January 2017

I start the New Year with a photo actually taken on the last day of 2016. Bob, Elena and I made a trip to Cabo de Gata hoping to see the Trumpeter Finch. We were lucky, there were twenty or more feeding on a grassy slope just below the Lighthouse. This is the only established breeding colony of this little species in mainland Europe. They are resident on the Canary Islands and across N. Africa into central Asia. It was a lifer for me and saw out the Old Year nicely.

Trumpeter Finch

Another January shot, the Crested Tit here came down to the picnic tables at the Alcazar Picnic site above Alcaucin. This is a very picturesque place and a favourite of ours for walking and birding. Elena put a few breadcrumbs out which attracted a lot of birds, probably because we were having a particularly cold spell and alternative food might have been hard to find for little insectivores.

Crested Tit

February 2017

A Yellow-billed Hornbill framed by ivy leaves in good light creates an excellent image. Taken in Kruger National Park it makes shot of the month for the composition and quality of the shot.

Yellow-billed Hornbill

And an action shot from Kruger of a Wattled Starling parent preparing to feed a fledgling. This is one of a nice sequence and the eager young bird with that bright yellow gape makes it an interesting image, worthy of inclusion as another photo of the month for February.

Wattled Starlings

February was a special month because of the trip to South Africa so I will include several of my favourite shots from the trip.. The Green Wood Hoopoes here are very beautiful in varying shades of purple, violet, green and copper with long bright red bills. There is something male/female going on here too which adds a little spice to the composition. Worthy of another shot of the month.

Green Wood Hoopoes

March 2017

After South Africa I didn't do much birding in March. I had my fill in Kruger NP and was very busy with family matters. I did however manage a fairly decent shot of a Ferruginous Duck on the main lagoon at the Charca de Suarez. It's a very handsome specimen and the light was good, so it is satisfactory for shot of the month.

Ferruginous Duck

April 2017

A trip to Morocco this month produced two good images. A nice male Marsh Harrier gathering nesting material over a small lake.......

Marsh Harrier

Northern Morocco is the only place north of the Sahara Desert where it is possible to see the African Marsh Owl. This photograph was taken in the marshes of Merja Zerga, near the small town of Moulay Bousselham

Marsh Owl

May 2017

A trip to the Tablas de Damiel National Park in la Mancha produced two images worthy of gallery inclusion. Savi's Warbler looks very much like a common Reed Warbler, but when you hear the song there is no doubting the identity. It is like a grasshopper or cricket but is continuous, no pauses for many minutes at a time.

Savi's Warbler

The Bearded Tit, aka Bearded Reedling is another bird of the reedbed habitat. We were pleased to see them here at Tablas de Daimiel and to get a reasonable shot of a handsome male complete with long black moustaches.

Bearded Tit

June 2017

A week at the Bird Observatory on the isle of May of the coast of Scotland yielded some interesting photos. Not least this shot of an Arctic Tern attacking me on a footpath near the nesting grounds. My usual 500 mm birding lens was useless in this situation as the subjects were so close. I used an ultra wide-angle 8 - 16 mm lens for this and other similar shots.  The result is quite pleasing.

Arctic Tern

July 2017

That perch at the Charca de Suarez came up trumps again. Good shots of Turtle Dove and Kingfisher on the same evening in perfect light. I decided to use both as we didn't go birding in August, too busy with family visitors and too hot anyway.

Turtle Dove

Common Kingfisher

September 2017

The only way to distinguish between the Torresian Crow and the various Ravens in Australia is by their call. The Forest Raven has a deep and husky "Korr", far-carrying and haunting. It was this that enabled me to identify this bird in the forest by Boulder Creek Dam in the Nightcap Range, NSW Australia.

Forest Raven

October 2017

This is a Pacific Baza, a member of the hawk family native to Australia and adjacent SE Asian Islands. I consider it to be an extremely handsome species with a jaunty crest and a deeply hooked bill. It is otherwise known as the Crested Hawk. I photographed a pair of them in dense woodland behind the beach at Lennox Head, NSW Australia.

Pacific Baza

November 2017

The Ring Ouzel had eluded my camera for a long time until this year. I finally caught up with many of them drinking from a puddle on the road high up in Sierra Loja in Granada Province, Spain. A very handsome and elusive bird so I was very pleased to finally get a few decent images his month.

Ring Ouzel

December 2017

A trip to Osuna with members of the Andalucia Bird Society yielded many good birds. The best quality photo was this Southern Grey Shrike perched on an insulator by the roadside. Some nice detail captured here including that lovely soft rosy tint on the underside and the sharply hooked end to the upper mandible. A good enough image to round off 2017.

Southern Grey Shrike