A Nice Surprise

 Grey and miserable morning but it was off to Boldon Flats today for the Tundra Bean Goose. It showed briefly near the pond but everything went up when a Peregrine flew through. A Caspian Gull was a nice surprise (hats off to the man who spotted it in amongst all the other gulls). A Mediterranean Gull was also on the pond but I got it in the air. The Tundra Bean Goose had relocated to a horse paddock with a flock of Greylags and showed very well until a horse got too close then everything flew off.
It was then onto Whitburn Steels for the Water Pipit which unfortunately I dipped. I did however manage a Rock Pipit.

Caspian Gull

Caspian Gull

Caspian Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine

Peregrine

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra & Greylags

Tundra & Greylags

Greylag

Rock Pipit

More Isabelline Wheatear

Couldn’t resist posting some more of images of this cracking little bird.

It’s as if it’s saying, “I know I should be somewhere else“.

 

Isabelline Wheatear

Seaton Snook today and the Isabelline Wheatear, which is another lifer for me. It came within a couple of meters and just as it did both batteries in the camera died. Still I got some canny shots.

A flight shot which shows how light the under wing is.

Not sharp but again it shows how light the under wing is.

This seemed to be its favourite perch.

Strange pose.

 

Burdon Moor & Tanfield

A couple of hours spent at Burdon Moor this afternoon. It was quiet except for a couple of Kestrel. One was feeding, sitting on a fence post ripping something apart but it was too far away to get anything but a record shot. It took off and landed in a tree but it was soon off hunting again.

These Mallard ducks looked quite nice in the late afternoon sun, it helps that they are flying against a grey cloud. On the way back to the car I spotted these three Roe Deer, the sun had gone down and they were some distance off but I thought a picture was worth a try.

As I got home, I noticed something sitting in a tree in our neighbour’s garden. As I got out of the car I realised it was a Sparrowhawk (I wondered what had being keeping the small birds from our garden). It flew off so I followed it. It had landed on a hedge where a number of Sparrows had been, it didn’t catch any so flew onto a roof opposite to try and spot anything else worth catching.

Kestrel

Mallard

Roe Deer

Sparrowhawk

Clara Vale

Here are a few more images taken yesterday at Clara Vale.

Yellowhammer. My first of the Autumn

Yellowhammer (male)

Willow Tit

Nuthatch

Tree Sparrow

Kingfisher

Wren

Bullfinch (male)

Bulfinch (female)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (male)

Blackbird (female)

She’s off

Dunnock

Pheasant

Magpie

Jay (I wouldn’t normally take shots like this of a bird on a bird table but hey it was there)

Moorhen (getting frisky ?)

Vole