Always leave them wanting less....

... as Andy Warhol wisely advised, and with that in mind, here's yet more Snow Buntings. A sunny morning and a dash around local sites produced very little, and so a quick ten minutes back on Carr Naze with this glamorous couple was too much to resist. As regular readers know, I bloody love Snow Buntings, and so I make no apologies for repetition.... if you're lucky, you might even get more before we leave for France at the weekend.

Berlin, December 2018

Ridiculously cool / cute caudatus Long-tailed Tit, Teufelsburg

 
Five days in one of our favourite cities with some of our favourite people was resolutely not a birding trip, and I was in two minds as to whether to pack the camera and bins (= three quarters of my carry-on only luggage and a predictable pain in the neck at security) at all.... But I did, and although our adventure time in a nat hist capacity was limited to a couple of hours wandering around a dark, cold, windy Grunewald / Teufelsberg, Berlin provided, as it always does.

Not, Great, not Lesser - just right

 
Within those couple of hours, we'd a brilliantly close fly-by Goshawk pursuing a shrieking Great Spotted Woodpecker, flocks of roving passerines including snowbally caudatus Long-tailed Tits and numerous Marsh Tits, great views of Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Hawfinch and more.

Spot the fly-by Hawfinch aginst the deserted US radar station...

 
While most of our time was spent enjoying museums, Christmas markets and bars, that hardly ruled out the presence of wildlife of some diversity....

Naturkundemuseum - dinosaurs, specimen jars and plenty of decent birds....

 

More Snow Buntings - 12th Dec 2018

A quick wander on a cold, windswept Carr Naze here at Filey and a quick session with these beauties. It's hard not to melt at the presence of super-tame, always alluring Snow Buntings, and despite the buffeting wind, I managed a few half-decent shots; nice to have a male (upper photos) and female (lower) close alongside each other, accentuating the more subtle beauty of the female.

Filey, 11th Dec 2018

We arrived back from a great week in Berlin last night, and with a frosty, bright morning and a couple of hours spare, I took the scenic route to the Brigg this morning along the beach and via the bay corner. No sign of the long-staying Black Guillemot (although it could well still be around), but plenty going on - Long-tailed Duck (pictured) and two Great Northern Divers pretty close along the south side of the Brigg, lots of Fulmars suddenly loafing offshore (with many auks also kicking around), Common Scoter, Eider, Goldeneye and Merganser in the bay and the male and female Snow Bunting (pictured) still on Carr Naze. Good to be back.

Diversionary tactics

After a great evening with the lovely folk of Teesmouth Bird Club last night, I got back home late morning with an hour or so to kill before responsibilities beckoned, and so nipped onto a frosty, bright Carr Naze to check on the assemblage along the sheltered bayside. Happily bumping into comrade Lombard, we descended the slope on the south side to get closer to the action - and (despite the glare of the sun) had a great selection within just a couple of hundred metres.

Will's Black Guillemot had returned, slotting back into its tidal feeding cycle, a Long-tailed Duck bobbed about between a few Eider and Scoter, and all three divers were viewable - including this Black-throat picked up by Dan a little earlier, which gave great views (though not for the camera) as it patrolled the shoreline. After a while, the Great Northern came in closer, too - and proceeded to exhibit aggressive and interesting behaviour towards its rarer cousin.

Initially approaching the Black-throat at speed with head bowed and bill lowered, the Great Northern then dived, disappeared, and ambushed the Black-throat from underwater - surprising it into a panicked, clumsy escape, which the Great Northern followed up with silverback-style profile-raising, splashing its feet dramatically on the water's surface and flapping theatrically. After this scenario panned out twice, the Black-throat sensibly did the right thing and buggered off out into the bay, looking over its shoulder frequently as it did so.

I can't recall watching any similar behavioural intercations between divers herw or anywhere else - there's always something new to learn....

Scotland, Nov 2018 - Secret Squirrels

It's a cold, cold heart that doesn't melt in their esteemed presence, and we were always pleased to bump into them wherever we crossed paths in the Highlands; we even stumbled on a secret feeding spot in a quiet glen, where we had them to ourselves...

Well, secret apart from the clues by the road....

White-tailed Eagles - East Yorks & Speyside

Two White-tailed Eagles, just a couple of days but worlds apart - compare this immature (above and below) in Strathdearn, Speyside on our Scottish trip last week with the immature which sailed in off the sea and over Flamborough village just before we set off (just don't spend too long admiring the crap photos)....

Scotland, Nov 2018 - Crested Tits

A species confined to specific habitat in a small area of central Scotland, we stumbled upon them at various spots in Abernethy and Rothiemurcus forests, and the birds at RSPB Loch Garten were especially accommodating.... sneaking in with gangs of marauding Coal Tits, Cresties were just as tame, happily hopping around your feet and generally showing off beautifully.

Often the easiest way to locate them was by their unmistakable and characterful call - a whinnying trill, almost like a mini-Whimbrel. Photo opps were (as always) secondary to enjoying the experience, and with the light being poor (and my gear far from fancy) I was quite happy with the results, opportunistically grabbed between hand- (and head-) feeding Coal Tits and generally lapping up the scene.