Saturday 25 September 2010

2 days out






Two Days birdwatching started at South Stack Anglesey in a force 7 with me realising I'd forgot my flask of coffee!
However, Chough was a year tick and Med Gull was found at Trearddur Bay by yours truly.
A quick viewing of the ferry terminal for Black Guillemot proved fruitless, possibly the wrong time of year,But nice to know the locale.
Penhros and Cemlyn were just as windy, with Bar tailed Godwit being the only year tick.
The Great Orm was next in search of Lapland Bunting and after I took everyone to the wrong place the godfather of Sargent birding(my Dad)eventually got us to the right area.There was no sign of the Buntings, we later found we were 200m shy of seven of the beasties,But Manx shearwater was a year tick for some of the party and I found a nice specimen of lycoperdon perlatum AKA the common puffball.
A quick chat with a fellow birder saw us heading to Conwy RSPB to bag a lifer for me in the form of a Grey Phalarope.Also present was a little Stint and 3 Red Breasted Mergansers.
Must say I was very impressed with the site at Conwy and look forward to the same at Middleton lakes if it ever opens!
A blast down the A55 saw us on the Wirral at Neston looking for the Whiskered Tern to no avail,But a distant/possible Spoonbill and Black Tern were some reward.
After arguing with my the satnav we finally got my brothers hotel in Blackpool.
Great to see "our kid" and many thanks to him for putting us up at one of his busiest times of the year.
A quick note to my other brother, there is no such thing as a deliberate foul in Pool!
After a great breakfast the decision was made to head to Pennington flash to look for the Red necked Grebe.
There had been no sighting of the target bird, but a Black necked Grebe was a nice bonus.
The decision then had to be made, where to go next? There wasn't a lot about up here and a report of a Pectoral Sand piper at Upton Warren proved to tempting.
So down the M6, onto the M5 and there you are just like that!
Well not just like that, you need an indefatigable,built-in satnav driver to do that, and luckily enough my brothers just that and without him I wouldn't have seen half the birds I have.Thanks Mark.
The "pec" was seen at Upton and a few photos taken, but poor hide etiquette, don't you just hate it when you let someone into a crowded hide and then they stand in front of you,forced me to leave.
A great couple of days and it looks like we might be doing it again Monday!

Monday 20 September 2010

More of the same



More of the same from Kingsbury Water Park, with another Immature Black Tern seen today along with 3 Greenshank, a Ruff and 8 Little Egrets.
a Garden warbler was also heard along the path to the hides.
Duck numbers are also increasing with many Shoveler, Teal & Gadwall starting to moult from their eclipse plumage.
On a negative note, the Cormorant with red ring "JW" has not been seen yet and fears are growing for his safety.
This bird has been regular in the Tame Valley for the last two years and I'd hate to think it has set up home elsewhere.If anyone does see this bird, could they let me know or record the fact in the bird log at Cliff Pool.

Monday 13 September 2010

Honey buzzard over Cliff pool




Had a cracking flyover today in the form of a Honey Buzzard, which showed for about 2 minutes while drifting in from the East.
The bird had a much smaller head, very flat profile in flight, a much slower flap rate and a barred tail.
Also present were 7 Little Egret and singles of Ruff and Greenshank.

Another nice, if common mushroom found was Aminita Muscaria or the fly agaric and a giant puffball was found decapitated by some body's foot.
Why anyone would want to do this is beyond me as it isn't even poisionous!

Sunday 12 September 2010

What a difference a day makes





Spotted a lovely specimen of Aminita Rubescens and took a couple of snaps with a gap of 24 hours.This was in plain view and was lucky enough to avoid the feet of of over zealous parents and kids.
Also added another distant snap of the 2 Imm Black Terns from Cliff Pool and of the Black swan that has appeared on Canal Pool.
With the kids now back at school and the weather forecast looking quite good, lets hope the water levels carry on dropping and we get some of the quality wader that are passing through the area.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

A surprise Tern



I got up yesterday morning at 02:00am for work, only to find a text message from TVB that 2 Ruff had been reported on Cliff pool last night.
Got straight up there after work to find that the water levels had risen again, forcing all but a greenshank to vacate the area.
This disappointment was soon forgotten when I pick up a distant Tern.
Grayish in colour, small black cap, skimming and swooping over the water, it was a juvenile Black Tern!
After the poor passage of Black Terns this spring it was great to see one and on my patch.
The bird wouldn't settle, so you have some very distant shots taken with a plain old digital camera.
A couple of Pochard on Broomey Croft looked like new arrivals and a sign of things to come.

Monday 6 September 2010

Finally




Finally after the summer doldrums things are finally starting to move through.
2 Greenshank and 2 Ringed Plover at the end of last week at North pit were followed by a single Greenshank on my patch, Cliff Pool at Kingsbury Water Park for those of you who haven't been paying attention.
Also present were a single Little Egret and a Juvenile Yellow wagtail.
Talking of Juveniles the updates should be more frequent now that my son is back at college and I can access the PC!
The other 2 photos are of a Common Darter and the Canada/Greylag goose hybrid.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Hols






Just got back from a fortnights holiday in Dorset where the change of scenery was both refreshing and challenging.
Being based in Weymouth I was only a brisk walk from both Radipole & Lodmoor where wader passage seemed well under way.Dunlin,Black tailed Godwit,Greenshank and Wood Sandpiper were all "bagged" in the first week.
The second week produceed a tricky calidris that was first thuoght to be a Litle Stint, but turned out to be a Semi-palmated Sandpiper.
Iv'e posted a couple of record shots but much better can be found courtesy of the great Martin Cade at http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/oi_semipalmated_sandpiper_050810.htm
A two hour seawatch from the end of Portland proved fruitful with Manx, Balearic and Sooty Shearwater, but a call in at Ferrybridge was scrapped due to poor weather.
It was also nice to see quite a few Med Gull of different ages and I'm 90% sure I'll be able to age any that I see in the Tame valley.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Franklins Gull at Chasewater





It was nice to finally catch up with the Franklins Gull at Chasewater after not being able to get there till Sunday and blanking then!
After about an hour watching from the south shore we were signalled by a group of birders in front of the sailing club.
Had they found the bird or were they just being friendly? well there was only to find out and that was to take a quick yomp over to the north shore.
Was nice to meet and talk to Alan Sherlock who's tales of birds past and present make the walk pass quickly.
On getting to the sailing club the bird was resting, but its eye ring was still visible.The bird was then spooked and joined a group of Juvenille lesser black backs on land and then on the water.
The bird itself was not as dark on the back as I thought it would be and on the water it appeared very long winged.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

More Grey Plover





Just a few slightly better shots of the Grey Plover.
Not sure this bird is going to be stopping, as with all the rain we have had lately the water levels in the Tame Valley rise rapidly, which usually move any waders present on.

Sunday 6 June 2010

Grey Plover at Cliff Pool




With Fridays Grey Plover not being reported yesterday it was rather a plesant surprise to find the bird still present today.
After the poor passage this spring it's nice to know that there is still the chance of the odd rarity popping up.
Not a lot else though just 4 Common Terns, 2 Oystercatcher and 2 Shelduck plus all the usual suspects.The Lapwing flock has also incresaed in size to over 50 birds.

Monday 31 May 2010

Twitch - Purple Heron



Got the chance over the weekend to go to Dungeness and try for the Purple Herons.
Set off at the ungodly hour of half two, with my Father, Brother and friend john, with the plan being to stop off for the Iberian Chiffchaff at Walderslade.
After finding the correct area at the second attempt, the Iberian Chiffchaff was found by its significantly different call, showing with five other Chiffchaffs.
From there it was onto the far side of the Denge Marshes where we spent half hour looking out over the marshes for any sign of the herons.
After blanking there we went onto Dungeness RSPB where after about an hours wait the heron exited the reed bed and flew across the reserve. Unfortunately my brother and father had gone back to the car but luckily enough as they returned to the hide the heron flew back across the reeds giving good flight views for all.
After navigating around the M25 and a quick stop at Magna Carta Lane for the Parakeets we decided to finish they day at Wilnstone Reservoir to try for the Red Footed Falcon that had been reported.
On arrival the bird was flying over the reservoir with four Hobby's for company, the bird was quite easy to pick out though.
The rain then started to come down heavily so we decided to call it a day.
All of the significant birds seen on this trip were in the air for most of the time so digiscoping was impractical so there is only a very distant shot of the Purple heron and what looks like the Common Tern gymnastic team.

Friday 28 May 2010

Barren patch





After the Grey Plover & Temmincks Stints at Coleshill,I was hopeful that a few waders might have dropped in on Cliff Pool over the last couple of weeks.
However, there has been nothing, nowt, nada, zero, zip, bugger all out of the ordinary apart from a couple of reports of a pink footed goose and a Bean Goose.
Probably a case of miss identification but you never know.
An Oystercatcher appears to be sitting on eggs on the horseshoe island and most of the other resident species have got young, apart from Great Crested Grebe.
Took a couple of snaps of damselfly's, which I think are common blue and blue tailed.
I'm sure my brother will put me right...IF I'm wrong.

Thursday 13 May 2010

Temminck's Stint at Coleshill gravel pit




Having awoke this morning at 01:30 for work, yes I do really have to get up that early, I found that I had a message informing me that there were 3 Temminck's Stints at Coleshill gravel pit.
Having never been there before I did a quick search on Google earth, checked the local forums for info and then found directions on Tame Valley Birding.
Well the day at work really dragged on and I eventually finished at about half one and shot straight over to the pits.
A couple of departing birders told me where to go and within minutes I was scanning the pit.
Having been told they were over there a minute ago, it took me about 5 minutes to locate 2 birds in a different area.
The birds were feeding happily, but being harassed by Little Ringed Plovers.
After about an hour one of the birds departed leaving only a solitary bird for anyone trying later in the afternoon.

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Mini twitch - Clayhanger marsh Hoopoe




Having missed the Walsall bird of a couple of years ago and never having seen one i decided to twitch the bird that has been resident at Clayhanger marsh for the past couple of days.
The excellent directions on the Clayhanger marsh blog lead me straight to the site only to be told the dreaded "it was just there five minutes ago".
After half hour of searching many watcher departed leaving me with four other die hard or maybe just desperate birders.
After a slow walk up toward "the slagheap" I spotted the bird half way up the heap feeding.The bird then showed intermittently for about an hour before being scared by two trail bikes riding along the old railway.
If you have never visited this site it is well worth it.
Also many thanks to Chas of http://clayhangermarshlog.blogspot.com/ for his excellent directions and for making the bird known to the masses.

Wednesday 28 April 2010

One good Tern deserves another




OK, I can hear the groans from here and I know it must have been used a thousand times, But I couldn't think of anything else.

After terning in for work at 04:00 ,(see what I did there),and being told my holiday for today had been granted I was up and about as the sun came up.
Decided to call into Broomey Croft and check Cliff Pool and after a quick initial scan almost fell off the hide seat when I saw a Sandwich Tern sitting on the furthest spit.
Managed to grab a few record shots that are blurred enough to be called Martin Yapp old stylie.
The bird took flight towards Shustoke after only a couple of minutes of viewing being harried by the ever present Black headed Gulls.Also present were 4 Common Terns and also nice to see was a Kingfisher that has been missing since the cold snap.
From there I nipped over the M42 to see if the Sandwich Tern had dropped onto Bodymoor or Hemlingford Water but there was no sign of it.
There was however 8+ Common Terns on Bodymoor.

Thursday 22 April 2010

All quiet on Cliff pool




The good weather has seen most migrating birds pass straight over the Tame valley.
On Cliff pool there was a Green Sandpiper, no excuses for the photo as it was at very long range, along with a single Common sandpiper.
I also tried to get a better photo of the Grasshopper Warbler and sat for over an hour being eaten by midges for the bird to only show briefly and then only from the front.
The weather helped, as did the amount of butterflies being seen with Small tortoiseshell, Brimstone,Orangetip,Peacock and Comma all making an appearance.

Birds are passing through so I really think its time for a good bird, wasn't it about this time last year we had the Cattle Egret at Middleton?