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I spent an hour on Sunday afternoon on the moorlands looking for Wheatear and Ring Ouzel, I quickly found Wheatear.. a few on show with probably plenty more out of sight.

It was nice to get two new birds this week. well actually on the same morning and about 500yrds apart. Life, UK, County and year ticks all in the bag with an American Wigeon and a Water Pipit.

The Water Pipit ensured that it would be fairly easy in as much as it has been seen on a daily basis for a week or two, however when I arrived it took an hour for it to show itself..... lucky for me that I gave myself those extra 5 minutes.





 

A phone call as I got ready for work to say 2 Bewick's Swans on my patch. Hopping to the car with bins in one hand, camera over the shoulder and a right shoe still not tied I dived in the car put the  phone on speaker to receive the exact location and off I drove in a general direction of Woodford....... 5 minutes later directions received I was parked up.







 

Life bird No 779.
This had been a bit of a bogey bird, I hadn't been up and down the country looking for it over the last few years but I have been to enough good locations to perhaps have stumbled across one, but never did. So this was a concerted trip to nail one.

I received a message that a female had been seen in Neston. So to get one in my home county was worth the 60 minute drive.

Another bitterly cold day with frozen snow making it a little precarious under foot, but at least the location looked good under the white blanket.

An early morning trip to witness a Black Grouse Lek. Mission accomplished .... just.

We left home to relatively bright early morning light and as we progressed through the county it even threatened some sunshine, alas this was all a very false dawn. As we neared our destination the rooftops were now all dusted in snow..... up on the moors the dusting had changed to a few inches . The moorland road was virtually impassable but we were lucky to see 6 male Black Grouse in a clearing that we managed to drive close to.

Finally caught up with a smew in my own county of Cheshire. A little laziness on my part as I could have got the species at a number of sites over the last few winters. Anyway a trip to Moore NR got this female Smew. She was distant and quickly went out of sight but a few record shots nonetheless.