American Golden Plover at the Gann.

28/05/17

Our annual trip to Pembrokeshire rarely provides me with a new bird species for my list. Back in the day when I first started visiting, many species like Guillemot, Razorbill, Chough, Storm Petrel and Manx Shearwater were all seen for the first time here. Around 12 years later though, I still visit to enjoy the coastline and its wildlife ever year. With our visit in late May, the majority of the migration period is tailing off on the west coast. A few arctic breeding waders or a late Skua can liven a day up so what I was not expecting to occur on the first day of this years trip was for a national rarity to turn up. A Turtle Dove as soon as we arrived at our accommodation already made for a good trip, however late evening, news filtered out of an American Golden Plover at the Gann.

As well as being a lifer, ‘AGP’ would complete the trio of Golden Plovers in the UK, added to the fact it was at one of my favourite sites in Pembrokeshire, it was clear where we were heading the next morning. Luckily, by the time we were just ready to leave, news was already out confirming the bird as still present. With the tide now coming in fast, we arrived and walked the shingle to the river mouth. A couple of birders were present and quickly gave a relieving message that is was still present and was on the small section of beach still not covered by the rising tide.

What a stunner!

A full breeding plumage male American Golden Plover!!

Sleek, sexy and leggy, this out of place yank gave good views as it slowly walked its way towards the shingle spit it roosts on as the tide rose. We had about 10 minutes viewing at ‘close range’ (that still being around 150ft away) where the bird fed and showed off all its defining features, primaries beyond the tail, short tertials, extensive black on underbelly/tail as well as the bold golden and white spots on its mantle and wing feathers. 

The last feature to be given away was the dark grey/ bronze underwing colour, when the bird took flight with a Grey Plover and flew around the bay, before coming back to settle on the shingle bank with a flock of Oystercatchers at the river mouth.

We stayed around across high tide, hoping the bird would come out to feed onto the fresh mud, however it moved more distantly with its Grey Plover companion and fed on the saltmarsh north of bay. It looked stunning in the freshly emerged sun, but unfortunately a little too distant for any photos.

A good spattering of waders made for an enjoyable visit, with 6 Whimbrel joining the roosting Oycs, 3 Black-tailed Godwit dropped onto the lagoon, 17 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and 2 Redshank. A couple of colour ringed Oystercatcher took a while to read, however 20 minutes of effort gave me 1 code to report.

 All in all a good visit and an excellent start to the trip!

Virjinxity! Wryneck, YBW and Spoonbills! (21/09/14)

I have never been on one of the RSPB Stourbridge field trips, however, following some encouragement, in late September I joined them as they went to Portland Bill and Lodmoor RSPB.

Following some banter on the coach, we arrived in the bill car park, and as we had picked up some news from twitter we headed straight up the hill to the area where a Wryneck had been found!

Masses upon masses of Hirundines were everywhere, Yellow Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and a single Grey Wagtail flew over south, so there was certainly plenty of vismig! But, having dipped on Wryneck many times in the past, I was keen to get there as soon as possible. I was in so much of a rush that even a Whinchat perched on a fenceline was almost ignored as the crowd appeared on the track opposite us!

It felt like an age to cover the fields to them, but as soon as we did I saw what looked like a Wryneck as it flicked past me and behind a hedge, yet no-one was looking. Surely that wasn't it! 

A quick question later, and having learnt that they hadn't seen it for a while I went to check out the bird I saw. A short walk later, and there, perched atop a hedge, with a backdrop of the English channel was a stunning WRYNECK! I had lost my "Virjinxity"!

Over the next 30 minutes, the views slowly got better and better, and as people left, the bird became more confiding, and eventually, with only a small group of people, the bird landed on the fenceline adjacent to us and started feeding from the track! Although invisible when on the deck, the bird often flew up onto the adjacent fenceline and hedge, giving absolutely amazing views to all present!

Wryneck

Wryneck

Wryneck

I have dipped so many Wryneck in the past, and so to finally catch up with one put a huge smile on my face, and it was with regret I left the bird to look for another scarcity.

It was clear that overnight there had been a 'significant' (at least by my standards) fall of Chiffchaffs around Portland, and in the Observatory garden alone there were at least 80. Counts from the Ob's staff suggested the actual total was closer to 200! In this fall of 'Phyloscs' a Yellow-Browed Warbler had been located, but it was being very elusive in the dense vegetation, which was literally dripping in birds! Chiffchaffs were flycatching everywhere, and these were joined by two birds that are more akin to the behaviour, as two Spotted Flycatcher perched sentinel over the 'alive' garden.

Most people had given up with the YBW when it hadn't shown for a good hour and a half. However I soldiered on, and just as a group of birder rounded the corner from the Ob's car park, an absolutely stunning bright Yellow-Browed Warbler flitted up above the fenceline!

Calling over the crowd, only 1 got onto the bird, before it disappeared back into the bushes, but despite only being on view for around 15 seconds, as always with these delightful leaf warblers, it was well worth the wait!

With the time now running out, I decided on a quick look out to sea, where 3 Mediterranean Gulls were flying about and a Kittiwake flew past. A Yellow-legged Gull landed on a post outside the cafe, but had flew off by the time I had gotten my camera out.

In the old quarry, the Little Owl was showing nicely to the assembled crowd!

Little Owl

Moving onto Lodmoor RSPB, our first notable sighting was when this stunning little thing flicked up next to us:

Clouded Yellow

A Clouded Yellow!

Again, this had become another of my bogeys, and despite having seen them before, they had steadfastly refused to land. But this one was different, and gave us stunningly intimate views as it perched on roadside vegetation! 

Moving onto the pool, 2 Spoonbills were very quickly located (how could you miss them?!) and gave a great performance as they fed constantly in the shallow water! Not something you expect a Spoonbill to be doing.

Spoonbill

Spoonbill

A small selection of Waders were present, with Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe and Ruff all being present. Walking to the opposite end of the flashes (so I could view the gull flock of course!) I found an early Pintail roosting on the edge of the water. But my mind soon wondered and my reason for walking here was obvious, and I was soon seeing countless Mediterranean Gulls flying into the increasing Gull flock!

All ages were present, and great views were had of all!

Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Bliss!

MB

The annual pilgrimage! Pembrokeshire 2014

25/07/14

Perhaps didn't get as much birding time in as I was hoping on this holiday, but some good days non the less!

 

I headed out early to be on the clifftops behind our accommodation, and although it was late May, the brisk and cool morning winds was still harbouring a slight whiff of migration, and a few Lesser Whitethroats, Whitethroats and 'Phyloscs' certainly added to that feeling.

 

My main intention though was to get out to a nice high point and have a couple of hours seawatching.

With Oystercatchers calling from the rocks below, and Gannets and Fulmar fishing and gliding close in to the cliff, it was a rather relaxing affair, as actually rather little was moving on the sea!

However, a party of 7 waders flying in from the west quickly attracted my full attention, with long necks and bill shining a vivid orange as they moved further east, with their huge white wing bars and black and white tail it was obvious I was watching my first Pembrokeshire BLACK-TAILED GODWITS of the year, they continued east, fast across the horizon, before dropping out of sight behind the headland.

A further 2 hours passed and 3 Mallard was all I had to show for it (Mallards!!), but quickly two large seabirds came in from the east, hugging the coast so they were maybe only 100ft out. Immediately obvious was the fact that two divers were flying towards me! They got closer and closer, and it was about when level with me it stuck that both of these birds were huge! They're huge pale grey bills could be seen as could a dark half collar and large, projecting feet, they were winter plumaged GREAT-NORTHERN DIVERS! Being so close I thought they would drop onto the sea off Freshwater east, but rather than doing this they jutted out into the sea, heading for St Govans head in the distance, but this allowed for prolonged viewing as they flew away from me. A small party of 10 Razorbill flew past from the direction of a nearby breeding colony.

 

With no Tern movement, despite an onshore breeze, I took a few snaps of a few of the resident seabirds of the shores around Pembrokeshire and went off searching for landbirds!

 

 

 

Soon, in one of the steep 'gullys' that had been eroded by the sea a juvenile Raven was found, hopping from rock to rock and showing that juvenile interest in anything that only a chick recently out of the nest could have!

 

 

It's parents were in close attendance, searching for food on the cliff edges, and giving absolutely stunning views, showing off their glossy plumage to full effect in the sun, shimmering blue, green and purple in the light!

 

 

Rock and Meadow Pipit's were ubiquitous, as were Stonechats, with 16 counted including many 'first broods'. As always though, these active firecrackers of a bird always made me stop for a little while I had a quick watch. It was quite interesting to watch their feeding methods as they worked the gorse and heather in pairs, with the male keeping vigil as the female gathered food for the chicks.

 

 

As you would expect, I managed to locate a number of a west coast of wales speciality, and once the walk had been completed, a total of 8 CHOUGH had been seen tumbling through the air, filling the air with their distinctive crys. Sadly, non were co-operative enough to perch up for a photo, but a number of nice flypasts were enough to keep me happy!

MB

Out birding in Cambridgeshire with the Worcester crew

5/04/14

 

Road trip!

 

It was another day out with the Worcester crew, and with Mike, Jarad and Neil, it was going to be a good trip!

 

Having seen last years 'proven' wild Baikal Teal I wasn't in much of a fuss to see the bird that had chosen to appear at Fen Drayton RSPB in Cambridge, but when I was offered a lift, and with a rather mouth-watering array of 'rares', I just couldn't say no!

 

So, our first destination was Fen Drayton, and sadly, the day soon reached its low. The Teal had gone, and hardly any ducks remained whatsoever! We were joined by another foreigner to this 'distant land' when Hughie appeared along the path.

Infact, it was a struggle to be too exited by anything that was present, a single female Marsh Harrier made a brief fly through visit and decent numbers of Goldeneye were present on the many pools. Infact, it was the hybrids that were the best birds of the trip. A Tufted x Pochard was present on one of the pools, but the most interesting bird came in the form of a rather odd looking Wigeon, which showed characteristics of both Eurasian and American Wigeon. However, the crew had practically fallen asleep at the lack of birds by this point, and we chose to head on.

 

We moved to Pymoor, where a drake American Wigeon was being reported, but in our searching of the masses of ducks we failed to locate it. Later in the day it also became obvious we had also not picked up another duck......

 

Stunning females of both Marsh Harrier and Peregrine flew through, flushing everything in the process.

 

Despite the lack of yanks, I was amazed by  the huge numbers of ducks still present, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal all being represented by very large numbers, and a flock of 40 Whooper Swan remained, which I thought was quite late, and indeed proved that this trip would work out to be worthwhile.

 

It was while scanning we received news of a female RING NECKED DUCK just up the road, so a quick car journey and we were soon pulling up, and within a few moments an obvious female 'Ring Neck' could be seen distantly from the river banks. It really was very distant, but very good light meant that it was perfectly identifiable. Even on shape alone it stood out a mile!

 

From this viewpoint, it was also clear of the huge volumes of ducks that remained on the Ouse Washes! Literally thousands!

With the weather feeling so 'springish', it was also great to see, and hear a Yellow Wagtail as it bounced over our heads! Always a great bird to have so early in the year!

 

With limited time remaining before having to head back, news of a Spoonbill at Ouse washes RSPB had us making a detour, and soon upon arrival at the hides, we were greeted by stunning views of a rather beautiful looking summer plumaged SPOONBILL!

 

What was even more outstanding though, was the fact that the bird was awake THROUGHOUT our visit, and was constantly feeding, which made a rather refreshing change to most Spoonbill records!

 

Again, it was somewhat of a "Midlander meetup" as again Hughie was present, and we all enjoyed this rather scarce visitor to our home counties.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps more  impressive though, were the sheer numbers of waders that were present, mostly consisting of two species. Hundreds upon hundreds of 'islandica' Black-Tailed Godwit were roosting on a couple of the spits, creating carpets of red, and many Ruff were strutting around in fine summer garb! What could be better! We had 60+ of these rather gaudy waders as they waded their way through the shallow waters outside the hides

 

 

Our time here was as I said, limited, and therefore we had to leave, but my first taste of the Ouse washes certainly 'whet my appetite', and I can see a return visit coming on soon!

 

MB

Birding and Guitars

3/01/14

Finding myself in Edgbaston  to pick up my new guitar, it would have been rude not to drive the couple of miles up the road to admire the Great-Northern Diver that had (Somewhat ridiculously) taken up temporary residence on the Swan Pool in Sandwell valley!

So, with my Les Paul Studio sitting on the back seat, it was a short drive through the back streets of Edgbaston and Smethwick to our destination. A quick walk out to the lake edge and the GREAT-NORTHERN DIVER was showing on the far side of the pool.

Having seen around 40 the previous day, i chose not to walk around to the other side to get a closer look, and after a short time, decided to cross the road to Forge Mill Lake. Sadly, the amazingly close views of the previous day, and with them seeming almost 'common' i was left somewhat with a glazed look in my eyes. Around 20 Goosander were feeding there, as were very good numbers of Pochard. Moving around the the partially rebuilt RSPB center, i looked over the feeders, and soon found my main target. WILLOW TIT.

Sadly, this is a species that has all but disappeared from my home county, and it is hard to believe that i once had both Willow Tit and Tree Sparrow visiting my garden! Within a few seconds through, the bird had flicked onto the feeder, collected its seed and flew off to eat/stash it away somewhere, and i didn't see it again.

Somewhere nearby, i found myself watching a party of RING-NECKED PARAKEETS, as they flew around calling, and eventually settling on tree's in someones back garden, where i was able to scope them through a hedgeline, 2 metal fences and across a school playing field! Thankfully, being the school holidays, there were no issues with doing so!

4/01/14

Having such a great start to the year was made even better when Neil Duggan offered me a day out, collecting a local rarity and then heading down to Slimbridge for their spectacular wintering flocks!

The TWO-BARRED CROSSBILLS were being as elusive as ever, but were tracked down in a stand of pines as they called incessantly for a while before flying out and disappearing altogether! As i had hoped,the Two-Bars became my 100th species for the year. A good number of Common Crossbill were also showing, some landing in trees adjacent to the path!

With short winter days, time was limited, so we then started towards Slimbridge, but a spur of the moment trip had us dropping into Lineholt, were other than a distant flock of 10c Redpoll sp (Associating with Goldfinch on the Golf course) nothing was seen. Interestingly, one or two looked fairly pale, but with the light and distance they were hard to ID with certainty.

Our arrival at the car-park at Slimbridge was greeted by masses of circling Lapwing and Golden Plover over the tack piece, and it was here where we first headed. Bewick's Swan were dotted along the flooded fields, surrounded by thousands of Lapwing, Golden Plover, and hundreds of Black-Tailed Godwit!

It was clear though, that the most activity was from the Holden tower, as following a very high tide, a large layer of silt created ideal feeding opportunities for thousands of birds. And i mean THOUSANDS! Around 3000 each of Lapwing and Golden Plover, nearing 2000 Dunlin (The most i have ever personally seen here in winter) and similar numbers of both Wigeon and Teal, it was immense!

This is surely the meaning of birding in a British wintertime!

Despite these massive numbers of birds, numbers of White-Fronted Goose and Bewick Swan were seemingly well down, with only 170 White fronts and only 30 Bewicks! The reasons for this are clear though just by walking outside and looking at the sky. A very mild winter (and hence the almost no-stop rain) means our northern and eastern visitors have no need to venture so far west to find sufficient food, so they are currently feeding somewhere in Germany or the like. Certainly not in the UK!

While scanning Teal and the very far edge of the Dumbles however i was surprised to find a female GOOSANDER sitting in with them just off an area of floodwater, well back from the estuary edge! Certainly not a bird i exactly associate with flood water!The resident BRENT GOOSE was showing fairly well on the Dumbles edge.

The Zeiss hide was very quiet in comparison. But 4 Avocet made up for the lack of birds as they roosted on the somewhat flooded flash. A Cetti's warbler was showing stunningly well on the edge of the reeds, which was a real privilege!

With the light fading, and after a quick check of the 'south finger' we decided to look for Egrets at Court lake at Frampton. A Kingfisher, 6 Little Grebe, 10 Pochard and very good numbers of Tufted Duck were noted, but we failed to see any Egrets.

MB

My last month- July

3/07/13

Patch

A family party of 5 Grey Wagtail were showing on the river in stourport town center, 2 adults and 3 Juveniles. At one point, the two adults were mobbing an American Mink as it ran along the edge of the river for a good distance, only once the Mink was about 100m away from the young, did they stop mobbing it.

Moving further downriver, i moved onto a small site of heathland adjacent to Hartlebury Common on the patch side of the road, where a Cuckoo was heard singing, and 2 Willow Warbler were also singing. The 2nd area of the patch to hold breeding birds this year!

4/07/13

11 Goosander (adult female with 10 young) flew upriver past Lickhill, presumably the female which was seen to have chicks earlier in the year on patch. 2 Eclipse male Mandarin were still present at Lickhill, and the 5 Grey Wagtail were still showing.

12/07/13

A survey for Mandarin Duck came up with a new record count for the patch, when 16 birds were found, 2 eclipse drake, 3 adult female, and 11 nearly fledged chicks, including these birds which favored a log on the edge of the river.

A large emergence of Scarlet Tiger moth had me seeing over 40 of these stunning moths, with the main emergence centered around Blackstone.

13/07/13

Visiting Upton Warren with the Girlfriend, we worked our way across both sides of the reserve. At the Moors, we quickly located the 3 BLACK-TAILED GODWITS, feeding on the East Islands, other-whys it was quiet, bar the first returning Pochard of the winter (a drake), 10 Common Tern and a Cetti's Warbler.

The Flashes revealed the expected Wader species, with 9 Green Sandpiper, and a single Common Sandpiper. The trio of Blackwits dropped in, before flying off south when flushed by a Sparrowhawk. A juvenile Little Ringed Plover had also joined the wader's, but was obviously raised elsewhere.

18/07/13

A drop into Sheepwash had me seeing a Marbled White on the mound, my 2nd sighting at Sheepwash this summer. Slightly more expected though was the Gull flock, which included a LBBG, with the leg ring K+H. I have personally never came across a bird with a + as the middle character, so if anyone can shed any light on the record, please do.

19/07/13

A friday afternoon drop into Upton Warren had us seeing a nice array of waders. A moulting male RUFF was showing on the Flash, as was a adult GREENSHANK. 35 Avocet were still in attendance, while other migrant waders were 7+ Green Sandpiper , 1 Common Sandpiper and a Dunlin. 16 Curlew spent some time on the flash before flying off.

23/07/13

Another patch visit, again to count Mandarins had me counting 15 birds, but of a completely different combination of ages/sexes. I will have to wait until the end of the summer to judge the true figure, but looking through my notes and photos, it would seem that 20+ Mandarin have summered/being raised on the river this year.

3 Eclipse drake, 3 juvenile drake, 3 adult female and 6 un-sexed juveniles were found. A new brood of chicks was found, the 3rd breeding record of the year, with a female with 2 still downy young in tow. A single Emperor dragonfly was hawking the river, and a multitude of Brimstone butterflys were on show, including one which decided it wanted to use me as a perch!

Masses, potentially above 1000 very young Frogs were found, literally each step you would take 40 spring out of the grass below you! Some sight!

24/07/13

While looking for Dragonflys around the Gadwall lake at the south end of the patch, a loud 'glipping' sound alerted me to the presence of a flock of 5 CROSSBILLS flying over! Only the 2nd patch record, and the largest flock to date. With the large number in the country currently, it may be worth looking through these migrant flocks of Crossbills, even in the midlands, as their cousin, the Two-Barred Crossbill is also experiencing a influx!

Get looking folks!

MB

PACIFIC SWIFT!

15/06/13

The group from the last excursion out East had again planned to visit Lakenheath RSPB in search of Golden Orioles, however, some bad fortune had 2 of our group dropping out, leaving just the two of us to head east and scour the Marshes.

Again, a 5am start had us arriving at Lakenheath before 8 am, and we were soon standing adjacent to the Black Poplars in the hope of catching a ear-full of melodious Golden Oriole song. With the strong gusts, it made listening very hard, with the rustle of the leaves constantly drowning out the birdsong. Our optimism wasn't particularly high, the birds had been very elusive for much of the spring and there had been no sign for days! Never a good sign when on the search for Orioles. After slowly walking past all 3 of the Poplar Wood's, and having drawn a blank, we walked towards the Joist Fen viewpoint.

Similarly to the last visit, MARSH HARRIER did seem to be hunting over every section of reeds possible, and at one point, 7 birds were up at once, a stunning sight!

In my mind, Marsh Harrier must surely rate as one of the best Raptors, such graceful flyers, and actually very good looking also. 

We were setting into a regular routine of scanning the reeds once we had reached the viewpoint, dodging the rain by moving to the other side of the wall. In one of these avoiding rain sessions, a female CUCKOO landed on a bush in the middle of the reeds.

Once another rainstorm had passed, i quickly walked to the other side, and had a scan, as i panned two birds 'got up' out of the reeds briefly, small, long tailed, and very quick. Within a second, they were back down. A short wait ensured, and one of the birds flew up again, long tailed, orange bodied and blue headed.

BEARDED TIT!

Quickly we both were onto the birds, and we had sporadic views for the next 30 minuites or so, before strong winds pushed them down into the reedbed.

2 BITTERN got up out of the reeds, one only very briefly, but the other up for a good 15 seconds or so as it flew a fairly long distance across the reedbed. Similarly, a Egyptian Goose also did the same, before dropping into the reedbed.

My companions phone bleeped with a bird news update, and upon opening found it to contain that dreamed for first word.

MEGA!

The thing that really got us going though was the next word, SUFFOLK!

"10:50, MEGA, SUFFOLK, PACIFIC SWIFT HAWKING OVER TRIMLEY MARSHES"

The inevitable look followed, part shock, part fear, and probably part desire, and it was clear what was going through both our minds, and the expected question soon spilled out "We gonna try?"

"Hell yes!"

There is simply no excuse not to try, but the odd's were well and truly stacked against us, been the furthest point from the car park (almost 3 miles), and then we had to find the location in the SatNav, and then drive to the site, the chances didn't look amazing, furthermore, the fact it was a Swift we were twitching seemed almost idiotic, knowing that literally any second the bird could fly, never to be refound.

But off we set, with a fairly brisk walk back to the car, in which time i managed to ask for updates on the bird. Misreading the reply i took in the walk from the carpark to the marshes at Trimley to be 1.5 miles each way, as the text said 3 miles total...

How wrong i was...

With the SatNav set, and reading 1 hour to the carpark on Cordys Lane we went...

The scene upon arrival was fairly manic, with the small carpark and almost half the length of Cordys lane covered in parked cars. Twitchers running past, legs whirring, swearing and sweating.

Rather than choosing the rather steriotypical twitcher type, we took the decision to have a fairly brisk walk to the pools, but not to break out into a sprint, and a good thing too, because that supposed 1.5 mile walk turned out to only the one track, and it was a full 3 miles to the bird! Agghhhh

Even just 'brisk walking' a sweat started to develop on the brow, the humid conditions obviously not helping. The paths just seemed to go on, and on, but the end never seemed to get any nearer. Only once i had reached the gigantic cranes on our left hand side did i finally start to crack, we must be getting closer now? Cant be much further?, maybe just up the tempo a little?.

My upping the tempo pushed my 'brisk walk' to nearly the pace of a slow jog, and finally i started seeing the Marshes, "Up onto the Sea-wall" was uttered to me as i passed the first hide, "Not much further!" and finally, as i rounded the final bend, the typical 'scrum' had developed, but it was still a further few hundred meters, aghhhh!

Soon i found myself clambering up a fairly slippery grass sea-wall before being hammered by a series of directions, "Going left, Now right, low down, Climbing, back against the sky, over the Shelducks, Low down".

Just training my bins on as many Swifts as possible, i briefly glimpsed a white rump.

"PACIFIC SWIFT!"

In my rush, i had left my partner behind a good way, and having had a decent view of the bird signaled him to scrambled here quick!

Ecstatic, elation, relief!

Not long after, we were both enjoying great views of this superb Asiatic Mega as it hawked low across the open water of the small estuary-side marsh. Having looked at Pacific Swift ID following the Spurn Bird i tried to recount plumage feature. White rump, easy, check, larger white throat patch, check, better defined throat patch, check, longer and more forked tail, check. That was all i could remember, but i was soon picking the bird up head on, and i kept doing it. Why?

The reason became apparent after some scrutiny, as it became clear that the bird had a slightly broader head and longer wings that Common Swift, creating a 'thinner' bodied look, while in fact it was just an illusion due to the birds head size and longer tail. 

Wanting a photo of my first true 'MEGA', i grabbed for my scope, to which a few 'You'll be lucky to get one" and "Good luck" comments were made, but i started snapping away. Soon, the birds habits became obvious, and with some help from the birders around me, they often called out when the bird was feeding low over its favored area of open water, allowing me to 'spray and pray' that the bird would be in one of the pictures.

An hour or so later, mixing periods of photo taking and studying, and simply watching, i managed to get a few shots.

Having been watching the bird for about 1 1/2 hours, the bird suddenly shot off at 3pm, seemingly flying towards the docks and disappeared, soon after, an almightly rainstorm hit, drenching everybody, my raincoat suddenly came in handy after moaning about carrying it all that way in boiling heat on the way down. Soon through, it was leaking, and my jacket and jeans became soaked. With the bird having been gone for nearly 30 minuites, we decided to part from the site to escape the rain.

Getting back to the car, soaked to the bone, cold and shivering, could i care less?

Not at all, 

A 7th for Britain, and a practically untwitchable bird in the past, with the last gettable bird been decades ago. This was made even better when just as we approached the car park, a friend who was in the crowd (who arrived after the birds had gone) text to say that the bird was again showing.

Brief scans around the Marshes also revealed a male Marsh Harrier, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 16 Avocet and a fly over Little Egret!

But No! It didn't end there. Stopping in a layby not far away to have some food, i heard a few familiar notes ring out from the scrub beside us. That sounded like a Nightingale....

And then it belted out its distinctive song from right beside the car, a male NIGHTINGALE!

After a little bit, we had brief views of the male, and also a presumed female bird in the verge hawthorns, what a way to end the days birding!

MB

"The best days birding I've had in Pembrokeshire.... Ever"

That above statement proves so true! I have never found a decent bird on holiday in Pembrokeshire, so to find two superb birds in a couple of hours was amazing!

But first, here are the few days running up to that final days birding.

27/05/13

While returning from a trip into Tenby, we returned to our staying location to find a superb RED KITE hunting over the meadows adjacent in a howling rainstorm. There is just something special about seeing a 'true' Welsh Kite hunting over a Welsh meadow, a real conservation success story!

28/05/13

A walk on the cliffs behind our accommodation revealed a Whimbrel and 4 Gannet offshore, as well as the expected Meadow Pipits.

29/05/13

A trip to the Beach with The Girlfriend revealed a flock of 5 Chough, as well as 2 Wheatear. A small flock of Gannets were hunting offshore and an Oystercatcher was on the offshore rock stack.

In the surrounding woodland i found singles of Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, and a male Redstart.

30/05/13

So it bring us to the day, the big one!

The keener eyed of you may have noticed that was last visit to Marloes Mere was painfully quiet, and i had a date with an old friend.

With the tide just being on the turn we dropped into The Gann first in the hope of Waders and did it produce!! Near the outflow of the river stood a flock of 40c Waders, a mixed flock of Dunlin and Sanderling!

With the wind being exceptionally strong, with resulting sand blasts of rocky stones and sand i decided to hunker down and get some photos or some summer plumaged Sanderlings.

A couple of birds joined the flock, so i had another scan of the flock. Bloody hell, LITTLE STINT! How on earth did i miss that he first scan because the two that just flew in were a Dunlin and Sanderling. While just grabbing the camera the entire flock, including the minute Stint took flight, the reason? A Peregrine flew through, causing mayhem, and in the confusion the Stint was lost to view, and we presumed that the bird had followed the larger flock of Waders (30c) and flew northish.

With these flocks now gone, we checked the lagoons in case the bird had dropped onto them, but all we could find was 6 Dunlin.

Moving out into the wider estuary, out list of waders for the day kept increasing, Whimbrel after Whimbrel until at least 20 were located feeding on a muddy shore. These birds were fairly distant, however a couple were close in on the newly exposed rocks as the tide dropped.

The Bar-tailed Godwit from the last visit was again showing, intermixing with the large flock of Whimbrel and Oystercatcher.

So it was onto Marloes Mere to meet an old friend.

Grabbing my Beach chair, scope and Bins, we positioned ourselves near the Barbed Wire gate, and waited, and waited, and you guessed it, waited. The old friend was proving late. With the time now approaching 4:20, and only 3 Shoveler, a pair of Ravern and a flyby of small waders hope was dwindling, so i decided to stand up and have a stretch, tilting my head back to stretch my neck.

"That looks a little dark and rakish"

Bins up

ARCTIC SKUA!!

ARCTIC BLOODY SKUA!!

A dark morph adult, showing a extended central tail feather (or two??) and white comma's on the outer wing accelerated low and fast over out heads. It turns out that very same wind that i had been cursing all afternoon     helped me find one of my highlights for the day as it pushed the Skua overland due to the high winds.

Having got my dad onto the bird, i tried to signal the two birders walking away from us towards the hide, not getting their attention, i ran to the hide to tell them the news, and then made my way back to my scope, picked it up and sped it along the path overlooking the bay adjacent to Marloes Beach, where the bird had flown to. After about 20 minuites scanning, it became obvious the bird had flown straight through. Small numbers of Kittiwake and Gannet were feeding in the bay.

That certainly picked things up a little bit, a rare occurrence for a Midlander to find an Arctic Skua, despite it being the commonest.

A short spell in the hide revealed a short flight view of a Black-Tailed Godwit.

So now it was to wait for our old friend. We walked the path, where we found 1 Chough, and had a chat with a woman from 'up north' who said she was looking for an LRP as they were hard to come by up by her! Its hard to put that into context when your used to seeing them every week. We turned around and started walking back to our viewpoint and in doing so spotted my old friend flying in over the Reeds.

GLOSSY IBIS!

With the sun shining, its metallic plumage at times looked almost silver, before the bird dropped into the area where we had been waiting for the previous couple of hours. We hot footed over there to be greeted with ok views of the bird feeding at the back of the flash.

Having certainly gone through a change in maturity since i saw it almost a year to the day before, back when it was a brown and speckly 1st year bird, it looked almost pristine in colour, with stunning shades of green maroon and blue, not forgetting those orange thighs.

A small crowd had developed, and while watching a small flock of 5 Black-tailed Godwits dropped in beside the Ibis, and started feeding together! Awesome! Mission done, it was time to head for some well deserved supper.

But that wasn't the end of the birds!

Ok, there weren't any birding days from now on, but just a few highlights from being out and about.

31/05/13

The last full day in Wales, so i decided to spend the day with the Girlfriend. In Tenby i found a Rock Pipit and a Shag, the Pipit showing on the Beach weaving in and out of the sun bathers.

Moving onto Manorbier Beach, 2 Chough were the best, and both Gannet and Fulmar were offshore, with an Oystercatcher on the exposed rocks while Rockpooling.

1/06/13

The saddest day, because it was time to head back. However, one thing to look forward to was the Red Kites, and they didn't disappoint, with 52 seen, including a single flock of 25! 2 Yellow Wagtail were also seen in roadside fields once we had reentered the Midlands.

MB