A Shag in the harbour

Other than the Brunnich's Guillemot I didn't take that many photos, although I did see Black Guillemot, Black-throated Diver, Razorbill and Red-breasted Merganser the only other shots I took were of a Shag in the harbour which gave some brief but close views and only then I only rattled off about eight frames. Not pin sharp but still nice to capture this immature Shag, a bird that I don't often get to see much here in Essex.

 

Brunnich's Guillemot

Well, I couldn't go on Boxing Day when the news broke or the Friday but luckly for Vince, Dick, Dean and myself the Brunnich's Guillmot didn't do a Friday night bunk. We got to Portland Habour for 9am with over 300 other birders and the bird put on a good show of all to see but never really came close as you can see in the shots. It was always diving and moving 30 metres along the habour each time it dived. A rare bird to twitch, which is why its been so popular for the last few days. A great find for someone!

 

And yes it was nearly knock out by these young ladys!

Ivory Gull

I've always wanted to see a Ivory Gull and yesterday at Patrington Haven in Yorkshire I got to see this high Arctic gem for myself along with Martin Blow, Jono and Nick. An early start and nearly four hours in the car to get there and a long hour wait after we arrived the Ivory Gull put on a real show . The atmosphere was completely different from other twitches that I've been on, everyone went really quiet as the bird came closer and closer after first being spotted about a mile away, when it flew past Sammy's point and even when it flew in with its stiff wing flight action to feed on the fish on the floor. Everyone was  still quiet and all you could hear was people's shutters on their cameras. I do love that noise! With its peppered black spots and short black legs and long bill it looks much smarter than in any book that I've seen. It was a long day BUT well worth it..................

 

Ringo!

These two Ringed Plover saved the day yesterday at Southend on Sea as it was more than quite down there for this time of year, even the Med Gull numbers were down to only eleven at the end of the pier. The light was a bit harsh in the afternoon but as it was high tide, it was the only way to have a chance to get near to the waders. Ringed Plover might be a common bird in coastal area's but it has been unrecorded in the Ingrebourne Valley so far this year and that's a real shame!

1st Winter Kit

Most of the Kittiwake's we watched on Saturday down at Dungeness just bombed up and down the tideline but this 1st winter Kit took a bit of an interest to the three us and came reasonably close at times, shame about the light. What was a bit odd was the very soft call it gave as it came close, not heard that before. Smart little birds and I do prefer a 1st Winter to an Adult.

 

1st Winter Caspian Gull at Dungeness

There was only one place that I was going birding this weekend and that was Dungeness in Kent for my third attempt at the 1st Winter Caspian Gull. I met up with Mick Southcott and Richard Smith and  headed down to the fishing boats for some gull action. Plenty of gulls around but it was only the last half hour of light that this classic looking Caspo turned up in  fading light, so it was a slow shutter speed for all the shots but what a cracking bird and now my gull season has trully started!

Thanks lads for a great afternoon out

Ringing on a tip

 Saturday morning I was back down at Rainham Marshes but this time it was on the tip with the North Thames Gull Group for my first Autumn ringing session. Once the nets were set we just had to wait for the dust carts to arrive with some food waste, which seems to be a problem at the moment as most gets recycled and doesn't get dumped on the landfill sites much as it did in the past. Could this be a problem for our local gull population in the future?. So, while we wait I get the camera out and pick up a Adult Med Gull then loss in the mayhem of the feeding gulls! Also 3 Yellow leg Gulls were counted before the canon net was fired. A good number of gulls were caught and best of all, we got to ring and age/sex some of the Starling!

Great Black-backed Gull

Second winter Herring Gull

Adult Common Gull

A Great Black-backed Gull showing it's secondaries and greater primary coverts