Yarrellii

This handsome pied wagtail was patrolling the lakeside at Killingworth this afternoon.

Very dapper.

Bald as a

Coot.

This confiding bird help alleviate some of the boredom between little gull appearances at Killingworth.

I guess it'll be happy with it's catch!

Coot can be quite tricky to photograph - black and white tones are sometimes hard to balance and detail can be lost. This image was taken in good light, and some fill in flash was used to help bring out colour in the eye and feather detail.

Gull in the sun...

Saturday was a cold grey day in the north-east of England, and birding was rather un-rewarding in the south-east of the county, indeed the highlight of the venture to Killingworth Lake and St Mary's with Mark was, unpredictably, chips and curry sauce.

Sunday fared better - the sun was out. Joy.

After a wake up session at the gym I headed back to Killingworth Lake for another hour or two with the little gull.

As with previous visits this bird was flighty and erratic - disappearing for periods of time then whizzing past on the foray for insects over the pond surface.

The sunlight really helped enhance the plumage of the gull - the underparts are a delightful pinkish wash.

Photographs today were taken using a 100-400mm IS lens - it prove to be ideal in the bright sunshine, and nice and light to hand hold.

Round Two

Another grey day, another trip to Killingworth Lake. Still not getting the ideal little gull image, here's the best of a bad bunch. Plenty mute swan though!

Time to Kill(ingworth)

The past couple of mornings have seen me head down to Killingworth Lake for a bit of camera practice with the 400mm f4 DO and the 580 flash. Wednesday saw thick mist and three common tern at the lake, while this morning, although grey skies predominated, was a bit better but tern-less. In their absence was the occasional visit from a splendid little gull which managed to come into photographable range only once - here's a sample image, I think there will be better but have not had time to sort through the folder yet...

Sand martins were also present and prove to be very difficult to capture in the optimum pose.

Starling (in a flash!)

With a trip to Thailand immanent and a realisation that photography may be difficult in dark heavily forested areas I sought advice and help from several other north-east birders/photographers this weekend about the use of flash for bird photography.

I've never used a flash before but am well aware that many of the stunning shots that are featured on sites such as Artie Morris's "birds as art" or Glen Bartleys' website use flash. Indeed, I've witnessed such photography in Central Park during spring migration. Yet it never seems to be be used in the UK. Is it "taboo"?

Colin Bradshaw came to my rescue with an offer to lend a Canon 580 EX flashgun (an a few other bits and bobs, including a "better beamer" flash extender for use with lens over 300mm) - so it's been a couple of days garden birding for me - practicing set up and use of the flash. I've got to say it's not straight forward (for me at least), but with a bit of determination the results are starting to appear. The image of the starling was taken this morning in flat grey light - isn't he pretty? The flash certainly helped bring out the colours - and the bird was not bothered in the slightest.

Technical details for photograph: Canon 1DIII camera body, Canon 500mm IS F4 lens, Canon 580EX Flash Gun (mounted direst to camera body), Better Beamer flash extender. ISO250, Flash compensation -1 stop, exposure compensation -1/3 stop, exposure 1/800 sec.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a "time and place" for the use of a flash... but it's certainly opened my eyes to the enhancement that can be made to an image.

Birding C.D.EC

Cresswell Pond continued (for me anyhow) to be yellow wagtail-less this morning, the six (inc one "blue-headed") had managed to disappear prior to my arrival.

A single white wagtail was compensatory. The pond held one whooper swan.

Druridge fared better with little egret feeding actively, little ringed plover, garganey (two), willow warbler and three swallow through.

While I was at Druridge news broke of a red kite over my home town,with STH having it over his house and Crammy Birder scoring at Arcot. A species likely to increase in regularity, so I'll keep cool over this record.

East Chevington was fairly quiet, although the wandering feral bar-headed goose did drop in with two grey-lags to brighten up what was relatively a dull and cool April morning.

Striking bird even if plastic!

PM birding

Tuesday 7th April saw me heading up the coast late afternoon. First stop was at Lynemouth where Tim Cleeves and ST were already watching the very smart water pipit, feeding on the western shore of the flash. It's been a good run of late for water pipit in Northumberland, an it's nice to see some in their summer finery. The northern shores of Cresswell Pond were yellow wagtail-less, nor were there any northern wheatear.

From the Budge screen at Druridge Pool the drake garganey was on show, although the duck was not to be seen. A single black-tailed godwit was feeding in the shallows among redshank and lapwing. I didn't have time the venture to the main pool or hides, which probably is the reason why the little egret was not seen, nor Brians' little ringed plover - hopefully I'll catch up with another soon.

Later in the evening I spent an hour at West Hartford; Two SEO were on show along with one common buzzard. The SEO and CB had a bit of interaction, with the CB coming out on top - both owls drifted east, returning only as dusk turned to dark. No sign of the barn owl, I may have left to early, but there was a steady stream of LBBGs/HGs dropping into the pool for refreshment prior to roost.

Afternoon in the Bay

Another bright and sunny day saw me head up to Druridge Bay for the afternoon.

All sites were generally quiet, but a little egret on the budge fields at Druridge was nice. Still a relatively uncommon species in Northumberland, surely will end up as a breeding bird soon.

East Chevington held a single black-tailed godwit and drake pintail, while at Hauxley the wandering bar-headed goose was still present. I even managed to have a classic "in binocular view at the same time moment" - bar-headed goose and a black rabbit.

Much better than my mate Mark, who had to once make do with issy wheatear, red-throated pipit and gannet in the same view on Scilly. Quality wildlife viewing in Northumberland eh?

The redshank photograph was taken at Hauxley from the wader hide. A couple of snipe almost came into camera range, but promptly turned around when one of the hide shutters fell off its latch, making an almighty crash!

The only summer migrant today were chiffchaff - two - three at Hauxley. Thought I might bump into a wheatear or two, but alas, no.

House birding

No specific birding today, but an early house martin over Horton Drive in Cramlington was a nice bonus. Blackbirds continue to collect nest material from the garden and our woodpigeons seem intent of removing every last peice of bird food put out on the bird table. Might get out on Sunday...

WH Dusk

Dusk visit to West Hartford provided brief glimpse of one SEO, harrassed by lesser black-backed gulls. Two pair of shelduck this evening, the seemingly resident pair chasing the other away before they could land on the pool.

New blog link added to "other voices" section - Farne Islands - bound to be gripping reading during the migration periods!

30 minutes

Half an hour at West Hartford produced the following species this evening:

1 SEO hunting fields to south, east and west of the pool,
2 shelduck - I expect that these will breed in the area again this year,
5 sand martin (flying south - do they know something we don't?),
pheasant,
lbbg/bhg/hg/cg,
coal tit,
blue tit,
16+ teal,
grey heron,
magpie,
jackdaw,
carrion crow,
magpie,
reed bunting,
chaffinch,
kestrel,
sparrowhawk,
2 snipe (put up by the owl).

With a heavy sea fret moving in from the east, it was actually quite cold this evening!

Avocet Anniversary

It's five years to the day that I found an avocet at West Hartford on 1st April 2004 - a great "inland" county record and probably my favourite bird on my WH list.

I found this bird on what was scheduled to be a quick visit after work, in fact I almost talked myself out of a visit, as a cup of coffee was high on my list of after work requirements - just shows how anything can turn up at anytime, and how a well watched patch can reap rewards after many hours survey.

The avocet was frequently harassed by the gulls on the pool. A pre-work check of the pool the next morning was avocet-less. I'd like to say that the photograph was taken at WH, but it wasn't...

WH has provided many hours of fruitless observation. There have also been some goodies - green-winged teal, marsh harrier, "inland" knot, "inland" bar-tailed godwit, med gull spring to mind, with species that are taken for granted at other pools - eg little grebe (once), tufted duck (scarce), goosander and cormorant (one "on pool" record each). In fact passage waders such as LRP, green sand, wood sand and black-tailed godwit are more regular!