A Game of Two Halves

OK, since we spent more time listening to Radio Five Live in the car over the weekend than actually birding, let's go for a footballing analogy on this one.

The 1960s 'Spurs legend Jimmy Greaves once said that football was a "funny old game". Well, there was nothing funny about the Birders in Boxers first half performance over the weekend. It was more akin to the early season standards set by the 2008 Tottenham Hotspur team - a bunch of tired looking players demoralised by a pathetic strike rate. And a last minute substitution on Friday night - the Little Blue Heron - didn't help by completely trashing our game plan. Anyway, here's the Match Report:

First Half (Saturday, October 25th): Wayne and I left Cardiff at 6am in the 'Dipmobile' to tank it up to Kidwelly, picking up Jeff on the way. First light saw us join up with other birders at Banc y Lord (attendance c.200 and, apart from a contingent of Cardiff boys, there were no other Glamorgan regulars in the crowd). Our hearts sank when we saw the 'pitch'. It was massive with more dips and holes than the Millenium Stadium and we had the feeling straight away that the star player wasn't going to show. Nevertheless, we gave it a couple of hours before trudging away. Admittedly a poor show of stamina, but we knew we were on a hiding to nothing. As it turned out the LBH didn't come off the bench for the rest of the day.

Next stop Weston-super-Mare Sewage Farm for the long staying Ferruginous Duck. This bird was meant to be a 'first half penalty' - we were sure to score and we could head off on the long run down to Portland Bill with our spirits raised. But we shot over the cross-bar (Cf. Paul Bodin, Wales v Romania 1993). The bird wasn't there.

Portland Bird Observatory

We arrived at Portland at around 4pm to be told that the Glamorgan Bird Club crowd had had at least one Sabine's Gull close in while seawatching. We grilled the sea off the Bill for an hour but saw nothing. Why break an old tradition? We were in need of half time refreshments and an opportunity to discuss tactics, so we traipsed off the birding field of play to the 'changing rooms' (the Obs/Pulpit Pub).

Firecrest, Portland Bill

Second Half (Sunday, October 26th): A wet and windy night was followed by a wet and windy morning. Visibility was awful and nothing was passing through apart from a few Gannets and three Common Scoters. And so, not long after Jeff had dragged himself out of bed (9am!) we said our good-byes to the rest of the GBC crowd and we were on our way again. The team tactics was to call in on Radipole Lake to find the long-staying Hooded Merganser - for insurance purposes! It took us around 45 minutes to find it. None of us were really bothered but we were concerned that, if we couldn't find the back of the net with this 'sitter', we may as well give up the game. But, with Vinny Jones style grit and determination we found the bird having a kip up one of the channels.

Hooded Merganser - Radipole Lake

Leaving Radipole we took off on a long, cross country journey to Appledore, North Devon in search of the King Eider. Wayne steered the 'Dipmobile' into the seaside car park, jumped out and broke through the defence (Cf. Ricky Villa, 1981 FA Cup). "I've got it" he called. His Majesty was in residence. Back of the net!

The Dipmobile

A lifer for all three of us, this 2nd winter was a better looking bird than we'd expected. Let's hope it returns for another few years in full adult plumage.

With a spring in our step we rolled down our socks and threw away our shinpads (I'm getting bored with this football analogy now - as you probably have been since the very beginning) and off we went for another visit to Weston-super-Mare for yet another look ofr the Ferruginous Duck. There was no 'last minute goal' - there was no sign of it, although it was good to bump into some of the GBC boys there who we'd last seen back at Portland.

Birders in Boxers celebrating at our favourite pub in Appledore

We were back home and in the showers (not together I might add) by 6pm - absolutely knackered but happy at having ground out some sort of a result and at having had a good laugh along the way. A better performance next time would be appreciated.

This Weekend's Itinerary

This weekend sees the (almost) annual Glamorgan Bird Club weekend jaunt to Portland Bird Observatory, Dorset. And, observing the tradition of our recent trips to this cracking birding hotspot, there's naff all down there worth looking at. Nevertheless, three members of 'Birders in Boxers' have signed up for the trip. Tim and the Twitchmeister are sensibly staying at home.

But, in order to salvage something from what looks like being a quiet weekend, I've worked out the following itinerary (based on last night's BirdGuides):

1. Saturday. Leave Cardiff at 5.00am.

2. Pick up Fudge Duck at Weston-Super-Mare (by torchlight) before moving on to Burnham-on-Sea to bag the Baird's at first light.

3. Next stop Appledore to pay homage to the King Eider.

4. Quick dash to Cornwall to catch a helicopter to the Scillies where we should easily pick up the Grey-cheeked Thrush before re-finding the Red-flanked Bluetail, Bobolink, Olive-backed Pipit, White-rumped Sand and Little Bunting.

5. Finally arrive in Portland just in time to sink a few pints and get some grub at The Pulpit pub. Sunday morning - up early to do the traditional GBC Seawatch from the Bill. After an hour question our sanity for persisting in seawatching off Portland 'cos we never see anything decent there. (GBC trips to Portland have turned up some good birds over the years, but we NEVER find anything decent on our seawatches. We leave that to other people).

Next stop Radipole Lake so Jeff can tick off the Hooded Merganser.

6. Up to Birmingham to catch a flight (somehow) to North Ron to pick up the White-billed Diver.

Celebrate our successful weekend by chartering a direct flight back to Rhoose. Wayne can then catch a train to Birmingham to pick his car up. We cant't go wrong!

Little and Large

No, not Geth and Jeff - but Yellow-browed Warbler and Whooper Swan. The two Glamorgan scarcities we were aiming to bag before lunch today. I bet you can't guess which one we managed to see and which one we dipped on? The 7g , 10cm long Siberian Sprite (apologies for the cliche) in the middle of acres of Kenfig NNR scrub? Or the 20lb, 1.5m long whacking great big white bird sitting in the middle of a river? Yeah, you're right . . . . . .

At least one Yellow-browed Warbler has been at Kenfig for a few days and the Whooper Swan has been around at Ogmore even longer. Both species would have been lifers for the Twitchmeister, the Swan a county tick for Jeff and the YBW a county tick for me.

We met up at Kenfig and started looking around the scrub behind the reserve centre for the YBW. There were plenty of crests and tits around but no sign of the Sibe. To be honest it was difficult to concentrate on the bushes while trying to avoid standing in the 2.3 metric tonnes of dog crap that was liberally sprinkled all over the place. Other birders informed us that the bird hadn't been seen or heard all day and, with the wind picking up, we shrugged our shoulders and headed off for Ogmore. Such stamina.

On our way to Ogmore we stopped off at Tythegston/Wig Fach to look for Red-legged Partridge. Another blank. This is supposed to be one of Glamorgan's hotspots for this species but, in around about 50 visits, I've only ever seen them here once.

There was nothing apart from some farmyard ducks, Mallard and a pair of Teal at the Watermill - the Red-necked Phalarope that had been there recently had naffed off - and so it was on to Ogmore Castle in our final attempt to salvage something from the morning. Almost as soon as we'd jumped out of the car Jeff was on the bird - Cygnus cygnus (so good they named it twice) in the bag.

Lifer for Geth (#188) and county tick for Jeff and the frustration of the morning was (almost) forgotten.

Our final stop was Ogmore Estuary to have a quick look through the gulls. An adult winter Med Gull was the highlight and the presence of three Curlew, three Redshank and a Turnstone made it an above average 'wader day' at the estuary.

Name the location!

Fairly easy, I suspect. Taken on 22nd Sept.

Armchair Tick

Good news. The BOURC’s Taxonomic Sub-Committee have decided to split Pacific Diver from Black-throated Diver based on plumage and DNA evidence. Let's be honest - the amount of birding we're doing at the moment this is the only way any of us are likely to get any UK lifers in the forseeable future. (By the way, that's Tim's pic above of the Llys-y-Fran bird).