I do see them in autumn most years but never in such numbers as this year. All the other ‘invasions’ I remember were in late winter/early spring.
Some XBills out east #2
Category: Esan
Some XBills out east #1
They’re all over the place this autumn and this lot nicely chose some lowish pine trees to feed in.
Seriously quiet
Still crazily quiet birdwise. Deep snow everywhere…
I was hoping for some crossbills but all I got in the pinetrees was that big black and white chicken….and even that was not posing for photos yesterday.
The local Steller’s #4
I wonder how many years this individual has been coming to this spot every winter?
I also wonder which windswept cape in the far northeast of Russia it goes to in summer. Is it half of a pair? If so where is its significant other? So many questions…
The local Steller’s #3
On its good side…
And flying towards me…
The local Steller’s #2
I noticed the Steller’s had dropped behind a sea wall and I snuck up and there it was…
It looks a bit grizzled. How old is it? I think it’s a male (it seems a bit small)…
This winter I’ve noticed its right eye is knacked.
The left eye looks normal enough.
What happened to its eye I wonder? Is the eagle equivalent of a cataract? Is it blind in that eye? Like I say I think this individual is probably quite old.
The local Steller’s #1
We were east of town today. It was snowing but not so cold. There is a spot where the same Steller’s Sea Eagle returns every winter. It was pretty active today, first speeding away in pursuit of something…
A quiet end to January
Not a Rough-legged sadly…
Heavy snow and very low temperatures have restricted my birding the last couple of weeks. Today we headed east where the snowfall is usually much less but even there it was piled high. Not a vintage day for photos.
A bit quiet birding wise. A flock of Japanese Waxwing flew over (with one pixel-peeped Bohemian) and the local Steller’s was around.
Amongst the Carrion and Large-billed Crows in the port I was surprised to see this first winter Rook. This is a winter visitor only here and is usually found in large skittish flocks in agricultural fields. Strange to see a lone one poking around in the fish scraps.
A cold Monday
A cold day in the port. 2 Steller’s around but no decent photos, had to pass time photographing gulls and kites…
Harlequins in the gloom
There were a lot of Harlequin Duck around today. On such a dark dreary day in the past I would have given up trying to photograph them but with the R5 and Topaz DeNoise they don’t look so bad.
A grey Monday in January
A dark mild sleety day east of town today…
I was waiting for the Steller’s to leave its perch and do something interesting. It didn’t…
There were some other birds around. Lots of Goldeneye, the above Slav and various gulls including this Glaucous-winged.
A sneaky Harlequin
Whilst I was waiting in vain for the Steller’s to fly close by a drake Harlequin Duck sneaked by…
