Raven at Meltham Cop

No photos from this morning's walk but a Raven at Meltham Cop (10am) is worthy of mention, as are the 80+ Pink-footed Geese that over-flew Blackmoorfoot reservoir going east an hour earlier.

This is my first record of Raven from the immediate Huddersfield area, where the species is just starting to get a toe-in. The bird had appeared from the direction of Deer Hill/West Nab but despite a swift interaction with a couple of mobbing Rooks, continued it's journey northwards without lingering.

I failed miserably to get any kind of record shot despite being armed with a long lens and having the bird in view for a good minute at least. I really do need shooting sometimes!

Norfolk Weekend

Snettisham RSPB reserve over high tide got the holiday off to a flier, so to speak, with tens of thousands of wintering Red Knot doing their thing over the Wash at daybreak. But whilst the huge flocks of waders provided the spectacle, it was a goose species that received the nomination for individual star turn.

Bar-headed Goose is a native species of Asia and holds the avian altitude record, with birds witnessed over the Himalayas during migration. In Britain a feral breeding population is slowly establishing itself whilst birds from the larger continental stock arrive regularly on our east coast in autumn. Surely it's only a matter of time before this handsome high-flier is officially added to the UK's list of wild fauna.

Holkham Hall is a must visit site at this time of year especially if the dawn breaks cold and clear. With the rut having just come to an end, stags of both Fallow & Red Deer begin to recover their strength and the views during sunrise can be quite stunning.

Another quality early morning walk can be had at Warham Greens just to the east of Holkham & Wells. Here the marshes provide fabulous encounters with Barn Owls and Little Egrets as they quarter the vast expanses in search of a meal.

The work to protect the fresh water lagoons at Titchwell is well under way with an enormous bank having been created this summer. As a consequence the Parrinder Hide has had to be demolished, though a replacement will be built once the sea defences are completed some time late next year.

This year's wild goose chase drew to a close with our number one target collecting all three points in a hard fought battle of cunning versus stamina. Despite putting in the hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were out-witted by north Norfolk's wintering Snow Goose which under normal circumstances would have been a bitter pill - but the beautiful weather this weekend was the real saviour. In fact just being able to get out and walk from dawn till dusk was reward enough, besides I'm sure the furtive fowl will still be about when we visit again next month.

Bretton Update

After a couple of weeks of chasing up and down the country, it was great to be back at Bretton this morning. The weather was stunning - in fact classical for autumn, with beautiful light and colour - though unfortunately there was little in the way of non- arboreal subjects to 'tog'. Not that I was particularly bothered 'cos I've had a brilliant October, and whilst the pics have been - shall we say - not great, the experience did provide me with some flashbacks to those glorious twitchy days in the 90s when life was so much sweeter!

Black-headed Gulls occasionally make it down to Upper Lake, but whenever they do, it usually means trouble. This bird though seemed like it was practicing for a local gurning competition in the 'mirror'! It's not often they get anywhere near the hide but I'm so glad to have captured this jaw-stretching performance which actually lasted several minutes so wasn't just an impromptu yawn.


It's becoming apparent that the resident Dabchicks (all two of them) have adopted an unfathomable fascination for camera noise. The moment my (rather embarrassing) 20D gets firing, the little monkeys make a bee-line for the hide and won't leave until I'm spent. My theory is that being responsible for some of the daftest noises on the lake, they can't resist an even sillier sound! I wish the same applied to some of the more photogenic species at Bretton - but alas this female Teal was the best of the rest today!