Snipe

Avoiding dancing drivel on telly, I went for a nice walk down Wheldrake. Little going on, but the meadow looking cracking; lots of Great Burnet flowering. A smart Snipe on a fencepost posed nicely for a photo and a singing Corn Bunting in front of tower hide were the only birds of note.

Third helping of Poms

All photos taken of the 27 strong Northton flock, by Martin Batt on 18 May 2011. First seen resting on the sea, they then took off, flew around a bit before heading off over our heads, cutting across the peninsula.

An evening jaunt to Hartlepool - 6 June 2011

Had a lovely, relaxed evening with Ollie and Jack in Hartlepool, chatting to local people about the strangeness of the modern twitching scene, enjoying urban Kittiwakes, and reminiscing over the fortunes of Red-backed Shrikes in the UK. Also, nearly fell to my death five feet up a scaffolding gantry in the back of a pick up (thanks John!!) while trying to digiscope a White-throated Robin in a walled garden, and later almost ended up walking back in to York in the dark as Ollie's car nearly ran out of juice. Fortunately our adrenalin and buzzing vibes kept it going all the way back to town.


Jack and Ollie walk the plank.



A dull grey bird that caused a lot of raised blood pressure and latterly, a lot of elation - see here for a better shot


Independent Urban Kittiwake


Red-backed Shrike beauty


P.S. The dull grey bird was actually a stonking White-throated Robin...