timing is everthing

I just missed a great shot here as there were 8 chickens riding on 3 different ponies as I passed by but by the time I had backed up there was just the one--much less impact!!!

Mallard bath time

drake and water!

another autumn loss

as it looks as if this autumn will never actually start yet another day passes with little to record---some patch waders

hummer

another hummer in the garden this pm

blackwits

up to 76 Black-tails on the patch this week but little else of note

spider

huge numbers of these spiders around Waters' Edge this month

greedy juv

this juv Common Tern just does not seem to want to go it alone when its parents bring in such nice big meals

more Little Gulls

my wife is getting suspicious of my frequent trips to Hornsea but its all in a good cause!

local waders

good numbers of small waders on the local patch of late with a couple of Curlew Sands, Little Stint and a few Knot plus 76 Black-tails today

Sand runners

a dismal bird day on the coast on Wednesday was enlivened slightly by the antics of the usual Sanderlings--note the juvy here running off with a cranefly taken from the tide edge

blog off

blogger seems to have failed me for 4 days --unable to upload anything

the trial of photography

thanks to Adrian Royale for these pics showing the frustration of the Buff-breast stalker!

BBS

managed to connect with the juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Donna Nook but photography was far from easy firstly due to Merlin and Hobby presence and very flighty waders then latterly the fact that a small wader could fit nicely behind the brown and similarly coloured salicornia

BBS

spent most of the day at Donna Nook firstly trying to find the juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper for 2 hours then trying to get anywhere near it another 4 hours---it was certainly not one of the tame birds that grace Scilly and other spots around the country but I was ultimately quite pleased to get some reasonable images of one of my favourite waders

up close scooters

a party of 28 Common Scoter on Covenham Reservoir offered superb views although they were asleep most of the time--13 males and 15 female/imm males---also there was an adult Med Gull and 4 Ruff with a Peregrine overhead

Saturday darter

a real surprise was finding this teneral Red-veined Darter on the local patch on Saturday 16th--although a pair were seen ovipositing in June the pool they used was later inundated by the tide but it looks as if an adjacent pool where they were not seen may also have been used--a very distinctive darter rather easy to ID from colour and the blue lower eyes of course

big white bird

the Great White at Humberston was being flushed on a regular basis by dog walkers this am hence the high number of flight shots----