This morning, 26th December 2015, I decide to go and check out the brand new hide at Willington GP, a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Reserve. The hide was only completed last Tuesday and, as hides go, I must say it is an excellent addition to the reserve and for the local birders. I can imagine many an hour will be spent inside, over the months and years ahead. Not much about on the lagoons this morning, but a Kingfisher put in an appearance, albeit a little distant from the hide. I managed a few record shots. I’m sure better opportunities will be forth coming. It was a male by the all black bill, females have an orange base to the bill. Another day of dull grey conditions, making photography a little difficult. High ISO = Noisy Pictures. Oh for some prolonged sunshine. I’m running out of days now to add to my year list. As is typical at this time of year, a major rarity was discovered, a Mourning Dove was found in a garden in Lerwick on Shetland. Typical, another good bird on a far flung island, so not quite sure what to do about this one YET!!

Kingfisher – male – Willington GP, Derbyshire – Above four images – Tony Davison©

A wintering Hoopoe has spent the last week or so in a small quarry area, on landscaped reclaimed land, at Wall Heath, Kingswinford near Dudley in Staffordshire. During mild winter weather there is often a wintering Hoopoe somewhere in Britain, so it was rather good to have one 50 odd miles from home. The bird showed well on and off before it flew into cover just prior to a rain shower setting in. They become rather a dull pinky-brown in winter plumage. It was finding sufficient food in the mild conditions for the time of year. A nice year tick which takes my year list on to 242.

Hoopoe – Wall Heath, Kingswinford, Staffordshire – December 20th 2015 – Tony Davison©

Saturday 5th December, Glyn and I visited North Norfolk. Storm Desmond had hit the west side of Britain with devastating impact and Cumbria taking the brunt of it with over 300mm of rain falling and large areas of the county were very badly flooded. North Norfolk was only feeling the wind and it was blowing a Gale, making Birding and Photography extremely difficult. Simply trying to stand up and get out of the car wasn’t easy. We managed to see a few good birds, despite the conditions. Our first port of call was the small harbour at Brancaster Staithe, a Red-necked Grebe had been showing well in recent days. After a couple of hours wait, the bird eventually showed close enough to get a few record shots. There were also a few Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and Dunlin on view, as well as a distant female Red-breasted Merganser. We moved on to Chosley where several Rough-legged Buzzard had been seen hunting the fields in recent days, around the drying barns. We eventually had good views of this stunning raptor, albeit in extremely windy conditions and unfortunately too distant for a photograph.

The RSPB Reserve at Titchwell was very quiet with fewer birds than normal on the fresh marsh. We did however find a superb adult Yellow-legged Gull, which seemed to get little notice from other observers. A few Pintail, Avocet and a mixed bag of waders and waterfowl were also seen. Plenty of Brent Geese on the move and flocks of distant Pink-footed Geese could be seen and heard. Most birds were keeping their heads down and I can’t say I blamed them. We finished our day in Norfolk by calling in at Kings Lynn to see a Juvenile/ 1st winter  Iceland Gull that was present at the harbour area. All in all a reasonable day in some very windy and overcast conditions, thankfully it didn’t rain. No movement in my Year List currently at 241.

Red-necked Grebe – Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk – Tony Davison© – Note the unusually large bill – Above three images

Bar-tailed Godwit – Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk – Tony Davison©

Dunlin – winter plumage – Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk – Tony Davison©

Teal – drake – Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk – Tony Davison©

Yellow-legged Gull – adult – A stunning individual – RSPB Titchwell Reserve, Norfolk – Tony Davison© – above three images

Redshank – winter plumage – RSPB Titchwell Reserve, Norfolk – Tony Davison© – above two images

Iceland Gull – Juvenile – Kings Lynn, Norfolk – Tony Davison© – above three images – note the black eye and black tip to otherwise pink base to bill indicating 1st winter?

Rain, Gales, Rain, Gales – The theme for the past week. Question – Would Barnie & Co., bring in any good sea birds? The Met Office are now naming severe UK weather systems, whatever next! With the possibility of Leach’s Petrel, we decided to head off towards the North West in hope of striking lucky. Our Saturday morning was a bit of an anticlimax. One adult Mediterranean Gull, amongst literally thousands of gulls, was all we had for our efforts, in a bitterly cold wind, chaotic sea but bright sunshine. It seems that Leach’s Petrel were not in any numbers, despite the north westerly There were, weather system. There were, however, plenty of Little Auks down the east coast though. Our journey home took us past a very good site for Short-eared Owl, where they were easily photographed without any disturbance to the birds whatsoever. A few Barn Owls were also on view and both Owl species performed at close quarters on and off till dusk, a magical end to the day.

Goldfinch – Above six images – What a cracking little bird – The Wirral – Tony Davison©

Short-eared Owl – Above 8 images – There has been a huge influx of these Owls into Britain this autumn. – Tony Davison© – These birds were not disturbed in any way whatsoever.

Barn Owl – Four birds were out hunting the fields whilst watching the Short-eared Owls. – Tony Davison©

Sunday 8th November and Glyn, RichardP and myself decided we would spend a day in Cambridgeshire looking for Owls. We stopped off at Grafham Water first of all, as there had been 3 juvenile Velvet Scoter here for some time. They proved to be fairly elusive and it took us several hours and a breakfast, before we located them off the dam wall. Three very smart ducks and any Scoter species is always a thrill to see inland. Unfortunately our viewing was all too brief, as there were numerous fishing boats on the reservoir and one or two came too close for comfort and the birds were flushed. They flew off and we lost them in the distance as they flew to the opposite end of the water. We decided to see if we could re-locate them and whilst scanning from the Mander Car Park, the MEGA Alert went off on our pagers. To our complete surprise, a Crag Martin had been discovered, flying around the “crooked spire” of Chesterfield Cathedral. Unbelievable !!

To cut a long story short, we arrived at Chesterfield around 2:20pm, missing the bird by 25 minutes. We stopped till dusk but unfortunately no further show of the bird. Disappointing. So, to Monday 9th November, I was up and around early in anticipation of the pager blipping. Sure enough the Crag Martin had re-appeared around the spire at 0800hrs. I went into work, explained my disappearing off to Chesterfield and by 09:45am I was watching the Crag Martin flying around the Crooked Spire. What a fantastic site. A new bird for Derbyshire, and  I believe this bird to be the 10th record for Britain. I managed to see a previous Crag Martin at Swithland Reservoir, in Leicestershire, some years ago, so not a British Lifer for me. An extremely difficult bird to photograph, as it was tossed around in the  sky by the strong wind, just like a piece of litter blowing about. Any how I managed a few record shots as a reminder of the event. I also managed to photograph a juvenile Merlin that flew briefly over the site. We never did see any Owls in Cambridgeshire, so we will leave that for another day. Year List moves on to 241.

Crag Martin – Chesterfield Cathedral, Derbyshire – 9th November 2015 – Note the white tail spots and black underwing coverts – Tony Davison©

Crag Martin – Above 5 images – Chesterfield Cathedral, Derbyshire – 9th November 2015 – Tony Davison©

Merlin – juvenile – Chesterfield Cathedral, Derbyshire – 9th November 2015 – Note heavy streaking on the breast, barred underwing, small size – Tony Davison©

Merlin – juvenile – Chesterfield Cathedral, Derbyshire – Note indistinct face markings, broad base to otherwise pointed wing – Tony Davison©