Colin Holter
@bostalbirder.bsky.social
Birding for 40 years in my native Sussex & beyond (especially fond of NW Scotland & the Islands). Partial to a bit of seawatching. All photos my own (RX10iv/OM1ii).
Our first very welcome persistent rain for 2 months this morning, 4 hours of it! Glorious petrichor! Cissbury Ring; Redstart 2, Blackcaps 30+, Lesser Whitethroat 3, Whitethroat 6, Reed Warbler, Willow Warblers, Wheatear & my first 3 Spotted Flycatchers of the year. #UKBirding
Looking at some more of my Hummingbird Hawk Moth photos from the other day...I hadn't realised quite how furry their bodies are...I especially like that 1960's style long fringe over the eyes! #naturephotography
With so many Hummingbird Hawk Moths in the UK this summer, I spent some time closely watching one repeatedly visiting Verbena Bonariensis in our garden. Their positioning of their long proboscis accurately into the flowers every time is very impressive. Almost bat-like profile in last 2 pics?
Pretty sure I've seen this same pair of beautifully glossy Choughs in the same area in West Penwith on my visits over the last few years in late summer (from their leg ring bling). Always together, but never with any juvs. Tough foraging in this parched landscape... @cornishchoughs.bsky.social
Common Sandpiper - awake, asleep, awake. 1 of 8 seen at Drift Reservoir last week (also more distantly 5 Green & 2 Wood Sandpipers). #UKBirding #waders
Manx Shearwaters, Pendeen Watch, West Cornwall last week. In late summer with the right wind conditions many thousands can fly past at reasonably close range. Throw in some of the rarer shearwaters & Storm Petrels etc & it surely is one of UK's great birding spectacles. #seabirds #UKBirding
I was very lucky to happen on this group of 8 Stone Curlews in a very shimmery stubble field on the edge of Salisbury Plain last week, even heard them calling once or twice...softened the blow of missing the one that turned up <2 miles from home in Sussex on the same day! #ukbirding
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One of the upsides of the current "heatwave" is the number of utterly charming Gatekeepers in the garden this summer, they are especially attracted to Marjoram flowers. Great news that they seem to be particularly abundant this year...one of my favourite butterflies. @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Common Terns, Rye Harbour, East Sussex. Smaller & more agile than the nearby Sandwich Terns, & perhaps a bit more belligerent, but scarcely any less voluble than their larger cousins. Time well spent watching their comings & goings... #ukbirding #seabirds
Sandwich Terns, Rye Harbour, East Sussex recently. Always something going on in the colony - gloriously garrulous birds capable of creating a truly marvellous racket. #ukbirding #seabirds
Absolute pleasure to see this superb adult Caspian Tern at Dungeness RSPB on Friday morning. Impressive bird though always distant, but great scope views. Absolutely dwarfed a Common Tern + other species nearby showing just how big it was - the largest tern species in the world. #UKBirding #seabirds
Common Tern chick (at Rye Hbr) anticipating a meal, & with watchful parents as it takes a precocious dip (which didn't last long before it scuttled back onto the island with the parents looking far less concerned once it was back on dry land). @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKBirding #Birds
More of the Common Terns at Rye Hbr last week, food carrying & often involved in altercations with their neighbouring terns & gulls & just occasionally having a placid moment on a post...marvellous sights & sounds... @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #BirdingUK #Birds
Some more Sandwich Terns from Rye Hbr last week. I love the animation of the feathers that photography shows, something you can never appreciate with the naked eye - like the ruffling of the trailing edge of the primaries when slowing down to land in pic 3. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKBirding
The Common Terns from the Denny Hide at Rye Hbr seemed to be bringing in a greater variety of prey than the Sandwich Terns; sand eels, sprats, also I think possibly prawns & maybe baby squid or cuttlefish? Constant & very entertaining activity in the colony. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKBirding
The Sandwich terns at Rye Hbr are nesting on the island just in front of the Parkes hide this year giving wonderful close range views. Fascinating to watch the comings & goings (& squabbles) in the colony. They seemed to be finding plentiful sandeels & sprats. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKbirding
Little Egrets are now commonplace over much of the country, but I enjoyed watching this one successfully fishing in front of one of the hides at Rye Hbr last week. I think sometimes it's all too easy to disregard the species you see often. Good to stop & look... @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #Birds
What a conservation success story Avocets have been. Good to see many pairs with young at Pagham Harbour this year, & more last week at Rye Harbour. Such elegant birds, but noisy & feisty when they need to be. #UKBirding #Birds #Sussex
Birding doldrums? Now is prime time to spend a bit of time at a tern colony on the coast - lots of activity as parents are very busy feeding young. Such a delight to watch these Little Terns at Pagham Harbour recently, where they seem to doing quite well.🤞 @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #UKBirding
This Garden Warbler with an impressive beakful of insects was chacking constantly & only dived into a nearby hawthorn (where it clearly had a nest) when a loitering Jay flew off, clearly a very careful parent... Southern Block, Knepp last week. @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #UKBirding
We saw many Great-Northern Divers around Skye & the Uists coastlines in May, it's always such a treat to get good views of them in their splendid breeding plumage. #BirdingScotland
Nearing the end editing my photos from the Uists last month... Raptors are never far away on the islands, we saw both eagles, though Hen Harriers seemed fewer than our previous visits, but good numbers of Short-eared Owls incl. these 2 on Benbecula, such mesmerising buoyant flight. #BirdingScotland
Always great to see white-winged gulls - we saw both Iceland & Glaucous Gulls on our recent trip to the Uists, both 2nd cy birds I think. The Iceland was at Ardivachar, & this absolute bruiser of a Glaucous was on the rocks off Balranald beach one evening. #BirdingScotland
Eiders are a commonplace around the Hebrides, but I think they are iconic birds of northern coastlines, often providing a gentle crooning soundscape to many a coastal walk, or equally at home offshore in rough seas during a seawatch. I always enjoy my encounters with them. #BirdingScotland
The Uists host important populations of breeding waders on coastline, moorland & machair. Ringed Plover & Redshank amongst them. We were pleased to see so many on our trip last month. #BirdingScotland
The insects & invertebrates in decomposing seaweed on the hebridean beaches are the attraction for the waders, a food bonanza to fuel migration. These 2 breeding plumaged Knot happily fed as I sat nearby - likewise this Whimbrel, whose calls always evoke spring migration to me. #BirdingScotland
