Shropshire Birder

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

Stow-on-the-Wold - Blue Rock Thrush!!

The 'whatever' Blue Rock Thrush... Whatever the origins it was a cracking bird in brilliant sunshine! For most of the day, 'unobliging', skulking' and certainly giving the feel of a wild bird, then even when it did show well it wasn't for long! The 100's off birders who gathered in the confined estate today, were certainly endorsing it's credentials!

I'd spoken with Ian Grant the previous day and we both had reservations based on the 'rumours' about it's origin? With the morning starting to tick by, we both decided there was no evidence it wasn't a tickable bird and eventually hit the road...

We got parked immediately in the nearby 'pay and display' and after the 5 minutes walk to the residential area, it was showing on arrival!! And just in case I give the mistaken idea that it strutted feather detail to order, this was the sort of view it gave for the vast majority of the time...

"It's flying"; a frequent cry...

... and good news when it chose to perch lower down :-)

It took over an hour before my angst at only securing record shots turned to a smile as it posed low down on the first storey of this house!

And the blue plumage seemed to shine even brighter when not against the sky - even gutter worked nicely!

Nearly all of these images are from a magic couple of minutes when it showed it's socks or should I say clean feet off - no evidence of cage damage...

The was the closest approach and I remember thinking - it's going to fly?

And fly it did, but not out of view, landing on top of one of the driveway conifers less than 10m away!!

It didn't stay there for long and I wasn't the only one to get this amazing view :-)

Initially thought to be (by some) to be a presumed escape, it's an adult male - looking the business and I'm soooo glad we made the effort... 'whatever'...

Thursday, 22 December 2016

St. Asaph - Black-throated Thrush!!

A busy start to the week had scuppered any chance to get over to St Asaph and with Ian Grant having today free, we decided to team up... We arrived at 8.45 and with no sign by then, decided to concentrate on the area over the river (viewing from the football ground side) where Alex Jones had prolonged views the previous day! It seemed like a lost cause as we walked the river bank but at 9.30, a birder excitedly waving from the west bank signalled that the day was about to kick into gear? The Black-throated Thrush was on view and we had clear views of it one of the gardens, for the next hour, the decision not to cross the river was vindicated as we had it more or less constantly in view for the next hour!! Mostly distant but occasionally coming closer...

The initial garden views whilst nothing special, ticked the Thrush for both of us!

Quite mobile, it flew left in front of the houses...

Until on a line with the New Inn pub, anyone thinking of going should bear that in mind as a pointer - it does favour the trees and bushes adjacent to this...

... and the stubble field to the south! (This pic was taken at dusk)

The highlights of the day were two prolonged views from the east bank of the river, firstly in one of the taller trees...

Followed by the most unlikely of encounters as we followed it upstream with three other birders. It briefly landed in some bankside vegetation and then dropped down to the river... for a drink!!

And then sidestepped into the water...

For a wash!! (I've not bothered posting most of these as they were just a total blur! There was no light here and despite racking the ISO up to over 1000, I never managed more than 1/100 sec shutter speed!

There were one or two 'keepers' however and despite the gloom, these were by far the best views of the day!

#Didthatjusthappen

Just after taking these images, we were approached by a youngster with his parents on the bank? "What are you doing" he said... "Bird watching' I replied... "Why do you do that" he countered!

I have often wondered that myself... lol, but this next image sums it up - whether through Bins, scope or viewfinder, this IS why we do it

Black-throated Thrush well and truly on the UK list, quite a day to remember too with the final 45 minutes of daylight spent watching the Thrush in the stubble field south of the New Inn, viewed from the roadside next to it. Quite a view birders were savouring their only views of the day at that moment! It's not an easy bird and we were very very lucky but it is always 'somewhere' in the general area! We spent all day and followed a plan based on the Alex's 'experiences' - sometimes you make your own luck :-)

St Asaph - Waxwings

We took a break from the Thrush vigil and walked over to the 'pharmacy' car park over the bridge where Waxwings have been performing well of late. Just in time I reckon as the few berries left will be gone in the next day or so and they will be moving on...

We had to wait 30 mins and then 30 Waxwings flew in, initially catching flies but every now and then flying down for berries :-)

Here's the best shots from 15 mins of action!

Simply posing...

The dried berries don't look inviting but just like many fine wines made from shrivelled grapes, they probably taste soooo good?

Picking berries...

And occasionally dropping them!

This sequence was the one which caught my eye at the time of taking! Nothing better than that full flash of yellow!

Quick where's a berry, all the blood 's rushing to my head!

Mmmmm, tastes good :-)

Always exciting, always such an amazing bird in front of the lens, I've got 1,000s of images but can always use a few more?

Sunday, 18 December 2016

Chetwynd Pool - Long-tailed Duck

I got a message from Martin Grant this morning, doing his monthly duck count he had found a... 'Long-tailed Duck on Chetwynd Pool'. Wow, that's the fourth in the county in the space of a month and despite my viral throat, I figured a bit of fresh air would do me good.

It was reasonably showy too (for a while) and the calm water was coloured up nicely from the tree reflections...

Another 1w female methinks?

I sensed there might be a bit of a reflection opportunity from the duck as well!

And slowly but surely, it cruised into the calmer water...

Two for the price of one!

Well done Martin, a cracking find! Fresh air and duck therapy, the perfect cure to winter ailments... Now where's that bottle of wine?

Image of 2016 - Shropshire

*** Well done to the Kingfishers, they were the popular choice for Shropshire bird of the year ***

It's that time again - the annual end of year picture accumulation from Shropshire. It's been an another great year locally with three Shropshire ticks for me (two of which feature here!!). In fact November will go down as one of the most memorable ever, for what can be one of the quietest months of the year!

I've selected below a selection - twenty of my favourite pictures (in chronological order) taken in Shropshire during 2016. A local rarity will always (for me) have a bearing on what constitutes a 'favourite picture' but I've sneaked in some common birds too! You can simply select your favourite photos from the assembly - it's always interesting for me to see which is the most popular!

There is a voting box to the right - for this first round simply check the FIVE pictures you like most! (click thumbs to open a larger image) Five votes maximum only please! (Only one voter is possible per PC sorry!)

I will let this poll run until December 18th and then, the top three pictures will be included with more photos taken elsewhere in the UK during 2016. Voting will then begin again until New Years Eve with YOUR No 1 Picture of the Year being declared on 1st January 2017....

Picture 1 - Whooper Swans - Edgerley (January)