I do like to be beside the sea-Sibe

Following a weekend of easterly winds when I was otherwise engaged, I had the day off to go up to the coast in the hope some of the goodies had stayed.  One such bird, a Siberian Stonechat (recently split as a species in its own right) reportedly showing well at Wells-next-the Sea had lingered and as is often the case, what is reported as showing well on the pager doesn't actually mean anything to a photographer.  On this occasion, showing well meant perched out in the open through a 'scope at a range of 50+ yards, which is fine for looking at, next to hopeless for getting any decent shots, only by heavily cropping an image was I able to get anything.

Nearby a Great Grey Shrike was also showing, though even more distantly, and as shrikes do so well, showing on top of a bush one minute, vanishing the next.
Next on to a quick wander round Holkham park to photograph the Fallow Deer, which were taking a rest from their rutting under the trees, and although they are a resident herd and must see people every day are still remarkably wary but by slowly approaching them, good photo opportunities are available.

The afternoon was spent wandering around Holkham Pines hoping to stumble across a Yellow-browed or Pallas's Warbler but only Chiffchaffs and an obvious influx of Robins were to be seen.

Hide and seek

Following a couple of uninspiring (from a photography viewpoint anyway) days around Matsalu, we headed east to the Alutaguse Forest where there are some hides to watch and photograph bears from.  Arriving at 4.30pm, we met Ahto, the guide who handed us the keys and directions to the hide and we set off, and after a bit of a walk found our accommodation for the night, a wooden hide with bunk beds.  Before we had even got our camera gear set up we had our first visit from the local Raccoon Dogs, curious but fantastic animals that looks like some sort of cross between a Raccoon and a Badger.

During the evening we had up to four of these at any one time, and after a couple of hours we also had a visit from a young Red Fox, who although unsure about the Raccoon Dogs at first, eventually came down for scraps.

As the light faded just before 8pm, the unmistakable dark shape of a rather large male Brown Bear appeared at the back of the clearing.  Although there is a solar powered light illuminating an area where the main bait had been hidden, from a photography point of view, it was as good as pointless trying to get any photos but I managed one in the gathering gloom.

Rockin Bullwinkle

Having looked for them in British Columbia and in the Adirondacks of North America without any success, Moose (or Elk depending where you hail from) have taken on something of a mythical status. It was surprising then that on our first morning in Estonia, we actually saw some, two to be exact, right next to a main road on the edge of Matsalu National Park.  At first they were unconcerned by me swinging the car round and parking opposite them but they soon ran across the clearing and into the trees before I could get my camera prepared (despite the moose crossing signs, I hadn't actually expected to see one!), but thankfully Toni was a bit quicker on the draw and managed a series of shots.

The rest of the day was spent in Matsalu, visiting the various observation towers, which although fine for viewing birds from a distance, are next to useless if you actually want to photograph anything.  An unidentified Spotted or Lesser Spotted Eagle over the road which drifted off before I could get a proper look and a few distant White-tailed Eagles sat on rocks in the bay were about the day's avian highlights.

Brecks Crex

Early August is never the most exciting month to go birding round the Nunnery Lakes, but a lunchtime wander can be quite a nice break from the office.  One such wander this lunchtime was fairly uneventful, I spent 15 minutes counting Peacock, Large and Small White, Comma, Meadow Brown and Small Copper butterflies for the Big Butterfly Count given the lack of general birdlife around the reserve.  However, just as I headed back to the office and walked along the overgrown footpath by Bob Clarke Lake, up from beneath my feet flushed a small streaky bird with dangling legs.  With my mind elsewhere, it took me a few seconds to put the features together as I watched it drop again a bit further along the path.  Certain it was something interesting, I slowly walked along the path but unable to see the bird on the ground due to the long grass and overhanging nettles and eventually the bird again flew up from just in front of me and confirmed itself as a Corncrake.  Unfortunately on this second occasion it flew across the river and despite a search of the meadow it looked to have dropped into a short while later and again by Nick and others later on, it wasn't seen again.

Unbridled relief

Having left Inner Farne behind, we left Seahouses, heading for Cresswell Pond where the Bridled Tern had been seen.  Now with the bird news coming through Twitter on the mobile, you are reliant on a good mobile internet signal, but the Northumbrian coast (well for Vodafone at least) is not an area where good coverage exists, and so we had no idea if the bird would still be present given the last news we had was that it had flown out to sea.  After what seemed like an eternity driving slowly down the coastal route with day-trippers, we arrived in the car park at Cresswell Ponds at 5pm to be greeted with the news that the bird had returned since the last news we had, but had then flown back out to sea.  Knowing we still had a 5 hour drive ahead of us, I begrudgingly gave myself a deadline of 6pm to see the bird.  The minutes whistled by and still there was no sign of the bird and anxious glances at the watch ticked off the quarter-past, half-past and then quarter-to markers and I again resigned myself to defeat.  Then a shout came up from a couple of birders on the dunes who were watching out to sea, and a short dash later and although I didn't have my 'scope with me (the bird had been showing so well on the Farnes I figured I wouldn't need it!) I soon got onto the tern flying just offshore, easily picked out from the surrounding Sandwich Terns by its dark back.  Unfortunately the bird was too distant to bother taking any photos as I had just grabbed the 70-300mm lens rather than my 500mm, but after watching the bird for ten minutes and relieved that I had at least seen the bird that we had come so far to see, the clock ticked to 6pm and we set off on the long drive home.

Bridled Tern

Note, this isn't the actual bird, but one I saw earlier this year in Australia, but had I taken my big lens up to the dunes, this is about the sort of image I would have got!!

Fantastic Farnes

There's no better place in the UK to photograph seabirds than the Farne Islands.  Each summer, tens of thousands of Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes along with a good number of Sandwich and Common Terns, Shags and other seabirds nest on these islands with the National Trust wardens doing a fine job monitoring the birds and dealing with the thousands of visitors.  With the Bridled Tern that had spent the last few days around the islands having clearly gone, we spent a relaxing few hours photographing on one of Billy Shiels' boat trips around the island with an hour on Inner Farne photographing the birds.

Puffin

Common Tern

Guillemot

Kittiwake

Razorbill 

Shag

Just as we headed back to the boat, news arrived that the Bridled Tern had been relocated some 20 miles to the south on the mainland, typical, but the twitch was back on.....

Unbridled agony

Any excuse to visit the Farne Islands is fine with me, so when a Bridled Tern appeared earlier this week, it seemed like a good reason to go. All week the bird has been showing well though it does disappear for hours on end on fishing trips, and although it hadn't been seen so far today we set off from Thetford for the long drive north. Five hours later we pulled into Seahouses and although the tern had been seen briefly at lunchtime, it had since flown back out to sea, we still booked on one of the boats across to Inner Farne. On landing there was a group of disconsolate looking twitchers staring forlornly at the roosting terns by the quay and it was soon obvious there was no point waiting with them so I resigned myself to missing the tern and spent the next half hour photographing the abundant Puffins and Arctic Terns on the island instead.

Puffin

Arctic Tern