He Who Waits

I've spent a bit of time of late building what I call my "Theater of Dreams". Basically it's a platform about a meter square with various ad-dons, it can be moved and adjusted in height. I can dress the top with dead leaves for an Autumn scene, or boulders and gravel, logs, in fact anything I want within reason.
I was beginning to wonder if all had been in vain, as all of the above is pretty useless without birds on it.
Some birds did eventually start to use it, but in pretty atrocious light although this stood me in good stead as it gave me a chance to evaluate the various backdrops.
So, all I needed now was good light and good birds.
Well all comes to he who waits.




This week also brought something of the high-life. After returning from a great weekend in Manchester watching "The John Wilson Orchestra" playing music from the MGM films (very few dates left, so if you have a chance to get a ticket, don't pay for it, DIE for it! its that good), Cheshire Life dropped through the letter box with a couple of my images adorning the wildlife section. I don't urge you to buy it, unless your in the market for a house for around Three Million quid.

Fleetwood Mac...luckily no.

Saturday dawned to a cloudless sky and beautiful sunshine with a slight breeze that chilled the the air as it does at this time of year. It wasn't at all what was forecast. So I decided to head north to Fleetwood, where a Great-northern Diver had been reported on the Marine lake.


Red Breasted Mergansers departing the lake
A few months earlier I had made the same journey in search of a Cuckoo on a similar start to the day only to see it change to black skies and torrential downpours, well a repeat prescription was on the cards. By the time I had got to Preston, black skies,heavy rain and brightly coloured rainbows festooned the air. Great for landscape, but not for what I was intending to do. However, as I arrived at Fleetwood the sun was shinning again, although large black clouds swirled around menacingly threatening to put a damper on the day.
The main thing was that the diver was still present. The bird was very obliging at times, as was the light, but getting both at the same time was a lottery, so alertness had to be the order of the day. The water was a bit choppy so mirror images were out of the question, but all told I had a pretty good day.

I nipped down to Rossall Point in the hope of a few sanderling, the tide was pretty full and I saw none, but half a dozen turnstone kept me busy, before I returned to the Marine lake to capture the diver in some late afternoon light.

And to finish a picture postcard view of Breezy Blackpool my no option holiday destination as a child.

I love M&Ms

Common Buzzard

Whooper Swan Preening

After a busy day around Southport I tend to work my way back and call in at Martin Mere. Even a brief visit can bring in a photo opportunity, and Sundays visit was no exception. After that I can take a variety of routes home with a keen eye for a Barn Owl maybe. Well not on this occasion although a lovely marked Buzzard put in an appearance.

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.

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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.