The International Bird Photo Challenge continues

The Safari finished last year's photo challenge with 174 species within 75 miles from Base Camp  submitted to to the SD card. Not bad! Not bad at all we tied at the top with JS who birded around Calgary, Alberta. We finished with a bit of a local rarity, a Great Northern Diver.

Try as we might the nearby Hen Harrier just wouldn't show up for us during several visits over the last couple of weeks of the year so that 'winner' wasn't to be had. Never mind there's all to play for in 2025 with a new rule that identifiable females count double.

Our year started on the 2nd with female House Sparrows in the garden at Base Camp.

The following day saw us mooching around Stanley Park where a well lit Ring-necked Parakeet was 'only' a male.

Other highlights included a steamy Black-headed Gull, the warm morning sun turning earlier frost to mist

A Grey Heron was back on its nest somewhat early, they don't normally come back until towards the end of the month.

A female Shoveler cruising across the calm waters of the lake showed a perfect reflection made even better by the lovely coloured background.

We finished the day with a female Tufted Duck for #18

Our next safari was northwards on a bright and sunny day to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. While waiting for the rest of the gang to turn up from the Southside we were confined to the car park due to the reserve being frozen solid and the footpaths being deemed unsafe to walk on. Suffice to say even around the car park there were some friendly Robins willing to have a camera pointed at them.

Once the others arrived we tried again to access the reserve but were told that the reserve would be closed all day, only the Causeway Hide was open but that was 'at your own risk', needless to say we risked it but not without most of us having at least one Torvill & Dean moment along the track. having said that we did have a pair of ice spikes in our bag that we've been carrying round summer and winter for just such an eventuality. Once at the hide, where we could sit down, we tried to out them onto our boots - no chance, they were far too small so we donated them to AK who'sdelicate girly boots were just the right size. Thoughts of Cinderella were going through our mind as we knelt on the floor fastening them to her boots...They proved a non-slip boon on the walk back to the car park later.

Luckily the pool was mostly unfrozen so there was a few birds about if a little distant. 

A Blue Tit foraging among some nearby reeds gave us a bit of a different take on this 'normally' woodland/garden species.

It's always worthwhile pointing your camera at Common Gulls, very delicate birds with a beautiful shade of bluey grey across their mantle.

Next up was a female Marsh Harrier quartering the reedbed across the pool.

We failed to get any decent pics of either of the Otters that were cruising around the open water, both actively hunting Eels. 

The Great Northern Diver was still present across the road so we finished the day with that for #26. It now has a nasty looking wound on the side of it's neck, wonder how that happened.

The following day we had a household errand to run which led to a quick nip up the road to Rossall Point where we found amongst a few other new birds a Turnstone chowing down on the bone of some poor unfortunate being.

Bad weather curtailed safaris for a while but a brief break in the storms and a crack in the clouds allowed us to get out and it was almost a week before we could get out on safari again, darned weather!!! Where to go on achilly morning...we stayed local and hit Marton Mere to see what we could find in the refreshingly glorous sunshine. First up was a female Great Spotted Woodpecker which although easy to hear took some locating high in the top of a group of Poplar trees. An unusual pose, she's having a good old upside-down preen.

More birds followed with a nearby Song Thrush,

the Tawny Owl was peering out of his/her box the volunteers have kindly provided.

A couple of minutes later we did the owl double when we spotted the Barn Owl sat in front of the box on the island.

Cetti's Warblers sang short snatches of song from the edge of the reedbed but as ever were impossible to see let alone get a snap of. The Feeding Station hide was cold but did give us something we weren't expecting to see here, a couple of Stock Doves.

More birds followed onto the SD card with another surprise, a flock of Black-tailed Godwits flew through without landing on the mostly frozen mere, definitely a 'cold weather movement' as their favoured feeding areas would no doubt be frozen solid.

The morning finished with this Buzzard gliding across the snowy field to the east of the reserve for #44.

Unfortunately we were too slow to capture the superbly lit Jay that flew past us on the walk back to the car. 

A few days later we went on a hunt for the local Purple Sandpiper which was singularly unsuccessful, we didn't see a single shorebird of any description during our entire walk and neither did we see any sign of the Short-eared Owl that had been reported in the area a couple of days previously. A male Pied Wagtail posed briefly on the most unsalubrious surroundings of the sea wall which, if we want that bonus point, will have to be replaced by a pic of a female at some stage during the year.

Last year we went mad in January dashing hither and thither trying, and succeeding, to get 100 species photographed by the end of the month. The trouble with all that excitement is that it only left a further 74 species found during the following 11 months so this year we've decided to be a little calmer, a little less frantic and see what we see when we see it...not sure how long that 'zen' attitude is going to last though. 

A safari to the Southside with CR to meet IH was organised for the following day, the aim to vist the Alt estuary just north of Liverpool and have a look at the waders as the tide rose. By the time we got there the tide was mostly risen and most of the waders had left their rubbly roosting sites for the distant sand banks on the other side of the river mouth. Best of those still present were a handfull of Grey Plovers but getting a decent pic against the harsh sunshine was tricky.

We wanted to improve on our earlier female Stonechat pic and the dunes around here are perfect for Stonechats. It's usually crawling with them, so much so you're fighting them off with a stick...but not today, we couldn't find a single one! Another birder we spoke to had seen a couple but we had no luck until IH spotted a dark pixel flitting around the flotsam and jetsam and a broken blue bucket on the opposite bank, far too far for a pic and it was a male anyway. After lunch we hit Lunt Meadows LWT reserve which turned out to be closed due to flooding so we could only access the river bank. Well we tried to break in by climbing one of the gates (naughty!!!) as we could see the paths were wet but no longer under water. The three of us failed miserably not wanting to break hips, collar bones, elbows or optical gear - mostly the latter, a fence IH rightly recokoned he'd be over in a flash when he was five, we both nodded in agreement. Annoyingly the reserve was smothered in a bank of thick low cloud blocking out the sun while only a couple of miles away the sky was blue and bright and with the birds mostly distant our photos were poor to awful. The last one of the day was a bit better and would have been better still if we'd have checked the camera settings before hitting the shutter button. Spot the odd one out for #61.

Grey-lag Goose

More bad weather followed and it would be a full 10 days before we could get out on safari again...oohh the frustration, that earlier 'zen' we mentioned was beginning to wear off!!!!!!

Once again we were meeting the Southside gang this time at Martin Mere WWT reserve where we fully expected to add to our tally with some double points females.

Female Pochard

Female Shelduck

Pintail

And of course there'd be some that can't be sexed in the field or photograph like this long returning satellite-tracked Whooper Swan.

We wandered around the reserve happily snapping away at anything that moved

Black-tailed Godwit

Ruff

but almost missing the Barn Owl

Our wanders took us past the grassy overspill carpark where we found several Redwings but no Fieldfares, a Mistle Thrush took us by surprise chattering as it flew past us only to disappear never to be seen again.

A quick look from the screens that are the remnants of the former Swan Link hide gave us nice views of Snipe but yet again we didn't check the camera setting before pressing the shutter button...maybe we should just stick with Auto mode.

At the feeders it was fairly lively, it only took minutes to see the first Brown Rat, always a treat we think they're great fun (in the right place). There were plenty of birds too although no food on the table, probably scoffed by Woodpigeons in the first hour after the reserve opened, meant the activity was concentrated in the bushes by the hanging feeders. Reed Buntings hopped around the base of the reeds looking for spilt seeds.

A Blue Tit doing the same was much more unusual.

The hanging feeders attracted a Coal Tit but getting a pic was proving tricky as they are smash and grab merchants only staying long enough to pull out a seed and then off they go in the blink of an eye. We needed the assistance of young LH to tell us when one was beginning its approach so we were ready for the split second they appear on the feeder.

A flock of Long-tailed Tits came by, always lovely to see.

After a while of watching we noticed that while they often ate the seeds at the feeder some of them took the seeds away and ate them in cover like the Coal Tits do. But watching more closely we also noticed that they use one of their feet to manipulate the seed to the correct orientation for that tiny bill to nibble.

We must have seen that before but it doesn't ring any bells. We got another female of the speies in the form of a female Chaffinch.

When young LH let it slip that when she was much younger she was intimidated by the appearance of the Harrier Hide, saying it reminded her of a Viking, (?????), our minds were made up to go in - cruel or what! Cruel or not it was worth it as we had another Barn Owl fly past the window, possibly out of the box that's positioned on the hide above the observation windows. Sadly it didn't linger close to the hise so no chance of any pics. 

Moving on CR wanted to get some pics of Teal displaying in the afternoon sunshine at the Rees Hide but there were wardens working over that way and the pool was empty of birds. Time to retrace our steps back to the far end of the reserve. A quick stop at the Discovery Hide gave us stonking views of a Ruff.

Outside the hide IH told us he'd seen a Moorhen on its nestand sure enough itt was still there...but where there any eggs underneath? No was the answer to that as later it had moved off and there were no eggs to be seen just a grassy platform but it could well be the beginnings of a nest.

The Raines Observatory was super heated as usual, a good reason not to get too comfy in there as it feels really cold when you come out. Through the window a couple of Jackdaws were searching for the last scraps of yesterday afternoon's swan feed.

Not wanting to get too ensconced we soon left and proceeded directly to the Ron Barker Hide where we had our best count ever of Marsh Harriers in the air together as they congregated before going to roost - 13. Apparently the wardens had recently counted an astonishing 45 coming in to roost, the highest ever count there. That's more than the total UK population when we started birding all those years ago.

We also had two Great White Egrets, both too far away for pics. by now it was nearly feeding time for the Whooper Swans so back to the Discovery Hide we went. The warden had put her wheelbarrow of grain out in front of the hide and an eager hungry throng had gathered waiting for her to start chucking it their way

The light was fading quickly now but we had a go at trying some bird in flight shots for the last ten minutes or so. Just cos we could really.

Those Ruff were the last pic added to our Challenge tally coming in at #74.

Today we had another errand to run and ended up at Rossall Point again. This time we were a bit luckier and added Skylark and, at last, caught up with both the Purple Sandpipers roosting on the beach, ending the month with #76.

On the way back to the car we came across a pair of Stonechats, the male of which posed nicely for us but we couldn't get much of an improvement of the very poor pic we already had of the female.

And so a pretty productive January comes to an end, what will February bring?

Where to next? We'll be out on safari somewhere soon but who knows where.

In the meantime let us know who's been breaking all the records in your outback.