Avocets and Spoonbills

Ran a tough 22 mile training run last Saturday (3rd), had stomach cramp and a pulled muscle in my thigh, but managed to complete the distance, albeit slowly. But I'm sure these are the miles that will count come the big day in London next month. Zipped down to Inner Marsh Farm on the same day to see the newly arrived Avocets. It's amazing how these birds have spread across the country during the last few years; very elegant but also very feisty birds that belie their graceful and delicate appearance.
Had a morning at Parkgate today (9th), but the high tide didn't come as close to the wall as hoped. But saw some impressive birds including 2 Hen Harriers, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Short-eared Owls and, bird of the day, a magnificent Peregrine that harassed one of the harriers.
Also had quite good views of the immature Spoonbill on the Boathouse Flash. This is another species that will hopefully become more common after recent years' successful breeding in Norfolk.

Avocet at Cley Norfolk, March 2008.

Immature Spoonbill, Parkgate, February 2012 (record shot).

Spoonbill flock, near Cley Norfolk, August 2010.

Tortoises and Turtles

In recent years I have been lucky enough to visit the beautiful Greek island of Lesvos a number of times. Along with the stunning birdlife there is a wealth of other wildlife to enjoy including a good variety of reptile species. Spur-thighed Tortoises are native to the region and I have seen them quite regularly, normally ambling over busy roads quite oblivious to the dangers. I have helped one or two reach the safety of nearby vegetation and on one memorable occasion I rescued a tortoise that had fallen down a small well at Aghios Ioannis a few miles south of Kalloni.
I had been birdwatching in the area when I noticed the poor animal at the bottom of the sheer-sided pit. It had obviously fallen in and was unable to climb out again. It was impossible to say how long it had been trapped there, but there was a trickle of water seeping into the well, which along with some moss growing on the base of the pit  had probably sustained it for some time. I quickly called my son Adam to join me as he had never seen a wild tortoise and he proceeded to film me as I executed the rescue.

This Spur-thighed Tortoise was photographed in southern

Turkey in 2009.

When I visited Olu Deniz in Turkey in 2009 I was amazed to

see the  head of a distant turtle in the famous Blue Lagoon. I

didn't expect to get such close-up views of  fabulous

Loggerhead Turtles in the marina at nearby Fethiye.

Treecreeper

Before I started work this morning I had a quick walk through Arrowe Park. There was a mini dawn chorus taking place with singing Song Thrushes, Dunnocks and Robins and the distant drumming of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. But the real highlight was the sighting of a Treecreeper slowly working its way up a small tree. This fab little bird has suffered in the recent cold winters and has become more difficult to find. It is a good few years since I have seen one in the park, let's hope it's the first of many sightings.

Treecreeper photographed at Loggerheads

 Country Park in 2007

Burton and Blackpool

After an easy 12 mile run yesterday, I went down to Parkgate where the immature Spoonbill was showing quite well but a bit distant for decent photographs. So I headed to Burton Mere Wetlands where the White-fronted geese where hiding behind some distant vegetation and there was no sign of any Bewick's Swans. So I set my camera up near the feeding station and took some shots of woodland birds. Also saw my first Spotted Redshank for the year.
Drove to Blackpool today to take part in the Great North West half marathon. Wasn't too sure I'd be able to run after aggravating a muscle pull at circuit training last Monday. But I shouldn't have worried as I managed to complete the course in 1 hour 21 minutes. That's my second personal best in two weeks. Rewarded myself with a few beers while watching the football this evening.

The lichen on the branch nicely highlights the yellow of this

Blue Tit.

There was lots of activity among the

Chaffinches. This male is not quite in

breeding plumage yet, but they are already

starting to sing.

I don't normally photograph birds on

feeders but I couldn't resist a shot of this

Long-tailed Tit.

One of our commonest breeding birds, the Wren behaves more

like a small mammal than a bird.

Training Update 2

Planned to run 20 miles on Saturday (yesterday) morning, but the day dawned cold and rainy. On the first 10 mile loop which took in the seafront, I saw some nice flocks of Curlew in the fields and a flock of Turnstone on the sea defences. There were also numerous Oystercatchers flying around looking for a safe roost over the high tide. A torrential downpour swept in off the sea and soaked me to the skin, so I used my half-way drink stop at home to change into completely dry running gear. It wasn't easy re-starting my run after a 5 minute break, but I was glad of the warm clothes. Managed a total of 20.2 miles at an average pace of 7.09 minutes per mile. Ran the Wrexham half-marathon today with my running partner as a slow recovery run. A total of 54 miles for the week, London is exactly 9 weeks away now.

This Turnstone is moulting out of its summer-plumage. An

out of season shot, but one of my favourites. Taken September

2005.

Iceland 2

As promised, a few more photos from my Iceland trip a few years ago.

 This is the geyser called Strokkur at Geysir. Obviously the word "geyser" derives from the Icelandic word "geysir" meaning gusher. The geyser Geysir itself is not as reliable as Strokkur which spouts 30 meters into the air every few minutes.

This Greylag Goose was on a lake in the centre of Reykjavik.

 It's a common feral breeder in the UK, the Icelandic
 population being migratory has better provenance.

These Northern Fulmars were seen from a whale-watching

boat out of Olafsvik in the west of Iceland.

The fishing port of Olafsvik was a great place to observe

Glaucous Gulls.

This beautiful European Golden Plover was photographed on

moorland near Snaefellsjokull, the active volcano made famous

in Jules Vernes' Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

 This female Goldeneye was on Lake Myvatn

in the north. This lake holds both Common and

Barrow's Goldeneye. The dark bill colour leads me

to believe that this is a Common. Beautiful, nevertheless.

I found this grey-phase Gyr Falcon perched by a road near Lake

Myvatn. It stayed put while I took some shots from my car, only

to be scared off by some guy with a video who jumped out of his

car.

My visit to Iceland was timed to coincide with the best time

for cetacean watching, i.e, the summer. Consequently, birds

such as this Harlequin Duck were already moulting, but that

at least provides me with an excuse to return to this fantastic

country to see birds such as this in their stunning breeding

plumage.

PB and Martin Mere

After a week when my marathon training didn't go to plan due to an upset stomach, I managed to set a personal best today. I ran the "Mad Dog" Southport 10k in a time of 37minutes and 37 seconds which is almost a minute faster than my previous best so I must be doing something right in my training. My time was no doubt helped by a course that was flatter than the proverbial pancake and the absence of any wind.
I decided to visit Martin Mere in Lancashire after the race as it was not too far to drive, mainly to pick up some birdseed for my garden birds but also for lunch and a quick birdwatch. It was a very dull and overcast day, not the best conditions for photography but it's always worth a try.
Saw my first treecreeper of the year.

Male Ruff, nice reflection on a dull day.

Male Ruff giving a theat display to another male.

This male Pheasant brightened up the

grey day.

Photographed these these fungi on a dead oak tree using my

zoom lens as I didnt have my macro with me. I'm not skilled

at fungi identification so will update the caption once I have

identified the species!

Training Update

I've often heard it said, mainly when people reach a certain birthday, that "it's all downhill now" as if  that's a bad thing. From a runner's perspective downhill if a fabulous prospect, relax those tired muscles and let gravity do most of the work. My run today was a hilly affair with plenty of uphill as well as downhill. A very cold run, the rain, when it started, immediately froze on the pavements making it very slippy in places. I was surprised when I got home to find that some of the rain had even frozen on my jacket! So I was pleased to complete 18 miles at 7.06 min/mile pace. I even got a year tick in the form of a Grey Wagtail outside Arrowe Park Hospital; somewhat unexpected on an urban run.

Last night I took my son and his girlfriend climbing at Awesome Walls in Liverpool. It's a while since we've been there but we all had a great time and were thoroughly shattered afterwards.
Photos by Lauren.

Martin Mere

Yesterday my friend and I spent the best part of a very cold day at Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre in Lancashire. It's a fabulous place for getting close views of a variety of ducks, geese and swans. The tricky part from a photographer's point of view is isolating birds amongst the melee outside the hides. I concentrated on close-ups and profiles of the beautiful Whooper Swans.
Other highlights of the day included at least 4 Marsh Harriers, 2 Sparrowhawks, a very distant Barn Owl and fabulous but brief views of a Tawny Owl.

Drake Pintail photographed at Martin Mere last Winter

Whoopers in the snow last winter

Male Brambling from the Janet Kear hide last winter

 The Barn Owl we saw yesterday was about a kilometer away,

this was a much more obliging bird in Norfolk a few years ago.

Sunday Update

Had a photo of the Glossy Ibis (click to view)  that was at Leighton Moss RSPB in December published in the UK Bird Sightings section of Birdwatching Magazine.
Marathon training update - ran 17 miles at 7.03 min/mile pace yesterday. It was very cold but the the sun was shining, and more importantly, no wind!

Iceland - Whales

A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit the amazing island of Iceland, mainly to try and see cetaceans, but the birds and geology were truly stunning as well. This post contains a few pics of some of the whales, I'll try and do another soon on the geology and birds.
I stayed near Lake Myvatn for part of the trip which was not far from Husavik, one of the best places in Iceland, if not the world, from which to watch whales and dolphins. I went on two trips with the company North Sailing. The first trip produced sightings of Minke Whales and Northern Bottlenosed Whales, but the second surpassed expectations with not one, but three fabulous Humpback Whales.
The first six photos are all Humpback Whales, note the white flippers visible in some of the photos.The pattern of the tail flukes (fifth Humpback photo) are unique and are used by researchers in photo identification of individual animals.
The last two photos are of Minke Whales, note the falcate dorsal fin of this, the smallest of the rorqual whales.

Wind and Waders

Another blustery day. Left the house at 9am on a training run. Made very slow progress down the main roads to Meols, but speeded up a lot once the wind was behind me on the prom. Lots of gulls flying into the teeth of the gale and good numbers of waders including large flocks of Oystercatchers in flight and on the beach at  Leasowe. A nice flock of Ringed Plover was on the sea defences at Moreton, but the highlight for me were my first Sanderlings of the year on the beach at Wallasey.
Managed 17 miles at 7.15 min/mile pace, despite being hit by a few a few large waves!

Sanderling at Wallasey (2008)

Didn't see any Purple Sandpipers today, they were probably

all on the pontoon on New Brighton marine lake. This is a

photo from by the Coastguard station in Wallasey (2006).

Bay of Biscay

Over the past few years I have had the pleasure of whale-watching from ferries travelling across the Bay of Biscay. This region has an abundance of marine wildlife and there is a real sense of anticipation as you scan the open sea from the deck not knowing what might appear close to the ship; from the mighty Blue Whale down to the tiny Storm Petrel.The wildlife here is not easy to photograph though. Firstly, because views of animals such as whales and dolphins can be fleeting to say the least. And secondly, the deck of ships such as the Pride of Bilbao are about 100ft above the sea. Nevertheless, here are a few shots from recent voyages.

Fin Whale, second largest animal on the planet.

Common Dolphins occasionally appear in pods numbering in
the  hundreds.

A beautiful Common Dolphin riding the bow wave of the Pride
of Bilbao.

A Cuvier's Beaked Whale logging just below the surface. Note
the scarring on the body. The males of this species are thought
to use their tusks when fighting.

Common Dolphin.

Fin Whale showing the remnants of its "blow". Also note this
species has an asymmetrically coloured jaw, the lower left
being dark and the right is white.