Great Birds Great Company

The waxwing invasion got underway at Barrow this week, although I didn't intend going there I am so glad I did. Not only were the birds stunning, it was great to meet up with so many old friends.

FOR SALE

ANYONE OUT THERE INTERESTED IN MY CANON EQUIPMENT:-
CANON 1D MK111 EXCELLENT CONDITION
CANON 70-200 F2.8 IS LENS (MK1) SUPERB CONDITION LITTLE USED
CANON 20D WELL USED BUT WORKING PERFECTLY RECENT CLEANED
MIGHT CONSIDER MY CANON 500 F4 IS LENS

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Cheers in anticipation

10/10/10 Lucky for Some

10/10/10 Weasel
A gorgeous Sunday in October a bit of an Indian summer I suppose and a lucky day as far as the date was concerned. So where to go? Well it had to be the coast as a high tide was on the cards about midday. Southport or The Wirral? Well why not both.
I intended being up early and although the mind was willing I'm afraid the body was not, absolutely not, it was nailed to the bed. Eventually I was up and at em and on the road by nine thirty heading for Liverpool and the Mersey tunnel. Had I had enough time I would have made for West Kirby then made my way back to finish at Wallasey, but as time didn't permit I went instead directly to Leasowe.

Little Egret
After parking the car I walked along the promenade looking for a likely spot where a wader or two might be forced ashore, when suddenly a six inch squiggle passed me at a rate of knots.
The squiggle was a weasel scurrying along and then, instinctively, there was I scurrying after it, well sort of. It went down the sea-wall ramp along the seaweed at the waters edge, then back up onto the prom, then back past me and all the while I was trying to get my lens on it, quite unsuccessfully I might add. Then it came back past me once more, and made several attempts to scale the last two foot of the sea defences, but amazingly it couldn't manage it, so onwards it pounded until I couldn't make it out anymore. Undeterred I went in the direction it had headed and suddenly saw a bit of movement in a crack between the ground and the sea wall, I got down on one knee and lay aim, bingo it was in the can. Then "Pop goes the weasel" off it went, the last I saw of it, it was scurrying along the seaweed once more.
That little episode lasted three quarters of an hour and once the adrenalin had departed my body I was knackered, so I climbed over the sea wall and sat on a nearby bench to rest up for a while. I sat facing away from the sea looking down to the meadow when a wheatear appeared and landed on a fence......ho no here we go again.

Wheatear
I ended the day at Marshside watching pink footed geese and other mixed waders in some beautiful evening light managing a snap or two, but the day will always be remembered for that weasel.

Pink footed Geese at Marshside

A Good Week On The Home Front

A loud bang on the dinning room window meant only one thing, a bird had crashed into it. I went round to investigate as a sparrowhawk was flying to the fence, luckily for me it had its back to me giving me time to dart backwards. My camera was in the room and I crawled to get it, then gingerly got up and fired a few shots before it spotted me and flew off. I went outside and found its intended victim a chaffinch frozen under my car, latter it flew off unscathed. All this before breakfast, starting work on an empty stomach isn't recommended.
But it hasn't been a bad week on the home front, BEAKY turned up out of the blue, and few days ago I had a visiting willow tit for about four hours, it was pouring down at the time but I managed a half decent snap before it left.

BEAKY

We first saw this blackbird at the backend of the hard winter and have been amazed at its ability to feed with such a deformed beak. About six weeks ago it moulted almost to a skeleton on its wings and vanished, we naturally thought it had succumbed, but not so today it reappeared at our bird table, quite a survivor.