Chris guided a One to One exclusive 2 day tour with a specific slant towards raptors on Day one.
The day started well with a quick stop for a lovely hunting Barn Owl. We stopped briefly for a perched small bird of prey, that to my surprise turned into a Merlin with prey, but was on view all too briefly! We reached the NW coast 7 were soon admiring Buzzard & several Marsh Harrier, showing very well & even starting some early territorial display flight. A large female Sparrowhawk shot in & out of view & it wasn't too long before we watching a distant Red Kite, eventually this bird drifted towards & gave fantastic, prolonged views as it soared overhead. 1-2 Kestrel were noted. We had a great morning with blue skies & great views, but by lunch the cloud had arrived & we settled into the minibus to look for other raptors over lunch. Our luck continued when a ringtail Hen Harrier passed us, we jumped out the van & had nice scope views.
Another search along the lanes produced another or the same Merlin, but again the bird was cruising quickly & disappeared within seconds. A quick stop off elsewhere produced several Yellowhammer & 16 Corn Bunting.
We finished the day at a roost site & were treated to 5 Hen Harrier including a cracking grey male.
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Monday, 28 January 2013
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Sunday 27th January Group Photography Workshop
Today we had a group of 5 photographers for a coastal bird photography workshop
We spent the morning with a 2 hour classroom session with a short presentation, with a question & answers period before heading out to take images. Working through equipment, technique, exposure, shutter speeds & apertures.
Clients took home a Cd-rom with all of the information from the classroom session
We then spent the afternoon putting theory into practice. We split into 2 groups with Josh heading off to North Norfolk with a group of 3 whilst Chris visited an area in NW Norfolk with two others from the group.
The light was pretty good until mid afternoon & everyone bagged a one or two good images & learnt a lot.
Images of Turnstone, Teal & Bar-tailed Godwit from the workshop will be posted shortly.
We spent the morning with a 2 hour classroom session with a short presentation, with a question & answers period before heading out to take images. Working through equipment, technique, exposure, shutter speeds & apertures.
Clients took home a Cd-rom with all of the information from the classroom session
We then spent the afternoon putting theory into practice. We split into 2 groups with Josh heading off to North Norfolk with a group of 3 whilst Chris visited an area in NW Norfolk with two others from the group.
The light was pretty good until mid afternoon & everyone bagged a one or two good images & learnt a lot.
Images of Turnstone, Teal & Bar-tailed Godwit from the workshop will be posted shortly.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Saturday 26th January Photography Workshop
Myself & Josh guided a single photographer today.
We started the day early & arrived at one of the Barn Owl locations we have been watching recently. Fortunately both Barn owls were out hunting & the female bird showed well for around 45 minutes, with us eventually managing to get her perched along the fenceline & getting some shots of her at about 20m range.
We then headed for the horse fields where the thrushes had been showing so well the previous day & they again performed very well with Redwing & Fieldfare coming within 5m of the camouflage netting we used across the side door of the minibus. The Lapwing weren't quite so obliging as the snow thawed they were noticeably spreading out & feeding in other areas.
We then moved on to a shorebird area where we have been feeding. Here we got some nice shots of Teal, plus Bar-tailed Godwit.
Images from this day will be published soon.
We started the day early & arrived at one of the Barn Owl locations we have been watching recently. Fortunately both Barn owls were out hunting & the female bird showed well for around 45 minutes, with us eventually managing to get her perched along the fenceline & getting some shots of her at about 20m range.
We then headed for the horse fields where the thrushes had been showing so well the previous day & they again performed very well with Redwing & Fieldfare coming within 5m of the camouflage netting we used across the side door of the minibus. The Lapwing weren't quite so obliging as the snow thawed they were noticeably spreading out & feeding in other areas.
We then moved on to a shorebird area where we have been feeding. Here we got some nice shots of Teal, plus Bar-tailed Godwit.
Images from this day will be published soon.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Thursday 24th January Photography Workshop NW Norfolk
The previous 2 days recces paid dividends, as myself & Josh Jaggard guided two photographers for thtoday & were able to get them in nice & close to a number of subjects, both photographers came away with some nice images of Lapwing, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush & Redwing.
We also had good views of 2-3 Barn owl& we did get some in flight images. We also noted Red Kite & Marsh Harrier.
Some images from today are below & further will be published shortly.
We also had good views of 2-3 Barn owl& we did get some in flight images. We also noted Red Kite & Marsh Harrier.
Some images from today are below & further will be published shortly.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Weds 23rd January NW Norfolk
Unfortunately having had to cancel a 3 day tour due to the weather conditions, I managed to venture out today.
Spent most of the day around Ringstead & Holme area, several Barn Owls noted hunting, several coveys of Grey Partridge & a Red Kite perched on fenceposts at Holme. 2 ringtail Hen harrier near Ringstead Most of the ground is still frozen & covered in snow, making life very harsh for many birds that have chosen to "tough" it out!
More Fieldfare than I have seen since the autumn with couple of hundred around Holme.
Few pictures below from today.
Spent most of the day around Ringstead & Holme area, several Barn Owls noted hunting, several coveys of Grey Partridge & a Red Kite perched on fenceposts at Holme. 2 ringtail Hen harrier near Ringstead Most of the ground is still frozen & covered in snow, making life very harsh for many birds that have chosen to "tough" it out!
More Fieldfare than I have seen since the autumn with couple of hundred around Holme.
Few pictures below from today.
Friday, 18 January 2013
Thursday 16th January - Exclusive Day 2 for 2 persons in NW Norfolk
Again with icy roads & plenty of snow, we headed to nearby coastal locations, the temperature again down to -8 overnight & not exceeding freezing throughout the day.
We stopped off in one of the harbour areas & from the relative warmth of the minibus were able to watch a nice selection of birds. At least c30+ Turnstone flew straight in, eager to be fed & close by on the shoreline there was Ringed Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit & Curlew - all pretty close up, enabling excellent views. Also close by were some nice groups of Brent Geese, we noted the very low percentage of juveniles suggesting a poor breeding season for these birds back in the arctic.
We walked out on to one of the saltmarsh estuary areas & as the tide dropped we had a lovely selection of shorebirds, c40 Golden Plover, c15 Snipe, c100 Lapwing, c60 Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Turnstone, Grey Plover & Oystercatcher. Other birds of note were a very confiding & wonderful views of a male Bearded Tit, a Goosander flying over west was probably the most unusual species, plus
2 Barn Owls hunting, clearly hungry & trying hard in the snow covering to find food. Other raptors were 2 Buzzard, 6+ Marsh harrier, Sparrowhawk & 2 Kestrel all out hunting.
A flock of c50 Skylark, plus a group of Pink-footed geese, Curlew & Lapwing seemed to have found a small area to feed in & 2 Barnacle Geese were also with the Pink-feet.
The saltmarsh pools held good numbers of Teal & Wigeon, these constantly flushed by Marsh harriers looking for any weaker birds.
We lunched in the warmth of the "feeding area" at Titchwell & watched 1-2 Brambling amongst the commoner visitors to the feeders. Out on the reserve - a good mix of birds, despite the freshmarsh being frozen solid! 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, c12 Black-tailed Godwit (noticeably scarce at present), 5 Pintail, c200 Wigeon, c150 Teal.
Towards the beach the RSPB had laid seed down & this was a magnetic for many hungry passerines, 100+ Skylark, c40 Linnet plus one superb Lapland Bunting.
We finished off the day with a look on the sea which was high on numbers, but low on diversity! Two "black slicks" on the water truned out to be huge rafts of Scoter - at least c7000 Common Scoter! Also on the sea in excess of c70 Goldeneye, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 1-2 Eider, c20 Tufted Duck & Great crested Grebe.
We stopped off in one of the harbour areas & from the relative warmth of the minibus were able to watch a nice selection of birds. At least c30+ Turnstone flew straight in, eager to be fed & close by on the shoreline there was Ringed Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit & Curlew - all pretty close up, enabling excellent views. Also close by were some nice groups of Brent Geese, we noted the very low percentage of juveniles suggesting a poor breeding season for these birds back in the arctic.
We walked out on to one of the saltmarsh estuary areas & as the tide dropped we had a lovely selection of shorebirds, c40 Golden Plover, c15 Snipe, c100 Lapwing, c60 Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Turnstone, Grey Plover & Oystercatcher. Other birds of note were a very confiding & wonderful views of a male Bearded Tit, a Goosander flying over west was probably the most unusual species, plus
2 Barn Owls hunting, clearly hungry & trying hard in the snow covering to find food. Other raptors were 2 Buzzard, 6+ Marsh harrier, Sparrowhawk & 2 Kestrel all out hunting.
A flock of c50 Skylark, plus a group of Pink-footed geese, Curlew & Lapwing seemed to have found a small area to feed in & 2 Barnacle Geese were also with the Pink-feet.
The saltmarsh pools held good numbers of Teal & Wigeon, these constantly flushed by Marsh harriers looking for any weaker birds.
We lunched in the warmth of the "feeding area" at Titchwell & watched 1-2 Brambling amongst the commoner visitors to the feeders. Out on the reserve - a good mix of birds, despite the freshmarsh being frozen solid! 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, c12 Black-tailed Godwit (noticeably scarce at present), 5 Pintail, c200 Wigeon, c150 Teal.
Towards the beach the RSPB had laid seed down & this was a magnetic for many hungry passerines, 100+ Skylark, c40 Linnet plus one superb Lapland Bunting.
We finished off the day with a look on the sea which was high on numbers, but low on diversity! Two "black slicks" on the water truned out to be huge rafts of Scoter - at least c7000 Common Scoter! Also on the sea in excess of c70 Goldeneye, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 1-2 Eider, c20 Tufted Duck & Great crested Grebe.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Wednesday 15th January - Exclusive Day for 2 persons in NW Norfolk
A great day with slightly challenging driving conditions in the morning, with snow & ice still affecting roads!
Our first port of call was Snettisham, but en-route we stopped off for nice views of 2 groups of 10+ Grey Partridge, Yellowhammer & several Brown Hare.
We eventually reached Snettisham after a slightly prelonged drive on the icy roads. We were just in time to see some nice big flocks of shorebirds swirling around in the skies, a great mix of Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover & Dunlin with the masses summing around 100,000 shorebirds albeit they were distant as it wasn't such a high tide the spectacle was still fantastic! The birds were performing "mexican waves" with some regularity & eventually I found the two culprits - Peregrine & a Merlin, the latter passing by closely in a swift flyby.
The spectacle lasted for a good 45 minutes, but in a temp of -10c it was soon time to move!
We headed round to the nearby hide & from hear we had great views of 100's of Wigeon, Teal plus 1200+ Oystercatcher & 3000 Knot all carpeting the pits edges. Also several Goldeneye & many more commoner species. The whirl of feathers as they took flight was their reaction as 2 Marsh Harrier flew overhead.
As we walked back, Snipe, Skylark, Lapwing & Reed Bunting were much in evidence as they sought areas free from ice to feed, 2 Snow Bunting also dropped
As we headed back we stopped for closer views of Grey Plover, Curlew, Dunlin, Turnstone, Golden Plover & a group of 5 very confiding Snipe.
We lunched & enjoyed hot drinks before heading back out into the freeze, still -3c!
We then headed out on to the saltmarsh at Holme, good numbers of Fieldfare & Redwing were now feasting on the sea buckthorn berries. On the shore where a nice flock of Knot,100 Curlew, 100 Oystercatcher. It took quite a long search but eventually c50 Snow Bunting were found giving excellent views. Also evident were c25 Skylark, c10 Reed Bunting, plus nice groups of Goldfinch & Linnet. The walk back proved fruitful with great views of both Barn & Short-eared Owls hunting in front of us!
Our first port of call was Snettisham, but en-route we stopped off for nice views of 2 groups of 10+ Grey Partridge, Yellowhammer & several Brown Hare.
We eventually reached Snettisham after a slightly prelonged drive on the icy roads. We were just in time to see some nice big flocks of shorebirds swirling around in the skies, a great mix of Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover & Dunlin with the masses summing around 100,000 shorebirds albeit they were distant as it wasn't such a high tide the spectacle was still fantastic! The birds were performing "mexican waves" with some regularity & eventually I found the two culprits - Peregrine & a Merlin, the latter passing by closely in a swift flyby.
The spectacle lasted for a good 45 minutes, but in a temp of -10c it was soon time to move!
We headed round to the nearby hide & from hear we had great views of 100's of Wigeon, Teal plus 1200+ Oystercatcher & 3000 Knot all carpeting the pits edges. Also several Goldeneye & many more commoner species. The whirl of feathers as they took flight was their reaction as 2 Marsh Harrier flew overhead.
As we walked back, Snipe, Skylark, Lapwing & Reed Bunting were much in evidence as they sought areas free from ice to feed, 2 Snow Bunting also dropped
As we headed back we stopped for closer views of Grey Plover, Curlew, Dunlin, Turnstone, Golden Plover & a group of 5 very confiding Snipe.
We lunched & enjoyed hot drinks before heading back out into the freeze, still -3c!
We then headed out on to the saltmarsh at Holme, good numbers of Fieldfare & Redwing were now feasting on the sea buckthorn berries. On the shore where a nice flock of Knot,100 Curlew, 100 Oystercatcher. It took quite a long search but eventually c50 Snow Bunting were found giving excellent views. Also evident were c25 Skylark, c10 Reed Bunting, plus nice groups of Goldfinch & Linnet. The walk back proved fruitful with great views of both Barn & Short-eared Owls hunting in front of us!
We then finished the day at Titchwell with an excellent raptor roost of c23 Marsh harrier, 3 R/T Hen Harrier, 1 Buzzard & Merlin. Plus 10 Bewicks Swan flying SW, several Cetti's & Water Rail were heard.
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