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.

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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

And so it begins! Pembrokeshire 2013

25/05/13

I make no reasoning for why i love Pembrokeshire.

Being such a stunning county, with endless miles of sheer cliff edge and great habitats, its no surprise as to why i look forward to my yearly visit here!

Our journey was rewarded by a total of 24 RED KITE, but perhaps more surprisingly 62 Buzzard! as well as a single Kestrel and a pair of Yellowhammer.

Upon our arrival at where we were staying, i bode farewell to the family to immediately start scouring the cliffs!

And would you blame me on a stunning day like this!

And i tell you, it felt great to be out! A Rock Pipit towered above me before plunging to the earth, with Linnets and Meadow Pipit's on the Gorse, and Gannets, Fulmars and Shags flying offshore!

The Mipits in particular were showing incredibly well, actually, down to around 6ft!

 

Once  had reached the highest point above the sea along the cliff, i unfolded my chair, and sat, scope facing towards the sea in the hope of a seabird flying past. Numerous Gannet were the only birds of note for almost and hour, until i clocked 2 SANDWICH TERN flying west offshore.

Around this point i was distracted by a male STONECHAT which started singing and displaying in the Gorse, before flying up for a song flight with a backdrop of Stackpole and Freshwater East. Stunning!

Wanting to move on, i headed further east along the footpath, and quickly found another male STONECHAT, but this bird was acomponied by a female, and were showing nicely adjacent to the track, and with the sun behind me, the scope came our rather quickly!

There are few birds that look more smart than a male Stonechat in summer plumage! Further still, and i was lucky enough to find yet another pair of Stonechat, but this time they were joined by two juvenile birds!

One of the short cropped Cow fields held 5 Wheatear, 3 of which were stunning male birds.

An ADDER was also found basking in the sun around and area of dunes, and a Wall Brown Butterfly was found along the clifftop footpath

MB

Stackpole Head- PUFFIN'S!

6/06/12

Stackpole head has always been a favorite area in Pembrokeshire, a nice mix of birds, nice beaches and stunning sea cliffs. It always makes for a decent couple of hours, even if theres not many birds about!
Over the last few years, there has been a seeming decline in numbers of everything here, so my hopes wernt exactly too high. However, all the 'usual' suspects are still around, just in less numbers!

The weather everyday since the Sunday had been rather atrocious, and therefore all birding time was pritty much canceled! We did witness the Lifeboat docking at it's station on the Wednesday, and a quick walk along the beach in Tenby during howling wind and driving rain lead to a suspected sighting on a Skua sp. However, the views were ever so brief as it ducked in behind a wave, with no bins, and when using one of the telescopes on the seafront (which were terrible btw!) i couldnt relocate it. Which is a shame, because ive only ever seen one skua previously!

On the thursday morning however, there was a gap in the weather, and i had a PAINTED LADY buttefly on the plants outside the window.

Later in the day, moving to Stackpole head, it was similarly sunny, but with a very gusty wind. It didnt takes long before we started picking up the birds, Skylarks were (as usual) everywhere! And Meadow Pipit were 'seeping' all around us.

A couple of WHEATEAR also joined us on the cliff top, and after abit of time, a female approached us, and gave stunning views!

Soon after, we were also joined by the male bird. Presumably a 1st summer because of the brown tinged wing feathers.

What a stunner!

However, the main reason for visiting these cliffs was to try and see one of the Icons of coastal birding in Wales. The CHOUGH.

We soon picked up a flock of these birds calling from the other side of the head, and we soon located then on the cliff edge.

We were treated to views of an immature bird. A plumage which previously i have never seen, which was now fully indipendant from its parents.

And talk of the devil, Here are the two stunning corvids! Glossy black with blood red bills and legs.

And just flying out to mob one of the ever present Herring Gulls.

The birding here is not just confined to the cliff tops. Clinging on to the vertical rock face below is a bustling colony of seabirds, with both the 'common' Auks well represented. And, as we were a week later than most years, most of the colony were in attendance, and we were treated to large numbers on hte cliff faces, and forming rafts below us on the swell.

And it was while scanning these rafts that i picked out a few white faces. Even at the extreme range we were from the bird (1/2- 1 mile) i could easilly tell that i was watching a PUFFIN on the water! Great stuff!
I knew they were here from previous sightings, however, i had never seen one actually perched/swimming, so it was great to get views of them in the water.
We moved along the cliff, closer to where the birds were, and soon realised that there was infact more than one bird here. And i soon counted 6 birds swimming about, including these two birds, which swam on the sea not too far away.

A SHAG was near the top of the cliffs at its nest.

However, i was soon distracted by the numbers of ROCK PIPIT which had decided they wanted to show well, and i was soon in the presence of a showy male bird, which casually stroled around about 30ft away, often pausing to sing or preen.

A couple of times. the bird was knocked off ballence by the strong winds, which made for some odd poses!

We were also treated to amazing views of this bird, whch showed a very ragged tail.

All in all, a very good visit, and it was nice to see Stackpole 'back on form'.Decent birds, ok weather, what more could you ask for?

MB

Strumble Head and Goodwick Harbour, Wales 2012

4/06/12

As this was the only forcasted decent weather way of the week, we decided to make the most of it, and spent almost 9 hours 'in the field' at multiple locations around Pembrokeshire, Starting with Strumble Head, so i could get all the 'common' seabirds at once.
We had planned to visit Skomer today, and a very early get up by me (despite being violently ill the previous day) was insured in the hope of getting over, however, my dad got up late, and by the time we left, it was already too late, maybe next year. 4th time lucky!

The good thing with Strumble, is that you dont have to venture far from the car, you litterally park on the edge of a cliff face looking north into St Georges Channel, and being this far out from the 'main' landmass means seabirds pass at a scopeable distance, on sunny and bright days, very far off. and today was one of those 'very far off' days,
Immidiatly obvious was the ever present Gannets, with about c30 diving offshore, with many of them in a huge scrum above a pod of Dolphin and Porpoise. I dont get very much practise at cretations, so therefore my skills at id'ing them is extremly limited, however i was able to identify that about 10 Common Dolphin and 10 Harbour Porpoise were feeding offshore, as they often appeared at the top of the water and often broke the surface, however, it was a slight shame that the Dolphins never 'jumped' out of the water, which would have a made a good sight!

Eventually, a small flock of MANX SHEARWATER joined the meele of Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and proper 'seagulls'. However, all of these were very distant!
A little seawatching produced very little apart from the mentioned species, hopes of a skua never materialised,a nd despite favorable conditions later in the week, i didnt have any further time seawatching later in the week, which i now regret!
3 PUFFIN which flew past bears a remarkable similarity to a visit to the site last year,in which i also saw 3 Puffin fly past.
However, i was quickly distracted by 4 STONECHAT'S feeding in gorse just below the car park, giving stunning views down to 30ft, stonking views of a very interesting species, and one that i dont usually see in the home county of Worcestershire.
The female gave particularly good views, and i manadged this photo which i was quite proud off, well up there on my personal 'Favorite images' list.

The birds moved about almost constantly (as always with Chats), and with the wind, it made from some dificulties, however, i was happy enough to just sit and watch them, without the need for the scope.

Occasioanlly though, the birds would perch long enough for me to get some video footage.

Acompanying the female was also a stonking male, which similarly, gave absolutly stunning views, in almost perfect light, and with a backdrop of the sea, what could make a better photo?
(Apart from a better photographer!)

It was only when reviewing the photos later did i realise that the bird was grasping onto a wasp in its bill, a highly unlikely food source i would've thought?

The male, was a little lest restless than the female, and occasioanlly perched for longer periods of time than the female.

After a few hours around the lighthouse area of Strumble Head, we then dropped down into nearby Goodwick Harbour. On the drive down the steep hill entering the this picturesque harbour town i clocked onto a RED KITE circling above us, however, by the time we had stopped in the car park a few hundred metres away, the bird had dissapeared, and wasnt seen again.
A 1st summer MEDITERRANEAN GULL flew past, and out of the Harbour, which made for a Pemb's 'Tick', and again, this didnt come back and wasnt relocated. The tide was now rapidly receeding, and the newly exposed mud ment the flock of Oystercatchers were now moving in. Within a short period of time 15 OYC appeared.
In a walk along the breakwater, a single Common Blue Butterfly was noted, but very little else.

We then walked back to the car park, where for the 2nd year running, i enjoyed a superb Ice cream from the van that parks within the car park. Highly recomended if anyone is in the area, some of the best ice cream i've ever tasted!!
With the day having just passed Midday, we decided to move onwards, to Marloes Mere....
MB

Strumble Head

2/06/11

We had planned to visit Skomer Island today, but for the 2nd year running, we were unable to gte over there as they had already filled up the places by the time we were near, so we headed off to Strumble head, where we knew there was some good birding, we got the the centre of the head and it started climbing upwards, we parked in the Middle of think Fog and we had a quick walk of these upland Tracks, there were many Meadow Pipits, but very little else, a buzzard flew through, but the fog was tampering with the viewinf and you couldnt see anything.

A flitillary Sp butterly flew past, but flew into a Bull Paddock and i didnt persure it for obvious reasons, i have still to see any flitilleies (i know its spelt wrong :P)

The Pipits did show quite well though.

We then continued to the lighthouse for a seawatch which proved very rewarding, i had hoped for maybe a late skua as a bonxie had been seen a few days previous, but a skua sisnt fly past.

(I appoligise for the following pics, as you would expect on a seawatch, views were quite far away and photography almost impossible.

A few Kittiwakes were sitting offshore when we first arrived, and many Gannet were fishing, A Chough was calling and a Rock Pipit singing, that was when we picked up 4 Grey Seal popping up in the water.

A few Shags were also fishing offshore, but none really came close enough for a good photo.

A couple of Gannet came quite close.

And the lighthouse just as we arrived, as the fog started to evaporate.

But the highlight of the visit was what we had came to see,

Seabirds, and there was many of them.

Guillemot and Razorbill were flying past almost constantly, and further out, A flock of 50c MANX SHEARWATER were feeding, accompanyed by many Kittiwake, we spent the next 2-3 Hours scanning the sea, and after about 2 hours, the seabirds were joined by a flock/pod/ group of Harber Porpoise, and a couple of dolphin sp, and with these came alot more seabirds, Suddenly we were inundated with over 400!!! MANX SHEARWATER, and also around 50 Kittiwake, i presumed the Porpoise had brought with them lots of smaller fish, and other things Shearwaters, gulls and gannets like to eat, thus boosting the number of many birds that were following the food source.

In the Mayhem, i latched onto 3 Auks flying left (west), Through the scope, it was obvious that i was watching 3 PUFFINS, they actually came in quite close, where you could see their huge bills, however, they quickly wirred around the corner of the headland and was lost to view behind the lighthouse. After this it quietened down, and later we decided to leave.

Highlights;

400+ Manx Shearwater

3 Puffin

100c Guillemot

30c Razorbill

50c Kittiwake

80+ Gannet

1 Chough

1 Fulmar

6 Shag

3 Oyc

as well as sightings of Porpoise, seals and dolphins.

On the way back we stopped at Fishguard Harber where i had the most amazing Ice cream ever, and a Can of Coca cola, we walked up to a pumping station ( or something similar) in the Harber and saw 8 Oyc, There was also another Grey Seal Here.

MB