Norfolk Day 1 - Richards Pipit!

I'd been promising myself a winter weekend in North Norfolk and with a good weather forecast for the weekend plus a few good birds around, this had to be the one! I knew that Friday would be dodgy however and it was - really gloomy overcast conditions but I set off nevertheless in search of bird No. 1 - Richard's Pipit, which would be a lifer for me.

Terrington marsh (3 1/2 hours later) is a flat featureless wilderness and it was a half mile slog along the sea defences, which go on for ever, to the 'last seen' site where another eight birders were gathered. No sign.... It had been seen that day but not for a while....

Another half hour of inactivity elapsed (reminding me of that immortal panto line - 11 o'clock and still no Dick!) so we all started to spread out. Eventually it surfaced on the sea wall bank - amazingly about 50m from where it was last seen!! We inched nearer and everyone got reasonable views. I even got some record shots amid the tussocks. A nicely marked bird and what an amazing long tail!! A pattern of habit emerged, every now and then the bird would fly up and land on the footpath giving great scope views. As we tried to approach it would then scuttle into the grass, reappearing a short distance away before eventually flying up yet again....












It was one o'clock before I got back to the car - next stop bird no 2, Great-grey Shrike at Roydon common. This was only 20 mins away and I bumped into a local birder who pointed me to the usual haunts - no sign.....


To cut a long story short, another 30 mins later I was on my back to the car when I saw a group of other birders intently peering into their scopes. Worth a final look - yes, turn again? It was, Shrike seen but very distant and here's an atmospheric mood shot of the occasion.










Everything else now would be a bonus and I knew Thornham harbour would be my only chance of a wader or two before it was dark. This is a 'straight out of the car' site and in a minute or two had Curlew, Redshank, Barwit, Grey Plover plus a other few bits. I was walking along the sea wall path with another 'local' birder when a call overhead alerted him to Twite!! A small flock settled down momentarily, time enough to confirm at least one on the deck before they were off and not to be seen again.

Then, down came the rain, B&B was the next port of call. A couple of pints and a gammon steak down the 'local' was followed by a big keep/delete session. Thoughts now turning to Snow and Lapland Buntings, zzzzzzzzzzzz......

Melverley Green - Black intruder

A fleeting park, snap and run to check out the Whoopers at Melverley Green and all were still present and correct!! 23 in total with 3 Mutes and a kinda ugly duckling in the shape of a rogue Black Swan! Now they know he's different and he knows he's different but that didn't stop him being on the wrong end of a peck or two









We didn't see a single 'Fieldwing' during the trip up North. No shortage here with some impressive mixed flocks of 200+. One obliging Redwing popped up onto the hedge to see what I was up to....













And if you haven't had a Brambling this year? Don't forget the feeder station at VP - at least a couple of fine birds on show.......













Off to Norfolk now for my January weekend session - you can expect a pic or two on my return!

Happy New WheatYear Twitch

It's New Years Eve, the phone rings, it's a TSB offer I initially refused (I'm normally TSB softcore section), then thought - wait, this is too good to miss. Any thoughts of alcoholic indulgence were scuppered and I was tucked up in bed by ten o'clock. Nightmarish dreams of past dips, although I rarely miss out - this couldn't go wrong could it? It was to be a 4.30 am start for the Burniston Desert Wheatear with Rich Vernon, Mike and Rob Stokes - a bit of hardcore, rain in your face, well 'ard, TSB birding!!







It wasn't the best of starts. After crossing the Pennines, in spite of a favourable forecast, the rain came p***ing down (= pelting/pouring - whatever, these are clean TSB antics!) down and down and down. We were amongst the first birders to arrive and became honorary members of the 'locals only' car park (well, they could't have stopped us if they'd tried). Desert Wheatear he we come!!






I did say hardcore. Bleary eyed, we ventured out into the rain and mud!! How many birders have walked this track recently? This was real birding and my only mistake was to to keep to the cliff edge avoiding the mud and nearly - well it was nearly a long drop.... The Wheatear had already been seen and had also already done its infamous disappearing act. So, apart from a few Stonechat to get us going, we searched, getting wetter and muddier until.... RV waved everyone over - it was in the adjacent field. And what a beauty, despite being as bedraggled as us - a little STUNNER. I fired off several shots from the camera (which had now emerged from the backpack), they were awful - no light, lots of movement (Jase you'd have been proud of these). Eventually it flew to the barbed wire fence where I managed a decent record shot. This must the 'most photographed' and usually a pristine bird, as seen on Bird Guides - mine is surely the only one (and it looks it) taken in pouring rain!










A Water Pipit reported nearby eluded us, probably flushed so we decided to head back to the car (a Northern Wheatear was now in the field), job done - handshakes and celebration time. No TVs out of pub windows or anything like that - (there was no pub nearby). It was Marshmallows (Tunnocks of course) all round!!!!







Staffs was to be our final destination but the long staying Long-tailed Duck at Williamthorpe Ponds (Derbys) was to be en-route - we were on a roll! (And my wet feet were about to dry out!!)










This was the complete opposite of the Wheatear encounter. It was dry and there was the Duck - straight out of the car, on the second of the ponds and what did it do - drift straight up to us. I had a converter on and actually had to back away to keep it in the frame! This was awesome stuff - another good bird for all of us and a second lifer of the day for me (no more Marshmallows - we'd eaten the lot)!!















This really is a gem of a site - literally 5 mins from J29 of the M1 - if passing, check it out!! We also added Water Rail and a few more bits and bobs (Rob had Willow Tit) for the year before moving on to Blithfield.....

Then, it could so easily have been end of story. Fuel was running low and RVs fuel guage announced we had 30 miles worth of fuel left. The next garage was.... 'closed', an anxious cruise in Uttoxter found a 24 hour Tesco - we were back in business.

Blithfield added another key bird - Slavonian Grebe (nice find RV) but we all dipped the Black Redstart and Rob was the only one to see the (very distant) Red-necked Diver.

Here's one I prepared earlier....






We spent too much time searching for the Blackstart and it was 3.30 before we set off for the Chasewater Gull roost. We'd therefore blown our chance of Great Northern Diver and Smew (they will keep for another day). But what a surprise we had in store at the roost. This is possibly one of the finest roosts in the country to experience and we undoubtedly missed a bird or two amongst the thousands on show but.... on the ski ramp showing really well we all saw - 1st winter ICELAND GULL and then clearly visible nearby a 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL - what a finish!!

Another one we missed....






A great day, we hadn't seen an awful lot of birds (all of us were in the low 40s) but there was a real quality feel about the list!! Great banter too with at least seven of the twelve hours spent in the car - it's not just about the birding (H/C TSB can count me in). Oh and musn't forget - great marshmallows!! And yes we did dip on a few birds: Chaffinch (in fact every Finch), Blue Tit, Robin, 'Fieldwing', Buzzard to mention just a few - I reckon with a bit of luck these will be gripped back......

Picture of the Year - Spotted Flycatcher

What can I say - well done CD for finding it, thank you SF for posing 'just so' and thanks to all of you for voting - it was a clear winner all round!




Spotted Flycatcher at Acton Burnell (July)

Ellesmere - Goldeneye finale

It was meant to be a Sunday session capturing close ups of the Scaup flock at Colemere but they seemed hell bent on finding the exact centre of the mere and then staying there, so I left them in peace.......

Wood lane was 'peace' personified - nothing of note there.

So, a call in at the Mere before heading back home for lunch. There wasn't anything exciting there but every Common Gull in sight got the once over just in case..... The Mere is one of the best locations in the county for Goldeneye. They are normally out in the middle or on the far bank but away from the 'Sunday Geese' crowd I found a quiet spot and a pair of obliging Goldeneye. Not the most amazing of images, the light put paid to that but the best I've managed to date. They are not easy birds to expose correctly in dull light either - you can't get more extreme than black and white!


















A Great-crested Grebe (one of about 30 on the Mere) was also culling the Perch population nearby. Not sure I'd fancy that spiny fin going down my throat!








Almost certainly the last pic of 2007, wishing you all a fantastic 2008 with lots of interesting birds.....

Colemere - Scaup special

News of a Ring-gilled Gull and an amazing seven Scaup was put out Friday evening so North Shropshire was the obvious destination for a Saturday morning session. Jason dragged himself out of bed mid morning, complete with mammoth hangover but where was everyone else?

Colemere had provided my only other Scaup for the year, a long distance job then but these were visible from the bank above the sailing club.

The seven had somehow become six and they stayed close together for much of the morning. I can't be sure but they looked as if they could be a family group? (posing straight out of the 'Collins' guide)? Adult male / female, 3 juv males and i juv female.





An interesting interaction took place with the local Tufties, three of the Scaup broke ranks and flew over to eyeball them - the size difference quite obvious when you see them side by side.










Here's a closer view of the adult and juvenile males






The juvenile female.......





And one seriously impressive, gorgeous female - she was fantastic, really bright plumage and pure white patch to die for - it was love at first sight!









Finally the adult male.......






How do you follow that - well a Ring billed Gull would have been nice but despite getting to the Mere early and scanning the the roost with John Porter, no sign of it. Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls were some compensation......

Boxing Day - Holiday cruise

Any birding in Shropshire, after the excitement of Saturday's Jack Snipe was always going to be an anticlimax. I opted for a general look around, cruising here and there with a few pictures recorded on the way

Acton Burnell yielded plenty of woodland birds, Goldcrest, Nuthatch and Treecreeper in particular. A Common Buzzard at Cressage - looking like he'd found a Turkey or two?....










Venus Pool had 'common' birds aplenty including 36 Tufted Ducks, the highest count for me recently. Plenty of 'Christmas' family squabbles amongst the Greylags too! A dapper male Pintail too.









Brief stop at Chelmarsh which was 'back to normal'. Paul King was there, hoping for lightning to strike twice (it hadn't when I left). A few Siskins around including this nice male but nothing else of note, so off to Priorslee (via Dudmaston - which was 'Smewless')









Priorslee was pretty quiet on the Gull front so with Chasewater 30 minutes aways and recent reports of a male Smew, I decided to give this a go. Time was short and I didn't have enough of it to walk to the North bank (Smew sadly not found) but I did find the two Great Northern Divers still in Fly bay. One of them appeared to have some ? fishing line dangling out of it's bill - see bottom pic (also present in a few other shots of the same bird). A couple of Goosanders kept them company for a short while, their departure signalled mine.....