Sunday 30 December 2012

CWP floods....and Egrets

30 Dec - A total of 27 Little Egrets on the extensive floods at Ashton Keynes, either side of the B4696, this afternoon. By far my highest ever Wiltshire count.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Soggy Otmoor.....

26 Dec - The highest water levels I have ever seen at Otmoor, and impressive aerobatics from the wader flocks - c2000 Golden Plover and c3000 Lapwing, also 9 Snipe flew over. Good numbers of dabbling ducks included 3+ drake Pintail among the Teal and Wigeon. A Chiffchaff was calling in the hedgerow, and a couple of Reed Buntings present.

Sunday 23 December 2012

Wildfowl.....

23 Dec - finally, a dry interlude with a bit of sun, and a quick lunchtime walk.....5 smart redhead Smew were together on pit 28 at CWP, with 13 Goosander (9 drakes, 4 redheads) on the adjacent pit 30. Also 5 redhead Goosanders on pit 56 at Neigh Bridge. Pit 74 from twitcher's gate showed amazingly high water levels, 12 Pintail (8 drakes, 4 females) were the highlight, but only c25 Shoveler seen, with good numbers of Teal and Wigeon.

Sunday 16 December 2012

Waxwings.....

16 Dec - this excellent photo of some of the Cheltenham Waxwings was taken by, copyright, Mark Dowie.

Saturday 15 December 2012

Bittern.....Waxwings.....Long-tailed Duck!

15 Dec - The best views I have ever had of a Bittern, watched in the open from Zeiss hide at Slimbridge in the morning (1-3). Also at Slimbridge - Bewick's Swans (4), White-fronted Geese (along the entrance road), c900 Dunlin, c150 Lapwings, c20 Golden Plover, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Snipe and Redshank - together with hundreds of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Pintail. c50 Waxwings were flying around Princess Elizabeth Way, Cheltenham, but were very mobile. Then, a visit to Baulking gravel pit, not far from home, and a stunning male Long-tailed Duck seen at an unlikely location (5-6). All in all, a good morning! Photos JM.

Thursday 13 December 2012

Great White Egret at Coate

13 Dec - A quick visit to a frozen Coate Water before work, and good views of the Great White Egret close to the second hide - A photo on my iphone shows it very distantly (!), and the other photo is copyright Tony Martin. Also seen - a Kingfisher, 10 Siskins, 2 Redpolls and 2 drakes and a female Goosander very close to the dam.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Waxwings..... and Smew

8 Dec - I finally caught up with some Swindon Waxwings, arriving in Oakhurst just as the flock was perching on aerials after feeding - approximately 30 birds in total - I just had time to grab 2 or 3 photos before they flew off, and I just had one further view of the flock distantly in flight. Photo JM. In the late afternoon, 2 redhead Smew were on pit 29 in the CWP, and 7 Goosanders on the adjacent pit 30. Unfortunately some wildfowlers arrived, and disturbed all the birds, but happily appeared to be very poor shots. I didn't know the shooting rights were private here, which seems strange next to a busy road. A very quick look at pit 74 produced a pair of Pintail, 9 Curlew and a Little Egret in flight.

Sunday 2 December 2012

CWP

2 Dec - A frosty fine day, a quick look at the Water Park produced 9 Goosander (5 drakes and 4 redheads) on pit 30. Redhead Smews had been reported earlier on pit 28/29. Pit 74 from twitcher's gate was very productive - with high water levels thronged with wildfowl - 109 Shoveler was my highest ever count in the CWP - also 3 Pintail (2m,1f) c150 Teal, c300 Wigeon, drake Goldeneye, drake Pochard, 30 Tufted Duck, 6 Curlew, 10 Lapwings, a Little Egret, a flyover Redpoll, and Water Rail and Great Spotted Woodpecker heard.

Saturday 1 December 2012

Oxford and Farmoor.....

1 Dec - A cold sunny morning, first stop St Giles in central Oxford, where 28 Waxwings were feeding around the churchyard and perching in the treetops (1-3). Excellent views in the low sun. Also Mistle Thrush and Redwing looking for berries. Then Farmoor on the way home was excellent - a single Waxwing was with the thrush flock behind F1, also a male Brambling with the finches in the hedge there - and 3 female Scaup (4) and a Slavonian Grebe (5,6) on F1, also a pair of Goldeneye. Photos JM.

Sunday 25 November 2012

Scottish coast 22-25 Nov 2012

22-25 Nov - An excellent 3-day trip with Mark Finn to see the wintering birds on the Scottish east coast, primarily around the Moray Firth. The weather was excellent, with sunshine and little wind (athough the day prior to my arrival had been very wet). We started with Tarbet Ness and the Sutherland coast up as far as Loch Fleet and Embo - birds here included 1000s of Pink-footed (2,3) and Greylag Geese, and 100s of Whooper Swans (4,5), arrived from Iceland for the winter. A seawatch here produced all 3 species of Diver, Black Guillemots, and our first Long-tailed Ducks (14,15) and Scoters. Portmahomack harbour (6) held a nice flock of 20 or so wintering Purple Sandpipers (7,8). Tain and Loch Fleet held a good range of waders, including Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Sanderling and Redshank, with large numbers of dabbling duck especially Wigeon and Teal. A large finch flock, including 100 or so Twite, was flying around some adjacent stubble fields. Embo (1) and the adjacent coast gave close views of flocks of Common Scoter (11,12), together with a very close Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebes and Long-tailed Ducks. The second day was a calm, sunny day and a Dipper was on the river at Nairn early morning - later, Roseisle, Burghead (9) and Lossiemouth gave excellent views of rafts of several hundred Long-tailed Duck, a few smart Velvet Scoter (13), Red-breasted Mergansers and Eider (10), with a few Common Scoter and Goldeneye. Lossiemouth beach held the same species and an obliging Curlew (16), but we did not find any Snow Buntings due to the number of people enjoying the beach in the fine weather. The car park at Roseisle contained 2 confiding Crested Tits. On our last morning, the weather was dull, but Udale Bay gave great views of waders including both Godwits, more Knot and Redshank, and many Dunlin. Moving up towards the Cromarty Firth we found a large flock of Scaup, more Slavonian Grebes, Eiders and Long-tailed Duck. In Culbokie village we finally found a flock of 45 or so Waxwings (17) perched up in the treetops - and the finale was a Otter feeding under the Kessock Bridge, not far from the airport. Photos JM.

Sunday 18 November 2012

Shorncote

18 Nov - A sunny afternoon at Shorncote, and fairly productive - 4 Snipe and 2 Green Sandpipers, also Wigeon and Snipe (2), a drake Shoveler, 3 Redpolls with Linnets, Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a Reed Bunting. 2 Water Rails called from the reeds. Over 150 Fieldfares were present but flighty, with a few Redwings. 2 Grey Wagtails (3) were seen. Photos JM.

Friday 16 November 2012

CWP 74..... and winter thrushes......

15 and 16 Nov - on 15th, a quick look at pit 74 from the gate produced 2 feeding Little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Dunlin, 32 Shovelers , small flocks of Wigeon and Teal, and my first 4 Goldeneye of the autumn. On the morning of the 16th, 2 Fieldfares (3,4), a Redwing (1,2) and a Scandinavian-type Blackbird (5,6) fed on berries very close to the house, and I managed a few photos in rather dull light. Photos, JM.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

BTD revisited

30 Oct - Another opportunity today to photograph the juvenile Black-throated Diver at Moulden Hill, and it was very obliging in the sunshine. Photos JM.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Black-throated Diver at Mouldon Hill

28 Oct - A juvenile Black-throated Diver was found today at Mouldon Hill country park in Swindon, a very rare bird inland and especially in Wiltshire - a county tick for me! I got some photos in poor light about 4.15-4.30pm.

Saturday 27 October 2012

Dorset Bird Club Conference...and Portland

27 Oct - I combined the Dorset Bird Club 25th anniversary conference - at Dorchester, and with some good speakers - with a lunchtime visit to Portland Bill, where the Isabelline Shrike (4) was at Culverwell(3) - it's either an adult male or adult female - and the Barred Warbler was still present, and, amazingly, in the same bush! A couple of Bramblings were also around. Sunny but with a north wind. Earlier, there were at least 50 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge (1,2), a good proportion of them adults, along with Brent Geese and Dunlin. Photos JM.