2013- The final one! The Year Ender

(Got your attention didn't it!)

Yes, yes, yes.

Its the 22nd of January, but after a month of intense revision, exams, birding and birdtracking its time for some blog work! And do i have an excellent start to 2014 lined up.

But before that its time to reminisce. A previous post has detailed my 2013, one of a mix of contrasts but this post isn't going anywhere near that!

No.

This is entirely about the wildlife!

And 2013 was certainly the best on record for me, with personal records been beaten, new areas visited, new people met, lifers and some mega's seen!

So, what first?

2013 will go down in personal records for a variety of reasons, it was the first year i managed to break the 200 year list barrier, with the year list standing at 207 in the dying moments of the year, well and truly smashing my previous 175! A little bit of car sharing with friends does wonders! It will also go down as the year that, on the days the 'midlanders' gatecrashed Norfolk that i managed to break 100 species in a day, when on a stunning summers day in mid May the crew of 4 managed 109 species, with my personal total being 108, sadly missing the last 'tick' of the day in the form of a Kingfisher! But did i care no! It was a stunning day!

It was in that last paragraph that i touched upon my next topic, the birders i shared the year with. Much thanks needs to be given to everyone who ferried me across the country in the last year in pursuit of our avian targets. Trust me, without you guys i would never have managed to see the amazing variety of birds that i did, including my first ever birding visits to such awesome birding locations as Norfolk, the Somerset Levels, Suffolk, Yorkshire, as well as the yearly visit to Pembrokeshire, or which i made the pilgrimage twice in 2013! So thanks to Neil D, Gert C, Andy P, Sean F, James G and Matthew B for the days out, i have seen some amazing birds thanks to you all. Leading on from that, it is much harder to mention the many people i have met this year, some great people whom i hope to become firm friends with in the coming years, and furthermore to that, catching up with a variety of people whom i have not seen in an age (Speaking from a teenage point of view obviously). So to each of you, a pleasure!

Ok, BIRDS!

In the space of the year, i managed 17 lifers, which in taxanomic order were:

Egyptian Goose (Tart)

Green-Winged Teal (Respectably scarce)

Baikal Teal (Absolute MEGA!)

Common Eider (Tart)

Common Scoter (Tart)

Red-Necked Grebe (Uncommon enough not to be ashamed)

Spoonbill (My Bogey Bird)

Red-Footed Falcon (British life tick, awesome bird)

Stone Curlew (Uncommon enough to not be ashamed)

Purple Sandpiper (A tad common on the East coast, but really not that common anywhere near me)

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper (Decently rare)

Ivory Gull (Absolute MEGA- For how far south it was!)

Little Tern (A little bit tartish, but very uncommon inland)

Pacific Swift (Absolute MEGA!)

Bearded Tit (A hard bird to get locally)

Woodchat Shrike (Decently rare)

Two-Barred Crossbill ( A MEGA this far inland/west)

So there you go, my 17, a somewhat bewildering mix of Mega's, Scarcities and absolute Tarts.

From that list though it really is hard to pick the best, but with contemplation, it seems that the moment that i remember the most was that of the stunning male RED-FOOTED FALCON that appeared in front of us at Lakenheath after a good few hours searching. With half of the day gone, we took the decision for one last look at the viewpoint and within a few minutes we were being treated to stonking views of this stunning looking species as it sped around chasing flies/Dragonflies with a flock of 5 or so Hobby at times down to about 50ft. After that it must really go to those stunningly confiding birds, the female WOODCHAT SHRIKE near Chew Valley lake which at times was showing at around 20ft after unbelievably flying closer to us, a performance that was repeated by the juvenile IVORY GULL at Patrington Haven, which after teasing us for an age in freezing winds, proceeded to fly towards us, before hovering above us in the wind and dropping down at close range to feed on discarded fish.

The most surreal moment goes to that of the day of the PACIFIC SWIFT, a long time planned day out 'east' starting at Lakenheath brought the crazy news that said swift was found and then started to linger around Trimley Marshes in far east Suffolk, the priceless look on our faces when we received news combined with a very quick 3 mile walk to the car, an hours drive and a further 3 miles walk to the viewpoint once we arrived at Trimley made for an excellent chase, topped off by seeing this 7th for Britain, and only the 2nd 'twitchable' bird.

And just to end it all, i have managed to compile and condense a years worth of photos and videos into an 8 minute taster.

Enjoy

MB

The BIG ONE- 2012

Wow, another year has been and gone, and yet another beast of a post to churn out. So sit down, grab a tea, coffee, or drink of your preference (Before you continue reading i may add) and have a browse through my birding year. At the end of the post, i had summarized by photos and videos into one montage, so once you've had a nice read, don't forget to have a watch too.

JANUARY
My first bird of the year was hearing the gorgeous sound of a singing Robin at 4:35am.
The year list took a huge boost on 2nd, with the annual start to the year list and Slimbridge. An impressive count of species was again highlighted by the returning female LESSER SCAUP, now in its 2nd winter plumage. A somewhat bizarre flock of 123 Magpie dropped into roost at Sheepwash Urban park, with also a flock of Great-black backed Gulls and 12 Goosanders there.
It didn't take long for me to encounter my first lifer of the year, a superb TUNDRA BEAN GOOSE at Chelmarsh reservoir, courtesy of the Shenstone birder, the proud finder of the bird. A winter visit to Eyemore Wood produced the hoped for Crossbills, as we quickly found 9 birds. A Yellow legged Gull was briefly present in the pre roost, before flying north to Chelmarsh. With the month now drawing to a close, what more fitting way to celebrate the winter than with a superb 2nd winter ICELAND GULL at Bartley, always a personal favorite of mine!

FEBRUARY
With the success of the previous visit, we again wondered over to Bartley for the roost, and was rewarded with a great count of TWO ICELAND GULLS, both 2nd winters, and both picked out by myself, which i always enjoy. I even enjoyed them together in the same scope view, and have a video of them both together! Also, the spectacle of 20,000 Gulls crammed onto a lake is worth the mention!
The garden feeders continued to produce little, so therefore it was a huge surprise when on 4th, a female Linnet joined the garden list, as it dropped onto a feeder briefly! A great patch surprise came the day after, as i flushed a WOODCOCK in one of the woods. My only bird of the year! The patch continued its run, when another first was produced, with a drake Shelduck, which was sleeping on a snow covered field adjacent to the river! It nay not sound like much, but it is an insane patch rarity!
My 2nd lifer of the year was a much expected one, and one of my 'tarts', when a GREY PLOVER was present at Grimley. Coincidently, a pair of Red-Crested Pochard were present aswell that day, so we quickly mopped up those two species.
Following this, one of my personal favorites of the year was when a FIRECREST was found a Penn Common, a few miles from my Dudley home. Probably my 2nd favorite species following Waxwing, so it was with great excitement when on 15th we twitched the male that was present, and which gave decent, although not particularly satisfying views. Being tick hungry, we then crossed to RSPB Sandwell, to have a look at the female SMEW, which shown decently for the very short time we were able to watch it as the hide closed soon after we arrived. A stunning drake Pintail was also present, and we got the 'toughy' of Willow Tit, a species that is now classed as extinct in my native Worcestershire! Back to Chelmarsh to be treated to further viewing with the TUNDRA BEAN GOOSE, despite having not been reported for almost 3/4 of a month! My love affair with FIRECREST again led me to visit Penn common, and we were treated to absolutely STUNNING views of  the male bird only a couple of meters away from us after it followed a flock of Long-tailed tits. Despite this, the bird was only on view for 15 minutes  before duly disappearing! Again, not totally satisfied, despite the amazing views!
So then i decided to go back again, covering almost 7 miles that day walking to get there, however the rewards were great, as i finally got myself a decent record shot of the FIRECREST. By this i also came to the impression (and one that i still follow) that this was a 2nd bird. I had been watching the usual male with bright orange crest earlier, but after a decent gap, i found another bird, which had a yellow crest, indicating a female. My first 'Twitch without bins' while out with my Girlfriend had us seeing my first Little Egret of the year.

MARCH
Marsh saw the early return of the Avocet, with 4 birds present at Upton. I joined the work party the next day, which revealed a Harvest mouse, which Tim skillfully caught, allowing us all a great view, before releasing it back into the vegetation. Oysercatcher was a patch first on 9th, when one flew over calling at 7:50 pm. One of my rarest birds of the year followed the day after, when a YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER was found in Worcester city. Still one of the crazyist things all year a YBW, in the center of the country, in march, in a small line of trees over a cycle patch, wedged between a housing estate and a main road! That's why we love birding. Its so unpredictable! It is also crazy to think that this was my first Warbler of the year! However, it was quickly followed by a female Blackcap in the same area. The patch again produced a first, when my dad found a BARNACLE GOOSE, which thankfully remained in the area until early April, often giving amazing views! A self found SHORT-EARED OWL at Earlswood was one of my better finds of, what was a rather poor year for this species in the area, as few birds made it to the 'southern' midland counties! My first WHEATEAR was a bird at Penn common, which was found while having a look again for the Firecrest (Which was not present).

APRIL
 The harbinger of spring, the Swallow, was first seen on the early date of April first (No fooling there!). A day out on Cannock Chase coincided with a superb adult COMMON CRANE being found at nearby Radford Meadows, and luckily, it was still present the morning after, to a very appreciative crowd! To add to the excitement/ Frustration, a pair of GARGANEY were playing hide and seek in the channel, however, they eventually emerged, giving great views. It was just a shame my previous camera had broken recently or i could have gotten some decent images! We completed our walk on the chase, which was rather enjoyable, getting great views of a pair of Stonechat. To end the day, we stopped at Chasewater, where 6 RED DEER was prancing of the middle of a drained reservoir  We decided to head into the Wyre, and our though was rewarded with 2 Tree Pipit, which shown well, singing almost constantly. Ternfest 2012 followed, when an evening visit to Earlswood Lakes produced 1 ARCTIC TERN and 27 Common Tern, cheer to Matt G for that one! The same evening saw us at Upton Warren, watching a 2nd year MEDITERANEAN GULL.

MAY
Upton Warren again produced a Gull highlight, when i twitched a 1st winter LITTLE GULL in almost darkness after returning from a trip to London. The LITTLE GULL was again present the next day, but the highlight goes to the BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL that was present among 2 YELLOW WAGTAIL. Although only being a sub-species, it is a smart looking bird! My first Cuckoo of the year followed, as did the return of the Mandarins on the Patch. Mid month at Upton warren was quite productive, when 6 Dunlin were present, oh and that stunning beauty of a 1st winter LITTLE GULL was still there, showing amazingly from the hide! Another trip into the Wyre produced a Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Redstart, 2 Cuckoo, 3 Wood Warbler, Dippers and Tree Pipits. Not a bad visit at all! I was tipped off about the presence of Pied Flycatcher at another site, and we were treated to stunning views of 3 Birds (2 male). Sheepwash produced a Hobby, along with 2 male Green Hairstreak butterflys! I happened to chance upon a singing male Pied Flycatcher in another location, which was a nice suprise, and we had decent views of a Little Owl. Now followed one of my best birding moments of the year, when i happened to change upon a breeding pair of LESSER-SPOTTED WOODPECKER, which i was able to watch carefully throughout its nesting period. Eventually, the pair raised 3 young, which had fledged by the time i returned from my Wales holiday (See june). This alone is one of my fondest memories of the year. The patch was also nice, as i had 3 Hobby hawking over one of the woods for an entire evening. The next day, the first Club-tailed Dragonfly of the year emerged! Later that day, we shot over to Upton Warren, as a stunning adult male RUFF had been found. A gorgeous looking bird. Also present was 2 Black-tailed Godwit and the Little Gull.


JUNE
The Club-tailed dragonfly emergence peaked on 1st, when a superb number of 19 were found, along with 80c Banded Demoiselle, 20+ Beautiful Demoiselle and 3+ Large Red Damselfly. The yearly holiday to Wales followed, and we saw 31 Red Kite on the way as we drove through Brecon Beacons. Despite being horrendously sick, i still managed to do a full days birding, starting with Strumble Head, where we saw a good range of seabirds. Manx Sherwater, Kittiwake, Gannet, Fulmar and Shag. Highlight on this front though was when 3 Puffin flew past offshore. On land, 2 Stonechat, and 2 Rock Pipit was the extent of the exitement. Dropping into nearby Goodwick Harbor  we had a Red Kite, A Mediterranean Gull and 15 Oystercatcher. Onward an upwards, moving onto twitch a long staying flock of GLOSSY IBIS. 3 Birds were present, giving decent views from the famous 'five bar gate', from here, the short journey to 'The Gann' was very productive, as we found 2 BAR-TAILED GODWIT, 6 Whimbrel, 2 Ringed Plover, a Dunlin, and 48+ OYC. At this point we ended the day, and a very enjoyable day it was! The weather started to turn bad, however one sunny day allowed us to have a walk along Stackpole Head. The usual array of Seabirds were here, but the highlight was by far the 6 PUFFIN that we found sitting on the water. A nice range of passerines were on the cliff top, Skylarks, Rock Pipits, Meadow Pipits and Wheatear. a nice flock of Chough were showing well on the cliff face. And that was it, only two days birding in the Wales holiday! 27+ Red Kite were picked out on the way back to Worcestershire, with a nice 'flock' hanging over Llandovery.
Later that evening, i was itching to get back on the patch, and it was rewarded greatly when i picked out a stunning dog OTTER! However, within a couple of minutes  it had gone, and wasn't seen again by me. My first wild Otter! Upton Warren had a summer plumaged Sanderling on 16th, which shown fairly well! Insects appeared on the agenda at Sheepwash, and we found a Black-tailed Skimmer. On 23rd, the first returning Green Sandpipers were watched at Upton, as 3 birds were present. A Hobby was seen over the patch, and a drake Mandarin was showing on the Basins in town. Major flooding was devastating for the breeding birds at Upton Warren on 29th, however, the floods had also displaced a large number of MEDITERRANEAN GULLS, and as we turned up in the evening, we had a flock of 9 birds, consisting of 4 adults, 3 2nd summers and 2 1st summers, which was a new record for Worcester, and also for the wider WMBC region!

JULY
The Med Gull flock still continued to frequent Upton for a couple of weeks after, and on our next visit on 7th, we had 5 birds in the roost, a couple of which shown very well! It was back to Sheepwash, again, we had Black-tailed Skimmers, this time 3, and 2 Brown Hawker, among many Damselflies. A visit to Shenstone on 20th was rewarded with the male Whinchat still being present, which was a stunning looking bird! A rather quiet month ended on 21st with a visit to Upton Warren, where 8 Green Sandpipers were the highlight amongst a small range of migrant waders.

AUGUST
August started with a bang, when a GREAT-WHITE EGRET was found at Grimley, and on 4th, we drove across to have a look at it, and we were treated to very good views from the north end of the Camp lane pits. A Dunlin was at Upton Warren the same evening, as well as 17 Green Sandpipers and 2 Common Sandpipers. Birding was lacking untill the middle of the month, when again, a twitch to Bittel had us watching a juvenile BLACK TERN, which refused to fly anywhere near us. A few days later, a trip out to Upton Warren with 'The Girlfriend' and her Sister was very productive, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 juvenile Med Gulls were on the flashes, as was 10 Green Sandpipers and 3 Common Sandpipers. One of the Med's had been rung in the nest in Hungary only a month previously! We dropped into Shenstone again after a failed attempt to find spotted flycatcher. 2 juvenile Whinchat were still showing in the paddocks, and abit further along the road, 2 female/Immature Redstart were showing well in a hawthorn hedge line  A visit to Slimbridge WWT was again part of annual tradition. It coencided with a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER being found, and soon after arriving we were treated to views of this superb little yank among the Godwit flock. A healthy list of Garganey, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshanks, Whimbrel and 7 Ruff were eclipsed when i finally got one of my biggest tarts ticks. MARSH HARRIER!. We went back to Grimley from another look at the GREAT-WHITE EGRET, which was again showing on Camp Pits, with 3 Little Egret. 2 Black-tailed Godwit were flushed by a dog walker and a Peregrine. A 1st summer Hobby was perched up in the woodland adjacent to the pool. A very unexpected lingering OSPREY surprised us when it stayed for a few hours the same evening, after 3 hours, we had enough, and drove over there, to be greeted with the stunning sight of an adult OSPREY perched up roosting in the education reserve! A Black Tern briefly circled the Sailing Pool before flying off. A Patch Mega in the form of a Redstart was found the very next morning.


SEPTEMBER
September started with an eclipse drake Pintail showing at Upton Warren. News also came out of a BLACK-NECKED GREBE at Fens Pools on a day when i was in 6th form. Once my lessons had finished, off i went on a twitch. It didn't take very long to locate, and showed amazingly well in some vegetation  The next day, i visited with the Gornal Birder, but there was no sign, however, a Hobby was showing in replacement. A couple of days after, we were amazed to see the continued presence of the OSPREY at Upton Warren, which was perched up on posts in the middle of the flashes. The Pintail was still around, and a Dunlin was new in. A week later and we were able to see the OSPREY for a third time as it had now been present for 18 days, again showing on posts in the flashes. The Pintail was still present, 11 Green Sandpiper was a slight improvement on the total. Late month the birding dropped, but the patch produced a fly over Golden Plover, as well as 150+ Meadow Pipit. I was tipped off about a Spotted Flycatcher nearby, and a visit later in the morning produced good views of the bird. They have proved very difficult to locate this summer locally, and this was my only sighting of one all summer, perhaps indicating a dire outlook for local birds? My first signs of winter, a Fieldfare, flew south over the patch on 30th.

OCTOBER
Again, the birding continued to be fairly slow, with little of note, but a visit to Upton Warren on two consecutive nights produced the GREATER SCAUP on both. A large number of Goldcrests that equaled 30 was noteworthy on the patch. A large proportion of my time was spent vismigging for Pipits and the like, producing daily counts of Meadow Pipit, Skylark etc. 2 Golden Plover were decked at Earlswood, which were my first grounded birds of the autumn.

NOVEMBER
November started with a bang on 7th, when a 6th form trip to the lake district struck gold when i found a flock of 17 WAXWINGS in Keswick town center  Always a pleasure to see, and it sure did pick me up out of the recent birding doldrums. Returning back to Worcestershire, a LONG-TAILED DUCK at Bittel was seen, although very distantly. This constituted my final lifer of the year. Following this, a visit to Upton Warren produced a Jack Snipe, a drake Pintail and the recently found Cetti's Warbler. Having bought some new bins we headed to Grimley, where a Little Egret was showing. (A nice late bird). A walk in Wirehill Woods was rewarded with a fly over Crossbill, a welcomed addition for me and my girlfriend braving the cold. The Goosander flock at Sheepwash had built to 16 birds. A later evening visit to Upton Warren had us finding a female Brambling, as well as getting the Cetti's Warbler again. A quiet patch visit was livened with the text regarding some local WAXWINGS. We quickly headed over there and had great views of a flock of 8 birds in the garden center car park with Mark- The Doorstep Birder. We then crossed county border to head to Chelmarsh, where we were rewarded with a wintering BLACK-NECKED GREBE and a Yellow Legged Gull in the roost. I had a WAXWING fly over my Upper Gornal garden late on in the month, constituting a Garden tick.

DECEMBER
December will go down as the month of the Waxwings for me. On 8th, while out on the patch, a flock of 32 flew over my head, constituting only my 2nd ever patch record! 4 days on, and a flock of 9 fly over my head in Lower Gornal. As these were fly overs, i had failed to get any photos, however that was changed on 15th when we visited Hartlebury Trading Estate, where we saw the flock of 14 Waxwing, again, courtesy of The Shenstone Birder. A big birding day out in Worcs on 23rd was rewarded by another patch Waxwing, 64 Corn Buntings, Merlin and Yellowhammers. This day was truly topped off, when a dusk watch of Upton Warren rewarded us with views of the BITTERN. Always a great bird to see, and one which had disappeared for the county as a wintering bird last winter. On boxing day, we headed into the Wyre, where 2 HAWFINCH were showing, just making it onto the year list, and the last decent bird of the year was a female Brambling on the patch on 28th.


OK, So you've had enough reading now?
Yes?

The have a watch of this, a summary of my pictures and videos from the last year:



2012 will be remembered by many as being a very bad year for birdwatchers. The absolutely shite weather over the summer just about screwed up practically every breeding bird on the British list, from waterbirds who's nests were flooded out, to Passerines who couldn't find sufficient food to feed their chicks. This has had a disastrous effect, and the last few years of extreme summer weather has put a significant pressure on local populations of birds. All we cane hope for is that the coming year would have more stable weather over the summer to allow them to have a decent breeding season!
Birders have also complained (particularly regarding the autumn) that it was dire for any migrant birds, and to an extent i do agree, migration did not get going in the Midlands at all. This made it very hard going for us land locked Midlanders, however there was a few gems here and there to keep us going.
Personally, 2012 will be remembered for me as the year of summer floods, resulting in catastrophic losses of a wide range of species nests. We can only sit and wait now to see what the effect will be on the breeding tally for birds next year, however, reports already emerged show a very dire picture indeed.

So there you go people, my entire birding year, i hope you enjoyed reading this mammoth post, and all i can do is wish every reader of this blog a great and bird filled new year. Again, thanks for all your support this year, and sticking with it through inactive times, it has been a struggle the latter half of this year, so to know that i still have a nice audience really does mean alot. Thankyou for all your comments, they really do give me the motivation to continue. Hope you have a good 2013!

All the best
Midlands Birder

The BIG one (2011)

2011,

Although not exactly an amazing year for rare birds (for me anyway) i did have some amazing times, and this post is here to summarise it all!

January:

My year started on the 1st (obviously) with a trip into the Wyre, to see the HAWFINCH'S that were showing, in a few hours i counted 5 birds! The 3rd was a trip to Slimbridge where the year list took a BIG bump Upwards, Many highlights from the day,LESSER SCAUP,2 GREATER SCAUP, SMEW, and nearly 600 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE! amongst hundreds of Waterbirds! 8th was at Upton Warren, where we saw 3 WAXWING's, 13th i found a flock of 42 WAXWING's while on my dinner break at school in Gornal! 14th we visited Stubbers Green and Chasewater, a Cracking Drake SMEW and 7 Goldeneye being the highlights! 22nd- Trimpley Res, 2 WAXWING's were feeding in the car park and 56 Mandarin and 13 Goosander were on the river!

February:

Stubbers Green on 4th got me an ICELAND GULL and a few other gull year ticks, 5th saw me seeing a flock of 10 Goosander at Upton warren (the reserve record!) and 12th i had a Pink-Footed Goose at the same locality. On 15th Sheepwash had 40 Goosander!, Back to Upton on 18th, for better views of the Pink-Footed Goose, as well as the first returning Oystercatcher and Avocet! Upton again for 19th for a Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet and Pink-foot goose again. Also on 19th, we had 4 WAXWINGS in Kidderminster, and a flock of 30 at Finstall near Bromsgrove.

20th Revealed a patch revelation, 3 BRAMBLINGS were in the lickhill birchwood!, A Crossbill and 2 Mealy Redpoll were also on Patch!

21st saw a female Brambling still in the wood, and an increase in Siskin Numbers! Also that day, we paid homage to the Drake RED-BRESTED MERGANSER at Bittell, on 22nd a Brambling came into the Garden, as well as 15 Lesserpoll, 50 Siskin and 20 Goldfinch. 3 BRAMBLINGS were still in the nearby birchwood, as well as a early BLACKCAP.

25th revealed a flock of 48 WAXWINGS in the birchwood for about an hour feeding on mistletoe berries, sometimes in the same scope view as 2 BRAMBLING!

Later that day, we headed into the Wyre for 4+ HAWFINCH, 6 BRAMBLING and 2 DIPPER.

26th there was 2 BRAMBLING in the Garden with a single Lesser Redpoll.

March:

By 5th 10 BRAMBLING were in the Birchwood, as well as quite a large accompanying Finch flock, on 6th there was 14 BRAMBLING, on 12th there was our first multiple sighting of BRAMBLING in the garden.

18th saw a 2nd Summer MEDDITTERANEAN GULL at Upton, and also a stunning drake GOLDENEYE. 19, The Med gull remained and i also saw a Jack snipe. 27th saw the largest recorded flock of Brambling on the patch, with a staggering 24+ birds!

April:

2nd saw my first SWALLOW of the year! 2 Bramblings remained in Garden.

Also on 2nd, the pink-footed goose was still at Upton, the Avocet flock had shot up to 17, there was 8 LRP, a Blackwit, the Med Gull and my first Common Tern of the year.

3rd saw 14 Brambling still on the patch.

On 9th, a flock of 6 Brambling were in the Garden!

Again on 9th, we saw the Med Gull at upton, but joining it was also 2 near summer plumaged adult LITTLE GULLS! 19 Avocet was a huge number!

10th Was the 'Bloggers day out in Staff's' with any highlights, Great Grey Shrike, Red kite, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Wheatear and Stonechat amongst others!

My first Lesser and Common Whitethroat came on 19th and on 22nd we wandered into the Wyre, 5+ Redstarts, 8+ WOOD WARBLER and a male PIED FLYCATHER being the highlights among many Warblers. By 23rd Nesting was underway at upton, But passage had only just started (again) and a Dunlin was on show. the 29th and 30th at Upton was potentially the weekend this year, a WOOD SANDPIPER, a Greenhank and a WHIMBREL were showing on 29th, on 30th while at the Moors pool, i saw a flock of 27 fly over BAR-TAILED GODWITS!!! combined with the single that was still at the flashes that made 28 for the day, a reserve and county (?) record, the WOOD SANDPIPER and WHIMBREL remained, and 2 ARCTIC TERN were on the moors!

30th at Earswood saw 2 ARCTIC TERN aswell as a showy Mandarin.

May:

1st: My first Swift.

6th, i found 9 Mandarin on the patch at blackstone! and 3 Goosander, also the next day 5 Mandarin and 3 Goosander.

7th at Earlswood i found 2 summer plumaged adult LITTLE GULLSand an ARCTIC TERN!

on 14th I twitched the BLACK-NECKED GREBE at Bittell.

An amazing find for Matt G (the Earlswood Blog) saw me seeing a NIGHT HERON at Earlswood on 21st after a very long wait. Cheers Matt

27th: A female Mandarin with 11 chicks on the patch!

(The next bit is over the 2 months but i will put it all in june)

June: on 31st May, At Stackpole head in wales we saw 3 WHIMBREL fly in off the sea! as well as getting out usual wales birds such as the iconic Chough!

On 2nd we visited Strumble head, and saw 400+ Manx Shearwaters offshore, 3 Puffin flew past as well as large numbers of Many Seabird species (no odd species though)

Now came my Highlight of the year, on 12th, i found 3 LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER and i was able to get some superb views over the next few weeks of them on feeders or in Tree's, and the fact they bred at the site made my year! Great Birding!

On 26th I found another female Mandarin on the patch with 3 Chicks, these went on to fledge while the 11 chicks were all predated!

July

2nd: 2 Redstart were showing at Upton, and an amazing flock of 12 Blackwits! On 12th I found a stunning male WHINCHAT at Sheepwash, which i also have down as one of my better birds of the year. on an Urban patch!!

On 23rd a Little Egret roosted at Upton. On 30th there was 2 Little Egrets at Upton, and an adult MED GULL roosted with the leg ring 5P5.

August:

5th Female Mandain with 2 fledged young on the patch, on 6th the female LESSER-SPOTTED WOODPECKER re-appears at the site briefly! and at Earlswood later in the day, a juv Dunlin shows amazingly well! The roost at Upton that evening had a 1st winter MED GULL.

on 14th a RUFF was at Upton.

On 19th i had amazing views of a Hobby on the patch. 22nd saw another Sheepwash Mega, a juv Greenshank! on 26th i twicthed the Chelmarsh ARCTIC SKUA and was left with good impressions of this location!

on 30th I returned to Chelmarsh, and had MUCH better views of the ARCTIC SKUA closer in, aswell as 63+ Goosander! 30th we also went to Upton, where we saw 2 Spotted Flycatcher. Slimbridge on 31st saw me seeing a juv CURLEW SANDPIPER amongst the Esturine Waders.

September:

Started well on 3rd, when i had great perched views of a juv BLACK TERN at upton. On 4th, i caught up with the shenstone BLACK REDSTART on my 2nd try (Good find JK!) which shown quite well! 10th i was back at upton to see a Juv ARCTIC TERN with the company of my Girlfriend, on 12th we struck lucky againat Sheepwash, when I found 2 ARCTIC TERN and a SPOTTED FLYCATCHER! on 17th, i again saw 2 ARCTIC TERN at upton on Amys Marsh.

18th i again popped into Shenstone for another look at the BLACK REDSTART, which again showed well!

October:

A juv RUFF was briefly on the patch on 1st, my only patch first of the year! before flying off North upriver, Another Sheepwash Mega on 3rd with a Wigeon! Upton on 15th had a Pintail and 3 Common Gull (thats a good number at upton!) On 26th, we headed back down to Slimbridge, where we saw the first returning winter visitors, 3 Bewick Swans, 31 White fronted geese, An AVOCET and a CURLEW SANDPIPER were welcomed additions to the day! Our visit coencided with a rare Wheatear being found, so we went down for a look.

The PIED WHEATEAR shown superbly throughout the time i was there! An obliging rarity!, a northern Wheatear and a Merlin were also noted here!

on 30th i saw a very late SWALLOW on the patch, as well as 2 Goosander, Mandarin and Little Grebe.

A visit to the site revealed a brief look at the male LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER after a long absense!

November:

11th saw me seeing 2 1st winter drake RED BRESTED MERGANSERS at Fen's Pool's in the very late evening, i saw a Yellow legged gull ast Bittell on 12th.

On 21st, was overjoyed to see a stunning adult RED-THROATED DIVER on the patch! One of my highlights of the year! What a bird to see so close! (Thanks JK!)

On 27th, i made the trip up to Titterstone Clee for the DESERT WHEATEAR (Thanks again JK!), which shown amazingly!, we dropped into another Shrop's site on the way home, Chelmarsh and saw the RED-THROATED DIVER (same bird as the patch), A LITTLE GULL and 2 Yellow-legged gulls!

December:

3 CORN BUNTINGS were showing at Shenstone. on 7th i Found a first winter LITTLE GULL at Earlswood whcih stayed just long enough for MG to see it!

From now on the birding cooled down, clocking Goosander at Sheepwash and on the patch, although my last sheepwash mega of the year, a Female SHOVELER and 9 goosander.

On 28th 2 Yellow-legged gulls were at Chelmarsh in the Gull roost.

Now i will post a Video showing my favorite Birds/Photos/Videos from 2011, hope you like it!

I know this has been a long post, But thankyou for reading my blog over this last year, it has kept me going, and i can say, if it wasnt you lot, i would'nt be Blogging now, so thankyou guys for your support, and i hope you drop in throughout the next year too!

Thankyou all!

I know its late but i hope everyone has an amazing bird filled new year!

Cheers

MB

The BIG One!!!!

Its here, the year ender...........

unlike last year, i will not chose the best birds in an award ceremony but will instead do a round-up of the best birds ( or highlights) of each month.
so here goes...

January.

the year got off to a blinding start, but not on particuillary rare species..

the first day of the year was spent at slimbridge wwt and by the end of the day 77 species were up, Pintails being my personal bird of the day, followed by the white-fronted geese and huge flock of wigeon.

A nice time on the patch also, with record totals of goosander and reed bunting, as well as a multitude of snipe.

There are 2 major standout birds in the month though, the stunningly close BITTERN at hurcott pool, which was just amazing, totally awstruck... and an iceland gull ( talk about that later)

A GOSHAWK over upton warren, had me really exited at the time but however it does not stand out as one of my highlights, i really dont know why??

A patch first in the form of a pair of little grebe were very much appreciated.

Stubbers green for a gulls day was superb and led me into gulls more this year, a 2w ICELANDGULL topping the month off, as did the 2nd showing of the 3w CASPIAN GULL amongs a wide range of other gulls.

the last day of the month was done in style, with a huge patch bonanza, goosander, marsh tit, little grebe and a huge record sized flock of LESSER REDPOLL got the month rounded off nicely...

(Caspian gull at stubbers green)

FEBUARY..

trimpley Res was the first real birding of the month with CROSSBILLS and a personal site tick in a pochard.

but this was by far eclipsed the next day when i found a drk WIGEON on the patch, one of my favorite birds on the patch where there is very limited open water. add to this the continual presence of a new record of lesser redpoll and marsh tit i was having quite a good time on the patch, and i think i comented at the time saying somthing like 'it has never been this good' and it really hasent.

a visit to my west mids patch ( sheepwash UP) similarly had a large gathering of lesserpoll and a few goosander.

and the year truily kicked off when i twitched a GREAT GREY SHRIKE at morton baggot, which although was a right pain in the arse with the distances it was seen, but it is still one of the birds i remember.. a merlin the same day was also a highlight.

But by far my personal highlight goes to the patch when on 14th it produced a Drk GADWALL on the gadwall lake (named after the sighting), the bird was one of the highlights of my patch year, my patch has never been good for ducks so to get this bird and the wigeon was unbelievable, the gadwall remained untill the 21/03 at least.

A superbly showy LITTLE EGRET at the warren for a couple of weeks was amazing, add to that the wintering bittern it makes a good day, and the warren produced again when on 27th it produced 3 RED-CRESTED POCHARD

(Great Grey Shrike- Morton Baggot)

(Gadwall- The Patch)

(Little Egret- Upton Warren)

MARCH...

An active time of year but again the 1st birding of the month out was the best, a 'big day out' with Martyn Yapp ( aka blurred birder) turned into a 4 county marathon, visiting worcestershire, warwickshire, staffordshire and west midlands county. with a grand total of 73 species.
the highlights are scattered over the counties by Draycote Water had some amazing birds. SMEW, GREAT NOTHERN DIVER, both of which shown very well but the Grimly SLAVONIAN GREBE was outrageously close, i couldve scooped it out the water...

Tamworth was the location that held my favorite bird, 3 WAXWINGS and a return to Stubbers Green saw me seeing the ICELAND GULL for the 2nd time.

the patch was still on fire with great crested grebes and tufted duck along with the Gadwall.

BITTERN was seen again at the warren and 2 LITTLE EGRETS had now taken over, and the years first AVOCETS when 4 birds were seen on the 20th
My first 'summer' migrant was a LRP at sheepwash UP on 26th, and i spent a day in an undisclosed woodland on 28th seeing LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER and TAWNEY OWL.

(Slavonian Grebe- Grimley)

(Smew- Draycote Water)

(Great Nothern Diver- Draycote Water)

APRIL

most of the month was spent abroad, due to a 2 week holiday in turkey which transpired to end as 3 weeks due to the icelandic volcano.

but some amazing birds were noted, infact to many to mention, highlights being stunning views of Male Ruppell's warbler, and getting up close and personal with Black winged stilts, little stint and Kentish plover on a beachside pool, one of the memories that will remain with me forever.

rather than just writing a list i will put a link to the post so new readers can have a browse at what i saw:

THE TURKEY 2010 POST IS HERE

(Ruppell's Warbler)

(Little Stint and Kentish Plover)

(Black Winged Stilts)

(Black Winged Stilts, Kentish Plover and Little Stint)

MAY

The weekend after arriving back from turkey i was back at the warren on the all dayer Getting a 1st summer MEDDITTERANEAN GULL, A pair of RINGED PLOVER (which took a dislike to the local LRP) and a female RUDDY SHELDUCK. 2 WHEATEAR were seen at shenstone a few days after in a quick snatch and grab tick, also yellowhammer.

the patch was STILL on fire adding DUNLIN to the patch list while logging Common tern and red legged partridge on the same day.

the highlight of the whole month however was Finding my own 2nd summer MEDDITTERANEAN GULL at upton warren on the 15th, one of the best birding moments this year.

A sustained presence of common tern on the patch was added to by reed warbler and reed bunting, and upton again produced on 22nd with a CUCKOO and a GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, however this was a painful day as i missed a spoonbill by a mindnumbing 5 mins!!!!!!!

the last few days of the month were in wales which will be treated in the next month:

(1st sum MED GULL)

(2nd sum MED GULL)

JUNE

AS stated above the early part of the month was spent in wales in pembrokeshire, but the planned trip to skomer island didnt happen so it was only mainland birding.

RED KITES were logged on the way down and oddly a little egret was seen near camarthen on the river. the usual coast birds were logged and seabirds were in plenty, CHOUGH being the highlight on stackpole head, a Tip off from Tim Jones about a nearby GREAT EGRET were adknoledged and after a long time we finally located the bird on the estury at lawrenny, however distant, a single whimbrlew was a year tick, a red kite was later seen over upton warren upton our return and on Fathers day for the 2nd year running a stunning female RED NECKED PHALAROPE was found and we were able to watch the bird at abit closer range than the previous year. a BLACK TAILED GODWIT on the 26th was followed on the 27th by a stunning flock of 5 icelantica race BLACK TAILED GODWITS( and the juv was still at the flashes), A HOBBY and a pair of eclipse GARGANEY!!

(Chough)

(Skylark)

(Red Necked Phalarope)

JULY

Again BLACK TAILED GODWITS featured heavilly in this month, a flock of 3 LITTLE EGRET at upton was part of a purple patch with 17 GREEN SAND, 5 REDSHANK, GREENSHANK and a single adult BLACK TAILED GODWIT amongst the CURLEW:

upton warren kept bringing them in with 4 DUNLIN AND 3 more BLACK TAILED GODWIT, HOBBY were seen throughout the month sporadically, on 28th me and my sheepwash birding friend found a LITTLE EGRET at sheepwash urban park, which did cause much exitement among the scene but when you consider the location and that the bird was present 32+ days with constant disturbance from dog walkers, druggies and general chavs that you find in great bridge town centre :)

(Black Tailed Godwit + Curlew)

(Little Egret- Sheepwash UP)

AUGUST

One of the better month of the year. the continued presence of The LITTLE EGRET at Sheepwash on 4th was welcomed as was 2 LESSER WHITEHTROAT, upton had a COMMON GULL on the 15th but it was on in the latter stages of the month did it hot up, A Juv-1st winter MEDDITTERANEAN GULL showed superbly and i got some decent shots of the bird, a Juv GARGANEY was showing and a ROSS'S GOOSE was quite nice to see.

MARSH TIT was confirmed as breeding on the patch and a warbler day...

22nd saw us on Titterstone clee hill looking for a wryneck that a mate had seen but it was a no show, and only a juv WHEATEAR to show for it. on 23rd i picked up a new tripod and headed down to Grimley where a pair of Juv KNOT were feeding, showing distantly, also a flock of 4 LITTLE EGRET, 2 GREENSHANK AND A YELLOW WAGTAIL, 24th was again down the warren and i picked out a NEW Juv-1st win MEDDITTERANEAN GULL which also shown well,

27th was 'THE MOST PRODUCTIVE DAY OF THE YEAR' when we decided to jead down to slimbridge, a total of 81 species logged including 18 species of wader!!!!

Huge flocks of RINGED PLOVER, LAPWING AND DUNLIN, contained KNOT, SANDERLING, TURNSTONE, CURLEW SANDPIPER, LITTLE STINT, GREEN SAND, REDSHANK, SPOTTED REDSHANK, GREENSHANK, BLACK TAILED GODWIT, BAR TAILED GODWIT, CURLEW, WHIMBREL, SNIPE and RUFF, also a huge flock of 80c YELLOW WAGTAIL,

A repeat visit to Titterstone on 29th for the wryneck again failed, while dipping a black redstart at the same location at the same time, however not all was bad and 2 WHINCHAT, 5 STONECHAT, 7 WHEATEAR were nice compensation for the double dip.

(Little Egret)

(Juv- 1st win MED GULL 21st)

(Searching the quarry at titterstone clee hill on the double dip day, it may be sunny but it was cold!!!!!!!)

SEPTEMBER

4th had BITTERN, LITTLE EGRET, DUNLIN AND a Juv RUFF at the warren, but soon the supprises started coming with a GREY PHALAROPE on 1th and a Juv ARCTIC TERN at earlswood on the same day and the next week upton pulling my first yank wader when a PECTORAL SANPIPER dropped in for 3 weeks showing superbly on the 1st day but then staying only at the back of the flash for the remaining time, on the 1st day a juv YELLOW LEGGED GULL was picked out.

(Ruff)

(Pectoral Sandpiper)

OCTOBER

3 1st win MEDDITTERANEAN GULL at my school on the 5th made up mu total of 7 med gulls for the year, found while lining up for my pe lesson.

the contuinued presence of the PECTORAL SANDPIPER on the 2th and 9th were the last i saw, but there was also DUNLIN, COMMON GULL.

A day near bewdley produced 2 CROSSBILL, 2 BRAMBLING, and my 1st redwing and fieldfare of the autunm. Roost birding kicked off on 16th when 3000c gulls roosted at upton warren including 10+ YELLOW LEGGED GULLS, 40C COMMON GULL, 150c H gull, 1800c LBBG and 1000c BHG, this continued for a few weeks before trailing off, a jack snipe was seen and the final days birding of the month (25th) had 4 WHITE FRONTED GEESE at Upper Bittel, along with yet another YELLLOW LEGGED GULL, 58 GOLDEN PLOVER flew over upton warren at dusk and an adult YELLOW LEGGED GULL roosted.

(White Fronted Geese)

NOVEMBER

A total non birding month with the only birding being from the 26th where 3 COMMON GULL were on the ice at upton, a patch visit for the 1st time in months had 8 bullfinch and 2 snipe.

DECEMBER

And again it livened up

on 10th a visit to trimpley res, had a couple of massive sized flocks, 192 MANDARIN!!!!!!! were on the river including a totally ALBINO bird, 108 GOOSANDER, 52 TUFTED DUCK, 3 WIGEON, 1 GADWALL, 2 CROSSBILL, 3 BRAMBLING, YELLOW LEGGED GULL all being logged in 1 1/2 hours. a return visit the bext day had 172 MANDARIN, 50C GOOSANDER, but other duck numbers had gone down, 16 tufties, 4 GCG, 3 marsh tit and the YELLOW LEGGED GULL was again down.

12th saw us at upton watching my favorite bird, the WAXWING, a flcok of 5 birds were watched at very close range, showing superbly,

at 12 noon on th 18th i found a WHOOPER SWAN on the river on the patch!!!!!!!, we watched it for 30 mins before it swam upriver and the snow became to bad to be out in.

26th was highlighted by the discovery of a few GOLDENEYE on the patch, so natraully we twitched them, saw them, but in the process found a bloody DRK 2nd win SMEW!!!!!, it was present for 2 days with 6 GOLDENEYE, numerous GOOSANDER, 14 TUFTED DUCK, 7 LITTLE GRERE, A COMMON GULL and a pair of DIPPER (all reports from either 26th or 27th). and that was my last birding of the year.

(Waxwing)

(Waxwing)

(Waxwing)

(Waxwing)

(Whooper Swan)

(Smew)

SO now reviewing the year link this it wasent as bad as it though will good birds in all but 1 of the months (november), and after 3 hours on this post over the last week ( including 1 1/2 tonight) selecting images, sightings etc i am glad to get it over with, i think it is more effective than last years but what do you think???

if it was a total waste of time please tell me, or otherwhys???

as usual i end with a thankyou, to everone who has given me bird news this year, everyone who has got me birding, people who have shipped me all over the place looking for birds, to thomas cook for the extra week in turkey :D

Good birding and a happy new year to all, hope it is a good year

MB

THE BIRD AWARDS '09'

have seen a few bloggers have already beaten me to this, but mine is in a different format.

this past year i have gone from, well theres no other way to put it, a nobody in the birding world to a birder known to a few birders, i have ammased many friends over the last year and i an superbly gratefull to the people who have guided my though this year(special mentions at end of post)

so here it is the 'BIRD AWARDS 09'

2009 has been an amazing year for me, with many lifers and very few 'dip outs'. i dont think i mentioned it on the blog before but my new years resolution last year was to reach 200 on my life list, and i did, thanks to a 3w CASPIAN GULL at stubbers green(12/12).

the title of rarest bird of the year goes to: the 1st winter GLOSSY IBIS at grimley(6/12) although been closely followed by the flock of 4 CATTLE EGRETS at slimbridge(3/10)

the best preformance by a bird this year goes to: SABINE'S GULL at upton warren(22/8, 24/8, 26/8, 29/8),a very unprecidented long stay by a rare bird, easilly one of the best birds this year.

best preformance by a lifer: 6 BLACK TERN at upton warren(24/8), these birds showed down to 2/3 metres on the sailing pool a well overdue bogey bird.

rarest self found bird: although tough to call i think the COMMON CRANE near stourton (16/10),this bird just edges out the NIGHTINGALE on lickhill, both being regional raretys.

most common scarcity: believe it or not this year i found no less than 3 worcester RED KITES,one over my nans house which was seen 3 minuites after a hobby(15/5), one over lickhill(7/6) this perticular bird was tracked up from the malverns to lickhill(presuming its the same bird) and my most recent record of an immature bird(13/12) again over lickhill

BUT here is the BIG one, the BEST bird of 2009: drum role please, dom,dom,dom,dom,dom........... 20 WAXWINGS at hagley worcester on 31/1, my first lifer for the year and they preformed mega well, showing down to a few metres and literally on the bonnet of the car, luckilly the flock hung around just long enough for 8 birders to connect,giving stunning views, self found lifer after trying (and dipping) 7 previous times on other birds, these birds were discovered while trying to twitch a flock of 170 at brownhills.

so there you go, my best birds of 2009,

and lastly i would like to thanks everybody who has followed or read my blog over the last year, from starting my blog only a year ago in november 2008 it was from humble beginings but now being hugely grateful i have 31 followers to this blog and it is nice to know im doing something right,

thanks for all the comments guys: keep it up

and very lastly, i have a few people to personally thank, foremost the worcester county recorder brian stretch who has kept me updated on the bird news in worcester and on occasions further afield,
matt griffiths, for all the help he has given me on the earlswood area and for the occasional tip off of an unusuall bird he has seen or knows about.
and lastly for my fellow bloggers, thanks for shareing your bird sightings for us all to enjoy, its one of the main reasons i follow blogging so much, extra special thanks to martyn yapp, richard powell and kay donaghy for the invite to the bloggers day out which was immensly enjoyed.

so thnaks all, one on me(thats 2 i owe you matt) cheers

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY AND A HAPPY(and bird filled) NEW YEAR

just hopefully this forthcomming year can be almost as good as last year
MB