January & February 2005.
January and February were very busy months for me. The first part of January I chasing Waxwings around North West England, then I found a flock of 200 birds within a mile of my house, including a colour ringed bird.
I also made several trips to North Wales in an effort to photograph Short-eared Owls that had taken up a winter residence in an industrial estate. These birds proved to be approachable, despite warnings to "Stay in the car".
I was able to get come great pictures of one bird perched on a fence post. Bonus birds here were Richard's Pipit and Sparrowhawk. Elsewhere there was an unseasonal Little Gull at Crosby and a gorgeous male Long-tailed Duck
at West Kirby marine lake. A first record of a wintering Pallass's Warbler at Crossley in Cheshire was a well watched bird as well as the Firecrest at Rivacre Valley CP. My back garden also had three wintering Blackcaps,
a male and two females. One female started eating apples on the lawn and allowed me to photograph it from my dining room with back door open.
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Click picture for close up
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Long-tailed Duck wing flap
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Long-tailed Duck tail up
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Long-tailed Duck Male 2
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Short-eared Owl Backlit
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Short-eared Owl banking
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Sparrowhawk Post
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Short-eared Owl on post
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Dunnock
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Richard's Pipit
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Long-tailed Duck Male
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Stonechat
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Kestrel
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Pallass's Warbler 1
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Pallass's Warbler 2
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Pallass's Warbler 3
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Waxwing Colour-ringed
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Waxwing Berry-up
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Blackcap yellow berry
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Firecrest Rivacre
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Waxwing Queens Drive
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Sparrowhawk
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Short-eared Owl 1
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Short-eared Owl 2
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Short-eared Owl 3
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Waxwing
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Redwing
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Redwing 2
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Brent Goose
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Blackcap
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Long-tailed Duck
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Goldeneye
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Grey Heron
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Little Gull
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. Photographed at West Kirby Marine Lake, Merseyside, February 2005'))
. Photographed at West Kirby Marine Lake, Merseyside, February 2005'))
. Photographed at West Kirby Marine Lake, Merseyside, February 2005.'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales February 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales, February 2005.'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales, February 2005Crossley, Cheshire, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Moore Nature Reserve, Cheshire, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales, February 2005.'))
. Photographed at West Kirby Marine Lake, Merseyside, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd, North Wales February 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel, Clwyd North Wales February 2005.'))
. Photographed at Crossley, Cheshire, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Crossley, Cheshire, February 2005'))
. Photographed at Crossley, Cheshire, February 2005.'))
. Photographed at Childwall Fiveways roundabout, Liverpool, January 2005. If you look closely this bird is colour-ringed, the colour combination is Red over Green over Light Green. It was ringed at Inverurie 20km NW of Aberdeen 31/10/2004, when the winter 2003/4 invasion began. Notice also the unusual yellow blotches on the undertail coverts.Three days after this picture was taken this bird was again photographed in Exeter, Devon, 380km SSW!'))
. Photographed at Queens Drive, Liverpool, January 2005'))
. Photographed in my garden, January 2005. One of three individuals visiting my garden this winter.'))
. Photographed at Rivacre Country Park, Cheshire, January 2005'))
. Photographed at Queens Drive, Liverpool, January 2005'))
. Photographed at Queens Drive, Liverpool, January 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel Bay, Conwy, North Wales January 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel Bay, conwy, North Wales, January 2005'))
. Photographed at Kinmel Bay, Conwy, North Wales January 2005'))
. Photographed At Chester January 2005'))
. Photographed at Chester January 2005'))
. Photographed at Chester January 2005'))
. Photographed at Fleetwood, Lancashire January 2005'))
. Photographed in my garden January 2005'))
. Photographed at Crosby Boating Lake, Merseyside January 2005'))
. Photographed at Seaforth Nature Reserve, Merseyside, January 2005.'))
. Photographed at Seaforth Nature Reserve, Merseyside Janaury 2005.'))
. Photographed Crosby, January 2005.'))