New Year 2010/11

A Ruff at Martinmere a few days ago. The snow has all melted and now we just have dull grey drizzly weather: at least this means my flight back next week should be unaffected..............

I visited various well known locales in the last 10 days or so. At Fairhaven there was a good selection of waders on the beach but the lake was frozen over and the only thing of interest there was a male Shoveler on the ice. The waders were fairly close but the sun was right behind them meaning no decent photos to speak of. I did take this though, part of a small flock of finches. I thought it was a Twite at first but on second thoughts it may just be a Linnet.

I also managed to limp down to the river in Penwortham. Not much at all here except lots of Redwings and Fieldfare and a lone Merlin. The ice drifting down the river on the incoming tide looked like something you would see in Alaska, I'd never seen this before in Preston................

Lapland Bunting had been reported near here the week before but the only Buntings I could find were Reed Buntings..............

At Marshside there were no birds at all, this drake Gadwall was on the frozen Marine Lake.

Martinmere was better, lots of Whooper Swans plus the usual ducks and geese plus plenty of Ruff..........

At Fleetwood there were lots more waders on the beach but it was so cold and dark photos were out of the question so here's a Robin in Penwortham...............

I have a new respect for bird photographers in the UK. In Japan the birds seem a touch tamer and consistently dark dull days are the exception rather than the norm.

So a bit quiet on the birding front, one thing I've noticed is that Common Buzzards are everywhere and there appear to be at least 3 Nuthatch territories near my parents' house (the latter was a scarce bird when I was last living here and the former was only common in upland areas I recall).

So Happy New Year to all those who follow this blog.................

England #3

I wish Japanese Robins were as common and tame as European ones.





2 very different chuches.........St Marys in Penwortham and the Minster in York.

Well I made it back to Japan. 27 hours door to door involving a lift, 3 flights covering 5 airports, 1 bus and 1 taxi. I didn't get much sleep but at least the long flight this time featured those little entertainment systems (though if the person in front leans back you can't see all the screen). I watched 'I am Legend' which was nothing special and 'No country for old men' which was rather good.

The last few days in England were quiet after the hectic first week. We did make it out to York, ther first time I'd been there since my early 20's. Unlike me the city hasn't changed so much.





Birding was also very lacklustre. The first Swallows of the year and a Great Crested grebe up the river plus lots of singing Chiffchaff were around last Monday and on Wednesday (my last day in England!) I took a short walk up the lane near yards from my parents' house where I started birding all those years ago. I was surprised to see a pair of Nuthatch (I'd never seen any there before) and amazed to see not one but five Common Buzzard.....it even looks like they might be nesting in a small wood nearby too.......

Here are some of the commoner birds on that very same small lane.....







A bit of a wrench to leave England, 2 weeks seemed way too short. I enjoyed the food I have to say and the beer it goes without saying. British food getsa bit of a bad press but it appears to get better every time I go home. Western staples like fresh bread and decent cheese and stuff like ready cooked Indian stuff from the supermarket helped me pile on the pounds sure enough.

The local birds have changed too. Some common birds are scarcer (House Sparrow) or appear to have gone altogether (I didn't see any Linnet for example), are much commoner (Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Mallard, Goldfinch) or have appeared from nowhere (the aforementioned Nuthatch and Buzzard). Avocet and Little Egret are also apparently well established in the northwest, 2 species I would have considered extremely exotic when I lived in the region.

I didn't see much live footie at all..........except The Liverpool v Arsenal game in the Champion's League. Which was certainly worth watching.

Shall I stay up and watch some rather dull Premier League fixtures tonight? Or should I go to bed and sleep off that horendous journey? I'll decide after my last taste of England..........a bottle of Marston's Pedigree I brought back now safely in the fridge......

England #1

2 of the common birds in England.

So I made it to England and have just about recovered from the inevitable jetlag. It's a pretty brutal journey from Hakodate to Preston. I had to spend a day/night in Tokyo. I went to that kind of bird reserve near Haneda airport for a couple of hours. Great Cormorant, Little Ringed Plover, various common ducks including Gadwall and Shoveler, Azure Winged Magpie, Japanese White-eye, Coot, Moorhen and Little Grebe.............we couldn't face the hassle of a trip into the city before sucj a long journey.

The aforementioned jetlag meant I got up early the first couple of days. On Saturday I made it up the River Ribble, my old local patch. Pinkfooted Goose, Wheatear, lots of Oystercatcher and Redshank, a few Curlew and Lapwing, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Magpie, Jackdaw, Jay, Meadow Pipit, Shelduck and Wigeon, common woodland birds including many of the same species as in Hokkaido such as Great and Long Tailed Tits. Here's a view of Preston taken from a couple of miles downstream.



And here's a Turnstone walking around on the grass at Fleetwood............



Spring is very much in the air here. Green is already appearing on the trees, the cherry blosoms have opened (yes, Japanese people, other countries have these too), daffodils are everywhere and the birdsong is much more noticeable than it ever is in urban Hakodate. Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Greenfinch and Chaffinch are singing all over the place. Some Moorhens have been nesting on the small pond in the woods behind my parents.





And Woodpigeon are everywhere. I can't remember them being this common.........



On Saturday I met up with an old friend and we drove to Marshside. This has changed quite dramatically since we regularly went there in the early 80's. There were no Avocets in them days.





They were too far away for a decent shot and it was also very dark and raining heavily too. Also in the hide were 3 birdforum members and it was nice to chat with these folks in person. They (and my friend) have some serious scopes. In addition to the Avocets we saw Merlin, lots of common ducks, Ruff and Black Tailed Godwit plus another bird that wasn't around 25 years ago, Little Egret. We stopped at the outer edge of our old local patch on the way back and got a new one on my old local list, a 3 Ruddy Duck as well as a dozen or so Shoveler and a Great Crested Grebe.

Franck agreed to sell me his 100-400 lens so I have it with me. I've only been doing halfhearted shotting, this Wren was maybe the best subject so far.






I've been drinking a lot since I got back, eating lots of food unavailable in Japan, ben missing the live football (my parents don't have Sky and I'm avoiding the score of today's Liverpool game so I can enjoy the highlights later on tonight) and catching up with people. Last night was my parents' 40th anniversary party...........I was pretty hungover most of today.

Speaking of wrecks.




This was offshore at Blackpool.............I have to say Blackpool was looking particularly sleazy and rundown.

A bit strange doing this blog on a Windows PC. I've noticed my photos don't look so hot on this one (compared to my Mac where they at least look average). Hmmmmmm............