Birds of 2019 – tonydavisonphotography.com

Purple Patch

2019, Birds, Birds of 2019 No Responses »

Oct 222019

The last two days at my local patch, Staunton Harold Reservoir, have produced a few good birds. Monday 21st October I had 3 Whooper Swans fly over the reservoir heading SW and then 30 minutes or so later a Red Kite flew over the dam wall. Then today, 22nd October, I found a pair of Brambling near the Yacht club. So 3 patch year ticks.

Then I get a phone call to say 3 Bearded Tits at Willington GP, so I made my way there but after nearly 3 hours searching, nothing more came of them. There was a female Brambling and a Willow Tit coming to the busy feeders, so it wasn’t a wasted journey.

**Brambling – female – Willington GP – 22/10/19**

**Willow Tit – Willington GP – 22/10/19**

**Great Spotted Woodpecker – male – Willington GP – 22/10/19**

**Goldfinch – Willington GP – 22/10/19**

**Reed Bunting – male – Willington GP – 22/10/19**

Another go at The Dowitcher

2019, Birds, Birds of 2019 No Responses »

Oct 212019

The Long-billed Dowitcher returned to Willington Gravel Pits on the morning of Saturday 19th October. So I decided to have another attempt at photographing it. This time it seemed settled as it was roosting on a tiny island just from the main hide. It showed for a good 45 minutes before a Sparrowhawk flew through and flushed it and the accompanying Lapwings. It flew off towards High Bridge Gravel Pits, where it was re-located briefly in the afternoon. In the following 2 photographs you can clearly see the plain grey centred tertials which help to identify it from the rarer […]

A First for Derbyshire

2019, Birds, Birds of 2019 No Responses »

Oct 182019

The last thing I expected to see this morning was a first record for Derbyshire in the form of a 1st winter Long-billed Dowitcher. Found by Steve Porter first thing this morning, it disappeared for nearly 2 hours, before returning to Willington GP around 10:30am. I managed a rush from work arriving on site around 11:15 and got to see the bird just before it flew out again around 11:25am. I managed a record shot, just as the wind blew the reeds apart once or twice. It flew off with Lapwings and 2 Ruff heading NE.

A Day Twitching in Yorkshire

2019, Birds, Birds of 2019, Trips, Year 1 Response »

Jun 102019

A few good birds were available in Yorkshire this weekend, so a day twitching on Sunday was a wise move. A male Black-headed Bunting and a female Subalpine Warbler sp, had been discovered at Flamborough Head, whilst a Great Reed Warbler was continuing to sing and show at Wintersett Reservoir, near Barnsley. The Subalpine Warbler, with it being a female, was virtually impossible to ID to species in the field, but was most probably a Western Subalpine Warbler. This species has now been split into three – Moltoni’s, Eastern & Western Subalpine Warbler. The females look like a diminutive Common […]

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