Tri-county Birding- Seabirds and Gulls

17/01/14

With the days slowly getting longer, the opportunity for some late night gull watching in the roost at Bartley comes into play, and after suffering the horrendous traffic from Dudley to Bartley Green we arrived with about 15 minutes before darkness.

Luckily, a selection of locals were already present, and after getting out of the car i was quickly ushered by Terry onto a stunning 1st winter CASPIAN GULL, which really was a looker of a bird.

 

Even in the low light, it stood out like a sore thumb, so much so that after leaving Terrys scope and setting up my own, i was on it within a few seconds! Luckily, it was in with the closest mass of Gulls, with most having landed near the dam end.

Unfortunately, i failed to pick out the Iceland, but the light had all but gone by that time.

 

18/01/14

Having dipped the Velvet Scoter earlier in the week, i was somewhat relieved to hear that it had been refound! This time in adjacent Shropshire! So with the morning tasks done, we took the relatively short journey up to Telford.

Luckily, again, a few familiar faces were present and on site at the time, and they relieved me by saying the bird was still showing.

Pulling into the layby at Priorslee Lake revealed a nice group of mostly local birders, all of whom had come to admire this seaduck!

Soon after, i was watching the female VELVET SCOTER as it swam around with the flock of Tufted Duck, Pochard and Coot really close in to the dam! It was great to be able to study this unusual seaduck so closely, as most Scoter are usually miles away sitting on the sea. It was quite surreal to see a duck, so closely tied to the sea swimming around and happily feeding with a flock of Tufted Duck just about as far from the sea as you can get! 

What made the visit even better though was the presence of 3 GREATER SCAUP (1w drake and 2 females) which were similarly swimming around and roosting with the Tufted's at close range!

 

 

Priorslee is also famed for its Gulls, and it wasn't long before a YELLOW-LEGGED GULL joined the flock briefly before it was flushed by a Sparrowhawk and flew north with the majority of the Gulls.

 

With a dark cloud now approaching, we decided to bite the bullet and blast along the A5 towards Cannock, were more avian treats awaited us.

 

Gailey Reservoirs was the next destination, despite no news having emerged from the site, so we were 'going in blind'. Once parked and scanning, we quickly located the GREAT-NORTHERN DIVER, which was showing well on the sailing pool. It was while watching this though that i turned and scanned the edges of the fishing pool, were i was struck by a white 'object' in the reedbed adjacent to a flock of Grey Herons. A few seconds later, and the head and neck of a GREAT WHITE EGRET emerged from the reeds, showing off its bright yellow bill. It was while trying to get the attention of some nearby birders though that i saw the bird jump out of the reeds, and then very quickly fly off along the shore, and then over the treeline heading south.

As if the Egret had sensed danger, this was quickly followed the by arrival of the local hunting 'party' (Feel free to change the word 'party with a word of personal preference). Needless to say, once they started going 'gun ho' on anything that flew by, i vacated the site in disgust at how such vile people can live in a so called 'civilised world'. It was somewhat heart wrenching to see a female Goldeneye flying for its life followed by a barrage of gunfire, and more so to see an unidentified duck fall out of the sky having had its body plastered in shotgun shot.

 

With the light now dropping, a brief drop into Engine lane, Brownhills was rewarded with very good views of the GLOSSY IBIS as it fed in the now very saturated 2nd paddock. After a brief time watching, the streams of Gulls passing over our heads became obvious, and it was time for the pilgrimage to Chasewater,

As if just to show the amount of luck i have had for the day, everything about the Gull roost was perfect. Due to the strong southerly winds, a large proportion of the gulls seemed to be using the south shore as cover, and were very close in for roost standards. Having just placed my scope down on the south shore, i panned onto my main targets. A stunning juvenile GLAUCOUS GULL! As it was still 'early' in the roost, and with the bird being very close in, i took the opportunity to get some pictures and video as it sat on the water!

 

Having been joined by a few extra gullers, we were soon grilling the flocks, and being in the prime position we were able to pick out 3 CASPIAN GULLS (The 2 regular adults and a 3w bird), which was also a huge surprise, as i have never had more than singles in the roost before. As if to complete the set, we also picked up 2 YELLOW-LEGGED GULL, ending what was probably the best possibly days birding in the midlands for the time of year!

MB

Twitching with the Next Gen Birder's + Some days in between.

8/12/13

Having being part of the Next Generation Birders since its foundation last year has come with many bonuses, meeting like minded folk of a similar interest from around the country, nearby and also good dose's of banter, humor and information!

In fact, i have been part of it since before its foundation having also been part of the group since it's precursor 'Young Birders' which remained an outside public view group of young birders for its duration.

Back in early December, i received a message from two of the members of the group who were going up for the drake Baikal Teal near Southport and wondered if i wanted to join them. After a little planning i agreed, as the bird looked a good candidate for a wild bird.

So at an early hour in the morning, the 3 of us, Sean from Portland (our driver) and Espen from Hereford set the sat-nav for Marshside!

A few hours later, we found ourselves scanning thousands of Wigeon and Teal moving up the 'coast road' adjacent to the estuary looking over towards Blackpool tower. Pink-Footed Goose were flying around and calling everywhere, but our main focus was admittedly on the ducks. We located a since drake Pintail on the saltmarsh side of the road but our main target eluded us and negative news was emerging.

Oh no!

We walked a fair distance along the road until we saw the twitch on the seawall. From here there was lots of activity, hundreds of Golden Plover, Lapwing, Wigeon and Teal, with smaller numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and a single male Ruff.

In the distance i picked up a GREAT-WHITE EGRET, but when i say distant, i mean distant, but its yellow bill made it stand out quite well.

The crowd on the sea wall was becoming restless. Only 1 person had claimed the bird and that was a lot earlier. At this point it was somewhat surprising to see my two recent stalkers, Martyn (Now back into the Blogging scene) and Kay who had apparently 'missed' their turning for Cannock Chase and  turned up at Southport! Bit of an overshoot there!

Having been battered by rather heavy winds for only around 10 minutes, Martyn came up to me and proclaimed it had just been pagered as being seen on Marshside, where we had just walked from!

A mass exodus occurred as the scrum walked, jogged and ran back to Marshside.

A seemingly long walk had us arriving at as relatively small gathering of Twitchers scanning a flock of Wigeon (One of the flocks that were too distant from our earlier point of view) and were quickly guided onto the bird, which proved a little difficult to pick up at first glance, but soon, everyone settled down to enjoy this stunning Siberian duck.

No doubt absolutely shattered from its long flight, the bird spent all but around 20 seconds of the time we were watching it asleep. Drake BAIKAL TEAL must surely be one of the best looking of the worlds wildfowl, with that stunning black, green and yellow  head pattern and those stunning drooping orange back feathers.

After our fill, we bode farewell, but it would have been a shame to have not gotten a crowd shot, so we did.

15/12/13

A true failure of a twitch down to Severn Beach, the Desert Wheatear had left overnight, and a distant, flying silhouetted, no calling view of 3 Finches flying from the Saltmarsh were about as close as we got to the Twites, but there is no way i would claim them on that sort of view. A pair of Stonechats were about the only things about.

21/12/13

News of a GREAT-GREY SHRIKE emerged from Hopwood, and we duly headed over there, to get distant views of it perched in the field behind the first field from the road. Not at all good views, but my first in county Shrike so worth the effort for one of these wintertime specialties.

From here we did the roost at Bartley, which was very quiet, with no rare gulls despite a fairly large roost. The 2 long staying SCAUP (1W Drk + Fem) were compensation though for the freezing fingers and the dog crap on my Converse.

22/12/13

The next day we, (that being a selection of the Next Gen Birders) had planned to head up to the Mynd, but having returned from my birding foray the previous day the day plan changed somewhat! 

Yorkshire was the destination. Why? One of the very elite of Gulls. One of that band of 'ultra' Gulls which stand head and shoulders above the rest. Most of which live in the far north.

A band of Gull's so sexy that only the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis rival them. Yes folks! Really. That good!

So, having being picked up by James and Espen we headed over to the home of Matt, the voted chairman of  the NGB's and then set on our way to Patrington!

A big set back on the way up followed, when news came though that the bird WAS NOT present....

Errm, really not good!

However we failed to let our driver know in fear of turning back so we plowed on Patrington bound!

Just before Humber came into view a quick check of RBA revealed the bird to have been found somewhere near Spurn Point, no doubt feeding on one of the many Seal carcasses that would have been washed ashore following the Tidal Surge that destroyed the Eastern coastline.

Soon after it flew off westwards and arrived for the waiting crowds at Patrington.

We were soon parked and the walking began.

 Walking out to the water building and then overlooking the Humber we were led onto a bright white IVORY GULL sitting on the rocks! Awesome! Sadly, with the freezing and strong winds we struggled to see much more than just a completely white Gull as it sat preening on the rocks.

I must say though, i became distracted by the many thousands of waders that were present out on the mudflats! Being bad at estimating numbers i generally underestimate, so 100 Oystercatcher, 50 Grey Plover, 1000 Golden Plover, 1000 Knot, 1000 Dunlin, 300 Redshank, 40 Bar-Tailed Godwit and single figure numbers of Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Black-Tailed Godwit represent absolute minimums among a decent number of Lapwings!

Despite the IVORY GULL being stubborn, the crowd refused to  leave, and once everyone had passed the threshold of freezing (like the point when you would be seriously be considering a trip to the hospital for treatment of Hypothermia or missing body parts!) most took shelter behind the buildings.

It took a long time, but when it did everything came clear, and the IVORY GULL flew towards us, and the crowd fell silent. The bird just seemed to hang in the air above us for an age, seemingly in no rush to do anything. It teased us to a few low flypasts, but refused to land until the 4th circuit.

But when it did, it was straight onto a nice piece of rotting Mackerel.

Yummy!

After around 10 minutes feeding, and not doubt stinking of rotting fish, the Ivory Gull decided to reinstate its sexy status, and after a good drink, Off it flew back out to preen and wash on the Estuary. 

(Nearly done now folks, stick with it a little longer)

27/12/13

I dropped into Eyemore in an attempt to find a rare Worcestershire Crossbill, which failed quite miserably, with not even a Common Crossbill seen. So it was down onto Trimpley, where 12 Mandarin, 8 Goosander, 8 Tufted Duck and a Peregrine flew over.

28/12/13

Despite my failure the previous day, i quickly found the 3 TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL'S around Postemplain, which were calling occasionally and were seen in flight, but proving very elusive!

The Common Crossbills in the area though were showing well!

31/12/13

The last day of the year was taken up with a twitch for the Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll on the other side of Stourport. Sadly, i arrived about 30 Minutes to late, and following a 6 hour search i didn't see it. 5 MEALY REDPOLL were nice compensation, particularly a strikingly pale bird! Around 50 Lesser Redpoll were around, and a Yellowhammer and a Brambling were also seen.

And that was it folks! The end of 2013!

Next post will be my summary of 2013, so it will be a few days before it will be completed!

MB

Post holiday birding

1/06/13

Well, it must be said that the birding started immediately upon our arrival back in Worcestershire. News came through of a GREAT-WHITE EGRET at Upton Warren, so, after a few hours rest, and with continued presence of the bird we decided to go for it, having dipped the last Upton GWE in spectacular fashion.

Arriving at the Sailing Pool, we were informed that the bird was still present, but could be elusive tucked up in the corner of the 3rd flash.

To cut a long story short, we eventually saw the bird as it emerged fully from the reeds, but was always obscured by the bank between the two flashes, but we had decent views of the bird.

The reason for the bird being so elusive? Every second it was in the open it was mobbed by breeding BHG, and it was harassed until it moved back into cover.

A 'Great' grip back!

7/06/13

Heading out onto patch was fairly rewarding. My own personal highlight being a family party of Willow Warbler, which were found being fed by its parent's, calling loudly. In total, the 2 parents were feeding 6 young, by the looks of it, very recently out of the nest!

With the ongoing northwards shift in Willow Warblers range, it makes occurrences like this more and more unusual.

A single Mandarin was found on the river, and the 2 Lapwings continued to frequent the quarry.

8/06/13

A quick drop into Upton Warren again.

The reason?

A stunning 1st winter LITTLE GULL had been found, and we enjoyed good flight views of this minute Gull from the West side, where it was hawking over the pool for insects. I have a particular fondness towards that black 'W' pattern on its upperwing, and i always find it a pleasure to have a study of this maritine Gulls plumage, always having ever so slight differences between individuals.

Later the same day, at the Gardening job in Earlswood, we heard a Cuckoo singing from the Garden, which proved a nice distraction from the somewhat tedious work, but it was only when leaving did i pick up the best bird. While driving near Earlswood train station, a stunning RED KITE flew over the road, and we stopped and watched the bird as it slowly circled higher and higher until eventually being lost to view.

I find it somewhat humorous, that every year for the last 5 years, i have seen a Red kite back in the midlands the weekend after returning from our Welsh holiday, maybe they just follow us back?

MB

Birding the Avalon Marshes and Chew

28/04/13

What a way to finish April! With a trip down south into the stunning county of Somerset to visit the recently publicized birding hot-spot of the Avalon Marshes

Neil Duggan (@NeilDuggan80 on Twitter) had again offered the trip, and i gratefully accepted, knowing of a whole host of amazing birds present in the area at the time. Pied Billed Grebe, Black winged Stilt, Whiskered Tern, Woodchat Shrike, as well as all the residents. It'd be a good day!

Arriving at the parking spot as Ashcott Corner, nestled between two fabulous extensive reedbed reserves, one owned by the RSPB, Ham Wall, the other by the Natural England, Shapwick Heath NR we took the unanimous decision to head straight to the 2nd viewing platform on the RSPB side. The walk up was incredible, as only a few meters onto the reserve we had already clocked Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, and numerous Cetti's Warblers!

Our walk along the track was constantly, and i do mean CONSTANTLY followed by Cetti's Warblers, with easily 15 counted in the time we were on site, and that was only the Ham Wall side, they were everywhere!

A Grasshopper Warbler briefly reeling near the first Platform.

At the 2nd Platform, we were informed the Pied Billed had been heard singing a little earlier, but to cut it short, we didn't see or hear it throughout our visit, which was a huge shame.

But then again, there were loads of amazing birds.

3 Marsh Harrier were hunting the reedbeds, one of which was a stunning male. But here is one of the females.

Initially, we could only pick up 1 GARGANEY, but as time went on, it became apparent that there was infact 4! All of which were drakes, and all looking absolutely stunning! Even despite the distance, i managed a couple of shots which i am happy with.

After a bit, someone called out they had two 'pale' Sandpipers, and upon getting onto them confirmed that 2 WOOD SANDPIPERS were hunting the margins. The distance was around the same to that of the Garganey's, but with a Sandpiper, it was a fair bit harder to get a picture, but i tried, and i got a few in which you can tell is a Wood Sandpiper, you just have to trust me.

Do you see it?

As can be seen with the direction the scope is facing, every decent bird was tucked up in the far right hand corner, exactly where the Stilts had been the previous day, but had now departed.

At least 4 BITTERN were around, 2 of which were seen. One of those flypasts gave stunning views for around 30 seconds as it flew the entire length of the pool. However, the true birder i am, i chose to savor the moment rather than grab the camera. So here is the distant bird:

Added to this, an amazing supporting cast was present. 5 Little Egret flew through, as did single Ringed Plover and Dunlin. A male Yellow Wagtail was on the islands and another Cuckoo was heard calling.

Conscious of the time, we headed back to the car, stopping at the 1st Platform again as a giant white bird was sitting there!

GREAT EGRET!

This was one of our targets, so was great to see up so close, its green lores and black bill contrasting to the plain yellow of the Grimley bird.

The bird strode around in the shallows while i took some footage. But again, we had to move on.

A very last minute decision to head onto Shapwick heath to check the first pool was rewarded almost immidiatly with another stunning flight view of a Bittern, of which again, there were at least 4 birds. The others 'booming' from within the reeds. 2 WOOD SANDPIPER were present on the mud as we arrived, much closer than the Ham Wall birds, so the scope went up immidiatly  but once up, i aimed the scope, and there was nothing. A few seconds later i was informed they had flown...

A female Garganey was picked out among the ducks. Wader wise, 62 Blackwits were stunning to see and a lone Dunlin.A Little Egret was also hunting the shoreline.

We had received news that the Woodchat Shrike was showing again near Chew Valley Lake, so we decided to drop in there before Neil had to head back to his sons Cricket match.

Pulling up, we walked to the crowd, and what i did not expect to see was a WOODCHAT SHRIKE perched up on the hedgeline just on the other side of the fence, a mere 30ft away! Initially obscured, the bird emerged in full view, and gave absolutely unbelievable views as it dropped down onto the gate to feed. Is there anything to say other than Wow!

We had literally scope filling views as the bird perched on the hedge, occasionally dropping down to the floor (which was even closer than the hedge) to feed.

With our out and out highlight of the day seen, we decided to head back, where i was dropped of at Upton Warren to have a quick look there before i headed home. The flashes was quite bar the usual, so i headed to the Moors, which had 2 Dunlin and a Green Sandpiper. Not too much longer after the Dunlins flew out north. Vismig!

All in all, a total day tally of 98 Species, so close to breaking the 100 barrier!

An awesome days birding, despite bad behavior of the 'rares' that didn't cooperate!

MB

GREAT-WHITE EGRET!

4/08/12
Grimley is one of those locations that i dont usually go to. I cant explain why, i just always seem to choose somewhere else. However, recent landscaping work in the area has resulted in some great birds! The last time i had visited here was when the Grey Plover and Red Crested Pochards were here, and i was left suitably impressed by the work undertaken!

Grimley now, seemingly, has became one of the 'big boy' sites in worcestershire, and is seriously contending with other 'up there' locations.

And it pulled yet another great bird out of the bag when a birder located a stunning GREAT-WHITE EGRET at the Camp lane pits. Unfortunatly, i was unable to go straight over, as i was staying at my girlfriends at the time, but, luckily, the bird remained in the area, and on 4th, i was able to go there after the gardening job to visit this awsome looking habitat.
We parked at the north end, and i hadent even crossed the road when i saw our target, as a huge, 'Big white bird' was standing sentinal over a small area of shore at the north end.
Over the next hour, we were treated to absolutly stunning views of this county rarity as it hunted small fish in the shallow water. Poor light and drizzle didnt help when trying to get photos and videos, but anyway: You know me, i tried!

My only previous bird was a extremly distant bird on an estury in Pembrokeshire, which, after calculating the distance on maps, was shown to be a mile away! So it was great to be able to see one of these birds up close was a great treat. However, for a bird as distinctive in every way as a Great Egret, it didnt help any ID lessons, however, it was great to watch this bird up close.

Eventually however, the GREAT EGRET was flushed by a Mallard (Of all things!!) and flew to the infamous 'Flooded middle section' which has help so many of Grimleys recent rarities, and i manadged to get some pics in flight, and distant 'with habitat' pics.

Something gives me the idea, that Grimley could be visited alot more regularly in the future. And a message to all readers, watch the news for this site, because this place is going to strike BIG!
MB