Three pics I took on Sunday - two near the Conway Valley Hawfinch site at Llandbedr-Y-Cenni and one of Llanfairfechan seafront ....... if I can get these in focus, the birds will surely follow!
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Continuing the Welsh theme, the Great Grey Shrike is still up in Clocaenog Forest .... and the bloody Black Scoter is showing today at Llanfairfechan (where it wasn't on Sunday!!!) - such is birding.....
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies....
After a chilly day down in North Wales yesterday I got back to hear loads of news from those with the sense to stay local over the weekend....
Latest RSPB press release of relevance (although I own up to the headline)....I usually glaze over after counting the first few hundred of the whistling horde, so well done to Graham for persevering...
With all the usual suspects still in place yesterday I may mooch on down to North Wales this weekend, after weeks of resisting the charms of Conway and Llanfairfechan....
It was good to see a male Blackcap in the garden at Dempsey Towers this week, but more interesting to watch how it was feeding...
Here's the oddest shopper in St John's Precinct last autumn!
Ken Horton sent me the pic, taken by Brian Johnson in St Johns Precinct in Liverpool in September/October last year.
The Water Rail was happy prowling about the glass enclosed water features and ledges of the centre, but God only knows what it was eating!
Bit of late news from John Bannon today _ "late" only because I forgot about the bloody e-mail!!!!!
How many have you got? That is the question the RSPB is asking people in Merseyside to answer during Big Garden Birdwatch over the weekend of 28 and 29 January.
By getting people to count the birds in their gardens on a specific day, we can find out which is our most common garden bird. Last year 3,657 people in Merseyside took part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, whilst nationally, nearly 400,000 people recorded 6 million birds in 210,000 gardens.
Kirsten Whittaker, Regional Big Garden Birdwatch co-ordinator, says: "You don't have to be an expert to take part and it's a fun event designed for all the family. Whether you're young or old, an 'expert' or a beginner, there really is no better place to start and the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch provides the ideal opportunity to begin a lifetime's interest.
The word birdwatching may conjure up images of individuals with wellies and binoculars scouring the countryside in all weathers, but in reality, most birdwatching is done by 'ordinary' people watching the birds in their garden or local park."
Texts winged in from Jellyhead as I drove out of the city yesterday _ if only I had a hands free set!!!
Just got this via e-mail....see you at World's End in a few weeks.....
Clear skies and bright sun meant it was a joy to be out at Marshside up at Southport yesterday - wildfowl numbers were down a bit in Marshside One (approx 5,000 Wigeon, 110 Pintail and 70 odd Shoveler), but they could have been lurking somewhere else on the reserve I suppose.
A very obliging Kingfisher on the golf course ditch next to Marshside allowed me to try a bit more digi-scoping - okay, I know the pictures are bloody awful, but I'm only starting out.....
Busy old week in the real world this week, so I've not had much chance for 'blogification.
While I was tazzing north for the Arctic Redpoll and Surfie at Aberlady Bay, more responsible local birders were out nearer home...
Regular blog visitors will know of Benny Fredriksson from Sweden, whose bird table pics occasionally find their way online here.
Nowt new in Benny's northern garden at present _ only Black and Grey Headed Woodpecker and Nutcracker (living in Sweden must be awful!!!!).
Another frosty morning, minus four as I came through Crosby _ I am getting bored with scraping ice off the car now.
I've resisted the temptation to year-list for the last ten years at least now, doing my best to be good and only going for occasional twitches.
But as my New Year resolution is to succumb to temptation, I found myself tazzing round Lancs yesterday trying to rack up a good start to the year.