male Marsh Harrier December 28th

https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/an-unexpected-marsh-harrier-morning 

Lots more images linked above 

drake Smew and some more Waxwing images

 A new Blog post on my website re the December 26th success on two local Waxwings and a drake Smew and Great Northern Diver and Shag at Covenham Reservoir linked below

https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/december-26th-2023-a-white-nun-and-two-waxwings

nacreous clouds over Barton December 21st

 An amazing sight this afternoon and a rare event as shown by the Met Office definition below: just a shame it was mostly cloudy here 

Nacreous clouds form in the lower stratosphere over polar regions when the Sun is just below the horizon. The ice particles that form nacreous clouds are much smaller than those that form more common clouds. These smaller particles scatter light in a different way, which is what creates the distinctive luminescent appearance.

Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the Earth’s surface, these clouds are lit up by sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn and after dusk. They are most likely to be viewed when the Sun is between 1º and 6º below the horizon and in places with higher latitudes, such as Scandinavia and northern Canada. For this reason, they are sometimes known as polar stratospheric clouds. Nacreous clouds only form below -78 °C so are most likely to occur during the polar winter.

Because of the very low temperatures required, nacreous clouds are usually only visible from the UK when the cold air which circulates around polar regions in the stratosphere (known as the stratospheric polar vortex) is displaced and hovers temporarily over the UK.

Waxwings at long last

Finally managed to see Waxwings this winter - click the link below to read the full story and see the galleries -- some of my best images of the winter added to the blog linked below and they are still about 

https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/waxwings-at-long-last 

Bearded Tits et al

 As Blogger has become more antiquated and harder to manage I am migrating most of my posts over to my website https://www.grahamcatley.com/ grahamcatley.com where I will be using the Blog and latest images sections to showcase new material. This is a link to a decent week for photography at Alkborough Flats.  https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/this-week-at-alkborough-flats