Black-headed Gulls

Holme Great Grey Shrike

This bird is distant for me when the sun shines and at all other times it is too dark and gloomy, hence the 'noise' in the above photograph. I will endeavour to get a better shot, until then you can see the bird in more glory at Roy's or Mike's respective blogs HERE and HERE. Enjoy.

Great Grey Shrike on a grey day

A wet, murky, miserable day and I found myself at Holme village in Cambridgeshire in order to see this Great Grey Shrike that seems to have taken up residence close to the railway line. This is one of two birds that are in very close proximity to each other, approximately a couple of miles separates the two birds, which has led to two Great Grey Shrikes being seen on the same day in the PBC area, a first (I think!). During my visit the bird was pretty active, catching beetles and at one point catching a shrew or a mouse, it was too distant to be able to tell! Hopefully, this bird will over winter, leading to better views in better weather!

Juvenile Shag at Stamford

A fairly common bird on the coast, but pretty scarce inland. This is only the second Shag that I have seen in the PBC area, adding to my year list nicely. The bird had been reported a few days previously on the Lincolnshire Bird Club website, but news only filtered through to me on Wednesday this week, but I need not have feared, as the bird was still present close to the weir at Hudd's Mill on the River Welland in Stamford.

A smaller relation to the more common (inland) Cormorant, which can be told apart from its' larger cousin by its' size and overall shape (it being a lot slimmer), uniformly pale brown plumage and it also has a thinner and more yellow bill.

Glossy Ibis at Lowdham

Whilst in the county of Nottinghamshire we thought that it would be rather rude not to visit this rather showy Glossy Ibis that has taken to frequenting a cow field by a busy main road. Many birders parking on this road added to the chaos, but the bird showed well and after finding a way across some rather smelly, muddy fields I managed to get fairly close to a bird that used to be pretty rare in this country, but is becoming an annual visitor.

Pied Wheatear in Nottinghamshire

News appeared on Birdguides late last night of a reported Pied Wheatear at a gravel pit complex fairly close to Newark in Nottinghamshire. I was tempted to go in the morning, but couldn't find any information on the site or the bird, so I decided to wait. The bird was reported first thing this morning and I was able to find some information regarding site access/details etc and after a quick phone call with Chris, decided to go and 'bag' this lifer.

On arrival, the country lane was surrounded by cars parked on the muddy verges, but a space was found and the walk was started to the birds' reported site. We didn't have long to wait before the bird made its' appearance, constantly flying and darting about, obviously feeding on the insects present in the autumn sunshine. It came fairly close, very good for scope views, but the lens on the new camera is that bit short to get overly close! Still, the above shot serves as a record shot (I seem to be saying that a lot lately!), if nothing else, revealing the tail features that mark this bird apart from the similar Black-eared Wheatear. This bird represents the 69th individual of this species to be recorded in Britain and another tick in my book.