AA Birdpix, Birds, Travel and More

I went to Kessingland recently by a "twitchers route" via Cley. This resulted in several year ticks, including  White-fronted Goose and Red Kite, which  although  now common in North Norfolk are still rare in Lincolnshire a nd Suffolk. I also  "year ticked" several friends. The hoped-for photo of the goose wasn't to be, but  I reflected that I'd seen quite a few over the past few years. Pre-Covid,  they had become scarce in the UK, and my previous sightings had been in Norfolk  back in the 1990's. Over the past few years I have seen birds at Budle Bay (no I didn't  twitch it, I was recovering my car from Shetland), Cley twice, South Lincolnshire and...... a flock of seven at Frampton two or three years ago! There have also been records in Essex and Martin Mere in Lancashire, but I am starting  to wonder about origins of these birds. It will never be determined one way or the other,  so don't worry, your ticks are safe, and to be fair the...

Addicted? Last year I gave up twitching. I've been trying to give it up for several years, for various reasons, but it obviously became easier when Covid was upon us, and last year I was quite happy to not see any American warblers, nor seabirds, since I've seen lots in my foreign travels. I had to go for Grey-headed Lapwing, as I wanted a photo, and really enjoyed the White's Thrush on Shetland because although it wasn't a tick I'd not had really good views previously. Anyway that wasn't a twitch 'cos I was on Shetland. Except I didn't need to go twice.  At the end of the year I was quite happy, no more twitching, year listing only out of interest and not making a conscious effort. As Ann is happy for me to continue travelling I have a trip to Ghana in the planning stages. I had devised a plan to give me a focus of where to travel a few years ago, my "Dirty Dozen". This is a list of species on Category A which I haven't seen anywhere in th...

The Best Reserve in England?  You have probably heard a lot about Frampton, but it really is the best reserve, certainly for waders, in the country. Problem is, the more visitors a reserve gets, the more disturbance and noise there is, and the less birds feel it is a safe haven, especially on migration. Thankfully, due to enlightened wardens, the reserves development has been largely for the benefit of birds rather than visitors. A new visitor centre has recently been built, but it is small with a small cafe and a few outside tables/chairs, and inside are knowledgeable volunteers and an up-to-date sightings board. No concrete hides, no full car parks (although an overflow park has had to be created recently), and plenty of space. It is the size of the reserve that makes it so good, along with obviously its location on The Wash. I have been visiting the area since before the RSPB bought it, and overall it has remained largely unchanged in terms of where you can go. Not all the area ...

 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 ...

I had intended something different for my second post, but when "announcing" my blogging prescence on Facebook I added a photo of a Slender-billed Curlew, which attracted a few comments, so, with apologies to the "haven't seens" of this world, I'll continue. I've been looking on the web and it seems that there are very few photos of Slender-billed Curlew, and only one video of Merja Zerga birds. This is understandable as most birders back in the 80's and early 90's didn't have cameras, and those that did, like myself, could rarely get close enough for good shots. I know there are others, I digitised one for Vaughan Ashby, but most will be distant record shots blown up. When using film (remember that?) this results in much loss of quality, in fact I didn't put mine on my website for years because I didn't consider it good enough, I still don't but because of the paucity of shots I've reversed that  decision.                    ...

 I was 70 when I bought my first smartphone, at 73 this is my first blog. Many out there will know us, Ann and I used to sell rarity photos back in the 1990s. We have a great lifestyle travelling the world to view and photograph birds and other wildlife, although unfortunately Ann now suffers from arthritic knees which has curtailed activities somewhat. I don't get out in the field so much now either, but have recently returned from Shetland.  People were getting excited about a Veery and a White-crowned Sparrow, but I was over the moon to get my first photo of a White's Thrush. None of the birds were ticks, the ticks turned up just before (Blackburnian Warbler) and just after (Yellow Warbler) my trip. It didn't matter in the slightest, the main thing to me was the experience on Shetland. I obviously passed on my enthusiasm, Ann's coming next year. Apart from it being a mini-version of birding in the 1990's I have friends who live there, in a later blog I'll tel...