Little poser!

I went to my local bird club yesterday evening, unfortunately I didn't see the Osprey again. There wasn't much about, but this crow was posing, so I spent quite a while photographing it:

Fur Free

Derby Ecofest was on this weekend and I spent both days there. There were some very interesting stalls, but the Respect for Wildlife stand stuck out to me. This stand was trying to tell people about the fur trade. I disagree with the fur trade, it's horrible. It is really upsetting so I am going to let you read about it here then you can decide if you would like to sign the petition at the bottom of the page: http://www.respectforanimals.co.uk/home.php/furfree/more/sign_up_to_our_fur_free_petition/

Two Shrikes in a day!

I had read a lot about Spurn Head and fellow bird watchers told me it's one of the best sites for bird watching. On Wednesday evening I went to my local bird club and I got talking to another member, and he said Spurn was a fantastic at the moment, so me and my dad went home and prepared food and equipment to go the following day.

So yesterday off we went, just before entering the reserve we stopped off to have a look what was about. There were Golden Plovers, Ringed Plovers, Redshanks, Dunlin, Turnstones, Shelducks, Blackbirds, Robins, Sedge Warbler, Mistle Thrush and Starlings.

The day on the reserve started off a little slow, but by late morning we heard there was a Red-backed Shrike at the point, 2 bird watchers were going to look as well, so we went and had a look together. It was a great success, the shrike appeared and we had great views. There were 2 Restarts and a Spotted Flycatcher as well. The 2 people who were with us said there was a Woodchat Shrike at Sammys' point, I had wanted to see one of these for a few years. We didn't know the area so the 2 people we had made friends with showed us the way, and yet again we had a good view, it flew off but when leaving the car park it was in a tree next to the car, so the view was fantastic.

We went back to Spurn to watch one of the best wildlife spectacles there. We were next to the Bird Observatory it watch the numbers of Knot build up on a sand bank a little way up the spit. One of the bird ringers said we could get closer because there was a bird hide in front of the bank, so off we went as quick as possible. We waited for about half an hour, the numbers of Knot buildling and buildling on the bank, among the Knot were, Sanderlings, Dunlin and Grey Plover. There must have been over 20,000 Knot. It was fantastic.

I had two new life species at Spurn, but I will be going back in a few weeks.

Buzzard and Hen Harrier deaths

I found two threads this morning on Birdforum, both of which shocked me.

The first of which is about a Buzzard that was found dead at Holkham Hall in North Norfolk. It is believed to have been shot quite far away from where it died, possibly Sandringham. The estate is offering a reward of £500 to anyone with any information. To read further into this, here is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8257551.stm

The second thread was about a Hen Harrier that was destroyed in Lancashire last week. This story is sickening and a lot of people like me are very, very angry. No one is sure at the moment if the birds were predated or not. To read further into this story follow this link: http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/?p=588

Willow Warbler in my garden

Last Thursday I was very fortunate to have a Willow Warbler in my garden. It spent about half an hour eating greenfly, but I haven't seen it since. I have never had a Willow Warbler in my garden so I was quite thrilled. I had a Garden Warbler visit a few years ago but it only stayed for a few minutes.