Down and Out in Manchester and Rhyl

Well the other weekend I was on a train to Rhyl, not quite what I wanted as it was late in the day and an indirect route, but it was nice to be out for the day. However, it quickly turned nasty as the train was told to turn round due to flooding, so it was a similar scenario this weekend as I sped along the tracks as the morning mist cleared on my way to Bae Cinmel in North Wales.

The name Kinmel Bay has become synonymous with top quality Snow Bunting pictures due to the feeding of the birds by locals and visitors alike, so with me I brought a half kilo of seed by way of a sacrifice to the gods of photography to allow me some nice views. It was however disappointing to arrive and not find any area already seeded, so I effectively started 'from scratch'. I did however soon have 12 birds feeding, a good number and with some very handsome males in the mix. It was not long before they started moving my way, although it wasn't long before a dog walker came either, putting the birds up and me back to square one. I however knew they'd be back, so sat it out and waited for their return...

...That low, early morning winter sun really helps here...

...Red Alert! Dog Walker...!

...But its not all Buntings on the seeded patch, this Meadow Pipit has grown bold with the extensive disturbance and as a result has become quite tame...

...even down to eye-level...

...and that bit of luck required to get something more special...

...but soon the bunts were back and my attention drawn away from this unobtrusive LBJ...

...a stunning male struts his stuff...

...this one appears to be trying to hide...!

...and as the light faded and the train rolls into Rhyl station i'm off again, the sun setting behind me casting great long shadows across the sands of the Dee. The crags and contours of Hilbre are picked out in the glorious technicolour of the dying sun and, once again, I'm reminded that it ain't all that bad a life

Free Man

Oh the world of exams has not been kind to me of late, though the world of photography has been. As someone with eyes will have noticed my blog has been filled with Waxwings since November time and i've photographed little else since. It has therefore been surprising how few birds have hit my native Manchester, I have had to get out of town most of the time for my Waxie fix.

Not any more though, i've found (OK been told of) a flock on a bush very close to home, and the last two weekends i've been visiting the bush on my bike in order to pay my respects to the visitors from the north. There's always a good crowd on the corner watching em, so i've enjoyed an acquaintance with a great many people as I watch them descending to have a quick meal. I've also been lucky enough to see them having a drink from the guttering, behaviour i'd heard of but never seen. In short, i've been very lucky.

It is therefore, due to this being a photo blog, customary for me to allow you a look at some choice shots from the site. I must first thank John Harden for keeping the Manchester Birding Forum updated with news of these birds, I was very grateful to be able to be able to launch opportunistic raids on the site so as my revision didn't suffer. Much. Still, here's one breaking that western skyline...



...and one down for a berry...



...which one though...?



...found one...!



...In the sun at last...



...and finally, after nearly three months, one on a redbrick backdrop...!



So all in all not a bad few weekend's work! However, it is back to the coal face for one last hurrah in the form of the English exam, so expect a long wait for the next post.

Except no, wait. There are some good causes in this world and some of them are e-petitions which need signing, so get signing...!

Save the Wildlife Crime Unit

Save Worlaby Carrs

Both are excellent causes and require the signatures to prompt a debate in parliament.

2012...The Year That Was

Ah 2012...the year of the Olympics, the Leveson Enquiry and the final series of The Thick of It, but it was more than that really. I've been busy this year with my GCSEs, sitting exams in January and the June to get some rather pleasing results in August. I saw The Stone Roses live. And Noel Gallagher. I was *that* close to getting a drumstick at The Enemy when they played the academy. And I spent a cumulative total of around 5 days taking photos. So t'wasn't too bad really.

So I thought, what with this being the eve of 2013 and the Fiscal Cliff (scary eh?) I better get on with it and write it down, like an egalitarian online version of Samuel Peeps. Minus the massive wig, obviously. So without further ado, get yourself an eggnog (or a glass of water. Or nothing. I'm not forcing you.) and let me regale with tales of bygone days spent out in the field...

I'm going with one photo per month, so for January I go back to my old house. The wind whistles and moans, the trees gnarled (well one of them was a bit gnarled) and the rain lashes the windows. I'm at the kitchen window, with GCSE Biology on my lap and a mug of tea in my hand, but outside there is something altogether more interesting (seriously!). A goldfinch sits on a piece of string, the only redeeming feature of the day. Through an act of contortion through an open window I get shots off, and that's my day sorted. Revision is so underrated...

February cleared everything up, out in the field I was with a brew in one hand and my glass in the other. Sat in a bush in Conwy, patiently waiting for a certain owl to show. No gloves too in sub-zero temperatures, I hasten to add. Thank God that Shortie showed was all I could say, although it took me several days to say it due to my development of what a hypochondriac like myself would called pneumonia...

...March came in like a Lion and left still very much like a Lion, if by Lion you mean a near-constant thunderstorm inter spliced with the odd clear patch and some frogs procreating in the back garden. I think my definition of a Lion is a bit off. Ah well, it was fun whilst the spawning lasted...!

...April came just 31 days after March, and with it a trip to meet world-famous wildlife photographer Andy Hay. It was a humbling but ultimately interesting experience meeting someone so much better than myself, but a good time was had by all and I finally got that Yellowhammer shot i've always wanted...!

...May came and along with it a crappy speech from the Headmaster followed by being booted out of school for study leave. Roll on I said, and I was right to be so happy with happenings for I had some belting macro shots from the garden. But the unequivocal highlight of May was a belting experience with the Redstarts of Derbyshire...

But, just like that, June was upon us and I found myself in a new house and my exams over! So off I pottered to Shetland, my year's highlight by an absolute country mile. Some belting shots and species to boot, with great weather and food...

...but as June melted into July all was not lost for I was off to the Pyrenees for a week of, as I said afterwards, birds, bikes and norovirus. Aside the last one that was a belter of a trip, with some good shots and new birds...including this rather fetching Rock Sparrow...

The next month was August and with this change came the hatching of the pupae found in my stomach into beautiful butterflies. Yup, exam season was on. Still, sitting on a campsite with my mates, 2 random people from Grimsby and an unconscious brummy made me forget this somewhat, as did a family holiday to Andalucia, where this Scarce Swallowtail was a surefire favourite...

But alas the four months of holiday were gone, to be replaced with the murk of September. This saw me once more on Hilbre camera in hand and amongst my favourite birds, the Dunlin...

More fun was to occur in October with a trip up north of the border to Inverness, and another stint on Hilbre with this memorable Redshank shot the best of the day...

....then back to the exams again, like hitting a brick wall but with less physical pain and more subtle references to how university application is inextricably linked to THIS VERY EXAM! So no 'true' trips out, just a shedload of Waxwings over Manchester and the North-West, what beauties...!

...so here we are again. A year of birds, butterflies and (for the first time) beer! Still quite excited about that last one. Still, we stand on the brink of a new year, but to be honest its going to be pretty much the same as the last so don't get too excited. Have a good'n and see you all on the other side. :)

'Shitloads of Brown Cockatiels'

You hear that? That kind of mechanical noise? That's the revision engine gearing up again, cogs turning inside my head and the chain slipping into a higher gear. Yep the big thing now isn't christmas, its the new year and its promise of yet more exams. Still, not all doom and gloom, i've been out the last few weeks chasing the wondrous Waxwings once more. In fact, i've visited one council estate in Moss Side no less than 3 times in the last few weeks. That's where the title of the post's from, a local's rather blunt view on what I had travelled to see. Still, a Waxy's a Waxy isn't it? First off one from the land of Baguley...

...and taking what Radio 4 (or indeed Green Day) might call the 'long view'...

...and just, literally i'm talking a couple of minutes here, as the light went, they came down in numbers...

...and the best light i've had in a long while...

I'm usually not too keen on harsh shadows but here I think it works, helps pick out those wing bars and that lovely face. Still, onwards and downwards as they don't say, i'm off to look at cell ultrastructure. Yawn.

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?