Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
7th-11th October 2013
You know how some cricketers just can't find their form and keep getting out for a duck?....
Suppose I feel a bit that way at the moment. Feeling blue! The birds are all right but I'm just never in quite the right place for the cream. Just keep getting the semi-skimmed! Some tennis players get a new trainer to sort them out: a bit like Murray and Lendl. Perhaps I should advertise for a local birder to go out with and improve my birding or just be my eyes and ears. I know the year is running down now but October should be good - we've had some easterlies. Just tired of going out on my own day after day and seeing so little.
For instance I went to Spurn on Monday 7th. Saw a sparrowhawk at Canal Scrape. Everything else had [quite naturally] disappeared. Not easy to catch in flight: I was lucky.
Down at the Point [the road was open for once!] I saw brent geese and a brambling. Here are the geese.
By the pilot pier starlings were lining up for a photo-shoot.
On Tuesday 8th I popped down to Fairburn in the afternoon but there was little to see. I watched the black-headed gulls as family after family ignored the signs asking people not to feed bread to the birds. If they really mean it they should get one of the staff who spend their time nattering in the shop to monitor what goes on ... Last time I was in there I had to wait several minutes to pay for a bar of chocolate whilst two members of staff chatted away in front of me. They have a skill at making you feel invisible at Fairburn.
On the way down the walkway to the feeding station I saw a big fat wasp watching me!
Anyway, here are the gulls. Even such common birds can lead to nice images.
The naked eye doesn't realise just how flexible birds' wings are. At least my eyes don't!
A cygnet sailed serenely by.
Scraping by
Dateline Thursday 10th October: decent seawatch produced a Leach's petrel along the shoreline. It spent several minutes in front of us beating up into the wind as it headed north. A really good bird, it brightened the day immensely. [Only tick this month so far] Pomarine skua, arctics and bonxies also added to the mix. As did manx shearwaters [just a few] and about 16 sooty shearwaters. Amazing. Firecrest at the churchyard along with lots of chiffchaffs. No photos that day.
Friday 11th back again rather late in the day: case of no room at the inn at the seawatch hut. I tried outside but the wind was unbearable. A few fieldfare coming in but hundreds of redwing everywhere. Back to Canal Scrape where we had ring ouzels again, brambling, willow warbler, goldcrests and more jack snipe and dunlins. Cue dunlins.
A woodcock flew by as did many gannets blown up the Humber. As the tide receded large groups of waders could be seen including these knot. Nice image.
Finally on what I might call ''wryneck mound' by the Crown & Anchor car park, just on the road bend a great-spotted woodpecker caught my eye strolling along the footpath. The woodpecker was strolling along I mean, not me!
Oh well, I'll keep trying.
261 UK 2013
Wednesday 2nd October ff
Well, I nearly saw...
Yes, I went to Spurn and nearly saw a firecrest that other people did see briefly. I did see two goldcrests. Next I spent an hour on the saltmarsh looking for the olive-backed pipit: there were about 8 of us, assisted by Ian Smith who tried to relocate the bird for us. I saw lots of meadow pipits, that's all. Olive-backed would have been a lifer, alas. Down Easington way I failed to see the yellow-browed warblers others had seen. So you see, I nearly saw lots of things.
What did I see? Well, I saw a brilliant adult male ring ouzel at Canal Scrape along with 3 jack snipe [is that a flock of jack snipe?!] and redwings and a yellow wagtail and a nice whinchat. Not too bad.
Down at Easington I did see the red-breasted flycatcher, albeit briefly. I nearly forgot: a nice close dunlin at Canal Scrape too.
Pictures. Ok, this is what I managed.
The dunlin
The whinchat
The jack snipe
Since then I did see a red-necked phalarope at Fairburn on New Flash [04.10.13]
Wednesday 25th September ff
Yellow-browed harvest!
I went up to Hartlepool on Wednesday 25th September in hope of a yellow-browed warbler. Eventually saw one at the memorial garden aka 'The Croft' along with a number of siskins and a pair of redwing in St. Hilda's churchyard. The warblers were hyperactive and impossible to photograph. The pager promised more at South Gare - so off I went. Three were isolated in a group of elder bushes which meant [eventually, again!] four for the day.
Here's one of the South Gare birds.
A couple more record shots - the bird was very low down keeping out of the stiff breeze. One photo shows an unusual view of a yellow-browed on the ground.
Saturday 28th September: Blacktoft a-bobbing!
After nearly three days of removal assistance for younger son it was a relief to get out to Blacktoft where both pectoral sandpiper and jack snipe were reported. The jack snipe was elusive but we found it in the end really close to the screen at Ousefleet. No pictures I'm afraid but here's a blast from the past! [Last year at Old Moor]
The long hedge down towards Ousefleet was alive with dragonflies: a mix of common darters and migrant hawkers. These splendid beasts were often resting in the sun, in some cases just hanging there...
Monday 30th September - back to Hartlepool
At the putting green a juvenile redstart showed briefly but otherwise things were surprisingly quiet considering the moderate easterly that was blowing in. The seas were angry. A redshank screamed away followed by a cormorant.
A few seagulls lingered inside the harbour mouth along with a guillemot that did a mysterious disappearing act when I raised my camera!
I drove north to Whitburn to see a Richard's pipit [named after Monsieur Richard of Luneville, France - a naturalist] which we never found. I joined with a group of local birders but we could only find meadow pipits. Someone reported a Richard's pipit up on Whitburn golf course - so off we jolly well went. Again no sign but the walk took us to Marsden Quarry, a famous hotspot for passing migrants. All was quiet there too but from up on the cliff I filmed this short tour of the quarry: a first for me, taken with my iphone!
So it was back south to Hartlepool where nothing had changed. The day was enhanced late afternoon by a close encounter with the juvenile redstart in the young trees in Borough Hall gardens. Here's a pretty set of pictures...
Full frontal: I've been spotted!
Postscript: I got a card from someone in Wales the other day with a robin on it. The wording was in welsh: picture of a 'robin goch', meaning red robin. So does the phrase 'cock robin' refer to the male robin or is it from the older celtic goch robin? I can't help wondering... Incidentally, as a further aside, chough are bran goesgoch.
258 UK
Wednesday 18th September ff
There and Back Again
Wednesday 18th-Thursday 19th September
It was a brief trip to collect stuff from my mother-in-law's. I tried for Leach's petrels at Rhos-on-Sea but failed. Next I called at Conwy RSPB and was told a little stint was on the reserve near one of the hides. I went to see. At first I could only see dunlin...
The stint was just emerging from behind some reeds: in the above picture some reeds are waving in front of the dunlin but are blurred out.
You can see the stint is much smaller than the dunlin and the white 'tramlines' are visible.
A rabbit ran across in front of the hide.
I drove along Foryd Bay but there was little to see other than large numbers of distant, roosting oystercatchers. A curlew was beachcombing.
Next I called at Porth Ysgaden on the Lleyn Peninsula to try another seawatch but things were dead there too. I crept up on a kestrel perched on the rocks but he saw me coming!
At Pwllheli Marina a rock pipit was working among the seaweed - proving very difficult to get close enough to photograph. Dark legs clearly visible.
On this picture you can see the bird is eating a tiny crab.
Journeying home next day, the weather was appalling. I stopped at Conwy RSPB to give the windscreen wipers a break! No sign of stint or a reported curlew sandpiper. A curlew was enjoying...
Bath Time!
That's better!
A wheatear landed briefly on the mud too. It looked exhausted - obviously why it was on the ropes!!
Ducks were flying along the Conwy estuary. Gadwall?
Mallard.
Where's the Odeon?
I decided to go to Lincoln to visit Boultham Mere for the first time to see the blue-winged teals. Finding the way was fine until I reached the final 200m when instead of an Odeon cinema I came upon a Superbowl. I retraced my steps, double checked and ended up back at the Superbowl. Clearly Bird Guides' directions were out of date: the Odeon has gone and it's now a Superbowl. At the far end of the car park I found confirmation: a couple of cars with Bird Fair stickers!
The teal were nervous and never too close. I also saw bittern across the mere walking along the reed edge and a kingfisher going back and forth.
Here are the teal with just a smidgin of blue showing.
Later, at North Cave I photographed this young little grebe after failing to find the cattle egret at Tetney Lock or the curlew sandpipers at North Cave. Oh well, 'twas one of those days!
Tuesday 10th September ff
Quiet times at Hartlepool
Tuesday 10th September
Windy but dry when I arrived just after noon. Little seen really: I watched my med gull on the beach at Newburn Bridge but elsewhere was pretty quiet. Curlews wandered close to the car on the North Gare access road.
Scraping by at Kilnsea
Saturday 14th September
I was in the seawatch hide at the Warren by 7.15am [!!] and was not entirely surprised to find it packed with Spurn regulars. The visibility was good if only the birds would come. Unfortunately there were no fabulous sightings but we had 30+ red-throated divers, 4 manxies, 1 sooty, plenty of arctic skuas and hundreds of meadow pipits flooding across the waves to make landfall. Heading south from Northern Europe I assume. By 9.30 things were very quiet so I headed for the Canal Scrape for a coffee. I met up with some of the newly arrived meadow pipits.
At Southfield Farm I saw the much admired juvenile red-backed shrike which had been around for some days. Sitting on a fence sheltering from the wind it was easy to see in the scope.
Next I drove down to the Kilnsea Wetlands car park. It's not too far to walk to the tiny hide [desperately needs a hide twice the size] and I began to scan through the birds present. No-one had seen the three little stints way down the far end: I had never seen three little stints at once before. We saw ruff, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit [single], double figures of greenshank, spotted redshank and ringed plover.
Here's a little stint with 2 ringed plover: good size comparison!
Here's a little stint from a couple of years ago: taken at Covenham reservoir, North Lincolnshire.
Things were generally quiet at Spurn by midday [although a great snipe would appear after 5pm]. I was leaving the Bluebell car park when I saw a large crowd looking into the field where the shrike was: surely the Spurnites had already seen the shrike? I wandered over to have a look. Next to the shrike, on a fence, was a barred warbler! Bird of the day.
I drove back west to North Cave where it was much warmer and less windy. I saw three kingfishers which was quite a thrill. Here's a couple of snaps!
The female tufted duck had a lot of white round the bill but still a tuftie!
A great crested grebe swam near.
Spurned again!
Monday 16th September
I set off for Filey Dams to see a reported jack snipe. When I arrived the place was busier than I had ever seen it, which, I thought, was a good omen. However the hide was full of glumness. Apparently a sparrowhawk had flushed the bird some time earlier.
The bird had flown.
One of the seven glums said there was only Stephen left.
'Stephen?' I said. He pointed to a herring gull on the grass just outside the hide.
'Yes, Stephen Seagull. He has a brother called George.'
I feel there's a joke in there somewhere, trying to get out...
The pager announced that the great snipe was still in the driveway of Warrenby Cottage, Kilnsea. I headed south, back to Spurn, and as I went the pager kept on reassuring me that the bird was quite stable. Hopes rose! Ok, here's the bird - none of these photos have been cropped: the bird was only just far enough away to establish a focus!
First glimpse over a brick wall, craning my neck round a fence and pointing the camera in the right direction!
I eventually left and went to Canal Scrape for a coffee. I tried to find the red-backed shrike on Peter Lane but failed. As I drove back I saw birders in the grassed area south of the cottage. The bird had moved to the garden area.
On my way home I called at North Cave again. No kingfisher this time but common and green sandpipers spotted in the scope. Great crested grebe again came close: quite a photogenic bird.
Sad news this morning: the great snipe died. It didn't look ill to me but I wonder if a local cat got it... I'll update this if I find out more.
Update: Yes, a cat did get the bird, I'm afraid. Probably never seen people or cats before. I seem to remember the same thing happened to an american robin a few years ago in Grimsby... very sad.
Stop press!
Working with Booksmart I have published a book of my favourite images of 2012. Here's a couple of sample views...
UK 2013: 255