Greens and Greys on a wintery weekend

Saturday started well with 4 Greenland White-fronted Geese, amongst the usual Whooper Swan flock, near Kirkbride. I got a few nice images too as they fed amongst the trumpeting colossi. A return visit paid well in the later afternoon; whilst the geese had flown, a nice Green Sandpiper showed well at the edge of the flood in the same field.

On the Sunday, I drove south and after a long hike around the clearing in question near Killington (just south-east of the reservoir), I eventually caught up with the occasionally elusive rarity: my first Cumbrian Great Grey Shrike. I spend most of the day at this site, trying to anticipate the bird's next move and gradually increased my success rate via a combination of guesswork, luck and field craft. Although I got some nice shots, these were comfortably beaten by Craig's stunning images on Birdguides. Typical! This is my best effort, heavily edited...

I returned to Kirkbride the following weekend and got more shots of the Greenland White-fronted Geese: