Owl (In the daytime??)

11/06/11

All was quiet, it was the middle of the year, and the birding doldrums had started,

However to Birghten up the birding front at Upton Warren, was a gorgeous little owl, which obligingly perched on a post in a field for ages.

(Sorry, it doesnt do much)

A cuckoo was seen to fly into a tree with a proccesion of Magpies.

On the Flashes was 3 Green Sandpiper's, heralding the start of return wader passage.

MB

Patch

5/06/11

I did visit the patch this day to see if the mandarin chicks were still around, however in the week i had been away, it seems the chicks had been predated, and the mother had gone missing, so i left the patch feeling sad about the first breeding attempt failing.

10/06/11

I was dropped off at Blackstone and i searched the area again, And there was loads of activity around the Hedges and riverside willows here, and after about 30 Mins of looking around, i was rewarded by a stunning Spotted Flycatcher Flycatching off an Oak tree, I always struggle to see this bird on a year to year basis, so to have one on the patch was great, the lasr one i had was 4 years previous when i spotted a Juvenile in the Autumn further south on the patch.

The Garden Warbler male that had been singing for week must have slyly Atracted a mate, because In the willows area there were 9 Garden warbler, Obviously a family party, and i was treated to some stunning views as i just stood still on the path. 3 Blackcap were here, including 2 females, but no Juv's were located, Chiffchaffs had started singing again, and The whole area just seemed busy.

However the highlight came when as i walked through a field ( adjoining a caravan site) i noticed a small brown duck in the Goat pen, i raised my bins to see a female Mandarin duck feeding away at the scraps of seed, food that had been left out for the goats and chickins, I checked the wings, and it had a full set, and while talking to the person that looks after the pen, she told me the bird had been visiting for over a week after about 8pm!!

Would the loss of her chicks have forced her to try to seek company with a goat, or has the draw of free food attracted her, as it has done with so many mallards in the past.

MB

Wales- The End

4/06/11

On the journey back from wales, the weather was alot more 'Raptor friendly' and this perfect weather resulted in auite a few raptors.

From Pembrokeshire to The border with England i counted 26 Red Kite, My 2nd highest count ever.

This eclpised the 11+ Buzzard that i had, but tbh, after we left wales i started texting, and so probs missed all the buzzards.

However a Highlight from the journey was a stunning female GOSHAWK seen In a pinewood around Centrel Wales.

A Hobby, and so far my only Hobby of the year, was seen In herefordshire somewhere.

And thats it No more Wales for another year :'(

But some amazing birds to come.

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

Bits N bobs

1/06/11

As where we was staying is close to a military base and a training area, we oftern had flypasts from many military Aircraft, this Sea King flew over while i was photographing Swallows.

And here are the Aformented Swallows.

But it was on the 1st that i noticed that a Pied Wagtail (female) was colour ringed, i tried for ages to read the rings but the views were always inadequet to Id the colours, so when in the morning on the 1st the bird dropped down onto the lawn to feed i took many snaps of the bird, the rings were:

(From top down)

Right Leg- Red then Bto ring

Left Leg- Red, Yellow, Yellow

This bird was seen everyday on site.

Later in the day we checked out a few spots where i visited last year

Carew Castle

We hadnt got out of the car before i picked up a wagtail scuttiling on the car park, a Look at the bird revealed it to be a Male White Wagtail, i Took a few photos of the bird, then wlaked down to the tidal pool.

Which was Dead, only 2 Distant Shelduck out on the Mudflats on the Estury side.

So as we were close, we decided to Drop into Lawrenny, where last year we had a Great Egret, this year we wernt so lucky, But 2 Of their Little Cousions were stalking the banks, there was a good scattering of Shelduck and Gulls and it was while scanning the Flats i picked up a small flock of Waders.

Consisting of 15 Birds, it was headlined by 2 Turnstones, both of which were in summer plumage, A Sanderling run in a close second, which also was in summer plumage, a single Ringed Plover and 11 Dunlin.

MB