Druridge Pools

Had a wander over to Druridge Pools after lunch today. The main pool was very quiet when we first got there with only three little grebes on it  and a couple of mallards but it didn't take long for the birds to start flying in, firstly came 14 whoopers a few at a time follwed by hundreds of mixed ducks - mallards, teal and wigeon mainly. next was the turn of the lapwing - hundreds came in off the beach and joined the whoopers in the field behind the main pool but a tractor came right through the field five minutes or so later lifting everything the hoopers flew into the field to the left and the lapwings flew straight over the oddie hide and onto the other ponds.

We decided to have a run out to bolam today as the sun was out and the wind didn't seem too bad but when we arrived the light just wasn't as good as I had hoped for.

We got settled into a good position in the car park I scattered the stone wall with seed and just as the birds started to play the game a stupid woman pulled along side of us in a 4x4 and virtually blocked out the entire wall from view even though she must have seen my 400mm lense pointing out the drivers window. She then decided to see how much noise she could make by slamming her 4x4's doors as hard as was physically possible and allowing her two stupid dogs to run about barking and generally frightening every bird in the park away from the wall.

On a plus when we headed off we spotted these three lovely deer in a field just around the corner from Bolam lake so the day didn't end too badly after all.

Testing out my new monitor

Thought i'd try pp'in a pic on my new samsung monitor today seeing that i've not got access to a calibration device I can only guess at the settings so here goes my first image :-

A seagull

Bearded tit - Holy Island

another shot of the Holy Island Bearded Tit from my trip out with my pal Keith today

Bearded Tit, SEO and Little Egret

Had my first ever trip to Holy Island today with my pal Keith Reeder.
Not knowing what to expect I must say all in I had one of the best days out of my life today with three stunning species on display.

The first was the SEO's - five in total were flying about the dunes right where we just happened to be! The weather was poor and the light not good but all in I got some nice images.

The next stunner we came across was the bearded tit a species i've wanted to see all my life but never managed it until today, a fabulous male.

On our way back off the island Keith spotted another lifer for me - a little egret on the sands to our left just a few meters from the road.