least nine tree sparrows fed along with a greenfinch, plus other common birds and a couple of mammals - a surprisingly large brown rat (my first ever) and a rabbit.

Every other bird we saw seemed to be a robin. One was very tame - feeding from David's hand, and making a very odd, quiet songlike purring. This one by the car park was singing normally. 

Aside from being a nice location, it was great to hear from one of the people who'd set it up in the first place. My companion helped establish the reserve over thirty years ago, and pointed out what was original, what had changed, and lots of other interesting titbits. I'll have to go back sometime - we didn't see the red squirrels, a species I had no idea lived so close to home.

A busy week 1: spring comes early

First I went to Lytham Hall for snowdrops and siskins. This is a place I've heard about for years, but had never visited. It's a country house with expansive grounds, just north of Lytham, a lovely little town on the north side of the Ribble estuary. Actually, you only have to walk a couple of hundred metres out of the station and you're on the edge of the countryside, with woods and fields, the house itself further up a long drive, surrounded by mature trees.

 A honeybee with pollen on its face.

But before that, I stopped to photograph crocuses in a patch of park just in front of the station. There were lots of bees making the most of the good conditions, and the light was good - if a little contrasty.

I stopped to watch lots of small birds in a patch of alders by the drive up to the big house, but they all seemed to be chaffinches. The sun was warm, and there was little breeze, and there was song all around. But no siskins.

Contrast this with a similar view further down this article.

 A very fine house. The snowdrops were off to the left.

I got to the snowdrops just in time. Some had already faded, but enough looked okay to get some shots. The springlike sunshine didn't last, although the cooler, plainer light that replaced it was probably better for photographing white flowers against a dark background. I tried various combinations of lenses and positions, but I have to say most of the results were disappointing.

It rained quite heavily as I left, but only for a couple of minutes. Spring showers blew through for the rest of the afternoon, so I didn't feel like exploring the rest of the grounds. Still, it was a nice place and I'll go back if I can.

 The first globular springtail I've seen this year - the very common Dicyrtomina saundersi.

The shower had already passed by the time I took this - but you can see how moody it was.

Another shower and another rainbow - a full one this time.

You can still see the wispy rain here.

Finally a breakthrough

Moorhens are so common, but almost never allow close approach. I was stood just across a small pond from this one, and it didn't mind at all.

Crocuses. They look more like the autumn-flowering variety to my eye - but perhaps are just planted too close together, making them etiolated.

A last visit to London for the foreseeable future gave me the opportunity to visit a highly regarded bird site - the London Wetland Centre. It's actually pretty easy to get to, in a pleasant part of west London - walking from the nearest railway station, Barnes, I mostly passed through common land, open scrub and trees.

 This great-crested grebe was right in front of one of the hides, and took me by surprise - sadly it was in shade while the water behind was still brightly lit.

 It's a very glossy place - former reservoirs converted into wetlands around the turn of the millennium, with a large visitor centre, cafe, and shop. The wetlands themselves are now starting to mature, and there are various gardens and exhibits around the place, with hides around the main bodies of water.

 Backlit winter reed seedheads draw my attention again and again.

A wetland is a wetland - the natural environment felt very familiar, not that different from Marton Mere, my local patch. Here and there you could glimpse the city beyond, though, and low flying aircraft were a reminder of the location. The birds were all the usual suspects - and to be honest I was a bit disappointed, especially given the not inconsiderable entry fee. Moorhens, coots, mallards and tufted ducks. On the open water, canada goose, heron, teal, lots of gulls, cormorants, and lapwing.

 A small crop of a much larger flock of lapwings - these were on the other side of the lake, so even at 700mm appear small.

One upshot was how tame they all were. Moorhens live on all the local bodies of water, but they never allow close approach - in London, they were quite content for me to stand a few metres away, photographing them. The light was perfect - low afternoon sun, if maybe a little too bright. Anyhow, I checked out a feeding station after wandering round for a while - and here my luck changed.

I'd checked their website for recent sightings, and knew a brambling had been seen, but it was very fortuitous it should appear just when I was watching. Conditions were difficult for photography, however - I was shooting into the sun, so contrast was much reduced; the bird was feeding on the ground in deep shade, and there were sunlit reeds between me and its location - reducing contrast still further. Nonetheless, I got record shots, and was able to watch the bird feeding for a few minutes. After spending the winter hopeful of seeing one with the many chaffinches at my other home location in Scotland, this was a relief as much anything. Carrying on my bird list from last year, this counts as species 32/101.

Another sign of spring - the earliest tree blossom (I guess alder?)

Saved by the wagtail

Black-headed gulls, one coming into adult summer (breeding) plumage.

Two days ago the forecast was for sunny spells, so my plan was to head to a couple of coastal locations and see what I could find. But it was thickly overcast all day, so I cancelled. The following day turned out better than expected - a break in the cloud over the Fylde was large enough to give two or three hours of genuinely warm sunshine. But I popped to the park instead - originally I would have gone up to Fleetwood, or maybe down to Starr Gate (either end of the tram line), but I took so long, I ended up just walking down to the central section of the beach at sunset. More on that shortly...

When I started getting into bird photography a couple of years ago, tufted ducks (this is a male) were one of the most frustrating - but enticing - subjects. Common but wary, I got longer lenses and teleconverters just to improve my shots. But ultimately, you can't beat a bird that's happy to come close.

Why the park? Well it's that pesky Mediterranean gull again. Seen on and off, but never when I (or David M) looked. It's so close though, I can go regularly, so I set off in hope. But on arrival I realised, it was half term - and the quiet hour I was hoping to spend was not to materialise. Actually it wasn't too busy, but I still had to field questions from curious passers by, and people were feeding the birds, so they didn't stay in one place.

 Surely the finest native duck - a male shoveler. Again, an unusually confiding bird allowed great shots - this is only slightly cropped.

And there were a lot of gulls. Perhaps three hundred or more. People would feed them in different locations, so they flew back and forth, making close examination difficult. However, I spent long enough looking to be sure they were all the common species - actually 90%+ were black-headed. I had remembered to take bird food for the first time, so I walked over to the stump ring, where nuthatches are often seen, but was waylaid by the highlight of the day - a grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea). Only the second time I've seen on in the park, and my closest and longest encounter ever. It was harassed by a commoner pied wagtail, which is the only reason I noticed it - they are small, and although ceaselessly active, can be easily overlooked feeding at the edge of the water.

Most of the shots were out of focus, because it was so fast, but some worked out well (getting me my second Flickr Explore of the year). There was also a very tame and photogenic male shoveler - these are common, but rarely come close enough for good shots.

Sadly the nuthatches never showed. Even when a second photographer put different food out. Just the tamest great tits I've ever seen, and bluetits and various pigeons. I checked the gulls again on my return journey, but then four fire engines turned up (nobody was sure why) and they all flew away. Perhaps next time.

Great tits are so common, and often semi-tame, so these are hardly groundbreaking shots. But they are still lovely birds to spend time with - and these ones had especially vibrant plumage.

A song(?) thrush was feeding nearby. I don't see these all that often.

I got even closer to the wagtail on the way back, but most shots were obscured or out of focus.

A frenzy of gulls - but not the one I wanted.

So after returning home and recharging my camera battery, I popped down to the beach around sunset. A bit late, really - although the clouds had partially broken again, it was rather too dark to be using a long lens. I checked out the gulls - nothing special; the oystercatchers were numerous and returning noisily from inland (high tide having been earlier in the afternoon). Out to sea there were birds - possibly even a few scoters in some shots, but far too indistinct to be sure. One thing that has frustrated me most in the last couple of years is how many great birds are seen out there every day, but almost all are inaccessible for photography - a lens can't reach as far as a telescope, or even good binoculars.

Here are some common beach birds nonetheless - ISO 3200 due to low light, and I was pretty far from them all, so this is for illustration only:

An adult lesser black-backed gull - note the yellow legs and mid-grey back.

A third winter herring gull (?) - pink legs and a paler grey back - the mottling is a sign of its immaturity (they only get adult plumage in their fourth year).

Another black and white bird that spurred on my early photography - an oystercatcher. There are hundreds on the beach at this time of year, but they don't usually allow close approach.