Isle of Man blog

January 2nd - Ramsey

The day before, my friend from the north of the Isle of Man had told me of a 1st winter male Scaup which was in a boating lake in Ramsey. He said it was showing well but I didnt realise just how well till I saw his photographs.
So I decided to try for it today. I got up early and went the 20 ish miles northwards for first light.
I got to the lake and scanned near the cafe as I was told to but couldnt spot anything. I tried all the other bits of the lake but nothing. A bit glum I went off to the harbour to wait for the wintering Black Redstart.
About 30 minutes later I got a call from my friend telling me the Scaup was still there!
I went back and there it was sitting right next to a marker buoy! (Im claiming that from my viewpoint the Scaup was hidden by the buoy :) )
The Scaup was associating itself with a white farm duck so we managed to bring that duck close by using bread and the Scaup came with it. Down to 10ft range! Unfortunately the light was harsh, low and from about 2 o clock. So the majority of my photos came out dark but I did manage a few when the bird had the light side on. This was one of those.

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I also attempted some shots when I was lieing down, to try and get that loverly blurred foreground and background effect but the results werent as hoped. As the body of the bird was always half covered by a small wave.
Still happy with the shots I got ( I took about 90 and ended with about 4 or 5 good ones) we moved around the park trying to photography Mistle Thrush . These birds were very wary though and pics were impossible. The reason for them being wary could have been the Sparrowhawk we saw blasting through the trees.
I then went back for the Black Redstart but again it wasnt showing. With the tide being out I decided to see if I could find where the Kingfisher hides during this state of the tide. The normal place to see it on the Sulby Rivers final corner before meeting the harbour was all mudbanks so I walked further up river. I was hoping to also see the Little Grebes that winter on this section but they weren't to be found. I got to the furthest allowable place up river (which was not far, probably about half a mile) and hadnt spotted or heard a Kingfisher. Turning back, I spotted a Hooded Crow quite close having a drink. I managed to approach quite close and get a half decent photo.

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The walk up the river was fruitless with no Kingfisher or Little Grebe and with no Waxwings left in Ramsey I headed home.