A fine October day

The news of a juv Spotted Sandpiper at Lisvane caused a diversion from shopping etc.

The bird was quite confiding, and doubtless some far better pictures than this will appear elsewhere.

In the afternoon we took Rosie to Forest Farm, which was fairly birdless, but good views of Bullfinch and Nuthatch at one of the feeding stations were obtained. A couple of Redwings flew over, and Kingfisher and Siskin were heard.

Later on, having arranged for Aunty Pam to put Rosie to bed, a dusk visit to Goldcliff was profitable.

A Little Owl was visible in it's usual tree, and a Short Eared Owl hunted on and off until dusk. Wildfowl numbers are increasing, but due to a low tide, waders were distant on the shoreline. Avocets numbered 30+ (I'd counted 41 last Sunday) and could well now winter here.

A Snipe was trying not to be seen, and Water Rail squealed, and Cettis sang from the small reedbed near the seawall. Very pleasant!

I Thought We Were Supposed to be Birdwatching

They say "good things come to those who wait". Boll . . .derdash! Wayne and I set out this morning ready for an orgy of Yellow-browed Warblers and high expectations of finding some other goodies. First stop Aberthaw. 2 Y-b W's had been reported in Sea Buckthorn near the rivermouth. On the way there were loads of Blackbirds in the bushes and our first Fieldfare of the winter. A Water Rail squealed near the pools and a S'prawk flew over. On the shoreline there were Oycs and Curlew, the odd Turnstone (well not that odd really) and Wayne found a Common Sand on the beach. We found the Buckthorn bushes and waited. While we waited we grilled a pipit on the shoreline. Could it be a Buff-bellied Pipit? "Tell my why it isn't a Buff-bellied Pipit, Wayne?" I asked. "Cos it's at Aberthaw" came Wayne's no nonsense reply. He was right - it was a Rock Pipit. And we waited . . . .

Yet another birdless bush.

I'm sure you'll agree that this bush isn't anywhere as pretty

as the one we stared at at Uskmouth.

No sign of any Y-b W's - or any other bird for that matter. Cheesed off we made our way back to the car accompanied by some Skylarks overhead.

Next stop Cwm Nash. As we arrived we met Paul Roberts who had walked along the coast from St Donat's. He confirmed that he'd seen "bugger all" on his walk while we reciprocated by saying that there was "bugger all" at Aberthaw. The three of us walked down to the little 'Cwm' at Nash Point just to satisfy ourselves that there was bugger all down there too.

Apart from the odd Chiffchaff we were right. That is until Paul left us and Martin Bevan and Mike Hogan arrived. Out of the blue Martin magicked a 1st winter Ring Ouzel. How does he do it? It was soon joined in a tree by a Fieldfare, 4 male and 2 female Blackbirds. A positive thrush-fest.

A brief stop at Ty'n-y-Caeau Farm only provided us with Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, a distant Buzzard and two builders listening to Radio 2.

Stop number four was at Cwm Nash where two Y-b W's had been seen yesterday. Nothing here either - apart from one or two Goldcrests and another sighting of Martin and Mike. To add to his disappoinment, Wayne dipped on Treecreeper which he has yet to add to his 2007 year list.

Bypassing Ogmore ("there'll be bugger all there") we went straight to Kenfig. Bugger all there too - although good numbers of Pochard have already returned. Forgot - or to be more honest - couldn't be bothered to go through them all looking for the Redhead though.

Losing our will to live Wayne rescued the day by having a brainwave. "A pint of Bass and a pint of Cwrw Haf, please". Yes - we finished the day in style at the Prince of Wales. And to a toast of "absent friends and better luck next time" we agreed that a bad day's birdin' is better than a good day at the office.

Aqua-cadabra!

As if by magic yet another bird I twitched decided to put on a vanishing act. If I missed the Anglesey Black Stork by about 10 minutes this one was even worse. "Any sign of the Aquatic Warbler?" (Note the trepidation in my voice). Yep, it popped out five minutes ago. It's a bit elusive but if you hang around long enough you should see it. An hour and a half later and there was no sign of the little bleeder. Not in the mood for a 'Monty's Marathon' (see 'The Full Monty', Tuesday, June 06, 2006) I shouldered my 'scope and naffed off. Switching on the computer at home I read on Birdguides: Aquatic Warbler, Uskmouth - last seen 1150. I arrived at 1155. Still, I spent a very pleasant hour and a half looking at a nice bush . . .

A Nice Bush - spot the Acrocephalus paludicola

The moral of this story? If you want to see the bird turn up 10 minutes before I do . . . preferably in the company of Tim Hall!

At last - a bird

I had planned to spend the sunny afternoon of 12th Sept at Goldcliff. Just before I set off, an Aquatic Warbler was reported from nearby Uskmouth, so I headed there instead. Approaching the lighthouse, I met a birder coming away, who asked if I was looking for the warbler, explained that he was the finder, and then took me to where it had showed.

He left, and a lonely and birdless hour passed, until Gareth Stamp and another birder arrived. I explained the situation, and left to move my car (left inside the gate-silly when it's locked at 5pm).

A quick trip to Goldcliff seemed reasonable, as I felt that the bird had escaped me.

Little Owl,

Yellow Wags, a Little Stint, a few

Ruff,

and several Knot and Blackwit were nice, but not what I wanted.

Wayne texted me to ask if I'd seen the warbler. I then rang him and found out that I'd missed it by about 10 mins!

Back I went, and Gareth put me on the bird within a couple of minutes, and it showed well in sunshine, on and off, at about 20 feet.

No piccies of it, sadly ( well not by me anyway), but a welcome "lifer" on a gorgeous evening.

Good luck to anyone else who looks for it!

Stork SB

Stork Safely Bagged? Sadly not. Stork Sadly Buggered-off more like. I had to attend a wedding on Anglesey over the weekend and as the date drew nearer I noticed that the long-staying Black Stork on the Alaw Estuary near Llanfachraeth was only 15 minutes drive away from where we were staying. Top banana! Every night before the trip I logged onto Birdguides praying that it would stay until the day I got there. And it did . . . . right up until about 15 minutes before I arrived at the estuary. I had the privelege of meeting the very last birders to see it, who promptly told me "You should have been here ten minutes ago. It's just flown away". (Through gritted teeth) Any idea where it could have gone? "Could be anywhere!" I revisited the estuary over the next couple of days but no joy. Nice views of six Greenshank, R-b Mergs, Knot, Dunlin, shed loads of Curlew, the odd Little Egret and Kingfisher was small compensation. Nice estuary though and worth a visit if you're up North.