Honey Buzzard

Nice few hours spent at Wykeham Forest raptor viewpoint in Yorkshire yesterday with the highlight being these views of a Honey Buzzard overhead. Lots of Goshawks too...

Honey Buzzard

Another catch up...

Not much time for words again, so here's a selection of videos and images from the last few weeks...

Videograbs of one of two Honey Buzzards at Wykeham Forest. Also seen were Goshawks, Kestrels, Common Buzzards and a juvenile Marsh Harrier. See the video here. 

Marsh Tit near Scarborough

Videograb of an Osprey at Rutland Water. Other Birdfair birding highlights included Red-necked Phalarope and Great White Egret. 

Wood and Common Sandpipers from Druridge Pools

Phonescoped shot of one of two Scaup back at Chevington today (29th). 2 Spotted Redshank were here on the 27th. 

A few others from Norfolk and Rutland...

I've finally gone through the last of my photos from the few days me and my dad had in Norfolk in mid-February as well as Rutland on the way home.

A day in the Brecks produced the briefest of views of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, as well as a Golden Pheasant, 17 Parrot Crossbills and a Goshawk among others. Sadly they were all too quick for photos!

The following day on the north Norfolk coast one of the highlights was the flock of 100+ Snow Bunting at Salthouse, along with the geese on my previous post.

And on the way home we called in at Rutland Water, where 5 Smew included a very showy redhead and my first drakes for seven years!

Smew

Snow Buntings

Muntjac 

Harwood Shrike

The Great Grey Shrike was the highlight of a trip to Harwood Forest today. While watching it through the scope we saw the Shrike drop onto the ground and catch a lizard, which it impaled on the top of some dead sticks. The bird flew away so we decided to get a closer look at it's larder to find it had caught a male Common Lizard. By the time we had returned to the original spot we had been watching the Shrike from, it had returned and was eating another lizard which it had also impaled on a different pile of sticks nearby. An awesome experience!

Also in the area were at least 2 Goshawks, 8+ Buzzard, 3+ Sparrowhawk and 3+ Kestrel, along with 2 Stonechats and my first singing Common Chiffchaff of the year.

Great Grey Shrike

One of the Shrike's larders