A find and a twitch

That's better! See what a bit of a change in the weather can do. Although you'll realise that it's simple to work out which one of the following two birds is a find and which one is the twitch.

Wednesday 14th July.

A few showers around so I thought I would give Uttoxeter Quarry a try. And I'm very glad I did because it paid off, as I found a cracking Wood Sandpiper.


Quite a brightly marked bird so I assume it's a juvenile. Other notable wader counts included 3 Green Sandpipers, 14 Oystercatchers and 5 Curlew.

As for this evening, Thursday 15th July. Well, what I thought was going to be a quiet evening at home changed completely at about 7pm, as news broke of a Franklin's Gull at Chasewater. Right in the middle of cooking my tea, talk about a curry in a hurry!

Tea was scoffed down in record time, and with Andy arriving at my house with perfect timing, off we went through Uttoxeter, Rugeley and Hednesford, down to the sailing club at Chasewater. And here's the result!


Still can't see it, how about a bit more cropping?

Three Wheels on my Wagon............

........and I'm still rolling along, but the Cherokees aren't after me. Thanks to a crack in one of my car's wheels and it gradually letting air out, got the spare wheel on my jam jar at the moment. It limits how fast you can go, so that scuppered a twitch to Slimbridge to see the White-tailed Plover.

But I have been pottering around. Just a couple of visits to Uttoxeter Quarry. Notable highlights on Friday evening (9th) included 8 Green Sandpipers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Ringed Plover, a Curlew and 2 Oystercatcher.

As for today, Sunday 11th July, the quarry held a single Black-tailed Godwit, a Little Egret, 1 Common Sandpiper and an acrobatic Hobby, hawking dragonflies at the eastern end and causing panic among a Lapwing flock.


Also managed a butterfly picture, Small Skipper I think.


So that's the birding up to date. Apart from the hassle of buying a new wheel, at least there's the World Cup final to enjoy this evening. As it turned out, the real star of the World Cup has been Paul the Soothsaying Octopus! Now the World Cup is about to finish, perhaps Paul should branch out into other predictions? Like where the White-tailed Plover is going to turn up next.


But perhaps Paul should stick to football. Certainly the best pundit I've ever seen, apart from Jimmy Hill!

Still Rather Quiet......

Well it's still all rather quiet on the birding front locally. Hopefully things will pick up soon. I always think that July can be a good month for birding. Finding a Spoonbill last July proved that, but a bit of luck helps of course.

On last Saturday evening (3rd July), Uttoxeter Quarry held a Green Sandpiper, 8 Common Sandpiper, 4 Curlew, 4 Oystercatcher. With hardly water left in the main gravel pit, there's currently some nice areas of mud. But without any rain soon, how long will that last?

Then on the Sunday, it was looking similar at Blithfield. Well not that similar, it would take one heck of a drought to dry the reservoir up. But certainly looking lower at the end of Blithe Bay here:


Notable totals here included 27 Little Ringed Plovers, 8 Common Sandpipers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 3 Wigeon, 6 or so Common Terns. And that's your lot for now.

Self Preservation Society

Oh, out of the World Cup but deservedly so. Don't see any point in pointing the finger at the players or manager, but just a sad reflection on the state of our "wonderful" English Premier League.

Anyway. Yesterday I was itching to get out and do some birding. On the whole it's all a bit quiet at the moment, but there were the seven Avocets at Branston Gravel Pits to have a look at. Three of them being juveniles.



It's interesting to know where they may have come from. Logic would dictate that they're from Upton Warren in Worcestershire. A well-known site for a few pairs of Avocets these days, where they appear to have left early due to disturbance by foxes. You might say a bit of self preservation society for these Avocets.

But if they are from elsewhere. One thought I have is that there are so many inaccessible gravel workings all along the Trent valley, heading into Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It would be easy for them to go un-noticed.

Three Shirts on My Line

I've had a day off today. I booked it months ago for the England v Slovenia game. I had wondered for the last few days whether it was worth bothering, but we've won, hurrah. Bring on the second round.

I did check Uttoxeter Quarry this morning. In addition to all the usual suspects, the main highlight was a Black-tailed Godwit, which has been around for a few days now. Also lots and lots of pollen, so I didn't stay all that long.

As for the blog title. Well, I was most saddened to hear of the passing of the "Bard of Timperley" and all-round musical genius, Frank Sidebottom.

Don't know what Little Frank is going to do now. Frank did have a World Cup song going, called "Three Shirts on My Line". This clip, found on Youtube, appears to be Frank's last ever performance.

It's a completely original song, doesn't remind me of anything I've heard before. Especially the line "It's gone next door, it's gone next door, me football, me football's gone next door". But anyway, as England are through to the knockout stage, let's do it for Frank. You know we should, we really should.

Thank you.

Vuvuzelas!

Just a bit of fun. Here at Powell Towers I'm suffering from two fevers. Hay Fever and World Cup Fever! I will get over to Uttoxeter Quarry at some point, but birding may be a little limited for a bit.

One of my highlights of the World Cup so far, apart from the sound of the Vuvuzelas of course (I'd rather listen to them than some of the foul-mouthed chants you get in football grounds here!), was the alternative commentary provided by Chris Moyles, during the New Zealand v Slovakia game. Usually I find Chris Moyles an annoying git, but I actually quite enjoyed this. Some highlights can be seen here, complete with theme tunes, jingles and not knowing the player's names.

A Welcome in the Hillside

Sunday 13th June, Blorenge, Gwent, 8:15 - 10:00.

If a twitchable bird looks like being a long-stayer, then I don't mind biding my time for a bit, to let the masses past first. The Brown Shrike in Staines was a little extreme for that though, I did leave it for nearly two months!

I wasn't going leave the Marmora's Warbler that long of course. I did want to go yesterday, but I've had a bit of a sore foot the last few days. Just a bit of ligament damage but not easy to walk on. As a result I've been on the phone to Fabio Capello to give him the bad news. My trusted left peg would be of no use at the moment!

After a Saturday of ice packs, anti-inflammatory pills and watching the World Cup, my foot wasn't too bad by the Sunday morning. So it was off in the car into deepest Wales. To Blorenge, a few miles away from Abergavenny.

After parking up and a short walk down the hill to the Marmora's Warbler's territory, the bird was showing well straight away. During the course of my visit, it was continually flying onto various bushes to sing, never really staying very long. Everyone was treated to quite a few display flights, and the bird was also seen carrying nest material into a gorse bush. Good luck with that!




But what a lovely spot the Marmora's Warbler has chosen as a territory, although it is way off course, but I would imagine habitat not unlike, from it's usual Mediterranean islands. Plenty of other birdlife on the hill side as well including Whinchat, Wheatear, Stonechat, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo and loads of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks.

With mission accomplished, back in the car and off home to more of the World Cup. In fact, the car park at the top of the hill, with the masts and a warbler from the Med, kind've reminded me of the Foia mountain in Portugal. I did have a quick look around the masts for a few Rock Buntings, but there was no sign.