Mirror Images..

Having spent an unhealthy amount of time on computers (and the internet) of late, it appears that some of our very own British birders have their own lookalikes across the North Sea. In Sweden, to be precise:

... and just for fun, it's Aslan from Narnia:

Finally, can you guess this big lister?

More to come, probably.

Summer Doldrums

It's been a tough few weeks - the summer doldrums, if you like. Last Tuesday, I went to Cornwall on spec with Marc Read, only to be let down heavily by the weather - we managed a single Sooty Shearwater amongst other crap in a long, long seawatch (granted I spent most of the time asleep). I eventually arrived home in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but was rudely awoken by news of a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in Kent, which I went on to dip. 1300 miles in two days, for a Sooty Shear - I found myself questioning "why bother?!"

Today (27th July), I kicked myself out of bed and the house for 11:00, and decided to do some local birding. First port of call was local gull mecca (by national standards it's shite) Dogsthorpe Tip. Amongst the few hundred Lesser Black-backed and tens of Herring Gulls present, five Yellow-legged Gulls (two adults, 4th-s, 3rd-s and juv) were picked up, as well as about five Great Black-backed Gulls:


Adult michahellis in typical setting

With not so much as a sniff of a cach, I quickly got bored and headed off.

The once-great Maxey Pits complex looked a shadow of its former self today (it has become ludicrously overgrown and water levels were very low), and all I could muster was a juvenile Greenshank being bullied by a Black-headed Gull. My old favourite, Baston & Langtoft Pits, looked even worse - here water levels are far too high and there's too much vegetation. Two Green Sandpipers seemed slightly perplexed to be feeding amongst the rocks on ARC Pit (the only available margins), but later looked more characteristic when they flushed from 300 yards and pissed off.

I wish autumn would hurry up - July birding is crap!

Recent Shenanigans 29th June - 4th July

It seems like an age since I wrote anything on here and, to be frank, it has been. After a lull in birding activity for much of June, the past week has been comparitively hectic. It all kicked off on Monday (29th June), when I finally pulled my finger out and went to Somerset to see the male Little Bittern, which has been singing at Ham Wall RSPB all month. The bird was heard soon after arrival on site (at around 05:00), but it took another eighty minutes for brief flight views of the bird. With weather conditions far from ideal (bucketing rain), my good friend Will Bowell and I decided to leave and, after being delayed by a slight mess on the M42, we were home early afternoon.

Things then slipped back into the midsummer doldrums for a couple of days, until a call at around a quarter to nine on Thursday morning from twitching's foul-mouthed bad boy Dan Pointon alerted me to a River Warbler singing the previous evening in the unusual yet magnificent location of Applecross, Highland. Realising that this was only 11.5 hours from home, and seeing as I had 24 to play with before I was due on shift for BirdGuides the following morning, I figured that if the bird played ball then it would be doable. So, off I set, picking up DP at 11:45. We made good progress, passing Glasgow by 15:00. Anyone who knows the road from Glasgow up to Kyle of Lochalsh will agree that the scenery is stunning, and I left Pointon to do the photography whilst I tried to concentrate on the road:



We finally reached the bird by around 19:30. The River Warbler was giving short bursts of song from thick gorse until it was provoked by a wandering Whitethroat; it reacted in such a way that it sat right up on top of the bush and proceeded to sing constantly for the next fifteen minutes. I was fortunate to get a couple of decent shots before it moved to its favoured perch in a nearby sycamore:


River Warbler, Applecross, 2nd July

Somehow, I managed to drive back to Glasgow, and Pointon took over for 150 miles or so. Remarkably, I was back home in Langtoft for 06:30, a full 90 minutes before my BirdGuides shift began - nicely timed...

And so the third chapter of the week involves a Caspian Tern, which graced Welney WWT's Buxton Scrape on the morning of Saturday 2nd. Waking up late, I was greeted with messages concerning the bird's presence, and so I stumbled out of bed and in to my car, and was down at Welney by 13:00. Sure enough, the bird was still present (and asleep), ending a run of dips I've had with the species. Judging by the incomplete hood and 'mucky' cheekys, as well as immature-type primaries and coverts, it seems this bird is presumably a 2nd-summer. After it got it's conk out for me, I left. And that was about it:


not-so-Royal Tern, Welney, 4th July

A busy week then - but when's the Royal going to be back to shaft all us dippers again?

A Royal Dip

Today (16th June), I went to northwest Wales, or more specifically the Lleyn peninsula, with reborn twitcher Marc Read, RBA slave Will Soar, and Dave Holman of BLEA. Certainly a stunning backdrop for a stunning bird which had been present the previous evening (a Royal Tern). To cut a long story short, the bird had done one, and was not seen despite searching as far away as Cemlyn Lagoon by some.

Still, a rather nice day out - lovely weather and brilliant scenery, and we also had a few Choughs which were nice. Here's a photo of Abersoch harbour:



So, not exactly the best reintroduction to birding (I haven't been out due to Uni/festival-related commitments) but I have a feeling we are to hear more of the orange-billed beast before the summer is out! See you all at Dawlish next week.

Kent again, 16/5

Another trip to Kent today. Leaving Lincs at around 06:00, I picked up Werrington duo Chris Orders and Leon Smith (not a couple I hasten to add) and caned it down to Grove Ferry for about nine. Finally found Marsh Hide, and watched the Black-winged Pratincole for a further two hours at the back of the pools, generally obscured and often totally out of view. In that period, it flew once (I had a split second view through my bins before it disappeared behind the duffer standing in front of me) - very unusual for a pratincole, so I thought. It spent much of its time waddling around, not really doing alot. Occasionally, it would dart after an insect or get upset by the local Greylag Geese. Still, a very pleasant bird to look at, and the experience was greatly enhanced by twitching guru Garry Bagnell arriving and struggling considerably to get on to the bird for several minutes.


Black-winged Pratincole, Stodmarsh, 16th May - note the black wings. Erm...

Nevertheless, I decided to move on some time just before 11, and headed back to the viewing ramp with the crew. A Wood Sandpiper shot about at the back of the pool, and there were also a few Blackwits and Avoshits on the scrape. Then we left, just before a Red-footed Falcon flew through. And that was about it!

Local bits, 14-15th May

I decided to have a break this weekend and head home. Naturally, this usually means copious amounts of birding crammed in to the limited time available. Sure enough, I got out on the patch as soon as I could on the evening of 14th. The recent Spotted Redshank (a splendid summer-plumaged bird) was still on the New Works, and a nice bonus was a Black Tern on the Ocean.

Friday (15th) saw me gripped off by local birder and butcher, Will Bowell, who managed to find a Temminck's Stint at Maxey Pits in between slaughtering local livestock. Keen to get back on level terms, I went down to BLGP - 3 Black Terns were nice on the Ocean, and an Arctic Tern was on the Jet Ski Pit. A Common Sandpiper flitted about on North Pit, and the Spotted Redshank was still in residence on the New Works. Other bits included a Hobby over, but there was no sign of that real bit of quality I was after.


Black Magic @ BLGP

I moved on to Maxey, where Bowell's Temminck's eventually showed rather nicely, along with a few tundrae Ringers and a Dunlin:


Temminck's Stint, Maxey, 15th May

Crazy days in the south, 30/4 - 2/5

Dungeness at dawn, complete with expectant hordes

Since arriving back from Morocco, things seem to have gone a bit nuts in the UK. Nothing spectacular in terms of quantity, but quality is certainly there. News of a Collared Flycatcher at Portland broke on 29th, and then later in the day a Crested Lark was found in Kent. So, at 02:20 on 30th, in the pitch dark, I rolled up in the area north of the new lighthouse at Dungeness, where the only other birders present were Will Soar in a suspiciously steamed-up car and Richard Bonser, who had already been on site for c80 minutes. Finding it hard to contain my excitement at the prospect of a dull brown bird I had seen hundreds of in Morocco over the previous week, I decided against sleep and stood in the darkness with Marc Read (and later Dan Pointon and Mick Frosdick). Interestingly Marc, then I, heard the Crested Lark calling a little after 03:00 (my ears sharpened after repeatedly hearing them in Morocco). It therefore came as no surprise when the bird was located flying from the direction in which we heard it some time before 06:00. Though generally flighty and elusive, it did show well on the odd occasion, although the rather large crowd didn't help in the plight to gain extensive deck views. A somewhat darker bird than those observed in Morocco, it was also quite strongly streaked on the breast. Unfortunately, my views were not good enough to observe the chestnut underwings but apparently they were present...!

Crap photo of a crap bird

With no news forthcoming on the flycatcher, I had a brief seawatch off Dunge. Not alot was happening; a couple of flocks of Common Scoters headed east as did several Arctic Terns. Then, at around 08:20 on it came - and so I got on with the arduous drive west.

The drive to Portland was, in essence, appalling. It was capped off by a crash at Ferrybridge, which temporarily delayed the journey further. Finally, some time in after 13:00, I rolled up at Southwell and was greeted by the usual midweek brigade, getting excited over every Blue Tit moving through the garden the flycatcher had been favouring. After some time, up popped the boy - a fantastic first-summer male Collared Flycatcher. A remarkably smart bird, the only real difference from an adult being the brownish primaries and fairly restricted white patch at the base of the primaries (for Collared). Being the miserable recluse I am, I soon got bored of the crowd and so decided to call it a day and battle through the traffic back to Lincs, arriving back in the mid-evening.

Next day (1st May), the flycatcher was still present, and was joined nearby by an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler. Setting off on initial news, I reached Thrapston before turning home on negative news. What a schoolboy error that turned out to be - no sooner had I got home then the bird came back on as there. To cut a long story short, it cost me the bird - I arrived at a rainy Portland some half an hour too late for the bird, and the rest is history. Spell it out: D -I -P....

Morocco, 24th - 29th April

A few images from a recent trip to Southern Morocco; in the region of 160 species were recorded and I had no less than 28 WP ticks...! A trip report will probably be available at a later date.


male Rock Thrush, Oukaimeden, High Atlas


Seebohm's Wheatear, Oukaimeden, High Atlas - surely a candidate for a split!


Curlew Sandpiper, Barrage El-Mansour, Ouarzazate

Black-winged Stilt, Barrage El-Mansour, Ouarzazate

Black Tern, Barrage El-Mansour, Ouarzazate

(Long-billed) Crested Lark - Galerida (cristata) macrorhyncha

nest, desert 37km south of Guelmine

Kelp Gulls (5 of 10 adults), Kheniffis Lagoon

Black-eared Wheatear, Oued Massa

'maroccanus' Cormorant, Oued Ksob, Essaouira

House Bunting, Smimou village

Heron sp., Oued Ksob, Essaouira

20th April

I had a call from Will Bowell this morning, informing me that Mandarins were back on the Welland in Market Deeping - I popped down and soon located a female just west of the Old Coach House, and took this photo with my phone:


More plastic madness...

The newly-reformed active yearlister Bowell was getting twitchy by early afternoon, keen for new ticks. So, when the Hoopoe at Upper Sheringham (Norfolk) came on the pager as 'still present', there wasn't alot going to get in the way of him and the bird. I decided to go with him, although in hindsight lazing around on my arse at home would have been the more sensible option - lots of midweek brigade, no Hoopoes and a bad accident on the A47 made the afternoon somewhat more unpleasant than we had hoped for.

A quick look at BLGP on our return in the evening produced a passage wader at last(!) - a Common Sandpiper was buzzing around the New Works. Typically, there was absolutely nothing else of interest.

East Anglian tour, 19th April

Today, predominantly triggered by poor local birding, I went on a 350-mile drive around East Anglia with my companion Will Bowell and his offensive red shoes (see image below). It turned out to be a very mixed trip - we dipped a few things and also had some nice bits and bobs along the way.

First stop was Wereham (Norfolk), where a Dotterel had been seen the previous evening. Arriving at around 07:50, we failed to locate the bird - it later transpired that it had flown off at 07:35. Rather than piss about, we moved on to a Breckland site where at least six Golden Pheasants were heard, two of them affording fantastic views. A Nightingale was also in sub-song and a Yellow Wagtail flew overhead. Nearby, a heath produced two Stone Curlews showing well on territory, albeit slightly distant. Our final Breckland site was Mayday Farm, where a Goshawk displayed and a Woodlark sang.

Without really realising, we soon found ourselves on the north wall at Breydon Water, where a 3rd-summer Yellow-legged Gull was blogging about but the American Golden Plover had 'done one'. To cheer ourselves up, we indulged ourselves with copious amounts of fast food from a nearby McDonalds.

Southwold (Suffolk) was our next desination, where the green-ringed juvenile Glaucous Gull was strutting its stuff on the jetty at the mouth of the harbour, but there wasn't alot else knocking about. Westleton Heath produced the unavoidable Dartford Warblers, and lazing around overlooking Minsmere RSPB from Dunwich Heath produced my first singing Reed Warblers of the year, along with a Sandwich Tern past offshore and several Mediterranean Gulls getting down and dirty on the scrapes.


Juvenile Glaucous Gull

A male Black Redstart was singing between the power stations at Sizewell, and there was plenty of Kittiwake activity offshore. Waxwings have been lingering in Ipswich, so we decided to pop our heads in, alas to no avail. There was also no news on the lingering Purple Heron in the Shingle Street area, so we headed south in to Essex.


Nuclear-frazzled Black Redstart

Eventually we arrived at Maldon (after much swearing and problems with finding the site), and the Lesser Yellowlegs was duly on show at appalling distance as it fed on the Blackwater Estuary, viewed from the recycling plant. Much more impressive was the congregation of gloriously-plumaged Icewits (c.400), as well as 3 Avocets and a couple of Greenshanks.


Will Bowell actively birding at Maldon in Allwood-style converse.

So - a brief account of what turned in to a surprisingly exhaustive and stressful day, with more dips than hits. The joys of competitive year listing.... good luck for 2009, Will...