2 April 2023 - Hollingworth Lake

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Kittiwake, Little Owl, Bullfinch, Common Gull

I had a good walk around the lake this morning. There was a cool breeze, and it began overcast, eventually brightening up and warming up slightly.  A Common Gull was standing on a stone by the path near the road, allowing close approach and photos; I wondered if it may be ill, but it looked bright enough.  Further along by Rakewood Road, a male Bullfinch fed in some brambles by the roadside, but the light was still rather grey at this point.  I walked around past the reserve with little else to report, and then scanning across the water from near the cafe, I noticed what looked like a possible Kittiwake, sitting on the water at some distance.  I wasn't totally convinced, as I thought it looked a little too large and bulky, but the plumage characters looked good, with a plain yellowish bill and little white in the wingtip.  It was too far and the breeze was too strong, so I took some photos and waited for it to fly, which would clinch it either way.  Just as I was beginning to doubt myself and put it down as a very clean Common Gull, it took flight and proved itself 100% to be Kittiwake.  Unfortunately it immediately started to fly off high in a north-easterly direction towards Blackstone Edge and was lost to view.   Looking back at the photos, it seems obvious now, but it didn't feel that way in the field.

I walked up past Turnough and towards Shaw Moss and was pleasantly surprised to find a Little Owl on the stone wall in the valley at the top of Turnough; the first I'd seen in the area for two or three years.

Common Gull, 1/640 sec, f/6.3, 400 mm, ISO 800 (view full size image)

Bullfinch, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 2000 (view full size image)

Kittiwake, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 200 (view full size image)

Kittiwake , 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 250 (view full size image)

Little Owl, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 500 (view full size image)