Local Birding for Local People

A day of Twitching in Norfolk

2012-01-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's refreshing just to have a break from the norm. So yesterday was a day out in Norfolk, with hopefully a couple of lifers to be gained.

After just under four hours in the car, the first stop was in the Yare Valley at Buckenham Marshes, to look for the Lesser White-fronted Goose. As time passed, gradually taking the riverbank path towards Cantley, a decent bird list was building up. Including White-fronted Geese, 4 Whooper Swans, Peregrine, ringtail Hen Harrier, 5 or 6 calling Cetti's Warblers and some of the tamest Wigeon you'll ever encounter.

While walking towards Cantley a skein of geese flew past back towards Buckenham, and as it turned out this contained the Lesser White-fronted Goose. A brisk walk back indeed did reveal the Lesser White-fronted Goose with around 50 Taiga Bean Geese. Hurrah, first lifer of the day.

The bird was distant, zooming the scope right in you could faintly see the ring around the eye. Quite a stubby-shaped bill, no obivous barring on the belly like a White-front would have.

That wild goose chase took up most of the morning. So getting back to the car, round the Norwich ring road and through Holt, to Cley.

During the morning the Western Sandpiper had been on Arnold's Marsh, so that was the place to go to when parked up.

Getting to the end of the east bank, the Western Sand was showing well and quite close. Hurrah, lifer number 2!

I'm relieved it was on Arnold's Marsh and could be easily viewable from the east bank, rather being cramped up in the one of the hides. The more usual waders were on Arnold's Marsh such as Dunlin, Ringed and Grey Plovers, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit. Also a nice group of Bearded Tits in the reeds and 4 Marsh Harriers overhead, performing a bit of a display.

With this little twitching mission accomplished, the day finished with a look around Titchwell.

The Arctic Redpoll was feeding in the alders along the path to the freshmarsh, with the other Redpolls and Goldfinches. Also stacks of duck and waders on the freshmarsh, particularly impressive numbers of Ruff, Golden Plover and Pintail. One final surprise before the drive home was this Water Rail feeding in the ditch by the path.

Blowing in the Wind

2012-01-08T10:38:00.001-08:00

Cor, what a windy few days it's been! It made for tricky birding conditions yesterday, just for keeping the scope still, but easier today.

Spending the morning at Uttoxeter Quarry, and just missing Andy's fly-through Grey Plover. A big increase in duck numbers, with at least 500 Mallard, 300 Teal and 100 Wigeon.

Other duck included 15 Goosander, 2 Goldeneye, 13 Pochard and 6 Shelduck already making their way inland. The Pink-footed Goose still with the Greylags, and 4 Dunlin and c120 Golden Plovers with c300 Lapwings. A most pleasing visit.

Heading over to Chasewater for the gull roost was also productive. However, it wasn't the easiest roosts as many of the gulls were taking shelter from the wind, in the north-west corner and packing themselves in quite tightly. Thankfully, an adult Med Gull was seen early on, and eventually the stunning near-adult Iceland Gull showed well on the water.

As for today, with much less wind. 5 Goosander and 19 Mandarin at Brookleys Lake. Spending the afternoon at Uttoxeter Quarry until dusk, the only difference in wildfowl was a drake Pintail. 35 Goosander roosted, 6 Ravens and a Grey Wagtail flew over.

So this is 2012 then!

2012-01-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

When the London Olympics was announced, 2012 seemed like ages away. It's here now, where does all the time go?

Anyway, two days of birding to kick the year off with. New Years Day started at Dimmingsdale of all places. Why's that, because I forgot to mention the other week, there's a few Bramblings round there, so that would be a good start. There was still at least one female Brambling still around.

Brookleys Lake was a bit quiet, with generally fewer duck around but 6 Goosander were noteworthy. Last time I checked Uttoxeter Quarry was the day after Boxing Day and was rather disappointing. But today was much better, lots more duck around including a good count of 80 Teal, 30 Goosander, a female Pintail and 2 Goldeneye.

But best of all, and reward for persistence, was a Pink-footed Goose in amongst the Canadas and Greylags. Not quite the wild goose I was hoping for, that would be a Bean, but just be grateful for small mercies.

Finishing off at the Blithfield deep end, but beaten by the weather at this stage. Just too wet and windy for the Black Redstart to show, but it can wait for another day. And in any case it was great to catch up with Team Staley! Using the little shelter in St. Stephens Bay to check the gulls, nothing unusual out on the water. A new year but still jinxing the Blithfield gull roost!

As for today. Building up a new list of common species, may as well do that around home. So I've checked a number of different spots in and around Tean and Cheadle. The main highlight being a Water Rail and a Kingfisher at Hales Hall Pool. Last year, it took me until July to see Kingfisher and August to see Water Rail. This year I've seen both on the second day of the year, which gives an indication of just how harsh last winter was.

Ooh it's an Iceland Gull

2011-12-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

There's been an Iceland Gull roaming round the Silverdale area, just west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, for about the last week. Getting onto Walley's landfill site and Silverdale Colliery. Presumably this bird is also roosting at Sandbach Flashes in Cheshire.

Viewing of Walley's landfill looked extremely restricted to me. The only view you can get is of the gulls circling up in the air from the garden centre car park next door. Not wanting to get clobbered by garden centre managers I went straight to Silverdale Colliery and hope that the Iceland Gull will eventually move it's way here.

This is Silverdale Colliery, never been before.

And in fact the juvenile Iceland Gull was already here anyway, hurrah!

A Christmas Warble

2011-12-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

Don't worry reader, that's not a cue for me to start singing! As I thought would be the case, there's not been much birding over the last couple of weeks.

That's mainly due to most of my time taken up with visiting my dad at the Derby Royal hospital, after a back operation. It's all gone really well, so that's good. Even though I got him back home last Sunday, I've felt absolutely shattered ever since. But what a place the Derby Royal is, you walk in the main entrance and it's more like motorway services than a hospital!

But I managed to find a little bit of time to look at the Eider last Saturday, at Rudyard Lake of course. It was pretty distant from the Reacliffe Road sailing club, as the below picture will suggest. But it must've found a good supply of freshwater mussels, as the bird was diving and returning to the surface with shellfish in it's bill. And I'd been and gone by the time a Red-throated Diver appeared, never mind.

Then this morning, a couple of hours was spent in Fenton Park in Stoke, adjacent to Berry Hill Fields.

The reason why is because of the appearance of a Lesser Whitethroat. At this time of year central Asian races are a possibility. And from what I've seen, I haven't a clue if it is a central Asian one or just a bog-standard Lesser Whitethroat.

But while it was happily feeding on the nectar of a flowering Mahonia, it appeared to have quite buff underparts, short primary projection and lots of tail-flicking. I can't recall our Lesser Whitethroats doing tail-flicking like a Chiffchaff, but then again they're usually skulking in Hawthorn.

The Ballad of Maverick

2011-12-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

Muchos thanks to Paul "Birding for Fun" Shenton for alerting me to Gyr Crakes' new one, The Ballad of Maverick!

As they say on X Factor, great choice of song, the old Stan Ridgway number. And to recall some pleasant memories of Scilly, some nice scenes of St. Agnes.

The Goosetastic Trent Valley

2011-12-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make the most of this weekend because for a few different reasons, that could it for birding time until over Christmas. Yesterday was a check of Uttoxeter Quarry and Brookleys Lake.

Still plenty of Canadas and Greylags around the quarry, but no wild geese. But more spectacular was the huge flock of Lapwings and Golden Plovers, must've been around 900 Lappys and 500 Golden Pullovers. Also 25 Goosander, 21 Wigeon, 8 Teal, 3 Pochard, 7 Curlew, 7 Snipe and a pair of displaying Great Crested Grebes.

As for Brookleys Lake, the Mandarins are back in force! 127 of them in the end. I think there's more around nowadays than people think, particularly in some of the river valleys like the Dove and the Churnet. Also 3 Pochard, 1 drake Shoveler, 1 female Wigeon and a calling Water Rail.

As for today, the main highlight has been White-fronted Geese in the Trent Valley. Arriving at Whitemoor Haye, a few heads of White-fronted Geese could be seen from opposite the quarry entrance. They eventually took flight and that proved there were seven of them. Also around were 14 Great Crested Grebes on the main lake, a Little Owl, loads of Mute Swans around Sittles Farm but no sign of the Bewick's that were present in the week.

Onto Croxall next. There's a guided walk next Sunday. Not that I'd be able to go anyway, I'll be recovering from the work christmas do by then. Looking at the sign, not sure how many terns they'll be expecting in December?

But anyway, a good number of Pochard at Croxall, 79 including this rather pale female. She's been in the area for the last few winters.

3 Redshank and a drake Goldeneye also, then walking back to the car five more White-fronted Geese flew over, heading towards Whitemoor Haye. They were seen by Bernie Smith at Whitemoor Haye and they continued west. So that's two groups of White-fronts around, totalling 12 birds, magic!

Finishing off at Blithfield, and good timing with the rain falling down, although Tad bay needs much more in order to fill it up. From the hide in Tad were 3 Dunlin, around 200 Golden Plover, 8 Goosander, 5 Goldeneye. And to end with, the gull roost from Watery Lane contained at least one adult Yellow-legged Gull.

...and it was 10 years ago today...

2011-11-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

When the world heard of the passing of George Harrison! George was of course, the guitarist in a four-piece combo from Liverpool called "The Beatles". Best bit of Beatles guitar work? I'd go with this one:

And a bit more of George. This always reminds me of twitching for some reason. Especially the lines "it's going to take money" and "it's going to take time" Wise words George!

Wish you were here

2011-11-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

There was the thought of a twitch to Chew Valley Lake this weekend. But in the end as a famous twitcher once said, I couldn't be bothered, but stayed closer to home instead.

Yesterday began at Uttoxeter Quarry for the morning. Looks like the Red-crested Pochard has now moved on, but present were 284 Golden Plover, 6 Snipe, 7 Curlew, 1 Green Sand, 2 Goldeneye, 3 Goosander, 5 Pochard, 2 Shoveler and 25 Wigeon.

The afternoon was spent at the gull meccas of Stubber's Green and the roost at Chasewater, with the Azorean Yellow-legged Gull being seen again at Stubber's in the week. Not a large number of gulls at Stubber's during the couple of hours I was there, and the wind really started picking up. But there was an adult Caspian Gull in, and an adult Med Gull.

Heading over to Chasewater, the presumed/putative/probable (any other words beginning with P?) Azorean Yellow-legged Gull was on the water.

I've never been to The Azores but I can't imagine it being anything like Chasewater. But it must be happy enough in it's stay. At one stage, and completely missed at the time, it was briefly accompanied by an adult Med Gull. Didn't notice that until looking through my photos, although the Med Gull was seen a bit later on.

Also around were 2 "ordinary" adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a Whooper Swan.

Onto today. Not much change at Uttoxeter Quarry, with Goosanders increased to 10. The rest of the time was spent at Blithfield. Not a huge amount out of the ordinary, and the reservoir really could do with some rain to fill Tad Bay and Blithe Bay. As a result, with the exception of Teal there's not a lot of duck in.

24 Dunlin in Blithe Bay. Tad had 58 Golden Plover, 1 Dunlin, 2 Snipe, 2 Shelduck, 4 Goosander, 5 Goldeneye and 2 Ravens. And incidentally, this is the feeding station in Stansley Wood.

Plenty of food in the feeders, but no birds using them. Perhaps due to the mild autumn and plenty of natural food still around? Maybe, but look closer and there could be another explanation!

It was 20 years ago today.........

2011-11-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

When the world heard of the passing of a certain Freddie Mercury! I can well understand people not liking the music of Queen these days, particularly with the "We Will Rock You" musical around. But do not forget what an influential band they were.

Of course, everyone knows the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions, Radio Gaga and Don't Stop Me Know, to the point of ad-nauseum. But in days of yore, Queen were a proper rock band you know. Allow Exhibit A my'lud. I do hope Germaine Greer doesn't read this, I'm sure it's very unlikely!

And another bit of rock, lets rock! The title track of Queen's final album, on the same year that Freddie passed away, Innuendo.

Fog Stopped Play

2011-11-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

Birding was rather protracted this weekend just gone. Partly, on the Sunday because of the fog. It only started lifting a bit in the late afternoon, so down to Uttoxeter Quarry. The descending gloom revealed the female Red-crested Pochard still, 2 drake Pintail, 3 Shelduck, 15 Wigeon, 4 Shoveler and 16 Goosanders came in to roost. Plenty of Canada and Greylag Geese but nothing else with them, like White-fronts or Tundra Beans.

As for the Saturday. Well, no birding but it involved one or two dodgy dealings (not really!), and ended up with one of these. Now's the time you know, with X Factor, Strictly and The Jungle on. Here's a plug from it's sponsor, although it does make you wonder why we all bother.

Some Wildfowl and some Gulls

2011-11-13T13:13:00.000-08:00

That's a rather unimaginative blog title this time, because that could be the same over the next few months!

But over this weekend, there's a definite increase in duck numbers at my birding sites near home. Starting off at Brookleys Lake yesterday, Mallards up to at least 250, 60 Tufteds, 3 Teal, 2 Gadwall and a drake Pochard. It was only the Mandarins that hadn't increased, still only about 10.

The most interesting count at Uttoxeter Quarry were the Teal, a whopping 104, by far the largest number I've seen there. The female Red-crested Pochard still around, 52 Tufteds, 16 Wigeon, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Pochard, 6 each of Goosander and Gadwall. Also still around 50 Golden Plovers present, 5 Curlew, 6 Snipe and 1 Dunlin. There was also a large flock of gulls which contained 2 adult Yellow-legged, 1 Herring and 2 Common.

I haven't explained yet since getting back from the Scillies, Uttoxeter Quarry's main pit has filled right up again. At the furthest point of the gravel pit from the public footpath is the River Dove. For some reason the gravel company have dug a hole in the river bank, allowing the gravel pit to flood. I don't really understand why they've done it, particularly as it's also being pumped out!

Whatever the reasons for it, it's looking great for wildfowl again. And onto today, where stood on the footpath at the quarry, behind my left shoulder were a few high-pitched squeaks in amongst some goose honking. Turned round and four grey geese were coming over. Pink-feet were the initial thought, but getting my binoculars on them they turned out to be White-fronted Geese! Wonderful, the black marks underneath were very clear.

Unfortunately they just carried straight through. The only other difference were Pochard had now increased to 6. The possible/probable Azorean Yellow-legged Gull had reappeared at Chasewater the previous evening. I'd quite like to see it just to see for myself how different they look. So that was planned for later, but time to check Tad Bay in Blithfield first.

Tad Bay revealed 9 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander, 29 Dunlin, 3 Snipe and a flock of around 300 Golden Plover.

I haven't been to Chasewater since the Franklin's Gull was there in July last year. The tide's still out!

The work on the dam has now finished, and the water is higher since old Franky Boy was here. But there's still a long way to go until it's full.

Despite the probably Azorean YL Gull being seen on Cannock tip during the day, it wasn't found in the roost. There was a interesting-looking candidate, but the concensus of opinion was it wasn't quite right. But there was a myriad of Herring, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls around, in different ages, shapes and sizes. Also the adult Caspian Gull in after spending the day at Stubber's Green and an adult Med Gull.

Catching up the last two weekends

2011-11-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

The trouble I've had with all the great stuff to write about on the Scillies, is there's been no time to think up some words and pictures of the birding and twitching I've done since I got back. So I'm determined to catch this blog up in one fowl swoop.

As we're back in Greenwich Mean Time now, birding is now restricted to weekends (boo!). Both weekends have featured a Saturday twitch and a Sunday proper birding day.

Saturday 29th October was an afternoon twitch to Attenborough Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Nottingham, to see the Squacco Heron. Couldn't go in the morning as the old jam jar was having a tyre change, and then ummed and aahed for a while on whether to go at all. But I did go and in the end it was a rather long wait, but may as well give it until dusk because there's nothing else to do. But just before 5:30pm and starting to get rather dark, the Squacco flew in to the River Erewash, fantastic to see it in flight.

Told you it was getting dark!

Sunday 29th October was back to patching. Uttoxeter Quarry had a good sized flock of 232 Golden Plover, 2 Curlew, 1 Snipe, 1 drake Pochard, 6 Wigeon. It's also getting to the time of year to regularly check Brookleys Lake again, which contained a female Goldeneye, drake Gadwall and 20 Mandarins.

An afternoon drive round the North Staffs Moors produced 3 Stonechats and a few Red Deer. Finishing off at Swallow Moss until dusk, a Short-eared Owl flew across the heather just before darkness descended.

So onto the weekend just gone. Remember remember the 5th November, for another twitch! This time, into Shropshire for the Steppe Grey Shrike at Wall Farm Nature Reserve, a few miles north of Telford. Which continued to show well, albeit a bit distant, along a hedgerow.

Despite it's distance you could certainly tell the differences from Great Grey Shrike. Such as the pale lores (the patch between the eye and bill), the large wing patch and very little difference in colour between the upperparts and underparts. In fact, I'm struggling to understand how it's grouped in with Southern Grey Shrike. If you see Southern Grey Shrike in Portugal, they look nothing like this!

So to get everything up to date, yesterday. Which followed the same itinerary to last Sunday, but better. Uttoxeter Quarry was the best it's been for months! Parked up, a text from Andy saying 2 Whooper Swans had just flown in. I was only just thinking that it's about time we had some.

We've had a good record of Whoopers during early November, so they must use the River Dove as a migration route. Andy's visit was a bit of a whistle-stop tour, so I had to get him back after finding a female Red-crested Pochard.

As for this bird's origins, your guess is as good as mine, but it was there. It's legs bore no rings when stood out of the water. Also around were a female Pintail, 3 Goosander, 5 Pochard, 13 Wigeon, 25 Teal, 164 Golden Plover and 10 Curlew.

Brookleys Lake was pretty quiet this time, probably due to Alton Towers firework display the previous night. And as for another drive round the moors, not a lot until getting to Swallow Moss. Late on in the afternoon, a ringtail Hen Harrier appeared over the Revidge side, hunting away.

Half an hour later 2 Short-eared Owls appeared in the distance, quite high in the sunset sky. That ended an excellent day's birding, of finding (or at least trying to find) my own stuff.

The 2011 Scilly Season. Part 5, the last few days.

2011-11-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Into the final stretch now. The 19th had the first boat to Bryher (also known as "Byrrrr" if you're sat at the Scillonian club bar!) since being on the islands, due to the state of the tides. So that's where I went, albeit leaving at 2:30pm and a couple of hours on Tresco.

Nothing outstandingly rare all day, but Bryher had a dark-bellied Brent Goose on the pool, a Whinchat and a 1st winter Med Gull. The main highlight on Tresco was this Lapland Bunting, on the path near to the Carn Near quay.

Getting rather tired now after about 10 days on my feet, the 20th was a day back on St. Agnes. Again quite productive but without anything spectacular. There was a noticeable influx of Fieldfares today, a flock of 30 flew over the parsonage. So this was at least added to the trip list, as were a Short-eared Owl and a female Merlin.

The final day, the 21st, there wasn't much left on St. Marys to see that hadn't been seen. But there was a Scilly mega in the Carreg Dhu garden, a Treecreeper. There's a first time for everything, and the Treecreeper twitch was on! Which did show during the morning, as did a Yellow-browed Warbler also at Carreg Dhu and 2 Pink-footed Geese over Old Town.

And that was it for this time. A pint in the Bishop and Wolf before the ferry back to Penzance, ended what must be the best birding trip I've ever done in Britain by a mile. It was also rather bizarre to walk into the Bishop and Wolf with this blaring out. Strange what you remember.

But that wasn't quite the end of it. On the 20th a Scarlet Tanager was found on mainland Cornwall, at St. Levan, which was also seen on the morning of the 21st but not since. Seeing as I was in Penzance anyway, it had to be worth a try during the morning of the 22nd.

The birding gods had been incredibly kind whilst on the Scillies, surely this was too much to ask for? Well, over the morning there was no sign of the Tanager at St. Levan at all. Then came birding god's real sting in the tail, when the pager went off "MEGA, Scilly. Scarlet Tanager at Holy Vale"!!!!

Well I presumed it was the same bird, but there is a theory that these are two different birds. A lot of gutted-looking people started leaving St. Levan, it hadn't been seen for over 24 hours anyway. But I just took it as a sign to pack it in and go home.

The 2011 Scilly Season. Part 4, two Olive-backed beauties.

2011-10-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

Onto the 17th October, the morning after the night before! A couple of anadins needed, and probably just as well that it was a rather quiet day. Having said that I was buzzing with excitement from the previous day.

The main point of interest on St. Marys was a Portuguese Man of War. It was washed up in Old Town bay after being found at the same spot and put back to sea a couple of days ago. The jellyfish was placed into a bucket and due to be re-floated out at sea, but further out this time. A bit of a tiddler I thought:

Incidentally, it's little purple friend on the right isn't Prince. It's a By The Wind Sailor, a type of sea slug.

The 18th was also spent on St. Marys. Again a bit of a slow morning, left my scope back in the guest house. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen off the Eastern Isles and a couple of Great Northern Divers were off Inisidgen, could've done with the scope then. When finished there the plan was to walk towards Pelistry Bay. However, the pager and radio kicked off again, of 2 Olive-backed Pipits along Watermill Lane, which was also on the way. Once again, cannot believe the luck I was having of being close by when these birds were discovered.

I really could've done with the scope at this point, thankfully I managed a view of them through the scope of Scillies regular and laser pen seller-extraordinaire, Ralph Parks:

Thinking that these Pipits wouldn't be going away from the field here I went back to Hugh Town, got the scope and back to Watermill Lane. Quite pleased with what I managed to get on them actually.

Other stuff seen on St. Marys that day were a Firecrest along Trenoweth Lane, Yellow-browed Warbler at Newford Duckpond and a few Redwings starting to trickle in.

The 2011 Scilly Season. Part 3, getting jammy with a couple of warblers.

2011-10-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

I suppose when you arrive on the Scillies on a trip like this, the first thing you want to do is twitch the things you need to twitch. As the lifers were done and dusted (five in the first 48 hours, now that’s ridiculous!), I could relax a bit and do my own relaxed style of birding, just as was done on St. Agnes the day before.

It’s also a time when the two-way radios start to become really useful, for instant bird news. The 15th was spent on St. Marys. An interesting start to the day began with the discovery of a Deaths-head Hawkmoth from a moth trap in Hugh Town.

I've never really got into moths, but I have to admit this one was really impressive. The picture doesn’t really emphasise what a whopper it really is. And true to it’s name, it does look like it has a picture of a skull on it’s back!

Following a report of a Radde’s Warbler in the dead pine walk at the Garrison, the morning was spent here. No sign of the Radde’s unfortunately, but the Subalpine Warbler did eventually show in an ivy hedge by the football pitch. Also one or two Clouded Yellow butterflies here.

After a pasty for lunch, from Griffin’s bakery and butchers, I thought it would be rather nice to have another look at the Bluethroat at Porth Hellick and Carn Friars. As birders will now, showy Bluethroats don’t occur very often! Prior to that, a check of Old Town bay produced a Greenshank, a Kingfisher and two Turtle Doves in the vegetable field next to somewhere called Nowhere! The cemetery at Old Town was rather quiet, but Harold Wilson was eventually found. Perhaps the Wilson’s Snipe should pay homage?

I'm afraid to say that Harold Wilson is a bit before my time as Prime Minister. He retired on the year I was born! But that made way for Jim Callaghan, then Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown and now of course the Cameron/Clegg coalition. But I've heard the that the Wilsons and their family spent as much time as they could on Scilly. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine the Blairs spending their spare time on Scilly. Barbados possibly.........

But continuing to Carn Friars, the Bluethroat continued to show well. Obviously age is creeping up on me, so I can’t remember if I had the scope or not in order to digiscope it. I have no pictures of it so I couldn’t have done. Thank goodness for a picture from Martyn Whalley, as autumn Bluethroats go this is a good one.

Whilst at Carn Friars, the pager and radio started kicking off, informing everyone of a Radde’s Warbler at Salakee Farm. What luck that it’s only a 5 minute walk away from Carn Friars. Eventually everyone was treated to a wonderful show of the Radde’s Warbler, as it flew out of the Pittosporum hedge, into the rough grass by the farm tack, caught a grub, flew underneath a trailer and munched away on the grub.

A brilliant bird. You learn things as well when you watch them, particularly the way that Radde’s Warbler will pump it’s tail upwards, unlike Chiffchaff which pumps it’s tail downwards. A useful thing to look out for. Also, the orange undertail coverts are a much more of a distinguishing feature than it’s supercilium.

The 16th involved a boat ride over to St. Martins for the day. This island was kind to me last year, as I managed to connect with Tawny Pipit, Melodious Warbler and Red-flanked Bluetail. So I always wanted to intend to do at least a day here this time. Just as a general birdwatch of course, and to explore the east of the island, which I didn’t manage to do last year.

Things started off with a Whinchat by the cricket pitch, plus Willow Warbler and Common Redstart at Little Arthur’s Farm. At the east end of St. Martins is the daymark. Allow me to illustrate what a daymark is:

The American Golden Plover had been in residence on the heath south of the daymark, along with 3 European Golden Plover. They took a bit of finding but we got onto them eventually.

The St. Martins flats on the south west corner of the island, where the Tawny Pipit was last year, is also the best place on the Scillies to look for flocks of waders. During the afternoon the tide had gone out and on the flats contained good numbers of Sanderling and Ringed Plover, a few Turnstone and only one each of Dunlin and Whimbrel.

Whilst doing the wader count, the pager went off and it said “probable Blyth’s Reed Warbler, St Martins, by the school”. “Ooh, that’s interesting” I thought. So once the wader counts were completed I eventually made my way east along St. Martins, as did Kent birder Martin Coath. We eventually found Andy Jordan and got to the spot where the warbler in question was last seen.

However, we got sidetracked for a while because my radio went into meltdown! This was due to a continual running commentary from St. Marys, of 3 Black Kites! At the time they were soaring over Porth Hellick, so a run to a clear view of St. Marys had to be done. An eventual scan with the binoculars eventually found 3 dots over the east side of St. Marys. Obviously they were 3 large raptors, but it was only the radios that could tell you that they were the 3 Black Kites from here.

Anyway, we had this warbler to get back to concentrate on. After a short wait, the bird in question flew out of the dunes and back into the hedge. Personally, I only saw it through bins. Thanks to good old Pittosporum (I’m starting to dislike this plant very much!), I couldn’t make out the wing shape and primary projection. What I did see looked like an obvious acrocephalus Warbler, but much paler overall on the upperparts, completely white underneath and no rufous shades, a very white throat and dark legs. It also called, chacking away just a Blackcap. Then it hopped away never to be seen again and we had to get the boat back.

I must admit, I don’t like it when I think I’m beaten. Left to only my notes I don’t think how on earth any rarities committee would be able to accept it as a Blyth’s Reed Warbler. Thankfully though, Andy Jordan managed to get some excellent photos of the bird. Many thanks to Andy for allowing me to use a couple of them here.

Seeing them at the time, in the field and on Andy’s camera, we all thought this looked very interesting. Particularly from what you can see above, that very short primary projection and a prominent eye stripe between the eye and bill.

My own experience of Blyth’s Reed Warbler is pretty limited. I’ve seen them before at Bharatpur, but that’s not really the place where you concentrate on the little brown jobs. You’ve got all the Storks, Herons, Egrets, raptors, roosting Owls and Nightjars to concentrate on!

So with that all on my mind, despite the 3 Black Kites showing nicely over the centre of St. Marys from Hugh Town quay, the only place I wanted to be that evening was in the Scillonian Club just after a sniff of news on this bird. Thankfully for me a friendly face from Staffordshire was around to talk to that evening. That being Steve “The Snapper” Richards, making a long weekend of it to see the Waterthrush. So at least we provided a mutual birding-counselling service to each other!

Later that evening, it was confirmed that the bird was indeed a Blyth’s Reed Warbler! An early boat to St. Martins was arranged for the next morning. I didn’t go on that boat because I went into celebration mode, the pints of ale didn‘t half flow!

It's a good job the Scillonian club doesn't have a jukebox, because as it was party time there's only one song you can play at a time like this!

The 2011 Scilly Season. Part 2, Least Sand and Red-throated Pipit, and the fog.

2011-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

The other established rarity that I wanted to catch up with was the Least Sandpiper on Tresco, so that was the island of choice for the 11th. Depending on the state of the tide, the Least Sand could either be found on the south beach or the south-east corner of the Great Pool.

This morning the Least Sand was found feeding on the Great Pool. Shame it was a too distant for me to digiscope it. Thankfully I have another photo of the bird I can use, courtesy of Martyn Whalley.

Other birds around Tresco were a rather elusive juvenile Red-backed Shrike, a few Stonechats and Wheatears, 2 Shelduck on Skirt Island and a Marsh Harrier flying around Samson. Other waders on the Great Pool included another Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 26 Greenshank and a Common Sand. Also 2 Common Snipe, showing a much more vivid plumage colour than the Wilson’s Snipe from the previous day.

On the first two nights of my stay, members of a film crew were staying in my guest house. They were filming with Iolo Williams. You know, that wildlife bloke on the telly from Wales? Next morning, Iolo was at their breakfast table, and eventually I had a pleasant chat with him. It turned out they were filming for S4C and the BBC, for a series of wildlife on Atlantic islands, from the Azores to the Faroes. Iolo asked me what I’d seen so far and seemed genuinely interested. He came across as a genuine and down-to-earth bloke, not a pretentious “showbiz” type at all.

When Iolo asked on my plan for today (the 12th), a Red-throated Pipit had been seen and heard calling over the centre of St. Marys, heading west. My thought was if it continues west it’ll end up on the golf course. So that’s where I headed to straight after breakfast. After a while walking along the eastern edge of the golf course, there about 8 Wheatears around. Then a pager message appeared saying the Red-throated Pipit had been found, thankfully on the other end of the fairway I was at, so that was really lucky!

I managed to find a likely candidate and called some birders over. It looked pretty good to me as there were mantle stripes on it, but never having seen one before I’d like to hear it call. After a few minutes it took a fly around and did it’s sneeze-like call above our heads, before moving further south down the golf course.

It turns out that this bird was not your usual-marked bird. Later on, listening to Dick Filby, it was the most interesting Red-throated Pipit he’d ever seen, as it was a rather drab bird. They’re usually more striking than this one, Steve Young’s picture here is the bird in question.

Other highlights around St. Marys on the 12th included a Whimbrel on Porthloo beach, Great Spotted Woodpecker in the pines just above Bar Point, a distant Spoonbill in front of Samson, calling Yellow-Browed Warbler at Newford Duckpond, a Wryneck at Porth Hellick beach and Short-toed Lark on the airfield.

The 13th was a day on Scilly that I’ve never experienced before, thick fog all day! This was the scene from Porth Hellick. As planes were grounded all day, the Scillonian ferry was laid on for the day.

A good excuse to not haul the tripod around. Starting off on the dead pine walk at the Garrison, a sylvia warbler appeared which I think was a Whitethroat, rather than the Subalpine Warbler, not grey enough above. Also the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling feeding in an apple tree opposite the Upper Benham Battery.

When reaching Porth Hellick in the afternoon, a rather showy Bluethroat was hopping round the paddocks at Carn Friars, and the Wilson’s Snipe was on show from the Stephen Sussex hide. Albeit asleep, was in the company of three Common Snipe for a useful comparison.

When deciding on another check of Lower Moors, the two-way radio suddenly kicked into life saying “Northern Waterthrush from the ISBG hide”. That was incredibly lucky to get another view of the Waterthrush in the middle of the afternoon. Also a Lesser Yellowlegs straight in front of the hide, oblivious to anyone inside you would think.

But after that, the fog just got thicker and not a lot else was seen for the rest of the day, apart from biting insects at the dump clump. Shouldn’t complain about the mozzies too much, they’re feeding on us and the Waterthrush is feeding on them. We’re keeping that bird alive!

Onto the next day, the 14th. The fog had cleared and the winds had swung round to the east. I could’ve stayed on St. Marys but tried my luck on St. Agnes instead. It was clear that the easterly winds but brought an increase of migrants on all the islands. On Aggie the Pec Sand was still on the Big Pool. Also 3 Firecrests, 2 Black Redstarts, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 9 Wheatears, Pied, Spotted and one of as many as three Red-Breasted Flycatchers. This one was at Troy Town farm:

Also a Lapland Bunting by the rather disappointing Troy Town maze. Lapland Buntings are always good value:

But is this really the maze?

If it is, it's not much of a maze. Almost as disappointing as the glacial boulder on Cannock Chase. I was expecting one of those big hedge mazes, made from hedges of Pittosporum.

Whilst at that end of Aggie, the Troy Town ice cream just had to be sampled. Two scoops of chocolate ice cream with a scoop of clotted cream. A tough assignment but someone had to do it! Prior to that of course, lunch was had at the Turks Head. Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

The 2011 Scilly Season. Part I, The John Higginson Project.

2011-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

So I broke up from work on Friday 7th October, and the Waterthrush was still round the Lower Moors and Higgo’s pool on St. Marys. If that wasn’t enough, an Upland Sandpiper was found the next day. Not forgetting the now-confirmed Wilson’s Snipe, the Saturday really was, as Sir Alex Ferguson would say, squeaky bum time!

But before all that, there was the little matter of driving down to Penzance on the 9th, combined with a little bit of birding on the way. Plan A was to try for the Pallid Harrier at Black Down in Somerset. Plan B was some birding in Cornwall, including such goodies as Long-billed Dowitcher, Glossy Ibis and Black Kites.

Plan A was completely scuppered, when passing Bristol on the M5 the drizzle and mist appeared and got worse when leaving junction 20. No Pallid Harrier would have any sense flying around in that weather, so returned to the M5 and continued into Cornwall. The first stop was Davidstow Airfield in the north of Cornwall, pretty much on the edge of Bodmin Moor.

Trouble is, the mist scuppered here too! Although there was no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher anyway. But what I saw of Davidstow Airfield through the mist I really liked the look of. A completely disused airfield and you can drive along the old runways, with grazing sheep keeping the grass nice and short.

Thankfully the mist and drizzle just about cleared when reaching Redruth, so Stithians Reservoir was more successful. The Glossy Ibis showed well, as can be seen here.

Other birds seen at Stithers included a Pectoral Sandpiper and an adult Med Gull. Just before checking into my guest house in Penzance, a search for Black Kites just to the west of Drift, along the A30 produced one of them perched in a tree. Not really the best of weather for soaring raptors. After that, check into the guest house, put the car away and pray that the Waterthrush, Upland and Wilson’s are still there tomorrow!

The next morning on the Scillonian ferry. The crossing was much calmer than I thought it would be, and seabirds along the way included a Manx Shearwater and 3 Bonxies. Once off the ferry, the serious business started of yomping to Borough Farm, through the Carreg Dhu garden and Holy Vale. There was probably no reason to walk quite so quickly, because the Upland Sand wasn’t going anywhere.

It's one of those birds that I've always wanted to see, a weird looking wader. It's as if someone has taken parts from other waders, put them together and hey presto, an Upland Sandpiper. Head and body of a Whimbrel, runs around like a Dotterel, legs from a Lesser (or Greater) Yellowlegs, and a matchstick for a bill!

With the Upland Sand safely under the belt, the afternoon could be spent with a relaxing walk back to Hugh Town, check into the guest house and wait until early evening for the Waterthrush to (hopefully) appear on Higgo’s pool.

Well it nearly went to plan, except that the Waterthrush appeared on Higgo’s pool early, just before 4:30pm! Aarrghh, and with that I legged it to the dump clump, following the trail of polythene! I’ve never seen the film “The Blair Witch Project” but I gather a lot of it involves filming people walking through woods. Perhaps it was filmed round the dump clump? And that’s why Higgo’s pool is actually named “Project Pool”? In any case, there indeed was the Northern Waterthrush feeding away, hooray!

Not the best picture you’ll ever see of the Waterthrush, mainly because I was shaking so much! Also wary that others want to see the bird, and with limited viewing space I made way. The pager then mentioned that the Wilson’s Snipe was showing at Porth Hellick. Shall I go for it now? There’s enough daylight left. So I legged it from the dump clump to Porth Hellick in about 25 minutes!

It was actually easier to see the bird through the camera because my bins were steaming up! Once you get your eye in on this bird, you’ll notice that the bird’s back is much darker than on a Common Snipe. This appears to make the mantle stripes to appear more boldly, reminiscent of Jack Snipe. The ear coverts look different compared with Common Snipe too. However, the main ID feature is supposed to be the number of tail feathers. Well, unless you're waiting for that with a super-duper camera, you've got no chance of getting that feature.

Once finished here and three ticks in the first few hours, it definitely took longer to walk back to Hugh Town this time!

The Weekend before the Scilly Season

2011-10-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

What's going on with the weather? Comedy writer David Croft passed away in the week, and to quote him "it aint half hot mum!". Actually, here at Powell Towers it's just started raining, so that'll be the end of that!

As for David Croft, I was never a big fan of "Are You Being Served". Forced to watch it as a little lad, with only four channels at the time, and even now I always think the best bit was the theme tune. Even now I can remember the words, like a recurring bad dream:

"Ground floor: perfumery, stationery and leather goods, wigs and haberdashery, kitchenware and food. Going up.

First floor: telephones, gents ready-made suits, shirts, socks, ties, hats, underwear and shoes. Going up.

Second floor: carpets, travel goods and bedding, material, soft furnishings, restaurant and teas. Going down."

And if you don't believe me!

Anyway, enough Captain Peacock! What with the hot weather, plus the fact that I'm going away next week, I've been in a bit of a winding-down mode. Just a check of Uttoxeter Quarry yesterday, where I got myself a personal site tick. Which was, (cue the big fanfare!), er, a Nuthatch!

Only patching can bring that kind of excitement can't it? Also around were 3 Wigeon, 2 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 1 Shelduck, 2 Snipe, 1 Curlew. A few migrants over, 1 Siskin, 8 Skylark, 23 Meadow Pipit. Also a noticeable lack of hirundines now, so they haven't been fooled by the hot weather.

As for today. The Weaver Hills yielded a Wheatear and 27 Siskins over. Checking Uttoxeter Quarry again, the main difference from yesterday was the presence of 3 Pintail. It's deja vu all over again!

I'm getting a run on Pintail recently, and I don't think these are the same birds that were at Croxden Quarry last week. They were a drake and two females. These two look like drakes, with other one being a female.

I think that's it for blogging for a few weeks. A week of work to get through, then this time next week I'll be supping pints of Tribute in Penzance. Then on the Monday morning, aboard the Scillonian ferry for 11 nights on the Scillies, woohoo! No doubt a few sea shanties will be sang whilst bobbing on the waves, or perhaps a bit of "Trelawney", the Cornish anthem! Is it only me that thinks it sounds like "The Grand Old Duke of York"?

The Scillies have had some excellent rarities these last few weeks, I just hope things haven't peaked too early. And if the weather's going to be like the last few days, I don't know what it'll be like for birds but I'll get a nice tan!

Lurgy

2011-09-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've not been well, reader, and it's not been pleasant. A week ago I was like death warmed-up. Not with that man-flu nonsense, this was proper gaster, gastro, er, gastric flu! Or even gastroenteritis, now I've spelt it correctly. And it's not the time of year when you want to be ill, two days off work were wasted.

So all in all, it's been most frustrating. I would've like to have twitched a Pallid Harrier in Essex when I was at my worst last weekend. And despite a very kind offer of a lift to the Sandhill Crane round Loch of Strathbeg this weekend, I still didn't quite trust myself to be ok with all that travelling.

So I've just took it easy for birding this weekend. Starting off on the Weaver Hills yesterday, when the fog lifted I had a flock of about 35 finches over. Most were Redpolls but a few Siskins with them, also a Grey Wagtail.

Uttoxeter Quarry had 13 Curlew, 7 Goosander and a tit flock contained a Willow Tit, a Treecreeper and a couple of Chiffchaffs. A mooch round Blithfield had some decent waders, but not much had changed from a couple of weeks ago, it could do with shaking up a bit. Blithe Bay had 2 Grey Plovers, 1 Curlew Sand, 1 Little Stint in amongst the Dunlin and Ringies. Tad Bay still had 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, the Osprey still around. Also an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a monster of a Great Black-backed Gull.

As for today, I thought a search along the Trent Valley was called for. Starting off at Whitemoor Haye, where the pager already mentioned two Black Terns. When parked up to join Stuart the Alrewas Birder, there were in fact three Black Terns! Birders also increased to three with the arrival of Tom "Tame Valley Tom" Perrins, the voice of the valley. Luckily Whitemoor Haye is in the Tame valley, as of course, the River Tame flows into the Trent at Croxall.

There was also a Greenshank at the quarry pool with the Black Terns, the farmland contained a Golden Plover with the Lapwing flock and a few Tree Sparrows. Next was Branston Gravel Pits, which had a Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Green Sandpipers, 14 Curlew, 1 Water Rail, 3 Shelduck and 6 Pochard.

Another check of Uttoxeter Quarry didn't have much change from yesterday, apart from 2 Wigeon. Finishing off at Croxden Quarry, and one of my best finds there. Working through the geese and duck revealed 3 Pintail! Wow, an eclipse drake and two females.

So that's it, I'm back. Just wish I had an appetite, haven't felt hungry for over a week now. So not worth warranting the expense on food that wouldn't really be savoured or enjoyed, most meals have consisted of baked potatoes. And with that, it's this thought of baked potato that's kept me going!

Marmora, Grus Killdeer Manx......

2011-09-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

Well, how can you compete with this for birding humour? Good old Gyr Crakes' latest creation, "Slavonian Raptorcy".

It needs a few listens to fully appreciate it, but it is hilarious.

There May Be Trouble Ahead...........

2011-09-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Whilst at Blithfield last Saturday, before all the shenanigans with the Shag, I had a request. It's not often I get requests. Well actually I do, but they're just insults.

This is a planning application, from the farmer adjacent to the St. Stephens Bay side of Blithfield's deep end, for the construction of 28 holiday lodges (with static caravan laws). If the application is successful, it'll end up the here:

Right next to St. Stephens Bay, where in my last few visits have been a Knot, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Spotted Redshank. The bay and surrounding fields have always been a good area for wintering Wigeon, not to mention farmland birds like Skylarks, Tree Sparrows and Yellow Wagtails. If it goes ahead I think you can say goodbye to all that, with all the disturbance it would generate.

We all have to earn a crust, of course, but is this really the most appropriate place for these holiday lodges to be situated? I can't even imagine wanting to go on holiday at Blithfield, it's hardly the bright lights of Blackpool!

As far as I'm aware, all neighbours to the farm have objected to the plans. Should anyone else happen to read this and wish to contribute, all opinions have until the end of September to be made. And can be done so by contacting Jonathan Limber of East Staffordshire Borough Council's planning department (email: jonathan.limberATeaststaffsbc.gov.uk).

Obviously in that email address, "AT" should be replaced with "@", to avoid being bombarded with spam. Don't want genuine emails being ignored do we?

Surfin' Sabs

2011-09-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

As mentioned previously, if the Sabine's Gull was still at Belvide today, I'd make more of an effort in trying to get some pictures. Well if that wasn't enough, there was also the added Brucie Bonus of a Manx Shearwater!

Actually the Manxie had to take priority, as a county tick was at stake.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to digiscope. With the wind whipping up the waves, I've got plenty more pictures of just water. But with that safely ticked away, the Sabine's Gull gave me a little runaround. Whilst walking along the dam someone mentioned that the bird had flown across to the shore in front of the new Andrew Chappell hide. So walking back and into the hide, where was it? Back by the dam of course!

At least the exercise does you good. Back to the dam, the Gull performed wonderfully well, picking off insect on the water's surface. And with the gaining breeze, in amongst the surf!

A subsequent wander around Gailey had the Red-necked Grebe still around, 2 juvenile Shags and 2 Arctic Terns.

Bring on tomorrow's storm!

Catching up Time

2011-09-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Oh blimey, I'd better catch this blog up. There's not much to catch up on from a week ago really, I was only out birding on the Saturday. Uttoxeter Quarry was pretty quiet again (woe is me!), but Blithfield had some decent waders. Including a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits (a really good record round these parts at this time of year) and 2 Knot.

As for Staffordshire's star bird over the last few days, the juvenile Sabine's Gull at Belvide. I had a quick look at it on Thursday after work, but being rather confused over whether there was access to the dam or not, I only viewed it distantly from the Scott hide. If its still there or at Gailey tomorrow, perhaps I'll make more of an effort with it. It's certainly a smasher.

As for today, a pretty much full day's birding, starting off at a rather windy Swineholes Wood. Probably too windy for here really, but still a Willow Warbler around and sign of winter in the form of 3 Siskins. Uttoxeter Quarry had 4 Goosander, but not a lot else.

So onto Blithers again, and I'm really glad I did. Starting off in Tad Bay, where the 2 Barwits were still around, as were a Little Stint, a Ruff, 3 Wigeon and 2 Pintail.

1 Knot still in St. Stephens Bay, immature Little Gull around the deep end, and a mixture of Terns (Arctic, Common and 1 Black) north of the causeway. And the biggest surprise of all from the causeway, was this!

It's a Shag! I think it's a juvenile, fantastic stuff. Obviously another seabird blown inland from the last few days of windy weather, and the remnants of Hurricane Katia haven't even arrived yet. So goodness knows what to expect on Monday.

Whilst enjoying the Shag (stop sniggering, I mean the bird!), a text from Andy informed me of a Knot at Uttoxeter Quarry. Aaaaarrggghh, I'm going to have to go because it's a personal site tick! Well I didn't see it earlier, but that's the beauty of this time of year. Migration time, everything's on the move.

West Side Story

2011-08-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Plenty of birds around to see this weekend, and still a day to go with the bank holiday tomorrow.
Yesterday's birding began at Swineholes Wood again, to see if there were more Spotted Flycatchers around than the week before. Well, there were at least 10 of them this time. An amazing sight really, never seen that many Spot Flys together. Also a Tree Pipit and plenty of flocks of tits and warblers.

Uttoxeter Quarry had a pretty good selection of birds, considering there isn't much mud for waders. But in addition to a single Ruff with the Lapwing flock, look around and there's a few migrants on offer, including one each of Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart.

Later on Andy managed to find a Whinchat, which thankfully I go onto this morning, although too late for the Spotted Redshank.

But after that, what the heck, lets twitch the Pectoral Sandpiper at Branston.

The bird was seen around a flash in what has been described as the west side, which is true as it's a bit further west to the other gravel pits. The pager directions were advising to use a footpath that I never used before from Dunstall, from the road that runs between Barton-under-Needwood and Tatenhill.

But Dunstall is an area I do know well, when I was a little lad I used to collect conkers round here with my dad, just as he used to collect conkers when he was a lad with my grandad. So if you're after some good quality conkers, go to Dunstall!

But as it's too early for conkers just yet, this a Pec Sand.

Plenty to see around Blithfield before going home. Tad bay still had the Osprey in it's favourite tree, 1 Garganey and 1 Black-necked Grebe still. Spotted Redshank and Sanderling in and around St. Stephens Bay, 4 juvenile Black Terns from the causeway, Little Stint and 2 juvenile Little Gulls in Blithe Bay.

Knocking Spots Off the Flies

2011-08-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

So what ornithological delights have I got this time? A check of Uttoxeter Quarry yesterday didn't amount to much. Although a little bit of migration of African wildfowl you would believe, oh yes, in the form of a pair of Cape Shelduck and 8 Egyptian Geese. I'm sure flown in from Africa and not from up the road in Rocester!

It's also a time of year when Canada and Greylag Geese form post-breeding flocks. Along with 6 Canada x Greylag hybrids, there's also this one. It's Dr Doolittle time, because I've never seen anything like it in my life! What's gone on there?

Over in Burton for the evening, so a look round Branston Gravel Pits and Whitemoor Haye was done beforehand. Quite a nice selection of birds round Branston's sandy pit actually, including a juvenile Spotted Redshank, 2 Ruff, 14 Green Sandpipers, 13 Curlew, 2 Little Egrets and an adult Water Rail.

Whitemoor Haye had 5 Greenshank, 11 Pochard, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and this gull. It reminds me of the gull I saw in the Blithfield gull roost on New Years Day last year. A paler head and mantle than the LBB Gull behind it. So I think its a 1st summer Yellow-legged, I don't think I can turn it into a Caspian Gull! Any comments or thoughts on this gull would be very welcome though.

And as for today, all I've done is a autumn migrant check of Swineholes Wood. Which is something I might do a bit more of during this autumn, that's the best laid plan anyway.

One aspect of birding that I've always enjoyed at this time of year is finding a flock of tits and warblers in a wood or hedgerow, and try to pick out something more unusual. Well in one flock at Swineholes today which favoured a spot by a dry stone wall, contained a Redstart and a number of Spotted Flycatchers. At least four Spot Flys including a juvenile, but could well have been more as they were constantly on the move.

That thar Red Neck Varmint!

2011-08-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

There are far better pictures of Gailey's stunning Red-necked Grebe around on that t'internet than these efforts. But well worth the little trip down the M6 after work yesterday, very smart.

Going off the Rails

2011-08-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

That blog title isn't actually a reference to the rioting over the last week. Well it wasn't, but while I'm at it..........

Is this really what the second world war was fought for? Endless numbers of people sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom, just so a bunch of yobs and thugs can trash some of our cities? As for those out on a nicking spree, did you not stop to think that maybe, just maybe, the police would get your fizzog on one of the huge numbers of CCTV cameras on streets and in shops? Well click here and you'll see a number of complete and utter fools, who deserve all that they get coming to them, caught in the act.

Anyway, birding. The only real highlight from Uttoxeter Quarry since my last posting was a Spotted Flycatcher last week, but other than that it's pretty quiet. That can tend to happen with gravel pits at this time of year, as there isn't that much mud left to attract return wader passage.

Usually this is when the reservoirs start to come into their own, not surprisingly Blithfield had a pretty good selection over the weekend. Including a Black-necked Grebe, 2 Garganey, Osprey. Not huge numbers of waders but one each of Spotted Redshank and Turnstone, along with 13 Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin, 5 LRP's, Redshank and Common Sands.

Whilst finishing off at Blithers today I, along with Kay and Martyn, headed over to Aqualate Mere as a bit of a change of scene. Wasn't sure what to expect, but highlights here included another Osprey and, the real reason for the blog title, a brilliant juvenile Water Rail right in front of the hide. If only it was a Spotted Crake!

Autumn gathers pace................

2011-08-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well it's not been too bad a week birding-wise. Considering I'm stuck at work all day, and will be throughout August apart from the bank holiday. But on Monday evening there was this 2nd winter Med Gull at Croxden Quarry. If you're wondering which one it is, look for little bits of black on the primaries:

And yesterday evening, with most of the day being rather wet, was this juvenile Wood Sand at Uttoxeter Quarry:

At one stage accompanied by a Green Sand, and also a Common Sand at one point. Not often you see those three waders together.

So that was all rather splendid. I wonder what the weekend will bring? Probably not much now, but we'll see.

Some little balls of fluff, and some Insects

2011-07-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't gone far this weekend, been concentrating more on watching the second test. Just a quick check of Blithfield causeway after work on Friday, and a couple of visits to Uttoxeter Quarry in amongst the cricket.

Thanks to a pager message mentioning 2 Sandwich Terns and 2 Knot at Blithers. On arrival at the causeway on Friday, I could make out one juvenile Sandwich Tern and at least half a dozen Arctic Terns. No sign of any Knot but a nice chat with Trevor Hardiman.

As for the quarry, it's been ok considering the time of year and the warm, settled weather, but just lacking a rarity. A few Green and Common Sands still around, 2 Dunlin, 1 Curlew, 12 Goosander, 3 Redstarts. More family parties around as well, including Common Terns, Yellow Wagtails, and most endearing of all a family of Little Grebes. There are two fluffy humbugs that are very cute, and waste no time into hitching a lift when they want to.

And as it's summer, I've finally succumbed to getting my camera out to take some pictures of insects. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything like that, but I'm quite an expert at this kind of thing you know. So here we are then, some daytime moths:

And some stick insects:

There, see? I know my stuff.

Ooh it's a Sanderling, and some Crossbills

2011-07-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

So what have I got in store this time reader? Well yesterday, met Martyn and Kay at Blithfield. A bit of a selection on offer, which included a Greenshank, 6 Dunlin and 4 Ringed Plover in Blithe Bay.

In Tad Bay were 6 rather early Snipe, 27 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank, 1 Dunlin, 1 Wigeon and the Osprey which, like the shopkeeper on Mr Benn, appeared as if by magic.

Over at the deep end, a Yellow-legged Gull was stood on one of the buoys, and in Ten Acre Bay were 2 Redshank, 3 Common Sandpipers and this Sanderling.

Next was a "Local Tours" guided walk of Uttoxeter Quarry. Other than 4 Green Sand, there weren't too many other waders around, just 1 Common Sand, 1 Oystercatcher and 2 LRP's. But we did manage to see some nice family parties of birds in the hedgerows, including 4 Redstarts and 3 Lesser Whitethroats. Also a Hobby.

Whilst at the quarry, I was alerted to a sighting of some Crossbills. So when it was time for Martyn and Kay to return back to that place known as the West Midlands, I took myself over to a patch of larches, between Cheadle and Alton.

There were about 12 Crossbills there, those that I could see well were all juveniles. But it wasn't easy looking into the sun. So today, I had another look, and that's all I've done birding-wise. Managed to find a couple of juvenile Crossers, and eventually this one came out of the shadows.

A Grand Day Out, at Blacktoft

2011-07-17T11:19:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, birding a local patch can be tough going. Even more so when you write a birding blog that's mainly about that patch. Uttoxeter Quarry's been pretty quiet of late. Other than Green Sands, there were these 7 Black-tailed Godwits on the 6th.

As for this weekend, lets have a look at the Marsh Sandpiper at Blacktoft Sands. I've seen a few of them at Bharatpur before, but not seen one in Britain. And I'm sure Mad Malc wouldn't say no to a lifer.

It's only just over a two-hour drive away, then a walk to the screen adjacent to the Ousefleet hide, after a short wait the Marsh Sandpiper appeared. Hurrah!

It was a most enjoyable three hours at Blacktoft. Visiting all the other hides, there was an excellent supporting cast. Which included 2 Spoonbills, 1 Garganey, Wood Sand, Spotted Redshanks, Ruff, 6 Avocets, 8 Little Egrets and Marsh Harriers.

Just Blithfield today, on a rather wet day. But a decent array of stuff on offer in Tad Bay. Including 36 Little Ringed Plovers, many of them juveniles.

Also an Osprey, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Wigeon and 3 Garganey. This really is one of them from Tad Bay, and not mixed up with pictures from Blacktoft yesterday!

Bye Bye News of the Screws

2011-07-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's at times like this when the words of messrs Weller, Foxton and Buckler become rather apt. Why won't The Jam reform? I was only 6 when they split up, and Paul Weller formed The Style Council (what was he playing at?).

Might have to buy the last ever copy on Sunday, just as a souvenir. Or perhaps everyone could have a public burning? I wonder what the headline will be? How about "Whoops"..........

Lucy the Gull, and a Local Twitch for Local People!

2011-07-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Been a bit under the weather for the last few days. A rotten cold since last Tuesday, and only just feeling better from it now. In recent checks of Uttoxeter Quarry from the last few days, not much to report apart from 3 Green Sandpipers yesterday, and on Thursday evening was this leucistic Black Headed Gull.

Tell you what, if that was mixed in with a flock of gulls and you only saw the white primaries sticking out, you could easily think there's an adult Med Gull in there.

And to today, which was going to be more of the same at the quarry, and probably Blithers as well. But that all changed when the pager went off, "Derbyshire, presumed Western Bonelli's Warbler at Arnfield Reservoir, Tintwistle". Hallelujah, that's good enough for me, I'm off!

Once past a metaphorical line that crosses the Birdnet shop in Buxton, Carsington and Ogston, knowing where places are further north in Derbyshire start to get a bit hazy, although I knew it was kind've near Glossop. But Arnfield Reservoir really is close to the Greater Manchester border, about as far away as you can get from Drakelow and Swad. In fact, it's that way!

The bird showed well a few times during the hour and twenty minutes that I stayed for. Frequenting an area of trees next to this stream, seen from the footbridge. And an excellent record to boot!

And with that I went home to type up some words on the computer. But one last thing to do, which was to pay homage to the nearby town of Hadfield.

Hadfield is the world-reknowned location of the comedy televisual show, "The League of Gentlemen", the town of Royston Vasey. I can't think where I got my blog name from. Recognise the statue?

Some Black-tailed Godwits, and some help for Paul Simon

2011-06-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

As the song goes, there ain't no cure for the summertime blues. But some Black-tailed Godwits can help, the first sign of autumn! These four were at Croxall yesterday:

And this one was at Uttoxeter Quarry this morning.

That's about it this time, at least it's improvement on last week. Watching some stuff from Glastonbury this evening, in particular the living legend that is Paul Simon. One of his most famous songs is, of course, "Fifty Ways to Leave your Lover".

But Paul, you only mention five ways (Slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. Don't need to be coy, Roy. Hop on the bus, Gus. Drop off the key, Lee). But what about the other 45 ways? So far, I can think of:

Just run away, Faye.
Drop her in a ditch, Rich.
Feed her to a shark, Mark.

Only 42 to go! Admittedly, that last one could be classed as murder rather than just leaving.

And it's all going quiet over 'ere

2011-06-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, you can tell spring is over now. My birding's been very quiet over the last couple of days. Other than YL Gull at Uttoxeter Quarry, Common Tern at the JCB lakes in Rocester, and some Yellowhammers in some farmland near Cheadle, that's been has good as it's got.

Bit of a culture shock actually, because the spring passage was so good here. By local standards anyway, I'm sure someone from Norfolk reading this would be laughing. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

Either side of last week's dipping of the White-throated Robin, there were a couple of birds to look at. First one was a female Red-breasted Merganser at Uttoxeter Quarry. I had a quick look at it, didn't stay long because of the pollen, suffering quite badly at the time. Andy got this picture though.

Then last Monday evening, had a look at the snoozing Spoonbill at Blithfield. Snoring away in Tad Bay, I think one or two birders have done that in the past!

One thing I have been doing recently, while things on the birding front have been rather quiet, and to keep away from pollen, is catching up on the podcasts of the Talking Naturally website. I've found them very enjoyable so far, informative and entertaining.

Oh fffffffff.......

2011-06-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

...fiddlesticks! Should've gone to Hartlepool straight after work on Friday. But having said that, I would've had to stop for a bite to eat on the way, and you don't know what the motorway traffic would be like. So on a Saturday morning at Hartlepool Headland all there was, was an empty bowling green.

As for the wall by the doctors garden, the ladders had been and gone:

Rumour has it that Roger Waters is to re-enact this twitching episode from earlier in the week, in future live productions of The Wall. Probably to "Comfortably Numb"!

Hartlepool is, of course, famous for the monkey that was hung by the locals, after they thought it was a French spy.

Well after this, I think there were quite a few suicidal birders who wouldn't have minded being put out of their misery. But if it's gone, there's nothing you can do about it. Actually, a bit of a seawatch during the morning was much better. There were 4 Manx Shearwaters, 1 Red-throated Diver, Common Scoters, Eiders, Little, Sandwich and Common Terns, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots. Who needs the Robin?

I gave up on it at the end of the morning. At least I know Hartlepool Headland and all the main birding sites on Teesside very well, so I headed for Greatham Creek and Seal Sands for a bit.

This is Seal Sands. Picturesque eh? With it's nuclear power station on one side, chemical works on the other.

Despite all that, what's left of the Tees estuary is great for birding. Pretty quiet on the whole this time, as you might expect for the time of year. But plenty of Common Seals, some Avocets and Common Terns. And the rest of the weekend was spent with my niece and nephew, which is never a bad thing.

A pair of quality birds

2011-06-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

And with everything on Spain well and truly blogged. I still can't quite believe we had that Lesser Yellowlegs at Uttoxeter Quarry you know. Certainly on the Sunday afternoon it felt like a dream.

But last Tuesday after work was a glorious evening, and some well savoured time with the Lesser Yellowlegs. It showed wonderfully well, then flew off later.

Then on Monday evening of this week, I decided to take a look at the Red-necked Phalarope at Blithfield. Thinking that it being in Blithe Bay, it could be close enough to have it's picture taken. Quite pleased with the results actually.

Even before that Robin decided to turn up at Hartlepool Headland, I'll be visiting family in that part of the world this weekend anyway. I'll finish off this time with some unfortunate choice of words on Test Match Special.

Spanish Fiesta, Part III. The plains and back to Barcelona.

2011-06-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

Right, better finish off this epic tale (eh?).

So after picking up a new car in Pamplona and driving round the Zaragoza ring road, eventually arriving around the plains at Belchite (pronounced Bel-Cheetay, and not Belshite!) during the middle of the day. Heading straight to El Planeron.

El Planeron is one of the main areas of steppe/semi-desert habitat, close to my hotel. A drive around the track, just to suss the place out really, had excellent views of 4 species of Lark (Calandra, Short-toed, Lesser Short-toed and Thekla), Stone Curlew and both Marsh and Montagu's Harriers. But by gum it was hot! It was pleasantly warm in the Pyrenees, but here the temperature peaked at 35 degrees celsius. Quite a shock to the system, too hot for me!

Considering the heat, I decided to try a spot for Lesser Kestrels, about an hour's drive away in Los Monegros. I'd heard conflicting stories about this spot. One group staying at Boletas told me that Lesser Kestrels there were dead easy, whereas Cristian told me that this colony had gone, and sadly Lesser Kestrel numbers are crashing all over Spain. Although I had a feeling that Cristian's local knowledge would be correct, I had to check it out for my own curiosity.

On arrival at some roadside derelict farm buildings, there were about six Kestrels up in the air and coming down to land on the rooves, along with Jackdaws and Choughs. All the male birds I could see were Common Kestrels. Oh dear, there's going to be some disappointed birders. But there's a lesson here, you've got to check them for yourself. Don't just turn up, look at some Kestrels and go away just assuming they're Lesser Kestrels!

I'd had enough at this point, so drove over to check into my last hotel. Trouble is, the room was just as hot as outside! This also explains the lack of photos so far. An evening check of El Planeron also yielded a Southern Grey Shrike and Whinchat. The main reason for sussing out El Planeron was to come here at dawn the next morning to try for Dupont's Lark. At which point I went into Rolf Harris mode:

Getting here before sun-arise, an absolute cacophony of Lark song. I had to remind myself of Dupont's Lark with my MP3 player (very useful to recognise yourself with unfamiliar bird song!), there were certainly around 3 or 4 Dupont's Larks singing all around the car park. And what an evocative song it is too!

As it started to get light at least you can then try to scan for them. The nearest I got was when one Dupont's was singing away, as soon as I got the binoculars in that area, a bird dropped from a bush down onto the ground straight away. Damn, it could've been Dupont's I suppose, but to be honest it could've been one of five different species of Lark. As the sun gets higher the Dupont's Larks start to quieten down. There are a couple of ponds by the roadside here, which had excellent views of Melodious and Great Reed Warbler.

For most of the day it was very tough going again with the heat. Trying to drive along some more tracks in the Los Monegros area, managed to see a Roller and a couple of immature Golden Eagles, but that was about it.

Then towards the end of the day, things started to cloud up a bit, and only now it felt like I could stand outside of car, with no beating sun. Things really got going now back at El Planeron, where I managed another immature Golden Eagle, 3 Spectacled Warblers and best of all, a Pin-tailed Sandgrouse through the scope. Brilliant, and what a relief!

I suppose I should've tried again for Dupont's Lark the next morning, my last in this trip. But I didn't because I knew I'd be back home late, in the early hours of the Saturday. And typically, by the time I left the plains the temperature had cooled right down.

Anyway, a few hours of driving back to Barcelona. Along the way, some schoolboy humour was had at a motorway service station. I missed this chance in Portugal, not going to miss it this time!!!

If you didn't already know, then next to Barcelona airport is the Llobregat Delta. Which was an excellent place to finish off. Highlights here included 4 Collared Pratincoles, 16 Audouin's Gulls, 7 Gull-billed Terns, 2 Purple Gallinules, 1 Kentish Plover, Spanish Yellow Wagtail. And all sorts of other birds that you just wouldn't see in the Pyrenees or the plains.

And if you're really bored, you can try some plane spotting as they come in to land at the airport.

So that was it. Ending up with a bird list of 139 and 13 lifers, and got through an unbelievable amount of red wine!

Whilst waiting in the airport, the departure terminal gradually built up with FC Barcelona supporters, using flights to Luton, Gatwick and Stansted to get to Wembley for the champions league final. We all know what happened there. The plane to Luton was rocking to Barcelona chants, they even tried a mexican wave at one point!

Spanish Fiesta, Part II. The High Pyrenees

2011-06-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

On the way to Hecho is a place called San Juan de la Pena. There are two monasteries here, the old one built into the side of a cliff. Next to the new monastery, which is now a hotel and restaurant, is some productive woodland.

A walk through the woodland track yielded Crested Tit, Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper. Eventually, the track leads to a viewpoint, giving a magnificent view of the Pyrenees.

Down the bottom of the view here, a Black Woodpecker flew past and Bonelli's Warblers were singing. Bonelli's Warbler has an interesting song actually, like a shortened Wood Warbler.

Before carrying on west to Hecho, I drove back through Jaca and north to a couple of ski resorts way up in the mountains, Astun and Candanchu. As you can see, the scenery on a sunny day is magnificent.

There were a few birds around, like Linnet, Black Redstart, Water Pipit, 2 Dippers and a Grey Wagtail, and Citril Finches. But unfortunately I couldn't stay up here that long, I did feel perculiar and being over 2 kilometres above sea level, I can only put it down to the altitude. Thankfully the Hecho valley is at a much lower altitude.

Next morning, a first try for Wallcreeper at the Gabardito area of the Hecho valley. A walk eventually takes you through to this area of cliff.

A birding group were already here, and had already seen both a male and female Wallcreeper. After a short wait, the male popped his head round the corner for a while, then took flight. What a brilliant sight a Wallcreeper in flight is, part Hoopoe, part butterfly! Also in the Gabardito area were Citril Finches, Alpine Swifts, both Alpine and Red-billed Choughs, a Golden Eagle and a Chamois.

After the Wallcreeper had flew off, I got talking to the birding guide, who was also staying at the same hotel in Hecho. "You've got time to get over the Pierre St. Martin, for Alpine Accentor!". What a good idea. It's about a two hour drive away to the north-west, and just over the border into France. The altitude wasn't a problem here either, even though you're above the clouds!

Well I say above the clouds, after about an hour and a half, the clouds came in and it became impossible to see anything. But before then there were Ring Ouzel, more Citril Finches, another Lammergeier and excellent views of Alpine Choughs.

But no Alpine Accentor or Rock Thrush. Never mind, worth a try, but Rock Thrush was still possible back towards the Wallcreeper site at Gabardito and carrying on along the path. So the plan was to go back there in the evening, when cooler to walk. In meantime lets explore further up in the Hecho valley.

I really wished I hadn't bothered. That's because along the mountain road, I really thought I had cleared a large rock in the road. I didn't, and it caused a huge puncture in the tyre wall, and no spare was supplied! Luckily for me, very lucky in fact, the birding group staying in my hotel were only a short distance away, looking at Marmots. Many thanks to Cristian Jensen Marcet of Audouin Birding Tours for giving me a lift back to the hotel, and helping out with the emergency breakdown phone line, in Spanish!

Thankfully it didn't take too long for the breakdown truck to arrive, the car was taken to a garage in Hecho and a taxi was arranged for me to pick up a new car in Pamplona the next morning. So at least I wasn't going to lose too much time in getting to the plains the next day, but it did scupper trying to see Rock Thrush that evening. Oh well, worse things happen I suppose.

Spanish Fiesta. Part I, Sierra de Guara

2011-05-30T11:18:00.001-07:00

Right, after all the excitement of the Lesser Yellowlegs, better make a start. It all started with an Easyjet flight from Luton to Barcelona. There was no sign of Lorraine Chase selling Campari after all. However, there were two groups of hen parties at the check-in queue.

You could tell they were hen parties because they all wore specially printed T-shirts to mark their auspicious occasion. With one group having "Debbie Does Barcelona" printed all over them, with rather suggestive names of each young lady on the back.

"I wonder which poor sod is going to have to sit next to them?" I thought. Well, would you believe it, it was me! Actually there was no need to worry, because "Curvy Carly" and "Juicy Jude" were actually very nice, probably because they were sober!

But anyway, good luck to both hens, Debbie and Angela, as I left them behind and on the road out of Barcelona. About three and a half hours later, arriving at the little village of Loporzano, and to the Boletas guest house for the first three nights.

Birds seen along the way included Booted Eagle, Thekla Lark, Spotless Starling, White Stork and what turned out to be the only Sparrowhawk. After dinner and wine (there'll be a recurring theme regarding wine!) there was a calling Scops Owl from the garden.

The area around Boletas isn't really the high Pyrenees, more an area of foothills I suppose, called the Sierra de Guara. I was advised of a few areas to try for birds, all within a short distance of Boletas. The first stop was San Julian De Banzo.

As the temperature rose, up went about 30 Griffon Vultures and my first Lammergeier, woohoo! Also around the farmland were Red and Black Kites, Turtle Doves, Red-backed and Woodchat Shrikes, Serin, Subalpine Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Tawny Pipit, a calling Quail and Bee-Eaters.

The next spot to try was the Vadiello Dam.

This can be a good place to look for Wallcreeper and Alpine Accentor earlier in the year, but too late now. More Griffons here, plus an Egyptian Vulture, Choughs, Alpine Swifts, Blue Rock Thrush.

A rather scrubby area around the Castillo De Montearagon:

turned out to be Wheatearville, with 2 Black Wheatears, 1 Black-eared Wheatear and 3 Northern Wheatears. Also Rock Sparrow and Spectacled Warbler here.

The last spot for the day was a gorge at Piraces. Supposedly a good spot for Eagle Owl, maybe one would appear roosting in a cliff. There wasn't one, but there was a Short-toed Eagle, another Black-eared Wheatear, Orphean and Dartford Warblers, 2 Egyptian Vultures and a brief churr of a Nightjar.

The next day started with another spot to try for Lammergeier and other raptors, at Santa Cilia De Panzano. Again, plenty of Griffon Vultures at this spot, and it took quite a while longer before another Lammergeier appeared. Also around were 3 Honey Buzzards, a Common Buzzard, 2 Golden Orioles, Cirl Bunting, Sardinian Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher.

A bit more higher up next, to Santa Eulalia de la Pena, with some pretty spectacular cliffs and views.

By far the largest numbers of Griffons here, and a wonderful sight of a flock of around 50 Choughs!

Decided to finish birding around this part of the trip with a walk around Loporzano. There's a White Stork nest, with three young, on the the church tower.

Nightingales and Corn Buntings were really common throughout this part of Spain, and also in the farmland surrounding Loporzano were Melodious and Subalpine Warblers, Serin, Woodchat Shrike and this Red Kite.

The hospitality, food and wine at Boletas really was lovely, so it was a little sad to move on. But move on I did, towards the Hecho valley in the high Pyrenees.

Lesser Yellowlegs!

2011-05-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Buenos Dias Amigos! I will get onto my trip to Spain eventually. But as Sir Alex Ferguson would say, "birding, bloody hell!"

I wasn't planning on going anywhere today, due a combination of tiredness from the travelling back and a consuming a rather large amount of alcoholic beverages while watching the Barcelona v Man United game. That was until around 3pm, when a rather nervous-sounding Andy was on the other end of the phone. "You'd better get down Uttoxeter, there's a Lesser Yellowlegs here!" What?!?!?!?!

Nice one Andy, and thank goodness I got back from Spain in time! For the record, this is the third record of Lesser Yellowlegs for Staffordshire. Following on from birds at Blithfield in 1979 and Knighton Reservoir, on the Shropshire border, in 1995.

Yay Sanderlings!

2011-05-18T12:22:00.001-07:00

Did I say I'd be happy with one Sanderling? Well how about 9? Oh my giddy aunt!

That's definitely it for blogging now, until my return from Spain. So on Friday morning, off to Luton Airport. I wonder if Lorraine Chase will be there?

Some Time Off Work

2011-05-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Azerbaijan? It's not even in Europe! Oh well, at least I won five quid with Sweden finishing third. I've been concerned with Eurovision for the last few years, in this post-Wogan era, that's it's getting serious and rather dull. Thank goodness for Moldova, that's what I say. Oh, and Jedward!

Anyway, with that nonsense done for another year. I've got a couple of weeks off work now. On Friday I'm off birding in the Spanish Pyrenees for a week, really looking forward to it. So not sure if this will be my last blog entry before I go.

But I've checked Uttoxeter Quarry the last couple of days, and a nice number of passage waders building. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but 30 Ringed Plover:

And 19 Dunlin:

Is a decent showing, and slightly larger totals than yesterday. Pity there's nothing rarer with them, like a Broad-Billed Sand! Oh ok, I'll settle for Temminck's Stint. Actually, I'd be happy with a Sanderling!

Prediction Time

2011-05-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day in store tomorrow. With both the FA Cup final and Eurovision Song Contest!

Personally, it would be great to see Stoke City win tomorrow. As a Burton Albion supporter, perhaps I shouldn't be saying that? Although being in the same county, as a Brewer, Stoke City has never been on the "Radar of Hatred", or even Stafford Rangers. That previlege lies with both Derby County and Tamworth. But tradionally, the big rival of the past, during the fifties and sixties, was Nuneaton Borough.

But anyway, what's going to happen in Dusseldorf tomorrow? Well reader, watch out for Sweden. In fact, I'm off down the betting shop now!

May Madness

2011-05-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

There's not been much time for blogging recently, because there's been too many birds to either try to find, or to twitch!

Back to last Tuesday. I was heading to Burton for the evening anyway, so it was very useful that a lovely female Dotterel had been found at Whitemoor Haye. Very useful!

Then Wednesday, when another evening twitch was on. This time, a Wryneck found in the morning at Marshes Hill, just east of Knypersley Reservoir. It's an area that I knew wouldn't be quick to get to from home. Didn't get there until about 6:45, and no sign of the Wryneck in about an hour's wait. So that was a dip unfortunately, but useful to know where the place is.

Then to this weekend. On Saturday, with Blithfield being pretty quiet, Uttoxeter Quarry was an improvement with now 2 Wood Sandpipers around.

As for today. I'd just parked up in Uttoxeter for another check of the quarry, when the pager mentioned a Purple Heron at Ogston Reservoir in Derbyshire, sat in a tree next to the dam. I have a terrible record of dips for Purple Heron in Britain, and with plenty seen abroad I've never made an effort to twitch one for a long time. Not even the Doxey bird in 2005.

So I thought it's about time that changed. Less than an hour later, along the A50, A38 and through Alfreton. Setting up the scope in the public hide, the Purple Heron was still sat in a willow on the other side of the reservoir, next to the dam wall. Most of the time the bird was preening and stretching it's wings, then more difficult to see when the sun came out. This picture is reminisicent of those "magic eyes" that used to be popular, but the Purple Heron is there!

After about half an hour in the tree, the bird took off, had a fly around the reservoir for a bit, then got higher and moved off north-east. With my biggest bogey bird finally out of the way, no point in staying around now, so headed back towards home.

So during the afternoon, at Uttoxeter Quarry the 2 Wood Sands still around, but also a Greenshank around this time. And a Blithfield there was a Black Tern between the causeway and Beech Tree Point. I'd also been informed of a Grey Plover in Blithe Bay, a stunner apparently. I can't disagree with that!

The Beast from the East, and a Bird Race

2011-05-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

You know certain winds around the world are given a name? Like the Sirocco, which blows north from the Sahara? Or the Fremantle Doctor in Western Australia? Well for the last few days here, that's what I'm christening this wind. For migrant waders and terns round this neck of the woods, it's been magnificent.

Back to Friday. Thanks to that T-Mobile advert I didn't have to watch the royal wedding. So a bit of birding in the Trent valley to start with, doubling up as a reconnaisance mission for Saturday's bird race. 2 Arctic Terns and 2 Greenshank at Whitemoor Haye, followed by 3 Black-tailed Godwits at Branston Gravel Pits.

Just about finished at Branston when I was informed of a Bar-tailed Godwit and a drake Garganey at Uttoxeter Quarry. I was getting there eventually.

And so to Saturday's big bird race day, with Paul Shenton of Birding for Fun, the name of which is a fine sentiment.

I'm not sure how I managed to stay awake all day, but I did. Starting on Cannock Chase at first light, about 4:45am, collecting a variety of woodland and heathland species like Redstart, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Stonechat, Wood Warbler. Next port of call was Aqualate Mere, where there was a useful selection of duck, including Pochard, and reeling Grasshopper Warbler, but unfortunately just missed out on a passing Marsh Harrier.

Then onto Belvide, with very good reason thanks to a pager message. A short amount of time in the Scott hide produced 2 smashing adult Little Gulls and an Arctic Tern, in amongst a few Common Terns.

The feeding station in the plantation was also rather useful, with Tree Sparrow and Willow Tit here. A quick look at Gailey produced our only Little Grebes of the day, but not much else.

Doxey was next, and this was where we had our best find of the day, when 8 Whimbrel flew over Tillington Flash near the metal hide, and then over the cemetery. Also a few other birds to bump the list up, such as Goosander, Moorhen, Teal, House Martin, Redshank.

A quick check of Tad Bay at Blithfield got us Goldeneye and Wigeon, two good'uns there that we wouldn't have got elsewhere. This "Beast from the East" wind had really got up by the time we got to Whitemoor Haye, where we managed Hobby overhead and Greenshank on the main gravel pit, but any farmland birds here were impossible due to the strength of the wind.

By now, it was heading towards 3pm. Croxall and Branston were scratched from the agenda to give us more time elsewhere. Uttoxeter Quarry was next, where the Garganey and Bar-tailed Godwit were still around, plus Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, and another Whimbrel.

By now it was getting towards late afternoon and we still need to go further north. This should add a sense of urgency for the rest of the bird race.

Into the Churnet Valley, and a strange sense of urgency now, where we picked up Pied Flycatcher and 2 Mandarins at Dimmingsdale, and Dipper, Grey Wagtail and Treecreeper round Oakamoor. A quick pit stop, and then to Tittesworth, where we picked up a few more to the list, included the first Curlew of the day. It's odd when you've seen more Whimbrel than Curlew!

The rest of the evening until dusk was spent driving round the moors. But apart from Peregrine at the famous site of The Roaches, Red Grouse and Meadow Pipits, we just had to admit defeat with the strong winds up there, which was a shame really.

In the end we finished with a total of 105. I've never done a bird race before, and you don't hear of them being done any more, don't know why. But it is good fun, quite tiring (still recovering now!), and makes for a good adventure.

The weather conditions helped us with picking up migrant waders, terns and Little Gull, but did hinder us with some of the passerines. For example, Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat were missed, as were Bullfinch and amazingly, Coal Tit! Sparrowhawk was also missed.

Not surprisngly after all that, I slept like a log and didn't get up that early on Sunday, but the wader and tern passage continued unabated. You know when something good is happening when even Croxden Quarry was producing a Bar-tailed Godwit and 5 Arctic Terns over the course of the day.

And at Uttoxeter Quarry, a Wood Sandpiper had now arrived. The Bar-tailed Godwit still around, but no sign of the Garganey. Not the best picture of a Wood Sand you'll ever see, but it was there. And I did mention it was windy?

Is something going on tomorrow?

2011-04-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

Don't feel guilty to out birding tomorrow, because this is the jist of what will be going on:

A Cushty Easter

2011-04-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

I won't go on and on, but a round up of what's been seen over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

A decent start on Thursday evening, in the form of a male Whinchat on the edge of the JCB grounds in Cheadle. Good job there's a footpath along the edge.

Not much birding was done on Good Friday and Saturday. After Tuesday evening's excitement, Uttoxeter Quarry had quietened down a bit. Two each of Curlew and Dunlin, but the first Lesser Whitethroat had arrived. Then another check of Hawksmoor, where there was a nice and showy male Redstart.

More time spent outside on Sunday, however. Uttoxeter Quarry again, with Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler to add, plus now 3 Lesser Whitethroats. 2 Common Terns around Blithfield causeway, with 7 Wigeon and 6 Goldeneye in Tad Bay, 19 Shelduck and a Sedge Warbler in Blithe Bay.

And today, a wander round the North Staffs Moors. With a dashing Hobby and a few Wheatears amongst the usual moorland fayre.

And an aside. It's very sad that we've lost John Sullivan from this world, the writing genius behind Only Fools and Horses. The man that gave the phrase "Bonnet De Douche" to the world. I don't know why that tickles me, I don't think it means anything in French.

Everyone remembers Del Boy falling through the bar, and the chandelier falling down. But I always enjoyed this bit. If there's an annoying advert for Sky at the beginning, stick with it.

Ooh it's a Grey Plover

2011-04-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks I've been making some evening visits to Uttoxeter Quarry, straight after work. It's all been thoroughly unproductive, up until last night. And with a north-east wind it had to be checked. This was the result:

A Grey Plover and also 3 rather smart summer-plumaged Turnstones. Crackerjack, roll on Easter!

Duck Counter For Hire

2011-04-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, where to start this time? Friday afternoon stuck at work I suppose, as news was filtering through of a Wryneck on Cannock Chase. Oh no, that's not going to be easy, "is there any point going?" was my thought at work. Actually no it wasn't, I was busy doing work! Nudge nudge, wink wink.

So when it got the 5:30, I suppose there's more of a chance of seeing the bird by going, than not. And it's only 20 minutes to drive from work to the cadet huts. It's probably clear by now that I didn't see the Wryneck, but I wasn't the only one during the evening. Nice to hear some Cuckoos around the Chase though, and a roding Woodcock over the cadet huts car park.

But anyway, there was a task to take responsibility of this weekend. And that was to do the WeBs wildfowl counts for three local sites. With Andy away on manoeuvres with the Cheadle Home Guard, I decided to take on the challenge. By the way, if you're ever in Cheadle and see someone doing impersonations of Corporal Jones from Dad's Army, you know who it'll be.

To begin with on Saturday's birding, a Common Sand at Croxden Quarry was a decent start. Uttoxeter Quarry had my first Common Whitethroat of the year, that being the main highlight there.

And so to the first WeBs count site, the JCB lakes at Rocester. Yes I know, there's all sorts of wildfowl there I can't include, not even the Hooded Mergansers. I won't bore you with the exact counts of Mallard and Tufted Duck, but it did provide an excuse to get the camera out, and fun with Great Crested Grebes.

Brookleys Lake was the second WeBs count site, ooh exciting! That was until I got there and noticed a distinct lack of wildfowl, it's easy this WeBs counting in April. 2 Mandarin, 3 Grey Herons, 3 GC Grebes amongst other things.

I decided to keep myself in suspense for the third WeBs count site until this morning. That site being Dimmingsdale.

Although there was an ulterior motive for leaving Dimmingsdale until Sunday morning, and that was to enjoy a woodland walk in another glorious spring morning. 4 singing male Pied Flycatchers around, and really chuffed with this Blackcap picture.

Oh, and there were some wildfowl as well! Actually, surprising to have a total of 5 Mandarins, 3 in the River Churnet and two others in flight. Then for the rest of the morning, there was another site I wanted to have a walk around.

Last summer, I had a bit of a mooch round Swineholes Wood, just to the north of Ipstones, and was thoroughly impressed. Ever since then I've been looking forward to exploring this site in the spring, to see what it may hold. I was not disappointed to say the least! The undoubted highlight being a calling Cuckoo! Ten years after moving from Burton to this corner of North Staffordshire, that's the first Cuckoo I've heard round here. In fact, the only other Cuckoos round here are in clocks!

Also a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Redstarts, 5 Wheatears a little further east along Ipstones Edge, and an absolute stack of singing Willow Warblers.

Well pleased with that visit, it'll have to be done again in the near future. Deciding what to do in the afternoon, after a bit of shopping, I see the Wryneck was re-found on the Chase.

No, not tempted, going to do another woodland walk at Hawksmoor. Where the highlights there were one more singing Pied Flycatcher, and that quintessential sound of a spring wood, the song of a Wood Warbler. Although a Tree Pipit song comes a close seond. But for looks and sound, to me the Wood Warbler is the king of warblers.

Seeing Red

2011-04-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

That's a phrase usually associated with anger. Not this time, I think my luck was in over last weekend.

It all started with a job to do. If you've got a driving licence with a photo card, I didn't realise until last week that they expire after ten years. And at £20 to replace it, I can see why that was introduced, a nice little moneyspinner for the DVLA!

The Post Office can help you with a new photo, because these days it's pretty much impossible to get the size correct yourself in one of those photo booths. I have experience of this from renewing my passport. However, not every Post Office will do this for you. So could I have the convenience of doing this in Stafford, during my lunch break? No! So I had to wait until Saturday morning, where the nearest participating Post Office was in Uttoxeter.

With that job done, I wonder where I can go next? That'll be my favourite hole in the ground then! So with a late morning/early afternoon visit to Uttoxeter Quarry. For most of the time there was a good selection of birds, nothing out of the ordinary, but nice to see the first Blackcaps of the year. That was until the undoubted highlight appeared, a cracking Red Kite that ambled effortlessly across the gravel pit nearest to Leasows Farm and the River Tean, fantastic.

After that, back home and get for the Grand National. And a nice little touch on the gee-gees was had, after putting a couple of quid on Ballabriggs, and fourth in the sweep at work with State of Play.

As for Sunday, a small gathering of birding bloggers, consisting of myself, Martyn, Craig and Kay, was made on a gloriously sunny Cannock Chase, starting off at the cadet huts.

Well that was easy, the Great Grey Shrike was still around and showed really well. Also a couple each of Tree Pipits and male Redstarts freshly back in, along with 2 Swallows and plenty of Willow Warblers.

Over into the Sherbrook Valley area, other than a few Stonechats not much else. That was until Craig spotted a large raptor with a forked tail. Can't believe it, it's another Red Kite! Like waiting for a bus, that's two in Staffordshire in two days, brill!

Also spotted along one of the tracks was this Green Hairstreak butterfly. I've never seen one of these before, probably because I've never really gone looking for them.

There is one problem with Cannock Chase on a Sunday and sunny weather, it brings lots and lots of people out with their dogs and slog irons. So time to move on, for a check of Blithfield causeway and dam. 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 LRP's around the causeway, and a Wheatear and 3 Yellow Wagtails around the dam.

A diversion to Branston Gravel Pits was then made, with the sun beating down quite heavily by now. The weather probably didn't help with waders around the sandy pit this time, with only those of note being a Green Sand, 4 Curlew, 5 Oystercatcher and 3 Redshank. Duck highlights included 48 Teal, 5 Wigeon and a pair of Mandarin.

To finish off a most enjoyable day, back to Blithfield and a check of Tad Bay, where there were a pair of Pintail, 2 female Goosander and 4 Goldeneye.

Cor, what happened there?

2011-04-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

It's as if someone flicked a switch, and yesterday spring migrants were pouring in (or through)! Not that I saw too many of them, because I had more of an eye on the cricket world cup final. And well done to India.

I once had a sleepless night in Bharatpur, quite a bustling town but small by Indian standards, due to bangers being let off for no apparent reason. Now everyone's got a reason to let them off, I dread to fear what it would've been like in India last night!

But I did manage a couple of hours at Uttoxeter Quarry, before heading back to watch the Indian run-chase. I'm glad I did as the main highlight were a Common Sandpiper and 2 White Wagtails. To prove that things were happening all the time yesterday, in the evening there were 3 more White Wags and 3 Yellow Wagtails. There was also a Pink-footed Goose at the JCB south lake in Rocester. Genuine? Feral? Who knows, but it was there.

As for today, I had a bit of a yomp in the North Staffs Moors, just with my bins and new camera. As for birds, a few Wheatears, Red Grouse, Peregrine, Raven, Buzzards. And some pictures.

Although I don't think these are tickable!

You've got more Rabbit than Sainsbury's.......

2011-04-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Told you I was off for a knees up!

A while ago on this blog, I expressed my sadness at Chas and Dave splitting up, due to Dave Peacock's retirement following the passing of his wife.

Well, imagine my surprise and joy when I listened to Chris Evans on Radio 2 a few weeks ago, who interviewed Chas Hodges, and said "Dave's coming out of retirement, and we're doing one last tour". Oh wow, I've got to go and see them!!!!

And so last night, at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton, I went to their gig.

And jolly good fun it was too! A two hour set, the first half being their pub and club stuff in the seventies before they were famous. Ending with their first hit, "Gertcha!".

After a short interval, their more recognisable stuff from the eighties. Such as "Rabbit", "Ain't No Pleasing You", "Snooker Loopy", "Margate" and my personal favourite, "The Sideboard Song".

Watch the blog hits plummet now!

Chat Show

2011-03-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

The plan for yesterday was to hold out from going out birding, watching on the Cricket World Cup quarter final between England and Sri Lanka, until it got to a stage where it looked like England couldn't win. In the end, with hindsight, I probably could've been out birding all day!

Never mind. Actually Sri Lanka did bowl well and didn't give anything away. Also not being bothered with watching the Wales v England footy, over to Uttoxeter Quarry.

In addition to birding, the quarry is actually a good place for Hares. Must've been at least half a dozen around this time.

As for birds, the main highlight was a Swallow in amongst the Sand Martins feeding on the water's surface. Also 34 Goosander, 5 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 4 Curlew, 1 Green Sand, 1 Snipe, 1 Dunlin.

Then onto today. A first visit to the Weaver Hills this year was made, with Wheatear in mind. Didn't manage any Wheatears, and apart from Skylarks not a lot at all. A quick look along the River Churnet at Oakamoor produced a dashing dapper Dipper flying along the river, and 2 Grey Wagtails.

Whilst I was in Oakamoor, news came on the pager of a Black Redstart at Berry Hill fields in Stoke. You know, I'm tempted to give that a try.

I haven't been twitching everything in Staffs these days, especially with petrol at £1.30 a litre. I suppose after the Chancellor's Budgie in the week, it could've been going higher, but it probably will anyway because of the price of oil.

But I was lucky enough to refind a Black Redstart on Berry Hill last spring, and I quite fancied the challenge of doing it again. And if there was no sign, at least there would be some Wheatears to look at.

One of the 15 Wheatears that I managed to see around the oss paddocks. I did wonder if the Black Redstart would be around the "white door" paddock, the scene of last year's little triumph. A few birders were around there and had not seen it.

I was just about giving up and going home, when walking back to the car I managed to see this little beauty:

I can't believe it, the Black Redstart giving crippling views, in the same paddock where all the Wheatears were earlier. Brilliant stuff.

That's about it for now, I'm off for a knees up............

Bye Bye Winter

2011-03-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

So what happened last week then? Where was the blog? Well, as a famous twitcher once said in a BBC4 twitching documentary, I couldn't be bothered. One of those frustrating times where, although the first few spring migrants started to appear, I didn't see one, so couldn't be bothered blogging. The best thing from last week was digiscoping this handsome chap:

As for spring migrants, this weekend I've put that right. Starting yesterday morning, at that birdless birding hotspot, Croxden Quarry. Where there were two Little Ringed Plovers, wayhey, first spring migrants of the year.

Uttoxeter Quarry had another two LRP's, 6 Curlew, 2 Green Sands, 7 Oystercatcher, 2 Shelduck, 2 Mandarin, 2 Red-legged Partridge and a Chiffchaff.

But the undoubted highlight was the staggering number of Goosanders, 80 of them! Surely this can't go on, and eventually they'll follow the River Dove and disperse into the Peak District and further north.

If like me you've got one of the pager devices for bird news, you'll know that in some areas the signal is better than in others. Sometimes around Uttoxeter Quarry, the pager signal isn't so good, and as such messages can get corrupted or just not get through at all. I assume this message was corrupted, looking at the time of the sighting, but it made me chuckle for a bit.

Finishing yesterday off with a woodland walk through Hawksmoor and down to East Wall farm. The pond next to the farm had a Grey Wagtail. That's the first one I've seen this year, and after the winter we've all had to endure, I do wonder if Grey Wagtail numbers have taken a battering. Another species that concerns me is Kingfisher, not seen any yet this year.

As for today, Uttoxeter Quarry again. Pretty similar to yesterday, a paltry 71 Goosanders! But better still were two Sand Martins. Then over to Blithfield, where Tad Bay had a Pink-footed Goose, 4 Sand Martin and a pair of Goosanders that flew out (wonder which gravel pit they were going to?). Blithe Bay had 3 Oystercatchers.

And that was it really. Pretty quiet for Blithers, but we're into spring now, so at least we've got all the birding fun of spring to look forward to.

The dapper Dipper dash

2011-03-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

Saturday 5th March.

A morning round Uttoxeter Quarry first. Where there was 44 Goosander, 11 Pochard, 31 Wigeon, 19 Teal and a Willow Tit. Brookleys Lake was very quiet, with 4 Mandarin and 4 Great Crested Grebes of note.

Whilst getting a spot of lunch in Morrisons I bumped into Andy. We were both thinking of nipping over to Blithfield later to pay homage to the roosting Great White Egret. But as he had a bike to pick up at the bike shop in Uttoxeter first, I was picked up a bit later.

Just another quick check of the quarry beforehand. Which now revealed 41 Curlew and a Gadwall. We were then joined by that lover of knitted jumpers, Stevie Fair Isle. And as we were leaving him to it, my mobile phone rang. That's odd I thought, it's Steve. What's he got? "I've got the Dipper in the River Tean!".

Now, the last time a Dipper was seen round here was back in October, while I was on the Scillies, and there's been no sign since then. With a personal patch tick at stake, I had to run! That's right reader, this racing snake figure went into full flow! Seb Coe eat your heart out! And this is why:

They always look rather dapper, like they're dressed up in a dinner jacket. Always a pleasure to see.

With the Dipper in the bag, and Andy's bike picked up, over to Tad Bay. A small crowd were gathering along Newton Hurst Lane. The Egret must've had it's watch on, because it came in to roost at exactly 6pm, in the descending gloom. Actually it was nearly pitch dark, as the following picture will suggest:

This wasn't what the internet was made for, a picture like this is a waste of the blogosphere. But it really is the Great White Egret. Not a white plastic bag, or something from the Sky at Night!

The Dove from Above

2011-02-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day of twitching with Andy, Malc and Nobby. Guess where we went first?

The Oriental Turtle Dove in Chipping Norton of course! After parking up in the town centre, a short walk to The Leys, and down the hill to the fabled number 41 where the bird had arrived once again in the back garden.

No queue outside the house this morning! Sometimes it pays to bide your time a bit. But notice the pile of boots, shoes and tripods outside the front door. On entering the house there was a kitchen full of birders looking out through the patio windows, where the bird was sat in a bush.

Frustratingly the sudden change of temperature, from the cold of outside to the warm inside, caused my binoculars to steam up. So even though you knew it was the Oriental Turtle Dove, and albeit a chest-on view, it could've been a Collared Dove for all you could tell. You'd want a better view than that, but you're also wary that other people are coming into the house and also want a view. So it was decided to make way and try again a little later.

All was not entirely lost however, as one clever chap managed to set up his scope along the drive at the side of the house, and had managed to get a view of the Dove. That was a much improved view, as you could now see the bird's marking along the back and side of the neck.

After a short break and returning to the house, much better views of the Dove were had, as the bird fed on the lawn and perched on a pole for a while. That's better! And with that, we left Chipping Norton and what must be the oddest twitch I've ever done. To go into a complete stranger's house to see a bird is a strange experience. But the homeowner, Steve Akers, was very friendly. Many thanks to him and his family from me, and I'm sure a lot of birders owe them a lot of gratitude.

Looking through the pager, there was also a drake American Wigeon in Oxfordshire, but we also had an eye on a White-tailed Eagle at Old Basing, just outside Basingstoke in Hampshire. Now once you're on the A34 in Oxfordshire and past Newbury, Basingstoke isn't all that far away.

So a quick try for the Wigeon first, at Rushy Common just south-east of Witney (which happens to be the constituency of someone called David "call me Dave" Cameron!). I'm not sure we had the right spot in the end, as although we found a flock of Wigeon, no sign of the American Wigeon. There was a redhead Smew though.

But never mind, lets try for the Eagle. Eventually arriving at Blacklands Farm, just outside Old Basing.

There were a group of birders already present, including a famous face who was featured in a BBC4 documentary a few months ago. George Michael I think his name was, or something like that?

Anyway. Over the course of the wait around the farm there was plenty of birdlife to be seen. At least a couple of Red Kites flying around and plenty of Buzzards, 3 Little Egrets in a field and a large Chaffinch flock which contained a female Brambling and a couple of Yellowhammers, and duly attracting the attention of a male Sparrowhawk. All the kind of stuff I would be pleased to find around home, but that's not the reason we're here.

After about an hour and a half, and one heafty shower, the sun came out and the immature White-tailed Eagle started to soar over the woodland. And what a magnificent sight it was too! I've seen them before, in Poland last year of course, and when I went to Mull in 2004. But the sheer size of them never ceases to amaze, as it was mobbed by Buzzards and Rooks, it just dwarfed the lot of them!

So a successful day, with a new lifer in the form of the Oriental Turtle Dove, and the first White-tailed Eagle I've seen in England. After all that, been a bit bushed today, so feet up and watched England v India in the Cricket World Cup, and Birmingham City beating Arsenal in the League Cup final.

Land of Confusion

2011-02-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

The other week, as the Egyptian revolution was happening, I added the video of "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles. Who would ever have thought it would turn into a protest song and inspire a revolution?

If you watch that video, part of it features none other than Colonel Gadaffi of Libya. And I did think to myself at the time, I wonder if he's the next to go? And if so, surely it would be a much more dangerous situation? At moment, unfortunately that appears to be case, one for the UN to sort out.

But it did get me thinking, what other pop video has owd Muammar been in? I know, it's this one. Well, at least his Spitting Image puppet.

A Load of Bull

2011-02-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend didn't involve going to Chipping Norton to see The Dove from Above. If I want to stand in a queue all day, I'd rather go to Ikea!

If there's a twitch that fills me with dread, it's looking round people's houses and gardens. But at least twitching the likes of Baltimore Oriole, Black-throated Thrush and American Robin didn't involve going into someone's house to look in their garden. That's just too weird. Although the mid-morning perch in a tree sounds encouraging. So maybe if it stays around for another week....

Anyway, to this weekend. You know when things are running out of steam a bit? Running out of new things to see locally for a year list? It's getting a bit like that now, and still some time away before Sand Martins, Little Ringed Plovers, Wheatears and Chiffchaffs start arriving.

Brookleys Lake yesterday was pretty quiet, although a drake Goldeneye and 3 Goosander were there but very little else. Andy's brief Med Gull at Uttoxeter Quarry had long since gone, but there were two welcome patch year ticks here, in the form of Shoveler and Stock Dove. It also looks like the wild geese have moved on, plus a drop in Goosander numbers.

And then to Blithfield. 17 Goosander in Tad Bay, then another gull roost attempt didn't pick anything out of the ordinary. In fact, a lot of gulls appeared to be stood in fields behind Ten Acre Bay, waiting for the fishing boats around the deep end to be moored back at the angling club.

As for today, thought I'd try my luck at Branston Gravel Pits for a change. Which wasn't too bad a selection. There was a Ruff, a Green Sandpiper, a Woodcock flushed from the footpath, 2 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 7 Shelduck. Also a sighting of Stuart the Alrewas Birder as I got back to the car. And with that, and a quick check of Croxall which didn't amount to much, I went home.

But there was a surprise when driving through Uttoxeter. If you ever happen to be passing by, two new metal sculptures have been erected on a couple of roundabouts, near to Tescos and the railway station. They weren't even there yesterday! This is one:

Is it a Centaur or a Minotaur? Can't remember now. Whatever it is, it looks like it's playing air guitar! But better still:

You can't beat a bit of bully! And if you're thinking, is it bull or a cow? Looking at the other end, it's definitely a bull. He's a big lad!

Staffs-next-the-Sea

2011-02-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday 13th February

Another wet and windy day, not the best conditions for Uttoxeter Quarry. As much as I enjoy going, there's nowhere to provider shelter from the elements. And a visit yesterday produced 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Dunlin, 2 Snipe, 2 Curlew, in addition to the 2 White-fronts and 1 Pink-foot, and all the other usual duck.

So when the pager mentioned a female Red-breasted Merganser at Blithfield this morning, that's where I went. By the time I arrived the bird had moved from Admaston Reach and into Tad Bay.

It definitely looked better through the scope than my digiscoping would suggest. Also good comparisons could be made with the Goosanders present. Also a Dunlin in Tad Bay.

Well, I did want to try the Blithers gull roost, but with a few hours to kill, thought I'd try somewhere else. So I went to Croxall, with another hide to keep dry in. But first, a little further down the road, the five adult Whooper Swans were still around. Here's four of them anyway.

With the Whoppers done and dusted, over to Croxall Lakes. A wander down towards the hide, a first scan of a raft of Tufted Duck and Pochard. "Ooh hello, a duck asleep with black head and grey back?" I thought, better get the scope up. On closer inspection:

It's a drake Scaup alright, not one but two, result!! And in time-honoured tradition, a typical Scaup pose! The bird on the right seemed to have more of the cinnamon-brown tinge along the flanks, so that would a first-winter. But I wouldn't be surprised if both are first-winters and the adult plumage is now emerging. But with these two and the Merganser, a real sea-duck day!

I wonder if the weather has brought these Scaup in? Or maybe they've been around for a while and just gone unnoticed? Probably the former, but as they did at Uttoxeter Quarry, Brookleys Lake and Rocester last year, wintering Scaup can stay faithful to a site/area for quite some time. Also around Croxall were 5 Redshank, 1 Oystercatcher, 4 Shelduck and 4 Goldeneye.

And with that little victory, back to Blithfield for the gull roost. Despite a wise position in one of the shelters around St. Stephens Bay, we couldn't pick anything out of the ordinary. But after a decent find with those Scaup I wasn't too worried.

They're Falling Down like a Domino

2011-02-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Before some birding time this weekend. A tribute and a show of solidarity to the folks in Tahrir Square and throughout Egypt. Power to the people!

Well, it was either this or "Night Boat to Cairo" by Madness. Oh what the heck....

What does this button do?

2011-02-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

The new camera was picked up and taken home for a bit, just to try and work out how you work it. Plus the complicated stuff, like threading the strap and the lens cap!

Like a schoolboy with a new toy, I was itching to go out and give it a practice. But there was one slight problem, it was the wettest day ever! I didn't want to get the camera rained on and break it on the first day. So where could I go to take some pictures but stay dry? I know, the conservation pool at Tittesworth, behold!

Ooh!

Aah!

Eeeee!

Er, etc, you get the idea! There are still buttons and wheel-dial-thingys on it that I don't understand yet, and I haven't dared to press the red button!

As for today's birding on a much drier but very windy day. Not a lot of opportunity to get the camera out, or the old one for digiscoping. 6 Goosanders at Croxden Quarry, 9 Goosanders at Brookleys Lake.

And as for Uttoxeter Quarry, a pretty similar selection to last week. 2 White-fronts, 1 Pink-foot, 46 Goosander, 3 Goldeneye, 11 Pochard, 110 Wigeon, 22 Teal, 2 Curlew, 1 Green Sand. There was a Shelduck though, first one I've seen this year. But other than that, a bit like Groundhog Day. Which incidentally, passed in the week (2nd February of course), and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring.

The Lads Done Great

2011-01-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

Oh well, despite a spirited performance by the Brewers at Turf Moor, out of the FA Cup, 3-1. But a little bit of history made, and good luck to Burnley. Watch out for Chris Eagles as well, a very classy player.

And with that, back to birding. Just another potter around home on Sunday. With a few more additions to the Cheadle area year list, that being Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe and Common Gull. I know, its awe-inspiring stuff.

And Uttoxeter Quarry. The two White-fronted Geese still around, as was the Pink-foot and the Goosander roost starting to build up a little now, with 44 birds in to roost.

That's about it for now. As for the camera? At the time of writing I'm told that it has arrived in the shop today. That shop being a well known camera shop that begins with a "J" and ends in "essops". After all that, it would've been quicker to get one on that website that sounds like a rainforest.

Common Taters

2011-01-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I'm off to Burnley tomorrow to watch a game of football, hoping to be out birding on Sunday.

It may have escaped people's notice, but football has mentioned in the news once or twice this week. Regarding certain off-air comments, and then the subsequent sacking of Andy Gray:

And then the resignation of Coventry's finest (or was that The Specials????), Richard Keys:

You see, some of us are old enough to remember him from TV-AM days!

In a way it seems a little harsh, but wouldn't have been so bad if their comments did actually sound like jolly banter. But it didn't sound like that to me. Then their comments turning towards Karren Brady, who's married to Burton Albion's manager, well that's not going to get me on their side is it?

I remember one of the all-time greats of sports commentary, Richie Benaud (twenty twooooooo for twooooooo), once said "the more you say, the more chance you have of coming across as a fool". This is a phrase that I take into consideration throughout life, but apart from blogging of course.

So even as two of Sky Sports' stalwarts have now gone, at least two of my favourites still remain. One being the voice of darts, Sid Waddell:

And dear old Bumble, David Lloyd. Start the car!

White-fronted Goose, The Sequel!

2011-01-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

Another round up of my weekend's birding. Last weekend I was told of a probable Nordic Jackdaw near Croxden Abbey, so that's where I started on Saturday morning.

Finding a field between Great Gate and Croxden Abbey, with plenty of Rooks and Jackdaws in, as well as a couple of Stock Doves. There was one Jackdaw that looked like it had a bit of a faint neck-collar on it, but I don't think it was enough for a Nordic. At least its an excuse to add a winter country scene of feeding corvids.

Onto Brookleys Lake next, and what a difference a year makes here. This time last year I was enjoying myself with Ferruginous Duck, Scaup, record breaking counts of Mandarin and a Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid. A few nights of frost in the week, combined with being surrounded by trees to block any breeze, has the caused the lake to completely freeze over again! Very frustrating. As a result, only 131 Mallard, 4 Mandarin and 2 Teal, all stood on the ice.

Thankfully Uttoxeter Quarry was much better, no freezing over here. But if there was ever a sign of a harsh winter, then it's this burst pipe in the quarry grounds. Glad it's not outside my house!

But it does mean that water is being pumped out, hopefully there'll be some mud and shoreline in time for spring. But in the present time, a pleasing selection of stuff. One of the White-fronts was still around with the Greylags, close enough to have it's photo taken this time.

Other birds around were a rather tatty-looking Pink-footed Goose, 35 Goosander, 3 Goldeneye, c150 Wigeon, 24 Teal, 8 Pochard, 1 Green Sand, 3 Curlew and a Barn Owl. Also a quarry rarity in the form of two Great Black-Backed Gulls, that didn't hang around for long.

As for Sunday. Tried to fit in a woodland walk near home, trying to find flocks of finches, Redpolls, Crossbills that kind of thing. So I tried Hawksmoor. Absolutely no finches here, but there was the usual woodland fayre of tits, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper. A walk down to the pond at East Wall farm produced 2 Little Grebes, the first I've seen since before the harsh weather at the end of November. That is one bird I have wondered about how well they would survive during this winter, so it was good to see two here.

Another quick check of Uttoxeter Quarry didn't produce much different from yesterday, apart from an increase in Tufted Duck and the Greylag flock wasn't around. So I thought I would try the gull roost at Blithfield to end with, and that didn't produce anything out of the ordinary either.

Well, there'll be no birding for me next Saturday, as I'm off to watch a little game of footy in Burnley. And all being well, I'll be picking up a new camera. Nothing particularly professional, but it should have enough umph to put another selection of rubbish pictures on this blog. So expect some Blue Tits at feeding stations coming soon!

Retreating Ice

2011-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

I don't want to moan. But now the ice has thawed out, can it not be so wet and windy?

As a result, I've not done much today. Just a walk round home, not a lot seen either. A rather poor effort but not easy in the conditions. On the positive side, I do now have a clean and shiny kitchen, and that really did need doing!

Yesterday was a bit more productive though, and nothing to do with a Slater-billed Gull. Presumably that gull at Rainham is named after the Slater family in Eastenders!

The two White-fronts still at Uttoxeter Quarry with the Greylags, along with 12 Goosander, 3 Goldeneye, 5 Pochard, 30 Tufted Duck, 10 Wigeon. Also a good size flock of Linnets and Skylarks around, but it was a pity I couldn't get a view of them settled, in order to give them a good grilling.

Surprisingly most of Brookleys Lake was still frozen over. Which must've been a sign of how cold it must've got there, with it being quite sheltered. Just 28 Mallard, 4 Mandarins and a 1 Tufted Duck on a small patch of open water, plus a couple of Ravens overhead.

And to finish, a quick check of the feeders in Dimmingsdale. Where a Marsh Tit appeared for a short time, in addition to more usual fayre. And that's it really, perhaps next weekend will be a bit more productive.

An addendum, pitfalls of following the herd!

2011-01-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Ha ha. You know, I had my suspicions about Lesley the "Lesser Scaup" at Hatfield Moors yesterday. Honest guv! That just shows how much attention we paid towards it yesterday, i.e. not much! We moved on after about a minute, looking for an Arctic Roll.

RBA have since said, that said duck is either a Tufty or a hybrid.

Taking the Rough with the Smooth

2011-01-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Sunday 9th January. South Ferriby, Lincolnshire, 9:10 - 10:40.

Whilst in the middle of my giant-killing celebrations, I was asked if I would like to join in a trip to Lincolnshire, to see the Rough-legged Buzzard at South Ferriby. Which I agreed, a good excuse not to consume too many celebratory alcoholic beverages.

I've also not seen a Rough-legged Buzzard for a very long time, so it would be nice to see one again. The only one I've seen before was at the end of 1994, at the Vale of Belvoir in Leicestershire. We eventually arrived at that classic Rough-legged Buzzard habitat, the South Ferriby cement plant!

Not being flippant, there is a large area of waste ground, rough grass and reeds around the plant's perimeter fence. So an ideal hunting ground for birds of prey. Old Rough-leg took a bit of finding for a while, but was evenutally spotted, perched in a patch of conifers.

Throughout our visit, the bird was spending it's time perched in the trees and bushes, with occassional flights, where we could see features such as the broad tail-band and dark-brown belly. It also got more difficult to see due to the sun getting higher in the sky, and having to view to the south. So it was time to move on.

I hadn't realised that Hatfield Moors is on the way back to the M18. With an Arctic Redpoll and Lesser Scaup around, lets give it a try. It's a new place for me, and along with Thorne Moors, part of the "Humberhead Peatlands":

Well the first-winter female Lesser Scaup was a piece of bread. Er, I mean piece of cake, definitely cake! What's going on here then, are usually they his friendly? Although with most of the water frozen, why not make the most of feeding on bread being thrown out.

If only the Arctic Redpoll was as easy. There was about 100 Redpolls in a flock, but hardly ever kept still and impossible to pick out anything other than Lesser Redpolls. In fact, other birders had been trying to pin down the Arctic Redpoll all day, and were saying it was really difficult. The only other highlight here was a Woodcock.

Cheer up Tony Mowbray............

2011-01-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't quite know how we did it, but, we did it. We beat Middlesbrough and into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time!

Don't leave Shaun, stay and sign a new contract.

A Pair of Y-Fronts

2011-01-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Monday 3rd January.

Sticking to local patches today, starting at Uttoxeter Quarry. It really was a quiet start with everywhere still frozen up. That was until about 200 Greylag Geese flew into the field next to the main gravel pit. At the same time, a skein of 28 Pink-footed Geese flew over and to the south-west.

Back to the Greylags, and a scan through revealed not just one White-fronted Goose, but two! Whether one of them was "Wagner" the feral one, as featured in this blog last summer, I don't know. But both looked like adult birds, unringed and were wary enough. Difficult to digiscope as well, as they were pretty distant and constantly grazing.

Other birds around included a Green Sandpiper, Goosander, 30 Wigeon and 2 Teal.

The afternoon was spent having a look round various spots in and around Cheadle. Which was pretty productive as well. We managed to find a flock of about 20 Lesser Redpolls, with a skein of around 60 Pink-Feet going over them, a drake Mandarin, a few Song Thrushes and to finish, a hunting Barn Owl as it got dark.

And with that, it ended quite a successful christmas period of birding, and not had that much time available either. With the Northern Harrier and a good selection of stuff in Norfolk, and a hat-trick of decent finds.

I don't know if any other birder feels the same way, but when you find a good bird do you have a little punch of the air in triumph, or dance a little jig? I must confess to dancing a little jig sometimes, in the style of these darts fans!

In With the New!

2011-01-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday 1st January, 2011.

You may be wondering why I started birding in 2011 looking at a field just outside Cheadle? Well reader, I'll tell you. It's all down to a reccy mission from New Years Eve, wondering where to start the new year off. Just a general birdwatch around home, or a little bit of county twitching.

On the whole, everywhere I tried round home on New Years Eve was pretty quiet and all areas of water still frozen over. But by the time I got to Hales Hall Pool, and after wiping my boot clean from stepping in something left by a dog, a small Falcon flew over and heading for farmland to the north.

First impressions on the bird's shape were a Peregrine, but way too small to be one and the wrong shape for a Kestrel. The other thing that went through my head was Mistle Thrush, was it was nearer to this size. But no, it was a Falcon. So it had to be a Merlin, and checking field guides back home, it had the barrel-shaped chest and wings shaped to a sharp point, reminiscent of one of those set-squares you had in Maths lessons at school.

Not surprisingly though, no sign of it this morning. And as things turned out, I didn't have that much birding time on New Years Day, as I spent most of the day with my brother and his family in Tamworth. But I did have a look at the Bewick's Swans at Elford on the way. 16 of them, along with 169 Mute Swans.

Sunday 2nd January.

Onto today then. One thing I'd like to do is have a look at the Short-eared Owls at Berry Hill in the afternoon. But before then, lets have a walk round Doxey Marshes in Stafford. You never know, might get lucky and get the Bittern to appear round Boundary Flash.

So to begin with on Creswell Flash, a count of duck included 16 Goosander and 10 Pochard. Then another scan with binoculars a bit further back, blimey o'reilly!!!!

A Bittern performing very un-Bittern-like behaviour. Just stood out on the water's edge for at least an hour, bold as brass and showing wonderfully well. On being joined by some other birders a little later after finding this one, they had another one at Boundary Flash. So that's two Bitterns for Doxey today!

Onward and into The Potteries. A quick look at another flock of Waxwings, in Longton, and a quick view of the back of a Long-eared Owl at Park Hall Country Park.

Then onto Berry Hill fields. Where everyone viewing, birders, photographers and walkers alike, were treated to crippling views of a hunting Short-eared Owl.

With that out of my system, for now, I'll do some proper birding tomorrow!

Out with the old........

2010-12-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

Thursday 30th December.

As I thought. So far this christmas, this has been the only day I've had available for birding. And what better way to finish the year off than to have a day's birding in Norfolk. In particular for the (presumed?, putative?) juvenile male Northern Harrier that has taken up residence in the saltmarshes between Thornham and Brancaster Staithe.

So off we went in Mad Malc's mystery machine. Thankfully the fog, that had been driven through all the way, cleared around King's Lynn. As afternoons had seemed to be a good time of day to see the Northern Harrier, the first port of call in the morning was at Burnham Overy Staithe, as there had been reports of Rough-legged Buzzard in the area.

As good and popular as Cley and Titchwell are, and rightly so, I have to admit that my favourite spot on the North Norfolk coast is around Burnham Overy Staithe. Probably because there's more of a wilderness feel to the area. Certainly the thousands of Geese here, Pink-Feet and Brents, add to the atmosphere. We also saw a ringtail Hen Harrier, but perhaps it was a little misty for any Buzzard action.

So onto Titchwell next. Complete with it's recently opened, new Parrinder Hide!

Oh hang on, that's not right. But you've got to admit it looks pretty spaced-aged:

There was a really pleasing selection of stuff around, despite all areas of fresh water still all frozen over. Highlights included a female Bearded Tit, a Bittern:

Three Twite in amongst a flock of Skylarks:

A Snow Bunting on the beach, and offshore a large raft of Common Scoter and a few Goldeneye.

With Titchwell done and dusted, and with the Northern Harrier seen at Thornham Harbour earlier in the day, it was onto Thornham next, the village next door to Titchwell.

We only had to wait a few minutes when the Harrier appeared. The bird showed wonderfully close in the harbour at first, before hunting around the saltmarsh, catching and feeding on prey a couple of times, in addition to having a couple of goes at a Sparrowhawk.

Whether it really is a Northern Harrier, or just a funny looking Hen Harrier, I don't know but it's certainly unlike any Hen Harrier I've seen before. Definitely an education whatever the outcome. I can only compare with my own experiences of a ringtail Hen Harrier. What does a juvenile male Hen Harrier look like? I don't know, just like an adult female?

What I thought was noticeable was the bird being noticeably darker on the head and upperparts, orange underparts, a large white rump (or perhaps the darker brown makes this look larger?) and a rather odd dangling right leg. And with that dangling leg, who would've thought a raptor could look camp?

A Snowy Egret!

2010-12-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

There, that got your attention didn't it? It makes a change from moaning about the cold anyway. Don't panic, I haven't lost me marbles or drank too much christmas sherry!

Just the highlight of a Little Egret (and not a Snowy Egret, as that would cause a major panic!) in the snow at Uttoxeter Quarry last Saturday, flying along the River Tean. In addition to 3 Snipe, 4 Wigeon, 1 Gadwall and 4 Common Gulls.

Prior to that, I found some more Waxwings last week, in Stafford this time. I found some berries a few weeks ago along my usual lunchtime walk along Weston Road. Last Thursday it eventually paid off when 3 Waxwings were around.

Anyway reader, that might be it for birding in 2010, I don't think there'll be too much birding time available for me in what remains of this year. But a New Years Day onslaught is planned to begin 2011, plus more of the same birding and nonsense throughout next year.

So if you happen to read this, although it's been said many times, many ways, merry christmas to you. And in true time-honoured tradition at christmas time, here's a bit of Morecambe and Wise.

A Bit of Jiggery Pokery

2010-12-14T13:22:00.001-08:00

Now I've just about recovered from Sunday's nightmarish day's birding. I've completely forgotten about what's going on "down under"! The third test from Perth gets underway in the early hours of Thursday. Keep it to yourself, but, if England win this test match then The Ashes are retained, without winning the series outright.

Right, no-one heard that, so I got away with it!

Not so long ago, there was a time when the England cricket team were perennially thrashed by the Aussies. As depicted in this wonderful animation, isn't it great what you can find on Youtube! And to the fantastic music of "The Duckworth Lewis Method". I'm sure it's autobiographical towards Mike Gatting!

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It's all gone Pete Tong!

2010-12-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a day off from birding, to catch up on christmas shopping (did you know christmas is on the way?) and make sure I went to the Albion's game against Southend United. Which was a 3-1 win, but importantly, got my ticket for the Middlesbrough game on the 8th January.

As for Sunday. If ever there was a day when I should've just stopped at home all day, in the warm, this was it. Let me explain............

Starting off at Uttoxeter Quarry. It's still all frozen solid, and as a result pretty birdless, desperate stuff really. And I did I say Cheadle was void of berries the other week? Well that was a load of buncumb, as over the last week a small flock of Waxwings has taken up residence around Lid Lane and Glebe Road.

Could I find them? No. But I wasn't too worried about that, but it would've been nice to see some Waxies in the town nearest to home. In truth, this was all killing time before heading to Blithfield. It sounded like an impressive gull roost the previous evening, with two Iceland Gulls in.

To begin with at Blithers, a Redshank below the dam, and in the small stretch of open water in Tad Bay, 20 Goosander and a drake Pintail. As you can see:

Then the reality of a Blithfield gull roost sets in, where are you going to look from? Unlike Chasewater or Copmere (I miss that roost!), Blithfield is too large to view from one spot.

I suppose the safest bet would be to view from the causeway or Watery Lane, but there were plenty of gulls piling in onto the ice at the bottom end of Blithe Bay from Beech Tree Point. And if any white-winger is going to fly into here, I'd see it well. That was the roll of the dice anyway, a gamble because there's no chance of seeing what's coming into the deep end from here.

It turned out that although plenty of gulls were coming onto the Blithe Bay ice, they were packing themselves in so tightly it was getting impossible to make a lot of them out. So as the gloom started I admitted defeat and went home.

Then came the sinking feeling on the way home, the proverbial kick in the teeth, when the pager mentioned an adult Iceland Gull at the deep end. Noooooooooooo! And to rub salt into the wound, the later mention of a brief redhead Smew from Beech Tree Point. Well I didn't see any sign of that.

Never mind eh, there's always next weekend (hopefully, adding the caveat of "weather permitting"). I suppose I've had a good run recently, with Whooper Swans, Waxwings, Great Grey Shrike in one attempt, and the like. If I'm going to have a bad'un then lets get it out of the way around the time of the shortest day!

Brrrrrrrrr

2010-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well I've never seen snow like it, for the end of November/beginning of December anyway. By the middle of last week there was seven and a half inches of snow at home!

It makes difficult going for birding, never mind the poor birds that stick this freezing weather out. Take last Friday when I had a walk in my lunch break in Stafford. There was a Snipe flying over a row of houses and dropped into someone's garden, and two Lapwings landed on a grass verge next to the office, the only patch of ground not covered by snow.

Nevertheless, took a walk round Uttoxeter Quarry on Saturday morning. Despite everywhere frozen over there was a Dunlin stood on ice with 15 Lapwings, 1 Woodcock, 2 Snipe, 5 flyover Goosander, 2 Redpoll, plenty of Fieldfares and Redwings.

The deep end of Blithfield was surprisingly free of ice. There were quite a lot of gulls around but couldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. There was also an increasing mist and the cold was getting a bit unbearable, so skipped the roost until dusk.

As for Sunday, thought I'd have a look for some gulls. Unfortunately Stubber's Green was quiet, not many gulls around at all. So after about an hour I thought I would try a new spot for me, that being Kingswood Pool on the outskirts of Cannock. Lots of gulls here on arrival, that's better!

Thoroughly impressed with Kingswood actually, and the close views you can get of the gulls on the water. Or ice in today's case. Managed to pick out an adult Yellow-legged Gull, but by the time I got the camera ready:

But it did settle:

By the way, it really did have yellow legs, but got chatting to a couple of passers by. I'll never make a pro-photographer!

What's the word on the street, Johnny?

2010-11-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

A little acknowledgment to the passing of a comedy genius, Leslie Nielsen:

In addition to "Airplane!" and the "Naked Gun" films, it's precursor, "Police Squad!" was well worth watching. Even the closing credits were funny:

A Berry Hunt

2010-11-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

As the song goes, the weather outside is indeed, frightful. It's horribly cold out there, didn't feel like spending hours outside today. But what I thought I would do is try and find some berries around home, on Rowan trees in particular. In the hope that sometime in the near future, some Waxwings will be attracted to them.

In the end it turns out that Upper Tean has a few Rowans with some berries still on. Cheadle appears to be void of Rowan berries, even the tree in the town centre car park has been stripped. I found a flock of Waxwings on that tree in 2005.

I remembered a flock of Waxwings in Uttoxeter a couple of years ago, around the housing estate next to Old Knotty Way, so I thought I'd check it out. On arrival and a short walk around, there's loads of berries round here. In particular two large Rowans along Lark Rise. It's a pity the next cul-de-sac isn't called Candleford!

On walking back to car, a flock of around 30 birds flew into these trees for a short time, then moved on. Well blow me down, its a flock of Waxwings! Brilliant!

A little later the Waxwings returned, 35 of them it turned out. I love it when a plan comes together. Hopefully they'll stay in the area for a while, there's plenty of berries in the area to feed on.

Ooh, as for the FA Cup draw. The Brewers at home to Middlesbrough, Brian Clough's home town. It's not quite the fairy tale draw, but I'm pleased with that. We might be able to pull off a shock.

Up for the Cup!

2010-11-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

I wasn't planning on doing any birding today. It's FA Cup second round day, with Burton Albion being at home to Chesterfield. With a place in the third round at stake, when all the Premiership and Championship (you know, those leagues that used to be called Division 1 and Division 2!) sides join in, I was all set to go to the game. That was until I woke up and drew the curtains. Oh no!

At least an inch of snow had fallen overnight. Its going to be freezing standing round the terraces of the Pirelli Stadium. So just a bit of birding time around Uttoxeter Quarry and Brookleys Lake, then listen to the game on good old Radio Derby.

At the quarry there were 2 Goldeneye, 10 Goosander, 1 Golden Plover with 220 Lapwings, 1 Snipe, 1 Peregrine, 1 Raven. Brookleys Lake had 86 Mandarin, 5 Goosander, 7 Pochard and a drake Gadwall.

All finished, back in the car at 3pm with Radio Derby on, and go back home. And yes, the Brewers won 3-1! Hooray, that means Burton Albion are in the FA Cup third round for only the fourth time. Last time we got to the third round, five years ago, we got drawn against some little team called Manchester United, you might've heard of them.

I don't know why I'm currently thinking this, but with all the Nigel Clough connections, I have a sneaky feeling that tomorrow's draw is going to put us against Derby County. But all will be revealed tomorrow.

Gull gets the last laugh

2010-11-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Not much birding done this weekend. Saturday morning involved the annual stock up of coal for the winter, so didn't get out birding until the afternoon.

At Brookleys Lake were 24 Mandarin, 2 Goosander, 40 Tufted, 8 Pochard, 2 Gadwall, 1 Kingfisher. Uttoxeter Quarry had 19 Goosander, 13 Golden Plover in amongst 500 Lapwing, 4 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye, 40 Wigeon, 2 Green Sand, 5 Snipe and a Grey Wagtail.

Back at the quarry on Sunday morning, not a lot of change, but I did get chance to take some pictures of some duck having a Sunday morning lie in:

Andy and Malc were also around and had found a Chiffchaff. On getting to the spot where it was, there were actually two Chiffchaffs, great stuff! Malc also mentioned he was going to the gull roost at Foremark Reservoir later, just to see if last night's Laughing Gull was to reappear. Ooh, can I come?

I've seen one Laughing Gull before, in Sunderland, but it was nearly 15 years ago. So a bit later off we went in Mad Malc's Mystery Machine, along the A50 and into South Derbyshire.

Plenty of gulls to look through and plenty of birders looking. Unfortunately there was no sign, best I could do was a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls. But hopefully, the Laughing Gull might appear again somewhere during the winter.

Gazumping Gazzunders

2010-11-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Right, where to start this time. Well, yesterday started with a cracking morning at Uttoxeter Quarry. Although the birding started off as pretty hum-drum stuff, but excited to see the main gravel pit brimming full of water, after all the wind and rain in the week.

There was a flock of around 90 Golden Plover that didn't settle, 11 Snipe, 2 Green Sands, 1 drake Pochard, Peregrine and Raven, and a single Goosander.

As time passed, and with continual scanning with the scope, somehow the numbers of Goosander got higher and higher, without seeing very many flying in. How does that work? Well, one became nine, then 22, then 25. Then a short walk round the other gravel pits, and quick exchange of texts with that lover of knitted jumpers, Stevie Fair Isle.

This weekend is of course the WeBS count weekend. As Steve is the Utchiter Quarry WeBS counter, quite rightly a count of Mallard at this point wouldn't go amiss. When heading back to the main gravel pit, as much as I tried to count the Mallard, I could quite concentrate on them. That's because by now, there seemed to be just as many Goosander out there as Mallards! In the end the Goosander count ending at a whopping 64!

A site record count. It's weird because as regular as Goosanders are at the quarry, very nearly all year round, I was buzzing after that.

I've wanted to have a look round Branston Gravel Pits for the last few weeks without having the time. So this was the time to do it. It was a pretty good start as well, including a Ruff, a Little Egret, 6 Redshank, 13 Curlew and this smart drake Pintail with a flock of Wigeon.

Unfortunately the Sandy pit area was deserted of birds. This was because a Pheasant shoot was taking place a short distance on the other side of the public footpath. Oh oh, how do I blog this one?

I remember having to write an essay about "blood sports versus country pursuits" at school, and struggled even then. I live in the countryside and I'm open-minded enough to know that this activity goes on. After all, that's why Pheasants exist in this country. People have the right to choose what to do with their lives, but it's not something I could ever bring myself to do.

I just hope that for the one Pheasant I saw get shot and land dead not far from me, they had the decency to collect that bird, to give it the respect and dignity that it deserves. Especially when they turned backs on it after shooting it. I nearly told them that but I didn't. After all, they had the gun.

So I didn't see much point in hanging around, so headed back to Uttoxeter, just to see if the Goosander roost count can be gazumped. But in the end, the count finished at a paltry 53.

As for today, gave that Great Grey Shrike on Cannock Chase a go. I've been putting it off for long enough. After parking up at the Cadet Huts car park, a certain Blurred Birder was already on site, saying "where were you five minutes ago?". Oh no, not again, getting used to just missing Shrikes recently. But thankfully, I managed to get my bins onto the Shrike a short while later, albeit briefly, sat on some telegraph wires near the Cadet Huts.

By the time I got the scope ready it had gone. That view will have to do for today. After picking up a bit of shopping at Tescos in Stafford, I know, Aqualate Mere is not far away. But unfortunately Aqualate was very quiet, even the log book in the hide was largely devoid of notes.

Thoughts turned to roosting Gazzunders at the quarry again. And I'm glad I did, as shortly after bumping into Andy and Nobby, two Whooper Swans flew over heading north! Obviously following the River Dove, but where were they heading?

As for Goosanders, we couldn't gazump it again, 54 this evening. The record is in tact! However, I don't think it will last for long.

Sprung a Leek

2010-11-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty quiet round here this weekend. Yesterday Uttoxeter Quarry had a Green Sand, a Dunlin, 3 Wigeon and that's the best it got. Oh yes, also a White-fronted Goose (christened "Wagner" on another blog, someone's been watching X Factor!) with the Greylags. No doubt the feral bird that was around in the summer, pity that.

There have been some Waxwings in Leek over the last week. I'm sure there's no real hurry to see them, as it looks like there's such a large invasion further north, it's only a matter of time before there'll be many of them round these parts. But seeing as I didn't know what else to do, I decided to have a look around some classic Waxwing habitat. Namely, the Barnfields Industrial Estate:

On arrival yesterday afternoon, I'd missed them by about 20 minutes and didn't come back. So gave that up and tried Swallow Moss until dusk, and that was birdless as well!

So another try for the Waxwings this morning was rather more successful, as six birds were present. Most of the time perched in a large Ash tree, then coming down to feed on the berries of a small Rowan on the opposite side of the road. And as is usually the case with Waxwings, allowing for good photo opportunities:

Trick or Treat?

2010-10-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ooohh its Halloween! Spooky! No, never really understood it. If you're a Pagan it's all very well, but the americanisation of it all leaves me cold.

Anyway, while I was away enjoying myself on the Scillies, a Dipper has taken up residence at Uttoxeter Quarry. Not in the gravel pits of course, but along the River Tean. We've always thought that the river looks ideal for a Dipper, so now there's one around I'd quite like to see it.

Saturday 30th October.

Starting off at the owd patch there were 15 Golden Plover, 2 Dunlin, 1 Green Sandpiper, 9 Snipe, 1 Goldeneye, 17 Goosander, 1 Peregrine, 3 Fieldfare, 3 Siskin. But no sign of the Dipper.

Onwards to Blithfield next, where a record breaker is in residence. A Little Ringed Plover is with 2 Ringed Plovers in Tad Bay, and now holds the record of the latest ever one in the West Midland Bird Club region. There was also 65 Golden Plover, 3 Pintail, 4 Goldeneye, 1 Peregrine, 1 Yellow-legged Gull. Also a Wheatear by the sailing club, another very late record.

I also stuck around until dusk for the gull roost, just in case the Franklin's Gull that has been roosting at Foremark the last few days decided on a change of scene. But Franky, old blue eyes, stuck to Foremark. Quite a few Common Gulls around, but nothing really out of the ordinary.

Sunday 31st October.

Making of most of the clocks going back, a phone call from Andy informing me that Dipper was along the River Tean again! Bloomin thing, it wasn't there yesterday. So that got me out of bed and out the door, and again didn't see the Dipper! Although I don't think two blokes taking their dog for a paddle in the river helped. The only real difference to yesterday were 2 Green Sands and a Kingfisher.

If the disappearing Dipper is the Halloween trick, then Brookleys Lake most definitely provided the treat.

After scanning through the duck, which included 2 drake Pochard, 16 Mandarin, 90 Tufted Duck, I put the lense caps back on the scope and was about ready to go. Then four large white objects appeared in the sky, over the trees from the north. Halloween ghosts perhaps? No, they were Swans, better get the scope on them. On closer inspection they were Whooper Swans, woohoo!

Its a pity they didn't land on the lake, but changed direction and headed east towards Ellastone and the Derbyshire border. If they had landed then no doubt the resident Black Swan would've sent them on their way!

Then drove up to Swallow Moss to finish. As another bird to catch up with while I was away is Hen Harrier, good to know that a female has been around. But it didn't show tonight, but perhaps not great Harrier conditions as it wasn't very windy. They can put on a good show with a bit of a breeze around.

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 6, the last few days.

2010-10-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 19th October.

There's one island I still hadn't visited yet, and that's Tresco. Certainly compared with the other islands, Tresco had been rather quiet for bird news. But it had to be done, if only to count the wildfowl on the Great Pool!

Sure enough there was a selection of duck (including a drake Pintail), Coots, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, birds that you just don't see anywhere else on Scilly. It was also pleasing to find a Brambling in amongst a Chaffinch flock, feeding in a field of Quinoa. Tell you what, if you want to attract flocks of finches, plant some Quinoa. They were going mad over the seeds of this stuff.

But over the course of the day, it was apparent that I was on the wrong island, because it was all kicking off on St. Martins. A Red-flanked Bluetail was found in the late morning, and by the time I got back to Hugh Town news filtered through of a Grey-cheeked Thrush on the same island. Oh my goodness me, or words to that effect passed my mind! Well, tomorrow is my last full day on the Scillies, so it's got to be a day on St. Martins.

Wednesday 20th October.

Not surprisingly, another extra 9am boat to St. Martins had been arranged, and I was on it. Some other visitors around this morning, hello sailor!

The Red-flanked Bluetail was the first port of call, circuiting a belt of pine trees (the bird that is, not me). Straight away it showed brilliantly down to a few feet. It's at times like this where perhaps I should invest in a camera that doesn't have to be plonked on the end of a scope. But what I can manage with a little point and click camera when it's not on the scope is "the twitch shot":

Most of the rest of the time on St. Martins was spend scouring the general area where the Grey-cheeked Thrush was seen the previous evening, around the school and the small fields between there and the sand dunes. But alas, it was not to be. A Richard's Pipit along the dunes near the Higher Town quay was a welcome distraction though.

With an hour before the boats came to take everyone back to St. Marys, Dick Filby decided to take a wander through some areas of bracken, just in case it might help to encourage the thrush to appear. But it didn't work, although a Woodcock was flushed. Actually there's so much cover in that area, of bracken, brambles and dense Pittosporum hedges, the thrush could go missing for days!

Thursday 21st October.

There was a large part of the day to fit some birding in, before it was time to leave. Amazingly, one bird that I really struggled to catch up with on the whole trip was Black Redstart. They seemed to appear whereever I wasn't! The radio mentioned one around the Penninis lighthouse, so I made a bee-line for there. And sure enough, a fine male Black Redstart was still around catching insects. And a little punch of the air in triumph.

Time was then spent walking up towards Maypole Farm and Borough Farm, where there had been a Hawfinch yesterday. Well I say walking, after ten days of walking around everywhere, I could hardly move! But no sign of the Hawfinch this time, but there had been one seen in the Porth Hellick/Carn Friars area, so perhaps it was the same bird. One last pasty in the Longstones centre, then a slow walk back to Hugh Town via the very pretty Holy Vale was done. There was one last Yellow-browed Warbler through Holy Vale, and a Firecrest along Carn Friars Lane.

And that was about it, sadly it was time to leave the Scillies and back to Penzance for the evening. But not quite the end of birding before the long drive home, because the next morning I had a quick look at the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that was with the Golden Plover flock near Sennen.

You might've gathered by now that I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Scilly, and I now can't believe I've never been before. But there's a very good chance I'll be going again!

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 5, American Pie!

2010-10-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

The title of this part of the trip will eventually make sense!

Sunday 17th October.

A Red-eyed Vireo was found on St. Agnes a couple of days previously, and was more showy around the Parsonage, along with a reported Radde's Warbler on Gugh, the day before. So this was the island for the day, taking the 9am boat.

After about a 30 minute wait the Vireo appeared for a short while! Woohoo, lifer number three! When the second wave of birders arrived from the 10:15 boat, I thought it would be a good time to explore he rest of St. Agnes.

Highlights included 3 Lapland Buntings on Wingletang Down, a Marsh Harrier, a Firecrest, a Lapwing (quite a scarcity on Scilly) in a bay near the quay and a Barnacle Goose (don't know of what origin) flying over Annet. The fayre of The Turks Head was sampled for lunch:

You can also get a good view of the Bishop Rock Lighthouse. That's where this country ends folks (well, at this end of the country anyway):

During the afternoon I decided the have another look at the Red-eyed Vireo, which showed even better than in the morning, as did a Pied Flycatcher. I was all set to head back to St. Marys when the Radde's Warbler had been found again on Gugh. Actually I forgot about it!

After about an hour and a half of waiting, and knowing a later returning boat had been arranged by Dick Filby, the Radde's Warbler unfortunately didn't appear. The day's birding was completed by having a look at a Red-throated Diver in Porthcressa Bay.

Monday 18th October.

Let's give this Radde's Warbler another try, so the morning was spent back on Gugh, before the tide covered the sand bar between it and St. Agnes in the early afternoon. But it still didn't show, although I did have a spot of luck when an Owl flew out of a Pittosporum bush.

Binoculars on it, pretty uniform brown on top, no pale trailing edge on the wings. Well I'm happy with that as a Long-eared Owl, cor! It turned out that two other birders saw the LEO on the other side of Gugh, and was seen in St. Agnes during the afternoon.

Speaking of the afternoon, nothing new had been reported on St. Agnes so went back to St. Marys, exploring Penninis Head. The run on Lapland Buntings continued, with two more here:

If you've never done any birding on the Scillies in October before, then it might surprise you to know that a lot of birders carry CB radios with them. They're very useful in order to gain bird news instantly, that the likes of Dick Filby and others will broadcast. I was fortunate enough to borrow one for my stay.

If you're lucky enough to find anything good, you can press a button on the radio and transmit the bird news yourself so that it can be passed around to others. But be warned, if you happen to leave a radio on in your digs, and the button is accidentally transmitting the sound in the background, because the radio is stuck underneath a bag or that kind of thing, then everyone else with a radio can hear you! Otherwise, you may receive a message (or alternatively, a whole load of abuse!) like this:

"So bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.........."

No, thankfully it wasn't me!

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 4, Life of Bryher.

2010-10-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Friday 15th October.

Plenty of the lesser rarities around St. Marys that still had to be caught up with, so that was the plan for today. And also to try and cover as much ground on St. Marys as possible, just in case more time would be needed on the other islands. The last few days of lugging around both the scope and a rucksack was taking it's toll a bit, I left the scope behind for the day.

Birds seen during the day included a Yellow-browed Warbler at the Dump Clump, Firecrests at the Carreg Dhu garden (why is it called this when it sounds Welsh to me?) and Longstones centre, then a look at the possible Eastern Yellow Wagtail along Pelistry Lane.

Then over to the golf course to look at a Ring Ouzel, up to Bar Point where there were a 1st winter Med Gull and 2 Whimbrel, then back along the north-east coast, along Pelistry Lane again, following the coast down to Porth Hellick, where there were a Water Pipit and Jack Snipe.

Then back to Hugh Town, it took all day and I walked miles. I also had a large blister on my little toe to prove it!

Saturday 16th October.

Looking after my blister, I decided to spend some more time on Bryher. As it's a much smaller island less walking can be involved. I'm not daft you know!

During the day I managed to catch up with the Icterine Warbler (interestingly enough, at the point when I saw the Icky it was first picked out by fellow blogger and fellow Burtonian but based in Devon, Karen Woolley), and two smashing Lapland Buntings near to Hell Bay (what a great name!).

Also a drake Common Scoter between here and Tresco. And as you can see from the top of Shipman Head Down here looking towards Tresco, another gloriously sunny day. Some of the scenery you get on Scilly, you could imagine that you're in the Med or the West Indies.

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 3, first bit of island hopping.

2010-10-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 13th October.

Between Pied Wheatear and Subalpine Warbler, the Wheatear had to take priority. So the day began on St. Marys, with a Turtle Dove around Porthmellon to start with. At least it gave another chance to see the Common Rosefinch from the Tremelethen Trail, which I did manage to see this time. So then over to the golf course.

Unfortunately it appeared that the Pied Wheatear had gone, just a Northern Wheatear around. And during the morning the Subalpine Warbler was still around on Bryher, so I decided to cut my losses and take my first boat to an off-island.

Just before docking at Bryher a Peregrine flew around over the boat. You could tell this was the Tundra Peregrine, with a very distinctive head pattern. Very pale on top with a dark stripe through the eye and through the middle of the bird's head. Turns out that this race of Peregrine is a long distance migrant and should be spending the winter in South America. Interesting stuff.

The Subalpine Warbler had been favouring an area of gorse near to the Fraggle Rock cafe (I won't mention the obvious, because Fraggle Rock was rubbish, not a patch on The Muppet Show!). Walking towards the site I noticed a sylvia warbler drop into the gorse, so waited whilst everyone else continued walking. Can't believe no-one else saw that, and after about 10 minutes the warbler popped up which was indeed the Subalpine. Very satisfying to call it out to others.

Also around Bryher were a very showy Red-breasted Flycatcher and a tired looking Short-eared Owl.

There was also an Icterine Warbler and Lapland Bunting around, but didn't get time for those. An afternoon boat leaves you with about two hours on an island, besides I could return another day.

So to end a successful day, over to the Scillonian club for the bird log. One bit of the log did tickle me, when the chap with the microphone said Black-eared Wheatear slightly wrong, and came out as "Black Weird Eat-ear". I like a good Spoonerism, and that's one Ronnie Barker would be proud of!

Thursday 14th October.

What to do today? A Melodious Warbler had been on St. Martins, so lets give that a try for the day. Taking the morning boat suddenly looked like a very good decision, as the pager then mentioned a Tawny Pipit also on St. Martins, around Lower Town.

For most of the day however, pretty frustrating going. On arrival at the Lower Town dunes, I did manage to see a large Pipit with an odd-sounding call (well it was to me) fly out of the dunes and towards the next island west, Tean. Well, if that was the Tawny Pipit then I want a better view than that. As for the Melodious Warbler, that wasn't seen for most of the day either. Two Spoonbills flew in though.

But fortunes completely changed with about an hour or so before the 4:30 boat was due to leave. The Tawny Pipit was refound in the dunes and showed wonderfully well. A big relief, as the morning's flight view was completely unsatisfactory.

Shortly after that, the Melodious Warbler was refound next to the Seven Stones pub. Somehow I manage to beat most people to it, must've found a shortcut. So a few other birders and I had about a minute with the Warbler (my second lifer of the trip) before the "trudge trudge trudge" sound of boots got louder and louder!

Also offshore from St. Martins were a Slavonian Grebe and a summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver.

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 2, Exploring St. Marys

2010-10-23T13:16:00.001-07:00

Monday 11th October.

The sight of Penzance harbour whilst on the "Scillonian III" ferry. There were a few birds to be seen whilst at sea. A Razorbill was just outside the harbour, and over the course of the crossing a fabulous Grey Phalarope, 4 Bonxies, 1 Arctic Skua, plenty of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots. Someone had claimed a juvenile Sabine's Gull, and both Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters. I must've been looking the other way, probably enjoying the Cornish coastline, including Mousehole and the Minack Theatre.

Eventually the Scillonian docks in at Hugh Town, then as my luggage is labelled (meaning it will be delivered to my guest house for me), I can go straight to the Garrison to look for the Black-eared Wheatear. It had already been seen during morning, and here it is. A lifer for me, hurrah!

After a while, the Wheatear was joined by a Snow Bunting, result!

With the Wheatear safely under the belt, most of the afternoon was spent getting my bearings around Hugh Town, working out where everything is. The pubs, shops and of course the Scillonian club, venue of the nightly bird log. Whilst doing this reccy, a couple of people were spotted. This was the first one:

For the benefit of the untrained eye, this is Michael Eavis. He organises a little gathering of popular-beat combos, mainly consisting of The Wurzels I think, on his Somerset farm every June. The other person I spotted was Lee Evans:

Oh hang on, I got the wrong one! It turned out that Mr L. Grevans wasn't staying on Scilly, but on just for the day to twitch the Black-eared Wheatear and to check out the mystery falcon, a possible Eleonora's that had been recently claimed.

The day was finished around Porthcressa beach, where 4 Sandwich Terns were offshore, and a Wryneck was in adjacent Buzza Quarry.

Tuesday 12th October.

First full day, and plenty of birds to catch up with around St. Marys. The Porthellick area was productive, with a Pectoral Sandpiper on Porthellick pool, the beach held the American Golden Plover, with one of it's European counterparts to provide a nice comparison.

Next to Porthellick is Carn Friars farm, where one Little Bunting was still present.

A pasty for lunch at the Longstones centre, then to find a Common Rosefinch along the Tremelethen farm trail. I knew the trail could be reached from Porthellick farm, but I found it a real struggle to find the other end of the trail. At the same time news was filtering through of a possible Pied Wheatear on the golf course.

Being a bit of a stubborn so and so, I was determined to crack this trail, so walked back to Porthellick via Old Town (and saw the Red-breasted Flycatcher in the Old Town churchyard), and walked the Tremelethen trail from there. However, by the time I got to the Quinoa field with the finch flock in, you're looking straight into the sun. Not easy viewing, a Brambling in amongst the Chaffinches but the Rosefinch was just at the wrong angle, so missed it this time.

So with hindsight the wrong decision there, especially as the Pied Wheatear on the golf course was eventually confirmed and didn't hang around for very long. It was found by a couple who were staying in the same guest house as me, which was great for them. But at the time of writing and seeing pictures of it now, bit gutted. But I did manage to catch up on many of the established good birds, and I felt it was right to see them first before any move on.

During the evening, news appeared of a Subalpine Warbler on Bryher, so a decision to make for where to go on Wednesday.

The Big Trip to the Scillies. Part 1, Rumble in the Jungle.

2010-10-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday 10th October.

Up at 3am (so it really does exist!), on the road at 3:30. I thought I could time the drive to arrive at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, to have a butchers at the Green Heron, in time for when they open. A very civilised time of 10am! Which I managed to do, despite the M6 being shut at junction 10, taking me through Walsall then somehow ended up in the centre of Birmingham, don't know how that happened.

But anyway, despite it being the Lost Gardens of Heligan, I managed to find them well enough, just south of St. Austell. But in order to gain access to the gardens I did have to lose a tenner, releasing lots of moths out of my wallet.

The Green Heron was a few days into it's stay by now, finding the jungle gardens to it's liking. And when they say a jungle, take a look at this!

There are four small ponds surrounded by palm trees, banana palms, tree ferns, bamboo and exotic conifers. The Green Heron was eventually found on the third pond along.

Whilst briefly leaving the bird to ring RBA the news of it's presence for the day, the bird was seen to catch and eat a vole!

With the Heron successfully twitched (and Sunday appearing to be popular with non-birding tourists) there was a bit of time to spare before checking into my guest house in Penzance for the evening, so I decided to have a look around the Hayle Estuary. I've been here a couple of times in the past, and as well as viewing from the road next to the Old Quayhouse Inn, I think it's always worth a scan from the Lelant railway station.

Except when this happens, how inconsiderate!

Highlights on the Hayle included 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 5 Little Stint, 2 Med Gulls, 2 dark-bellied Brent Geese and this rather showy Grey Plover.

Mind and body were starting to flag by now after the early start. So once I had checked into my guest house in Penzance and on the way to The Dolphin pub for liquid refreshment (medicinal purposes only!), a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling was perched on the tower of St Mary's church. Great stuff and ending a successful day all round.

The next day, we're on the Scillonian ferry, and everything crossed that the Black-eared Wheatear is still on the Garrison!

A Seasonal Mix

2010-10-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Right, I'm not going to rattle on this time, I'm sure someone's thinking "that goodness for that!". But to get the past weekend's birding up to date, which involved a real seasonal-crossover mix of late summer migrants, early winter migrants and some typical autumn waders.

Saturday started out up on the Weaver Hills, where there was still no Lapland Bunting! But there were 2 Wheatears that showed really well, a fly-past Grey Wagtail, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Siskin, 9 Linnet, a flock of around 150 Meadow Pipits.

Then a walk around Swineholes Wood. The main highlight here was finding 4 Redwings, pleased with that as the 2nd October is still pretty early for them round these parts. Also around were 2 Goldcrests within a tit flock, 4 Linnet, 3 Red-legged Partridge, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Plus the resident Shetland Ponies, that keep the habitat in check.

After a spot of lunch, Uttoxeter Quarry was next. Still rather quiet at the moment, birds seen included 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Goosander, 2 Wigeon, 23 Teal, 1 Sparrowhawk. But in truth, we could do with an increasing water level here now, to attract some more wildfowl. Which is definitely not a problem at Brookleys Lake, my last port of call for Saturday. Brookers held an impressive 98 Tufted Duck, 15 Mandarin, 1 drake Pochard, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Kingfisher.

Only Blithfield was visited on Sunday, due to biblical amounts of rain and the promise of being able to sit in a hide and not get wet. Tad Bay held 23 Wigeon but surprisingly no Pintail, a brief visit from a Black Tern, the Black-tailed Godwit still, a rather late Yellow Wagtail, 8 Swallows through. A decent sized flock of waders were along Admaston Reach included 4 Little Stints, here's 2 of them:

Plus 29 Dunlin, 8 Ringed Plover, the Black Tern again with a juvenile Common Tern.

That's going to be it for blogging for a while. On Sunday I drive down to Penzance, then a week today I'm going to the Scillies, woohoo! I do know that Scilly has had a few quiet Octobers in recent years. In a way that appealed to me going this year, law of averages would dictate that this run should change. But however good or bad the birding will be, I'm sure it will be an experience.

It's Definitely Autumn

2010-09-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

It looks like that's it for evening birding until next year, boo. So, I'm stuck to weekends. And a definite change in the air, a horrible northerly wind that just hasn't stopped. But would it bring anything good in that I could find, like a Lapland Bunting or Pectoral Sandpiper. That was the hope anyway. It's certainly moved most hirundines out, taking advantage of a following wind, and I don't blame them.

So starting off yesterday at Uttoxeter Quarry. Pretty quiet really. A decent sized flock of about 180 Lapwings, but no Pec Sand with them. Also around were a Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, 37 Teal, 1 Swallow, 2 Chiffchaff, 5 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Kingfisher and a nice Linnet flock building up.

Still with Pec Sand in mind, I wanted to check Branston Gravel Pits, particularly the Sandy Pit. And it still looks fantastic for waders. A big Lapwing flock here, as were 2 Ruff, 2 Golden Plover, 10 Curlew, 2 Little Egret, 1 Shelduck.

Thought I'd check Blithfield before going home. Tad bay held an adult Yellow-legged Gull, 16 Goosander, 21 Wigeon, 1 Pintail, stacks of Teal, 1 Black-tailed Godwit. There was also a Fox, which must've learned it's hunting skills from Basil Brush.

No sign of a passing Gannet around the causeway, but there was a Wheatear, a Ringed Plover and fresh in from Rocester, four Egyptian Geese. I recognise the blonde one!

This would be the same bird that paid a spring trip to Uttoxeter Quarry in April. On the way home, I found the results of the Labour Party leadership vote on the radio, which was won by Ed Miliband. Just beating his brother David, who really must be kicking himself for not standing against Gordon "Golden" Brown a few years ago. Personally, I've always preferred their other brother, Steve:

And with that tumbleweed-enducing gag (I've been waiting ages for that!), onto today. Which was even quieter really. Couldn't find a Lapland Bunting up on the Weaver Hills, a good number of about 30 Skylarks but the wind defeated the exercise. Then Brookleys Lake, which was good to me last year, held 17 Mandarin and 66 Tufted Duck. So that all bodes well for the forthcoming winter. Oh dear, thinking about winter already.

Not a Waste of Petrel

2010-09-22T11:45:00.001-07:00

I didn't do any birding last weekend, thanks to my car overheating and being rather concerned about it. I got a stack of housework done though.

In the end, nothing wrong with it apart from a pocket of air in the radiator. Phew, I really thought it was going to be the head gasket, which is painfully expensive. I had a head gasket go on Christmas Eve once, but that's another story.

But before all that, and it seems like ages ago now, last Thursday after work I had a sneaky twitch to Belvide to look at the Leach's Petrel. The traffic was terrible, took half an hour to get out of Stafford and onto the M6 (probably also caused a loss of radiator water). So it was a relief that the bird was still there, as were Belvide stalwarts, Steve Nuttall and Bernie Smith.

It was a great bird to see, but you can't help feeling it was mightily out of place, and it was continually harrassed by gulls. I've only ever seen one Leach's Petrel before, which was at Shustoke Reservoir in 1997, and exactly the same behaviour happened. Leach's Petrel and Black-headed Gulls, it's a chase worthy of "The Benny Hill Show".

For the younger reader whom doesn't know who Benny Hill is, next time you see a Leach's Petrel being chased around by Black-headed Gulls, start whistling this tune!

So what is it with Gulls chasing after a Petrel like that? It must be either the Gulls see the Petrel as prey, or the Gulls associate the Petrel with food, either by seeing or smelling it. Answers on a postcard...........

What I Did On My Holidays, Part IV

2010-09-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

After all the drama at Whitemoor Haye, and the subsequent dipping therapy (Dr Derek Pechora prescribes Marstons Pedigree!), the rest of the week's birding has all been a bit of an anti-climax. The weather has made sure of that.

So as with all good "What I Did On My Holidays" essays when struggling for inspiration, here's a doodle in the margin!

Extraction and processing of sand and gravel still continues at Uttoxeter Quarry. After all, it is a working quarry. Over the past week, there's been a lot of work going on and that has increased the water levels. So where there has been lots of mud seven to ten days ago, that's all been covered by water now. As a result, other than Green and Common Sandpipers, that's it for waders on the Friday and Saturday.

Highlights at Blithfield over the Friday and Saturday included 3 Black Terns, 1 Little Gull, 1 Little Stint, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Ruff, 12 Ringed Plover and 2 Pintail.

Finding some migrants on the Weaver Hills on Saturday morning included 2 Siskins, 100 Meadow Pipits, 20 Skylarks, 10 Linnet, 1 House Martin, plenty of Swallows, 6 Raven, 3 Kestrel, 2 Peregrine.

As for today (Sunday 12th September), a bit of exploring around Swineholes Wood was done, to find some migrants. It was pretty much defeated by the wind, but we did manage Goldcrest, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat. An aimless drive around the North Staffs Moors produced a few Ravens, plenty of Kestrels but very little else. Ending up at Tittesworth Reservoir, where a single Black Tern was still around.

And with that, that's the end of my week off. With the weather as it has turned out, then perhaps it's a good time to return to work. But just four weeks to get through, then I'm off again, to the Isles of Scilly for the first time.

What I Did On My Holidays, Part III (Waaahhh!)

2010-09-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

At this rate I'll be going back to work next week for a rest! Let me explain.

Wednesday 7th September.

Not much change at the Quarry in Uttoxeter. Spotted Redshank still around, plus a patch mega, in the form of a Coal Tit!

Over to my dad's in Burton for the evening, so before that I checked Branston Gravel Pits. Highlights here included 3 Little Egrets, 5 Green Sandpipers, 12 Curlew, 2 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 72 Teal, 6 Shoveler.

A nice relaxing evening was interrupted by the news of a probable Woodchat Shrike at Whitemoor Haye. What!!! I can get over there in a few minutes, so I did. And this is what I saw:

Unfortunately, the only place I saw this was from the screen of Stuart the Alrewas Birder's mobile phone, ticking by proxy isn't allowed! To help out with clinching what kind of Shrike it was, I offered to get a field guide out of the car. The bird was seen for the last time whilst retrieving the book, then off into a bush by the time I got back. I literally missed the bird by seconds!

It did look like the Shrike had gone into a bush to roost for the night. However, after arriving at first light this morning (Thursday 9th September), no sign of it all morning. It would be nice to think it's very good at hiding, but I did wait until the weather had warmed up in the hope that increased insect activity may get the Shrike moving. But no, no sign. Best birds around were a Hobby and a Whinchat (that's Whinchat, NOT Woodchat!).

Right, I'm off for a session of birding therapy with Dr Derek Pechora. Only joking, that's just the way it goes sometimes. In any case a fantastic find for Stuart. And if I was at home last night like usual, there's no way I would've been able to get over in time.

What I Did On My Holidays, Part II

2010-09-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7th September.

A lot of rain overnight, so once a trip to the dentist was out of the way I eagerly made my way over to Uttoxeter Quarry.

And the rain paid off. Well, I assume it did, because I assume this is a different Spotted Redshank to the one here last Friday.

According to the pager, a Black Tern had also been brought down at Blithfield. Over the afternoon, there were actually two Black Terns flying around the deep end.

Whilst sat in the Tad Bay hide the pager went off again, mentioning a Little Stint and nine Curlew Sandpipers in Ten Acre Bay. Great stuff I thought, so off I went, as did Richard "oooh Richie Berry" Berry. But alas, on the island in Ten Acre Bay all we could make out were 2 Curlew Sands, 11 Dunlin and a Ringed Plover. Never mind.

In addition was a Sanderling in St. Stephens Bay, associating itself with 2 Dunlin and 2 Ringed Plovers.

What I Did On My Holidays, Part I

2010-09-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

As I'm off on the same week that all the kiddywinks go back to school, that's what they'll all be writing about! And so will I.

So to begin with on my week off. I did get to Spurn, with Andy, yesterday. Not specifically to twitch the Great Snipe seen in the previous evening, we just liked the look of the weather forecast to bring some migrants in. Hmm, we did this a couple of years ago and the forecast was completely wrong. As a result, we saw nothing apart from a few Whinchats and Wheatears.

It was a good start, and already an improvement on last time, as we latched onto a juvenile Common Rosefinch, next to the heligoland trap just south of the chalk bank hide.

The olive-green on the wings made it more smarter than the usual "Grotfinch" nickname suggested, I thought. Also, the pinkish hue on the breast would be likely to be caused by elderberry juice, as it was continually munching on them. It could've done with a napkin!

There was also supposed to be a Barred Warbler in the same area, but we didn't see it, only a Whitethroat. Another Barred Warbler around The Warren also didn't appear, but there were Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Yellow Wagtails, more Whitethroats.

We thought we would try our luck a few miles up the coast, for the Ortolan Bunting seen at Holmpton, around Cliff Farm. Thoroughly impressed with the site actually, a nice scrubby field with trees. Looks like just the kind of place you could go if you wanted to escape the masses at Spurn.

Unfortunately, the Ortolan Bunting hadn't been seen since early morning. So after a while of waiting around, and no news on anything new arriving at Spurn (as the weather was too nice, wrong forecast again!), we decided to head back home. Typically, the Ortolan then came on the pager later on. But that was nothing compared with the news of the Brown Flycatcher found at Buckton. If only that came on a couple of hours earlier, we could've gone for that.

But anyway, before going home a check of Uttoxeter Quarry didn't produce a huge difference in birds. But there was a fly-past by the Red Arrows.

You see, after a couple of recent site ticks, we celebrate in style!

Beware of the Birding Gods

2010-09-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

When you buy a house, any sane, normal person would look out for something like a gas, or electric, fire in the lounge/sitting/drawing (use as necessary) room. But oh no, not me, I got smitten a lovely solid fuel fireplace. Which is great in the winter time, but occassionally the chimney needs to be swept out to stop the risk of chimney fires.

So I had a load of clearing, tidying and vacuuming to do on Thursday evening, in preparation for the visit of Dick Van Dyke with his chim-chimminy sweeping brush the next day. Right at the same time Andy finds a Purple Sandpiper at Uttoxeter Quarry. D'oh, d'oh and double d'oh! It's a cracking find, but I just couldn't get over in time. But these things happen sometimes, my turn to be on the receiving end of the birding gods going against you.

But nevertheless, on both Friday evening and this morning (Saturday 4th September) there was still a good selection of waders without the Purple Sand, culminating with a juvenile Spotted Redshank last night. It wasn't around this morning but there were 1 Greenshank, 2 Green Sands, 3 Common Sands, 7 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin. In addition to the waders were a Whinchat last night, and this morning a Raven, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Grey Wagtails.

And so to Blithfield. Starting around the deep end, to the surprise of the Blurred Birder and I, we found a juvenile Cuckoo.

Really not something I was expecting to see. Also around the deep end was a Curlew Sandpiper in the concrete bay with 17 Ringed Plovers and 7 Dunlin.

Tad Bay had an Osprey fly over, 4 Greenshank, 3 Pintail and 8 Wigeon. While Blithe Bay held 3 Ruff, 4 Greenshank and 1 Redshank.

I have a week off work next week. Not planning to go away anywhere but there'll be some birding, and subsequent blogging, involved. Starting tomorrow, with I think a day out at Spurn.