WHERE'S THE HARBOURMASTER?

It was very surreal yesterday with a trip to Dover Docks and not seeing the Harbourmaster in position!Apparently he had been down earlier in the day to check on any new arrivals.My main reason for the trip was to hopefully photograph a Razorbill which was happily fishing in Wellington Dock. Having seen Chiddy's pics yesterday I thought it worth the visit. Although it was very overcast the bird was incredibly close.Along with the B.T.Diver I only ever see them at great distance at Reculver and I agree with Chiddy that it was fascinating to see a bird like this so close.The Diver put in a brief show and it was time for home.

HAMPTON PIER AND A TRIP TO TESCOS

With rain forecast for the next few months at least a small window of brightness arrived on Boxing Day and I was determined to make the most of it. I decided to go to Herne Bay to try and photograph the Purple Sandpipers that seem quite content there.Arriving at high tide the birds, 3 in all seemed to want to sit as far away as possible.However they did come a little closer and I managed 1 decent shot with another of a group of Redshanks. Moving on to Tescos at Whitstable 28 Waxwings were happily feeding in between the shoppers and along with Mike Gould I snapped away happily for an hour.Finally a big thanks to all who read this rubbish each time I post and hopefully I'll have a few more birds to reflect on next year.Highlights this year were undoubtedly seeing a real bogie bird for me in the form of a Little Bunting and in Kent and finally getting Kentish Puffin and Storm Petrel in half an hour at Grenham Bay .Big  thanks to Heathy as always for putting up with me!

Diver and more Waxwings

A few picture from today's tour of East Kent.The Waxwings were very accommodating although the light was never very good.However the Black- Throated Diver performed nicely.This is undoubtedly the closest I've ever managed to get to one.Good to catch up with the Harbour Master and Martyn

I SEE LOTS OF WAXWINGS!

Yesterday morning I persuaded my wife to take a detour after shopping to see if the two Waxwings at the Haine Road Industrial Estate were still there. On arrival the two had been joined by twenty seven other chums. In brilliant sunshine some of the birds were feeding only three or four metres away! Rushing home to get the camera I returned to the scene to empty trees. Unfortunately I had a date at Ebbsfleet to see the mighty Grimsby in the Conference so couldn't stay long. Today in much better conditions if possible the large flock at Stonelees delighted alarge audience with most of the usual suspects on show.The birds whilst I was there numbered around a hundred and were constantly mobile although I did manage a few shots. Thanks to Tim Gutsell for his advice on settings they don't look too bad.There were also significant numbers of Winter Thrushes with the Redwing probably outnumbering the Fieldfare.