Saturday 27 October 2012

Marked out at the moss

The Safari went oop north with marine biologist DB on a terrestrial wetland jaunt this morning. We arrived shortly after first light - would have got there earlier if it wasn't for slowies on the road...at that early hour...aaaarrgghhh. Lookin good at that hour though!


We headed for the Red Deer zone but found a Great White Egret instead.
And a far more usual Grey Heron

 A bonus Kingfisher dropped in briefly
Before too long a late lingering Marsh Harrier out the wind up the Teal and other ducks on the water
First shot was a bit duff, the second attempt was worse!
 The Teal quickly settled back down


And the Kingfisher returned, a little further away this time but nicely silhouetted against the sky

This is a bum shot is of a mystery bird - anyone going to have a guess? Yes, we do know what it is
After listening to a good talk by Mark Avery we went back out and found this young buck - we'd seen two stags and a hind earlier but unphotographable as they were hiding under the trees
A Robin kept us entertained while we waited for the Bearded Tits which we only saw briefly but thoroughly enjoyed - a lifer for DB, as were the day's numerous Jays.
None of the dozen or more Snipe could be turned into a Jack Snipe
With frost on the ground and frozen ice in the shallows we didn't expect to see a Common Darter
After a quick chat to fellow blogger JA we headed off on a twitch on the way back to Base Camp
We were successful with the Lesser Yellowlegs (W 273, BI 187) but dipped the Wood Sandpiper that had been with it all morning
While we were being lectured by MA DB, who hadn't gone to the talk, saw an Otter...we are not amused!!!
Where to next? Family day tomorrow but we might get out somewhere with the kiddies.
In the meantime let us know if the Fieldfares have arrived en masse in your outback - we saw 5-600 early on this morning in several large flocks.

6 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Fieldfares going through here today on mass Davo :-)

Is your mystary bird a Willow tit ?

cliff said...

Cracking Snipe photo Dave, well done getting the GWE too. What hide did you see the Kingfisher from?

Marsh tit??

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

Marsh tit indeed Cliff, but Warren wouldn't know it's Marsh to the north of us and Willow to the south and neither nearby.

Cheers

D

PS Warren could have had a sneaky peaky at the Atlas of Breeding Birds 88-91 - - anyone know when the new one is due out?

shamraiz said...

Desert Safari
is one of the best thing to enjoy.

Stuart Price said...

Egrets at L Moss would have been impossibly exotic in my day..........

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

Know what you mean Stu - not that long since I twitched my first UK Little Egret -a mad dash to Anglesey in horrendous weather to see a white dot in the distance and now you can't move for the damn things round here...GWE seem to following the same track...when will purple Herons be nesting at LM? Already in Kent

Cheers

D