#The Midlanders are coming! (Yet again!)

25/01/14

The opening month of the year is always an exiting one for me! And it was with great excitement when 3 of the 'crew' from our last #TheMidlandersAreComing expedition exchanged plans to thrash the North Norfolk coastline. Any birders dream!

 

So, around 4am, the journey started from deepest Worcestershire, and having met the other 2 of our crew, Gert, Neil, Mike and me started burning up some rubber eastwards!

 

Our first destination was one of Royal stature, as we pulled into the small, country roads of the Sandringham Estate. Needless to say, the shady atmosphere was on heightened by a number of cars being parked at awkward angles on the verges and the regular slow drive pasts of a number of similarly shady looking vehicles, with many occupants gazing anxiously down the roads.

Our reasoning for being there on those country roads, surrounded on all sides by large rhododendrons was perhaps no less shady. We were in search of a glimpse of the gaudy Golden Pheasants which inhabit the area.

Having sat in the car for 30 minuites, the sun now up high in the sky, and with no sign of anything 'Golden' we decided to leave, as, if i am honest, the sight of lines of non-native hedgerow were boring us.

So we drove up to the coastal 'resort' town of Hunstanton, where there was significantly more in the way of wildlife!

Our arrival was greeted by thick fog, but from the car we spied 2 Dark-bellied Brent Goose on the beach, as well as Redshank and Bar-Tailed Godwit.Having found a suitable parking spot however, we walked the promenade north, where we were greeted by the presence of a stunning flock of around 150 Dark-belled Brent Goose, with their evocative call piercing through the fog!

 

 

 

From the far north end of the Promenade, we quickly found at least 5 Fulmar on and around the cliffs, but we quickly became distracted when the fog started to lift by the sea. Around 30 Bar-tailed Godwit were feeding at various points along the tideline, as were numerous Sanderling, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Turnstone. A single Ringed Plover flew past, and Dunlins were also moving through.

 

With the fog having now, we were able to scan the sea, and soon our list of ' desirble' birds was increasing. 20 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER were feeding offshore, as were a few Great-crested grebes. Good numbers of Teal and Wigeon were flying past distantly, and these included 4 Shoveler, a single Goosander and oddly, 2 Mute Swans! Certainly the latter i was not expecting on a seawatch!

 

Next up, it was further north east along the famous coast road. Holme Dunes.

 

On the pool immediately opposite the car park a Greenshank was feeding, a species i have never previously caught up with in January! The pool also hosted healthy numbers of Little Egrets, Redshank and a couple if Bar-tailed Godwits, with more on the tideline. A wisp of 4 Snipe flew over us and our first Grey Plovers of the day were feeding from the wet sand.

 

 

Hundreds of ducks and geese were feeding in the fields behind the beach, mostly comprising of Wigeon and Teal. The Greylag flock held a single Pink-footed goose, but my main highlight was getting decent views of at least 3 MARSH HARRIER, including one pristine, stunning male! In my opinion, Marsh Harrier are one of the best breeding birds we have in Britain, and i still always get that moment of excitement when i pan onto one!

Bring on the day they're breeding in the midlands!

A single Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and a fly through Peregrine completed the bird of prey list for the site!

Next it was onto the site of our first twitch. Burnham Ovary, where a certain Buzzard was currently in residence. It felt somewhat blasphemous driving past Titchwell RSPB without stopping, but our plan was to take shape!

Our scanning for Buzzards was fruitless, with only 4 Commons seen, but it was more than made up for by 2 stunning RED KITE which drifted in and hunted over 'Gun hill'. In common with the aforemented Harrier, Red Kite must go down as one of the most graceful birds to watch, gracefully swaying its tail from side to side to adjust its trajectory as it sweeps low over open fields, and this time having a backdrop of the North Sea!

 

 A single Barnacle Goose was feeding in the fields, as was a large flock of Brent goose,but with time wearing away, and with their being no sign of our main target, we took a unanimous decision to head inland.

Why?

A long staying party of PARROT CROSSBILLS have taken up residence in a wood just on the edge of Holt country park. However, before we had gotten to far from Burnham we drove past Holkham, where we managed to 'tick' Egyptian Goose for the day without even slowing the car!

 

 With some excellent map reading skills from Mike, we arrived at the location of Edgefield woods without any problem!

 

A short walk later and a small crowd appeared staring into the tops of pine tree's. It took a matter of a few seconds to realise where the birds were, and soon after, we were all getting decent, if often obstructed views of 4 PARROT CROSSBILL as they fed in the tops of the tree's

 

 They really were quite a pain to get a decent view of! Looking almost vertically to see a bird jump from one branch to another! Occasionally however, the birds would appear in the open, showing off their massive bulk, which, even though there were non for direct comparison obviously dwarfed Common Crossbill (2 flew over calling)

 

Having all been satisfied with this life tick, and having got decent views, it was time to head off again. We had to pay homage to the Norfolk birding gods.

Titchwell here we come!

We rushed straight to the beach, which was sadly looking very different to the last time i was here! The recent tidal surge had all but destroyed the dunes, so much so that it is not an exaggeration to say there were non! The power of the sea!

Luckilly however, the surge did not damage the main reserve, unlike the fate of many other reserves along the coast.

 

The sea was practically dead. Around 100 Common Scoter could be seen offshore, and 30 Goldeneye in nice and close, but otherwhys it was painfully hard going.

 

We started walking back towards the Parrinder hide, birding as we went, and the birding soon picked up! A good selection of waders were present, including Oystercatcher, Avocet, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Sanderling, Turnstone, Dunlin, Redshank, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlews and a very good sized flock of Ruff (28!). A single Knot joined the Lapwings on the freshmarsh briefly, but nothing could prepare us for the next 10 minutes.

 

We were guided onto a female SCAUP, and soon after one of our group picked out a nice 1st winter MEDITERRANEAN GULL on the islands.

 

 

Marsh Harriers were circling over the reedbed looking back towards the south, when all of a sudden, the hide was lashed by horizontal rain!

 

 

 

In the distance, a huge flock of around 6000 Pink-footed Goose battled past as the storm grew ever worse, and it was only a few seconds before the first lightening bolt struck the floor, illuminating 9 roosting Marsh Harriers as they were spooked from the reedbed.

 

It was surreal to be watching these gorgeous Raptors battling against the wind and rain, and to often share the same field of view as a lightening bolt striking the floor, a memory that I'm sure will stay with me for a long time! Absolutely amazing!

 

However, just as quick as it arrived, the storm had moved east, and we were again treated to gorgeous clear weather, and a stunning sunset.

 

 

Stunning isn't it,

 Look at those stripes on that hat!

 

If you would prefer a version without the addition of a 'Suited birder', see the additional option below.

 

But no!

 

It didn't end there, we moved down the track slightly, to where the reedbed joins the path, and we stopped and scanned. And its a good job we did, as soon after, our model from the above photo was calling out the presence of a stunning ringtail HEN HARRIER! In the fading light, its pale rump patch stood out like a beacon, and as we watching this gorgeous, rare, and sadly persecuted bird of prey, a BARN OWL flew across and started hunting in the same field of view!

 

This is what Norfolk is about folks!

 

What a way to end the day!

 

With the sun now set, a cheeky Suffolk cider in a nearby Thornham pub finished the day off nicely. 98 species, great company, and great location. That's what birding is about!

MB

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

First day of the new year- Shrikes and Sea-ducks

1/01/14

The first day of the new year. Dont you just love it!

From the moment the clock stuck midnight i parted with the company of Biology revision to spent the next 1 1/2 hours searching the local woodland for Tawney Owl. But having slogged my way around it was obvious the wet conditions had prevented me getting Tawney as number 1 for another year. So with sadness i slogged myself into bed, awaiting the new beginnings of the morning.

And i awoke, at a fairly typical teenage time of around 10:30, and i then proceeded to spend the next hour or so reading. No birds for me...

Why?

While lying awake in the duvet, i conjured an elaborate plan, and my quest for Tawney Owl as number one changed. It was now Great-Grey Shrike for number one!

So, with headphones blaring some overly loud rock music, and with my eyes looking nowhere other than the floor it was towards Bittel.

It was a very hard task, and i managed to get to around the M42 when a sudden lapse of concentration had me inadvertently looking up, and in doing so my worst fears were realized, as a Carrion Crow flew past....

Aggghhh!

So with the first bird now having been positively identified, i went into full 'tick' mode. And soon i had a small but growing list. On arrival at the destination a single scan of the intended field was enough to reveal the presence of the gorgeous GREAT-GREY SHRIKE, but again it remained distant at the back of the field, and after a short while watching it from the road in what now was becoming fairly heavy rain we decided to have a quick look at Lower Bittel, having been tipped off about the presence of some sea-duck.

And immediately upon arrival at the causeway, a quick scan of the nearest Tufted Duck flock was enough for me to locate the 1st winter drake GREATER SCAUP, which was feeding actively.

Slowly the bird moved out into the middle with the flock, and i scanned the remainder of the reservior, where i picked up a female SCAUP feeding in the NW corner, with its white blaze and rouded head standing out very well, even in the driving rain.

Optimism was quickly diminished though by the rain, and after locating a female Goosander, 15 Pochard, 2 Wigeon and 2 Kingfisher among the expected species we took a hasty retreat.

The ever worsening rain stopped me from finding anything more, but with a big day out planned for the next day, i couldn't run the risk of getting ill.

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

Birding run through- Mid October- Mid November

11/10/13

News of a winter plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE at Westwood pool just outside of Droitwich had me heading down there after college as access was quickly arranged by the permit holders and finder (Cheers Wayne!) Arriving on site the bird was immediately viewable, but it stayed on the far side of the pool. However all the main plumage details could be seen, as it floated around the roosting flock of around 70 Great-Crests.

With the pre-roost building, a good count of 10 Common Gulls had arrived before we left, and this increased further one we left.

From Westwood, we decided to shoot the extra few miles down the road so we could also see the pair of WHOOPER SWANS that were currently present at Grimley Camp lane pits. Immediately upon pulling into the cutout adjacent to the gate we could see the Swans, but it was as i took my Optics off the swans i noticed a large bird flying in form the south. Instant recognition and i was soon calling my dad and the other birder who had also just arrived to get onto a juvenile plumaged GANNET! We were treated to great views as it circled the north end of the pools in front of the Wood on the west side of the pits. A few minutes later we watched it climb slightly higher, then flew off SW over said wood. 

In a way i was somewhat relieved to see it fly away, it was good to know that it stood a decent chance of re orientating and heading back towards the coast. At least it proved it was a healthy bird as most that turn up in the midlands are either found moribund or dead!

According to the Patch workers of Grimley, this was the first in its history! So well chuffed with that one!

We stayed on site until just before duck, but the Gannet didn't re-appear. The WHOOPER SWANS however were still showing. 6 Little Egret were showing and a Green Sandpiper flew past us.

12/10/13

The next day and another seabird. A female COMMON SCOTER had been found on the Moors Pool at Upton warren and i was soon enjoying good views as it swam around with the Coots and Tufted Ducks out in the middle of the pool. In fact, it was my first inland Scoter sighting, so it made for a very nice productive weekend for birds!

19/10/13

Another drop into Upton Warren was rewarded with superb views of a JACK SNIPE directly below the hide. Rather stupidly, i had not charged the camera up and it had no battery so i missed the opportunity to get some photos of this species. The bird remained here for the entire visit. The Goose flock was in eveidence, and among the Canadians were 31 Greylags and a Barnacle Goose. 9 Wigeon on the islands was also a good count for the site.

26/10/13

A drop into the Hungry Horse field at Earlswood was rewarded with great views of 489 GOLDEN PLOVER.

,

From here we headed to Upton Warren (Again!). Tonight 2 JACK SNIPE were showing well, but not quite as well as the previous weekend. Here is both of them:

A adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULL was showing with the Gull flock, but refused to come any closer than the opposite side of the pool.

8/11/13

A 1st winter drake SCAUP was showing at Bartley very late on the friday afternoon close in to the Dam but we arrived too late to be able to 'do' the Gull roost.

9/11/13

This eclipse drake GOOSANDER has been showing stunningly well in Bewdley Town center for a few weeks, often giving stupidly close views (Down to around 10ft). I even took the opportunity to take a selfie with it.

After a short time with the Goosander, i heard news of a Wheatear at Barnett Brook. Hoping it may be one of the rarer Wheatears i headed straight over there, but sadly i couldn't string the bird into anything more than a NORTHERN WHEATEAR. Still, a very good record of a very late Wheatear!

From the Gardening jobs at Earlswood i saw 150 GOLDEN PLOVER circle over the garden before eventually heading back towards the Hungry Horse.

Just to finish off what was a great days birding in the Midlands i dropped into Upper Bittel, and i had soon located 2 of the 3 SHAG that were present. Sadly, very distant as is often the case at bittel but a new bird for the region for me!

An interesting Gull attracted my attention for some time, but the light was quickly dropping. The bird seemed to show a mix of YELLOW-LEGGED/CASPIAN features, but again, the distance and the falling light meant i couldn't nail it. Here it is anyway.

MB

Birthday Birding

12/04/13

For the weekend, me and my Girlfriend had chosen to spend my 18th birthday in Liverpool, and it was a very enjoyable weekend.

As you would expect, the Bins came with me, and luckilly, we had a room overlooking the River Mersey, and therefore i often had chance to scan to see what was about, and i ended up seeing some decent birds!

Within the first hour of being in the Hotel, i had clocked a adult LITTLE GULL flying around the River, also 10c Kittiwake (they followed the Isle of Man ferry into the River) and 2 Shelduck. Later than evening while walking back from a beautiful Birthday Steak in Albert Dock, a Redshank was showing on the mud.

13/04/13

Again, most birding was done from the Hotel window. The highlight being a stunning drake GREATER SCAUP which floated out on the outgoing tide past the Hotel, truly unexpected, and a great addition to the list. A Turnstone also flew through, as did a Kittiwake, 3 Shelduck and a Redshank.

14/04/13

After a brief shopping session in Liverpool, where i bought the stunning 'Birds of Cheshire and Wirrel' atlas it was time to head back home, which was livened up somewhat when just after Penkridge, a stunning CUCKOO flew low north over a field adjacent to the Train!

And that brought the weekend to and end, which was a shame, because Liverpool is a place i enjoy immensly. A Nice city, with a beautiful girl and a few decent birds to boot, whats to complain about?

MB

Greater Scaup

12/10/12
A 1st winter drake Greater Scaup had been found at Upton Warren. A very uncommon seaduck in the midlands, and in particular from Worcestershire, as we lack many area of sufficiant open water, Therefore lacking many of the large Aythya flocks that are present in our surrounding counties.
So therefore, it was quite a nice 'tick' to get when a impromtu friday visit was organised. We headed or the Moors pool, and it didnt take very long to locate the SCAUP showing on the far side of the pool. Sadly to say, i wasnt at all left impresed by the bird. It was incredibly grotty (However some adult features were emerging) and not very interesting if im truily honest. But as always, it was nice to study its plumage and state of moult, which is something i always do enjoy looking at when looking at ducks.
 Moving from the West to the East side (in the hope of Jack Snipe) we knew we would be faced with direct sunlight into the hide, sillouetting everything. However, it again didnt take long to find the Scaup, showing slightly closer from this side.

A flock of 5 Wigeon were the only other birds of note away from the regulars.

13/10/12
And we were heading back to Upton for better photos of the Scaup (there really was very little better to do regional birding wise, honest!).
Again the Scaup refused to come anywhere near in decent light, and it was only at dusk, when all the ducks roosted on the East islands did the Scaup join them.

 

 

3 Wigeon, 2 Pochard, c20 Tufted Duck and c40 Shoveler were in evidence. However, the flock of c30 Snipe was by far the highlight from the 'runners up', as they probed their way between the tussocks.
MB