Slimbridge

Slimbridge WWT. Despite the high plastic and dude content, I was keen to visit the 'proper birding' areas of this well-situated reserve once again and bag a few more year ticks. Beating a path through unruly hoards of over-friendly Hawaiian Geese, I was keen to get to the South Lake to look for the female Ring-necked Duck that had turned up the previous evening.

I was pleased to spot this little beauty with relative ease, as she swam alongside the Tuftys. The first time I have seen a female of this species and, much more interestingly, it was here at Slimbridge where the first of this species for the Western Palearctic was found in March 1955 by Lady Scott.

Excellent binocular views were had, although she didn't come close enough to my camera for any more than a record shot...

The views of other wildfowl were excellent here, with many of our common ducks such as Gadwall, Pochard, Shoveler and Teal very close in. The light was very good, so I decided to give my camera an airing as well as my year list.

Moving on to the Rushy, there were many Pintail and a few Bewicks Swans and Shelduck behind the screens, as well as c100 Pochard. Out on the Tack Piece, further herds of Bewick's Swans, European White-fronted Geese, a solitary Curlew, flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover, a small party of 8 Ruff and also 3 Buzzards.

Holden Tower next. The very high tide of this morning had retreated and most of the birds were very distant by now, however further year ticks such as Dunlin and Barnacle Goose (yes, M.Y.!) were added. The gulls were simply to far out to look for rarer ones with LBBG, GBBG and Herring Gull noted.

You couldn't avoid the extremely over-fed and lazy Wood Pigeons that were hanging around the plastic enclosures, they would scarcely bother to fly off as you passed them and one had even set up shop in the Zeiss hide. I spent quite a bit of time in the South Finger Hides later in the afternoon, waiting to see if one of the 3 Bitterns present on the reserve would show. None did, however I did spot a Water Rail and a Cetti's Warbler in the reedbed as a couple of foxes lurked nearby. A Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeder at the River Hide.

The big Starling roosts apparently finished a few days ago and although I missed out on this spectacle I was pleased with my 12 year ticks and photos of some birds new to my camera. I'll leave you now with a few Pintails...

Oh and the Dude Comment of the Day Award goes to the bloke I passed on a path who said 'I thought that was a parrot on your shoulder' (referring to my scope, of course). Stick to the Flamingos mate!

Warwickshire Birding Blog

Steve Seal's Warwickshire Birding blog has been relaunched. Myself and a few others will be helping keep the blog updated daily.

You can now submit sightings by email to Warwickshire Birding at warksbirds@hotmail.co.uk

Warkwickshire Birding is also now on twitter. Follow us here: http://twitter.com/WarksBirds you can also tweet your sightings news to us on @WarksBirds

Free birding news sites are what you make them, so please support us by letting us know what's about. And don't forget Worcestershire Source, whenever you're out and about in Worcs...

Stubbers and Staffs

A day out with Martyn, the not-so Blurred Birder and Richard P. Starting at Stubber's Green at first light, our luck was in with the third-winter Caspian Gull. It isn't exactly classic Casp, but not too difficult to separate from the Herring Gulls with it's pear-shaped head, long parallel bill and black eye as well as the diagnostic primary pattern.

Caspian Gull - old school Blurred Birder stylee

Also present here were around 6 Goosander, Pochard, Redwing and a flyover Redpoll (let's assume Lesser..) as well as the expected array of Gulls. We watched for a while as numbers of the big guys rolled in, but with no Glaucous Gulls forthcoming, we decided to try our luck at Chasewater, where two had lingered the previous morning.

The visibility wasn't too great at Chasewater, but it was clear there were no Glaucs around. Richard located the drake Smew in the south-west corner, along with a small party of Goosander and a Cormorant (must be good fishing in that corner).

Smew - courtesy of the Local Birder

We were then drawn northwards by the magnetic pull of the Mighty Blithers (Blithfield Reservoir) where we spent a fair proportion of our day. The water levels were very high and we did well for ducks in Blithe and Tad Bays including a fine drake Pintail, one Shelduck, 61 Pochard, Goosander, Shoveler and plenty of Teal. A grey-backed aretha duck in Tad Bay caused at first mild excitement, followed by slight panic when it showed a peaked crown, however this was identified as a hybrid (we think probably Tufted x Pochard).

As I haven't managed to get out much yet this year, the year ticks kept coming aplenty, including this Pink-footed Geese we spotted feeding with the Greylag flock.

Pinky with the lags by Richard Powell

A Linnet flock mixed in with Chaffinch and Goldfinch also contained a few Brambling, two of which (a male and female) showed really well under the feeders shortly after. At the feeders also Marsh Tit (plus Willow Tit heard), Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Nuthatch.

Not much else to see at the deep end, apart from a flock of Fieldfare and Redwing. We soon started to get twitchy for Glaucous Gull and sped back to Chasewater for an early start at the gull roost. Worst decision of the day; c30 minutes later news of a Glauc came through from Blithers!

The roost was somewhat of a struggle with the bad light making it difficult to pick out Yellow-legged Gull from mantle colour (got one that I was reasonably happy with). Scanning up to a million BH Gull for a Med in the freezing cold was without reward and the Glaucs never showed up.

On the bright side we did see Alrewas Birder there and a Tawny Owl at an undisclosed location was a particularly pleasing year tick.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year bloggers!

I know, I've slacked off with the blogging over the latter months of 2009. Those who know me will know this is due to changes in my personal circumstances. Thanks to anyone who is still reading this and now I notice I'm somehow still attracting new followers, I should really write something.

I had another trip to Norfolk early December, neglected to blog it as in the most it was similar to previous winter trips but brief highlights were; following a very mobile but stunning Great Grey Shrike round Dersingham Bog, a lifer in the form of a Ferruginous Duck at Snettisham (poor views as it slept on the bank, but diagnostic white backside), vast flocks of Pink-footed Geese at Holkham with hunting Barn Owls and Marsh Harriers. Snow Bunting flocks were at Snet and Cley and c10 Twite at Titchwell. A total of 6 Common Cranes at Stubb Mill, Hickling although few raptors that day.

Seawatching stuff along the coast at Holkham, Cley etc included Slavionion Grebes, all 3 Diver species, Gannet and Red-breasted Mergansers. Add to that all the expected duck and wader suspects. Nice little break.

Gulls on Cley Beach during a particularly bleak seawatch session gave me a chance to get my camera out...

So what next for Brightside Birding? Ok I'm a bit stuck, a landlocked brummie without a car, but I'm making a fist of it with a modest start to 2010 exploring some new urban spaces. I've also learned of a couple of small Warks WT reserves within striking distance, which look worth a shuftie, plus I'll be making more of an effort to visit the few places I can access locally on public transport; Sutton Park, Earlswood and Upton Warren to name a few.

Brueton Park in Solihull had a healthy amount of the commoner bird species yesterday. Six Siskin, GS Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Jay, Buzzard and Kestrel were all noted fairly easily. There is a feeding station there by the cafe with Nuthatch visiting frequently, so worth a visit for local photographers and also the SSSI land looks good for butters and dragons in the summer.

Have I Got Birds For You!

Good evening and welcome to Have I Got Birds For You. Finishing off the year with a bit of fun (or a little too much time on my hands) I've devised this festive birding quiz based on the popular current affairs show with the similar name. please feel free to take part by entering your answers in the comments box, results will be published and announced on 2nd January. Good luck and Merry Xmas.


Round 1 -Tabloid Headlines Round

These are recent headlines taken from the birding press (magazines and web). All you have to do is identify what they are about. Shouldn't be difficult, three points for each correct answer.

No.1

No.2

No.3

No 4


Round 2 - Odd one out round

Which is the odd one out? One point for guessing the odd one out and a further two points if you can explain why.

No.1

a) Blue Tit

b) Long-tailed Duck

c) Black-headed Gull

d) Great Grey Shrike

No.2

a) Starling

b) badger

c) Grey Heron

d) Avocet

No.3

a) Bill Oddie

b) Ring-necked Parakeet
C) Urban Birder David Lindo

d) George Michael

No.4

a) Hooded Crow
b) Archbishop Desmond Tutu

c) Blackcap

d) Jean Paul Gaultier

Round 3 - What have we Pixalated?

Ok, this round is actually inspired from Buzzcocks. I have distorted these bird images with special effects. Two points for each correct answer.

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.5

No.6

No.7

Round 4 - Missing Words Round

Here are headlines from various birding and wildlife publications. Three points for each missing word guessed correctly and a bonus point if you can name the publication as well. This week’s obscure guest publication is the The Sun newspaper.

No.1

No.2

No.3

N0.4
No.5

No.6

No.7

N0.8

Thanks for taking part, I hope it has been fun. Also thanks to everyone who has read my blog in 2009, see you in the field sometime next year.

It's Stubbers Time!

The nights are closing in, it's getting cold and with the spectre of Christmas now looming you have to find something to keep your spirits up. What finer way to do so, than by standing by a pond in Walsall on a Saturday morning, waiting for the gulls to roll in from the tip, have a bath, before they nap on the shore. Yes, it can only be Stubber's Green.

Joking aside, I seriously love this place. For close-up views of gulls, it can't be beaten in the region. I was here again with Reg the Birder and his father Ray, particularly looking for a Caspian Gull. Following our experience here in December 08 with the controversial gull (larophobics look away now!), we were keen to see a 100% cast-iron Caspo this time.

Despite a three and a half hour grilling of the gulls, neither of the two Caspians that have been visiting in recent weeks showed up. The highlight was 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, like this one below (picture courtesy of Reg).

Yellow-legged Gull

Also present 2 Great Black Backed Gulls and a few Common Gulls, amongst the larger numbers of Herring, Lesser Black Backed and Black Headed Gulls. Lapwing flock and a Kestrel also noted.

A proposed trip to Fisher's Mill to look for Glossy Ibis was aborted, although this turned out to be the right decision, as the bird hasn't been seen since Friday evening. Finally, I was pleased to see a Buzzard flying very low over a suburban area of Shirley at about 4.00pm.

I'm still here!

Rumours of my retirement from birding are unfounded, although it's true I've been away from the field and therefore the birding blogosphere for the past month or so. I've recently returned from a short birding break in one of my favourite parts of the world, the North West Norfolk coast.

Highlights are as follows:

Cley Marshes on Saturday turned up a few goodies. A juv Curlew Sandpiper on Arnold's marsh was a year tick, a Red-throated Diver moulting from summer plumage preened close offshore and best of all, the recently discovered Spotted Crake pottered in full view yards from the Bishop Hide at dusk. My second ever sighting of this intriguing species. Knot and manky Gypo Geese provided further year ticks. Passerine activity included Bearded Tits, two Stonechats, Cetti's Warbler and Reed Warbler. Four Marsh Harriers were noted and a Barn Owl was seen that evening.

A seawatch from Holkham Gap on Sunday provided excitement when upon spotting a grebe not far out, it soon became apparent I had located a Red Necked Grebe! This has to go down as one of the best, if not my best self-found bird. Chuffed to bits, the birding gods were still smiling on me on my walk back through the pines when a Firecrest showed with the tit/crest flock. Chiffchaff also noted here. Its not Holkham without Pinkies of course, the numbers are building up nicely now for the winter.

A visit to Titchwell that afternoon and although as you can see there is much upheaval afoot as the sea defences are moved back and the main marsh is drying up a good selection of waders were still present; many Ruff, a couple of Avocets, Grey and Golden Plover, Black and Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, with Sanderling and Ringed Plover on the beach. The usual Gannets, Eider, Scoter etc offshore.

On the beach ruins this single Snow Bunting was very confiding...

And this Gannet was even more confiding...

Poor thing. At least it had a good send-off with this shell based memorial (and no that wasn't me that did that!).

A further visit to Cley on Monday and now 4 Spotted Redshanks present along with 3 Greenshank and the Curlew Sandpiper still. A ringtail Hen Harrier flushed everything on Arnold's Marsh and a Water Rail was heard squealing.

Finally Tuesday was spent around Burnham Overy and Titchwell and although it was an enjoyable day there wasn't anything new to report. My only complaint about the trip was that the winds didn't turn easterly during my trip, causing some disappointment on the rare migrant passerine front.

Butterflies and Bugs

A selection of butterflies and bugs from the last few weeks.

Painted Lady

Pellucid Hoverfly

Pellucid Hoverfly


Small Tortoiseshell


Painted Lady and Peacock


Peacock


Painted Lady

Peacock


Painted Lady