AA Birdpix, Birds, Travel and More

 Yesterday I ventured out for the first time since returning from Sri Lanka, as I'm contemplating the processing of a huge number of photos, and there's normal life in there somewhere!  I went to photograph the Lesser Yellowlegs at Frampton. Although I saw the bird in October, constant messages indicating the bird was in the car park opposite the visitor centre warranted investigation, and I had seen the species at Frampton before but not managed a decent photo. My plan was to arrive at first light and return home for breakfast. There was one other birder in the car park and we set out to look for the bird. The light wasn't quite good enough yet to see the leg colour well, and as there were a number of Redshanks around it made for an interesting search. However as it was one of the closest birds it didn't take long, and I called the other chap back as he had wandered in the wrong direction. This is one of the reasons I find Frampton the best reserve in the country, ther

Eight Owls a Week   Just got back from Sri Lanka where I was too busy birding to write anything. I went on an organised tour with Rockjumper and found my old friend Stu Elsom was one of the leaders. From a young, ultra-keen twitcher he has become head of his own Independent Ecological Consultancy, and is a very busy man. Thankfully most businesses are now saying "what do we need to do?" rather than "how can we get round the environmental regulations" which is a step forward, and I can only applaud people like Stu for the work he is doing. As if running his business weren't enough, Stu still twitches, and has led tours for many years, first for Sunbird and now Rockjumper, quite honestly the Sri Lanka tour was the best I have been on, although most of my travels have been expedition cruises or self-organised. The main reason was a team of local guides, led by Ashoka Jayarathne, who were looking for certain species in advance of our going to the sites. One morning