10/11

Today I was at Tophill yet again, for volunteering! However yet again I failed to be of much help, but that did mean I got some birding done! The day started with me getting great views of a Male Goldeneye, followed by several females, which were showing well throughout the day. I did get a picture, of the perhaps less vividly coloured female, and it is more of a record shot than anything as I used digital zoom to the max. Like most of my visits, I got yet another lifer: Y fronts (In actual fact 25 of them). I did get a picture of these in flight too, but unfortunately it's not exactly the best again. On the topic of Geese, I saw the most talked about goose of the moment (despite being plastic), the supposed 'Blue Morph Ross's Goose' (Have I got that right?). Anyway, the pictures were crap compared to most other people's so I have not included those, but I have included some of Gulls and a Grey Squirrel instead! Finally, we ended the day by taking a walk up to South Marsh East in search of the Otter which had been seen the two previous Sundays. Unfortunately, we were unlucky from that point of view, but we did still see the incoming bird flocks, and it was quite a show, especially the sound made by their wings moving in unison as they change direction, which was awesome!

Female Goldeneye

Y-Fronts

Worse for wear 1st Winter? GBB

Everyone's favourite ;-)

Awesome spectacle, even if the Otters didn't make an appearance like we'd hoped!

Biro Bird of the Day: Bittern

Sooo, as promised, here is my first biro bird in a while, and I decided to go for Bittern since I said I would draw it the other week, as it is definitely one of my fave birds!

Crap photo, I know!

30/10

So yesterday I had two lifers. First was the Stonechat, which seemed fairly placid, making it not too bad for taking some pictures! Second was an Egyptian Goose,which brings my goose list to 4 species! In the afternoon, I also had a look for some more Larids, but I missed the only Med, so nothing special!

Shoresearch

Yet again no drawings, but I will get some more soon!!!


Anyway, today I went with the Zoological Society to carry out a Shoresearch at Filey! It was fascinating using the quadrats to survey the species, and definitely good practice for going to Whitby in a couple of weeks! Apart from an unfortunate number of dead starfish and crabs, along with the usual rock pool suspects, there were a fair few waders, especially Oystercatchers, Knot, and Turnstones, and long with the usual Larids. Here are some of the Photos!

Oystercatchers, and a few Larids

Knot

Herring Gull

Yan of each

So, as well as learning more EY dialect at Tophill today, I managed to get more actual photos! They are very experimental, and nothing particularly artistic as I was just practising with my recently acquired bridge camera, but these are my three favourite pics of the day! I also got some pics of Teal, but they are a bit to distant, but I had no idea how beautiful their plumage is, definitely one of my favourite ducks!

Wood Pigeon, GS Woodpecker, and Chaffinch

Pheasant in motion

... and Mistle Thrush

This is not the end of my Biro drawings though, more coming soon!!!

Bird of the Day: Bittern

Hi all! So, today I saw a Bittern which I was sooo thrilled to see, as they are such an awesome bird! I got some awesome views of it, and even managed to get a pic, however please bear in mind it is taken with my blackberry through my bins!

Look, an actual photo...on my blog!


Pretty sure a Biro drawing will be added shortly though!

Biro Bird of the Day: Jack Snipe

Soooo, I've just finished my first fortnight at Uni, and it has been pretty awesome so far, so I've been way to busy for Pink Cuckoos, but I've eventually got round to it! I decided to go for a Jack Snipe because I think they are a great bird, and I saw my first one the other day! Here it is. (Since there are no photos from the other day, this is Vince Cowell's from last year)

The Picture is very bad quality...