Red-backed Shrike, 7th June

Have had a really busy past few weeks; thankfully exams all over now (just got dissertation to sort out). Been at Download festival over the weekend so much more rock and metal than birds. The last mildly interesting beast I've seen was another nice bird just outside Sheffield; this extremely wet male Red-backed Shrike:



I realise I never got round to doing a write-up for the Ireland/Wales trip the previous week, but the Marmora's photos just about sum it up. Dipped everything but the Glossy Ibis in Ireland (that was meant to be no more than filler material anyway), and also missed the singing Ibe Chiff in Wentwood Forest. However, news of a possible Marmora's Warbler up at Blorenge, near Blaenavon, perked me up as I drove home along the M4 - when it broke I was between Cardiff and Newport! So, as I was only 15 or so miles away, a trip was more than necessary to check it out.

Initial panic trying to find the site, but this subsided when I located the right car park with a slightly shocked, slightly thrilled-looking crew who still weren't sure they could believe their eyes and ears. On seeing photos, it was quite clear the bird was indeed as suspected.

Step one: get the news out.

A few frantic phone calls followed and the news went out, and Britain's twitching fraternity was mobilized and heading for Gwent. Problem now was that the bird hadn't been seen or heard for almost an hour. Then, by magic, a rattling sylvia song filled the air, and shortly later up it popped - fuck! Marmora's Warbler!! Massive relief all-round, and what a privilege to be one of the first to see this bird. The bird even indulged in a few song-flights, and appeared to be occupying a territory. Brown remiges readily aged it as a 1st-summer, but that wasn't the most important part of the bird - a beautiful yet small bird, slate-grey all over, prominent red eyering and long tail gave it real character. Then people started to arrive; the bird wasn't showing and there were shed loads of Whinchats and Tree Pipits all over the place.

Step two: lay down the law.

Seeing that the twitch was a recipe for absolute carnage, a message was quickly relayed to the news services to restrict birders to the road (which most people did, does seem a few have strayed since - shame on you).

Long and short was that the bird continued to show, on and off, very well throughout the afternoon until I left. At the time of writing (14th), it is still present and building a nest. Lovely stuff.

Marmora's, 3rd June

Full write-up of the week's festivities (including 2nd June in Wexford) to follow in the next couple of days.

Strange week - Broad-billed, Savi's and a right tart unblocked; 23rd - 30th May

Title says it all really..!

The week just gone was the most important of my second semester at Uni, with two exams (one going well, the other not) sandwiched amongst a shed load of 'revision'. I say 'revision', as much of it was spent pacing around my room, drinking, or twitching.

Things kicked off on a very hot Sunday 23rd, when a Broad-billed Sandpiper was located some 13 miles away from home in Sheffield. A pretty chilled post-work drive up to Old Moor RSPB produced rubbish views of a very pleasant bird - views were even worse than my last, a distant beast in Cambridgeshire some four years ago. The bird was a proper yellow-belly, looking absolutely terrified and freezing every time anything got anywhere near it, particularly if flying over. It loosely associated with a single Dunlin.

So, what's strange about that? Well, nothing. Apart from when I thought I started hearing things (more specifically, odd locustellas). No less than four or five times did I hear a locustella give short bursts (c.2-3 seconds at most) whilst sat in Wath Ings Hide. It sounded very interesting indeed, and I was pretty convinced about what it was. However, the bird didn't sing again and no-one else heard it, so I decided I was going mad. Now, imagine my absolute horror when a message comes out on Thursday, "Savi's Warbler singing from Wath Ings Hide, Old Moor for second day".

Shit.

More like fifth day... at least! Absolutely gutted I didn't make more of it now but, as one friend pointed out to me, it would be a brave shout to claim a Savi's in South Yorkshire on a few brief bits of song. Never mind eh?! Didn't get back for it either so never saw (or heard) it again, sadly. Looks like it did show well once or twice from the pics.

Only other bit of news was a little better; eventually saw an Icterine Warbler on 25th. Those who know me will know I've had an ongoing battle with the species which has lasted some years (and seen me spend ALOT of money on dipping countless individuals). News of a bird trapped and ringed at Spurn early in the day didn't have me chomping at the bit, but further reports of it still showing on and off eventually got me off my arse and down to the coast for late afternoon. The warbler was singing occasionally (what a song!) in an isolated elder and hawthorn thicket, but was typically invisible. Just prior to me acknowledging yet another dip and heading home, I caught the briefest couple of glimpses of it flicking about low in the elders in between bursts of song. Shit views, but it'll do for now - next target is to find one.

Off to Ireland in the next few days; reports back soon.

Improvements

Well, at least the spring has picked up slightly. Weather's still pretty awful, though seems to be warming up at last. Hurrah! Last 10 days has seen me cruising about all over the place; down to Cornwall for a grotty House Finch last Saturday, followed by Oriental Pratincole half an hour from home in Lincs on the Sunday. Last week I had the Iberian Chiffchaff at Potteric Carr, and then the singing male Great Reed Warbler near Ilkeston. Yesterday I had shit views of the spotty Spotted Sandpiper at Stocks Reservoir, Lancashire. Lovely stuff. Not sure why I've got my twitching boots back on; presumably something to do with getting out of revision.


Oriental Pratincole - my first for 17 years


Great Reed, obscured as ever - see here for some absolutely outstanding images of it.


Confrontational Red Grouse by the Woodhead Pass


Now, where are those pesky Icterine Warblers...

Yesterday...

... I saw the first decent bird I've ever seen in the Sheffield area - incredibly brief views of a delightful Red-rumped Swallow at Rother Valley CP.

And that's about it... hopefully more to update on by the weekend.

Black-throated Thrush, 3rd April

Black-throated Thrush, Hartlepool Headland, 3.4.10.

Having lost all enthusiasm for birds and birding over the winter, I was probably the only active birder left in Britain who still needed Black-throated Thrush thanks to the long-staying North Yorks bird earlier on this year. As a result, the crowd was very small for this smart beast, found in gardens at Hartlepool Headland this morning. The bird seemed a little on the dull side for a first-winter male, but as it had been singing earlier in the day there doesn't seem to be much argument here..!

Ireland, 30/3 - 1/4/10

30.3.10

With a relatively delicious selection of rarities strewn across west Ireland in recent weeks, I decided the time had come for a trip west. Preferred means of travel were a Landrover Freelander coupled with the Holyhead - Dublin ferry, so that I was mobile on the other side of the Irish Sea. As a result, I found myself in the pissing wet rain at Holyhead ferry terminal in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Some hours later, I was stood in the pissing wet rain at Claddagh Beach, Galway, dipping the Forster's Tern. A good start.

Things could only get better, but the choppy waters of Lough Corrib off Angilham Marble Quarries didn't hold the remedy - hundreds of Tufted Ducks offshore, but incredibly difficult (and thus frustrating!) to view in the strong winds . Things needed to improve rapidly, and so I headed off towards Lough Atedaun (via Rahasane Turlough, which was dead) in the hope with connecting with another of the trip's main targets. It didn't take too long for the Pied-billed Grebe to show itself in the small bay in the lefthand corner of the lough:



Target one acheived! Two Swallows were also at Atedaun. A search of nearby Lough Inchiquin failed to reveal little more than 27 Tufted Ducks, and a very choppy Finvarra Point didn't produce the third target - the adult Pacific Diver, although there were 3 Black-throated, 3 Red-throated and 30+ Great Northern Divers offshore there. Back in Burren village, the Green-winged Teal porned it:



With the tide against me, further searches for the Forster's Tern around Galway produced a blank, and so I retired for fish and chips and a few pints in Galway city centre. Overnight in the car at Finvarra Point seemed a rash decision as a storm rolled in, leading to a very rocky night's sleep.


31.3.10

It wasn't half windy this morning. As a result, diver numbers were much lower off Finvarra than the previous day, and there was predictably no sign of the Pacific again. However, I had ducks on the mind, and soon left Finvarra to get amongst as many loughs as humanely possible. First stop, at around 09:00, was Loughrea (Galway). Having never been to the site before, I didn't really know where to look and opted for the southern end first. This proved to be a good idea:




Adult drake Ring-necked Duck at Loughrea.

Not a bad start to a day of lough-bashing, first port of call produces a Nearctic duck simply sat there with 4 Tufted Ducks. Sadly, it didn't continue in the same vein, with most loughs checked producing next to, or indeed, nothing. This Minger was at Nimmo's late morning, with 5 Sandwich Terns (still no Forster's) on Claddagh Beach:



Routine grilling of numerous Clare loughs revealed very little wildfowl indeed (it never ceases to surprise me how Dempsey & O'Clery's book claims 'large'/'good'/'nationally-important' numbers of wildfowl on these loughs and you get there to find no more than about 10 Tufted Ducks), although I guess I was a little late on in the season for large counts. Even Bishop's Quay in Limerick failed to produce a Minger - this site has been quite reliable in the past couple of winters, but not today.

By 17:00 or so, I had reached Lough Gur. It didn't take too long to pick up my second Pied-billed Grebe of the trip; it was frequenting the west shore although proving quite elusive. I walked (illegally) round to the west shore, only for the bird to become even more elusive and then for it to hail/snow for about 20 minutes. Views were close, but brief and intermittent - I only saw it three times over the next two hours before the light started to go. For once though, wildfowl numbers were actually quite good - c.100 Tufted Ducks, c.50 Wigeon and quite alot of Teal - no generic rare yank amongst them though. There were also c.50 Sand Martins hawking over the lake, and an Irish Coal Tit was making itself known near the car park.

The light went as I reached Shannon Airport Lagoon, so I sacked it and went back up to Galway for a pub meal and more Guinness. Overnight in the car near Angilham, Lough Corrib.


1.4.10

First light at Angilham revealed a much more pleasant day - sunny and, more importantly for looking at hundreds of distant aythya - still(ish). Sure enough, it was time to score again. Out popped a splendid drake Ring-necked Duck on the far side of the lough (too distant for pics), whilst this hybrid drake Ring-necked Duck X Tufted Duck momentarily saw me thinking I'd found a second:



Apparently that little beast has been around for much of the winter, though the pure bird is seemingly new in. There were at least 50 Scaup off Angilham, making it clear just how important calm conditions are at this site - the previous day I had seen one female, and on 30th none at all!

So, I was filled with early optimism once more. The sun was out, and surely the Forster's was about to give itself up?! Wrong. Yet again no sign of the bastard bird, but 7 Sandwich Terns along Claddagh Beach, an unexpected juv Iceland Gull at Nimmo's, with the hybrid Glaucous x Herring on the slipway there:


Not been many of these this winter...


Grotty hybrid gull.

I headed rounded for Doorus Pier, but couldn't find the Forster's there either (though there were 6 Sandwich Terns and, in hindsight, I perhaps should have given the site longer). The day went a bit dump from thereon; yet again no sign of the Pacific Diver despite calm conditions (though 2 summer male Long-tailed Ducks were nice there, as were 7 Black-throated Divers). Water levels at Atedaun had risen sharply and the grebe's favoured corner had been submerged - needless to say, I couldn't find it. A blast of a few loughs in the midlands on my way back to Dublin proved useless, as did a jaunt along the seafront in Dublin (low tide = birds much too far away). And so that was it; a rather low-key end to a mixed few days.

Bring back white-winged gulls please.

Caspian Gull, 29th March

This adult Caspian Gull was in fields just south of Dogsthorpe Tip this afternoon, along with two Yellow-legged Gulls. Earlier in the day I attempted a return trip to Suffolk but bailed at Huntingdon on negative news, so went and saw the female Two-barred Crossbill at The Lodge, Sandy (Beds) instead. Off to Ireland tonight, so I guess thats my chance of seeing the kestrel gone...

North Norfolk, 27th March

Today was primarily focussed around having a second shot (this time with my wallet) at getting to Norfolk and seeing some Alpine Swifts. On hearing that both were still present, I got on the road at about 09:00, with first stop being the patch. Around 40 Lesser Redpolls were still being a nightmare to view properly, although the New Workings was much more satsfying - 5+ LRPs, 2 Ringed Plovers, Redshank and 2 Oystercatchers provided a nice selection of typical summering waders, with the star of the show being a single Dunlin there. Dunlin always seem to be good indicators of the quality of a site, so this early showing bodes well for the rest of the spring. Just a shame I will be in Sheffield really!

Battling through hordes of old people driving at ridiculously low speeds, I reached Hunstanton by around 10:45. Needless to say, the Alpine Swift had done one and it was not long before I was back on the road and heading for Cromer. Slow drivers were present in even higher densities along the A149 making for a torrid and stressful journey. As I drove through Sheringham, it suddenly occurred to me to go and have a look for the juvenile Glaucous Gull which has been wintering on the seafront. No sign of the Glauc, but I had a bit of a surprise when this 2nd-winter Caspian Gull appeared just offshore:


Second-winter Caspian Gull, Sheringham seafront.

When you are so used to seeing Caspian Gulls loafing on rubbish dumps or miles away on reservoirs somewhere in the English Midlands, the Sheringham bird seemed a little out of context - indeed, it is the first of its' kind I have seen in a coastal setting. A splendid brute of an individual, it was consistently aggressive towards the local Herring Gulls, and preferred a perch at the eastern end of the seafront. Whilst watching the beast a couple of other birders arrived, informing me that the Alpine Swift was still showing on and off near the lighthouse at Cromer. So, off I went and, after a short walk up to the lighthouse, there it was:


Alpine Swift @ Cromer.

This is only my second Alpine Swift in the UK, following a bird at Hampstead Heath in April 2006.

With little time to spare, I reluctantly left the bird and headed home for work. Overall, despite all the morons driving at moronic speeds across the county, it had turned out to be a fairly successful day. Big plans for next week, so watch this space - I'm hoping there will be something to write home about.

It's been a long time... 26.3.10

So, my blog hasn't been up date for some months, reflecting my complete lack of enthusiasm for anything birdy over the winter. I haven't twitched one bird (until today), and have only been birding once or twice since before Christmas. As it is now the Easter holidays, I thought it would be time to put that right.

First port of call today was the patch. Soon after getting out the car near the Old Wader Scrape pull-in, I heard a few excitable redpolls, but didn't manage to get on to them (I was a bit rusty first off). A scan of the skies produced a number of Sand Martins blogging about, before the redpolls began to distract me again. This time, I got on to a flock of about 10 making for the alder stands just west of ARC Pit, so headed over there to see if I could sniff out some better views.
Over the next hour or so, it became apparent that a good number of Lesser Redpolls were present (some 30+, with small flocks coming and going all the time), and a number of males were singing and generally getting a bit rowdy. However, the wind wasn't making things easy, and the birds were tending to bury themselves deep in bushes. Nevertheless, a female-type Mealy Redpoll was located:


Mealy Redpoll - BLGP seems to be a reliable site for this species in most winters, even in poor redpoll years.

As I watched the redpolls, a Willow Warbler burst into song providing a nice seasonal contrast - one of (if not equalling) my earliest dates for the species. There were a few other mildly interesting bits about, including two Little Ringed Plovers, a few Shelducks, 11 remaining Goldeneye and quite a few Common Gulls. Standard late March fayre really...

On arriving home it transpired the Alpine Swift was still at Hunstanton, so I set off that way. By the time I got near King's Lynn, petrol was running low. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to pick up my wallet (and so had no way of paying for petrol), resulting in a miserable drive home instead of continuing the extra 15 miles to Sunny Hunny. An excellent reintroduction to twitching then.