Birds from Hull and Hornsea

Although not a birdwatching trip, we did see a lot of birds during our visit to Hull area. The Hull and Humber banks had large numbers of waders and gulls at low tide and these cute Sanderling along with dozens of Turnstone were everywhere at Bridlington and Hornsea and were comparatively tame.

Birds on Brownsea Island

We visited Brownsea Island yesterday on a bright sunny day but with a very strong northerly wind. Red Squirrels were sheltering and were not seen but the hides over the lagoon produced some sightings including Greyshank and Redshank, Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit. The Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls (black heads and no black on primaries) were beginning to pair up. Most exciting view was of a Peregrine repeatedly flying at the flocks of waders.

Birds Return As the Tide Recedes

We left it a bit too long after the hide tide to take a walk along The Walls at Manningtree so most of the birds were a fair distance away except for this Black-tailed Godwit collecting small animals on the shingle close to us. The camouflage is so good it was hard to see without going in close with the lens. The Turnstones and Jackdaws were much more confiding and Black-headed Gulls, Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and Redshank also showed.

Wicken Fen - Birds in Autumn Settings

We very much enjoyed our 5 mile walk round Wicken Fen yesterday and saw a good selection of birds - some are shown here. They have cleared the front of the hides so good views of Redshank, Pied Wagtails, Teal, Gadwall and Pintail (bit distant). Favourite image probably the Female Read Bunting (on a reed!) but also pleased with Kestrel taking off. Following a very informative talk by Danny Green illustrated by excellent images which all showed a great sense of pictorialism, I have been a bit more adventurous with my cropping - refreshing after all the years of talks to have a presentation that made me want to revisit my approach to nature photography.

Redshank

Some images of Redshank taken in very contrasty light. They were busy displaying and mating with a great deal of noise.

Other Images from Pensthorpe

Great to see a hare fairly close from the woodland hide. The holly in the background is a bit distracting but he didn't want to pose anywhere else. The Lapwing and Redshank were having a constant fight for territory.