Scarborough Great Northern Diver - 19th January, 2019

I had often entertained the idea of going to Scarborough to photograph one of the divers that frequent the harbour from time to time and with a Great Northern Diver reported as showing down to a few feet for the past week, there didn't seem to be a better chance.

I caught the first train north on the Saturday morning and was at Scarborough for just before nine.

It seemed the weather dice weren't rolling in my favour this year, and after the experience with the Red Kites, this was yet another dull, murky day.  It was dry though, so I suppose one has to be grateful for small mercies.

I located the diver in the harbour after about 20 minutes, and after it swam around in the middle, the bird eventually came right up to the edge where I stood.  In order to spook the bird as little as possible, I knelt down, resting my camera on a capstan, and I got some nice shots, despite the low light.

Great Northern Diver

 I was in the grip of a bout of man flu and felt rather iffy as I walked to Scalby Mills, in order to photograph the Eurasian Wigeon that splash around right next to the sea wall there. 

In the evening, I met up with Nick Addey and Steve Wignall for a pint of three, while watching the Blades on the pub TV, as we talked birds. I say talked, although my flu had reduced my voice to a whisper.

The Sunday's cloudy was worse if anything than the previous day, but I did get a few shots of some of the local bird life before getting a midday train back to Nottingham.

Common Redshank

Eurasian Wigeon

Great Black-backed Gull

Red Kites in the clouds - 5th January, 2019

I had been mulling over the possibilities of seeing Red Kites in their Chilterns stronghold for a while, and looking at various online resources, it looked feasible on public transport, though time in the field would be quite short.

I set off for Oxford on the first train of the day and paused there for breakfast before getting a bus into the Chilterns.  I found a greasy spoon type cafe and ordered a bacon sandwich, which came on a stone cold plate. How hard would it have been to have warmed the plate?!  Not having time to argue the point, I gobbled up my breakfast with an equally uninspiring coffee and caught a local bus for an hour or so trip into darkest Oxfordshire.

I alighted at the village of Watlington. A quaint Miss Marple kind of place, and site slap bang in the middle of Red Kite country. 

On the positive side, Red Kites were everywhere - there were stacks of them. On the other hand, it was really really cloudy. The weather forecast had been quite good, but they had certainly got it wrong here.

It was fortunate then, that after walking up and down the hill where birds were wheeling round overhead, one bird circle round right above me and then perched in a tree at incredibly close range. It was certainly the best views I've ever had of a Red Kite, and despite the poor light, I was quite pleased with the images I got.

Red Kite

I saw little else in the area, apart from an amazingly confiding Fieldfare, a displaying Raven and one Common Buzzard.  I would like to go back to Watlington, maybe for a weekend, as it's a bit of a trek in a day by public transport.

Fieldfare