WHITE BILLED DIVER & Cirl Bunting

I twitched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And for the first time (I'm ignoring the Trews Weir Lesser Yellowlegs dip). It was great to see both of the rarities that I went to Brixham to see; both the White Billed Diver and the Cirl Bunting flock. Unfortunately the WB Diver never came particularly close and the water was rough so the pics all have a 'busy' background which is a shame. On the other hand the Cirl Bunting flock was comparatively obliging.

Avocet pics

I had about 3 hours to myself throughout last week so I thought I'd give the Exe Estuary a brief visit. I'd never actually been to see the wintering Avocets before so it was quite spectacular for me. I couldn't get especially close, and it was quite dark but I took some pics none-the-less:

A posing Lapwing

Dipper video from the River Coly

Unfortunately this video clip is low quality as I've had to compress the file a massive amount; still, it makes a change from just having pics.

Confiding River Coly Dipper

I'll post some video footage of this lovely 1w Dipper if I can persuade Blogger to let me upload a high-enough quality clip, but for now here's some pics of a bird which has become accustomed to and increasingly accepting of my presence lately.

More of the Seaton Marshes Glossy Ibis

I had a few looks at Twitter during the day and it seems there was a MASSIVE amount of bird movement today; I saw hundreds of Redwing flying over from my office (Colyton) and Steve Waite tweeted that there was a huge passage of thrushes around the Seaton area too. I suppose the standout local-ish bit of news is that there were over 1100 Little Gull seen through Portland... crazy numbers. Let's hope that some pass us as a certain someone still needs it for his patch year list!! Here's a few more pics of the Glossy Ibis; unfortunately it seems that Friday was the only day it was seen:

GLOSSY IBIS at Seaton Marshes

Lack of time so keeping this very brief. I was incredibly fortunate to stumble upon a stunning Glossy Ibis this afternoon, the only opportunity I've had for patch birding in the last 12 days and this stonking specimen turned up! More pics to follow when I've got time (very busy...)

Taken after sunset at ISO 3200, 1/200sec f/11 yeah, it was getting dark!!

Photos galore - Red Kite portraits

Becca and myself booked a trip to Wales for a much needed break from work(s) etc and headed up there early last Friday morning. Miraculously we got there without any problems or getting lost, this was my longest drive by a significant margin; I've only recently bought a car. I love birds of prey (in case you somehow missed this from previous posts...) so I struggled to contain excitement when I saw the first Red Kite of our trip. Turns out there was a lot more Kite action to come...
Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad for the entirety of our stay, with the exception being Monday when I drove us home (typical...). We made 3 trips to Elan Valley as it was only 20mins or so drive away from the B&B we stayed in, and the views of both scenery and birds were incredible. Red Kites came pretty close, and I got some distant shots of a Ring Ouzel which could be seen fairly predictably, although didn't show well through the berries & vegetation.
I'll post a pic of the Ring Ouzel in my next blog post, perhaps with some pics of some of the views. In the meantime here's a load of pics of Red Kites, the majority of which were taken in heavy rain (as can be seen), and all taken in low light:

 

Photos of SUPERB birds of prey (Red Kite & Buzzard)

Just a few pics of Buzzard and Red Kite from my trip to Wales with Becca; I haven't looked through the Kite pics yet but will do within the next couple of days and upload them with more details of our trip.

Axe Spotted Redshank, more pics of this lovely lingerer

I was out at 06:30 this morning and didn't realise quite how late it was dark until... It eventually lightened up enough for me to identify 2 Goosander on the estuary from Tower Hide but I then had to leave at 07:30 for work. In hope of them still being present by the time I finished work, I headed back out late afternoon but couldn't find them despite a thorough check of the River between Black Hole Marsh and the mouth. I did see the lingering Spotted Redshank from the Hide at Seaton Marshes though. Stunning bird:

Curlew