Waxen of Wing...The True Northerners

Well if Preston is considered attractive to these birds, I can't imagine how bad Scandinavia is in the winter is all I can say. It was because of this odd attraction I found myself on a train bound for Preston around midday on a saturday. I'd sat in front of Birdguides all morning looking at reports coming in from all over about a certain invasion of a certain species. Over the last few weeks i've watched their progress from Shetland to Orkney to Inverness to Tyneside and final down to the north west. They've even penetrated Manchester, have these Waxwings.

The thing with Waxwings is that they tick all the photographical boxes. They're pretty, rare, approachable and spend an inordinate amount of time in cities and towns. They really are the photographer's best friend. Except they're not are they? They spend most of the time up trees in the topmost branches looking down on us below, sneering at the poor angle and light they've given us. They finally come down to feed, then the local Mistle Thrush comes bombing in and that's the end of that. They do circuits of the local TV aerials, call plaintively and regularly just to let us know they're still about. Nightmare.

But with the correct application of patience and fieldcraft you can get close enough for a shot. I literally cannot get enough of these birds when they're about, they're absolutely stunning creatures. Especially when the light's on them...

...even when it isn't they're stunning...

....up with the fairies...

...the 'ooh-look-i've-got-a-berry-in-my-mouth' shot...

...slight overbalance here...!

...Showing off that gorgeous wing bar...

...two's company...

...liftoff...!

...'look what I found...!'

...that golden light...

...and don't we all love the shots that were lucky...?

...absolute belters, really brighten Preston up no end. But the bug's there now, and its there for the winter I feel. I'll twitch them tomorrow, and who knows when else! All I know is I'd like em on my garden list (yes good people of Shetland that's directed at you).

Land of Ice and Fire....(minus the fire)

So...its this blog's birthday! Crack open the party poppers, pull on a pointy hat, stick a CD in the player and let the good times roll. Alternatively board a plane to the icy wastes of Inverness, home of the the mighty ICTFC and my Uncle and Aunt. I wasn't up there in an exclusively birding capacity, but to be honest I did find some time to do plenty of the stuff. I even had 2 lifers, something I rarely get these days! If i'm honest the weather didn't exactly play fair, and nor did the birds of the higher climes, but I can't really gripe after some of the shots i've had. I hope to return after my January exams, something to look forward too.

 So on the first day up north we climbed the peak of Benyack More. Whad'a'ya mean you've never heard of it?!? Its a smaller peak round the back of the bigger Cairn Gorm, and is renowned for, in spring, being a good spot for one of Scotland's scarcer birds. It was in the hope of getting Ptarmigan on the top that I carried my big lens up the hill, but they just didn't materialise. Still, had this Reindeer, obviously not native but looked at home...!

...and that was as the snowstorm was finishing, couldn't see anything at all on the top! That was about it for that day, dipping Snow Bunting and a reported Great Grey Shrike. Ah well, that's life isn't it?

Next day I stationed myself by the back door for about half an hour to watch some of my Uncle's Siskin flock. One thing I can't get over is how many Siskins they actually get. They get around 40 in December, up to 60 in a cold snap. I found 2 the other day and practically wet myself, so if I had followed through on this policy up north then quite a sizeable puddle might ensue...

...thankfully there are some nice enough natural perches about so I didn't have to muck about too much. That's Inverness in the background by the way, they have a great view of the city! The next stop of the day was one I had campaigned for, a trip to the coastal town of Burghead, famous for its sea ducks. On arrival we scanned the Eider flock for some of the more unusual suspects, didn't take long to pick out some Long Tailed Ducks, a lifer. Not particularly close and at a terrible angle, but they're so cool I couldn't resist trying to be clever with some of them in flight...

Not half as close as i'd like to be to these stunning sea-goers, but none the less beautiful and a privilege to watch. Whilst watch the flock we were informed of the presence of a single King Eider. About 15 minutes of scanning produced it, nice and close in too. Not close enough for stunning shots but again still nice...

...and it was suitably impressed by these nordic visitors we headed East to a place we know for a certain, rather charismatic little Tit. The Crestie. This is the stuff of legend, secret feeding stations deep in the woods, found only by following complex instructions and by keeping your wits about you. OK its not quite that exciting, but getting there and finding two of these fellas is...!

I absolutely love these animals, they're in all honesty my favourite mammal. They just feed at conventional bird feeders, and its a marvel to see them so close up. They look like they've just stepped out of a Lewis Carroll novel...

with their long tails I think portrait really suits these woodland stunners...

...then this handsome fella stopped by for a bite, although distant I actually quite like this shot...

...bit noisy if i'm honest, I've lost my copy of CS5 so it'll stay noisy for a while! Then, up in the canopy, a shrill and piercing call came. Then a flurry of movement, a falling pine needle. And down he came, branch to branch, tree to tree. And we were graced by the king of the woodlands up here...

....an absolute BELTER! My tawdry lowlight portraits don't do this bird justice, they're here there everywhere at once, they're so vocal too. at 1/50 of a second this really was pushing the limits of what I can get handheld (or log-held really), but just look at it. Sorry i'm going all gooey about it, but I do love these birds.

That does pretty much sum up my photos from up north, on the last day I did have c.45 Snow Buntings up on the tops in Glen Feshie but alas they didn't land. Belting birds though. It genuinely is just great being away from my (now cluttered) desk and my (now tedious) studies. Still, onwards and upwards, eh?