Baird's Sandpiper : KNNR

Baird's Sandpiper is one of the American 'peeps' that I haven't caught up with over the years, whilst the more common species such as Pectoral, Buff - brested and White-rumped have been reasonably easy to connect with Baird's has proved more difficult, I should have made the effort to have gone for the Pembrokeshire bird a few years ago and have regretted it since.
So when Neil Donaghy found one on his 'patch' yesterday morning I promised myself I would make an effort although work has a habit of intervening.
I couldn't make it yesterday and hoped that it would stay overnight so when Neil posted via the text 'grapevine' that the bird was still there at 7.30am I managed a visit between meetings and got to Kenfig by about 9.50am.
The bird was reminiscent of the White-rumped Sandpiper back in 2007 as it was feeding in the same spot on the East shore of the pool and was equally confiding.
There were already about 9-10 birders and 'toggers' present including a few familiar faces and although the grey overcast conditions made for terrible light I managed a few shots that I was pleased with as the bird showed down to 5-6m..........

I had hoped that the bird would stay until tomorrow and that I would be able to revisit in better light but a phone call from birding friend Steve Howcroft from Cardiff telling me that the bird had flown off west a couple of minutes before he arrived at 3.00pm means that Plan 'B' whatever that is will have to be put into motion.
Although I would have liked the bird in better light a 'lifer', Wales and county 'tick' and some reasonable photos can't be sniffed at especially on a work day.

Yellow - Browed Warbler : KNNR

With the easterly winds and the recent influx of Yellow - Browed Warblers into the UK myself and fellow birder and "togger" Peter Morgan decided to stay local and head for Kenfig this morning where a few YBWs had been found in the last couple of days by local birder Neil Donaghy.
We met up at Sarn on Junc 36 of the M4 at 07.30 and headed first for Sandfields in Aberavon in the hope that the juvenile Rose - coloured Starling was still present having been reported last Thursday after an absence of reports earlier in the week.
We stayed for an hour and searched rooftops of the street which the the bird had favoured but had no luck and decided to head for Kenfig.
Just as we arrived a "grapevine" text alerted us that Neil had found another YBW  and after a quick mobile call to Neil who was still there and had Paul "Sid" Parsons and Paul Tabor for company he met up with us and showed us the location.
We waited a little while and two YBWs appeared flitting around the willow and hawthorn bushes and we all managed some shots although the harsh sunlight casting shadows with the foliage caused some headaches..........

Richard Smith phoned and then joined us but with the birds disappearing and photographic opportunities becoming scarce we headed for Dunraven on the Heritage Coast where another YBW had been reported yesterday.
After getting ripped off for the £3.00 parking fee we parked up and were joined by Cliff Woodhead who was hoping for a couple more shots of the Hobby that had been hunting the fields at the top of the cliffs for a few days.
We searched the wooded area near the viewpoint and a Chiffchaff threw us for a moment and eventually having no luck we decided to call it a day and headed for home.

"Everything's coming up Rosy".............

Rose-coloured Starling is a bird that I've found it difficult to catch up with although I have seen a couple over the years.
There have been two local birds previously that I recall in Port Talbot, one back in about 2002 and one last year and I've 'dipped' on both, last year's was particularly disappointing as it was reasonably well photographed by others.
I had no plans for yesterday as the weather was poor but when my mobile bleeped with a 'grapevine' text at about 12.30pm half way around Aldi with Teresa alerting me to a juvenile in Port Talbot I couldn't resist a visit.
I got to the location on the Sandfields Estate at about 2.30pm to be greeted by Mark Hipkin who had put the news out and Gavin Moore who had popped down from Cardiff, the bird had shown earlier but we had to wait about an hour before it reappeared on the rooftops.
The bird has been visiting garden feeders since last Thursday and I managed a shot on the rooftop before it disappeared to feed in the garden.......

The bird flew off and Gavin also said farewell, myself and Mark had a good search and arrived back at the location at the same time as the bird, Mark decided to leave and Gary the homeowner invited me into his home to view the bird on the feeders, I managed a few shots although shooting through glass didn't provide the best results........

I gave it another hour hoping the bird would come to roost in a pine at the rear of the garden but had no such luck.
With fantastic weather forecast for today I had decided to visit Crymlyn Burrows for the wader roost with a good high tide at 7.58am arriving there at 7.30am, unfortunately a few dog walkers had the same idea and the disturbance was frustrating to say the least........

I just couldn't get near the birds who were by now quite flighty and managed just a few record shots........

I didn't waste much time on the waders although there were good numbers of Sanderling and Ringed Plover with some Dunlin and a few Knot mixed in with them and decided to finish off with a circuit of the scrub in the hope of a Yellow-Browed Warbler, no luck I'm afraid but good numbers of Goldfinches and Stonechats with an obliging female Reed Bunting.....

I moved on to Sandfields in the hope of getting some better images of the Rosy Starling but in much improved light than yesterday and wasn't to be disappointed, upon arrival I was greeted by Kevin Hughes who had added the bird to his year list and Martin "Billy Wizz" Thomas sporting his new SLR and lens.
The bird soon came back and I managed some nice shots as it perched high up on a TV aerial.......

The bird then flew over to the house with the feeders and first perched on the chimney and then dropped to the roof edge before visiting the feeders and I managed some shots that I was really pleased with.......

Martin had already left and Kevin also said his goodbyes and deciding that I wasn't going to achieve much better than I had I decided to finish off the morning with a walk up the side of the River Afan from the beach in the hope of a rare gull.
There were very few gulls around and the only waders of note were half a dozen Curlew calling as they flew up river, a passage Wheatear was not unexpected and a pair of Linnets flew in before being flushed by another bloody dogwalker, a comic Carrion Crow with a bill full of what looked like Cheesy Wotsits provided a nice novelty shot to finish the day.........

Having not done a lot over the spring and summer I've had a great few weeks catching up with Wryneck, Spotted Crake and Rose-Coloured Starling, all species that I have seen previously but not had great and prolonged views of, I've managed to get some really pleasing shots of all, right now where's that late passage Golden Oriole !!!!

Spotted Crake : Slimbridge

I'd noticed that the Spotted Crake which appeared last Wednesday at WWT Slimbridge was still present last Saturday and so a late phone call Saturday evening and a hurried arrangement saw myself and fellow "togger" and good friend Richard Smith rock up at Slimbridge early Sunday morning.
The bird had been showing really well on the small dragonfly pool and giving great photographic opportunities judging by some of the photos I had seen posted on the internet so this was an opportunity not to be missed especially as I'd only seen two of the species previously in the UK and the last of those was several years ago at RSPB Greylake in Somerset.
We had to wait until 09.30 for the grounds to open properly and made our way over to the Van de Bovenkamp hide at 09.20, even then there were a few birders that had beaten us to it.
After a few minutes wait the bird appeared out of the reeds and fed vigorously, a feat it repeated at regular intervals throughout the day.
We both "filled our boots" with this stunning bird and came away with images that we were well pleased with............

Wryneck : Dunraven

An earlyish finish in work and a mad dash down to Dunraven on the Heritage coast yesterday evening saw me in pursuit of a Wryneck found late Monday afternoon.
The weather had been quite mixed with heavy rain showers during the day but upon my arrival at about 5.40pm it started to brighten up with some lovely late evening sunshine.
Local birders Gary Light and Colin Stephenson were on the bird when I rolled into the car park and I soon joined them viewing the bird high on the top of the stoney embankment, it had been quite mobile but then seemed to settle feeding actively.
I made a careful approach and managed some shots that I was more than pleased with....

As we watched the bird decided to take flight and crossed the road settling on the well trodden path waymarked by posts between the road and the cliff and again fed vigorously......

I was hoping that the bird would hop up onto one of the posts and it duly obliged although by now the light was fading and I was forced to crank up the ISO a little......

I've seen several Wrynecks in the UK over the years but none giving such great views as this bird, this is an exciting time of the year and hopefully another rarity will turn up locally, an American wader would be nice.