The Great British Bird Hunt

Join me as I attempt to photograph every native UK bird

[dazthetwitcher]

Week 4 11-05-2014 16 Birds Spotted

Quite a big update this week, mainly because I was fortunate enough to visit two RSPB reserves last bank holiday Monday.

The reserves in question were Radipole Lake and Lodmoor, and both a fantastic locations for visiting birds, particularly water birds like ducks and waders. I was lucky enough to spot 3 rare birds on my travels, but you can read about them elsewhere on this blog.

So without further ado let's get on with this week's spots.

Tufted Duck (Male and Female)

As soon as we arrived at Radipole Lake we were greeted with some gorgeous tufted ducks. They get their name thanks to the small tufts on the back of their heads, which make them look like they need a good haircut. The males are smashing looking birds, slightly smaller than a Mallard, with lovely black and white colouring. The females are a little drabber, but I managed to get a nice shot of one having a little flap.

Here's the male, having just been for a dive.

And here's the female.

Carrion Crow

The Carrion Crow is extremely common and you'll often see them in town centres as well as the countryside. They're often confused with Ravens, but that bird is far larger and stocker with a much thicker, murderous looking beak. While the Carrion Crow is fairly mundane to look at compared to some of our more colourful crows, it's highly watchable thanks to its inquisitive nature. It gets its name from its non-fussy food habits, and will happily eat anything it can stick its beak into. I spotted the first crow on my walk to Radipole's hide and caught the second flying onto the roof of the reserve.

Ravens are stockier than this with much bigger beaks.

Despite their size, Carrion Crows can be surprisingly acrobatic in flight.

Coot

There's no mistaking a Coot and there were a large number of them at Radipole Lake. They're related to the more diminutive and colourful Moorhen and are very distinctive due to the white shields above its beak. The saying 'Bald as a Coot' comes from this bird and it's found throughout the UK. It's worth watching them landing and taking off from a pond as they make a lot of comical commotion as they run across the water's surface ready for take-off.

This one was taken at Radipole Lake.

And this one was seen at Lodmoor.

Cormorant

Sadly, we only have one Cormorant native to the UK. It's a fantastic fisherman, which often puts it at odds with anglers. In some countries, it's even used to catch fish, with a string put around its neck to stop it swallowing what it's caught. This one had spent most of his time diving, so was happily sunning himself. The Cormorant is sometimes mistaken for the very similar Shag, but its white cheeks do give it away. While they are coastal birds by nature, it's not unusual to see them at lakes and reservoirs.

Pochard (Male and female)

Pochards are beautiful looking ducks with striking reddish brown heads that make them easy to identify. They're found throughout the UK and are a regular sight at many ponds and lakes. Interestingly, while over 48,000 Pochards winter here each year, less than 700 pairs actually breed here. They're slightly smaller than Mallards and quite timid, easily getting chased off by other ducks as they hunted around for food.

Here's a male. Look at how red his eyes are.

And this is a female. The males look quite similar after moulting.

Swift

Okay so this isn't the greatest shot, but there's no mistaking the sycthe-like wings. It's most at home on the wing (it can even sleep in the air) and will happily hawk around barns and open fields for insects. The Swift is a voracious eater and can eat over 10,000 flies in a single day when it's brooding. While similar in size to the Swallow, it lacks the Swallow's red throat and its tail isn't as pronounced. We saw this one up by Radipole Lake's hide and it proved to be a real bugger to photo as it was so fast.

Iceland Gull

When we were walking back to the main centre there was a lot of commotion inside, with bird watchers rammed wall to wall. It turned out that in amongst all the Herring Gulls was a rather beautiful looking Iceland Gull. After some direction I was able to spot it, and got a slightly better shot when it flew over to one of the islands closer to the visiting centre. It's quite dainty for a gull and is noticeable for its snowy white plumage. Only around 240 birds regularly winter here, making this quite a spot for me.

Feral Pigeon

This is the more common version of the Rock Dove. You see pigeons absolutely everywhere, so it's somewhat amazing that it's taken me a month to take a photo of some. Known as flying rats, and seen as pests by many, they're easily one of the UK's most common birds and, as you can see here, come in a surprising range of colours and patterns.

The following birds were all spotted at Lodmoor. It's basically a large nature trail with a few handy view points that runs parallel to the beach at Weymouth. This is where I saw the Black-Winged Stilt.

Bar Tailed Godwit

As the tide was out we didn't see too many waders. I did get a good look at this Godwit however. It was quite resplendent with its chestnut colouring (it's a far drabber bird in the winter) and this one also had some rather fetching rings on its legs. The Bar-Tailed Godwit doesn't breed here, using our country as a wintering ground. Up to 41,000 birds can be found here, although this one was all on its own.

Canada Goose

This is quite a common goose that was introduced from North America many years ago. It's now found all over the UK with over 62,000 birds breeding here. I was lucky enough to come across this delightful family, who watched us warily as we walked along one of the nature trails. It's one of our bigger geese and has some striking colouration. I particularly like the second shot which shows a protective father bringing up the rear as his chicks raced off.

Five gorgeous little chicks.

Don't worry kids, I'll protect you!

Linnet (female)

As I was walking down one of the trails I spied this tiny little finch, gathering nesting materials. It's been confirmed by RSPB members as a female Linnet and it's a fairly common bird (although rarer than it used to be). Once kept as a song bird, the males are extremely striking thanks to their crimson breast and forehead.

Gadwell

Another bird identified for my by kind members of the RSPB forum. This one's a male Gadwell and as you can see it's quite a non-descript bird with few notable markings. This one was quite a way off in the distance, which is why the shot doesn't look fantastic.

Grey Heron

Herons are amazing looking birds and I always enjoy taking photos of them. There were quite a few on Lodmoor lake and it was great to see them suddenly take off and fly around looking for better hunting spots. Keen fishermen they can stay still for ages, waiting for the right moment to strike. I'll take a photo of one with a fish in its mouth one day, but that day was not today.

A solitary fisherman, waiting for his prey.

A nice shot of a Heron in flight.

And here's one looking for fish.

Little Egret

Similar to the Heron, this is a fair daintier, more beautiful looking bird. Often mistaken for a Cattle Egret, this is a stunning looking that has become more and more common in recent years. It first began breeding in Dorset in 1996 and there are now over 700 breeding pairs found here. We often spot them at Throop when we visit the lake there, but somehow they seemed more natural here.

Oystercatcher

Although I saw some Oystercatchers at Lodmoor, I spied this fellow at Arne. It's not the greatest of shoots as I was shooting with a hefty 500mm lens, but you can still see that it's a striking looking bird. It's easily identifiable thanks to its bright orange bill, while it's black and white plumage also makes it stand out.

Oystercatchers really are beautiful birds.

I also saw this one, but it looked quite scruffy.

Moor Hen

I've already mentioned the more diminutive relative of the Coot, but here it is in the flesh. Like the Coot it has a shield above its beak, but the Moorhen's is far more striking. It's a lot more timid than the Coot and far smaller, often scared awway by noisier birds. It's a common UK bird with over 250,000 pairs regularly breeding here.

So that's it for another week. I'm going to hopefully get out to Arne nature reserve this coming Saturday with the aim of spotting some more waders. Quite a good showing though meaning I've now seen 48 birds leaving another 224 left to find.

[dazthetwitcher]

Rare birds spotted

Before I started up this blog I told myself that I would just stick to photographing birds that were native to the UK. So that's 272.

I went to Radipole Lake in Weymouth at the weekend, and had my first experience spotting rarer birds. I'm still sticking to my original goal, but I now understand why so many twitchers adopt 'Life Lists'.

As we returned from our walk around Radipole Lake there was a lot of excitement in the reception area of the lodge. The viewing area was crammed with eager birders, all clamouring to see a rare Iceland Gull.

Now even with my half decent knowledge of birds, I struggle to tell the difference between most gulls and found myself gazing out onto the lake, with no idea what I was supposed to be looking for.

Luckily, for me, people were only too keen to point it out, unluckily for me most birders like to use the most vaguest of terms in order to help you track birds down. "See that mural up there? Well look along to the left, then look down and it's the third on the left to the immature Herring Gull." They may as well have spoken in Greek to me.

Fortunately, the Iceland Gull grew bored of swimming and flew to a nearby island where I was able to get a photo of it.

It's a beautiful looking bird with snowy white plumage and a distinctive dark bill. Despite its name, the Iceland Gull breeds in Greenland and Arctic Canada, so there was little wonder that so many people were making a fuss about it.

I felt a tingling of excitement, not just because I finally spotted it, but because there was the likelihood that I may never see another. I started to realise then why dedicated twitchers will happily travel for miles to spot rarities that have been blown off course when migrating.

My next rare spot was again at Radipole Lake. This time it was a Hooded Merganser. It's a saw-billed duck, which is quite streamlined and around the size of a Tufted Duck. I knew it must be rare, because I couldn't see it in my RSPB book. Even the wife was getting interested and I was eventually given its name upon reaching Lodmoor after talking to a fellow birder about my find.

Apparently, this male has been at Radipole for around 5 years and thinks it's a Tufted Duck (it's apparently always trying to mate with the females there). Due to its native home being in America, there's plenty of controversy surrounding this particular bird, as some feel it's escaped from a local park/reserve and isn't technically here due to flying off course. Rules or not, I felt that familiar thrill of witnessing the unknown and began to consider setting up my own 'Life List'.

While I got my answer about the Hooded Merganser at Lodmoor, my reason for going there was to see an elusive Black-Winged Stilt. It's a very rare wader that has admittedly become more common over the years, with over 388 known sightings.

Some twitchers were already there with their scopes and bins (that's binoculars in case you were wondering) and one gentleman kindly lent me his bins and gave me some more vague directions to find it. 'Look out for his pink legs,' he told me. 'See it's there, between the two tufts of reeds'. I exclaimed how bright its legs were and how beautiful it looked and handed the bins back with a foolish grin on my face.

'You didn't see it did you." My wife said after we moved on. 'No,' I confirmed, genuinely upset that I may have missed this once in a lifetime opportunity. Luckily, another gentleman had set up a telescope a little further down the trail and I was able to take my first proper look at it.

It's a delightful looking wader, with long pink legs and a distinct black back. It's otherwise all white, looking a little like a slightly less graceful Little Egret. I was made up, and thanked the stranger (who also hailed from Bournemouth) for the use of his scope. I was made up, I'd seen three rare birds in the space of three hours.

It wasn't until I got home that I received another surprise. Having long giving up on getting a photo of the stilt (my 250mm lens simply isn't long enough) I walked off in another direction and took a photo of the landscape. It wasn't until I was tinkering with the image at home that I realised I had inadvertently taken a shot of it. It's not great, but it's in the middle of the photo. Honest!

I'll be adding the Iceland Gull to my list at the end of the week, but it's nice to know that I have images of the other two tucked away, just in case I do feel the need to start my own 'Life List'. After all, who doesn't like to collect things?

Main stilt image copyright JJ Harrison

[dazthetwitcher]

Week 03 04-05-2014 New Birds Spotted: 01

It's been a pretty poor showing this week, mainly because I've not really been able to get out the house and have a look around. As a result this will be a little note about today's trip to Avon Heath, a place I like to try and visit at least once a week.

Going out with your kids can always be a tricky thing. While you want them to enjoy the nature around them, they're often to noisy and impatient to appreciate what's around. As a result my two girls tend to miss fantastic opportunities.

As they raced ahead on the heath I heard a fairly large rustling in some bushes beside me. Concerned it might be a snake (it was fairly noisy) I carefully looked around and found a magnificent looking male Sand Lizard. Motioning the girls over I was able to get several shots of the gorgeous looking male who was no doubt on the prowl for a female.

Managed to get a cracking close up of him and the girls were suitably impressed as well. He pretty much ignored us, lazily making his way through the underbrush until my youngest got bored and walked off.

It's a perfect reminder that if you really want to look at what our countryside has to offer you really need to open your eyes, look around and take things slowly. It's great to see kids running about and enjoying the sunshine, but it makes you wonder if they'd slow down just a little bit if they got to see sites like this.

We didn't walk too far onto the heath as the girls wanted a drink. As the brood went off for refreshment I spent the rest of my time at the hide, where I saw my one new bird of the week. The delightful Willow Warbler.

Now Warblers can be notoriously tricky to tell apart, but I've been assured that this is indeed a Willow Warbler and not the remarkably similar Chiff Chaff (which has a far more noticeable call). It's a relatively secretive bird at the best of times and very, very flighty, making it hard to get decent pics. I think I managed to succeed however, and got a few cool ones of him in flight.

Here he is having a little wash.

In flight.

Having a wash.

Another in flight.

Having a little rest.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, and while I saw a greater spotted woodpecker, it was too awkwardly placed to get a decent photo. A few birds did come along to say hello though, so I've included them all here. Was particularly pleased with the Nuthatch, while it was quite comical to see the Wood Pigeon simply sitting in the pond forgetting to wash.

Coal Tit

Dunnock

Great Tit

Green Finch

NutHatch

Wood Pigeon

That's it for the week I'm afraid. A little disappointing on the list front, but the Sand Lizard did make up for it somewhat. I'm heading off to Radipole Lake tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have more luck next week.

I've no seen 32 birds, leaving 240 left to find.

[dazthetwitcher]

Where have all the birds gone?

When I was 12, my perfect idea of a Saturday afternoon was to sit at my window with a pair of binoculars and try to spot as many birds as I could. While I was lucky enough to live right next to common ground (it now backs onto a large dual carriageway) I still saw loads of different birds. Thrushes, tits, finches, you name it, they visited my garden and I'd eagerly jot them down in my spotter's guide.

I was hoping to invest a similar interest in nature in my 8-year-old, so I bought a bird table and a couple of feeders to try and coax some nature into our small garden. So far the results have not been good.

While we do have a young, active cat (Hugo if you'd like to know) we also have plenty of underbrush and small trees that offer plenty of cover. In short, there's no real reason why we shouldn't get visitors. Sadly, the last few weeks have been rather non-eventful, with just 2 noted arrivals to our little garden sanctuary, an extremely greedy Wood Pigeon and an overly cautious juvenile Robin. We get Goldfinches, Tits and Starlings flying across or calling from neighbouring gardens, but they never want to visit, which is a real pity.

Hopefully this will change going forward, but one thing's for sure, life in the average garden has sure changed a lot in the past 28 years. I hope this drop off in garden visitors doesn't continue.

[dazthetwitcher]

Week 2 27-04-2-14

Before we delve into the new species, I thought I'd add a couple of birds that I missed off of last week's round-up. One was down to simply forgetting I had a shot of it, the other was good old misidentification.

Collared Dove

This was a shot I took at Chessington World Of Adventures. While it's an extremely common bird, I very rarely see them in Bournemouth, so I was more than pleased to get a shot of this one who seemed to be posing for me. It's a gorgeous looking bird, with pretty colouring and a very pleasing call. It's not quite as pretty as a turtle dove, but it remains a delightful looking bird.

Siskin

Identifying birds can be tricky, with some species being near impossible to tell apart. This one was more of a goof on my part, as I originally thought it was a female goldfinch. Luckily, two kind members of the RSPB forum confirmed that it was in fact a female Siskin, giving me another bird to add to my list. So a big thanks to aiki and doggie who confirmed what a friend on Facebook said.

Siskins are becoming more and more common in gardens, where they regularly compete with gold finches, chaffinches and other garden birds. The males are far more striking in colour, and I missed the opportunity to take some images of some while I was at Arne. I foolishly promised I'd catch them on the way back, but they had long since gone. Something to remember in the future.

Wood Pigeon

The wood pigeon gets an unfair reputation, possibly because it's so common. While it can scare other garden birds away, it's actually a very beautiful bird in its own right, having some striking colouration that makes it stand apart from the drabber pigeons you see in town. This one has been regularly feeding at my bird station, regularly scaring away the juvenile robin that comes for a visit. I don't have the heart to scare it away though, so it keeps on returning.

Blue Tit

I was surprised to miss the Blue Tits when I visited Avon Heath the other week, but I was rewarded with their acrobatic antics this week. My first encounter with them was my trip to Arne on the 26th, where they were swarming over the feeding and pulling off all sorts of acrobatics. I then spotted more at Avon Heath, which is where the second pic is from.

There's just something about Blue Tits that I absolutely love, they're delightful little birds that are amazingly agile and can often be found pulling off all sorts of crazy shenanigans as they forage for food. No branch is too delicate for a blue tit to dangle off and they make for one of our most entertaining birds.

Coal Tit

Here's another tit I've spotted this week. It's a dinky little bird, roughly blue tit sized, but is a lot darker in colouration with a distinctive black and white head. I spotted this one at Avon Heath, where it was attracted to the large mound of seed that had been placed on the floor by a warden. I've never seen one in my garden, but I understand it to be very common, with around 760,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

Nuthatch

I have never seen a nuthatch in the wild, so I was delighted to see three in two days. I saw the first pair at Arne, where they flew down to the feeding station and quickly pecked away at the tasty morsels there. I had no idea how quick the little blighters where, so I had to make do with the below shot. It's not bad, but the nuthatch is partially obscured by the feeder.

Luckily, my trip to Avon Heath was rewarded with a far better picture. I saw the little fellow mousing around in the underbrush, before finally flitting down to feed on a pile of seed. Many will no doubt see this as cheating, but I've learned quickly that you take your shots when you can. I'll be looking for a more natural feeding pose,but this will do fine for the time being.

Swallow

There's a barn up at Arne which is currently off limits as Kestrels and Barn Owls are breeding there (no I didn't get shots as I didn't realise this until I got back to the centre). To the side there's a lovely pasture and as we walked along we saw lots of swallows wheeling through the sky chasing after flies. I soon gave up trying to get a shot of a grounded bird as my daughter was far too impatient, but this image will do for the time being. Incidentally, I've just written an article about Swallow migration in issue 5 of World Of Animals. Be sure to check it out.

Curlew

Okay this is one of those shots that had me wishing for a better lens. When I got to the hide I realised just how far out the birds were, which instantly made me wish the new lens I wanted was in stock. I'm putting this shot up as proof I've seen the bird (I'm convinced it isn't a Whimbrel) but I'll be replacing it at the first opportunity.

Curlews are our biggest waders and are easy to spot thanks to their long downturned bills which are used for grabbing molluscs and other creatures. This one was patrolling the flats on his own ignoring the nearby gulls.

Green Finch (male and female)

Although Green Finches are still exceedingly common (there are over 1,700,000 breeding pairs) I never see them in town any more. I'm sure they're there, picking fights with the other birds, but I just don't see them. Luckily a trip to Arne saw me rewarded with a male and female who were both using the feeder and carrying off food. They're slightly bulkier than other finches, with heavier set beaks that allows them to tackle certain hard to crack seeds. Sometimes confused with the Siskin, they're much stockier and have a very distinctive call. The male is on the feeder.

Wren

Another example of my lens letting me down. As if often the case you'll hear a wren before you see it. Despite being one of our smallest birds, it has one of the loudest voices, with a trilling, larger-than-life song which is a joy to listen to. I soon tracked it to a fern, where it became very hard to spot. To give you an idea of how well hidden it was I've included the original image and a cropped shot.

Rook

As we were heading back from Arne I saw a large bird of prey which I assumed was a buzzard. After excitedly pulling over the car it was nowhere to be seen so I took the opportunity to take some shots of a local rookery. There were loads of rooks wheeling about the air and I managed to get a half-decent shot of one. I had better luck with this guy on the ground however.

Although rooks are extremely common in the UK, we see most of them out in the countryside, as Bournemouth's town centre is typically occupied by carrion crows. They're easy to recognise with their grey bills and slightly bigger than carrion crows.

Shelduck

There's no mistaking a shelduck. They are large ducks, looking like small geese. They are also very memorable with their red bills and gorgeous chestnut stripes on their bellies. This pair were resting at Arne hide and luckily they were near enough to me to get a decent shot. I've also taken one flying, so you can recognise its distinctive chestnut chest. It's a gorgeous looking duck, not quite as outrageously coloured as a Mandarin, but a lost more common.

So that's it for another week of birding. I'm working next week end, which means I'm unlikely to have many new species to show off, but I'm pleasantly surprised with the way things are currently going.

My trip to Arne has made me realise that I need to invest in a better lens to ensure I don't miss out on those waders, so I'll be investigating a few over the coming month.

I've now seen 31 birds, leaving me with 241 left to find.

I'll sign off with the punky looking great tit who had a delightful little quiff and a deer that suddenly rushed out as we were using the hide at Arne.

[dazthetwitcher]

New Update. More Birds discovered

To help with my birding, I've recently purchased the rather useful RSPB Handbook Of British Birds. It's now on its third edition and is filled with fascinating information and beautiful illustrations.

What's interesting to me though is that it adds additional birds to the original list which can be found on the RSPB's own website. It essentially swells the list of 261 species to an even more impressive 272.

In addition it adds a further 24 rarer species to the list that range from the Snow Goose to the Red Foot Falcon. I won't be including these at the moment, as I'm going to struggle with the ones I have already. I'll obviously be including them if they fly past my lens though.

I'll update my last post to take this into account.

In the meantime head to somewhere like Amazon and pick it up as it really is essential reading for the £9.99 price tag and the perfect entry for new and established birders.

[dazthetwitcher]

Week One 21-04-2014 Birds Spotted: 19

Okay this is going to be a big update as I've been sitting on a few pictures which are currently store on my Flickr account. As I've just started this, I won't include images from before this week.

Blackbird (Female)

I caught this female blackbird having a wash at Avon Park, which has just had a new hide installed. She was there for a good five minutes, splashing away without a care in the world.

Dunnock (Male)

This little fellow may look like a Sparrow, but he's from a completely different family. They're very secretive birds and typically stick to the underbrush whenever possible.

Short-Toed Treecreeper

I'm pretty sure its darker legs means this is the Short-Toed Treecreeper and not its more common cousin. I spotted this flying across the nature trail as the kids ran ahead of me. Not the most amazing shots, but I'm currently making do with a 250mm lens, which doesn't give me the best reach. Anyway, this is the first one I've seen in the wild so I'm quite chuffed with the spot.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Male)

You need patience if you want to spot birds, more so if you want to try and get a good shot. I saw this female fly across several times, but she was always too quick for my camera. Eventually she got a little braver and flew in close enough for me to take the following.

Robin (Male)

I love Robins, they're probably one of my favourite UK birds. So full of character and inquisitive. I saw this one at Coy Pond, on a routine trip before picking up the wife from work. They're normally pretty fearless, so you can get pretty close to them.

Long Tailed Tit (Female?)

The exposure here isn't the best, but it's so rare that I see this bird. Interestingly, it isn't related to the other Tits found in the UK, and is instead related to a strain found in Asia. It's a gorgeous looking bird. so hopefully I'll get a better shot to replace this one. This was again taking on Coy Pond.

Jackdaw (Male)

We went to Chessington last Tuesday and I caught this magnificent looking bird as I stopped for a spot of lunch. He'd just eaten a fair amount of food, which is probably why he's looking so pleased with himself. It's one of the most striking crows we have, although I'd argue the Chough would have a word of two to say about that.

Starling (Male)

Starlings are gregarious little buggers, and they always hang around the feeder at my in-laws. This one was snacking on a bunch of meal worms and chasing away anyone else that got too near. While they still fly around in flocks during the evening, their numbers (like many garden birds) has greatly diminished.

House Sparrow (Female)

Another gregarious little bird, and another found at Chessington. This one flew down in front of me while I was watching the penguins, so it was just begging to be snapped. House Sparrows are found throughout the world and are easily one of the most successful avian colonisers on the planet. The only other Sparrow native to the UK is the more secretive Tree Sparrow.

Mute Swan (Male)

No matter what they do, Mute Swans always manage to look serene. This one was swimming on Iford Bridge and had just consumed some bread. He started to have a little preen after this shot, before swimming up river to chase off some Mallards who were annoying him.

Herring Gull

While it's quite stocky, I'm pretty sure this is a Herring Gull and not a Great Black-Backed Gull. Herring Gull are found throughout the UK and are extremely common with over 140,000 breeding pairs. Oh and if someone calls them a sea gull clip them over the head, there's no such bird in the UK.

Mallard (Male)

The humble Mallard is easily the most common duck in the UK. Don't fret though as it's a gorgeous looking bird that never gets the respect it deserves. It has some absolutely glorious colouration on it and the males are incredibly striking. Although I saw one at Chessington, I preferred this specimen at the Iford Bridge.

Black-Headed Gull (Male)

Another very common gull that's found throughout the UK. Like the Herring Gull it's found inland as well as on beaches and is extremely sociable, with over 2.2 million birds wintering in the UK each year. Interestingly, it only has its black head (which is more a chocolate brown colour) during the summer.

Gold Finch (Male)

The Gold Finch is easily identifiable thanks to the gold bars found on its wing and its red face markings. I spotted this little fella with a bunch of mates today at Avon Hide. Unfortunately, my camera's battery began to die as a group of five of them started bathing together, so I was only able to get this solitary shot of one of its own. It's a lovely looking bird though and I never get tired of photographing them.

Pied Wagtail

You never know when you're going to spot a bird, so it's always best to keep your camera on you until the last possible moment. This little wagtail flew across my path just as we were heading to the car. They have an enchanting jaunty walk that I find quite endearing to watch. It's our most common wagtail and is found throughout the UK.

Song Thrush

I used to see these all the time as a kid and they would regularly fly into my garden. They're a much rarer site today, although I was lucky enough to spot this one this very afternoon. It was skulking around in the bushes and finally plucked up the courage to have a wash. It did this for some time before drying off on a nearby branch. A gorgeous looking bird that's a lot smaller than the Mistle Thrush.

Magpie (Male)

I said Jackdaws are one of our most striking crows, but I forgot about the Magpie. It's a fantastic looking bird with a great personality and a penchant for shiny objects. It's found all over the UK and is extremely opportunistic, feeding on carrion and anything else it can get hold of. There are over 600,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

Great Tit (Male) 

Sometimes you are able to take great shots and sometimes you just get lucky. This one is one hell of a lucky shot. I was shooting on Sports and thought I had a picture of this Great Tit as it landed on the tree. While I did get that shot, the one I didn't see was far more spectacular.

Chaffinch (Male)

My last bird of the week is another that was spotted at the Avon Hide. Sometimes confused with the Robin (although I can't really see why) it's another common and very pretty finch. The females are a lot drabber, and can often be mistaken for Sparrows.

So that it for week one. I've got off to a very decent start, but it's worth noting that I've had the week off. It's going to be interesting to see how much twitching I can get done over the following week, but I'm feeling optimistic.

So that's 19 birds spotted, 253 to go!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

[dazthetwitcher]

The Beginning

Ever since I've been a young boy I've had a passion for our feathered friends. I received a Canon EOS 600D for my 40th and it's reignited my passion for bird spotting. So much in fact that I've started up this new blog.

My aim is to take decent photographs or every single bird native to the UK that's listed on the official RSPB website. That's 272 species if you're wondering.

It's not going to be easy, as some are extremely rare and only found in remote parts of the country, but I've got plenty of time in order to track them all down.

The aim is to do a weekly post showing off the photography of any new birds I've discovered. I'd like to hit at least 100 species in my first year, which should be perfectly doable. So let's see how it goes shall we?