A TRIP BACK TO THE LAGOONS

Went back to Goldcliff Lagoons on the 30th August bank holiday Monday (I'm starting to love the place) for a few hours birding. As we're coming into migratory season lots of birds especially the waders stop off whilst on passage. Whilst there I bagged my first Curlew Sandpiper which was very pleasing and met up with Paul Joy and Blair Jones a pair of top blokes. It was nice to chat with like minded people and share some birding stories. Blair introduced me to Goldcliff and gave me directions on how to get there. Blair also has his own blog which is very good called The Wildlife Oculus so if you haven't visited his blog yet give it a go.

a very heavily cropped curlew sandpiper

If you've ever visited Goldcliff you'll know that the birds especially the waders are a long way out, so unless your extremely fortunate and the birds come in close to the hides and viewing platforms a scope is a necessity. So with my 400mm prime lens on my camera I have to heavily crop my images like the one's of the very distant Curlew Sandpipers above.

Flying in quite regularly were loads of Greylag and Canada Geese like the one's below.

greylag and canada geese

canada geese

On the wader front there were some nice Curlews, Ruff and Black tailed Godwits. Didn't get a usable image of the Ruff they were to far out.

curlew

lapwing, black headed gulls and black tailed godwit

lapwing blacktailed godwits

 Whilst chatting to Paul and Blair we observed this Kestrel being mobbed by Martins and Swallows.

kestrel being mobbed 

Also these four little Egrets were taking it easy with the Geese and a Lapwing on the waters edge.

Last off was this meadow pipit that landed on the fence opposite the hide that we were in, so I was able to get an image with a bit of detail in.

That ended an enjoyable couple of hours out with the highlight for me being the Curlew Sandpiper and some Yellow Wagtails kindly pointed out to me by Blair again to far out for any usable images. That's it for this one as always thanks for dropping by and I'll catch you soon.