Reduced Weekend

Overtime on Friday night resulted in my weekend starting at 06:00 on Saturday morning. The drive home in the dark was lightened somewhat by a barn owl near the Seaton Burn roundabout - perched on top of a road sign.

After some catch-up sleep and bad bass playing I headed to West Hartford at dusk - owl activity was not as good as late, and it took till almost dark for a single barn owl to be picked up on the far fence line.

Sunday was a lethargic day - a mixed-up body clock got me out of bed for 04:45... so all the ironing was done by 07:00. After a bit of exercise in the morning (with approx 10 waxwings en-route)  I headed north to Alnwick to try and see the obliging great-white egret that had been frequenting the river below the castle.

There had already been negative news late morning, so it was with no real great surprise that the trip was unsuccessful - I should have been there earlier -  see the great account and pictures on Stewarts blog. A single grey heron was as close as it got, but the view of the castle was worth the trip, along with a good chat with Richard and John.

The journey home was just ahead of the blackening clouds, so with haste I took another quick look at the squacco heron in Morpeth. What a fantastic bird this is - and it is still drawing an admirer or two... even a couple of old stinking drunks stopped to have a look between pubs!

Took a few images, none of which really did the job ~ with an ISO rating of 800 I was shooting with an exposure of 1/40th... it was rather dark! I like the colours on the one below;

West Hartford was a convenient stop-off at dusk. A single barn owl perched on the fence line near the farm was picked up immediately, while the only other birds around were one kestrel and a carrion crow!

Darkness arrives earlier and earlier - it's a week f early shift ahead, so hopefully I'll squeeze a bit of birding inbetween home time & teatime...

***

On a literary note I've started reading the very excellent book by Chris Gooddie ~ "The Jewel Hunter": a quest to see all of the worlds pitta species in a single year (and I was pleased with three in a morning last year!). Three chapters in and I'm hooked!

Mrs G

Female gurney's pitta, Khoa Nor Chu Chi.

Whats black and yellow and has a broad bill?

Depression has set in - holidays are over and work recommences this afternoon. Boo.

To keep my spirits up a little I've started the trawl through the holiday images - not too many great shots (most species on the trip were tricky to photograph) but a lot of reasonable record images were obtained.

First up on the blog is a (in my opinion) stunning species - black-and-yellow broadbill, a great advert for Asian birding, unlike any species I've seen before. How crazy is this bird - looks almost like a cartoon character!

This male bird was photographed in the afternoon session with Yotin Meekaeo at Khoa Nor Chu Chi, one of two broadbill species seen (more on the other in a later post).

The use of fill flash was an incredible asset to the trip and will certainly be a route that I'll take for future photography. Sincere thanks go to Colin Bradshaw for the loan of his 580 speedlite unit.

The bird was picked up on call and was one of three birds seen in the vicinity. Other birds seen from this particular location included black-naped monarch, black-bellied malhoka, ochraceous and red-eyed bulbul.

I've also changed the header image for the blog - could not resist the temptation to use one of the gurney's pitta images.... more will follow for sure, including more of the male and some of the female.

Pitta Patter...

It's been a hot few days in Thailand and the birding has been just as good as the weather. I'll not beat around the bush, and I'll head straight to events of yesterday - a day out with local guide Yotin.

With an early morning pick-up I was at Khoa Nor Chu Chi by 06.30. First port of call was a site good for long-tailed nightjar - and within seconds of arriving I was admiring my second nightjar species of the trip (the first being great-eared nightjar, a huge species that has been hunting over our hotel each evening). I've not really had the opportunity to see a nightjar roosting before - and this bird did not disappoint - once you could see it - their plumage is incredibly camouflaged!

A short while late I was in a hide, with a female gurney's pitta on show immediately. Very soon it was joined by a male. OMG what a species - blue on the tail is very like the blue on a common kingfishers' back - and even in the dark gloom of the forest this was a highlight of my birding - full stop. Many photographs have been taken ( at ISO3200!!!! - it was dark) - images, no matter how grainy will appear upon my return.

If that was not good enough, two blue-winged pitta and a banded pitta (the prettiest pitta?) were observed prior to 10am, and by 11am I had been shown a red-crowned barbet visiting it's nest. This was some day!

After lunch our journey continued, exploring primary forested areas - the birds did not stop - green broad bill, yellow and black broadbill were personal highlights and the supporting cast included nine species of bulbul, eight species of babbler (including a favorite, black capped babbler), black-naped monarch, red-throated barbet, 4 tiny black-thighed falconet and, on the way out back to the hotel, calling spotted wood owl.

Needless to say the birding was the main priority of the trip and record shots are the best that will be on offer. The use of flash has been invaluable, especially in the forested areas. Details of how to contact Yotin will also appear on this blog when I return - he comes highly recommended.

The hotel itself has also been rewarding, indeed today I picked up coppersmith barbet, orange-bellied flowerpecker and a richard's pipit in the grounds.