Gwylio adar yng Nghymru

Did you wonder why there was a premature finish to my post last week? You could have thought that it was due to my having nothing further to say (unlikely), or the Editor in chief saying that I had written enough (probable).

Wrong on both counts.  It was because on the Friday 17^th May, Mary & I together with 5 of our family including Leo, headed off for a long weekend at Milford Haven in South Wales. A long schlep, 250 miles each way, we were all heading for a river side property named the Curlew (apposite!). This was our 2019 foreign family away-break, after Monte Carlo in 2017 and Belgium in 2018. Not quite sure whether Wales fitted into foreign, but other countries we looked at (Gibraltar; Isle of Man etc) were thin on the ground with rental properties 3 beds and 3 baths, so Wales it was. One advantage was that we had strong links with relatives in Pembrokeshire some of whom we saw during our visit. 

We also met Cabbage and I have the scar to show what a cuddly and exuberant dog he is!

Welsh birds?   Although as you can see from the photo, we overlooked a tidal stretch, Shelduck and Grey Heron were the most exciting, but sadly no sign of Chough. House Martins at Saundersfoot, a pretty seaside town near Tenby, was a missing tick off my year list.  And on Sunday, whilst walking near the marina at Neyland, near Pembroke docks, I added a couple of sighting of Rock Pipit…on the rocks, surprisingly!!

Monday 20^th May was for me the birding hi-lite of the weekend when four of us boarded a 50-seater motor boat, The Dale Princess, for an hours trip from the Haven quay, near Dale, to get up close to Skomer Island. (To continue my cruising price list from last weeks blog…..     1 hour = £12)

The 50 passengers (a full cargo!) are not allowed to land on Skomer on a Monday, so we hoved to very close to the cliffs…………………………….  and found ourselves in the midst of an enormous number of Puffins.

Apparently the summer population at Skomer is c 30,000 Puffins, and we saw 29,540 of them… well it seemed like it. I have only ever seen Puffins in single figures and we were completely overawed by the vast number of these cute little fellows….. everywhere. If they were too close to the boat, they just dived or they paddled like the clappers to get airborne. Sarah who had never seen a live puffin before was ecstatic. It certainly ranks for me as one of my WoW moments.

We only spotted a few Gannets.....

....but being so large and with the white and black plumage the mature birds were easy to identify. 

Guillemots……

and Razorbills…….

.....bobbed close around us on the sea so they were identified OK, and the occasional Fulmars were close enough to see the tubenose.  

This is a cracking photo with 3 different species at the same time!

Kittiwakes were well settled on  the cliff, and the crew member giving the commentary, pointed out 1 or 2 Shags.. like this lonely fella!

A big thank-you to my son-in-law Julian Turner for his photographs, taken on a very unstable boat! Photos are a welcome addition to my blog - he can come again!

All in all a good trip and if you do plan to go to or on Skomer check which days allow a trip only, and which allow access.   The trip home was a good ride!!

The return journey was exhilerating

Finally, touring the west coast after the cruise, I added a Sanderling to my year list, at  Newgale. So that added 8 to my year list for the trip, and obviates the need to visit Bempton, at least for the cliff birds.

After the lengthy journey home on Tuesday, I was in two minds as to whether to join the DOS and Ogston Bird Club joint evening walk to see Nightjar and Woodcock at Clumber Park on Wednesday May 22.  But I did!!  Got lost due to a changed route, brought about due to the normal access road being blocked by some idiot who had dumped a load of asbestos. Anyway, I arrived at 1 minute to 7 just before the electronic gates shut at 7.00 pm.

We killed time by visiting the main lake before the normal dusk arrival of the target birds, and the 11 of us were immediately welcomed by a very visible calling Cuckoo. Scopes were pointed, and after 10 minutes the leader was deliberating how much longer we should watch and listen to the Cuckoo before we moved on and disturbed it’s perch. The cuckoo gave in first, and we moved on to spend 20 minutes productively scanning a large reed bed for warblers.

Sadly, despite our patience the usual Nightjar site only produced some churring but no sighting, nor of a Woodcock, but we did have a Tawny Owl flying out and away from the woods.

Finally this weeks birding tip for beginners.   Always check out cattle carefully. Yellow Wagtails will often follow the herd, foraging on the ground for food that gets disturbed and churned up by cattle hooves. 

And as is becoming more frequent in the UK (and I’ve seen this frequently in Majorca)  check if there are any Cattle Egrets on or under cattle!   As the name implies, they do hitch a lift, feeding on the ticks that parasite cattle.

For now,   Happy Birding.

PS...The Title?     Bird Watching in Wales

Ospreys; Tornados; Derby County; (pardon?) and Cruising; ..such variety !!

A cornucopia of information!

But first there are 2 very serious matters that I must put on record, and which require non-birding consideration.

The first one is      Who is H?                      How long have I got to wait before I find out?

Second,     Monday 27^th May  2019   3pm – 4.45pm.  My phone and I will be out of contact. All being well, the celebrations will start at 4.46pm.    

To avian matters, first, the good news is that the water level at Carsington is 96.3%, but to the uninitiated Horseshoe Island does not yet really look like it.

In my blog of 23^rd March, I told you about the early return of Maya, a Rutland osprey that we saw when we visited in late March. News in the Daily Telegraph today is that Maya hatched a chick on Monday 13^th May, and her claim to fame is that that chick is the 150^th hatching at Rutland since Osprey translocation started in 1996. Not all by her of course, but she has reared 10 chicks with her mate “33”.  Gosh it’s exciting!   A short break while I have a liquid celebration!!

Anyway, on Sunday Carsington Water had an unusual visitor, a Bartailed Godwit, hunkered down in the flora on horseshoe island, and it needed the Volunteers + a scope to see it. And even then the tail was not that obvious.

Pleased to see a good number of scope toters in Belper watching the nesting Peregrines on Strutt’s Mill.

Other news, the Long Billed Dowitcher has finally left Frampton Marsh after 251 days. So, you had no excuse not to add it to your sightings list (for 2018 AND 2019). Mark you, I tried, and failed, twice so that’s down to me. One birder did point the LBD out, flying away but in all honesty I could not include that in my 2019 count.

As I write this, 8pm Monday May 15^th, I am only just back from my third birding cruise of 2019. Having done the River Exe and Poole Harbour cruises earlier in the year, today was the RSPB South Lincs bird cruise from Boston, down the Witham and up the Welland. 

An excellent trip I have been doing for years, and this year was no exception with super weather, very clear, although on the water and in the Wash it did need a few layers. 50 people boarded the Boston Belle at 11.00am, arriving back at 4pm and in the 5 hours, the bird count was a very good c66 birds. 

My count was 48 the difference being that one spot by anyone was enough for the recorder to put it on the list. So as for example I saw NIL passerines, you can see how there can be a difference.

The RSPB had one very expert spotter, who spotted such goodies as the 2 Turtle Doves, the Osprey (BOD), Red Kite and 2 Peregrines. Me?  Added two… very early on a Common Sandpiper and then a Meadow Pipit.

Just as a matter of interest, this is how my 2019 cruises compare cost-wise:-                            

February  Exe Estuary                   1.30 – 4.30     3 hours                   £12.50

Poole Harbour                               8.00 – 11.30   3.5 hours               £16.00

Boston Rivers & Wash                  11.00 – 4.00    5 hours                  £21.00               

In the lull before the next major moment!!, I thought I’d continue my philosophy of trying to help learners to birding with a few id memory tips, which I’ve picked up over time. I still use odd memory joggers, and I have found on my many bird walks, that people like clues to help them remember what a bird is. (You very experienced birders.. please jump 3 paragraphs!)

1.     

         The  favourite is of course “Bald as a Coot”, alluding to the contrasting white frontal shield.

2.       

      Common Tern v Arctic Tern.  The beak.   ARctic Tern   AR = “All Red” (…and if you like, for Common Tern = Scruffy and dirty…Black beak Tip.)

3.       

      Cormorant v Shag.  When fishing, Cormorants just fold into the water; Shags jump in a small arc, up then down into the water, showing clear day light. ( Make what you will of Shag and Jump.)

4.     “The Lesser fella has the yella” translates as the Lesser (Black Backed Gull) has the Yellow legs. (The Great BBG has the pink/flesh coloured legs.)

And if you have any buzz phrases like these, please add them as a comment on my blog and I will open them up in a later post.

Nothing to do with Ornithology, but I thought you may be amused by this letter that I cut out of the paper, eons ago concerning a report in a local paper.

Norfolk Constabulary was apparently conducting revenue collection when a fighter from a local airbase came over the horizon. The camera, to the joy of the Officers, registered 300mph.. However, the camera could not be reset and stopped working, thereby denying further revenue collection. The Chief constable was not pleased and fired off a missive to the RAF pointing out that targets had to be met.

The RAF replied that the radar gun had been identified by the approaching Tornado aircraft as hostile and  it sent a jamming signal back to it. At the same time the sidewinder missile was primed for launch. Fortunately (or unfortunately!) the pilot overrode the automatic protection system before launch. 

Oh hell, it’s only Thursday and I’m starting to get stressed about any new sighting additions for this week.. where will I find them.

Tell you what, I’ll post this early and that will give me 10 days to find something for next weeks’ post.

Tarra.

A lifer at Attenborough.. and the migrants keep coming!!

Perhaps May will continue on the same high note that we had in the first 7 days of the month. 

Sometimes, when I am ruminating on what species I have yet to see to reach 200 in the year, I find it hard to see how I will get the 200, without some additional travelling. Like Scotland would give me a few endemics or perhaps Norfolk again in the Autumn.

One I have yet to tick in 2019 is that lovely predominantly West Country bird, the Cirl Bunting. I read an interesting article last week about the RSPB reserve at Labrador Bay (just south of Teignmouth in Devon) where good numbers can be seen.

Apparently, Dartmoor Ponies have been given a trip to the seaside to graze the steep fields overlooking the bay, and stop the fields becoming overgrown with bracken and scrub.   And it has worked. In the last 11 years Cirl Buntings have increased from 3 to 20 pairs.

Sadly, you must pay to park by the fields, and there is no Cirl Bunting guarantee. My track record?…once in 2 visits.

We are looking forward to our next Majorca holiday, and a friend who will be there at the same time has sent me some good one-liners. The better ones (in my opinion!) are-

Just got back from a friend’s funeral. He died after being hit on  the head with a tennis ball.   It was a lovely service.

I went to the cemetery yesterday to lay some flowers on a grave. As I was standing there, I noticed 4 grave diggers walking about with a coffin.   3 hours later they were still walking around.

I thought to myself, they’ve lost the plot.

And finally….

A teddy bear is working on a building site. He goes for a tea break and when he returns, he notices his pick has been stolen. The bear is angry and reports the theft to the foreman.

The foreman grins at the bear and say “ Oh, I forgot to tell you, today’s the day the teddy bears have their pick nicked!!”

Tuesday 7^th May. Together with Gill, Chris and I once again visited Attenborough Gravel Pits in Notts. Whilst it is a good site all year, in the Spring it is a great location for warblers and other migrants.

Overhearing a conversation in the car park that a Black Tern was on Clifton Pit, we were off!! .. and true to form, we spotted this small Tern from the Tower hide,  flying non-stop over the water.

Attenborough birders will know of virtually resident Alan, he of the electric bike, and the camera toter. What had currently been attracting him to the tower hide for the last week, along with many other birders, was the hope of seeing the rare Savi’s Warbler. It had been on the site since 21^st April and could be very elusive  in the reed bed below the tower.

We had only been in the hide for a few minutes when Alan whooped with excitement and said that the bird was just in front. We all homed in on the Savi, with its distinctive tail, as it climbed a reed then dropped down to a greener area to the left, and we continued to have intermittent views whilst it roved around, until it vanished out of sight.    .

Savi’s are rare UK visitors, usually seen in Europe and Western Asia. Slightly bigger than a Reed Warbler, but with a more spread tale. Oddly, they reel much like a Grasshopper warbler; sadly outside my hearing range, but I have spoken to people who say their call is quite distinct. A cracking lifer for the 3 of us.

Wednesday we had planned to join Amanda on an RSPB walk at Padley Gorge and Burbage, but with the impending grotty weather, and Burbage being out in the open with nowhere to hide, Amanda delayed the walk to a later date.

To make up for the cancellation, Chris and I decided to go solo (well in a duet!!) to Padley Gorge, on Saturday… and then Amanda said she would come too, after she and Noel had done the Dawn Chorus walk at Linacre Reservoir!!!   THAT is enthusiasm.

If you dear reader, frequent Padley Gorge, I must make you aware that there is now a charge for parking at Grindleford Station, so the alternative appears to be to park at the top of the gorge, in the layby with the Ice Cream van, and bird Padley from the top downwards.   Which is what we did.

EXCEPT that everyone knows that, and when we arrived, Saturday morning, nice walking weather, sunshine, so had everyone else.. and the layby was full!   Thinking we would have to go and pay to park at Longshaw Lodge, progressing along the B6521, we quickly came across another (free) layby.  

The lay-by was filling up as we watched, and fortunately Amada came beetling around the corner in time to get a space. By the time we were all booted and ready, this layby was full too. So be warned.  

We set off down the gorge, and within minutes of going through the top gate, we had a lovely singing male Pied Flycatcher…. Then another…then another, and so it went on.  Male and Female – brilliant.    Our patience was rewarded with a pair of Spotted Flycatchers, and after quite a bit of loitering we had brief views of a Tree Pipit, acting just like a Flycatcher – flying out from the top of a tree, catching some food and back into the tree.

And then the bad news….. hail, rain and nowhere to hide, so it was abandon ship, back to the car and home.    Despite that anti-climax, the 3 ticks were well worthwhile.

Mary and I went to Brian’s funeral on Friday, and so did 120 other friends… a sad occasion, and many birding friends and Ex BR colleagues gathered together.

Happy Birding

Phew what a week !!! Tram Driving, a Singing Nightingale and Turtle Doves.. all that in 5 days

Now look…….. it’s 18.49 on Sunday night, and you know what my objective is at 9 pm… yes we are all geared up for the final instalment of “Line of Duty”.   So, by the time you read this, the final 90 minutes on this superb series will have past you will know who “H” is, and we all look forward to series No 6.

Mary has a three-line whip(kinky) - she is NOT to sleep within those 3,600 seconds, and if she does, it will be beyond me to give her a recap.   Yes, we do have a pause button, but not a backwards one. 

So, ENJOY.

I am pleased to say that this week has been a real buzz and enjoyable, with several interesting things and events to write about. Not that I’m getting any more “hits” on my blog, but it was very rewarding (in a sad way) to have a comment added to my blog last week from a reader who would not have known about the passing away of volunteering colleague Brian Woods if he had not seen it on my blog.

I did get a smattering of suggestions for a caption to this horse picture ..

I’ve got this agonising itch… can you find me an Oxpecker?

Birder walks up to a horse and says, “Why the long face?” (2 offerings with this theme!)

“Who’s that human  photo-bombing my selfie?”

Don’t flare your nostrils at me!

I told him not to rest his head on that freshly painted fence.

………………. Thank you… that’s enough….they’re getting worse!!

Monday 30^th April  I was absolutely thrilled skinny (some of you will know that skinny is somewhat apposite to me… I’m still only 8 stone 13!!), to be enjoying a wonderful birthday present of a bucket shop experience – I spent a day at Crich Tram Museum, learning about Trams and how they work, and then actually driving…... this one, the only Ex-Liverpool tram at the museum.

 This tram driving experience was a superb 80^th birthday gift in January from Mary, and Sarah, Michael, Julian and Sharon, but I had to wait until after Easter to do the actual driving. The package, which included a partner (Mary… and my daughter Sarah had a day’s holiday to share the experience) was a full day, starting with a training session for Alan and me, the 2 trainee drivers on that day. Then followed a short explanation of the tram controls, and before lunch, I was to be the first to take the tram on its first round-trip.

This was what I was confronted with by way of controls

 And this is me at the initial apprehensive stage!

The outward journey (1 mile) is up hill, so the return journey is downhill. (Logical!). But the difference is that outward bound you are driving/powering the tram, whereas the return is downhill/braking.   We had 4 round trips each, accompanied by just our friends, and it became clear that by the 4^th journey our tram driving skill improved such that there was less violent braking with only the occasional passenger jettisoned from their seat.

A brilliant experience, well recommended, and quite different. Controlling a 3-ton Liverpool tram will long be remembered.

Right   BIRDING…. And a good week at that.

Wed > Thu I was AWOL first in Whisby where it was a thrill to hear and see, briefly, the elusive Nightingale. Sadly, numbers are diminishing, but getting there for 9.00am probably helped. As a bonus a Little Ringed Plover.

Next leg was to Frampton Marsh (for 1.30), and after a coffee and a briefing from the RSPB volunteer, it was off down the tree lined track to the known location for the Turtle Dove. Word was that one had been spooked by a Sparrow hawk, but whilst I watched patiently it duly returned to the top of the poplar. What a buzz, seeing a Turtle Dove on my first 2019 visit… 2017 it took 4 trips before I ticked.

With a bit of perseverance, I added Whimbrel and a very dark Spotted Redshank to the list, but the most satisfying i.d. was the Wood Sandpiper.

Then it was on to Hunstanton for 6pm, with just time to slip down to the prom with a receding tide and spot 7-8 Turnstones, and a large number of noisy nesting Fulmars on the cliff face, a location well reputed for Fulmars. (No other cliff birds – just Fulmars!)

Thursday 2^nd May – Polling Day. Nice thought, quietly birding in Norfolk, no polling stations, no Brexit.. just me with scope and bins. Mind you, sadly Titchwell failed to add to my year list, and the Purple Heron at Burnham Overy, wasn’t.

Rain at 2pm curtailed matters, and I got my buzz from sitting in a car with a plastic cup of rosy, watching a Marsh Harrier, and wishing it had been a Hen Harrier.

Friday 3rd May   Miserable drizzle, nothing much to chase per Mary’s i-pad, so I headed back to Frampton Marsh, which was en route anyway.   Good decision.   Still hadn’t see the Dowitcher, but I added a nice handsome male Garganey, and a site rarity (apparently) of a Swift doing fly-pasts at the visitor centre made it well worthwhile and gave me a total of 10 new species for the 3 days.

…. And finally, to-day, and the BwB walk at Carsington.    7 warblers, including 2 new for me.. Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat, which ended a good week with me hurtling forward on 148!!

I finish with one of my QI bits of data, particularly apposite to my son Michael. 5^th May 1980 (39 years ago) was the day that the SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy building in London. 

As a family we watched the event unfold on TV, and for many years if we drove into London, Michael wanted us to drive through Hyde Park so that we could see the balcony that the SAS used to break in.

Birding plans look good for next week, and I’ve some amusing one-liners from a Majorca holiday colleague to recount.

Meanwhile, happy birding.