A quest for a crest that takes the p..s, but settle for a good duck instead.

A visit to Helston in West Cornwall, my mission to try and photograph Firecrests ( someone showed me some cracking pics from here so thought I'd give it a go ) and I was hoping that the female RIng Necked Duck would still be on the boating lake, which indeed it was , so I started off with that before going in search of Firecrests around the sewage works, ( nice). Chiffchaffs were everywhere ( never seen so many in one place), eventually a Firecrest popped into view, and then popped out of view, this was the story for about an hour, never getting a clear view for long enough for a decent photo. At this point I was getting desparate for a pee, so went behind a hedge,as you do, and I'm buggered if mid stream a Firecrest popped out into the open, right beside me, and stayed in the same spot for the duration, before dissapearing, never to be seen again!. Anyway the Ring Necked Duck was still showing well on the lake, so I stayed with that for another spell, getting some nice shots.

A wander around Stover Lake.

A quick visit to Stover Lake near Bovey Tracey in S. Devon produced the usual species for this yime of the year. The Mandarins were showing particulary well in the nice afternoon light, an introduced bird I know, but if Carlsberg did ducks....

Barn Owl.

Its always a thrill to watch a beautiful Barn Owl out hunting over the marshes.

Two new birds ( possibly)

I had to drop my grandson off at Exeter Bus station so thought I may as well go the few extra miles and head up to Colyford to try and see the Isabelline Wheatear which has been around for a while. Also reported yesterday was a possible Eastern Yellow Wagtail, these would both be lifers for me . When I arrived ,after asking others for directions, a short walk and there was the Wheatear feeding on the ground near the boardwalk, and spending a lot of its time sitting on a post and preening. This was the classic situation of a bird showing well for birders, but always just that little bit too far away for really good photos, that and an overcast dull day meant just record shots, but still really pleased to see it so well. The Wagtail showed for about a minute before flying off, apperantly someone had collected a sample of its poo the day before to send for analysis so it can be properly identified.

Olive Backed Pipit

2022 ended very much as it started with a 'lifer' Pipit. In January it was the American Buff Bellied Pipit at Prawle and now in December a very showy Olive Backed Pipit in Exmouth. It took me a while to find the park which it had taken a liking to, but once located the PIpit was easily found right beside the road , feeding among the leaf litter under a big Oak tree, with a few admiring folks watching and photograping it.

Slimbridge

At the end of November I took my annual visit to Slimbridge WWT in Gloucestershire, although the forecast was'nt great it actually turned out to be quite a nice day with some lovely afternoon light. As always seems fairly typical of my visits here I just missed out on would have been a lifer after the recently staying Collared Pratincole had flown. Never mind still a good day with great views of the usual species, with Pintail, Teal, Mallard Shelduck,Lapwing,Snipe,Black Tailed Godwit,Avocet, Coot, Common Gull and Woodpigeon all posing nicely.

Fieldfare invasion

Back at the very end of October we had a large number of FIeldfares (200 plus ) visit the Hawthorn trees in our garden, gorging on the berries, small goups were coming and going all day, eating their fill before giving way to others,I'd never seen so many together. Lukily the trees are easily viewed from a bedroom window, and with just a beanbag to rest my camera on, I was able to snap awy to my hearts content.