Titchwell, Norfolk, September 2009.


I needed to get down to Norfolk to get some new wader images and so I set off to Titchwell and worked my way towards Thornham point. Below is a selection of some of the images obtained. Most of the time the beach was left to me and the birds, alot of the time was spent carefully stalking the waders as they fed and grouped together. After plenty of time and pigeon steps I was able to get reasonably close and to the point where they were happy to rest up with me close by taking pictures, new birds would fly in and join the group with no concern of me at all. What a great feeling that is when, after all that time moving in carefully that, they accept my presence alongside them, awesome.
An additional bonus was a few Snow buntings that were feeding along the ridge edge. they too were accepting in my presence and were happy to feed alongside me, these lovely little buntings are a favourite of mine, so petite and a reminder winters around the corner.



















A change from the norm'.

Cuban Cigar Walk 19th Sept 2009.
Not my usual type of diary entry but another passion of mine, namely CIGARS'. Too good a day not to put it in my diary, this was an organised trip around the notable cigar shops in London with fellow members of the UK Cigar forum.

Starting point for the Brothers Of The Leaf.
And not being able to remember everyones name, it was easier to go by everyones forum name, now we could put a face to all the members. This was around a part of London I had not seen before and with all the history Nic was relaying there was plenty to take in and see.

We stopped at the Jack Barclay Bentley dealership and on entry the smell was more akin to a leather sofa showroom. There were some beautiful cars in there for sure. Oh to be rich! or sell the house and live on the back seat, very luxurious.

Sarah picking one out with a sumptuous red leather interior, 'sorry love you'll have to make do with our brown chesterfield'.


First port of call was Dunhill's. Here is Deano inspecting the Por Larranagas that soon made us queue up to obtain one. And just off the walk in humidor was a great private viewing room for screening films, oh to have a room like that.



Nic and I outside Sautter of Mount Street.

We stopped in Linley to view this stunning limited edition humidor. And what a beauty it was too, the flag ripple effect was stunning.


And of course somebody had to hold the cigars outside the shop whilst we looked, 'cheers Nic'.

Then it was time for a pint and 'sarnie' at the Red Lion, whilst Sarah and I chatted away with Cigarsmoke and Son of Cigarsmoke the rest of the BOTL puffed away outside.

A stop off at Davidoff where Sarah purchased a couple of cigars for my pleasure, thankyou, and a selection that had you walking around and around again just in case you missed something the first or second time.

And finally to JJ Fox, and downstairs to view the Churchill memorabilia which was great to view, and in the 'old mans chair' too. Some fascinating stuff down there. We also got the chance to view the cigar 'carousel' holder that Nic had told us about and what a great piece of work too, mind you it wouldn't fit most of our cigars in, they were too big.


Exhibits from the Churchill collection showing telegrams and cigars.



And so as the cigar crew reached the Churchill War room it was time for Sarah and I to part. It was great meeting everyone and an interesting fun day with lovely weather too, excellent.
Oh and not to change things too much I grabbed a bird shot at the end...
even if it was tame.

Farmoor Reservoir. Oxfordshire.1st September 2009.

White winged Black tern and American Black tern.
After my shifts had finished this morning I could not resist going for the WWBT amd ABT at Farmoor. I knew it would take me just under a couple of hours and I had not slept since sunday night, but it needed to be done. So I battled the traffic and on reaching the causeway was greeted with distant views of both the terns accompanied by a juv Black tern.

WWBT
The WWBT stood out against the other two with its whiter plumage and obvious lack of smudges'. It wasn't long before they were up and luckily for me headed in my direction giving me the chance of some record images. The wind as in true reservoir fashion was blowy so I was more than happy to capture something. But the ABT when overhead and distant stood out as the darker bird and of course the smudging on the flanks showed well on the images.

WWBT

BLACK TERN
The 3 terns ventured from one side of the reservoir to the other and actively fed for some time before returning to rest on the calmer basin. They continued this circuit for a few hours, and after getting some shots and good views through a birder scope, from south Devon, I called it a day.
ABT
ABT
ABT
ABT
ABT
ABT