Venus Pool - Green Woodpecker

The last few days have turned up three fantastic Shropshire birds, two of them County lifers. Having had three goes at the Chelmarsh Arctic Skua, I decided to 'pass' on improving my record shots of that one today and checked the Meres instead (I won't bore you with what I didn't see!) The Spotted Redshank remained at VP plus supporting cast of waders was an exact re-run of Saturday and they all remained distant.

I can't remember when I had a decent opportunity of 'feather detail' recently but all that was about to change with a juvenile Green Woodpecker strutting his stuff on a fence post in front of me! The whole sequence lasted a minute or so - here are the highlights.....

The arrival.....





A bit of a fidget followed by a game of peekabooo....









Showing off his greenery...





Before building up to a raucous crescendo of call....





Then gone!

Venus Pool - Spotted Redshank

There aren't many in a year but this was definitely a VP day and the North bay (which has been looking awesome for a while) turned up the goods! 2 Greenshank, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 3 Ruff but no doubt at all about the star of the show......

This long awaited County (for me anyway) Spotted Redshank!

The water is pretty distant from all the hides right now but it was showing pretty well from the North hide!



Things got even better as it walked closer....



And closer.....



Admiring it's own reflection?



Having the decency to choose a patch of 'darker' water in front of the hide and somehow managing to avoid the electric fence being in the way!











A bit repetitive as I can't decide which images I like best - you can't have too much of a good thing though.....

Chelmarsh - Skua sticking!

An awful day on the road today with a taxi run to Bath and back (eating 7 hours out of the day!) An early call at VP provided 2 Ringed Plovers, 4 Green Sandpiper plus 1 Common Sand. The Cormorant count was up to 42 yesterday and they are not the only feathered fiends having a fish takeaway!



With news of the Arctic Skua sticking, I had another evening visit and it came a little closer to the bank (a bit more of a crop too!)







Martyn really is on a roll, picking up another excellent bird today - this juvenile Black-necked Grebe, now I really am pushing this next image in the record shot stakes.....



Great birds - it would be really nice to have a closer encounter
in good light though!

Chelmarsh - ARCTIC SKUA !!

I’m not sure when I’ve shot out of the door from work so quickly, passed so many cars on the Cressage straight or skipped any thoughts of ‘what’s for tea’? The reason? News of an Arctic Skua at Chelmarsh reservoir!! A Skua is an awesome turn up for little old Shropshire and when old hands Andy Latham and Rob Stokes were rubbing their hands smiling, you were left in no doubt about the credentials of this ‘find’. The finder? Martyn Owen - during a routine check of the reservoir and scrape then getting news out quickly – nice one Martyn!!!

Sadly given the distance of viewing, record shots only in the rain and gloom but I’ve uploaded bigger images than usual to celebrate! Remember to click on them!
On my list then with the Skua sat out in the middle....



Eventually moving closer after mugging a Gull virtually overhead, the trees meant I couldn’t lock onto that moment!



Another take off with one thing in mind – the regurgitated last meal of a Lesser Black-backed Gull!







What they lack in size, Arctic Skuas make up for in sheer aggression and persistence. Chasing remorselessly.....





Like a fighter pilot locking onto his quarry...



.....until the food is thrown up as an act of surrender (these tasty morsels were all part of this sequence, consumed in mid air!!)



Crop now bulging, back for another spell on the water.



The excitement and uncertainty of birding summed up by this juvenile, way off track and on the (very) short list for Shropshire bird of 2011! A real show off too, giving the small group of birders assembled one of the most entertaining Shropshire evenings of 2011.



Goodnight.....



OMG, forgot I'd missed my tea - hmm, fish and chips coming up (not Skua style)

Barnsley Warren - Adonis Blue

One of the butterflies I really wanted to see this year was Adonis Blue and with a second hatch due to be on the wing, Rob Stokes joined me on a trip to Gloucs...

Barnsley Warren to be precise, just North of Cirencester, a site more noted for the stands of Pasque flower but hosting a pretty good Butterfly population too! Adonis Blue are found here at one of the most Northerly outposts of their range.....



We checked out both slopes and the first hour of searching in dull conditions turned up this one lone and very sad looking individual! It might have got onto my list but I think a fresher one was called for!



Same butterfly and the underwing was not showing so much signs of wear.



As soon as the sun appeared so did one or two more Adonis! We only saw four or five individual males, they were so showy - we kept picking out the same individuals!

Here's the freshest of the day.....



That gorgeous blue upperwing......





A very brief sighting of a female (sorry about the grass - no time to compose this one).....





These last two images sum up the beauty of the Adonis Blue - as the wings tilt in sunlight, the colour changes to an electrifying iridescent shade - the camera doesn't really do it justice but hopefully you can see what I mean!





We also saw Brown Argus, Brimstone, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown and at lunch time, a move to adjacent Worcs. was on the cards for a Damselfly I'd not seen before.....

Mythe Pool - Small red eye!

Just outside Tewkesbury, the Mythe Pool is a small fishery where Rob had recently heard news of - then seen, Small Red-eyed Damselfly. First problem it was full of (not surprisingly) fishermen. Second problem, the sun was shining and the only angle you could view the water/lily pads was directly into the light! Strictly record shots then and I was pleasantly surprised to find can actually see enough detail in these images.....

As a perfect comparison, Red-eyed Damselfly were also present, here's an obliging male



Small Red-eyed Damselfly were as the name implies VERY small and the abdomen is significantly narrowed and slightly tapered. The most obvious feature, apart from size is the blue side to segment 8 (black in Red-eyed)



Another one for the list then and it's only a matter of time before these are found in Shropshire. First discovered in Essex as recently as 1999, their rapid spread throughout the UK has been simply phenomenal as they have spread both North and West since. Hmm, I'm driving down the M5 next Friday, if the weather is OK I might just stop again and try to get some decent images - with the light behind me!

Venus Pool - But is it sport?

I used to be a mad keen match angler in the bygone age of my youth so I'm not about to enter the 'angling' argument fray. Fishing is not allowed at VP of course, rod and line that is.....

I counted 39 Cormorants the other day and a similar number have been hanging about recently with one aim in mind - fishin! The low water has concentrated the fish quite a bit too so put a line of a dozen or so of them together, with others swapping places from the rear, the effect is that of a winged trawler, hoovering up the small to medium size fish population!

Here they come - just part of the 'gulp' *.....








And there they go.....





Squabbling fighting, it's every Cormorant for himself!







The one that got away?



* todays interesting fact - it's a gulp of Cormorants.....