Stubbers Green - gloomy Caspian!

Freezing fog! Not the best forecast for a Saturday out birding and of course the forecast was right, Shropshire was clothed in dense fog! Attention was turned to going out of County for a bird or two to keep the yearlist ticking over....

A new toy to try too - Satnav! So I keyed in 'Caspian Gull' - take me to the nearest one? Do you know what, I ended up North of Walsall at a place called Stubbers Green, got out of the car and within a few minutes - hey presto.....

It was still foggy though and most of the images look like they've been taken through the car window (they haven't) but best I've ever managed of this Gull so far!

Classic features immediately obvious: white distinctly sloping head, that blackish beady eye, long parallel sided bill and long legs - even through the fog!!










A third Winter bird - tail and primary coverts still darkly marked, as seen in these flight pictures.








A brief flight across the road and a chance to see the bird on the water in slightly better light.






Head shape is influenced by the attitude and position of the gull - a single photograph never tells the full story!








Plenty of other Gulls on view, including Common Gulls - an adult....






Plus a first winter bird....






The least said about the rest of the afternoon, the better! Two hours spent at Attenborough pits and a 'disappeared' Penduline Tit - well, one out of two can't be bad! 248 and two to go.......

Venus Pool - Bittern breaks cover

It's always worth a look at the far reed bed at Venus Pool right now. Apart from the ends of the day, it's a very hit and miss affair so far as the Bittern is concerned - for me anyway - until today!!








There it was, on arrival at lunchtime with pretty good light conditions too - just a shame it's some 200m away (not bad considering and testimony to what the 500mm f4 lens can do)......












It's worth noting that a bright calm day seems to encourage a decent view of the Bittern outside of sunrise and dusk.....

Common Snipe are back in town too and there were five in front of the the shingle island. Here's a closer look.









More bathing pics I'm afraid!!

Doxey marshes - White-fronts

I had to take my daughter to Manchester Airport on Friday so called in at Doxey on the way home to tick the White-fronted Geese which have been there for days...

Until now that is!! I'd walked in from the Cresswell Farm Drive access to the hide, it was getting dark (and wet) still no sign. So I had to settle for a Stonechat and Redwing to keep the shutter in business.








Having taken someone to an Airport, the next step is to pick them up again. So, with an hour to spare, I gave Doxey Marshes a try again on the way today, this time accessing via the cemetary......

With immediate success!! They were on the field opposite, associating with the Canadas and a few Greylag.






I realised why they were not always visible - once over the brow of the field, they were completely out of view.








Never mind, acceptable record shots considering they were 100m away (and more importantly no 247 for the yearlist) ....










Then, back to cold, dank, wet, breezy Shropshire and Chelmarsh gull roost with Andy which yielded at least three Yellow legs and two very cold feet!

Upton warren - On the Rails

Whilst the rest of Shropshire's birders were reduced to playing 'fantasy birding' and of course finding nowt. I was otherwise engaged, skipping the frustration whilst in Worcestershire for a meeting and guess what I found there in the afternoon - that's right, nowt as well!!

Calling in at Upton warren, at least there was the consolation of a couple of Water Rails, showing well....












Plus a Kingfisher - now haven't I already got enough pictures of those??






Couldn't resist a cute Little Grebe, having a wash and blow dry.....








And of course, the Bittern didn't show!

Bilsdale - Two bar!!

The drive up to Bilsdale went without incident until we arrived at the location and with quite a few birders departing (it had just been showing well) we parked on the roadside! Now then - Andy L casually unloading gear, queried from a departing (birder??) "Will I need a scope"?

Not the most taxing of questions, eliciting a bit of a grunted reply. Eventually as this tosser (you probably don't realise who you are!) was leaving - out came his reponse. "Your mate needs to learn some manners"!! You'd think with such a fantastic bird on show everyone would be smiling?? Apparently not!

I thought I recognised him*, one of my childrens books?? .......

Now come on Andy, next time (he has been practising) - "Excuse me, could I trouble you, will I need a scope to view this bird pleeeeeeeease??".

Anyway back to the Two bar hunt......

Described as up hill and down dale, the emphasis was on 'up' to the farm.








It was fairly quiet too with no more than 15 birders on site. We waited patiently.....

Here's one of the garden feeders....









An hour had elapsed and I had started chatting to the farmers wife. I've gotta say this - in this era of trespass/bloody twitchers - she was an absolute treasure, a breath of fresh air!

"Is it not showing - you can come round to the back garden where there's another feeder if you like"?

A fantastic lady, so welcoming given the obvious constant disturbance to their daily life. I hope everyone gives generously to the bucket!!

Then, with a cry of "its back", attention turned to the nearby Larches......










After a minute or so, the waited for moment arrived! I'd trained my lens on the feeder and captured the next few minutes of feeding frenzy.....








What an awesome bird and on a garden feeder!! Can you really believe it? Just love these head on shots, wing bar clearly visible...








Then, with the Crosser back in the Larches, mainly out of view in the middle of the twiggy foliage, time to depart, it was downhill all the way.






Two lifers (for me), three year ticks and just another four yearbirds to go.

*I realised who he was - 'Mr Grumpy!!'

And if anyone had asked......

"Will you need a scope"? "Not when it's on the feeder mate, but might be useful if you want a better view in the Larches - cracking bird, enjoy"!

It doesn't hurt to smile.......

Steppe 'n out of County

Hey up, it was about time I twitched again. With the year fizzling out and seemingly 'stuck' on 243 against my targeted 250 for the UK year list, I needed a new bird (or seven!) over the next six weeks

An 'Andes' trip was hatched up late saturday night with Andy L (Shrops) and Andy B (Staffs). Hopefully, the Grainthorpe Haven Steppe Grey Shrike was going to receive somewhat overdue attention!

The omens looked good as we arrived in the area with a Short-eared Owl hunting near the road side by North Coates (guess what, I needed that too!!). After a few fun and games locating the closest parking spot (down Keyholme Lane if you haven't been), we were in!

It was "showing under your feet" everyone reminded us, as we left the car park. When we got to the favoured 'spot', 'oh no it wasn't' - it had decided to fly to a Hawthorn bush, directly into the light against milky white sky some 60 metres distant - just my luck!! Surely I would get better pictures than this??






Of course, this little beauty is a 'performer' and it wasn't long before it flew to the favoured vantage point (which way home?)....










The vantage point became a launch pad towards a earthworm or two and these were duly consumed literally inches from the watching gallery. To the uninitiated, this might look intimidating, this bird was and is totally at ease with human presence!

This 'twitch' has fermented lots of 'anti photographer' feeling on birdforum. Nothing new of course and the odd 'rogue' chaser/trampler obviously deserves all they get! Give them a kicking/shaming from me too! Look at the pictures below though, these birders aren't chasing the bird, just as the majority of photographers don't - no-one moved!










A couple more close ups of this little cracker . Whilst I took most of these with the 500mm, a long lens is not the kit of choice for this bird - a wide angle lens or mobile phone plus a bit a patience would do!!








There was more work to do. Heading North, the option of Pied Wheatear (as yet not seen that day) had now been ruled out? The Two-barred Crossbill had put in an appearance though - this was our next objective......