 |
| Images of a visit to Costa Rica can be seen by clicking on the relevant entry in the GALLERY on the right hand side of this page. |
Saturday, December 17, 2011
VISIT TO COSTA RICA
Friday, December 02, 2011
Visit to St Margaret's Church, Cley, Norfolk
 |
| White-crowned Sparrow immortalised in a stained-glass West window in Cley's Church. The day began with a trip to Norfolk to see a Semi-palmated Sandpiper which we had previously 'seen' but at a vast distance. The visit was to 'confirm' our tick and also to appreciate the the finer ID points. On interrogating the Internet ,during our journey, to find out if any other interesting species were around we noticed that the Semi P had been potentially upgraded to the Megaspecies-----a Western Sandpiper. The 'new' bird was duly observed at Cley Marshes. An ordinary birding day was therefore transformed to a Congratulatory Mega day. In thanks for this transformation we decided to visit St Margaret's church in Cley to offer our Gratitude to the Great Ornithologist in the Heavens for sending us this rarity. Whilst in the church we hunted for and eventually found ( the sign of persistent birders) the small painting of the rare White -crowned Sparrow which visted Cley from North America in January 2008 and which was reponsible for donations in excess of £ 6,300 which was used for the 13th century church's West window restoration |
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Sandhill Crane
 |
| Sandhill Crane. This was our first opportunity to nail this North American Crane on its travels south from Aberdeenshire. Taken at Boyton Marshes, Suffolk through the heat haze |
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
TARIFA, SOUTHERN SPAIN---Lesser Kestrel
 |
| The Lesser Kestrel was only one of the 120 species, including 21 lifers, seen during a 5 day tour of Southern Spain centered on the charming old town of Tarifa in early September 2011. The main prpose of this trip was to witness the migration into Africa from mainland Europe. In addition to the photographs included we also saw the following key species---Audouin's and Slender-billed Gull, Griffon Vulture, Black Stork, Black Shouldered Kite, Black-eared Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush. Dipping on both Lesser Crested and Elegant Terns, Spanish Imperial Eagle and Azure winged Magpie may necessitate a return visit! |
A mixture of Birds, Beer and Beatiful Scenery can only hearten the Inner Self of the older Generation!
European Bee-eater
 |
| We encountered many 'swarms',containing up to 40 individuals, of these Bee-eaters .
Tarifa Southern Spain
|
Rufous Bush Robin
 |
| A distant record shot of a Rufous Bush Robin ssp Galactotes. One of the best finds of the trip.
Tarifa Southern Spain
|
Black Kite
 |
| Juvenile |
 |
| Black Kite. Only a small number of Red Kites were seen. Often in excess of ten Black Kites were seen at one time.
Tarifa Southern Spain
|
Swallowtail
 |
| Swallowtail butterfly of the race gorganus which is supposedly slighly paler than our race britannicus.
Tarifa Southern Spain
|
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Bonelli's Eagle
 |
| Juvenile Bonelli's Eagle The initial ID as a Booted Eagle was questioned by Mac Bell; further investigations led to the Andalucian Bird Society confirming it is a Juvenile Bonelli's Eagle. A Key find for the trip. Thanks Mac. Tarifa, Southern Spain |
White Storks
 |
| For me the highlight of the trip was witnessing in excess of 400 White Storks attempting to cross the 14 miles across the Straits from Tarifa to Morocco. On the third attempt they decided to 'go for it' having turned back for reasons of elevation, wind etc.on two previous occassions.
Tarifa, Southern Spain
|
Red-necked Nightjar
 |
| Red-necked Nightjar. Following the finding of a road-killed Red-necked Nightjar in mid afternoon it was decided to stay in the vicinity until nightfall in the hope of seeing a live one.Not only did we see one but about seventeen others evenly spaced along the same stretch of road apparently warming themselves on the road surface. This photograph was taken using the mini bus's headlights as illumination but did require an ISO setting of 6500!
Tarifa, Southern Spain
|
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Red-veined Darters
 |
| Female & Male Red-veined Darter. These are frequent migrants to southern Britain .
Tarifa, Southern Spain
|
Little Swift
 |
| Distant record shot of a Little Swift near Chipiona, They had been nesting with House Martins in a building belonging to the local fish market
Tarifa, Southern Spain
|
Whimbrel
 |
| Whimbrel. We unfortunately dipped on our target birds for this stretch of beach, Lesser Crested and Elegant Terns Tarifa, Southern Spain |
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Sabine's Gull
 |
| Adult Sabine's Gull at Grafham Water, Cambs blown in land by the tail end of the American Hurricane |
Grey Phalarope
 |
| Grey Phalarope, Grafham Water, Cambs. One of many blown off couse by the tail end of the American Hurricane |
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)