The last few weeks birding

Since my visit to Stoke upon Trent to see the Red-footed Falcon, all my birding has been in and around Leicestershire - and mainly at my patch at Brascote GP. I think I have said before that sometimes it's really hard work at this site, although it has turned up a few good birds over the years and there have been a few good birds turn up over the last few weeks, so, going back to July26th, Pete and I decided to brave the elements as there had been some really strong NW winds for a couple of days. And so, on a windy, cold Sunday morning, with a rain filled sky,we set off walking around the pits.  All the usual stuff was about, with nothing special to write home about, when it started to rain - and quite heavily - so we started to walk back towards our cars.  Pete was about 15 meters in front of me when I noticed a small bird preening on the settling pool; there was something different about this bird, and on closer inspection, I realised it was a small Merganser!  I called Pete back and after watching it for a few minutes, Pete said "this looks like Hooded Merganser" to which I agreed. To make sure, he went back for the field guide whilst I sent a few texts to lads that bird Brascote; this breed of bird is kept in lots of collections, and you have to err on the side of caution about where it has originated, as this is a bird which breeds in North America; nobody will ever know for sure where it was from but we couldn't see any rings on the bird, and it was fully winged. Nick Sharpe and Carl Baggot also viewed the bird and they concluded it was a Hooded Merganser as well. Carl took some images - sadly, it was one of the times I didn't have my camera with me! I'll be sending a report to the BBRC and see what happens but I imagine it will be recorded as an escaped bird -  but still a great bird to see on your patch! Pete returned later that afternoon but the bird could not be found. On the 6th August there was a family party of 4 Ravens - not a common bird around Brascote - and finally,our first Hobby which was getting the Hirundines all excited!  It was good to see a few more Sand Martins about this year again, as they are usually not that numerous.There as been quite few Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers about this Summer as well. On the 16th August, I got a text from Nick Sharpe saying he had heard and viewed a Cetti's Warbler so I hot footed over to Brascote, where I spent nearly 5 hours trying to find it, but dipped on it; Carl Baggot saw it again at around 4pm so I went back early evening. A few more of the regular 'patch' birders were there, and finally the bird called, and we were able to get a brief view and a patch tick! - I think it could well be a first for this site. On the 30th of August, a Whinchat was found feeding from some gorse bushes - yet another patch tick!  the habitat is great for this species, so it was not going to be long before one tuned up - we get Stonchat most years now, and then, on the 31st Nick and I went back again to see if the Whinchat was still in residence but we couldn't find it, although the weather was awful,so it was probably in the middle of a gorse bush - and who could blame it! As we were walking back to the cars we were rewarded with 6 Whimbrel flying west, so all in all, some great birds over the last few weeks!  Hopefully, I'll have some images to post next time.
As always, thanks for stopping by

Back for Seconds

After my visit to the Red-footed Falcon last Saturday, and posting the visit on my blog, there was something eating away at me about the images I had posted; as I have said on many occasions, I'm no photographer - just a birder with a camera - but I still like to get decent images, so, with this in mind, I decided to return to the site on Thursday. I asked a few mates if they would be available but that word 'work' always seems to get in the way, so 'Billy no Mates' made his way to Chatterley Whitfield Colliery on his own. When I arrived, the bird was perched up in a tree having a good preen, and it sat there for nearly an hour before it decided to start feeding;  it perches quite close on the wires as some people are throwing out locusts for it to feed on.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about this practise - it does bring the bird quite close, so the images below, I hope, are a lot better than the previous attempts.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my new and improved images!

Hot foot to the Red-foot

Last Saturday afternoon, the 11th of July, I spent having some family time ending up at an Harvester pub for an early evening meal;  just as we were finishing our meal, my phone started buzzing in my pocket - it was my mate John Waters -he was going to have a look at the first summer Red-footed Falcon that had been found a couple of days earlier, just North of Stoke-on -Trent, and wondered if I would like to go along too. Having not seen one in the UK for probably 15 or so years, (the only other one was a female down in Cambridgeshire,) we arranged to meet at my place at 6.30;  a quick change of clothing for me, and at 6.45pm, we were off for the hour and half drive for the falcon.  I wasn't going to take the camera as the light wouldn't be that good by the time we got there - but I changed my mind at the last minute and picked it up anyway.  90 minutes later, we saw the bird perched on a concrete boundary fence post of the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery. This really smart bird showed very well all the time we were there, although never coming really close. We spent probably a good hour there watching the bird feeding on insects and the odd small frog. The overcast conditions were not ideal for images but I was glad that I had decided to take my camera as I managed to get some record images; they're not brilliant, but give you some idea of this very smart individual.

As I post this blog on July 14th, the bird is still present at the same site.

.........As always, thanks for stopping by!!

Gotcha!! about time

       For the last three years now I have  been aware of a Tawny Owl roosting in late spring and summer, in some horse chestnuts on my local patch;  it does have a favoured tree, so when Pete and I walk down through the trees, we always have a quick look, and very rarely you might get a glimpse of  the owl among the foliage - but never enough to get any images though, which does get a bit frustrating at times, to say the least! A few weeks ago, I was walking by the tree in question with another mate (Dave Taylor) and saw the owl sitting high up but in the open.  Dave had his camera with him so he started getting a few images but mine was back at the car, so off I went to get it - only for Dave to tell me on my return it had flown to another tree and we just couldn't find it! (Lesson there, I think - always have your camera at your disposal!)  So..... today I was on my own, walking around the patch.  I didn't walk by the trees, instead plumping to walk down the hedgerow hoping for a warbler or two, but to no avail. Halfway down the first track the 'yaffle' of a Green Woodpecker caught my attention, coming from its' favoured  tree.  I noticed a pair Green Woodpeckers which then  fly into the horse chestnuts - and the noise they were making was amazing!  This went on for 5 or 6 minutes, which got me thinking -  was the owl about??  I left them carrying on - they were not happy about something! I carried on down towards the wood, noting a Blackcap  singing his little heart out (I love their song) and it was good to 3 LR Plovers on the deep settling pool. The only other birds of note today beside these were 22 Swift heading south,  so I headed back to the car. On reaching the horse chestnuts,  I gave the owls favourite tree the once over - and sure enough, there it was - quite high, but in the open. Remember about the lesson about the camera?? well obviously I haven't  learnt yet, so back to the car get the camera, and hope the owl was still there when I returned! Thankfully it was. The foliage around it didn't help matters, but I was quite pleased to get some kind of image at last,  a couple of which are below                                        

                                         

                                         

As always thanks for stopping by!!

Whoop Whoop!!!!

I've just returned from a relaxing cruise around Italy - and very nice it was too - but the Friday before  me and the Duchess were due to set sail,  (the 29th May),  I had a call from my mate Ben Croxall saying that Andy Forryan had found two first summer Whooper Swans on Groby Pool; I couldn't get there till early evening, and was expecting them to be in the middle or on the far side of the water - or even not to be there at all - so wasn't expecting to get any images, but on our arrival, the two birds in question were right in front of us and being very aggressive towards the local Swans and Geese.  I know these Whooper Swans are regular visitors in the winter, and we do get a few in Leicestershire now and then, but I thought it a bit of a bizarre record for two Whooper Swans to be in  Leicestershire at the end of May.

A very short post this time but thanks as always for stopping by.

Can't stop Twitching

My last post was about our twitch to the Scilly Isles for the Great-blue Heron, and I thought that might be the last of our travels for a while and we would settle down to some patch birding closer to home, trying to find some migrants locally, but May was to be another memorable month, starting on the 3rd with an Hudsonian Godwit down at Meare Heath in Somerset. It had been there for a few days, but as always, with other commitments, I couldn't make it 'till my good mate Steve James called me and said that he and his partner, Emma, were going for it on Sunday, and would I like to join them?  Could I be a gooseberry for a day??..... course I could!  and I accepted his offer. So, after an uneventful journey down to Somerset, it was just a short walk to where the bird was being seen, amongst a flock of Black-tailed Godwits. On joining the 70 or 80 birder already there, we bumped into our good mate from Warwickshire - Adam Archer - and his partner Nadia. (Did I mention gooseberry?) Anyway, Archie soon had us on the bird, although it was sometimes difficult to get decent views.  Emma and Steve went off for a wonder around the reserve and I stayed to try and capture some images - which was not easy considering distance involved and not helped by the bird hiding in amongst the Godwits (and any other excuse I can think of). A few images are below

The bird is middle bottom of the image note the darker under wings

On our way home from the Godwit, Steve noticed that a male Summer plumage Red-throated Pipit had come up on the news services, and was showing well in sheep fields at Chisworth, in Derbyshire; We both needed it, but had no plans to go...... until the following morning, the 4th of May, when Steve called to say he was going for it and he would pick me up if I wanted to go. Once again the trip was uneventful up into North Derbyshire, and,  two hours later, we were watching this stunning male Pipit. It was close by when we arrived, but decided to go and feed at the back of the field with some Meadow Pipits and Wheatear; It didn't come any closer while we were there -the image below is heavily cropped, but I think you get an impression of the bird.

Mid May, and the Greater Yellowlegs had turned up at Titchfield Haven in Hampshire. Now, after a week, the bird seemed quite settled, so I made a few calls to friends who either needed it or just wanted to go see another; Steve James needed it so he was my first passenger,and  Brian Moore who had already got it on his list, but was happy to see another said he would like to join us, so, leaving at stupid o clock (as usual), we arrived at 8.30am at the reserve. The bird had sometimes been sighted from the coast road, so having parked up, Brian got out of the car, picked up his bins to scan the Godwits that it was associating with, and the first bird he saw was the Yellowlegs!... even the birders that were already there hadn't seen it, as it was tucked in below them! This is what twitching should be like - out of the car and the bird right in front of you!.... or would that be boring?..........probably!!!  After an hour, off we went for some well needed breakfast, and after filling our bellies, we went back for another look at the Yellowlegs - but it had flown on to the reserve. Below are a few images of the Yellowlegs. Now, first of all I'm no photographer - I'm just a birder with a camera - and also I've just purchased a 2x converter from my mate Paul, and have certainly got to get used to it!. Anyway, enough excuses for the images! Also on the news services, there had been a Bonaparte's Gull frequenting Chesill Bay which is in Southampton, so not that far away and  we decided to go it. (None of us 'needed' it, but it is always nice to see another one)

We traveled the 12 or so miles to Chesill Bay and found the area where the Gull seemed to favour, but we spent well over 2 hours here before Steve spotted a small gull flying towards us, which did the decent thing and landed on the water, giving us time to confirm the ID - it was Bonaparte's Gull   -and a Black-headed Gull landed close to the Bonaparte's, which gave us an excellent size comparison, Sadly, it was too far away for any images though. All in all, a good days birding, with two N.American birds in the bag - and just to say - that neither the Hudsonian Godwit or the Red-throated Pipit were were seen again the days following our visit, so Steve and I had seen them and got two ticks by the skin of our teeth!  I can only conclude that the month of May was a great month for twitching for Steve and me........and its not over yet!
As always thanks for stopping by!!!

That was Scilly

When the Great Blue Heron turned up on the Scilly Isles, I really never gave it a second thought - even though it was a BOU tick, and  only the second for Britain - bizarrely found by the same birder who found the first one in 2007 (Ashley Fisher). Don't ask me why, but even for all the rarities that the Scillies turn up, it's never had a pull for me, but last week a mate of mine, Brian Moore, asked if Iwas interested in twitching the Heron - and asked if I knew anybody else that was interested in going? After a few calls, it seemed that everybody had got work or other things planned, so last weeks' trip was put on hold until this week, when other people were available; after a few more calls, Steve James said he was up for it, so at stupid o' clock on Tues evening, the three of us were on our way to Penzance in readiness for the 9.15am Scillonian lll crossing to St Mary's. The ferry left on time, so we would be on the island at mid-day;  the bird had been favouring Bryher, and sometimes Tresco, but it had done the decent thing and had taken up residence on St Mary's at Lower Moor. After an uneventful crossing, with only Fulmars a few Auks, Kittewake and lots of Manx Shearwaters to note, we checked the news services which said the bird was perched in an Elm tree, close to the school, so we jumped into a taxi to save time (we were on the 4.30pm ferry back). After an hour walking up and down a path where the elm trees, as we didn't know where the bird had been seen from, we decided to walk around to the ISBG hide at lower Moor. Before we got into the hide though, a couple of birders just coming away from the hide confirmed the heron was on the pool. I made a quick call to Steve as he was at the other end of Lower Moor, and it wasn't long before all of us were having stunning views of this huge heron.  It all went too quickly, and before we knew it we were on the ferry, heading back to Penzance. It was my first time on the Scillies - but certainly won't be my last! It was a great twitch -  a long way to go I know,  but these things have to be done................he said tongue in cheek!!!  Below are a few images of the Great Blue Heron

                                                Leaving St Mary's

Just passing St Michaels' mount on our way back into Penzance

As always, thanks for stopping by to read my blog!

Until my  next 'adventure' !