Nearly a white Christmas

Just the sort of day to blow the cobwebs away....these images were taken on the outskirts of Manchester, it was extremely cold (-5)but the breath-taking scenery was worth it. One of my dogs wanted to get in on the lime-light as well, he enjoyed himself catching snowballs! A good day was had by both the two legged and four legged variety.

When the mood takes

There is not a lot to see at the moment, bird-wise, due to the bad weather conditions, So I thought I would put some of my paintings and drawings on for now.....and await better days, here's hoping!

Nice weather for Ducks

After much debating as to whether we should chance the Wirral or not, we decided to throw caution to the wind. (it was windy too)I managed to get some wonderful images of the waves crashing over the sea wall at the life boat station at Wallasey....the tide was very high... needless to say I looked like a be-draggled rat after five minutes! We then headed for New Brighton and found some waders roosting on the Pontoon...there were Dunlin, Turnstone, Redshank and at the front some very sleepy Purple Sandpiper's all huddled together braving the very squally elements. New Brighton was almost deserted, not quite the weather to be out in, but I found it quite exhilerating.

New Brighton.

A glorious day was in the offing and we headed for New Brighton Beach. It was very mild for this time of year....just right for walking along the beach in the hopes of finding some waders. We found a very obliging Bar-tailed Godwit and after walking down to the Mouth of the River Mersey, I took some images of the Oystercatcher's basking in the sunshine. Here also, was a juvenile Cormorant, looking very splendid as it spread its wings. I hope there will be a few more unexpectedly gorgeous days like today before winter truely settles in.
Cormorant.

Bar-tailed Godwit.

Bar-tailed Godwit.

Oystercatcher's.


ASHTON
After leaving New Brighton, we headed for Ashton Park (recommended by a nice gentleman).It was very picturesque....a little gem tucked away and worthy of some scenic shots, I also took images of a Greylag Goose that happened to follow me around, and I could not resist the cute little Grey Squirrel busy nibbling on an acorn. A lovely little place!

Ashton Park.

Ashton Park.

Grey Squirrel.

Greylag Goose.

Autumn on the Wirral

A trip to New Brighton was on the cards today, even though the forecast was rain....better to be out in the fresh air than in. After a somewhat expected soggy start, the sun showed it's warm autumnal glow through the broken cloud. I took a few scenic shots of Perch Fort rock and surroundings, the beach unfortunately was devoid of any waders that were photographically in range, even so......it was a nice refreshing warm breeze, enough to put a spring in your step! We headed for Hoylake and were rewarded with a number of Knot,Oystercatchers, Redshank and the Common Gull, Herring Gull and Lesser Black backed Gull. When we got back to the car we saw a Sea King helicopter heading in the direction of New Brighton....I couldn't miss an opportunity to capture it as it whirled just over our heads. All in all, an unexpectedly very good day.
New Brighton.

New Brighton.

Common Gull (Hoylake).

Redshank (Hoylake).

Oystercatcher (Hoylake).

Knot (Hoylake).

Sea King (over Hoylake).

Kite County .

This morning we decided to go to Denbighshire to see if we could catch a glimpse of the Red Kite. It was more or less murky when we left... and things did not improve much as we neared the hills, blanketed in black cloud and swirling mist. It was still worthwhile .....I saw quite a number of Red Kite flying just above the trees along with a fair few Raven, although poor light made them not very photogenic.It still was a lovely sight to see. I contented myself with some scenic shots with the small camera. I particularly liked the shots I got at Afon Aled, which I took on the bridge looking down over the ravine. At Pentrefoeles, I walked along the stream which is reputed to be the home of a pair of Dippers, unfortunately they were not at home today. My last shot was taken at Denbigh Green....I could not believe my eyes at seeing a house in the middle of a round-a-bout!!

Glasfryn.

Glasfryn.

Pentrefoelas.

Pentrefoelas.

Pentrefoelas.

Afon Aled.

Afon Aled.

Llyn Aled.

Denbigh Green.

Parkgate.

A couple of quiet hours,late afternoon at Parkgate were the order of the day...even though the sun had gone in. We had not been there long before the Barn Owl put in an appearance, giving us lovely displays as it glided in front of us. Also we saw the Ring-tail Hen Harrier which at one point was being mobbed by the Barn Owl with a great acrobatic show. As I was watching them, two Short-Eared Owls also did a fly-pass.......not bad for a couple of hours well spent!

Inner Marsh Farm.

The sun was shining this afternoon...so a good opportunity to try again for the two juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers. Unfortunately, the sun was in the right place but the Dowitchers were too distant, especially after they had been spooked by a ringed-tailed Hen Harrier at least three times.....even so, it was an awesome sight! Also showing well although briefly was a Water-Rail and Curlew Sandpiper. I did however manage to capture the Greenshank and Snipe just before the sun was dipping down to set...nice afternoon.
Greenshank.

Snipe.

Norfolk.

Back to what we feel is our second home.....in Norfolk. It was a mixed bag weather wise, but at least it never rained! The Pink-footed Geese were an absolute delight to watch as they came in V formation in their hundreds, wink wink noises were heard everywhere! Just a shame that it was cloudy when I took photos of them.
We decided to see if we could find the Common Crane at Horsey...so after an early start and many vigiles in numerous fields,we eventually found two tucked up in the corner of a corn field. They gave some pretty good views and seemed quite content for us to take images of them. I thought they looked very majestic and I felt honoured to have seen them. On our last night I took this picture of the sunset over Hunstanton.... beautiful and sad to be saying goodbye. (for now).
Curlew.

Egyptian Goose.

Pink-footed Goose.

Pink-footed Goose.

Common Crane.

Common Crane.

Common Crane.

Wheatear.

Stonechat.

Hunstanton.

Morning on the Wirral.

Last night....predicted for the next few days was gorgeous weather, and guess what? ..totally wrong, but not to be defeated I tried to make the most of it. At Meols I managed to capture a lovely Little Egret fishing for food, even though it was very cloudy, it was still worth watching it wading in the little pools. By the time we got to Hoylake the sun was beginning to put in an appearance as the tide was coming in....this is where I caught sight of a magnificent abundance of Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls (at least 2000). Later in the car at New Brighton, I was tucking into a sandwhich and steaming coffee when I spotted a few Sandwhich Turns on the beach...obviously coffee and sandwhiches were abandoned in favour of taking these lucky shots from the car window. So all-in-all it was a very good day!
Little Egret.

Sandwich Tern.

Sandwich Tern .

Oystercatchers @ Hoylake.

Hoylake.

Hoylake.