The Dunnington Pine Bunting

I've been meaning to go for the Pine Bunting at Dunnington for a while, but most reports were of it being elusive and the photo's on the net didn't get me running for my camera (especially when there is a Pallid Harrier on the local patch). Recent reports however suggested that it was a little bit more visible so I set off this morning with high hopes of at least seeing the bird.

I parked in the village and headed blindly down Intake Lane-I was there just after Seven so was the first there.

I saw Kerver Lane and headed down there first then doubled back, the last report I read on Twitter suggested that it had gone back to the stubble field at the end of Intake Lane.

I kept on going as all the fields were more like paddocks then through a gate and the first hint of stubble.

There was a decent flock of Yellowhammers feeding about a third of the way down the field so I made my way down. The wind was a biting south westerly without much sign of the sun so pretty chilly. I was soon joined by a coiple of lads who had seen the Pine Bunting in the are I was viewing a couple of weeks earlier.

Another birder joined us and after much scanning in all directions he picked the bird up in a large oak tree about 100 yards away. I got a view of it and a shot of some branches but that was it as it flew away overhead. It then re-appeared after an hour or so in a hedge on the opposite side of the field, then flew into the stubble.

It then flew towards us with a flock of yellow hammers and typically it landed in the deepest cover giving fairly close but obsucured views. It stayed a while giving the small crowd some decent views then flew off. This was the cue for most of the crowd to disappear, amazingly it came back only 5 minutes later and perched up in full view for around 5 minutes.

It then flew back over to the far hedge and then appeared to go back into the stubble.

I was happy with my shots so set off for home at around 11.15 very content with the mornings work.

The Lincolnshire Bluethroat

I had some time off last week and I thought the Bluethroat showing at Willow Tree fen would be worth a visit.

I set off around 7.30 and a pretty uneventful drive had me arriving about 9.30. There were plenty of cars parked on the roadside and the car park was also full, this bird was proving to be a star attraction.

I made my way down the track where a group of around 60 birders were eagerly awaiting the bluethroat to come out of cover.

there jhad been some posts on the internet about bad behaviour of photographers and when everyone is packed into a small place tensions can run high.

One poor guy wanted to go around the rest of the reserve so ran the gauntlet of walking down the track only to be berated by a rather irate chap oringinating from Birmingham/midland area.

Another one to brave the wrath of the crowd (bit harsh) was a guy walking his dog towards the group and again he came in for some unfair criticism.

This reminded me why I don't like twitching, however back to the bird, it was regularly coming out and showing for about 5 minutes then would disappear for 20 minutes to half an hour. Each time it came out more people started to drift away and buy lunch time there were only about 12 people there.

The crowd were generally very well behaved, there was no encroachment while I was there and at one point the bird flew to within 5 yards of me enabling me to get some nice shots and see this stunning bird close up.

A bluethroat in Britain is always a pleasure to see but one in February at such close quarters was an absolute delight. At the time of writing it is still present and not doubt will continue to draw crowds especially if it hangs around and begins to develop some breeding plumage.

Apart from a marsh harrier and some common wildfowl there wasnt a great deal more to see but a very nice trip all the same.

Pallid At Last

Having had 2 blanks on my last 2 visits to Welwick, I was begining to think I ought to turn my attention to something different especially seeing as there are some pretty cool birds around at the moment.I thought though, out of them all which one would I like to get a decent shot of and the answer came back-pallid harrier.

So off I went this morning after negotiating some icy roads I got to Welwick at about 7.30. There were 4 short eared owls in flight as soon as I got there but they soon disappeared. I took up a new position although there is nowhere really any good for first light at Welwick.

I waited until about 10.30 and there was no sign of the pallid and I contemplated moving on. However it was a nice morning so I went back to my favourite place and by now the sun had moved round so the light was a bit better.

There was a single marsh harrier and a few large flocks of waders but other raptors were pretty thin on the ground.

I could see a distant harrier moving across the saltmarsh and slowly but surely it got closer. My theory had worked and I managed to position myself close enough to the bank and under the cover of a bag hide for the harrier to come within about 40m. It was in view for a total of about 5 minutes and never showed again until at least 1.00 when I headed for home.

I'm quire happy with these shots but light wasn't brilliant, shots were under exposed, it could have been a bit closer-maybe next time.