And so it comes to a close

Well here we are,the last day of 2009....i cant say its been the best year ive ever had,added about 4 new birds to my life list,and only a couple to my Notts list....split up with my partner and completed 25 years for my company,lets be fair none of that is good really,but onward and upward,ive got much more time to bird now,so lets hope 2010 is a real belter!!!!! Hoveringham was my destination for seeing out 09,the GND was still present,typically unhelpful,being spooked at about 1000 yards range!! pretty quiet all in all,out with a whimper more than a bang,although a Tree sparrow around the sailing lake was a suprise-just the one though.Grey Wagtail showed well,also Green woody,and Little Egrets are still knocking around ,doing their best to brighten up the day.A Peregrine seemed determined to take a Moorhen,but the Gulls had other ideas,one brave bird even got knocked into the water,the Peregrine left empty clawed !! All images taken with the 7D and 400m f5.6 lens. Happy new year everyone ,best wishes for 2010.

Grey days-white birds,and cans of Fosters,the reality of birding in Notts.

What a dreadful grey morning.......Gunthorpe first,and i have to say almost birdless,passerine-wise anyway (2 Reed Bunting,flyover Redwing,fem Bullfinch and flyover Skylark).I guess all the usual suspects were there as regards wildfowl,Goldeneye,Pochard,Tufties,good flock of Teal,few Wigeon,and 4 Goosander,not bad considering nearly all the water was frozen over.The Stonechats have gone.What i couldnt beleive is the incredible amount of empty beer cans there are strewn everywhere!!! it literally is like a rubbish dump.......there even high up in bloody trees.Severn Trent and Notts federation of Anglers should be ashamed of themselves....as for the anglers-they should never be let near the countryside again....tossers!!!! Anyway, Litte Egret was the word of the day,possibly 4 present highest count ever there.Went to have a look for the reported Shag at Hoveringham,no sign but 5 little Egrets there!! 5 Red Cresty Pochard still on the roadside pit.Oh and another gunshot victim....headless due to a fox no doubt,but the slaughter continues.All images taken with 7D and 400m f5.6 lens.

That bloody Diver

Another Hoveringham walk,the railway pit again,as they were shooting on the sailing lake ! I cant believe how wary the bloody GND is !!!! the nearest ive managed to get in nearly 3 weeks is about 100 yards.It is without doubt a Bastard !!! but one that is really nice to look at and will be missed when its gone.Alot of wildfowl there today.....mostly Tufties and Pochard,c15 Goldeneye,and 3 Goosanders,passerine-wise 2 siskin and 1 Lesser Redpoll,of note.

Up close and personal

Juv Great Northern Diver Hoveringham GP

That Diver again

Decided to try again and see if i could get some better shots of the Hoveringham GND....it was slighty closer,it definately isnt related to the Holme Pierrepont bird though !!! Bullfinch,Grey and Pied wag showed nicely.

More Chat

Notts magic does it again.

This county does have a habit of turning up the most unusual birds.....Cedar Waxwing,Redhead,Sora,Blyth's pipit,and recently Steppe Grey Shrike.........and now Siberian Stonechat ! Not only that, but a male in winter plumage,something possibly never seen in Britain before.Not bad for a county that couldnt be any further from the coast.Bevercotes wood is and old colliery site that has been adapted into a country park type thing...grassed over and replanted with conifers,alders and a few birch.......some good habitat for Stonechats,I wonder how long this bird has been there and how long it will stay? A very striking bird i must say.....incredibly active though,and can be incredibly elusive too.Came as near as 25-30 yards .All images taken with Canon 40D and 500m f4 +1.4 tc (hand held)

More brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!

Well saturday morning dawned clear and bright,but bloody hell fire......... was it cold!!! -5 as i set off to Holme Pierrepont to try and photograph the pair of Smew on the ski pit,that i missed last week.When i arrived the ski pit was frozen over,so they had to be on the rowing course-which they were....very close in at first,but as soon as i got closer they moved out a little,still managed some reasonable shots.While i was there,i thought id try for the GND.....the Smew were right at the top end the GND right at the bottom 2000m apart typical .........still the walk warmed me up.Young Daz was photographing the Diver when i arrived and had it within about 3ft!!! i didnt get it that close,but still a little closer than last sunday. All images taken with 40D 500m f4 +1.4tc Hand held.

A very damp walk around Gunthorpe today,first thing i found were a load of council road signs!!! obviously pinched by some clot who later realised they couldnt be weighed in because they're fibre glass!!!!!!! Also a few new piles of rubbish left by fly tippers.....and quite a few carrier bags full of empty beer cans tied to tree branches.......anglers are the culprit here .....a passion for angling it certainly is not,more pisca-fuckin-torial vandalism!!!!!!! Birdwise i saw the regular male Stonechat(too distant to photograph) fem Goosander,Chiffchaff calling its head off,and a good few Bullfinches.Thats all folks ! Lets have some more Diver and Red Cresty Pochard images.

A few nore of the Diver.

Let me tell you,finding rare and scarce birds in Notts is not easy,so being able to photograph two different Great Northern Divers in Notts on the same day is pretty good going ! A new bird was found yesterday at Holme Pierrepont,on the rowing course... a lovely adult that showed very well at times.Got some more shots of the juvenile bird still on the railway pit at Hoveringham,also a few more shots of the Red-Crested Pochards on the small adjacent pit,Only 5 today,4 males and 1 female,maybe the other 2 are taking their chances on the sailing lake? All images taken with the Canon 500m & 1.4 tc 40D.