Eurotrip

I've just had a most enjoyable weekend on the near-continent in the company of James Shergold and Harry Murphy. Our quarry was a mixed bag of distasteful introduced species and some altogether more appealing Continental specialities. On paper, I guess you'd have to say that the highlight of the weekend was the wintering Wallcreeper in Dinant, Belgium - after a fair old wait, we were treated to some excellent views of this brilliant bird as it alternated between the cliffs and the Palais de Justice. At one point, it even disappeared under the eves for as long as ten minutes before resurfacing! After seeing Wallcreeper at about a mile's range at Les Baux last March, it was great to finally see the species well.

I suppose I shouldn't be admitting to this, but I did get just as much of a buzz out of some of the introduced birds seen over the weekend. Our first stop on Saturday morning was Forêt d'Hesdin, where about a dozen Reeves's Pheasants were seen. Most were females, like this one:

We did see a couple of absolutely glorious males, including this one which briefly posed well for photos before scampering off in to the forest...

With the pheasant and Wallcreeper safely in the bag by mid-afternoon on Saturday, we decided to try a few woodlands in southern Belgium in the hope that we might be able to turf out Middle Spotted Woodpecker. And that we did without too much difficulty thanks to James' sharp eyes - a tick for Harry, as was Short-toed Treecreeper.

A successful first day was capped off with a few beers and fantastic tapas in a hotel near Utrecht. Leaving Harry - a testosterone-fuelled teen - to head off in to the night in search of local Dutch girls, James and I retired to the room for a good night's sleep - very much needed after a long day. Fortunately Harry returned in one piece, and was even up for our early start. Heading over to the east side of Utrecht, we met up with Thierry Jansen and friend who kindly showed us to a Black Woodpecker territory. It didn't take long before we were treated to good views of a male set to the backdrop of overflying White-fronted Geese and singing Woodlarks. Not a bad start to the day!

After this it was a case of 'eyes on the prize' as we re-focussed on two introduced species - Bar-headed Goose and Black Swan. The former was easily encountered near Culemborg while a pair of the latter were seen not far from Vianen, a third swan later seen in fields near Strijen.

Fortunately these were interspersed with more recognisable quality - namely a flock of Lesser White-fronted and many hundreds (thousands) of both European White-fronted and Barnacle Geese, plus Goshawk, Merlin, Med Gulls, Hawfinches and plenty more besides.

After dipping the Long-legged Buzzard at Maasvlakte we began the long drive south, calling in for these boys on the way - the less said about them, the better.

And so that rounded off a fine weekend on the European mainland. It was an excellent reminder of how much better birding can be just across the Channel and, even with the Cat Cs now safely planted on my Western Palearctic list, I'd happily return and do it all again. Very much cheap and cheerful, with some great birds to boot. It's my intention to produce a fuller trip report with GPS for some of the more interesting species (Reeves's, woodpeckers etc) in the coming weeks, so watch out for that.

White goose spectacular

Prior to leaving, we'd all agreed that one of the primary aims of the trip would be to see the large flocks of snow geese that winter around California's central valley. And boy, they didn't disappoint! First taster was a flock of a few thousand Snow Geese seen by route 12, south of Sacramento and east of Rio Vista. There were a few hundred each of Pacific White-fronted and Ross's Geese mixed in as well as a couple of Aleutian Cacklers and a scattering of Sandhill Cranes to complete the scene:

Forcing ourselves away, we continued south towards Merced NWR, taking in a fabulous flock of sixteen Mountain Plovers along the intriguingly-named Sandy Mush Road as well as the odd American Kestrel along the way.

The weather had turned pretty foul by the time we reached Merced, but the Ross's Geese more than made up for it. Many thousands were in fields north of the reserve and, an hour or so before dusk, they all took to the air in a quite amazing spectacle - we estimated 30,000+ Ross's along with several hundred White-fronts and a handful of Snow as well as three-figure numbers of Sandhill Cranes. Add to that the thousands of waterbirds littered across the floods and it made for quite a special few hours, despite the wind and rain.

Over at the nearby San Luis these American White Pelicans also provided a nice distraction from the geese, as did a few Cat C Tule Elk.

Red-breasted Goose

Through bleary eyes and with a bit of a duff head, I rolled out of bed at 06:30 this morning and drove down to Pagham. On arrival there at around 08:45, Alan Lewis informed me that the Hooded Merganser hadn't been seen and he was heading off to Farlington to look for the Red-breasted Goose. With the drizzle continuing, I decided against wasting time stood on the North Wall and decided to follow suite and head west.

The weather had improved a tad on arrival at Farlington and, although overcast, it had stopped raining and was actually reasonably mild. Alan and I walked around to the east side of the reserve and soon located the Red-breasted Goose showing with around 150 Dark-bellied Brents in fields by the sea wall.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to put my camera in my bag on leaving London this morning, and thus it wasn't surprising to find the goose performing outrageously well. I did have my iPhone, though, and the shots below were taken via hand-held 'iPhoneScoping'. Not too bad really.

The only Red-breasted Geese I'd seen in Britain previously were a couple of adults that spent time in Lincolnshire then Norfolk six winters ago. I had some pretty good views of them up at Saltfleet, although nothing quite like this one. Among a trusting pack of Dark-bellied Brents, the bird came within 30m of us over the ninety minutes we watched it - close enough that optics weren't necessary to enjoy satisfactory views! Some of the Brents were showing to half that distance - crazy birds.

So, despite the 'disappointment' of the merganser disappearing, it actually turned out to be a pleasant few hours down on the south coast. Nice to see Alan and nice to be out of West London.

Quiet 15th, crazy 16th

Another couple of days to report back on. Yesterday (Monday 15th) proved a difficult day. I started in the Lighthouse Valley with PAC and Eric; we had 'my' Red-eyed Vireo from GWW day, but little else. Climbing out the valley, we were greeted by a text suggesting a possible Mourning Warbler in da Ponte. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the day there - no MW, and not much else to rave about.

Today was much more promising. Many went back to da Ponte for second helpings of the MW dip. I continued on to Fojo, and spent the morning walking up and down the slopes about the picnic area. In four hours of staring a dense laurels, I saw precisely nothing so headed up and out of the wood and on to the lighthouse road. Meeting Ernie Davis, we decided to work the upper part of Poco d'Agua and see what happened. Absolutely nothing, to be precise! Although both Hannu and Ernie saw a thrush with a red tail, which we will all check out tomorrow morning.

I decided to head towards the reservoir, working the upper parts of Lapa as I headed there. Nothing in Lapa, but 9+ White-rumped Sandpipers and 2 Semipalmated Plovers bombing around the reservoir. Finally, Hannu located the Solitary Sandpiper showing well on the small muddy patch of the north side of the reservoir which eventually showed to two metres..!

Hannu and the Solitary.

My heart sunk shortly after when Vincent and Pierre found a Common Yellowthroat in the yams at the top of Lapa; I'd walked this spot just an hour before and had nothing but a Snipe - bollocks! Decided to head back down and try it out, while PAC went up towards the reservoir. After a few minutes there was a loud 'tsiip' and Vincent and I were expecting the yellowthroat to pop back out. No sign, so I walked up the valley and pished - bang! Small warbler with white spots in the outer tail feathers... it lands... fuck! Northern Parula! I was more relieved than anything, being happy just to have finally found something decent out here. The bird was mobile, although showed well on and off over the following couple of hours.

Back down in the village, Gordon, Ernie and I set out on an evening lap of the airfield to see if anything turned up. One of the gulls hanging in the wind over the west end of the airfield this evening proved to be a messed up, near-adult Herring-type - further scrutiny when it finally landed on some rocks (after floating around on the sea with wings open, looking half dead!) showed plenty of features suggestive of American Herring Gull - which it must be, given the weather. As we watched this bird, Ernie radio'd with news of a Canada Goose flying west towards us from the windmills! Sure enough, the goose flew over our heads shortly afterwards, before turning back and heading out to sea to the southeast. Looking at the size and structure (as well as dark breast) it looks a decent candidate for interior (Todd's), not too dissimilar to the bird I found in Co. Mayo in January.

Knackered smiths and big breakers

Digibined record shot; note the mantle colour looks so dark as the bird is soaked!

Presumed Todd's flying around over the airfield.

In the meantime, Gordon had found a moribund teal species by the windmills and had a Laughing Gull fly past! Vincent and I headed round for the teal, which I was easily able to pick up and put in my pocket. Although far from an obvious candidate, it looks likely thay this bird is a female Green-winged Teal (not surprising given the weather), although we'll take some feathers for DNA analysis to make sure either way. I took the bird down to the SPEA girls, who will rest it overnight and let us know how it is in the morning - it seems the bird is more tired than unwell, as it had plenty of fat left and seem fairly spritely despite being unable to fly off. Fingers crossed it makes a full recovery; a nice way to end an eventful day which ended in a genuinely dynamic manner - everyone seems optimistic that new birds will be found over the next couple of days...

The teal in the safe hands of SPEA.