Graham Catley 23/10/2025 Graham Catley 23/10/2025

Another October and another Black-faced Bunting - are they going to be the next Bluetail?

After last October’s Black-faced Bunting find in Lincolnshire https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/october-25th-2024-the-last-chance-saloon this week a female / first-winter was found just across the Humber at Spurn Point, I put off going and on the 21st Chris and myself did another 9.5 miles Lincolnshire coastal slog. At least theer were a few birds compared to the previous week but only thrushes, a few Goldcrests and Brambling plus Merlin and Peregrine enlivened the morning - a calling Yellow-browed Warbler at Ponderosa was out of limits thanks to the RAF and the planes producing a ridiculous amount of noise were ruining and chance of hearing anything different. Moving to Saltfleet in the afternoon we did at least get a brief view of another Yellow-browed Warbler but the dunes edges failed to produce and rare Wheatears, larks or Desert Warblers - a fairly typical Lincolnshire coastal foray. The 22nd dawned sunny and nice and tehre were clearly birds about on Waters’ Edge but news of the Black-faced Bunting’s continued presence set me off on the 36 mile trip to Spurn which went quite well.

Before the long sandy walk the news did not seem good as the bird had not been seen for over 90 minutes and on arrival at the spot I joined the crowds, surprisingly numerous after four days, and news was again not promising. A few very brief flight views and then it skulked for another 90 minutes. Here it was somewhere between us and them feeding in the marram and scrub on the left side of the road.

The passage of the odd vehicle was actually conducive to moving the bird around and producing more chance of it reappearing in view

But after two hours it seemed like any shot in focus would be welcome

A real birder’s bird - suptle and elusive

Initial views were often hindered by sea buckthorn but at least the eye detection on the camera was beneficial

It occasionally raised its crown feathers when alert

Lighting and viewing angles change the appearance of the bird - it could easily be passed over as a Reed Bunting in a view like this

When the AF on the camera has a little blip

As the crowds dissipated in the afternoon the bird became tamer and more predictable grovelling around feeding on the floor in the open at times though the light had gone

colours changed markedly with sun v cloud

Just before I left it perched in a low buckthorn for a minute or two and I got my best images - those on the ground look a bit dull - note the lateral crown stripes and grey nape - collar but the distinctly Dunnock like upperparts

Ceratinly not the most stunning rare bunting but educational

All images were with the Canon R6II and Canon RF 200-800 lens

A distinctly duller bird than the 2024 Lincolnshire individual which could mean it was a first-winter male?

underparts are arguably more distinctive than the upperparts

Graham Catley 14/10/2025 Graham Catley 14/10/2025

Turkestan Shrike in Suffolk costs me the bird of a lifetime

With abundant images of a superb adult male Turkestan Shrike on Dunwich Heath in Suffolk having been tempting me for a few days and as there seemed to be no chance of a change in the weather and no East coast migrant arrivals on the morning of 8th when news of the bird’s continued presence appeared at around 09:00 I quickly booked two nights at the Ship, Dunwich and we were off - the A17 was its usual self but with the forecast of a dull and possibly wet morning giving way to a bright and sunny afternoon in Suffolk it was somewhat surprising to hit thick cloud and rain as we moved south from Norwich - cursing the MET Office and their incompetence, amazingly as we passed Blythburgh, with all its UEA Bird Club memories, the rain stopped and as we drove into Dunwich car park the shrike was on view and posed nicely for the next 90 minutes after which it went into its roosting site BUT at this point I received images of a White-throated Needletail on the phone apparently taken at Top Hill Low just 45 minutes from home! Surely it was a mistake? but as details emerged that it was genuine though the first hopeful arrivals failed to locate the bird and it seemed almost safe to be in Suffolk!. I even messaged people saying I was on a cliff, at Dunwich, waiting for it to move south. Later shattering news came through that it had found a cliff but at Bempton - there was no way that I could have got there through the horrendous Beverley roadworks that evening so it was a nervous night waiting for negative news the following morning! The news was indeed negative and the shrike was showing well in sunshine now after which we had a nice walk to Minsmere with scones and clotted cream accompanied by two juvenile Hobbies what could go wrong? Stress levels were suitably reduced then a late evening text arrived to say the swift was at Filey! We had another night booked at Dunwich and I knew that getting permission to leave early was not on the cards! Next morning of course the swift was found at Scarborough and if I had been at Filey with the others then I would have seen it - the one species in the world I most wanted to see having missed them on a trip to China in 1993. We were heading back north following the usual tractors when news came through that it had disappeared to the north so there was no rush. The following day I headed to Bempton on the very, very remote chance that the swift would have returned or be found up the coast but after 10 hours I gave up - will there ever be another one? well I very much doubt if there is that it will be so close to home and chatting with several people at Bempton I was treated to some very gripping stories that did little to relieve my disappointment but as they say its just a BIRD but a damned good and very big one - meantime here are some images of the shrike whcih was also a very nice bird but will always kindle some rather mixed emotions

First view of the Turkestan Shrike on its favoured gorse clump

all images were with the Canon 200-800 and Canon R6II

The background really complemented the bird’s plumage if you stood in the right spots

with little light it was difficult getting any flight shots on the 8th

Dartford Warbler in the bushes by the shrike

Dawn at Dunwich Suffolk on October 9th - the impact of flights really struck me in this skyscape

Bellowing Red Deer stag at first ight Dingle Marshes

an early morning Wheatear on Dunwich beach was rather Northern

the 9th was at times very warm - lovely heathland landscape at Dunwich

looking south to Dunwich coastguard cottages - the shrike’s favoured gorse clump is middle left

Sun makes all the difference to images - I tried to change from simple shrike on a perch shots a bit - here some well gnarled gorse

a bit more light for flight shots on the 9th but amazing how often it flew down in the wrong direction!

Another pellet but with rather less consistency

Minsmere woods are beautiful in late autumn sunshine - plenty of Common Darters and fungi

Graham Catley 04/10/2025 Graham Catley 04/10/2025

October 2025

Well for an east coast birder the month has simply followed the abysmal september with westerly winds and gales on 4th to be followed by another full week of westerlies and no prospect of any eastern arrivals but the month started with a great sunrise and by turning 180 degrees there was a complete rainbow just before sunrise -

sunrise on 1st before the inevitable rain arrived - some great shafts of light piercing the coloured clouds

passing birds were restricted to Black-headed and Common Gulls

the rainbow did not last long and soon lost its intensity

The Pink-feet did not arrive until the best of the light was gone sadly

I generally avoid man made scenes but this seemed appropriate

Cormorants leaving their roost just before sunrise

Pink-feet and wind turbines later in the morning

Pink-footed Geese - up to 12000 have been commuting over our garden morning and evening

My best passerine on 2nd a local Reed Warbler on Waters’ Edge - not really late even locally they used to be fairly regular to mid-october but in recent years they seem to have left earlier - my latest local bird was at Barrow Haven from October 27th - 28th 1977

A Paddyfield Warbler one day would be nice!

Great White Egret crossing a line of Pink-footed Geese over Water’s Edge last week

182 on the photo challenge - it has taken a long time to get an image of a Jay by chance as it were as there have been a few birds round the local pits this autumn with a very productive acorn crop to attract them

183 Dartford Warbler from last weeks trip to Suffolk described in the blog post above

184 adult male Turkestan Shrike - full details and many more images from the Suffolk trip in the blog post above

185 Black-faced Bunting at Spurn Point - certainly not what I was expecting to add just a year after the Lincs bird but much better images linked by clicking image above

Graham Catley 01/10/2025 Graham Catley 01/10/2025

Sunset over the Humber accompanied by multiple thousands of Pink-footed Geese

On Sunday the dull morning broke toa glorious afternoon and it looked like the evcening would be calm and without cloud so a sunset as the Pink-footed Geese arrived at their Humber roost north of Read’s Island. The scene was set and it almost played out with geese streaming in but they whiffled down a bit early missing the peak of the colour in the sky but I did manage some flocks with the beautiful moon before they hit the orange glow. A memorable evening hopefully illustrated below.

Most of the flocks of geese flew above the moon but persistence eventually paid off

With the 200-800 zoom lens I played about with compositions including more geese then zooming in on the moon but passing flocks are quick and there is little time for change of mind

The flocks were far enough away to make it possible to get the birds and the moon in focus at the same time which is rarely the case

as they started to hit the weaker colours the flocks started to whiffle down

its always a toss up as to whether to include less bigger birds or more smaller birds in the scene

The upper cloud was a deep purple merging into oranges and more pastel shades before it intensified

The roosting throngs are a long way off on the sand bar but visible in the line of light

just before the sun dropped below the horizon

Graham Catley 17/09/2025 Graham Catley 17/09/2025

juvenile Dotterel

I have not actually seen many juvenile Dotterel and the last one was on the totally unsuitable and pretty horrible looking Humber mud at North Killingholme - saw a couple on Scilly way back in the 80’s but the draw of this bird on Burbage Moor was a bit too strong - driving through Sheffield was a nightmare, note to self never go near that place again, and the bird was pretty inactive and never fed while I was there - assume it does feed at some point but you do just get the feeling that maybe something is wrong which sort of diluted the beautiful views of a stunning little wader - anyway a selection of images in very strong winds and light from bright sun to pretty dull - all with the 100-500 lens it was so close you certainly did not need a big lens

big lenses were not actually needed it was so close so zoomed out to 100mm to take ina bit of habitat

although very windy and looking black all around it kept fine but the wind was very strong

didn’t see much of the back of its head or its legs for that matter as it spent most of its time sat down sheltering from the wind

the sun was still a bit high for backlit shots but I had a go

Graham Catley 02/09/2025 Graham Catley 02/09/2025

September 2025 where did August go?

A nice couple of mornings to start the month with a few images I have been quite pleased with - nothing added to the challenge list as yet with all local wetlands bone dry the chances of passage waders will require travel

Black-headed Gull proving how little water is left in one of the main lakes on Waters’ Edge - surely it must get a decent wader at some point!

trying to be a bit nore creative with the seemingly mundane locals - Little Egret Waters Edge

shot through a very small gap in the reeds early am against the rising sun

Autumnal butterflies in their habitats - Speckled Wood

Red Admiral basking in the early morning sun

and a Red Admiral showing its perfect camouflage on some dead leaves at Wild Wrendale

This juvenile Little Grebe still begging for food from its parent

Spotted Flycatcher in Waters Edge this morning my second of the autumn locally - maybe a Pied next?

Spotted Flycatcher almost being taken out by a Woodpigeon

a few challenge additions starting with Barn Owl 168

169 a bit of a stretch on a small image of one of two adult pale Arctic Skuas over the Humber at Barton on Sunday during a little influx of seabirds

while watching the Humber this Otter was fishing in the edge of the tide in the middle of the day catching three flatties while we were there

170 Whinchat one of three at Wild Wrendale on Monday

juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Humber

171 Northern Wheatear - long overdue but rapidly becoming a scarce migrant another sad decline

172 juvenile Little Stint at Covenham Res - as usual terrible shooting angle as the birds were down the bank but at least the light was decent

actually better feather detail in dull light

my first decent views of the year of another species in serious decline that gets harder to see year on year

photo highlight of the day was this beautiful little Redstart - more images later

first calendar year Redstart Donna Nook September 9th 2025 but could it be a male?

The Lincolnshire coast buckthorn forests undoubtedly hide more vagrants than they reveal

I sat down on the edge of the buckthorn and just waited and eventually it came towards me perching up on this nice dead twig between bouts of insect hunting on the track

a flock of juvenile Black-tailed Godwits by the Humber Bridge on the highest tide of the series

The bridge is a major barrier to migrating birds which can take minutes to hours attempting to negociate their way over or round it

We watched this bota being loaded at Hull from our side at the weekend and then it passed Spurn Point while I was at Donna Nook - human impacts are everywhere

this juvenile Hobby made my day as it appeared very briefly in a gap between trees and bushes as it fed on mixtas over a local quarry tree canopy - the first shots I overexposed by three stops but retrieved — I have not had a nest locally this year so no regular photography which has been a disappointment but seem to be seeing birds almost daily for the last ten days

the autofocus managed to stay on the small bit of the bird even when it went behind the bushes

little stunner maybe tomorrow will offer more chances

Covenham reservoir September 16th 2025 - certainly not the most scenic of locations but a real Grey Phalarope magnet in fact I have seen 12 there since my first in 1972 - yes that was 1972 a mere 53 years ago - a bird the size of a phalarope in the middle with waves is not an easy bird to find

Having visited the type of Arctic habitats where these birds breed in June linked by clicking image above, it is clear that they are very tough little birds but leaving the relative calm of the Arctic in summer to meet Atlantic gales and monstrous seas must be a deadly combination for so many of the young reared - hopefuilly these two will survive the winter

Another trip to Covenham Res in rather variable weather but with strong westerlies and some heavy showers passing though interspersed with sunny spells - the two first-winter Grey Phalaropes spent a lot of time out in the middle of the very big res but occasionally came in closer to the bank though of course angle is not great but both nicely marked birds and 173 on the challenge list

one of the easier small waders to ID in flight

the water colour at Covenham is never very pleasant or scenic

Having failed to visit an Arctic Tern colony in the summer it was a species missing from my photo challenge list so the presence of this beautiful juvenile at Covenham was a fortuitous 174

There were also four juvenile Black terns but they never came close so these were big crops but 175 and a mini milestone in the push to 200 on the photo challenge list

juvenile Black Tern Covenham Res September 16th - a rather dark and contrasty bird that demanded decent views

Good numbers of House Martins around the pits and town of late after a pretty poor summer

Maybe my last Willow Warbler of the autumn

juvenile Dotterely 176 on the challenge list - lots more images in the blog post above

177 juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit which has taken some time to add - up to eight juveniles have been on the local foreshore this week but this one provided soem photo opps as the local Curlew decided it was not welcome on its patch

the forecast for the 21st looked good for a Lincs seawatch and the epic waves and early morning seascape were promising but as so often happens in Lincs the seabirds thought otherwise

An Arctic Skua heads north over a golden sea as the sun came up

A Northern Wheatear dropped in on the beach - precious few on passage in recent years so nice to see any one

Called in at Covenham on return trip with more Grey Phalarope images to delete

a shame the Kittiwake was not a Sabine’s Gull

Assume these pristine Brown Argus and Common Blue butterflies are 3rd generation taken on 22nd

178 Goldcrest - a small arrival of 4 on Wedge on 24th where this one was taken and about 10 at Donna Nook 25th - all continental or are Barton birds British?

a pretty dismal day for migrants at Donna Nook, what on earth has happened to migrant bird populations, I think we know - one of only a couple of Chiffchaffs seen but where was it last week? somewhere in Scandinavia?

certainly a different feel to it than most of the local birds seen in the last week

searching the outer marsh for newly arriived locustella warblers, we can only dream, and walked into this juvenile Purple Sandpiper feeding in the tide wrack on the saltmarsh not a typical habitat

a big brute of a juvenile female Peregrine was one of two marauding the foreshore

A grand day out at Flamborough, nice fish and chips added three birds to the photo challenge list

Brambling 180 the only one we saw and we saw one thrush a Song Thrush!

A rather distant first-winter Red-breasted Flycatcher - since my last visit to Flamborough paths seem to have been closed and move way back from hedges making seeing birds let along photographing them a real problem- why?

My first Whooper Swans of the autumn at Barton 30th

Clouded Yellow North Lincs September 30th 2025 - came across this fine example today in a clover field with about 20 whites

Not having the pre-capture on the R6II getting flight shots is a matter of rapid reactions and a lot of rubbish but I was peased to get anything useful today with the 100-500

Big crops as it was a small in frame image obviously

Plenty of Common Buzzard action in this warm weather - juvenile above and below

Not what you expect to see on a cloudless, sunny and calm day while scanning for raptors but at least it was heading in the general direction of the Humber - juvenile Gannet

Graham Catley 27/08/2025 Graham Catley 27/08/2025

Lincolnshire Pratincoles a very personal perspective:

Talking to Wayne and Clare on the phone on Saturday afternoon, fortunately before setting off on a long walk, the call and walk were abruptly cut short when Wayne exclaimed there’s a Black-winged Pratincole just flown through my scope. The rapid 20 mile drive to Nebraska wetlands near Kirton-in-Lindsey, famous only in Lincolnshire birding terms for the adult male Asian Houbara Bustard shot there on October 7th 1847, saw us watching this cracking juvenile and got me pondering on previous county records and my involvement in a few. Read on and enjoy a few images of past birds.

Adult Collared Pratincole Rosper Road Pools North Lincolnshire May 1st 2011

No sooner had I written the intro to this blog than the first Lincolnshire pratincole record was deemed to be either only a pratincole sp or unacceptable on the basis that other records attributed to said Holme had proven to be less than acceptable hence the 1973 Gibraltar Point bird now becomes a county first:

The first Lincolnshire record of any pratincole was briefly recorded in the 1952 Birds of Lincolnshire (Smith and Cornwallis) as one shot near Lincoln on August 15th 1827 and recorded by Yarrell. By the time of the publication of The Birds of Lincolnshire and South Humberside in 1989 (Lorand and Atkin) further details had been added with the bird now confirmed as Collared Pratincole shot by F Oats at Branston Hall: From Mr. F. Holme I learned, that a Pratincole was shot by Frederick Oats, Esq., of Branston Hall, near Lincoln, on the 15th of August 1827, whilst flying about much like a Swallow and near the ground."

1973: The first Collared Pratincole for the county was one of the first birds to be seen on the newly created Mere scrape at Gibraltar Point on May 21st 1973.

1977: A Collared Pratincole seen at Blacktoft Sands was reported to have flown east over Trent Falls at the head of the Humber on June 11th 1977 before being relocated at Spurn the following day. Maybe a debatable Lincolnshire occurrence as it was only seen from Blacktoft the record was included by Lorand and Atkin but was not repeated in the 2021 Birds of Lincolnshire.

1980: On August 11th I was stood on the old station platform at Barrow Haven when a bird approached mobbed by a large flock of Sand Martins – oddly I had left my bins inside and had to dash to get them but I could quickly see it was a pratincole sp but by the time I was looking at it through bins it was starting to go away and although I suspected Black-winged I never saw enough on it to be sure and it was submitted and accepted by BBRC as a Pratincole sp. After finishing work I searched nearby suitable spots but to no avail.

1981: A Collared Pratincole was seen at the south end of Donna Nook by Mike Tarrant the third confirmed Lincolnshire record.

2009: Amazingly it was then another 28 years before the next Lincolnshire pratincole when a Collared was seen at Frampton Marsh from August 8th – 9th 2009. With this species absent from my confirmed Lincolnshire list there ensued a rapid drive to Frampton on the 9th confounded somewhat by a thirteen-and-a-half-hour journey from North Uist where we had been on holiday, the previous day – overnight but what was another 90 minutes on top of that.

2010: After some very long historical gaps from 2009 pratincole records started to pick up considerably but not many people would have predicted that the next Lincolnshire species would be the ultra-rare Oriental rather than the expected Black-winged. With only six previous UK records the arrival of an adult at Frampton Marsh on May 9th was a major British event. The bird stayed loyal to the site to the 19th with several hundred birders travelling to watch it hawking insects over the new RSPB reserve. [subsequently an early historical record came to light when a specimen obtained in 1908 on the Outer Hebrides Eilean Mor, Flannan Isles, adult female, obtained, 13th July, became a retrospective British first. ]

Quoting from the BBRC report for that year: Oriental Pratincole remains an extremely rare visitor to Europe, and the 2010 record follows one in 2009 (in Kent and Sussex) that was conceivably the same individual. Unsurprisingly, this was the first record for Lincolnshire, and formed a nice double for the new reserve at Frampton Marsh following the previous year’s Collared Pratincole G. pratincola (which graced the same scrapes). It also followed an established pattern of being found in the spring in the south-eastern quarter of England. The nearest breeding birds to Britain are in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent (although these birds are mostly short-distance migrants within India so are unlikely to be the source of our vagrants). However, the east Asian population breeds well to the east and south of the Lake Baikal watershed, and migrates to the south and east to winter in southeast Asia.

Needless to say this remains the only county record.

Oriental Pratincole Frampton Marsh May 9th 2010

I made two trips for this bird on May 9th and 11th with most images taken with the Canon 1D4 and 500 f4 with 1.4 converter

With this being the most recent of the eight British records and none for the last 15 years the chances of another Lincolnshire record are maybe rather slim?

Views of this bird and photo opportunities were superb unlike most county pratincoles

not going deep into ID features but the short tail and shallow fork with chestnut underwing coverts and beautiful cinnamon wash to upper breast are obvious

Oriental Pratincole Framton Marsh May 2010

My twitching history has been somewaht erratic over the years and distinctly lacking in the last ten but in 1993 on May 30th I was in Norfolk with JH looking for a long staying Oriental Pratincole which we missed but the same day we saw the singing male Asian Desert Warbler on Blakeney Point and while watching it realised there were no people nearby - in years before instant communications it was only when we started walking back down the Point that we were informed there was a Pacific Swift at Cley then having had good views of that bird news arrived that Kev DuRose had found Lincolnshire’s first Sociable Lapwing at Kirkby -on- Bain which we duly saw on the return journey - not a bad day pity about the pratincole

This shot appeared in the 2010 BBRC report but at least in the PDF version it has been badly reproduced and seriously underexposed

2011: Three pratincoles in successive years were certainly unprecedented when Tom Lowe found a cracking adult Collared at Rosper Road Pools, South Killingholme on April 27th the earliest county record. It stayed in the area through to May 7th. Somewhat frustratingly I had been surveying the very same pools for the previous six months to March 2011 and I learnt about the bird’s presence while sitting in Sweden on a Great Grey Owl photographic foray. Arriving back at Stanstead airport late afternoon on May 1st it was a nervous drive back to Lincolnshire and an apologetic phone call to the family explaining why I would be late back. On arrival by the pools there was no-one present but the bird soon appeared and even with my 300mm lens and converters I was able to get some images and see the bird which was virtually on one of my local birding hot spots having covered North Killingholme pits and area since the late 1960’s; the first good bird I found at Rosper Road pools being a Pectoral Sandpiper in September 1977!

Concentrating on photographing Great Grey Owls was tough with a local Collared Pratincole niggling away

I had only taken my 300 3.8 lens with me as light levels were expected to be low when the owls were hunting

One of my first images of the Rosper Road Collared Pratincole taken in low evening sun which it says was at 19:37 so getting pretty late in the day on May 1st

Canon 1D4 and 300 2.8 lens with 2x converter

The following morning when I went back for seconds with the 500 f4 the light was nothing like as good being cloudy and a bit flat

It occasionally landed on this mound of gas filled weed

In shadow the colour of the underwing coverts can be difficult to interpret

2014: The last of the pratincole species to be added to the county list, a Black-winged, appeared at Gibraltar Point on July 14th after being seen in Cleveland, Co Durham and Northumberland in June – July. Its stay though, was all too brief before it moved on to North Norfolk and then the Ouse Washes.

2019: Oddly the next pratincole in the county was another Black-winged this time at Frampton Marsh June 18th – 21st completing the set for the reserve and allowing more county listers to see the species. I was looking for a potential Vagrant Emperor dragonfly at East Halton Skitter on the morning of its discovery receiving the inevitable message from Anthony Bentley and having to hot foot it the two miles back to my car and just another 70 to Frampton.

Never close when I was there and with plenty of heat distortion my images were less than good falling in the less than record shot category

It would be nice to get one some time as close as the other two species

Poor quality video through scope and phone of the Frampton Black-winged Pratincole

2023: A pratincole sp seen by N Drinkall at Alkborough Flats on October 15th was presumably the moulting juvenile Collared Pratincole seen in Northumberland 12th and Cleveland 13th before being reported but never confirmed in South Lincolnshire at Frampton Marsh on the 18th and then heading off to Slimbridge, Gloucestershire from 20th – 29th. Almost certainly but to muddy the waters a little a Black-winged Pratincole was in Cheshire on the 22nd.

2025: After a blank year 2025 produced a veritable flurry of records with a Collared Pratincole at Frampton Marsh from June 22nd – 29th after being first seen in West Yorkshire 19th. The first two species year was confirmed when a Black-winged Pratincole hawked insects around Theddlethorpe – Mablethorpe dunes on August 11th but was it the same bird subsequently seen in Northumberland at East Chevington August 12th – 13th then Carnoustie Angus 16th. What is certain is that the Northumberland bird and presumably the Fife individual was found by Wayne Gillatt at Nebraska wetlands near Kirton-in-Lindsey on August 23rd remining to midday on 25th when it flew off high. Photos confirmed it was the same juvenile the first juvenile pratincole of any species in the county and presumably the Theddlethorpe bird.

Always distant for the camera this was taken with the Swaro 17-40 scope and iphone 16 — scroll down for comparisons with juvenile Collared - the two species are virtually impossible to separate in juvenile plumage on the ground

Pratincoles are really small birds on the deck and easily overlooked when amongst Lapwing flocks with which they often seem to loosely associate in Britain

juvenile Black-winged Pratincole Nebraska wetlands, Kirto-in-Lindsey August 23rd 2025

Even when distant this individual showed a fairly strong contrast between the pale fringed upperwing coverts and the darker blackish flight feathers with a pretty obvious pale trailing edge to the primaries, narrower on the secondaries. The mottled head and patchy upper breast with dark eye and bill are typical juvenile characters visible at good range

In reasonable light the solid black underwing coverts really stand out with the underside of the flight feathers being slightly paler and more contrasting and note again the narrow pale trailing edge to the wing - the resemblance to a flying Green Sandpiper both upper and underside is clear

juvenile Black-winged Pratincole Nebraska wetlands August 23rd 2025 - always fairly distant for the camera and with heat shimmer confounding clarity and sharpness but clearly a juvenile bird starting to moult to first winter with some new scapulars and mantle feathers all remiges and retrices are still juvenile - see comparative shots of adult Collared below

easily lost when flying against a dark background

Light and shadow plays a large part in determining the exact colour of the underwing coverts particularly in a brief view - juvenile Collarewd Pratincole La Janda Spain September 2008

juvenile Black-winged Pratincole Kirton in Lindsey August 2025 and below juvenile Collared Pratincole La Janda Spain September 5th 2008

a much closer bird with more detail in the plumage tracts but the overall similarity of the two birds is still obvious

in this slightly over-exposed shot the close resemblance to a juvenile Collared Pratincole in the upperside view is notable

juvenile Collared Pratincole La Janda Spain September 4th 2008 - note close similarity to Black-winged above

juvenile Collared Pratincole La Janda Spain September 2008

moulting adult Collared Pratincole La Janda Spain September 4th 2008 even in early September the adults were in heavy moult and clearly picked out from the full winged juveniles in flight

Black-winged Pratincole juvenile Kirton in Lindsey August 2025

Even in early September adult Collared Pratincoles were well advanced in their post breeding moult - La Janda Spain September 2008

Lincolnshire Records

Collared Pratincole

1) Gibraltar Point May 21st 1973

Trent Falls flew east June 11th 1977 contentiously present over the county boundary identification not in doubt

2) Donna Nook July 11th 1981

3) Frampton Marsh August 8th – 9th 2009

4) Rosper Road Pools, South Killingholme April 27th to May 7th 2011

5) Frampton Marsh June 22nd – 29th 2025

Oriental Pratincole

1) Frampton Marsh May 9th – 19th 2010

Black-winged Pratincole

1) Gibraltar Point July 14th 2014

2) Frampton Marsh June 18th – 21st 2019

3) Theddlethorpe Dunes August 11th 2025 juvenile

3b) Kirton in Lindsey August 23rd – 24th 2025 juvenile

Pratincole sp

Shot Branston Hall near Lincoln in August 15th 1827 probably best rejected as specimen apparently never seen by anyone other than claimed shooter and the reporting individual responcible for a number of other fraudulent reports

Barrow Haven August 11th 1980

Alkborough Flats October 15th 2023

Graham Catley 19/08/2025 Graham Catley 19/08/2025

August 2025

After a minor op in mid July the camera was on hold for a while and since then photo opportunities seem to to have been distinclty limited but here are a meagre few additions to the annual challenge - hopefully better to come in September

some Common Blue butterflies from a lovely evening at Wild wren

all with the Canon RF 100-500 lens and Canon R6II

juvenile Greenshank 161 on the challenge list - thus far it has been abysmal locally for passage waders

a trip to the coast during a near gale produced very little but a small gathering of Sandwich terns made it to 162

a stunning sunrise one day last week taken with the 200-800 lens

some serious rubbish at a huge distance the moulting adult Pectoral Sandpiper at Alkborough - maybe better later in the autumn but 163 for now

Curlew and crab - the battle was short lived before it went down

164 a somewhat boring portrait of a juvenile Ruff but the light has been so dire of late its hard to make anything look decent

Ruff and Common Sandpiper together or sort of

a rather more suitable Ruff image - flying juvenile

A trip to the Lincs coast was to say the least badly timed for seabirds with zero seen not even a Gannet but a few invertebrates were partial compensation with my first Clouded Yellow for several years

The very odd sight of a Dune Roberfly flying around carrying a Blue-tailed Damselfly

a juvenile Chiffchaff in a reedbed - reedbeds are good for warblers in autumn but this year has been appalling locally with so few warblers in August -

One of seven juvenile Blackbirds that have been frequenting the garden of late (now down to six mrs accipter nisus) only two appeared to be from same brood all other different ages and stages of post juvenile moult

I had not added Avocet to the annual challenge so here are a few 165

and a few more including juvenile Blue flag CP and AT

Blue flag CP - looks like they are Lancashire birds photographed here on the Humber at North Killingholme

167 juvenile Black-winged Pratincole - not a bird I expected but a bird only 22 miles from home at Kirton Lindsey was too good to miss - my first juvenile and although never close it provided good bins views in flight and scope views on the ground

preparing a post on pratincoles with more images of this bird and a few other Lincolnshire individuals

male Migrant Hawker - feel obliged to take the odd mixta every year when they perform

Buzzard wondering what the wet stuff was that suddenly drenched it - maybe its first taste of wetness

Hobby - I have been doing a lot of searching but so far only found adults - has it been a poor season?

juvenile Kestrel - they seem to have done well locally with lots of fledged juveniles wandering about - counted 20 in one short stretch of the Ancholme Valley one day

a high key shot of a juvenile Kestrel heading down

juvenile Spotted Flycatcher my first on the local patch this year - a species O do not even see annually now - only 10 years ago there were 2-3 pairs in the local park every year but the rapid decline has seen us loose this species as a breeding bird and this year Tree Sparow and Corn Bunting have followed - sad times

a few juvenile warblers round the local pits with this smart Lesser Whitethroat about the pick

juvenile Reed Warblers spend a lot of time feeding in willows and other bushes - a good learning curve for autumnal vagrants

subtle plumage tones change with sun and shade

Graham Catley 14/07/2025 Graham Catley 14/07/2025

July 2025

A limited number of species additions to the photo challenge total

2cy Hobby on a scenic perch but in dire light

Appears to have caught a small bat in the middle of the day

best local year for a while for Common Terns fledging with 8 on the wing and a couple more still to take off - new style rafts at Waters Edge key to success -

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper - take all my insect shots with the Canon RF 100-500 and R6II - close focus is great

male Emperor one of the easier dragons to photo in flight

juvenile Bearded Tit 159 on the species photo list -

160 Red Knot just to emphasise that in summer they are indeed Red - amongst its friendly Icelandic Black-tails

a lovely rufous juvenile Cuckoo at Wild wrendale yesterday always great to see in autumn

Wild Wrendal struck again 23rd with this Death’s-head hawkmoth a first for me - recovering from some surgery I had to make a quick exception with the camera to see this and what a beast it was

a rather worn individual but none the less impressive

a nice bright Willow Warbler from the last flush of migrants locally on 31st

juvenile Reed Warbler looking rather grumpy in the Waters Edge trees have abandoned its native habitat

juvenile Blackcap already taking the Rowan berries

Graham Catley 05/07/2025 Graham Catley 05/07/2025

Svalbard June 23rd - July 1st 2025

A trip of a lifetime hopefully communicated here with a fraction of the 20,000+ images I took in the eight days but it nearly started with a distaster as the metal connector on my Black Rapid strap actually sheared off on the first morning I was on the deck of the ship and the R6II and 100-500 hit the metal deck with a rather heart wrenching noise. Fortunately when I retrieved them all seemed to function with just the odd dent and even more fortunately I had lost my Black Rapid strap a few weeks previously and bought a new one which I had with me, only to re find the old one at a later date. The story starts here :

Reflected in the most northerly Co-op in the world a feature repeated in the most Northerly Toyota garage and Pub the latter a source of excellent food.

It all started when I was chatting to Roger over a typical Lincolnshire seawatch, not a lot happening and he mentioned a trip to Svalbard that was low in bird diversity but high in Arctic experience and with some very nice birds thrown in plus the chance of the elusive white bear. The price though seemed somewhat beyond our means. Fast forward to January 2025 and thinking about another trip to Cyprus or Canada and the Svalbard idea reappeared. Checking Roger’s source company we came to https://www.aqua-firma.com/ based in Cornwall and highly recommended by Roger. I looked online and casually showed the Svalbard Realm of the Polar Bear cruise to Mrs C who I thoroughly expected to say I am not going on any cruise and it looks cold but to my surprise she said that looks good and even the price tag was met with you only live once. A couple of phone calls later and we are booked on the https://www.aqua-firma.com/experiences/polar-bear-search-north-spitsbergen tour June 24th - July 1st. But then it hit home – boats and me are in general not a pleasant mix but it’s done now and Roger confirms they had no mosquitoes. A bit of research leads me to Stugeron-15 which are duly purchased. AQUA-FIRMA book the necessary flights and hotels and Julia’s brother agrees to a professional taxi service to Heathrow and back.

It occurred to me while swatting that most people actually have no idea where Svalbard (Spitzbergen) is thinking its part of Norway which it is administratively but its nearer Greenland

Coming in to Svalbard on the plane the views were amazing with crystal blue water and lots of snow - the new iPhone 15+ produced some really nice images through the plane window and the whole week it was all I used for landscape shots leaving my 50mm and 24-105 kit lens redundant.

Glacier and landscape from the plane before landing in Longyearbyen

Approaching the airport there was less snow revealing the rugged terrain with stunning geographical features any glaciologist would be proud of

Part of the old mining infrastructure above Longyearbyen

An immediate reminder that you are in the far north outside the airport

The main street of Longyearbyen, well to be fair the only street

At the end of the main street you are out into wet tundra - marsh and the odd sight of skidoos just left all over - the main road, and there is not a lot of it, is mid image with people walking

It is immediately obvious that Barnacle Geese are everywhere feeding and nesting amongst the skidoos right on the edge of town

Barnacle Geese on the marsh on the edge of town taken with the wide angle iPhone

While many of the geese were sitting on nests, built seemingly anywhere, others had broods of small young that were being targeted by Glaucous Gulls

A walk down the only road reveals a lot of breeding Arctic Terns plus Purple Sandpipers displaying everywhere and a few other waders including Dunlin, Tundra Ringed Plovers and one far too distant Grey / Red Phalarope

Not sure if it was thinking of a novel nest site

The light was very variable with low cloud making things a bit flat but when the sun poked through the refection off the snow was amazing

Many Arctic Tern nests were not exactly well hidden

Odd Arctic Skuas were patrolling the edge of the town marsh

In Svalbard terms this Black-headed Gull was probably the rarest bird I saw all week -

Several pairs of Glaucous Gulls and the odd immature were loafing around looking for an easy meal of duckling or gosling

Spot the King Eider - never saw any close in fact only saw a couple of males and female all week

Long-tailed Duck - pairs were only just starting to occupy nesting pools in a late spring thaw

In the afternoon we wandered west to the harbour where there was a small flock of Mandt’s Black Guillemots but the light was a bit dire

We were to see several 100 during the trip and I have a variety of wing patterns

Assume they nest here in the harbour wall

There were some decent creches of Northern Eider ducklings but the concentration by the Husky Dog kennels were getting predated by the Glaucous Gulls

a classic drake Northern Eider *borealis*

Subtle differences in bill colour between drakes

Getting close to them was not a problem and they often wandered about in the road

The Polar Bear sign is as far as you are allowed to walk without an armed guard but as someone commented what tells the bears they cannot come inside the sign?

These birds were literally feet from the side of the road

considerable variation in plumage tones amongst the females

a very different world to the nature distanced UK

In January 2024 a Purple Sandpiper wearing an orange colour ring and a Green tag with the inscription 9LA was wintering on the Lincolnshire coast at Mablethorpe; I noted in this blog post https://www.grahamcatley.com/blog-1/a-rather-special-purple-sandpiper that this was likely the nearest I would come to its ringing place of Longyearbyen Svalbard — well times move on and this year there we were on its breeding grounds watching displaying Purple Sandpipers right on the edge of town all the way up to the highest tundra and most northerly land we visited. I even saw a couple of birds with Orange colour rings and Green Flags from the same scheme including VMC shown here displaying to a female just outside Longyearbyen: it really can be a small world

Male VMC displaying to a female June 23rd 2025

Male Purple Sandpiper in display flight - beautiful song given in flight was a characteristic sound of the marshes and tundra

Human junk was no deterrent to Purple Sandpipers intent on breeding

Sharing its habitat with breeding Barnacle Geese

And what a Red Phalarope looks like at a long long range and you cannot get any closer due to the terrain and the bird then flies away! Frustrating

Very much a record shot - still need to go to Alaska

A more obliging Red-throated Diver nesting close to the road but it was impossible to get low angles due to the height of the road and the risk of disturbing the birds

The male Red-throated Diver but in pretty poor light

The only passerine in Svalbard is the Snow Bunting and they occur in most habitats though they are thinly spread - these birds were breeding on the edge of the town with birds singing from the roof tops and performing display flights over the buildings as well as the nearby tundra

A female feeding along the main street just like a House Sparrow in the days of olden Britain

A fine adult male nivalis over the beach

Feeding along the tide wrack just like a winter beach in Lincolnshire

It was interesting to see Ringed Plovers in their tundra habitats but none looked like the very small dark backed birds we see occasionally in spring locally so where do those birds breed?

Tundra Ringed Plover amonst the permafrost with an Arctic Tern - two well travelled birds

Day list for June 23rd

Arctic skua 3

King Eider 3

Long tailed Duck 1

Mandts Guillemot 16+

N Fulmar 1

Northern Eider 100+

Glaucous Gull 30+

Snow Bunting 30+

Barnacle Goose 200+

Black headed Gull 1

Purple Sandpiper 50+

Dunlin 8

Ringed Plover 4

Teal 5

Kittiwake 5

Grey Red Phalarope 1

The 24th we had the day up to 16:00 when we were due to board the boat fopr our eight day cruise - so it was more of the same walking up and down the only bit of road and getting some nice food in the hotel and at the Barentz GastroPub - male Snow Bunting in display flight over the Longyearbyen main street

Barnacle Geese with two young and an onlooking Glaucous Gull - image taken with iphone

looking west out of the Fjord Longyearbyen

Mountain Avens just starting to flower on the Longyearbyen tundra

Male Purple Sandpiper VMC was still present and showing his flag a bit better

A wider view of the Purple Sandpiper feeding habitat

Different view of the Red-throated Diver

There appeared to be a lot of Barnacles that had either failed early or were yet to start breeding

Arctic Terns are totally accustomed to humans even nesting next to the road just outside Longyearbyen

Glaucous Gulls the ubiquitous gull species of the trip along with Kittiwake

The view across the fjord from Longyearbyen

The RF 100-500 is a good tool for landscapes as well as the usual tele stuff

In the Arctic the weather can change very quickly so you need layers and waterproofs and to be prepared

A boat looks very small in the vastness of the Arctic

Tuesday, June 24. Longyearbyen, Embarkation

12h00 GPS Position: 78°14.8’N / 014°58.4’E

Wind: W-3 • Sea: Calm • Weather: Overcast • Air: 8°C • Sea: 5°C

at 16:00 we boarded the Plancius our home for the next week and after the usual drills and safety stuff we set sail and started the three meals a day culinary extravaganza! I spent the next few hours on deck photographing distant Little Auks and Brunnich’s Guillemots amd the ever present Blue Fulmars - the auk shots I quickly deleted as things got better later in the trip - overnight we headed west then north to our first stop at Tinayrebukta early on 25th. A calm overnight journey was appreciated.

I found the skies, seascapes, landscapes and habitats and the colour of the vistas totally enthralling but hard to capture accurately - these look much better on a computer or ipad screen than on a phone

Blue Fulmar alongside the boat - they were often so close you could virtually touch them

There were many subtle variations in shades

Light made a huge difference to appearances - tried to get some landscape in where possible to put the birds in context

In hindsight I should have tried to get to the Little Auk colony near the airport but thought I would see them on the cliffs from the boat which we did not - so had to make do with flight views and birds swimming near the boat - a first desperate attempt at a passing flock

An early environmental Brunnich’s Guillemot flock from the boat

Note for November on the Lincolnshire coast they are short and fat !!

The scenery started to build as we sailed north

Epic skies and seas are a feature of the far north

Species List June 24th

Longyearbyen

Same but less to previous day

Brunnich’s Guillemot 2 in harbour and out

Puffin 20+

Black Guillemot 5+

Blue Fulmar 30

Little Auk 30+

Kitts

Brunniichs 30+

Wednesday, June 25. Tinayrebukta, Signehamna and Lilliehöökbreen

12h00 GPS Position: 79°12.3’N / 012°02.9’E

Wind: SW-2 • Sea: Smooth • Weather: Overcast • Air: 8°C • Sea: 5°C

a very small bird from high up on a ship

It was a big Little Auk day with perhaps 500 seen

Something spooked this flock and they split and flew upwards

these were way up not hugging the water like most flocks

I was up on deck at 05:30 with many Little Auks and Brunnich’s Guillemots but in spite of my best efforts at mind over matter the Little Auk flocks remained stubbornly not close enough

This striking presumably 2cy Mandt’s appeared to be intent on landing on the ship - brown flight feathers presumably make it a 2cy bird

The trouble with the Fulmars was they were always there and posing so you felt obliged to aim at them!

A flock of Brunnich’s Guillemots passing by

A few of the Brunnich’s had not aquired full summer head - throat patterns like the left hand bird making them 2cy birds

The browner toned upperparts presumably point to it being a 2cy bird

Love the 100-500 for landscape shots in a big vista

On 25th we had two zodiac landings at Tinayrebukta a bay in Haakon VII Land . It is located at the east side of Möllerfjorden, and is surrounded by the mountains of Fallièresfjella and Generalfjella. The glacier of Tinayrebreen debouches into the bay. The bay is named after French painter Jean Paul Louis Tinayre. Then in the afternoon at Signehamna a natural harbour in Albert I Land located at the western side of Lilliehöökfjorden. We hiked up past some impressive bird cliffs to look at relics from weather station Knospe (1941-1942), then Nussbaum, built by German occupants during World War II.

A Polar Bear lookout was always essential before landing several boat loads of potential breakfast

Beach landings were usually smooth but Muckboots, supplied, were necessary - landscapes were always spectacular

Always pays to be close to the person with the gun

Harbour Seals staking their place on the list

And just to prove they were everywhere a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks but not quite a Rock Sandpiper

Tundra forest Net-leaved Willow the highest trees on Svalbard

Tufted Saxifrage - tundra flowers were just breaking out

White Arctic Mountain Heather - I use the 100-500 as a one lens covers all tasks tool

Some of the treks were testing and we only went in the middle effort group so you do need to be fit to get the best out of the trip - Landing site in the bay below and the Plancius moored in the bay offshore

These were on some pretty rugged terrain

Bird cliff with Brunnich’s Guillemots and Kittiwakes

In the late afternoon as we cruised close to the glacier in the boat there were birds on ice that had calved off the glacier front including Arctic Terns -

The size of that large cruise ship puts the glacier in perspective

It was impossible to gauge the scale of the glaciers as you were often miles away and details only became apparent on closer approach

We also came across our first Bearded Seals in evocative surroundings

And an unexpected Walrus hauled out on the ice flow

I was trying to put birds in the context of their environment and show how small they are in relation to things such as the glaciers and mountains - a flock of Brunnich’s Guillemots against the snow covered mountainside over a glacier

A flock of Northern Eiders dwarfed by the lower bit of the glacier front

Northern Eiders again on an ice flow with the front edge of a dirty glacier as backdrop

The intricate patterns and colours of the floating ice was staggering and demanded photography

You were constantly left spellbound by the beauty of the place and the quiet only broken by the popping of the air in the ice

Day List for 25th

Little Auk 400+

Mandts 10+

Bearded Seal 3

Brunnichs Guillemot 200+

RT Diver 2

A Skua 1

Reindeer 4

Harbour Seal 4

Walrus 1

Purple Sandpiper 2

Snow Bunting 10+

Kittiwake big colonies

Distant view of the Monacobreen glacier on a glorious morning

26.06.2025 Position: 79°31.4’N / 012°29.6’E Wind: W2 Weather: Overcast Air Temperature: +7

June 26th and we were at Monacobreen a glacier in Haakon VII Land on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The glacier debouches into Liefdefjorden: We boiarded the zodiacs for a few hours in the morning just slowly moving around the foot of the glacier and marvelling at the huge icebergs, many of them blue, while listening to the popping ice and watching the wealth of feeding birds. A long dark line at the foot of the glacier in the distance transformed into 10’s of 1000 of Kittiwakes with Arctic Terns and a few other birds mixed in. It was a spectacular few hours. It was a beautful sunny day with temperatures up to 8C in the afternoon making it almost hot in the light winds.

Cold start on the zodiac keeping the lens covered in case of wave splash - that was the biggest iceberg in Svalbard for many year apparently

The scale of this blue berg was hard to define but the next shot with a zodiac up close gives an idea

A much smaller chunk of floating ice but big enough - the only sounds you could hear were Kitts, popping and cracking ice and the occasional loud bang from the flexing glacier

As far as I am aware not one phone or camera went into the Arctic Ocean during the trip!

Approaching the foot of the glacier a dark line where it had been undercut by wave action was transformed with a line of 1000’s of Kittiwakes sitting on the ice and feeding in the melt water - as I say images cannot convey the scale

Kept the ISO fairly high at 1600 as the boat was bobbing a bit and with people moving around and the fact that you are on the side of a zodiac you need a bit of extra speed

A bit better idea of the scale of the glacier the very small white dots at the bottom right are the Kitts

An Arctic Skua sat watching the Kitts - a very small bird in a big vista

Closer to the glacier the Kittiwake flocks were transformed

Floating ice was often adorned with Arctic Terns and Kittiwakes

Arctic Terns were totally unconcerned and often at arms length from the boat

On a wider scale Kittiwakes were perching all over the glacier edge as well as on the floating ice

Kittiwakes in a different world to Bempton

As I was thinking I had got enough Kitts and Arctic Terns we came across this adult Glaucous Gull

It allowed a pretty close approach before moving off

We got closer to the Kittiwakes with slow approach in the rib - the colours were amazing

Birds were completely at ease with highly coloured humans

As we passed a small clump of ice with a Kittiwake on it I suddenly realised that the bird with its back to me had a black head!!!! I quickly but calmly asked Valeria at the helm if we could stop the BOAT!! while blasting a few shots and hoping I had got the exposure right

We were pretty close but the angle wasn’t the best but all credit to Valeria who acted on my requests and managed to manoeuvre the boat into a better position before the Sabine’s flew off to feed with the Kittiwakes - I have seen a few adults in Britain but in this environment it was something else

The lack of full sun meant that contrasts were nicely reduced but bringing out the red eye ring was almost impossible

I kept zooming out to put the bird in its environment conscious of the fact that the other 8 people on the zodiac were not going to want to watch a Sabs Gull all morning!

Valeria was fantastic and did a great job getting us in close without disturbing the bird

After the prolonged show it flew off to join the Kittiwakes feeding in front of the glacier

What a privilege and an amazing encounter one of the highlights of the trip

After the excitement of the Sabine’s it was back to Kitts on ice and crevasses

A couple of cracking Arctic Skuas flew by

lone Glaucous Gull on top of the glacier

You appreciate how small you are in a big landscape

You do become mesmerised by the colour and patterns of the ice

Back on board, we enjoyed a relaxing lunch as the ship cruised toward our next destination:Texas Bar, a rustic cabin built in 1927 by the legendary trapper Hilmar Nøis. Still used by locals on excursions, the cabin offered a glimpse into life in the Arctic decades ago.

Purple Saxifrage on the tundra slopes as we started a brief exploration - A couple of King Eiders and four Arctic Skuas were on the sea and two Minke Whales and a party of 14 Pink-footed Geese added to the short species day list

And more tundra breaking out from under the snow cover which was extensive and late this spring

Our first Svalbard Ptarmigan - less than pristine

Another epic evening sky as we set off to our next destination

Day List 26th:

Sabines gull 1

Kittiwakes 6000+

Mandts 20

Glaucous Gull

Arctic skua 4

Ptarmigan 1

Pink footed Geese 14

King Eider Drake and duck

Long tailed Duck 1

Reindeer

Snow Buntings

June 27th:

Alkefjellet, Kinnvika and BBQ Date: 27.06.2025. Position: 79°40.7’N / 018°22.4’E. Wind: SE5. Weather: Overcast. Air Temperature: +5 During the night, we sailed out of Liefdefjorden aboard the Plancius and headed south into Hinlopenstretet—the strait that separates the large island of Spitsbergen from Nordaustlandet (the lands of the northeast). It was the first windy day since we had come aboard, and with temperatures hovering around 0°C, our expedition leader advised us to dress warmly and in multiple layers.

The day started with the usual Little Auks, Brunnich flocks and Flumars from the boat then it was two hours under the bird cliffs thronged with 20,000 pairs of Brunnich’s Guillemots and lots of Kittiwakes with a few Glaucous Gulls and Barnacles Geese

although it was abit choppy the angles on the Brünnich's Guillemots were much better from the zodiacs

Back to the job in hand trying to get something different on a black and white auk

The usual din from a seabird colony but amplified and with the addition of snow

Have I seen a Brünnich's Guillemot in Britain? - No why would you unless of course it was in Lincs - a fly by in the autumn would be easily identifiable - I am well genned up and ready

One of several pairs of Glaucous Gulls living with and on the guillemots

Waiting for the snow to clear from their ledges

The 100-500 lens is ideal for these type of situations, light and easily slung around with the ability to quickly zoom in and out as things occur - I thought about taking the 200-800 but was pleased I didn’t as I would probably have put my back out

A Bonxie patrolling the cliffs - or I assume it was a Bonxie didn’t see it that well

Ending the morning with another impressive glacier

That afternoon’s landing was quite different from anything we had experienced so far: Kinnvika, a relatively well-sheltered bay on the northern edge of Murchisonfjord. A Swedish- Finnish expedition built an extensive research station here during the International Geophysical Year (1957–59), including ten buildings—among them, a sauna! There were not many birds with a Sanderling on the newly revealed Tundra being one of only a handful seen but Arctic Terns were already nesting on the beach and a 2cy bird was here on its first journey from pole to pole.

There was still a lot of snow on the ground in a late spring thaw

as soon as the snow cleared the flowers burst into life

arty Arctic Tern while waiting at the landing site

2cy Arctic Tern after its first two pole to pole journeys

as we landed in the afternoon there were signs of a solar halo but it was a bit vague then

it developed into a full 360 halo and what a place to experience it - images with iphone

Bird List for the day before the Friday night Barbeque and we set sail for the pack ice

Bonxie 1

Brunnichs 20000

Little Auk 20

Puffin 2

Blue Fulmars

Mandts 10+

Glaucous Gull 30+ one pair with two 10 day old chicks

Sanderling 1

Purple Sandpiper 1

Ringed plover 1

Pink feet 12

Arctic tern 20

Red throated Diver 2

Thanks to the Oceanwide crew for this summary of our day in the Polar region:

Saturday, June 28. Pack Ice day, Looking for Polar Bears 12h00 GPS Position: 81°40.7’N / 020°03.4’E Wind: E-3 • Sea: Calm • Weather: Sunny • Air : 5°C • Sea : 0°C After a wholesome Arctic dinner yesterday evening, we departed the Kinnvika area late in the evening. Our course was set North-North-East, aiming to reach the pack ice in the early hours of this morning. With excellent sailing conditions, we arrived at the ice as planned! Since we had enjoyed our traditional BBQ the evening before—and some of our guests danced well into the night—we allowed ourselves a small luxury: a half-hour sleep-in. Our wake-up call came at 07:30. After breakfast, we began to encounter the first floes of pack ice. Long before this moment, the keen eyes of our watchmen, officers, and staff were already scanning the horizon through binoculars, carefully examining every ice floe. Our mission was clear: to search for polar bears, the solitary kings of the North. Our captain continued heading North-North-East, targeting a small peninsula of ice where according to the latest ice charts—the ice was thick enough to be promising ground for spotting bears. As we advanced northward, the weather began to shift. The early morning brought perfect conditions: limitless visibility, blue skies, and brilliant sunshine. But the farther north we sailed, the more the fog crept in, gradually reducing visibility. Our captain and officers navigated skilfully through alternating banks of fog, offering moments of clarity interspersed with near whiteout conditions. Interestingly, as we headed north, the sun remained mostly behindus. This alignment allowed us to witness a rare optical phenomenon: a fogbow. Unlike a rainbow, which is rich in colour, the fogbow appeared as a faint, ethereal arc caused by the diffraction of sunlight by tiny fog droplets. At times, we could discern a subtle hint of red along its outer edge—a delicate reminder of nature’s artistry.

Around noon, we reached the northernmost point of our voyage: 81˚ 40.914' N, 20˚ 12.796' E. At that moment, we were just 500 nautical miles—or approximately 925 kilometres—from the North Pole.

As usual I was on deck early watching the Blue Fulmars and auks keen to see the first bits of pack ice - a life event

A beautiful pre-breakfast view of a Brünnich's Guillemot

with a bit of rolling shutter - you can just imagine a togger taking a shot of one of these at Bempton some day and posting it as a Guillemot or Razorbill

The light was so good that I just could’t resist another close fly-by shot

my best Brünnich's Guillemot flight shot

I even took my most northerly Puffin shot

With Svalbard disappearing into the distance the pack ice was next

A Blue Fulmar over the blue water and the first signs of pack ice

And then some real pack ice that started us crashing through

there were even arctic penguins stood on the ice flows

Brünnich's Guillemot with a true Arctic backdrop

A 2cy Brünnich's Guillemot over the pack ice - there seemed to be a higher proportion of 2cy birds further north as would be expected further from the breeding colonies

as well as the head pattern a duller tomium stripe

Pack Ice that looked good for a bear but revealed little

Could there be a bear behind that big collection of ice?

a blue and white scene but the fog bank is looming in the distance

You had to do something while scanning for bears

Bad angle but a typical 2cy Brünnich's Guillemot

There were Little Auks feeding this far north but the angle from the boat was even worse on a small bird

An atmospheric flock in front of a small berg

a bit surprising to see Mandt's Black Guillemot this far from land

Three were flying round the boat at one stage

Little Auks and Brünnich's Guillemot in a lead in the pack ice - I had read books by polar explorers and of course watched so many wildlife documentaries on the Arctic but never imagined I would one day get to see it

Quote from the Oceanwide log with my input

By midday, anticipation among our guests was high. Many hoped to spot a polar bear, but despite the diligent watch and persistent searching, no bears had yet appeared. We went to lunch with the hope that the fog would lift—and our luck would change. Time, however, was not on our side. We knew that our chances would diminish once we left the pack ice and it is fair to say that an air of despondency was creeping over those of us who had been staring through bins for what was now 8 hours in my case with not a lot to show. But finally, just after 15:00, the wait paid off. Philipp, our Expedition Leader, made a brief radio call announcing a sighting ahead of the ship. Moments later, Clara confirmed it: a polar bear was visible in the distance. As we slowly approached, we saw that the bear had a kill. Around it, several scavengers—Glaucous Gulls and Ivory Gulls among them—waited patiently for their share. We observed the bear for a generous amount of time, during which many of our guests were visibly moved, some even with tears of joy. For many, it was their first time seeing a polar bear in the wild. We believe it was a young male.

First view of a wild Polar Bear - no wonder people were struggling to see it

as we gently edged a little closer it eventually raised its head at which point I noticed that there were not only two Glaucous Giulls stood nearby but two Ivory Gulls emerged from behind a lump of ice - this was wildlife watching at a new level - during a chat Steffi had already told me that on the previous trip they had seen only one Ivory Gull and that just flew by so this was already a success

Ivory Gull behind a sleeping giant very full of seal meat - I had already put the 1.4x converter on my 100-500 lens as we could obviously only go so close to the bear so as not to cause disturbance but at this stage he just seemed in need of a Gaviscon

The light was stunning with bright sun and little wind but the heat and ice/snow combined to produce some shimmer - but a lifetime high point

sniffing the air for human scent! interesting fact we were told is that Polar Bears can detect their prey by scent from up to 32kms - just take a moment to digest that fact

After a while and a considerable amount of sniffing it started to dig a hole as if it was going to bury the rest of its kill

Two of the Ivory Gulls feeding on seal scraps

Click the image above to go to a short video - ignore the old fashioned cameras with noisy shutters in the second halgf volume up the Ivory Gulls are calling -

The Ivory Gulls, peaked at five, always kept a respectful distance but I was surprised at how vocal they were with flying birds calling regularly as they came and went - sadly I didn’t make any sound recordings being consumed by the watching and photography

The bear meanwhile decided against burying the seal there and instead dragged it off over the ice even taking a dip in a lead with it at one point before appearing on the ice where it had a good roll and shake at which point we left it

Maybe to a Polar Bear Ivory Gulls are a bit like mosquitoes to us

Competition was intense between the foraging Ivory Gulls

Just like taking your left over Pizza for a walk home

This 3cy Long-tailed Skua came in to investigate the kill but didn’t linger and never came close

The Ivory Gulls were never remotely close of course unlike on Aldeburgh beach but it was the setting that made the observations so special

I took a lot of distant Ivory Gulls and will spend hours looking through them over the winter

Even one on a rotting Donna Nook seal carcass will never compare to this

After this incredible encounter, we changed course and began sailing South-South-West. Many guests gathered in the lounge for a hot drink and to reflect on the experience. Then, around 17:00, Koen made another announcement over the radio: "We have another polar bear." And indeed, he was right. Directly ahead of us, another male bear lay on the ice beside a fresh kill. With perfect lighting and a favourable position, our officers and captain expertly maneuverer the ship for a close—but non-intrusive— approach, offering an unforgettable photo opportunity. This was our second bear of the day.

A Glaucous Gull on an ice perch en route to our second Polar Bear encounter

The second bear was clearly very full of seal and spent most of the time either sleeping or yawning

The day list was not a long one but quality over quantity

Little Auk 30+

Brünnich's Guillemot 50+

Mandt's Black Guillemot 40+

Common Eider female

Long-tailed Skua 1 3cy

Ivory Gull 6

Glaucous Gull 10+

POLAR BEAR 2 males

Kittiwake 30+

A pleasing start to June 29th after a rather bumpy few hours overnight on our passage back from the pack ice

Sunday, June 29. Alicehamna and Buchananhalvoya 12h00 GPS Position: 79°44.4’N / 012°10.2’E

Wind: NE-2 • Sea: Rippled • Weather: Sunny • Air : 12°C • T Sea : 5°C

From the deck it was very much more of the same with plenty of flocks of Little Auks and time to add to the data bank of Brünnich's Guillemot ID pointers

On land it was time for some snow shoeing and the “this is us” photo (note put hat on properly before photo)

Julia chilling in the snow on what was a very warm day

Flock of Pink-footed Geese still heading north

A pair of Arctic Skuas had staked out a breeding territory amongst the snow and took exception to our passage

The light reflected up off the snow was stunning and something you never seem to get in Britain

As we sailed out of the fjord a huge feeding flock of Brünnich's Guillemots with two Minke Whales and lots of other seabirds was being harassed by a Bonxie

Day List

Little Auk 200+

Brunnichs 1500+

Blue Fulmars

Long tailed Duck 4

Reindeer

Purple Sandpiper 6

Arctic Skua 3 + 6

Bonxie 1

Pink-footed Geese

Minke whale

Snow Bunting

Harbour seal

Mandts 40+

Monday, June 30. Poolepynten and Alkhornet 12h00 GPS Position: 78°19.1’N / 012°24.4’E

Wind: SSE-4 • Sea: Smooth • Weather: Part. Cloudy • Air: 10°C • Sea: 7°C

This morning we woke up once again with clear skies and the sun shining brightly. Yesterday was a wonderful day and today looked just as promising. Today, however we were going to see the big blubbery Walruses! But first things first, breakfast!

Distant Walrus hauled out on their beach from the boat - note the heat shimmer

Just like Scarborough but a few more of them

One of the only two “if onlys” of the trip

As we wandered to the Walrus haul out I saw three Red Phalaropes on. apool but straight into the sun and we couldn’t walk round the other side due to regulations! It was to say the least frustrating seeing them there and not being able to photograph them but thats life

A fly by Turnstone that appears to have a ring on its left leg

A final Blue Fulmar tubenose shot over the stern

Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the sea as we left

Some beautiful tundra colours highlighted by Tufted Saxifrage

a stunning Arctic Skua a fitting end to an amazing trip

A few more images in a couple of galleries on second or was it fifth edit

Graham Catley 05/06/2025 Graham Catley 05/06/2025

June 2025

Slow months are upon us so may try and add a few obvious omissions to the 2025 photo challenge

As it will no doubt be the only Turtle Dove image of the year this one will have to make do for 151 - the tragic loss of this species from Britain has been catastrophic - Locally I recorded a total of 172 birds flying west in four hours on May 14th 1077 at Barrow Haven and there was passage on most days of the month with up to 34 breeding pairs along the Humber clay pits. On August 26th 1992 a gathering of 156 was present on a harvested field at South Ferriby such was the local status of the species. As recently as 2000 there were 14 singing males and ten confirmed pairs on the clay pits with 13 males but only six pairs in 2002. The last pair I saw locally was in 2015 and the last bird was 2026. I have not even seen one anywhere since 2021 so a trip to the Lincs coast at least just topped up my memory of an iconic and much loved, lost species.

If we had some warmth there are other things to enjoy - Lizard in a regular spot in the forest

We have had decent numbers of juvenile Starlings coming to the food in the garden in the last few weeks and the first fledged family of House Sparrows at the weekend - Canon R6II and Canon RF 100-500 a cracking combo

A chirpy cock House Sparrow in some of the garden dog daisies

a somewhat chilly night in the forest with early promise in the sky before cloud built quickly and the Nightjars started late

152 Nightjar - not one of my frame filling perched shots but a blue hour image of a male drifting over the heath

Brown Hare in a field with many poppies up the road

Had my first Lincs Crossbills of the year today and not just a couple but a flock of 40+ followed by a flock of 35 unless they did a very quick loop around

Good numbers of still streaky juveniles and some older juveniles half way through their post juvenile moult

Whitethroat 153 - a lot of mopping up to do through the summer - autumn

154 a summer Siskin makes a change from all the winter shots

155 Osprey pair at Folwshaw Moss on a weekend Kendal visit

and the male on his lookout - at least they are scenic distant trees in heat haze

Somewhat more impressive than distant Ospreys a close up Golden Ringed Dragonfly

156 Marsh Warbler from earlier in the month

Graham Catley 22/05/2025 Graham Catley 22/05/2025

Honey-buzzards - reacquaintance with old friends

I have been going up to Wykeham for many years to watch the Honey-buzzards, or at least to attempt to watch them, because as all raptor watchers know nothing is certain or guaranteed and with Honey-buzzards that is doubly so. In 2017 a striking pale male took up residence and I was fortunate after many visits to be in the right place at the right time when he flew past close enough for a decent image (see below). Since 2017 he has returned every year but views have been very varied and photo opportunities even more so with record shots often being the order of the day.

Pale male Honey-buzzard Wykeham, North Yorkshire, July 2017.

The same male produced one of my favourite images in 2018 as he displayed below the raptor viewpoint in Troutsdale - although very small in the frame the image is full of atmosphere and scene setting

and a more standard shot of the male 2018

So 2025 and after a blank year for sightiongs in 2024 I headed up to Wykeham on 21st in what seemed like less than ideal conditions weather wise; it was cold and cloudy with a fresh northerly but forecast was a bit better. When I arrived at the raptor viewpoint it was decidedly Arctic in nature with a strong Northerly coming straight up the valley but at least the Tree Pipit was in full display and at very close range, a Garden Warbler was in full voice and a few Common Crossbills soon appeared but it was not a good omen for raptor watching - or was it? But not long after arrival I picked up the female coming in from over the newly cleared plantation by the RVP and she performed some nice moves in front of the small crowd albeit in pretty dire light.

Willow Warbler entertained in front of the RVP all day - I loved the perch

female and two juvenile Common Crossbills from the RVP

Maybe because of the cold and dull light the birds were sometimes quite low down which has its advantages and you don’t often get shots of the bird’s upperparts - female again

Subtle but intricate patterning even on an essentially brown bird

Beautiful looking bird - I still vividly remember my first ever Honey-buzzards - studying (sort of) at UEA in June 1974 we were sitting on the East Bank at Clew with the late great Richard Richardson on June 18th - three new birds were logged Spoonbill, Kentish Plover and Red-necked Phalarope but in our chat Richard kindly told us about Norfolk’s first Cetti’s Warblers at Surlingham which we managed to twitch two days later and he also gave us a location where we could hopefully see Honey-buzzards in North Norfolk. On June 23rd armed with a few reference books for revision purposes, on the back of Duncan’s motorbike we arrived at the designated track on a lovely sunny day and not long after a beautiful male Honey-buzzard flew out of the nearby wood at about 60 feet up straight down the track towards us and gave us the most superb views. One of those things you never forget and we were back three days later seeing the female as well. Five lifers in six days.

The sun eventually did make an appearance in the afternoon but the birds were usually higher and not as close but I did get this shot of the female with some bluish sky

female watching something - probably the male with his enticing mummified bird’s legs

The male appears to have some central tail feather still growing - here he was receiving some unwelcome attention from a raven - it doesn’t seemthat many years since I reported a pair of Ravens at Wykeham and it was a rare event

From late morning the male was carrying something which was assumed initially to be a frog but closer images revealed it was the legs and feet of a passerine with some very dried up body parts attached - certainly not an apetising looking treat for a potential mate but he clearly had other ideas as he held onto it for several hours and even did some bouts of wing clapping display still holding it in his feet

Although many views were more distant and into bright light persistence paid off when he made one close pass in good light - still a very striking bird and he hs made that return trip to sub-saharan Africa at least 10 times now

Not often that you can get a view of the upperparts and against a woodland backdrop - stunning bird

A balancing act putting the bird in the context of the location and habitat the male over Troutsdale

Graham Catley 16/05/2025 Graham Catley 16/05/2025

May 15th and 17th 2025 - Buff-breasted Sandpiper special days

On May 15th 2025 and again on 17th I was privileged to witness something that I had never seen before and realistically never expected to see, the breeding display of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. With a highly restricted breeding range encompassing only the High Arctic of northernmost Alaska and Canada, where access is at best difficult and very expensive and birds are thinly spread, the chances of seeing the lek of this species is for most people a remote possibility.

Most of the information below is taken from:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Buff-breasted_Sandpiper/lifehistory

Buff-breasts are the only North American wader that leks with males gathering fairly close together to display to females but like Ruffs and other lecking species the males take no further part in rearing the brood. Males display in prominent raised areas in the high Arctic environment, usually along ridges, bluffs, and banks near creeks and rivers. Here, water sedge, dwarf willow, horsetail, mountain-avens, and cotton grass are common plants. Similarly, females build the nest on dry slopes or other raised locations, often not far from a stream. Other occupants of upland tundra habitat include Baird’s Sandpipers and American Golden-Plovers, and these three species are often found together during migration as well. They seek out mostly dry, flat habitats including sod farms, prairies, and many kinds of agricultural fields, so long as they are not covered by water or heavy vegetation.

As soon as they arrive on tundra nesting grounds, male Buff-breasted Sandpipers begin their rousing courtship displays. Several males (rarely up to 20) form a loose group (all within sight of each other) known as an “exploded lek,” often on dry patches of tundra near river bends. These leks last for several days. Some males frequent the same lek location, whereas others move from lek to lek, taking short flights or in some cases wandering for hundreds of miles. Their displays are unusual among shorebirds, involving at least 17 different postures and behaviours. Most often, males crouch and raise the tail and one wing, waving the wing slowly to show the bright white under surface. They also leap into the air and flutter the wings in a balletic display. When a male has attracted the attention of a female, he raises and opens both wings, raises the bill and head, puffs out the breast, stands on tip-toe, and moves forward like a wind-up toy, making the wings move up and down. A receptive female opens and raises the wings, then turns her back toward the male. Leks can seem chaotic in their activities, as males often seek to disrupt other males’ displays when females are present. Some males even try to distract others by mimicking female behaviour, and it is common to see males attempt to mate with other males at leks. Male and female do not form a pair bond; the females select nest sites, build nests, and raise young without help from males. After the breeding season, Buff-breasted Sandpipers gather in flocks for migration, like most shorebirds. They arrive on wintering grounds in flocks but soon begin to establish feeding territories there. Males often display on wintering grounds and sometimes during migration.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper populations once numbered in the hundreds of thousands to millions, but by the 1920s hunting, overgrazing, conversion of prairie to cropland, and other landscape changes had brought this species close to extinction. Their numbers increased slightly after shorebird hunting was banned in the early 20th century, but are thought to be declining again. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population at 56,000, rates the species a 14 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, and includes the species on its Yellow Watch List for species with declining populations. Habitat loss and energy development projects (including oil/gas and wind power) threaten the sites these birds use for display, nesting, and migration. The effects of climate change in the Arctic, including both sea-level rise and habitat changes, are likely to render some current nesting areas unsuitable.

male Buff-breasted Sandpiper East Halton Marshes May 15th 2025

My first Buff-breasted Sandpiper was a juvenile twitched at Blithfield Reservoir on September 21st 1980 on return from an unforgettable week in Cornwall that started with my first juvenile Spotted Sandpiper at Draycote Water on the way down and then produced not only self-found Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Aquatic Warbler but juvenile American Golden Plover, two Pectoral Sandpipers, two Wilson’s Phalaropes and a Ring-necked Duck. In early September 1981 Andrew Grieve rang me from Blacktoft to say that a juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper had flown from Blacktoft across the Trent towards Alkborough Flats. My first ever visit to Alkborough Flats on September 3rd duly relocated the Buff-breast feeding on burnt stubble fields with 70 Ruff.

With several notable Transatlantic flights in the 70’s and 80’s the wisdom was that it was actually easier to see Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Britain than in most of the US. A total of five autumn juveniles and an August adult followed before my first self-found local patch bird, an adult, at Chowder Ness on July 30th 2007. With six more juveniles and three adults, two in August and one on May 24th 2009 at Alkborough Flats I had amassed a total of 18 birds of this charismatic species up to the end of 2024 including two juveniles together at Rimac in September 2011. I spent a few hours lying in the dried out mud frequented by the Alkborough Flats spring bird but it never showed any inclination to display to the Arctic bound Ringed Plovers nearby. In spite of several visits to Canada and trips to Arizona, Texas and California it was the autumn of 2016 before I saw Buff-breasted Sandpiper across the pond when a juvenile was feeding with four Pectoral Sandpipers on the Spit at Campbell River, Vancouver Island.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper East Halton May 15th 2025 - feeding in sloppy mud is clearly not what Buff-breast do regularly and it ended up with a muddy bill and forehead most of the time I was watching it

So back to May 15th 2025:

It was cold with a freezing NE wind and after a morning of fruitless scanning of the local Swift flock, still only about 100, and the 30 or so House Martins and 50 Swallows I decided to look for waders around Goxhill – East Halton. A couple of Sanderling on Monday with one a superb summer male and the faint possibility of something different at Winter’s Pond saw me sitting in the car having a leisurely lunch and avoiding getting out into the cold wind. Two Whimbrel flew past and northwards after failing to find any suitable mud. But eventually it had to be done and I donned appropriate winter gear and walked to look at the one remaining good-looking pool on the mitigation area. Now this was either good or bad timing but initially it seemed like the latter. As I scanned, I could only see one Ringed Plover but unfavourably a pair of Avocets and two Lapwings on the pool two species that are usually aggressive to any other waders. Indeed, as I walked up one of the Lapwings started chasing a Little Ringed Plover around the pool then it flew at the lone Ringed Plover which flew up accompanied by the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that I had not picked up on the deck. Dam and double dam as it and the RP flew up, up and away over the hedge and out over the Humber – that was just bad timing and I was curding the time spent eating lunch when I could have been looking at a Buff-breast. The obvious thing to do seemed to be to walk down to the Humber, where it was low tide, and hope they had landed somewhere out there but a quick scan revealed many hectares of wader less mud and just three Shelduck. I walked towards Killingholme Haven checking the seaweed and upper mudflats but to no avail so I wandered back towards the car then walked up towards the pool where to my surprise the Buff-breast was feeding right next to the fence. The Lapwing seemed to have settled down so I set about taking to pictures but the light was dull and grey and almost murky. There were three or four Little Ringed Plovers on the pool and the Buff-breast seemed to be associating loosely with them but what happened when it flew and landed next to one of the LRP’s had me stunned. It suddenly started displaying towards one of the LRP’s with legs stretched and wings raised and held open showing off the amazing patterning on the underwing feathers. I fired off several shots but it was a bit distant and the background was a mess. Having seen images of this display it was truly exciting to see it in the flesh so to speak. During the next hour twice when the Buff-breast flew and landed it performed the same wing raised display sometimes strutting towards its friend and sometimes almost running with raised wings. The pattern of the upperwing proved to be almost as striking as the underwing and the bird was clearly uttering a low call while displaying but in the strong wind it was hard to hear. I managed a few more shots of the display but frustratingly thought I had got some video but I had pressed the wrong button on the camera in my excitement.

So, has a Buff-breasted Sandpiper ever displayed to a Little Ringed Plover in the past? Who knows what a vagrant in the wrong part of the world will do but for me this was a brief but mazing first and truly memorable encounter with one of the World’s best waders.

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025 - the LRP seemed less than impressed

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025 - the underwing pattern is so striking

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025 - the upper flight feathers are almost as impressively marked as their undersides

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025 - sadly not on some nice tundra vegetation but some dried out Lincolnshire clay

Male Buff-breasted Sandpiper displaying to a Little Ringed Plover, East Halton, Lincolnshire May 15th 2025 - another pose

As the Buff-breast hung on to 17th I was receiving messages saying that it was showing at close range so I headed back to East Halton mid-morning but the light was dire and it remained cold, dull and cloudy with a persistent NE wind - images were bigger but certainly no better with worse light

It blended in with the dried, caked mud very well and could be tricky to see and easy to overlook

then early afternoon the sun was out and after a fruitless Ancholme walk I returned late afternoon for another crack - It was not that close most of the timeand even the beast did not send it our way but the light was so much better and eventually it did a few short displays in the glorious light allowing me to improve on the initial efforts - the image above being the best

What a difference light makes though to any pose

Having read a few more texts it appears that they do often display on spring migration and occasionally even in autumn

I heard a call similar to some of the more melodic notes recorded on eBird when the bird landed

And below images of my previous Buff-breasted Sandpipers all in Lincolnshire

Juvenile Donna Nook September 2006 in seemingly typical salicornia habitat on the Lincs beach

Covenham Reservoir juvenile October 2006 - concrete sides reservoirs seem an odd site for waders but the wealth of insects is clearly the attraction

Adult with Dunlin Chowder Ness Barton July 2007 - my only local patch bird

A one day bird at Chowder it was found further up the estuary att Read’s island the following day

a confiding juvenile at Toft Newton september 2007 - sadly it had somehow become impaled with a straw stem in its leg - rear flank

juvenile Toft Newton Reservoir September 2007 as above

adult Alkborough Flats May 2009 - I spent seevral hours being eaten by flies lying in the mud near this bird but it stubbornly refused to display

This was the closest I got to seeing that underwing - Alkborough Flats May 2009

a typically very confiding bird Alkborough May 2009

juvenile Rimac with two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers September 2011

One of the two juveniles Rimac September 2011 again in salicornia on the beach

Graham Catley 08/05/2025 Graham Catley 08/05/2025

Bempton seabirds - trying to make things a little different

I have been to Bempton a few times already this year and typically take the same old pictures so I have consciously been trying to think a little differently whether it be light or subject size or backdrop or anything slightly different - this blog is a selection of images that I have taken between February and May of the usual suspects - herewith the Gannets on Staple Newk in fairly flat light not blowing out the white highlights which always happens on sunny days

Back in february there were masses of auks on the sea with the first Gannets drifting around and Fulmars back on the cliffs - capturing the spectacle of all the auks is tricky in a flat image so I zoomed out and tried to show some of the patterns created by the flocks of birds on the water.

zooming in a bit to a flock of mainly Razorbills

a bit of bill conflict with a dark background

In February there is a lot less light but it is subtle and brings out the details in the white plumage

The first Guillemots packing the ledges with the empty Kittiwake nests as they had not returned in February

On this latest visit I took a series of images of birds over the crashing waves at the foot of the cliffs as there was a notably chilly onshore breeze for May - sometimes you have to look harder to see the subject and sometimes there are additional birds like the Kittiwake below the Gannet

This turned out to be my favourite result - I was tracking the Kittiwake but then the Guillemot flew through and kjust caught the light with a good wing position - the juxtaposition fo the two birds and the power of the breaking waves makes it probably my best shot of the year but all opinions are personal!

Here I have cropped another shot from the same sequence to show just the Guillemot, bigger in frame and the waves which look rather like a waterfall

Here the sea is key and the Kittiwake almost invisible in need of looking for

a less dramatic sea and more obvious Kittiwake

Does converting to Black and White make it more dramatic?

A Herring Gull with even more foam and froth

A Puffin near the cliff top in a mud hole

A Razorbill coming in to land - pretty standard shot with modern AF systems

This Razorbill just caught the low sun while the sea was in shade and hence dark - I take loads of Razorbill images but delete most of them!

Not really a fan of head shots but its the eye that captures the imagination

Arguably a Kittiwakes best bit is its orange gape so you need a calling bird to show it off - I preferred this one as it includes some fo the cliff and the sea as backdrops

The value of zoom lenses - taken with the Canon RF 100-500 lens at 100mm and the Canon R6II - the architecture ie the stack and the distribution of the Gannet nests just draws my eye all the time - I love this image

Razorbill catching the low light - would you remove that insect? I thought it added interest

Full sun but a bit of activity interest - Razorbill display

A pair of Kittiwakes displaying but its the quizical look of the onlooker that adds interest

the contrast of two species caught by chance

Graham Catley 03/05/2025 Graham Catley 03/05/2025

May 2025

As spring dashes by a few more images to add to the challenge and some better or repeat shots of species already logged

Common Terns are a constant feature of the pits from now through to July or August with about 14 birds present so far and a few pairs displaying but none settled on eggs as yet - I like to try and capture something a litle different each year

The first two days of the month were hot and with a lot of insects aloft the terns were flycatching

138 on the challenge sheet Common Sandpiper one of the very few passage waders we get on the local patch nowadays as we have lost all our freshwater wetlands and the Humber inter-tidal seems devoid of life

139 - I said I wouldn’t include Pheasant but it is a colourful bird in some nice green grass

One of the local male Cuckoos passed by within range but the beautiful rufous female continues to elude me for year three!

I actually saw a Hairy Dragonfly being dismembered by a Hobby before seeing one in the flesh as it were - recent days have seen an emergence of several damselflies, Azure, Blue-tailed, Common Blue and Large Red as well as Four-spotted Chasers and Hairy Dragons

Orange-tip mating pair and intruding male - I have a lot of invert photos from the spring that I really need to organise

A cracking couple of hours yesterday photographing four Hobbies locally - will do a blog post on them when I get them processed

One of the local breeding male Swallows - although there seems to be more birds than last year numbers are still well down

140 Swift - although birds have been over the gardemn for over a week this was the first morning I fired off a few shots at the screaming birds - more attempts will no doubt follow

Swifts and skies is one of my photo fascinations

and my favourite of the year so far - we have three birds screaming around the hosue but they are looking at the neighbour’s roof and not our nest box but who knows maybe another arrival will find us

With precious few waders on the local foreshore this Whimbrel was a photographic bonus this morning - 141 on the challenge list

142 Herring Gull at Bempton over the red campion

another Hobby encounter at Searby this time - every one is a moment to cherish

A House Martin closing in an an insect - a few more on the pits in cold weather but still only about 30

don’t often get the chance to photograph this species so a bonus in the field of view of the BBS

Buff-breasted Sandpiper East Halton displaying male - read the full story with lots of images by clicking the image above - this is the male in display - 144 on the challenge list

a stunning summer plumaged Sanderling at east Halton - bad angle but brilliant bird and rather different to the winter bird featured earlier

brilliant birds even in the Humber cappuccino

a male Turnstone from early in the month getting into decent summer plumage but maybe a younger adult as its not that bright

145 on the challenge list Moorhen - there are quite a few species I just have not taken a decent shot of yet this year

146 Ringed Plover here part of a large flock of Tundra birds heading for the Arctic - there were 380 in this group (not all shown here) but up to 900 on the nearby middle Humber on this day along with three Sanderling, Two Turnstone and a Little Stint plus a few Dunlin

147 Common Crossbill up at Wykeham in North Yorkshire see image below

male Honey-buzzard a shot from an epic day’s encounter linked to a blog post above 148

Don’t think I can get away with claiming this is a representative image of Long-eared Owls - maybe see if they fledge successfully

149 Spotted Flycatcher and particularly that orange base to the lower mandible - we lost them from the local park in 2017 with none since and I struggle to see one on the patch annually now - they hang on in the forest with a few pairs most years

and 150 up with this rather dapper male Redstart - I was tipped off to where this male had been singing for a few days and went hoping for a fleeting glimpse - it sang for about an hour but defied observation then with people and dogs and screaming kids about it came down tot eh ground to feed - I missed the close shot as it was slap behind a tree! but was very lucky to get this as it took off after a ground foray - not had a signing male in Lincs since 2017 yet another breeding species lost from the county in my birding lifetime - Wood Warbler, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Tit and now almost Turtle Dove

Graham Catley 11/04/2025 Graham Catley 11/04/2025

Short-eared Owls

It was a pretty poor winter locally for seeing Short-eared Owls though they seemed to be there but almost nocturnal! Then they became a bit more co-operative until the favoured fields were managed! Here below a selection of the better ones

It is a matter of opinion whetehr birds looking directly at you are better or preferable to ones where the bird is clearly looking at the ground for food or elsewhere

I like backlit shots but they are not to everyone’s taste

Even when you are in a car they clearly know you are there but because you are deemed less of a threat the look is more quizzical?

whereas plain backdrops make an image - some beautiful light during the high pressure

One of my favourites due to the look in its eyes

Graham Catley 09/04/2025 Graham Catley 09/04/2025

April 2025

The photo challenge continues but being spring I am diversifying a bit on the photo front so a few non-birds in this month’s edition

To kick off April a singing male Blackcap something I have been trying to get a better image of for a few weeks

Waters’ Edge has a good breeding population of Blackcaps

My spring fascination with Blackcaps continues but I have yet to get the camera onto a female

110 on the challenge list the Linnet - a still common breeding bird and record numbers in the winter with a flock of 1000+ in the Ancholme Valley

111 Spoonbill - a record shot but better images to come during the summer no doubt

I have several weeks of Short-eared Owl encounters linked here

Been coming across good numbers of Brown Hares this spring

2cy male Hen Harrier from earlier in the month

Black-headed Gulls - very smart in summer plumage

Common Lizard in the forest yesterday in a nice pose amongst the vegetation

112 on the challenge list - Cetti’s Warbler in habitat

Not difficult to hear or get deafened by but always a challenge to see

Some nice misty morning this week - a Mute Swan was one of the few birds available

misty Black-headed Gulls and a female Pochard on Waters’ Edge

A bank of fog rolling around the upper Humber

Always open to a challenge on the flying insect front as well - a Dark-edged Bee-Fly giving me the evil eye

113 Red Kite - it has taken a while to get a representative Red Kite image this year diue to my lack of travel to suitable locales but this 2cy flew over me at Alkborough today after the American Wigeon twitch

Drake American Wigeon Alkborough Flats 9th - the second for the site and clearly paired to this female Wigeon - sun made it tricky with heat haze and then cloud made it look a bit drab 114

115 Another of those that has to be done but at least they were local at Alkborough today - Egyptian Goose

116 Willow Warbler with a little proviso - this bird arrived on April 6th on Waters’ edge and it was a definite mixed singer doing about 65% Willow Warbler and 35% Chiffchaff but the call was Willow Warbler - since then it has certainly become a Willow Warbler and now only very rarely does it do any Chiffchaff song in spite of having a Chiffchaff in an adjacent territory

The mixed singer still present as of April 20th and now doing 99% Willow Warbler song

117 Lesser Black backed Gull — now a daily sight around town and over the garden but formerly a scarce local bird that only started breeding in the late 1990’s

On the morning of the 12th I was pleased to find two Ring Ouzels on my local patch but quickly realised that there were in fact three then amazingly four and eventually five birds together - two still there today 14th. — 118 on the challenge list

One male was very accommodating after the human traffic on the adjacent footpath died down

Such subtle and intricate pluamge details visible at close range and the beautiful sunlight helped

By standing back and anticipating the next human flushing I managed some decent flight shots

Birds are creatures of habit or should that be habitat, and I have seen a numebr of individuals in both spring and autumn in this location

119 Barn Swallow - a few local pairs have arrived early hopefully there will be more than last year’s dismal showing

2cy Great Black-backed Gull 120 on the challenge list - thsi bird was actively seeking out Mallard broods in the reedbeds a seemingly odd behaviour for this pelagic species.

121 House Martin one of four seen last week but oddly none since - hopefully better images in better light later

122 Sand Martin - another species to improve upon

123 Sedge Warbler - my first shots of the spring - hopefully some display flights at some point

One of the local female Sparrowhawks starting nest building this week

Nice to see even a small flock of Swallows after last year’s dismal showing - at least 20 this day

A close encounter with a Treecreeper around trhe pits earlier in the month

124 Grey Partridge a male chasing a potential mate - not all images need to be full frame portraits - this is good breeding habitat unlike 95% of Lincolnshire farmland

125 Yellow Wagtail - and the dreaded barbed wire fence

126 Reed Warbler - my first this year was on the 8th and my earliest ever was on April 2nd 2024 - back in the late 1970’s we never expected Reed Warbler until the first week of May but now there are loads in my late April - changing migration patterns related to climate change

early birds are typically much less visible than later in the spring as they sing from well down in the still dead brown reed stems - this one was almost cisible this morning then of all things a male House Sparrow landed in the reeds and first a Cetti’s then this Reed Warbler took exception to its presence

127 Grasshopper Warbler - never seen one on a brick post before - part of the infrastructure of the old brick and tile works in the local pits

always value early spring views as you never know when you will see one again until July

initially very difficult to see in low dead reeds

and a couple of Sedge Warblers from a reedy warbler kind of day

My earliest ever Garden Warbler, by one day, becomes 128 on the challenge list and a species that I often struggle to photograph at all let alone in spring so this male was a nice addition to the day

129 Lesser Whitethroat - although only in for a few days this male was nest building today and had attracted a female but she seemed less than impressed with his nest and disappeared west

Love the colour of the newly opened leaves

Not a species I have many spring images of

130 Tree Pipit - some memorable encounters yesterday on the forest heaths - a series of flight images and a mid-air fight linked above in another blog post

One of the fight images with a male coming up underneath another male that has just about turned itself inside out

131 Hobby - a pair back locally yesterday - better images hopefully as the spring progresses but great to have them back

a nice showy yellow toned Grasshopper Warbler to add to the spring tally

Pair of Common terns in aerial display over the local patch this week

Time to tidy up April which has flown by with one or two new birds for the photo challenge - herewith 133 the Cuckoo one of two battling males that just did not quite pose in the right light

134 the Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon - this one at Bempton looked pretty real for a Rock Dove

135 Kittiwake - several more images to process from a Bempton visit with lots of Razorbill activity

136 Puffin - not many birds visible on 29th maybe a Coquet visit needed later in the year

and at the very last gasp of April 137 a roding Woodcock that did not show until well after sunset

Graham Catley 06/04/2025 Graham Catley 06/04/2025

Hen Harrier v Short-eared Owl

A couple of weeks back the male Hen Harrier set off at speed after a Short-eared Owl hunting the fields; a battle then ensued with the owl climbing higher to avoid the harrier and at first it seemed like it was a just an interspecific skirmish but on looking at my images, all heavily cropped, it was clear that the owl had a vole which the harrier was attempting to steal - this behaviour has now been repeated a few times but it is not something I had knowingly seen before

male Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl in aerial tussle

when being chased or mobbed the owls usually head upwards - the vole is visible in its right foot

Hen Harriers can seemingly fly upside down

the owl escaped with its catch this time

Graham Catley 11/03/2025 Graham Catley 11/03/2025

Hen Harrier action

The weather yesterday was not great looking for photography with the strong cold northerly combining with bright sun to produce a serious amount of atmospheric distorion with only about 200m being haze free: But it was sunny so I went to have a look for Hen Harriers and it proved to be a good decision. The adult male was present along with a 2cy male that was hunting much more frequently. The male seems to adept at catching voles that he spends very little time on the wing but even the young male caught three voles in less than 90 minutes. The adult male chased off the young male a couple of times but he always came back then an unusual encounter ensued. The adult male caught a vole and moved to eat it but the young male then flew after him almost in a feed me juvenile type way but also partly in a robbing flight - this clearly angered the adult male who flew up and gave chase to the young male and several skirmishes ensued of which I managed to capture a few shown below. Later in the afternoon the two did some more sparing but then seemed to almost accept each other’s company. Fortunately the light was good and the haze a little reduced during the encounter but by 15:30 the wind picked up again and brought in some sea fret and it was time to leave.

Adult male Hen Harrier voicing his anger at the younger male

2cy male chasing the adult male carrying a vole

stunning adult male with a striking tail pattern

I read too many reviews of camera gear! So many I read say that the Canon RF 200-800 is not sharp and maybe with the R7 its not great but with my R6II it seems pretty decent to me even with the haze of yesterday

the times when the 2cy male had the upper hand or position were few

seeing encounters like these is a rare privilege

The 30 frames a second on the R6II comes into its own in brief action sequences like these

the eyes say it all - get your own voles!

this 2cy male is richly coloured on the underparts particularly obvious at a distance

Some more action this week with the adult male mobbing and being mobbed by a Carrion Crow and then another 2cy male joining in the action

Adult male and the second 2cy male of the week a much paler and more advanced bird than the richly coloured bird in earlier images

and the first 2cy male for direct comparison

Graham Catley 10/03/2025 Graham Catley 10/03/2025

Lakes, Dales and Moors

Three days in the Lakes at a very quiet time of year and then diverted to North Teesdale in search of Black Grouse that I had not seen for years but inevitably we hit the only wet day of the week on the Black Grouse quest so departed mid-morning and wandered back via the North York Moors to add Red to the week’s grouse list.

Langdales - the Canon R6II and Rf 100-500

Signs of spring were few but it did hit 16C on our last day in the Lakes

The walk up Langdales did produce a Dipper though the angles were not great for photography

Esthwaite Water on a dull day when the sun was forecast - well by the MET Office anyway

My annual Marsh Tit encounter seems to be in this area - but as the British Willow Tit heads to extinction the Marsh Tit seems to be following

Far from satisfactory images of this singing male

Although still bright when we arrived in upper Teesdale by the following morning there was low cloud and haze and the rain soon arrived

A gang of Brown Hares chillin on the moors

and a bit of distant boxing albeit in very poor light

Good to see so many Lapwings tumbling and displaying

The number of displaying Curlew was amazing and their bubbling song produced an amazing soundscape

Ended up putting the 1.4x converter on the 200-800 lens which is not ideal in dull light

But at well over 1km range the results were almost acceptable as record shots

I was pleased to see about five females but even on a green field they were rather well disguised

Their ability to fade into spread manure was also impressive

There seemed to be very little lekking taking place

Just before we left we took a drive up another road and came across this male close to the roadside: I had seen a few males with brownish wings and poor combs but it had not registered that they were 2cy males like this bird

Red Griese were not hard to find on the roadside across the North York Moors - far too much heather burning and grouse management makes me question my photography of this species but they are an attractive bird

Plenty of males displaying but as usual the light was pretty dire