More Red Kites

Always good to see red kites. Two appeared at the weekend with buzzards near Staple Hill on the Blackdowns - record shots below. One was still present on the morning of the 28th. There has certainly been a large influx from the continent over the last couple of weeks:

Around 30+ crossbills present close by too, including a large number of juvenile birds...

Red Kite over Chard

Just walking my usual patch up over the fields from my house this morning when I glanced up and saw this beautiful Red Kite drifting slowly overhead! First time I've caught up with them around Chard. It drifted off and over the town centre before getting mobbed by a Herring Gull and flying off to the south towards Tatworth.

Great Reed Warbler, Weston-super-mare SW

Record shots of the Great Reed Warbler at Weston sewage works. Poor quality but it was overcast and 6am so hardly surprising...

Woodchat Shrike, Noss Mayo, Devon

Stunning little bird and very confiding for a shrike - viewed down to 10 feet at times. Aged as a 1st summer male - I think it also has traits associated with a female, lots of white around the lores and a greyish back rather than black? Does have quite a bright head though, so maybe it is a male...

White Stork, Curry Moor

Distant record shots of the white stork on Curry Moor near Taunton. As I watched it, it took off and flew towards me before circling high and out of sight.

Axemouth, 5th May 2012

Not much on the river at low tide today but an obliging whimbrel provided enough distraction to keep me happy.

There were also a handful of grey plover and some black and bar-tailed godwits - some in stunning summer plumage.

Yellowhammers

I love yellowhammers. Six singing males around my local patch and at the moment, they just sit up and let you photograph them at this time of year.

Blashford Lakes

Last week my work took me back towards Hampshire so a couple of hours at Blashford Lakes helped fill in some time between jobs. The Lakes had been quite busy up until the day before, little gull, water pipit, little-ringed plover and osprey all appeared on the notice board. Not on the day I visited though. A few noisy redshank and a common sandpiper were the only waders of note on Iblsey Water, a pair of goldeneye, 5 common tern and 3 greylag finished it off.

Yellow-legged Herring Gull

Photographed recently on the Isle-of-Wight, this appears to be a normal argenteus type Herring Gull but with distinctly yellow washed legs. I believe they do occur in small percentages of the population along the south coast but this is the first I've come across.

Cirl Buntings, Devon

Going to see my accountant down in Devon isn't all bad. A quick detour to a regular Cirl Bunting site proved worthwhile with two pairs feeding quite close on the ground. Here are a few shots of the male birds:

Lovely birds and helped make up for the fact that I was missing the Black-winged Stilt at Abbotsbury.

Little Dipper!

A trip down to South Milton Ley over the Easter weekend proved uneventful. The Little Bunting, which had been happily feeding up to two minutes before we arrived, disappeared not to be seen again until late afternoon. By that time we'd moved on to try and catch up with a pair of Garganey on Slapton Ley - no joy there either!  On to Yarner Wood for pied flycatcher (yes!) and a fine bunch of Mandarin duck by the car park hide too.

Finally back to Budleigh Salterton, last stop of the day to try and see the purple heron that had been showing on and off for the last few days. We were directed to a ditch where it had vanished an hour ago...things were not looking good!  We finally gave up and headed back to the car when a final glance across the field produced...

a very distant purple heron in the murky light skulking along the edge of the ditch.

Med Gulls - Isle of Wight

A week's holiday out of the region in the Isle-of-Wight before Easter brought my first swallows and this stunning adult Mediterranean Gull at Ryde.

Not to mention one or two common locals as well...

Iceland Gull, Chard Res

Super bird for the res, found by Kevin Harris a week ago and returned today for its third visit:

It's a gull thing...1st Winter Caspian Gull, Axmouth, Devon

I've been trying to catch up with this beauty for a while now and finally managed to get a few shots of it on the river near the tram sheds...

Also an adult summer med at Coronation corner along with a decent smattering of waders including black and bar-tailed godwits, some in full breeding plumage.