Upton Warren - Grey Phalarope

I was nearly tempted into counting the Greylag Geese and other desperate measures to to stop me dozing off! Venus Pool was looking ‘settled’ for the day and with Upton Warren just down the road, a decent bird showing (year tick too), I opted for another awayday!

Can’t say I’ve ever been in the ‘feeder hide’ before (imagine a garden shed on legs) but can just imagine the scenes of mayhem if there was a national rarity only viewable from here! Nevertheless, a Grey Phalarope isn’t going to bring the crowds out and it was a tick on arrival with the bird best viewed from here, albeit at a distance! Record shot duly followed.....






Constantly harassed by the Gulls if it dared stray from the Northern end of the scrapes, I had one brief closer chance in front of the main hide mid morning. It didn’t last though!








I stuck it out for three hours but had to call it a day then. The only compensation was some distant flight shots....










With the Seaforth Wilson’s in the bag from earlier in the year, adult and juv Red-necked, this Grey clinches all three Phalaropes for the year! I’m off to Devon on the talk scene later this week so hopefully a few more good birds will put in an appearance?

Fairhaven Lake - Red-necked Phalarope

With news of an obliging Red-necked Phalarope and a possible ‘photo call’, Yvonne didn’t need much convincing that a day out of Shropshire ought to be beckoning? With Blackpool tower on the skyline we were soon up in Lnacashire - Fairhaven lake in Lytham to be precise.

A gallery of birders and ‘lenses’ was immediately apparent so we joined those assembled.






Close up feather detail was not going to be an option as the Phalarope had stuck like glue, picking flies off the water surface, cruising up and down close to the bank of the North?? Island. Other than flights to and from the other side, nothing was going to break this habit!






Here he comes.......












The bird was a juvenile and there were quite a few comments how similar it is in appearance to a juvenile Grey Phalarope. Key differences were easily seen at close range…..

The very thin all black bill and head with solid black cap, white stripes on the mantle/scapulars.....








I didn’t expect flight photography to be on the agenda but with the Red Arrows performing overhead, I have to say that aviation photography is a tad easier than birds!






The Phalarope also got involved at low level (no coloured smoke sadly!) I opted for (pre) manual focus on the likely flight line when it flew back into view. Despite the distance and persistent rain now falling, I got one or two keepers from using this technique!






And finally, Red-necked Phalaropes are small - Dunlin size at most, nice comparison with a Mallard.....






If the Upton Warren Grey Phalarope sticks overnight, might be worth a look?

New Brighton - Leach's Petrels

The Wirral coast is capable of producing some of the best possible birding action and one spectacle I've been dying to witness is the aftermath of a big blow during the Autumn passage period. Leach's Storm Petrels are heading South right now and strong South Westerly winds push them near to land. As the wind veers to the West / North West they get funnelled into the Wirral area and many find shelter in the Mersey estuary. Provided the winds stay strong, the morning session should see the birds leaving (or trying to leave) the river mouth, with a few lingering in the area.....

A day off work beckoned and I got to New Brighton first thing, joining a crowd of 'Petrel watchers' sheltering in the lee of Fort Perch Rock. The previous two days had seen the best of the action but there were at least six Petrels on show not far out.






I wandered down to the water on the ebbing tide....






It was a bit of a wait for one to come close enough for photography but eventually I struck lucky...






Amazing action with birds within 50m of the shore!










Using the wind is simply a 'breeze' for Petrels, they simply glide into the troughs, dancing on the water in search of morsels of food?






Perhaps the most amazing sight of the day was one Petrel who decided to fly over the sand!








Wonder what this golden sprinkly stuff is like to dance on?








Ouch - that hurts - sticking to water next time....










An Arctic Skua, Manx Shearwater, Guillemot, Common, Sandwich and Arctic Terns were also seen. Even a Curlew trying his luck in the surf!






The incoming tide and easing wind strength meant little of note after 5.30 but what a day!






By the end of the day I had 'sussed' tactics for this sort of situation out. A 300mm lens is not much use back in the car boot! I'll be ready next time! Who know's how long I'll have to wait though....

Shropshire Corncrake!!

An intriguing post hit 'Shropshire Birds' yesterday evening - a Corncrake had been collected and added to the list of a local Telford moggy....

Sadly and not surprisingly, the bird was not in the best of health and after a trip to a local vet, the bird ended up at the Cuan House Wildlife resue centre. A positive ID had already been obtained but Geoff Holmes asked me to nip over and take a picture of the bird - 'for the record'.

You might think this would be easy but in a dimly lit room and with the cage door briefly held ajar at 1/4 sec hand held with no flash of course, I didn't fancy my chances. Here is the result - one juvenile Corncrake.....






It was not to be a happy ending however. A planned release Wednesday evening never happened as the bird died during Tuesday night. How long before one turns elsewhere I wonder, as Martin George so aptly put - the challenge is now to find one - without the aid of a cat!

More from Chelmarsh......

A quick call at Chelmarsh this morning and it was a bit busy there due to a ringing session - amazingly the two Curlew Sandpipers were unperturbed so it would have been rude not to take some more pictures?






I've had a bit of feedback about the nice 'reflections' couldn't help taking some more!








A Dunlin was keeping the Curlew Sandpipers company, he will have to grow his legs a little bit to try and and keep up with them!






Shallower water, that's what is needed...








A juvenile Water Rail was creeping about in the nearby reeds, occasionally flitting across in front of me and lingering at the edge once or twice.....








A chance to see evolution in progress too as the local Mallards take the first steps from being 'dabblers' to seed feeders. In a short while (well, a few tens of thousand years or so) we'll see this strain adapted with longer necks and bills adapted for crushing seed?

Did I catch the moment it all began? It just takes one.....






Then another.....






And another.....






Apologies for delays in posting at present, I try and keep everying moving in chronological order but the 'talk season' is upon me and it gets a bit frantic....

Chelmarsh - Curlew Sands!!!

So far as Shropshire is concerned any additions to the 2010 yearlist are going to be classy birds and I was hoping for something special today? There was nothing happening at Venus Pool when the mobile rang at 8.45.....

......next stop was going to be Chelmarsh scrape ASAP with news from Yvonne of TWO probable Curlew Sandpipers and the first 'emergency response' for 'JET' my new Megane!

On arrival, the two waders were indeed most definitely Curlew Sands and amazingly, feeding frantically in front of the hide! Trying to capture two waders, with all the depth of field constraints is not an easy matter but these are the pick of many attempts!!








The close they came, the harder it was to keep both in focus....






Next challenge was to concentrate on one bird and hope for some sharp quality. They were feeding in such a frenzy, it was difficult to catch moments when the bill wasn't entirely submerged or a completely blurred!

The birds enclosed by their own ripples.....








Close up with all the key features on show. The long evenly decurved bill, scaly uniform plumage and prominent supercilium. These are juvenile birds with the charactersitic peachy wash across the breast and 'fresh' plumage.....












All of the above images were taken during the first 20 minutes or so. After that, they spent most of their time up by the island at the other end of the scrape!

One of my favourite images from the day, not a close up by any means but a brief pause from feeding/preening....






Wonder what's next?- Pec Sand before too long and hopefully at VP this time!