Wrens

plenty of Wrens in th elocal reedbeds at present but no Cetti's Warbler to date

swans and FF

also at Worlaby today were 15 Whoopers and a good arrival of Fieldfares--three Short-eared Owls did not get active until 16:00 after sunset

Harry

this Marsh Harrier at Worlaby is proving a bit tricky to age---the uniform looking underparts, deep dark brown, the dark uppertail and paler (newly moulted rump?) and th epale tipped greater primary coverts suggest that it is a juvenile but it appeares to have some features of a female, pale patches on median and lesser upperwing coverts and pale creamy collar on the upper breast which are not normally aquired until first-winter but it is of course already late November so it could well be a juvenile/first-winter

loverly trush

thanks to Roy Harvey for a trip to see the Grey -cheeked Thrush in Herts--the Catharus thrushes are some of my favourite birds so it was great to see one in an English woodland which not surprisingly where the habitat looked very much like the last location in which I saw a Grey-cheeked at Rondeaux in Ontario in May 2001--the bird was at its closest when we first arrived and had not set up the camera but these record shots form a nice reminder of this delightful little bird

owls

in spite of the light the Short-eared Owls at Worlaby proved to be late risers and then they failed to perform anywhere near the camera--here is a nic epale bird over set-aside and two having a skirmish in the evening sky nice sight was Buzzard mobbed by Marsh Harrier mobbed by Short-eared Owl---also a total of at least 16 Stonechats and a Lapland Bunting at Worlaby this afternoon

wild swans

a flock of 26 Whooper Swans found today in the Ancholme valley were typically in oilseed rape fields---there were 20 adults and 6 juveniles the latter seemed to comprise two family parties --also a shot of a very small part of the local Woodpig flock

ageing phalarope

this shot of the original Covenham Grey Phalarope shows the retained juvenile central uppertail coverts and central retrices

waves and one small seabird

with winds blowing up a good wall of waves on the eastern edge of Covenham this Grey Phalarope was having a rough ride

new phal

a couple more shots of the new juv-first-winter Grey Phalarope at Covenham

Phalantharope overload

the appearance of a second juvenile/first winter Grey Phalarope at Covenham Res prompted another visit again in rather strong winds----this is the new bird with more juvenile plumage than the original bird--a very tame individual feeding on the sheltered side of the res as opposed to the other bird riding out the huge waves in the north-east corner

yellowlegs again

more attempts at the moulting Lesser Yellowlegs--the obvious nature of the white rump appears to indicate that it has dropped its lowest tertials?

nice light but wrong side of the legs as usual

such a beautiful sunny day but the hide overlooking the Lesser Yellowlegs looks straight into the sun from dawn to dusk!---what a shame with such a fine bird in range!
a typical view from the hide today!

hare tailing

a rapidly departing hare taken against the light--I like the way the water droplets from the grass are shown flying off the back feet

gulls not laughing much

in the absence of rarer gulls make the most of the fine sunlight on some local commoner cousins---Black-heads and a first-winter Common Satutday Trusthorpe

Saturday posts

as well as the waders below there was agood movement of Whooper Swans at Huttoft in the morning with 67 birds going south--these 7 dropped into the pit for a while late morning