A Canadian Visitation - Pt.1 - 23rd to 27th July, 2015

Firstly, my apologies to my friends in Bloggerland for totally neglecting your posts for the past four weeks. We've had friends David and Miriam from Canada visiting us between 23rd September and 10th August. Prior to their visit I was busy sorting things out ready for their arrival. Subsequent to their visit I've been starting to catch up on things that didn't get done whilst they were here, plus beginning to process the nearly five thousand images that I shot during their visit! The first five days worth are now sorted as much as they will be, so here goes!

David is a time-served birdwatcher with more than 60 years of birdwatching under his belt. He is very well travelled as a birder, and extremely knowledgeable on the subject. Miriam (I hope she will not mind me saying this!) is not quite the enthusiast that David is, but her visual and audible observational skills (as I soon found out!) are remarkable, and a great asset!

This first post on their visit covers the first three days based at our home in Ashby de la Zouch, followed by a couple of days in Northumberland, prior to a week in Scotland.

Thursday, 23rd July

I set off early for Manchester Airport. David and Miriam were flying via Paris (sorry, David - a 'senior moment'), and Lindsay was at home, monitoring their flight which was scheduled to land at 11h20. I'd built in some slack time but this was eaten up when Lindsay said that they were now expected to land at 11h00. I parked the car at Terminal 3 and had just found the exit from Baggage Reclaim when, less than 5 seconds later, Miriam emerged, closely followed by David!

We were soon on our way back to Ashby, with only minor hold-ups on the return journey.

Lindsay had prepared lunch, and this was followed by a spell in our conservatory, chatting, and watching the birds in our garden. I quickly realised that, in some ways, my task of keeping David and Miriam amused bird-wise was going to be easy as they were enthusing about many of our common garden birds, but I also bore in mind that David had a number of 'life birds' that he was targeting this trip.

Later in the afternoon, I took them out to some local spots for a chance of finding Little Owl, and viewing some other birds. A short walk at Calke Park was followed by a visit to Staunton Harold Round Car Park and then to Staunton Harold itself., We ended up with a few birds added to David's year list, but no 'lifer'. This was clearly an unsatisfactory start, so we made a brief visit to my local patch where Miriam stayed in the car and David had a brief glimpse of a departing Little Owl - a lifer for David at last!

The only photos I took that day were of a tiny toadlet (approx. 1cm long) at Staunton Harold.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo) (juvenile) - Staunton Harold

That night I introduced David and Miriam to the delights of 'le Colonel' - lemon sorbet, drowned in vodka!

Friday, 24th July

Clearly needing to up my game, I had a look at Birdguides to see what had been reported lately. I was immediately grabbed by a Red-footed Falcon that was being seen around 50 miles (80km) from my home. David confirmed that he'd love to see this as another lifer. And so we set off. I'd been lucky enough to photograph a 1st summer female in May, 2008 only about 7 miles (10km) from my home, so this 1st summer male was an equally exciting prospect for me too.

We had absolutely no problem in locating this stunning bird, with a few birders already watching it. If the light had been better we'd have had some great images, but it was dull grey, and threatening rain. Here's a few - well, quite a lot really, as this is probably the last time I'll ever photograph this species!

Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) (1st summer male) - Chatterley Whitfield Colliery

Amazingly, a hundred metres up the road, there was a Black Redstart. In normal circumstances I'd have spent a lot of time getting images of such a bird, but the presence of the falcon overshadowed it. By the time we'd had our fill of the falcon and turned our attention to the Black Redstart, the weather had deteriorated further, and the rain was getting heavier. We didn't stay long.

Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) (juvenile) - Chatterley Whitfield Colliery

Our journey home was marred by traffic hold-ups, and so we diverted to Willington Gravel Pits for a visit in the rain. No photos were taken but it was an enjoyable visit.

We headed home with David having his second 'lifer' in the bag.

Saturday, 25th July

David had been particularly keen to see some of the Little Owls that I monitor, so our objective for the day was a visit to Rutland Water, visiting LO sites on the way. The weather was relatively dull and windy, so I wasn't over-hopeful on the LO front.

We'd stopped to check my LO Site No.44, and I was scanning the usual places for the owls, when Miriam said she'd spotted one - it wasn't in a usual place!

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.44

Another LO was spotted on the barn at Site No.23, where we'd not seen an owl recently.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.23

Another LO was seen at Site No.34, but no photos taken, but just down the road there was an owl at Site No.43 - again where we'd not seen an owl lately.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.43

Another owl was seen at my Site No.42 (no photos) so we were now up to 5 sightings - better than I've done for a while! We continued to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water.

Little exciting was seen at Rutland Water from my point of view, but David and Miriam seemed to be quite impressed by the place. It was great to see a Water Vole make an appearance. It showed well for the naked eye, but the reeds intruded too much for a good image to be obtained. The juvenile Ospreys were starting to get adventurous.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Rutland Lyndon

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Rutland Lyndon

Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius) - Rutland Lyndon

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (juvenile) - Rutland Lyndon

On the way home we found a juvenile Little Owl sitting out on a barn door at my Site No.42 and, whilst I was photographing it, an adult emerged, putting our numbers up to six for the day - and we weren't finished yet!

Little Owl (Athene noctua) (juvenile) - my Site No.42

Little Owl (Athene noctua) (adult + juvenile) - my Site No.42

There were further LO sightings at Sites Nos. 36, 34 (juvenile) and 41, with a final bird at No.46, bringing the total for the day to 10 Little Owls - not a bad result! David remarked that there was nothing to this Little Owl business!

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.46

Sunday, 26th July

We had a relatively gentle start to the day before the three of us set off for Northumberland - as this was to be an intensive bird-watching trip, Lindsay stayed behind. We stopped for lunch at one of my favourite places - the Deli Caffé in Boston Spa. We arrived at the Beadnell Towers hotel in Beadnell in good time and risked the weather for a long walk on Beadnell beach before dinner. The main attraction for birders here is the Tern colony by the Long Nanny (a river which flows into the sea here).

As we approached the Long Nanny we found a number of jellyfish beached on the sand. I am not sure what species these were as they don't look quite like anything that I can find illustrated or described. They were probably around 10 to 15 cm across. Please let me know if you can help with the ID.

Jellyfish sp. - Beadnell Beach

As we approached the Long Nanny, there were a few gulls around - Herring, Lesser Black-backed, and Great Black-backed.

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) (immature) - Beadnell Beach

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) - Beadnell Beach

Most of the terns by Long Nanny are Arctic Terns. There were plenty of youngsters around and there was a constant procession of adults bringing in Sand Eels. I tried for flight shots, but this was difficult with the low light levels.

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) - by the Long Nanny

There were several Little Tern away from the nesting area which was behind fencing with 'keep out' notices. I was pleased to see that there was an observation post up on the dunes with an observer keeping an eye on the area to guard against human intrusion into the sensitive areas. I saw one person who looked as if they were sorely tempted to cross the line! David and Miriam kept to a respectable distance as can be seen below!

David and Miriam (Homo sapiens) - by the Long Nanny

Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) - by the Long Nanny

Just before we headed back to the car, a small group of Sanderling appeared. I usually only see these in winter plumage!

Sanderling (Calidris alba) - by the Long Nanny

The weather was breaking as we returned to the car to return to our hotel for a very enjoyable dinner. I seem to remember, however, that I didn't sleep very well that night.

Monday, 27th July

After a good breakfast I checked with Billy Shiels as I suspected that our booked trip to the Farne Islands would not be going, due to the bad weather. I was not wrong - there were no sailings that day due to high winds and rough seas. I quickly thought out a 'Plan B'.

Our first call was at Low Newton, where we parked the car at the top of the hill and walked down into the village. It took a while as there were plenty of birds to be seen from the road. Having reached the village, we took the footpath behind the houses which goes to the two lakes, the second of which has a hide.

As we joined the footpath there was a Pied Wagtail on the fence and what I took at first to be a juvenile Pied Wagtail but I now believe to be a young Yellow Wagtail - please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) (immature) - Low Newton

Further on, in the distance on the first (largest) piece of water, were several waders and water fowl. For me, the most interesting was the Black-tailed Godwit in summer plumage. I've since been told that this was a Bar-wit, and have edited accordingly - thank you Pete!

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) - Low Newton

It had been spitting with rain, but the heavens really opened as we approached the hide. A quick dash had us safely installed before we got too wet. It was probably Miriam who spotted the nearby Snipe first! It was probably one of the best views I've ever had of a Snipe. However I was obviously not wearing my photographers head that day. I can partly blame the bad light, but when I examined my images that evening I found that I'd been working with totally inappropriate settings - too low an ISO and too slow to freeze the movement. Perhaps my tiredness was partly to blame. These are the best of a bad bunch - there's been some work done on them!

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Low Newton

 I did a little better when a Heron waded across in front of us.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Low Newton

It had been my intention that we visited Holy Island after our trip to the Farnes. We were able to bring our proposed visit forward a bit, but not too much because of the tides. After Low Newton we headed to Seahouses and soon saw that sea conditions were not pleasant and that nothing was leaving the shelter of the harbour. We looked for Purple Sandpiper but didn't find one. We then continued past the magnificent Bamburgh Castle to Budle Bay. The tide was right in and no birds were seen.

The next stop was at Fenham le Moor where there is a hide that looks over the water towards Holy Island. We spent some time here, mainly watching a Curlew and a Whimbrel.

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) - Fenham le Moor

Whilst there, we could see the queue of vehicles waiting for the tide to go out sufficiently to allow a traverse of the causeway to Holy Island. When this started moving, we prepared to depart the hide. As we were about to leave, a local birder came in and said that the action was just about to start as when the tide went out, the birds came through in large numbers. However, the draw of Holy Island was too strong and we departed.

Crossing the causeway we saw little but a small flock of Dunlin. The gentleman at Fenham le Moor had told us of a good spot on Holy Island, accessed via the monastery gardens. This proved to be a great tip off. Not much was seen at first but, as the tide went out, the bird numbers and species increased.

What I think was a Black-tailed Godwit, but I'm not sure as the rufous colouration on the underside seems to extend too far back, was soon followed by a small flock of Bar-tailed Godwit. Again, my thanks to Pete Woodruff for alerting me to my mistake - all Bar-wits!

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) - Holy Island

A small group of Goosander drifted past.

Goosander (Mergus merganser) - Holy Island

I was trying to remember to watch behind me as well as keeping an eye on the scene that was unfolding in front on the water's edge. I did grab a shot of what I think is an immature Linnet on the bank behind the foreshore.

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina) - Holy Island

Suddenly it seemed as if birds were flying in from everywhere. On a distant bar uncovered by the falling tide, there were Oystercatchers, Curlew, Whimbrel, a good flock of Golden Plover, large numbers of Godwit, and probably several other species which we didn't identify or notice because of the distance.

Curlew (Numenius arquata) and Bart-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) - Holy Island

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Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - Holy Island

Look how well the Golden Plover is hidden in the next image!

mixed waders - Holy Island

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Holy Island

We'd been standing out in the cold for too long - yes, it was ridiculously cold for the time of year, and continued to be so for the rest of the trip - and decided that it was time to return to the car to warm up.

On the way back to our hotel in Beadnell we stopped again at Budle Bay. This time the tide was out a fair way, and there were shorebirds everywhere! Fairly near to us was a solitary Whimbrel. We got out to take photos and I wasn't doing too badly when a Curlew flew in and decided to see off the Whimbrel. It was time to find fish and chips in Seahouses, which we did before heading back to our hotel.

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) -Budle Bay

Curlew (Numenius arquata) -Budle Bay

By the time we got back, I was ready for bed, but there was a long delay whilst we settled our bill that night as we wanted an early departure in the morning.

The second part of this account will cover the Scottish part of our travels. I just have to process the photos before I can write it!

In the meantime, I hope to be catching up with what I've missed in Bloggerland.

Thank you for dropping by.