Kittiwake and Fulmar and Auks.

As well as the many Gannets at Bempton, there is a good showing of other seabirds. Although I have a good local colony of both Kittiwake and Fulmar, they are not as easy to get close to at home, as they are on the cliffs of Bempton.

With the birds nesting so close it is very easy to get some half decent images.

Close up on a Kittiwake.

 

Nesting pair of Kittiwake.

Kittiwake in flight.

I have always enjoyed trying to photograph the Fulmar flying past. Here the lighting was much better than on the south coast, where one is normally photographing into the light. Fulmars have such a wonderful glide, hardly ever flapping their wings as they use the thermals off the cliff face.

Fulmar on the wing.

Auks are also common on the cliffs, with most of them being Guillemot, but there are also pretty good numbers of Razorbill and Puffin, although the Puffin doesn't show as well as some other sites, due to them nesting in holes on the cliff, rather than rabbit burrows.

Razorbill looking for its partner.

And here he is.

Puffin.

Off  on a Fishing trip.

Puffin returning empty beaked.

Gannets.

 Our trip north was a birthday treat from Lisa. A bit special as I had never been to Bempton before, although of course, I had heard a lot about the site.

I was a little limited with what I could do as I had damaged the back a few weeks before the trip, and it is taking an age to get totally better, however, with careful gentle walking we made the best of it, and it didn't actually stop us doing anything.

The weather during the trip was a little mixed, but also didn't hold us back at all. The star species at Bempton is probably the Puffin, although these are not as easy to see here as some other sites. The Gannet however, is really easy to see and get reasonably close to. It was great watching them interacting with each other. Also a challenge photographing them as they flew past.

Gannet flying past.

My favourite moment came when a partner flew back to land next to its mate. Lots of pair bonding then took place.

     

A Classic type photo.

The patterns on the top of their wings varied depending on their age. The blacker the top of the wings are the younger they are. It's only when they reach the 5th year when they are fully mature. I did find the younger birds very attractive when they flew past.

This one was probably in it's 4th year.

3rd Year.

These birds were amazing, and were seen close as they collected nesting material. The birds would land on the grassy slopes and pull clumps of grass up before taking the grass back to the nest.

Gannet on grass slope.

This Gannet had possibly suffered from and recovered from Bird Flu, hence the strange eye.

Gannet Grooming.

Heading North.

 Lisa and I have recently returned from a trip to Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire. It was my first visit to this iconic site, but as well as enjoying the fabulous birdlife there we also took advantage of being away from our local area by seeing other wildlife we rarely get in Sussex.

As we left home early on a Friday morning, I realised that we were going to miss the flight season of the lovely Black Hairstreak. When I was a young lad getting interested in butterflies this species was the holy grail of butterflies as it was regarded as one of the rarest butterflies in Britain and only found in a few sites between Oxford and Cambridge. Back then, I thought I would never see this species. However, since then I have seen them a few times in their natural woodlands. There has also been a mystery introduction at a local site, where I have seen them several times. However, I still much prefer to see them where they are meant to be and not in an introduced site. There is one such site in Northants which is well known as a really good woodland for them, so after driving a few miles I suddenly had a brainwave idea that we could perhaps visit the site on the way to Yorkshire. I mentioned to Lisa that we could possibly go there on the way up if it wasn't too far out of the way. I was then surprised that she was keen, and after checking on her mobile phone and seeing it would only add 30-40 minutes a plan was devised.

The village of Glapthorn was eventually reached and the woodland we were after just north of the village. The site is managed by the Northants Wildlife Trust and was just a few minutes further on. We were pleased to see only a couple of other cars were parked up, and after having a quick lunch, we saw a group of 3 people returning from the wood. Strangely, Lisa had met one of the guys somewhere in Sussex. I also recognised another chap from pictures taken from Kent. Anyway, they gave us the good news that there were several Black Hairstreak showing well. As it was a site I had never been to before, they also told us the best area to concentrate on.

As we entered the woodland the weather was quite overcast, but at least it was not cold. We soon found the ride we needed and was almost immediately rewarded with several Black Hairstreak nectaring on the Bramble flowers. Nearly all my previous photos of Black Hairstreak have been of them resting on Bracken, so it was really nice getting them feeding. In a short area of the ride we were in we often had at least 5 butterflies flying together, and by walking along the short ride we saw at least 30 Black Hairstreak. An absolutely amazing start to our trip!!

Black Hairstreak on Bramble.

Most of the butterflies were in immaculate condition, as the flight season had only just begun. What we didn't realise was that we would have another Black Hairstreak session later in the trip!!

Late Spring at Elmley.

 Towards the end of April Lisa and I headed once again to the north Kent reserve of Elmley. This time it was a one day only visit, although we were going to be staying overnight nearby to save the long drive home.

One of my hoped for birds was the Yellow Wagtail. A bird I don't see too often, and when I do they are generally distant views as they feed around cattle. Strangely, the first bird we saw of significance was another bird well known for being around cattle, the Cattle Egret. There were a few of them there but only one was near enough for a shot.

Cattle Egret with Cattle.

At Elmley the entrance track to the car park is a couple of miles long, and is known as the self drive safari as the car is used as a hide. The birds are used to cars going along the track and allow a close approach much of the time.

We were about halfway along the drive when I spotted a wagtail fly over the car. Once it settled it was clearly the Yellow Wagtail that I had hoped for. To start with the bird was on the wrong side of the car as it had the sun behind it, however, it then flew to the other side and landed in a shallow dyke. Occasionally it was calling, and I was lucky enough to get a photo in mid call.

Yellow Wagtail calling.

It soon flew back to the wrong side again before then flying further away. We hoped that we would get another opportunity later on.

After parking up and starting our walk, it became clear that there was quite a bit of Brown Hare activity going on. To start with I kept being in the wrong place to catch the action, but eventually, with some very careful and quiet walking I spotted one to photograph close to me.

Although the hare knew I was there it wasn't at all startled, and soon it moved a short distance, which fortunately for me was not in long grass.

Brown Hare.

After several minutes the hare then moved towards the track that I had just walked along. Lisa was the other side of the hare, and as there was a bush between her and the hare she couldn't actually see the animal, despite me trying to let her know that it was there. The beautiful animal posed for me briefly before crossing the path and going into deeper scrub.

Brown Hare.

Later we decided to wander down to the hides, past where we had seen the Bearded Tits on our previous visit. Unfortunately, we didn't see them this time, but once at the first hide we did see several waders. These included a Spotted Redshank, although this was quite distant. The Avocets however, were in the mood for breeding, and a pair mated not far from us.

Mating Avocets.

We have seen this several times over the past two years, mainly at Rye Harbour. As usual the female signals she is ready, and then the male spends some time preening before mounting her. The mating itself is quite brief, but as he's dismounting her he wraps a wing around her and they touch bills before seperating, when they then do a short fast run together. It's all rather sweet!!

The male wrapping his wing around the female.

We decided after this to only go to the next hide, where little was happening. On the return walk Lisa spotted another Brown Hare that was tucked away in the long grass. 

Brown Hare in cover.

After trying for the Marsh Harriers, in the spot we had success last time, with less activity we once again drove down the entrance track. We had been told by a warden that the first baby Lapwing had been seen that day. It wasn't long before we spotted a pair of Lapwing keeping an eye on three little bundles of fluff. As we stopped the car one parent called to the chicks and all three came running to her. The first two quickly took cover, but the third had a job to fit under the parent. Eventually it managed to barge under. Very quickly the parent realised we were no threat at all and the chicks all came back out again and all ran off in different directions. After watching and photographing a chick that came very close, we left the family in peace. They were so gorgeous to watch though.

Lapwing parent with chick. The legs of the other chicks can be seen under the parent bird.

All safely tucked away.

Lapwing Chick back exploring.

A little further along the track we spotted a close Oystercatcher. This smart bird allowed a close approach, and looked superb in the late afternoon light.

Oystercatcher.

We were now approaching the area where we had seen the Yellow Wagtail earlier, but there was no sign of it. However, although it was now getting late we decided to have one more drive up and down the track. This time we did see the gorgeous Yellow Wagtail again, and it was also the closest view we had of the bird.

Yellow Wagtail.

It was wonderful having one more chance of the bird, and was a fitting end to the visit.

The Red Fox.

 I was delighted in early April to get an invitation from my good friend Phil, to visit his new woodland hide that he had built. He had been getting regular visits from a fox, and he hoped that I would get some opportunities to photograph this handsome mammal from the hide.

The day looked to be pretty much perfect, as it wasn't too sunny, which would have given harsh shadows in the woodland setting, but also it wasn't heavy clouds which would have made it too dark.

We spent a couple of hours in the hide together and during that time we had three seperate visits from the fox. To start with it was a little wary, but with each visit it relaxed more and came closer.

Red Fox.

Between visits we were also treated to watching some of the woodland birds at close range, with Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch as well as a couple of birds that I rarely bother with, a Robin and Pheasant!!

Male Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Nuthatch

Robin.

Pheasant.

My thanks as ever to Phil for giving me another unforgettable experience.