Thursday 10 February 2011

Phantom Bunting - Llandudno, Conwy - 10th February 2011

I'm all up for a challenge every now and then, but trying to photograph birds that are seemingly not there is certainly a challenge too far!
I was going to head down to Bangor harbour again to try and clinch the last four digits of the Dutch ringed bird, but decided mid-morning to attempt to photograph 3 Snow Buntings that had been present in Llandudno for a while now. This would add a certainly level of beauty to my blog, and also enable me to photograph a bird I have previously found quite tricky.
I arrived at West Shore at c1230 and left at 15.30 which gave me ample time to locate and photograph the birds, but not a sniff! Not even a distant call to give me hope...oh well, at least I gave it a go on a lovely day instead of being stuck in my bedroom.

Close encounter with a Raven



There was a certain amount of consilation in the form of 2 Raven that were incredibly feeding on a dead fox that was for some reason on the beach! This is one of the few times I have ever seen Raven on the ground, and certainly the first time I have been able to get so close to such a beast of a bird. Sadly, I had put my camera away by the time a Carrion Crow joined in being completely dwarfed by the Raven (like a Carrion Crow and a Blackbird!)
I had a quick check of the gulls on the small lake at the north of West Shore to check for rings to no avail. I did however note several colour ringed Mute Swans reading ABSS, ABST and ABSV. These being so close together, I assume they were ringed on site. I did however see a metal ringed Mute Swan reading W25368, which I will send off as this may be a 'visitor'

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