Monday, June 22, 2009

Wonderful Weekend:Part 2

With the disappointment of the Lions defeat to South Africa on Saturday (a game that we could have and should have won !) still weighing heavily I definately felt that a "twitch"would help to redress the balance,afterall we were "on a roll" after the Friday evening success with the Woodchat Shrike. The Little Bittern at Walton Heath on the Somerset levels seemed a good target,not too far to travel and a cracking bird to get. I'd seen a couple (of Little Bitterns that is !) skulking around the edge of a man-made lake on a golf course whilst on holiday in Portugal about 5 years ago but had not caught up with one in this country,a "lifer" as well for Dan and Geth. Dan and Gethin really fancied the trip but Wayne and Kev had other comittments. From the reports on Birdguides the majority of the sightings seemed to be either early morning or evening time,with Dan away in Mid Wales until Sunday lunchtime we thought we'd give it a go late Sun p.m/evening. We arrived at the reserve at about 5.30pm and there were already a number of small groups of birders scanning the reedbeds from various locations along the main track. Dan had already called in at the site on his way back from Cornwall on business earlier in the week so we already knew the location the bird favoured. We set up position and were joined by a few other birders,a couple of boring hours passed only broken by good views of a Cuckoo perched in a tree out on the marsh,there's only so long you can scan acres of reedbeds !! The bird was constantly calling so we were able to judge it's approximate position,after a couple of hours which felt like an eternity the bird showed briefly giving a very short 3-4 sec flight view !! Gotcha,enough of a view to "tick" it but we wanted more and were not to be disappointed. Tunnocks all round then,if The Twitchmeister gets anymore "lifers" we'll be overdosing on caramel wafers !! After about another 15mins it broke cover again and gave a good 60-70 m flight view before settling astride the top of the reeds in full view,how lucky is that!!

Great excitment amongst our small group of gathered birders as the bird perched for a couple of minutes giving excellent views,I managed a quick still photograph through the 'scope and then changed to video mode to capture a pleasing if at times juddery "digi-vid"record.

This completely exceeded our expectations as we only bargained on a couple of brief flight views at best if we caught up with our target.

The bird took off again and disappeared to our right out of view,Gethin still needed Great Bittern,Barn Owl,Marsh Harrier and views of Cetti's Warbler for his life list so we set off in search down the track on our way back to the jeep.

Hard to believe that the young "boy-birder" has seen Roller,Bee-eater,Pacific Diver and Stilt-Sandpiper in the UK but not any of the afore-mentioned !!!

A call from one of the other birders alerted us to a Cattle Egret as it passed overhead and an excited Geth soon found his own Barn Owl quartering the rough ground on the far side of Ham Wall.

Another shout gave us a flying Great Bittern and then in the same field of view in the bins was the Little Bittern flying alongside it !! Now there's a sight you don't see everyday !!

They both disappeared into the reeds and we were soon watching another hunting Barn Owl.

Dan and "The Twitchmeister" went off to look for a nearby calling Cetti's Warbler and I picked out a hunting male Marsh Harrier which gave good if all too brief views and young Geth wasn't able to get on to it,his only "dip" of the day.

We then preceeded to get a couple more excellent flight views of the Little Bittern before in the gathering gloom we decided to call it a night.

What an evening out and a really "golden" 45 mins or so with "crippling" views of Little Bittern and Great Bittern,Barn Owl,Cattle Egret and Marsh Harrier also "in the bag".

There sure were three smug,satisfied "Birders in Boxers" who headed back over the Severn crossing into an appropriate "golden" sunset.

Wonderful Weekend:Part1

With Wayne unavailable and Kevin preferring to "dip" on Sunday myself,Dan and the "boy-wonder" birder Gethin aka "The Twitchmeister" headed west Fri evening (19th June) down the Gower to try and pickup the 1st summer female Woodchat Shrike that had been found earlier in the week on Rhosili Downs.
Dan had made a visit the previous day whilst on business but had "dipped" as had others, the bird was proving elusive.
I'd only seen one previous Woodchat Shrike in the U.K which was the male at Cosmeston about 5-6 years ago and the species would be a "lifer" for Dan and Geth.
We arrived to a cold and blustery site and scanned every fence,power cable and gorse bush for the elusive bird,plenty of Meadow Pipits and Stonechats but no shrike.
After an hour Dan checked what we thought was yet another pipit which turned out to be the shrike,it quickly dived into cover before emerging again on top of a gorse bush.
We didn't find the bird until 8.30pm and with overcast weather condititions and the gorse bushes constantly wavering in the breeze getting a couple of "snaps" was hard work.
The bird was quite mobile and flitted between several gorse bushes before taking shelter from the breeze at the base of another spindly bush.

We watched the bird for about 20mins and with the light starting to fade decided to head back to the car for a celebratory "Tunnocks" caramel wafer, Gethin's "ritual" when chalking up yet another "lifer" on his ever growing life list.

We passed a couple of other visiting birders on our walk back to the car and tried to "pinpoint" the bird for them with directions,hope they were as lucky as we were.

A good start to what was to be a cracking weekend !!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Gower Shrike

The thought of another pasting from the TM was too much so I had to go to Gower today, and managed to get the woodchat shrike after a little wait.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

A Pizza the Action

To mark his entry into the (Birders in Boxers) UK200 Club the boys took the Twitchmeister out for a celebratory nosh up at the 3 Michelin Star McArthurGlen Pizza Hut. Garlic bread and erm, pizzas all round. The Boy Birder was also presented with a BiB UK200 Club Certificate which is now proudly hanging on his bedroom wall. A telegram received from a 'Mr L Evans from Bucks' rubbishing Gethin's list was ceremonially burned. We look forward to holding a similar event next year to celebrate the Twitchmeister's entry into the UK300 Club.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Llandefaelog Wood,Brecon

On one of our recent weekends up the caravan and whilst visiting the local tourist information office in Brecon I picked up a cracking guide to their 19 nature reserves published by the Brecknock Wildlife Trust. The guide is excellent and provides good directions,grid references,trail maps and details of all the flora and fauna you could with luck expect to see. Although now late in the breeding season I thought on Sunday morning 14th June that I'd give Llandefaelog Wood just a few miles north west of Brecon a go in search of Pied Flycatcher and I wasn't to be disappointed. The wood is a little gem,barely a couple of hundred metres long by about 70m wide with an excellent circular trail. The guide states that several nestboxes have been put up and after just a few minutes I came across my first one,nobody at home but upon inspection it had been used this season. I soon came across another box and after a wait of a few minutes a male Pied Flycatcher soon dived into the box to feed young. As soon as it departed one of the youngsters appeared in the hole soon to be fed by the female.

Shortly after the female had left the youngster decided to "fledge" and flew from the box which was about 30m from me to land on the ground only 3-4m away,I don't think it was expecting to be greeted by a big hairy birder and decided to seek the sanctuary of a tree a little further away.

Bit like an episode of the recent "Springwatch".

The male Pied Fly then returned with a mouthfull of food and seemed totally bewildered by the disappearance of the youngster.

I watched for a little while as both parent birds visited the box and between visits witnessed the bizzare sight of a Spotted Flycatcher perching on the lid of the box !!

A couple of juvenile Redstarts as I left the wood "mopped up" the woodland species I'd expected to encounter and this is certainly a place that I'll re-visit next spring.

The wood is well managed and there were also groups of bat boxes at high level on some of the trees,not sure what bats would use these - any guesses ?

Hats of to the Brecknock Wildlife Trust for an excellent guide -now where am I off to on my next visit to Brecon.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Two Ton Twitchmeister

No, the Boy Birder hasn't suddenly put on a lot of weight. In May he finally scorched through the 200 UK Lifer mark with a sudden blitz of ticks (admittedly mainly of the tart variety). It was like watching Usain Bolt at the Beijing Olympics.

He finally broke through the barrier with a visit to Rudry Common - target species Tree Pipit, Garden Warbler and Cuckoo. Although the Common resembled a military scorched earth zone (see below) one of the first birds we heard on getting out of the car was a Tree Pipit and within a minute we'd found it (#199). There were quite a few pairs around, which was good to see. But, for the first time ever I think, I didn't hear a Cuckoo calling at Rudry Common. We needed to find a Garden Warbler more than ever. Mister Lister beside me was edgy and irritable as, over the next three quarters of an hour, the only warblers we heard singing were Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. And then, suddenly, we heard it - a Garden Warbler singing deep in a thicket. But, it wouldn't show itself. I believe if I'd wired up the Twitchmeister to the National Grid he could have supplied enough energy to light Caerphilly for a month. We decided to leg it around the other side of the thicket and try our luck there. A good decision - out it popped and continued to sing its little heart out (#200). Thank God for that - I think he would have punched me if we'd failed! Of course, two minutes later we found another one.

Then, during May half-term holidays we went on a family trip to Mid-Wales. We stayed at the Youth Hostel at Borth just north of Aberystwyth where we were able to seatwatch in the comfort of our bedroom. We had streams of Manx Shearwater, plenty of Gannets and Gulls, 3 or 4 Sandwich Terns, a Guillemot, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. A male Common Scoter which sat on the sea really close in for a while was a bit of a surprise and proved to be #201 for Gethin.

We paid two all day visits to the Ynys Hir RSPB reserve near Machynlleth. It was idyllic. The weather was fantastic and we managed to see good numbers of Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatchers, and also one or two Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers. When a Cuckoo called briefly in the distance the Little Lister was off like a shot in search of it - but to no avail. He really began to have a hang up about Cuckoo, convinced he'd never see one - particularly having heard that it's now on the UK Red List.

We went to sit in a hide overlooking one of the reedbeds (above). Reed Warblers and Buntings were calling and then suddenly a shout: "Dad - Hobby!" And he was right. It was above us for no more than thirty seconds but in that time we saw it catch a dragonfly before it flew off. How he so confidently called a bird he'd never see before I shall never know. (#202).

Gethin and his big sister Gwenni shortly after seeing the Hobby.

The was nothing much to see around the estuary other than a plague of Canada Geese (I think that's the collective noun for them) and some nesting Lapwing. I did find a few of these caterpillars on a tree though. Anybody know what they are?

We then moved on to stay at King's Youth Hostel near Dolgellau. Nestled in a wooded valley Gethin went out for a walk while we unpacked. He came back to say that he'd found a Garden Warbler, a Wood Warbler, pairs of both Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher and nesting Grey Wagtails and House Martin. He'd also heard but not seen another Cuckoo. Ouch.

But, his luck finally turned. While out walking just below the Cader Idris massif (that's not it on the left - believe me there a big mountain on the right just out of shot) a Cuckoo (#203) flew over our heads and landed briefly on a tree on an island (below). The relief! Not so much for Gethin but for the rest of us - life without having a Cuckoo on his list was as unbearable for us at it was for him! Of course, that evening, we had crippling views of another within (Cuckoo) spitting distance of the hostel.

We returned home with four more days of the holidays still left. So, to round things off nicely, Gethin and I visited Goldcliff where he scored with a brace of Spoonbill (#204) and an evening visit to Llanwonno where we clocked some Nightjars - at least 5 churrers, and flight views of two birds (#205). A cracking two or three weeks were the Boy Birder really came of age.

Monday, June 08, 2009

Somerset LB

Yesterday, a trip to the West Country was of mixed success. No little terns were viewed at the 'colony' at Ferrybridge, Chesil Beach. The site is heavily fenced off, but it seems some folk have been trespassing, though kestrels may also be playing a part in the colony's failings. 40 birds were around at the start of the season. Only one or two now.

A planned visit to Martin Down and Sixpenny Handley, in the hope of turtle dove and corn bunting, was put off as news of a little bittern at Walton Heath near Ham Wall came through. Within an hour we were there. Great views of hunting hobbies, bitterns in flight and black terns were enjoyed, along within dozens of dragonflies and damselflies. Unfortunately, the little bittern did not show during our stay. As the afternoon drifted on we decided to cut our losses and make the short trip over to Collard Hill.

It was a good call. Despite being a little early in the season, we arrived to the news that 4 large blues had been seen a few hours earlier. A thorough search of the spot resulted in both a male and female large blue happily sunning together. A fresh marbled white and plenty of painted ladies concluded the visit.