First for Britain

Just a quick post before we head for Shetland at the end of next week. A phyllosc Warbler that had been first seen at Bempton RSPB on the 25th September  first identified as a Arctic Warbler then a Eastern-crowned Warbler , but with some excellent work was sound recorded and identified as a Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler, a first live bird for Britain. A bird picked up dead in 2016 was confirmed as a Pale-leeged Leaf-Warbler. So insead of myself, John Hague, Dave Gray going to our regular game of satuarday non-legue football, another birding mate Neil Howes picked us up for the 2.5hr drive to east coast of Yorkshire and Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve. We knew there was going to be a lot of birders but fair play to the the RSPB wardens and volunteers who managed the site excellenly,  and also to all the birders who behaved themselves. If you were patient and stood still, eventually you would get decent views of the bird, and we all did. 

A couple of record images are bleow. 

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Thanks as always for stopping by, bringon Shetland

Leicestershire & Behond

 In a couple of weeks Dave, Andy and myself will be on our way to our anual pilgrimage to the Shetland Isles, so I thought I'd post a few images from a few local places around Leicestershire and beyond before we go. On Satuardays, along with our other mate John, we go to different non-league football grounds around the country, with a bit of birding before hand. Talking of John - I've just bought a 100/400 Canon lense from him, so I'm looking forward to using it up on Shetland

Avocet Frampton Marsh RSPB Lincolnshire

Glodfinch, Frampton

Black-tailed Godwit Frampton

Avocet, Frampton

Caspian Tern, Eccup Reservoir West Yorkshire

Shag, Stoney Cove Leicstershire

Graet Crested Grebe feeding a chick at Stoney Cove Leicestershire

Great Crested Grebe Stoney Cove

Great Crested Grebe chick having a stretch

Diving Great crested Grebe

Common Buzzard Stoney Cove

Yellow-legged Gull, Cropston Reservoir Leicestershire

Sparrowhawk, Cropston Reservoir

Kingfisher, Cropston Reservir

Mandarin Duck, Thorton Reservoir

Black-headed Gull Tornton Reservoir

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll post about our exploits when we return from Shetland.

Post Op

 Just thought I would touch base again after having an ankle operation and not been able to get out birding for a few months -and also trying to sort this new laptop out trying to edit my images........ what a nightmare, espeicially when your technophobic like me!!  The few images below were taken at Groby Pool only a few miles from where I live, so quite handy when I finally got weight bearing. I did get to a few football matches with thanks to my two mates John and Dave. I am getting more mobile as the months progress and getting out and about more so hopefully when I get my head around this new technology, I will be able to post a few more images on the blog.

Whooper Swans four of the nineteen that were present

Robin

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

These Nuthatch are probably the easiest birds to take images of at Groby Pool

Coal Tit

It's the Global Birdfair this weekend at Rutland Water, so hopefully after the Fair, I should be able to sort out a few more local images I've taken since my op!

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back soon.......

Cruise to the Balearics

 Back in August 2023 Sue and I embarked on a cruise from Tilbury Docks in Essex, sailing to Portugal, Spain and the Balearic Isles in the Mediterranean Sea. We set sail on the evening of  12th of August, returning to Tilbury on the 26th; we were going to be visiting 5 ports, so there was going to be a lot of relaxing sea days. Our first 3 days would be at sea as we travelled to Portugal for Porto, going through the western approaches towards the Bay of Biscay. Great, Cory's and Manx Shearwater were noted along with Fulmar and Gannet. I've been across Biscay a few times but this time I was really disappointed with the amount of cetaceans we were encountering - or the lack of them! We were seeing  plenty of Common Dolphin and Striped Dolphin, but no large Whales and also not that many sea birds either.

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Manx Shearwater

Common Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Common Dolphin

I never took my camera camera onshore at all, so I can't share any images of the beautiful places we docked at (sorry!!) 

After visiting Porto, which is an amazing city, we were again at sea for three days, in the Atlantic ocean where Cory's Shearwater and Gannet were encountered, through the Straits of Gibraltar and on into the Mediterranean Sea. (This was now 17th August)  Had a nice surprise early in the day with a Turtle Dove flying around the ship and also two Swift flying south - and my best views of a Loggerhead Turtle.

 

Loggerhead Turtle

I was standing on a viewing point right at the front of the ship, when shortly before lunch, I picked up a small dinghy in my binoculars way off in the distance which I thought was a fishing boat - but 20 minutes later as we got closer to it, I realised it was full of people who seemed to be waving for help. 

The Captain sailed by the dinghy - but only in order to be able to circle the ship around and pick them up for safety; they were all brought on board and taken in until we arrived in Palma de Majorca the following day.

Migrants waiting to be taken onboard

After half an hour, the people were all safely aboard and the dinghy was cut adrift

18th August - spent a nice day in Majorca where we did a trip to Soller; stopped off enroute at a mirador in Son Marroig where we had really good views of two Peregrine being mobbed by a couple of Ravens.

The following day saw us in Ibiza - where it was ridiculously hot - we had a quick walk around the port before returning to the ship with it's aircon  I set up shop in the shade on deck seven, just scanning the marina   There were lots of Yellow-legged Gulls but I did pick out two or three Audouin's Gulls, which were very nice to see.

 

Audouin's Gull

Audouin's Gull

We left Ibiza, back across The Med, which again produced very few sea birds - Cory's Shearwater being the only bird of note - but we did see plenty of Common Dolphin as we headed to our next port of call which was Cadiz. 

21st in Cadiz - and again it was extremely hot - BUT - the hopper bus was right outside the port, so we decided to 'hop on!'  It turned out to be a great way to see Cadiz - and we even had Monk Parakeet in the trees around the botanical gardens. 

Another sea day - but much more productive - and probably the biggest surprise of the trip was about to present itself........... We were in the Atlantic, heading for Vigo; again, Cory's Shearwater; ten Common Tern heading South; a Sunfish; lots of Common Dolphin and...... when somebody shouted 'shark!' I wasn't expecting the fish below!

Hammerhead Shark

Hammerhead Shark

Our final port of Call was Vigo in the north of Spain. Once again a lovely place but unfortunately it was way too hot to be able to enjoy it, so once again, back to the ship and the shade of deck 7 to scan the marina. There were lots of Yellow-legged Gulls and some swift over the city - and a very confiding Mediterranean Gull

Med Gull

Med Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Med Gull

Leaving Vigo, and another three sea days travelling back across the Bay of Biscay which gave us Finn Whale, Sperm Whale and Sei Whale - sadly all distant for images. Again, Biscay was almost devoid of birds and it wasn't until the 25th August, when we had just gone through the western approaches, we started seeing quite a few more seabirds  - one Cory's Shearwater took a liking to the ship, landing on the stern on deck eight - but then couldn't take flight again. With the help of Abigail and Amy from the ORCA conservation team, we did our good deed for the day, safely returning the bird back to the sea where it belongs, which is wandering around the Atlantic Ocean.

A confused Cory's Shearwater on deck 8

In the English Channel on our final sea day heading for Tilbury we had a decent encounter with a Minke Whale.

Breaching Minke Whale

BIG splash

This was just a short posting from my most recent trip; I've just had an operation on my ankle so will be grounded for a bit - but I'm pretty sure I have some local stuff to post 

As always, thanks for stopping by - until the next time!!