The catch up- January 2015

Yes yes, I know. Here we go again, 5 weeks without a post.

 

The usual excuses are again exercised, Uni work, and to busy with actual fieldwork to update here. So here we are, another catch up post!

It's better than nothing!

 

1/01/15

After a night partying into the new year, I found myself stumbling through the city centre early the next afternoon after waking at a friends flat. It was straight down to West Park, where I managed to grab a few 'new year' ticks. Nothing special, but highlighted by the wintering Pochard and Shoveler.

 Throughout January I was visiting West Park with regularity, so I wont be commenting on every visit, as the details from which are very monotonous and 'samey'.

 

3/01/15

 

The next birding adventure was pursuing one of my winter pastimes.

GULLS!

Bartley had an Iceland Gull visiting, so it didn't take much coercing to get my ass over there. With most of the Gulls at the west end, I moved around to view through the fence and here I met all the usual assemblage of Gullers. Nothing interesting had come in yet.

 

With the sailing boats having retreated back to dry land for the night, the gulls started drifting out, and so did most of the birders to the usual viewpoint off Scotland Lane.

A matter of minutes after, and I picked up the regular 2w Caspian Gull nice and close in. Needless to say, a few decent views (gull roost standards) were had, and soon after the guys up on Scotland lane picked it up also.

 

Again not much longer after, a return call came, the Iceland just dropped in!

We rushed around the corner, but the bird had flown. Having already set my tripod up, I chose to run the 100 or so metres to the high ground, and a little bit of scanning and BINGO!

3rd winter Iceland Gull!

Very distant, but shining like a beacon among the throng of white, grey and black.

I even managed a couple of record shots (literally!) showing the bird.



 

Iceland Gull (Red) and Mediterranean Gull (Black)

 

A Med Gull was called from near the bird, but no-one other than the finder managed to see it. That was until I reviewed my photos 2 months later and found the bird in question in a matter of 10 seconds. Ah, how easy is this Gulling lark when you don't have to contend with field conditions and  freezing shanking hands! Needless to say. I'm not counting it, but a great reminder about how birds can so easily go 'under the radar'.

 

4/01/15

Patch birding followed, which boosted the year list significantly, gathering a couple of decent patch birds in the process in the form of a Snipe and a flyover Yellowhammer. The Lapwing flock in the quarry had levelled out to 54.

 

6/01/15

With the Great-Northern Diver still being in residence at Ryders Mere, it would have been wrong to not visit right?

 

So I found myself on a muddy shoreline getting cracking views of the juvenile bird as I made my way to Chasewater for the roost. A really nice supporting cast of birds here also, which shows just how top quality this site is, particularly so being within an urban area!



Moving onto Chasewater, it actually turned into a very productive visit. Highlighted by a 2nd winter GLAUCOUS GULL which arrived quite late in the roost. White wingers have been particularly scarce in this area this winter in comparison to the last few years, so to get both within the first week of the year was good going! Add to this, 2 Caspian Gulls and 2 Yellow-Legged Gulls. A very good if very cold visit!

8/01/15

Following a session in West Park, I moved around to Parkes Hall, where a flock of 15 Goosanders (4 drk) greeted m. The Mute Swan remained (the first site record!) and a good flock of 28 Moorhen remained.

10/01/15

A little bit of dirty twitching, or actually, lets rephrase that...  I dropped into Worcester Cathedral to pay homage to the long staying, and often elusive Black Redstart. It was actually the first time I have visited the Cathedral to look for a 'Black Red', which are present most winters. I have heard tales of peope  dipping this birds regularly, but within 15 minutes, up popped the bird, quivering tail and all, out in the sun above the Stonemasons Garden. Cracking scope views were had as it flicked, flycatched and shimmied along the ledges. Always a real treat!

Having just brought a digiscoping adaptor from the Birders Store down the road, this bird was my first 'subject', and it chose to be very obliging.



(Literally the first photo I took with the new adaptor in 'field conditions;)

 

I spent all the time I possibly could with the bird before the time ran out on the parking meter, during which she preformed admirably!



 

Wanting to try out the apaptor further, we moved around the Upton Warren, where, as luck would have it, a 1st winter drake Pintail had dropped in for the day! Not a bird I see at Upton regularly, so very chuffed with that stroke of luck! A Little Egret was also still around.



 

I tried my luck with birds on the feeders, and this stunning mossy male Greenfinch probably turned out the best.



 

11/01/15

Another day, another visit to the mecca (Upton Warren that is). The first work party of the year, and with the allure of Jack Snipe, who could resist. Prior to work, we undertook the usual Snipe count/flush, which proved very productive, with 15 Jack Snipe, and 40+ Commons!

Now before I get rolling eyes and 'that look', it must be said that these counts are an intrinsic part of our management regime, and without them, we would never know if the habitat management is working. And as anyone can see from these results, it really is!

Birding was limited throughout the work party, but a Great-Black backed Gull flew over, a very scarce yearly visitor to the Warren, so a great tick to get under the belt so early.

The usual after work birding party moved to the Moors to finish the day, where our luck was in! At very last light, a BITTERN clambered its way to the tops of the reeds. Having had a Bittern found dead only a few days before we were very relieved to still have a bird on site. Infact, it was my first at the Warren in almost 2 years! A great way to end what is always an enjoyable, if hard day!

12/01/15

Another visit to West Park called, and I finally connected with the 2 Ring-necked Parakeets that had been hanging around for a while. Somehow they had managed to elude me for two weeks, but eventually nice views were had of them sqwarking on the island.

Moving onto Stubbers Green, it was very uneventful bird wise, so the less I talk the better. Hitching a ride with a friend and his companion, we then moved around to Ryders Mere, where I took a 3rd helping of Great-northern Diver. Still present and accounted for...



 

Having just arrived, we walked to the nearest birder, who informed us that he thought he had a Caspian Gull. Guiding me onto the bird and I was faced by an absolute cracker of an adult bird! A real classic. 'Daz white' head, small beady eye, long parallel edged bill and best of all, a huge dollop of white of p10, with that classic white tip. Stunner!

 

Our main target though had been eluding us, so with only 5 or so minutes of usable light remaining, we rushed around for another viewpoint on the western shoreline.

Plonking the scope down, 3 seconds worth of scanning....

"GLAUC"

Everyone was on the bird, but the reason I had came up again was to get some video. (It had been showing well for a number of days). Unfortunately it wasn't too close, and annoyingly, wherever it had been foraging it had picked up some dirt on one of its right primarys, and given how dark it was, this was only exaggerated. Not the footage I had hoped, but it gives me something to improve on!

 

16/01/15

Visited Chasewater again in the hope of finding the two headlining Gulls for Mike. Unfortunatly the Glauc was a no show, but Mike picked up the adult Caspian from a couple of nights before. After a winter of trying, I also managed to see the 'White winged' Herring Gull, which was pottering about near the powerboat club.

17/01/15

A rather uninspiring afternoon wardening at the Warren. The usual array of birds were present, but this Blue Tit beside the hide was looking stunning.

 

 

18/01/15

What January would be complete without a visit to Slimbridge WWT. With the weather not being particularly cold (despite my hands still telling me it was!) the numbers of birds around the reserve had not reached their usual peaks, with many having short stopped on the continent.

 

Even though not of the usual size, many of the flocks were still of huge size so certainly gave me something to scan through throughout the day! A flock of Little Stints had been hanging around with the Dunlin flock for much of the winter, and I managed to locate one fairly quickly, rather obligingly pottering about in the long grass pretty close to the hide.



 



The Goose and Swan flocks have been particularly low. Only around 100 White-fronted Geese were on site, add to this only 80 Bewick's Swans and you can see what I meant with my earlier statement. A single Pink-footed Goose was found however, lumbering about at the back of one of the pools on site.

 

3 Avocets were the first to return to the site this year, and while watching 2 GCP Common Cranes from the Sloane Tower, a distant Barn Owl started hunting the reedbeds around the Zeiss Hide, rather confusingly, at around 12:30 in the middle of the day!

 

A Kestrel was showing very well from one of the hides, but unfortunately the crowds in the hide meant the floor was shaking like crazy!

 

 

22/01/15

A walk down to West Park was livened up when this stunning Gull decided to drop onto the pool! A stunning Mediterranean Gull. A great bird for such a site, and luckily it hung around well into the winter so all could come and admire it. Funnily enough, just before I scanned the Black-headed Gulls I remember saying "Wouldn't it be funny if there was a Med Gull in that lot".... A matter of 15 seconds later and I was calling out there actually was a Med Gull in there! Amazing!

 

 

23/01/15

Having noticed the Med Gull was ringed as it flew off, I returned the following day in the hope it would visit again, and luckily, on my very first scan, there it was, perched out on ice revealing its leg-ring code to be PNU9.The midlands seen to have a track records with these 'PNU' birds. I have previously seen PNU4, and PNU5 has been seen a number of times, so this bird made the 3rd PNU bird to be seen in the midlands within only a few years. These Polish Med Gulls certainly do like the midlands!

 

 

The bird was seen throughout January, and continued to visit until at least the 17/02.

 

 

 

While trying to find the Med Gull for a friend, we were caught in a heavy snowstorm. This Shoveler looked about as happy as I was to be in such weather. (Grim)

 

31/01/15

The last afternoon of the month was spent at Upton Warren, looking at the Gular pouch angle on Cormorants. Such a glamorous life.

 

This Cormorant however, was looking absolutely fabulous!

 

MB

Fudge, Blyth's, Shorelark, Rosy Pastor, Black Red and the rest of the highlights

So, 3 months behind, I think it is time we got this show on the road right?!

I will start by saying this will not be a run down of every days birding I had in November, but simply the highlights, or anything I think of note.

18/11/14

A break from coursework and revision led me around to Parkes Hall Pool, which, despite being quiet, I managed superb views of a Grey Wagtail feeding on the track

22/11/14

With the quarry on patch having flood it is quickly becoming one of the highlights from a visit to the patch (spring is approaching, watch this space!) and it has been producing a steady trickle of decent birds (mostly at a patch level). On my first scan I picked up 3 dabbling ducks on the forever increasing size of the water body. 2 Wigeon and a Teal, all females but all unusual on a patch standing. The Wigeon were only the 2nd and 3rd I have ever seen on patch so to say I was chuffed was an understatement! 

23/11/14

Wanting to check for the presence of the dabblers again, I quickly headed up to the quarry, but the ducks had disappeared. However, a Gull flock had started to develop, and a little bit of scanning pulled out a patch mega!

A 1st winter Mediterranean Gull had joined the flock!!

No less than a patch first, ecstatic! 

25/11/14

Gulls have featured prominently this winter. Most of my birding exploits have revolved around visits to Chasewater for the roost, and I have managed a number of highlights. On an evening at Chasewater, I managed to locate 3 Willow Tits among a tit flock on the eastern shoreline of the reservoir, a much enjoyed record considering how rarely I see them! The roost didn't hold anything that make your hair stand on end, but an adult Mediterranean Gull and 4 Yellow-legged Gulls were worth getting cold for!

 

29/11/14

Following a session on patch, I heard news that the adult male Black Redstart was still showing at the Birders Store in St Johns, Worcester, and it would have been rude to have not made the pilgrimage to see my first 'Black Red' of the drake variety! Great views were had as it flicked around St Johns church, never remaining still for more than a few seconds, making digi-scoping difficult! What a stonker of a bird though!

 

 

30/11/14

The next day was a dirty twitch down to Bristol where an adult Rose-coloured Starling had been residing. After a very unpromising start, being surrounded in dense fog for nearly 3 hours, eventually it cleared, and as soon as it did, low and behold, a striking black and 'white' Starling flew over our heads from some distance away. It dropped into the bushes next to us, where we had brief, obstructed, but good views in someones garden. Unfortunately, some t**t with a camera then thought the best option was to climb a fence on someones private property and flop their lens over the top, flushing the bird and it then not showing for a further 3 hours. Luckily he left a soon as he did honestly, I can imagine a few words having been traded if he had stayed more than 20 seconds after committing his offence. 

 

3/12/14

Nothing hugely of note, but there was a nice close female Goosander at Sheepwash.

 

7/12/14

A work party session at Upton Warren included some pre, and post work birding, where a Green Woodpecker showed insanely well from the hide. During our work, we undertook a Snipe count, in which 8 Jack Snipe were counted, among 20 or so Common.

8/12/14

A pair of Ring-necked Parakeets were showing 'rather well' at a local park.

9/12/14

A reconnaissance trip to Chasewater/ Stubbers Green for a forthcoming NGB day the following weekend turned out rather well! Stubbers had a good number of Gulls, including a fine adult Yellow-legged Gull, as well as a 2w bird.

But the main interest was witnessed from the south shore of Chasewater, where quite bizarrely, an adult Bewick's Swan was feeding/ roosting among the Mute Swan, dodgy domestic hybrid geese and ducks! My first for the WMBC region, and honestly something i really was not expecting to see on my visit that evening!

The roost was rather quiet, but of very large size, the highlight being the 4 Yellow-legged Gulls again.

13/12/14

The NGB Gulls day came, but Gull wise it was rather disappointing at the 'day sites'. A 'near adult' Yellow-legged Gull the pick of the bunch at Stubbers, but our day was to get much more interesting/complicated once we arrived at the south shore, Chasewater for the roost.

Pretty soon, James panned onto a rather strikingly obvious Gull, which seemed to show many characteristics of Ring-billed Gull! Significant discussion followed, and I don't think a true, and agreed answer was ever found. Was it 'the' hybrid. Was it a backcross? Was it a pure RBG? Who knows. You win some you lose some.

In my opinion, I believe it to have been A hybrid, but not 'THE' hybrid. But what do I know.

Our main aim for the day though was Caspian Gull, and we were obliged by a rather pretty and outstanding 2nd winter near the jetties, which we managed very good views of. For the 3rd visit running, we managed to pick up 4 YLG.

14/12/14

A rather 'spur of the moment' trip took place the following day as I decided to join 3 of my companions from the previous day (and another NGB) as we headed north. Spending the night at Zacs house, we made the quick journey to Rossall Point at dawn, where on our first walk down the beach managed to 'find' a female Snow Bunting, which was showing so closely from the concrete path the whole did didn't fit into the scope at minimum zoom!

An Eider was out on the mudflats when I got a call from the group who I had become separated with. They had found our target. A few seconds after, running across the dunes with 2 scope/tripod combos on my shoulders I lay it down on the bowling green/ picnic area to be treated to stunning views of the Shorelark that has been wintering there! What a way to start the day!

Moving east, we drove to Pugneys C/P where we waited for our target to come out of the grass. With some coercing from the local patchworker and finder of the bird, up came the bird with a loud and very obvious call from the tall grass. A couple of further flight views were had, but to say I was impressed would be a lie. I would have much preferred to have studied it on the ground. However, there was no doubting what it was, it called like a Blyth's Pipit, was smaller and lest robust than a Richards, and had the 'dodgy' tail that made the bird so distinctive among the Meadow Pipits

 

16/12/14

Me and Matt met up to try to refind the hybrid Gull from a few days previous, starting at Stubbers and finishing at Chasewater. In between these two sites, we dropped into Ryders Mere, where an immature Great-Northern Diver had been found earlier in the day. A first visit for me to the site and I left impressed.

The roost at Chasewater was decent, we managed to locate the 'known' RBG hybrid quickly, which destroyed any optimism over our find a few days before, but the roost held a 2w Caspian Gull (not the same as we had seen), an adult Mediterranean Gull and 3 Yellow-legged Gulls. Not too shabby!

 

20/12/14

I had not visited Chelmarsh reservoir for some time, so with a free evening I headed over. The Gull roost was very impressive, being the largest I have ever seen it, with the flock extending almost 3/4 of the length of the reservoir on the opposite shoreline. A little bit of scanning paid of with 3 Yellow-legged Gulls. It was while scanning I heard the rather bizarre sound of a Ring-necked Parakeet calling in the woodland behind us, and as we left, the corvids flushed out of the woodland, and so did the Parakeet!

See the below photo, the left hand bird out of the top 2 is the Parakeet, trust me!

 

 

21/12/14

I was scanning the quarry on the patch when some commotion behind me had me noticing a small brown falcon motoring across the paddocks behind me. On getting my bins onto the bird, it quickly showed itself to be a stunning fem/juv Merlin! A first for patch for me. A flock of mixed winter flushed was feeding in the paddocks, and once they re-settled gave really great views in the sun.

 

30/12/14

The last 'day out' of the year. A female Ferruginous Duck had been found at Slimbridge the day before so I headed down with Mike in the hope of catching up with it. Catch up with it we did as it warily swam and circled on one of the captive pens after being relocated by one of the reserve wardens. It flushed off to the south lake later.

 

 

It however does seem to enjoy being among its close relatives on the captive pen as it associates with Baer's Pochard and its behaviour has changed somewhat since it first arrived. Many people are binning it as a plastic but I can't help but wonder if it is just a case of 'copycat'? Would you leave if someone was throwing you free food at regular intervals during the day?

A rather enjoyable bit of winter birding was had around the site, with all the regular species, including this rather menacing looking Buzzard!

 

 

My last birding  exploit followed on the way back, as we dropped into the somewhat of a rarity hotspot of Pitville Park, Chelthnam, where we managed stunning views of a male Dartford Warbler, which was showing uncharacteristically well! Much to both mine and Mikes delight, as our previous bird at Arne RSPB earlier in the year had been nothing more than a glimpse of a female in the dark shadow of a gorse bush! What a treat!

MB

The long awaited catch up!

So, with my coursework having been completed within the last hour, and with only the two exams worth of revision to go, I think it is about time I should start writing again...

Right.

 

So, back to October we go.

 

26/10/14

Having had such a good time on the last RSPB fieldtrip, it perhaps wasn't too hard of a decision to join them again for their trip over to Titchwell RSPB. Who would complain at that.

 

On the way over as we drove past Guyhirn, I managed to pick up 2 of the Cranes that had been resident in the area for some time. Another birder beside me saw a further 8 standing in the field, however they were distant and the views weren't great from the moving coach.

 

Arriving at Titchwell I did exactly as I was hoping to do, and walked straight out to the beach to do some seawatching, and I was greeted with the rather joyous sight of a large numbers of others with the same idea. If a Skua went past today I was going to see it!

 

Immediately obvious was the large number of Gulls, and among them were a single adult Mediterranean and 8 Kittiwakes. A flock of Common Scoter were bobbing about on the troughs but the first highlight came as I saw a lone Scoter flying in from the east. Head on initially, it moved parallel to the beach revealing bring white secondarys. I was soon shouting a drake Velvet Scoter was going past! Luckily, there were a number of boats of varying colours offshore, so getting the crowd (particularly the ones sitting adjacent to me!) onto the bird was straightforward.

 

Next up was another self find. A small Grebe popped up in the breakers close inshore to the beach further west than the viewpoint, but being strikingly black and white It was obviously one of the 'rarer' small Grebes. Considering I have little field experience with 'Slav', it was immediately obvious as a winter plumaged Slavonian Grebe due to structure. The entire crowd got onto the bird and it continued to show for much of the afternoon and made for the best bird of the day.

Among the regulars (Gannet, Red-Throated Diver, GC Grebe, and both Guillemot and Razorbill) we also picked out a female Red-breasted Merganser on the water fairly close in, and a further 4 flew past, going west.

 

With no Skuas I moved back onto the reserve for the Gull roost. The usual assembley of waders was present, and 6 Marsh Harriers were buzzing the reedbed. It was here I also caught up with an old friend, as the same female Stonechat that got me onto the Penduline Tit on my last visit was feeding in the same area of reedmace. Sadly, no Penduline today though. Scrutiny of the increasing gull flock produced 2 Yellow-legged Gulls before I had to head back to the coach.

 

 

 

1/11/14

 

I had visited Steart Marshes WWT just a week previously in the hope of catching up with the juvenile Pallid Harrier, having dipped, we returned on the first day of November, but again our luck was out. A good showing of Raptors (Buzzard, 1 Sprawk, 7 Kestrel, 3 Peregrine) was highlighted by 2 Merlin, including a great view of a female as we arrived, which barrelled fairly low over our heads.

 

 

With the bird having not shown again, we moved around the Huntspill Sluice. As we neared Bridgewater we heard the unthinkable.. The Pallid had just shown again (Insert relevant word of choice). Being stuck in traffic we couldn't go anywhere and carried on in the hope it would be viewable from the opposite side of the Parrett River. It wasn't, and we dipped it again. At least 1 female Red-breasted Merganser was feeding in the shallows, which gave slight compensation for the dip. It was from here while scanning for a ochre coloured bird of prey a superb sight of 3 Merlin chasing each other took place low over the saltmarsh. A good count of Avocets were also viewable form here, with 296 being visible among the huge swirling flocks of other estuarine waders.

 

 

Any other day without having dipped a Pallid Harrier and this would have been a good day!

 

2/11/14

 

That annoyance from dipping was relieved somewhat where a standard patch thrash led to the chance discovery of a female BLACK REDSTART! Standing scanning the Lapwings and Gulls within the now flooded quarry, I neglected to look on the small patch of ground adjacent to the hedgeline behind me. Having counted the Lapwing (32) and scanned through the Gulls to little avail, I turned around to see a bird flick up onto the top of a hawthorn in the hedgeline.

 

Getting my bins onto the bird which was only around 50ft away I was slightly perplexed to begin. It was head on, and just a slightly silhouetted greyish brown thing. There just wasn't any marks in this view, but it soon moved slightly, and I saw the quivering red tail!

 

I span to get my scope on it, aimed it at the bird, and just as I got it into focus it flew up, across the quarry, hesitantly at first, but it kept going.... And going..... And going. I kept on it until it was nothing more than a speck, when it suddenly dived down in the vicinity of Burlish Top. I spent the next 3 hours plodding around Burlish, Burlish Top, Moult Plesent etc, but I failed to refind this incredibly brief first for the patch.

 

Presumably this was the bird which then was found on the other side of the golf course a week or so after on the WFC Building.

 

6/11/14

A Uni fieldtrip led us across Wales to Aberystwyth, and we stopped at a number of sites on the way over. One of these was the Bwlch Nant yr Arian Red Kite feeding Centre, where we had excellent views of around 200 Kites. A female Goosander on the pool was also a nice surprise.

 

 

 

Moving onto Aberystwyth for the Starling roost, we stood near the pier and watched the aggregation grow, which despite not being the biggest Starling roost I have ever seen was still fairly spectacular.

 

 

As you would expect though, as we stood, I began to notice large numbers of Gulls roosting offshore, and being the fanatic I am, I just had to go through them. My efforts were rewarded when I picked up an adult Mediterranean Gull fly in from the south and drop onto the water in front of us. Nice!

 

The weather the next day was little short of vile, heavy rain and strong winds. A Rock Pipit pottered along the beach, and I had a flight view of what was probably one of the 5 Black Redstarts in the area as it flicked off the old college building and onto the castle.

 

MB

GREAT-SPOTTED CUCKOO!

15/03/14

Having done my fair share of survey work, Birdtracking and local birding for a fair proportion of the year, it was with great 'reluctance' that I found myself at some stupid hour in the morning standing listening to Skylarks singing with local photographer Vern Wright as we waited for our fellow twitchers to arrive.

Why?

A golf course in Pembrokeshire, one which I know very well having holidayed in the area for many years was currently playing host to a Cuckoo from far south in Europe, Iberia to be precise. As well as being a very rare bird, the last having been a few years back, it is also a very unpredictable visitor, and visits tend to be very brief, single day, and very often, single observer birds!

In summery, it is a real pain in the arse to see this far north.

So with a rather stunning 1st year bird strutting its stuff at close range for a few days, it only felt right to take a day off from the local scene and make use of some spare time!

Obviously, the worst feeling when long distance birds is those first few hours in the car as you drive in the dark. What will light bring?

Will it still be there?

Has it gone?

Luckily however, the popularity of this bird was obvious, and being a Saturday, the bird was certain to draw a crowd, so not long after first light, the first few tweets started to creep out as we headed south down the A40. "Great Spotted Cuckoo is still there!". However, we still had a distance to go! And it was time to share some banter with the full car, and much was shared between the 5 birders/togs as we cruised towards our destination!

It didn't seem long before familiar landscape appeared, and once past Carmarthern it really wasn't too much longer before pulling up in a rather crowded Penally Train station car park!

Instantly, the scrum was visible, and we we soon were walking out onto the dunes!

A few birders were talking of the brief views they had had that morning, up on the cliff slopes on Giltar, but it seemed to have disappeared. A few minutes after, I noticed a birder up on top of the cliff pointing out too sea. What did that mean!

A few minutes after that, the unthinkable had happened as a tweet popped up on my phone! It had flown off out to sea!

A sudden sinking of the heart followed, and the look of disbelief on my companions faces is still visible in my memory. Ouch! The only thing that kept us going (despite the fact that we had driven so far) was that the report mentioned that the bird 'possibly' could had landed on one of the offshore islands. 10 Minutes turned to half an hour, half an hour to an hour. Still nothing...

(Insert appropriate word of choice here)

Scanning across towards Caldey Island revealed a single Great-northern Diver out on the sea, and also a Shelduck and a Razorbill. But no spotted Cuckoo.

Luckily, a knowledge of the area meant that we were soon heading off further up the coastline to St Govans Head. A large expanse of rock strewn grasslands atop steep cliffs leading to dense stands of gorse slightly further inland! It took only a few minutes to locate one of the targets, and 2 CHOUGH were easily located as they called and flew around, before dropping into an open sandy area in front of me. With their blood red bill and legs, they really are smart birds!

It amazes me when people complain about Corvids, if you look at them, they really are sublime birds, shimmering purple, green, blue and silver as they move!

After having worked our way across the headland, I scanned Broad Haven beach distantly from atop the cliffs. A large flock of Gulls had drawn my attention (naturally!) and right in the centre of the flock, standing out like a beacon stood a humongous slab of white! Distance prevented a conclusive ID, but on size alone I was already knowing what this was. After informing the group, we moved quickly to a closer viewpoint, losing sight of the beach for a matter of seconds. 

Scope down, viewing the beach. Errm. Where is it?

All that were present were Herring and GBBG...

Surely I hadn't cocked it up that much?

Our photographic companions went back to the Fulmars gliding along the clifftops and I moved closer to the edge of the Cliff and peered down!

Another view of white!!

This time very close as it pelted past us just below the height of the cliff, and at an angle where its huge pink and black tipped bill stood out a mile!! 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL!

BOOM! Mike and Phil got onto it quickly as it circled above the beach with a few Herring Gulls, shining in the bright sunshine. Despite still being distant, I still tried to digi-scope it, and i managed one shot showing its white wing tips! (You will have to trust me though!)

Moving back across the Headland, we were informed of a BLACK REDSTART showing on the cliff slope below the coastguard watchpoint building. A short time after and we were watching a rather stunning 1st winter male as it fed on a steep rock covered hillside, flitting and flycatching off the prominent rocks far below us.

It was actually rather a surprise just how much it blended into the rather similarly coloured rocks, and it was often lost from views as it made its way up and down the cliffface.

It was just as the bird flicked up onto the grass in front of me (great view!) and was just as quickly blown back down the cliff by a gust of wind that I heard my phone. It was a fellow young midlands birder.

The wind muffled out most of the sound but I picked up the occasional word.

"ugrfs kdvids CUCKOO kjbfs BACK!!"

That was enough to make me power walk behind the building

"THE CUCKOO IS BACK" He was watching it right now!

A very quick exit of the headland, and a pleasant 'jaunter' of a car journey back through the county lanes of Pembrokeshire soon saw us pulling into the car park for the 2nd time! This time I really was in a rush to get out there! I really didn't want to miss it again! (I still didn't run!)

I spied Espen atop one of the dunes on the edge of the crowd, and as I approached out flew the GREAT-SPOTTED CUCKOO from the vegetation just in front of the crowd! Having dropped in behind one of the dunes, I scrambled up to the crowd!

And there it was!

Ok, not the crippling views the crowd had been having since it reappeared, but still, great scope views of what can only be described as a stunning looking bird! Just look at that pale silver hood, that lemon yellow throat, the spotting on the wing coverts, and that stunning, ridiculously long, pied tail!

Every negative thought earlier was forgotten!

It had a good taste for the nations caterpillars, and it scoffed many while we were watching, jumping about in the long dune grass near the top of a dune.

It must be said, once we heard the bird had flown out to sea earlier in the day, I did honestly think that it wouldn't appear again. And that was only made worse by it still not having shown for 4-5 hours after it flew off!

After about 20 minutes showing on the sand dune, the bird flew off distantly and perched on a hedgeline towards the Tenby end of the golf course, where it then promptly disappeared!

While the crowd stayed stationary in the dunes, me and Mike walked up the beach to find another viewpoint, and in doing so found 2 Ringed Plover and 9 Sanderling foraging along the tideline!

Our change of position though didn't help, and we couldn't pick up the Cuckoo, so we headed back, at which point we decided to head back to the midlands, each one of us happy with finally seeing the mega Cuckoo, a beast of a Glauc and a Black Redstart!

Great day!

MB