I went birding!

Yes, men, women, hermaphrodite and asexual readers of this blog. I have actually gone birding! As in but a pair of binoculars round my neck and gone for a walk somewhere! As only the third time this has happened this year, I felt it deserved some extra notice.

I took a visit to Seaford Head, taking a look at Cuckmere Haven at the same time. On the migrant front, I didn't see all that much. However, in Hope Gap was a singing Chiffchaff, a flitting Goldcrest giving a typical 'migrant's view' and 2-3 singing Redwings; their odd, warbler like songs contrasting markedly with the almost deafening chorus of Song Thrushes. And overhead I heard two Mediterranean Gulls. 20 or so Meadow Pipits hanging around, and a few heading north were probably migrants too. Other resident birds seen were several Yellowhammers, a pair of Ravens, and a few parachuting Rock Pipits and patrolling Fulmars along the cliffs. Is their a bird with a more beautiful flight than the Fulmar? I always just think of them as a local bird, but those wings may have carried that bird out into the atlantic in the winter. A Little Egret on the rockpools at Hope Gap was truly beautiful in it's serene and peaceful backdrop, but was sadly too distant for a photograph. And 150+ Wigeon could be seen distantly on the west side of the Cuckmere.


These Mallard on the pond at South Hill Barn were a nice surprise




also on these ponds was more frogspawn. As you can see
they are very well developed, looking like tadpoles rather than little
black dots. By the time I have the chance to visit again they may
well have hatched



photographically, this gorgeous male Yellowhammer was the highlight. The first
time I have photographed this species.



some of the 150+ Wigeon still in the Cuckmere 




and how could I not photograph that sunset across the sea?



28 Oct-The highlands, the lowlands and the wetlands

we had stayed the night with my Uncle, Aunt and two kid Cousins in Kirriemuir, Angus, and today Uncle Danny, Dad and Me went out around some of the spectacular areas of Angus. The first birds  we saw were 12 Pink-footed Geese, flying low over the house in Kirriemuir and honking all the time.

The first stop was Loch of Kinnordy RSPB. Out on the Loch we saw loads of Teal and Shoveler, quite a few Gadwall and a handful of Wigeon and Goldeneye, but not the Goosanders or redhead Smew put out on RBA the previous day. We also saw a few Fieldfares, while in the alders between Swamp Hide and Gullery Hide were a lot of Siskins and a few Redpolls. However, the absolute highlight was a flock of 40 WAXWINGS. They flew into one of the pine trees visible from Swamp Hide, and showed gorgeously in the early morning sun.

male Shoveler

two female Shovelers and a lady Teal (on the island at the back)

a few Mallard and two female-type Goldeneye

and a shitload of Waxwing!!

With Kinnordy done, we headed up into the mountains of Glen Isla. We stopped to eat luch on a small road through a mountain wood, with Siskin and Redpoll above our heads. A walk through the valley of Glen Isla had no birds, bar a few Buzzards, Crows and a flock of 15 Linnets. But no matter how Dipper-less were the streams, no matter how obviously Golden Eagles lacked from the mountain tops, it was a beautiful, scenic walk in some of the remotest country left in Britain.

October snow on the mountains

you see? not bad is it! kinda makes up for the avian dearth

Driving back to Kirriemuir, we were going through along a road through a mountain-side wood, when a RED SQUIRREL ran accross the road in front of the car! we saw it for about 30 seconds as it scampered away through the wood. This was the undoubted highlight of our two days around Kirriemuir.

following that, we headed back to Kirriemuir for a drink with Danny, in a deathly quiet pub. The only other humans were a couple of subdued alchholics, the only sub-human was an angry, sulky barmaid, and the only music was the morose, monotone noise that my generation seem to love for some unfathomable reason...

We bid farewell to Danny after this, and began the drive back to Edinburgh. With one stop along the way...

A Slavonian Grebe and a Greenland White-fronted Goose had been seen at Burleigh Sands, and we stopped along the way to keep a look. We saw 200+ Greylag Geese, a few Pink-footed Geese, 100+ Whooper Swans, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mallard, Wigeon and Gadwall and the highlight, 15 GOOSANDER and 3 Red-breasted Merganser (all redheads), but neither of our target birds. The Goosanders were a yeartick (no. 192)

After this it was back down to Edinburgh. We had one more day left before it was time to go home, and we saw a few mre good birds, as I shall write in the next post n the trip...

27 Oct 2010-up into real Scotland!

On October 27th, we drove up to Kirriemuir, where we stayed the night with my Uncle Danny, having a day in the Highlands (next post, prbably to be put on tomorra) before heading back down to Edinburgh the following afternoon...

We stopped off first at Fannyside Lochs, near Falkirk. Here were 160 TAIGA BEAN GEESE, in a faraway field with sheep onLuckenburn Farm. This, aside from being great birds, was the first time we've ever parked the car in one county (Clackmannanshire) and seen a bird in another (Falkirk)! The nearest place to the Bean Geese where we could park the car was in fact 20 yards over the border! A few flyover Redpoll and Siskin were also seen/heard. This was only the second time I've seen geese of this race, the previous time being in Feb 2008 in Suffolk.



Taiga Bean Geese, 27 Oct 2010, very distant photo!

The geese were my 190th birds of the year.

We later stopped off at Vane Farm RSPB. Here I had great views of 30 Whooper Swans, my 191st bird of the year. There were also about 300 each of Wigeon and Teal, several Tufted Duck, a few Pochard, 8 Goldeneye and a single male Pintail showing well on the water, and a flock of 80 Pink-footed Geese flying over the Loch fairly distantly, though still showing well until they dropped down on a marsh.



try and find the two Goldeneye and two Pochard in this photo!
The Whooper is a bit more obvious...

a lonely little Black-headed Gull

Whooper Swans, Mallards and a Tufted Duck

Grey Heron in the marsh

Driving along the small B-Roads to Kirriemuir, Fieldfares were in all the fields in brilliant numbers, and a few more flocks of Pink-footed Goose flew over, probably abut 300 overall.

24 Oct-Midlothian birding

In the interests of my sanity, I'm using as little thought in writing this post as possible. Just a list of birds and pics for a change...

Longniddry

• Several big skeins of Pink-footed Goose flew over, 1000+ overall
• waders on the rocky shore were approx. 15 Redshank and the same number of Curlew, 40 Oystercatcher, 40 Bar-tailed Godwit and 40 Turnstone (unbelievably, a yeartick!!)
• offshore were 20 Eider, 40 Common Scoter and a handful of Velvetines, and 2 redhead Red-breasted Mergansers

Oystercatchers and Curlew



a skein of Pink-footed Geese

Redshank

Curlew

Black-headed Gulls

and a few of my picks from the many Turnstone's I photographed

Next up was Aberlady Bay. Waders were the main feature here, with approx 300 Lapwing, 100 Golden Plover and Dunlin, 20 Redshank, Oystercatcherand Curlew and a single Grey Plover(yeartick 187 for Britain). The only wildfowl were 200 Pink-footed Geese, 100 Wigeon a few Shelduck and a single Common Scoter, picked out well flying well offshore...

Grey Plover and Redshank





scenic shots of Aberlady

The final stop was Mussleburgh Lagoons. Here, I had barely got out of the car when I saw a flock of 20 starlingesque birds, making a trilling call it took me a few seconds to recognise. The WAXWINGS gave us a flyby before landing by the lagoons. Out here were 400 Golden Plover, 50 Dunlin and a few Lapwing. As we went to check offshore, we saw a loose flock of 30 Velvet scoter in the distance, 5 Eider scattered accross the sea 3 female-type Goldeneye fairly close in, and 2 female LONG-TAILED DUCK flying west. Walking back, two more female Goldeneye were on the pond by the car park, along with 10 Tufted Duck.

As we drove back to Edinburgh, we saw 2 Roe Deer, in a field off the A720 near Tranent.

some of the Waxwings

various Golden Plover photos

Road to Nowhere (22-23 Oct)

click on the title! :)

I do now know what The Talking Heads were headily talking about...

This post contains insights into a journey that can only be described as long. So long it took two whole days!

Friday 22 Oct was an inset day from school, so it was today that completed the first leg of a journey from Sussex-Edinburgh. We stopped off in Lincoln overnight, to stay with my dad's cousin, wife and kids.

Before we left Seaford, I heard saw of my last migrants of the year going over. A House Martin was lazily going over the house, a Redpoll gave it's call a few times and two Meadow Pipits went over together calling. The Grey Wagtail from Blatchington pond also flew over in a high circuit, looking to drop down by the pond again. I also took a few photos of the Starlings on the rooftops. All looking rather resplendent.

The rest of the journey was dominated by nothing. I read a book, listened to my MP3 and occasionally took the headphones out if anything good was on Radio 4. The single animal worth noting was a Roe Deer seen by the roadside somewhere along the M11 near Cambridge. Somewhere near here, we also stopped at Drayton Fen RSPB, for a walk. The birdlife was tedious, with a small hint of boredom. Apart from a flock of 80 Fieldfare, actually quite a good record for October, birdlife consisted of 40+ Tufted Duck, 3 Great Crested Grebes, a few Cormorant, 4 Meadow Pipits and 2 Green Woodpeckers. Cue distant and crappy shots of Mute Swans, with a few Wigeon if you look hard enough...

I also saw a Peregrine from the A1 neat Peterborough. But that was all...

Stopping off for the night with family in Lincoln, I swapped camera stories with Dad's cousin, a profeesional photographer. I left with a lot more knowledge, which I decided to apply in the future with my camera. Whether the results are really any different, I'll have to wait and see.

Saturday 23 Oct- we went from Lincoln to Edinburgh. Can't describe it much more interestingly than that! However, the further north, the more avain interest, it seems. a scraggy looking Raven flew over the A1 near York, and on the A68 through the Pennines, I saw a few Golden Plovers in the fields, alongside countless Lapwings.

At Derwent Water, we stopped for a half hour. In the wood by the reservoir were Goldcrests, Siskins and Coal Tits, and a flock of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling. My second yeartick of the day (along with, ridiculously, Golden Plover!!)
Following that, we stopped for another walk, in Kieltner Forest, in Northumberland. we saw 4 Crossbills, and a few of all the commoner pine woodland birds.

And then, at about 19:00, we arrived in Edinburgh. At long, long last!

Arlington Reservoir

Amongst plenty of Pied Wagtail at Arlington today, at least two White Wag's, an adult and a juvenile. The only other birds of note were 100+ House Martin, 20+ Great crested Grebes, 21 Cormorants, a few Wigeon (my first of the winter), a Wheatear* and a Muscovy! No Little Stint, nor a wader of any description!

Muscovy Duck















An adult White Wagtail





Pied or White?? I think Pied but not entirely sure.



The water level was incredibly low!!

At High and Over, just a few Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, though a Reed Warbler and four Spotted Flycatchers were reported here on the SOS. The Crane my dad and a few others saw in the Cuckmere early morning was nowhere around.

On a sadder note, yesterdays White Stork was found moribund and taken into care by the RSPCA.Hopefully it will recover but its not looking too good for it.


* edit-The Wheatear I saw at Arlington looked kind of odd at the time. It was a female type bird, and had a very rich peachy breast, with the colour extending down more than usual. It also had an unusually brown back, and pretty obvious Supercilium. I didn't take in much detail of its posture, and there were no other Wheatears for size comparison, but I am now fairly confident it was a Leucorrhoa, or Greenland Wheatear. I've seen them in the spring, but this was my first autumn record. I'm not sure if it is good enough to record as such, but morally I feel happy enough about this birds identity.

Photos 21/3/10

Not actually a later date, but about half an hour later, here are the photos from yesterday!

Wigeon in the Cuckmere, there were about 60 of them concentrated along one ditch and the surrounding grassland

one of the three White Wagtails that showed well by the horse paddock

and another one

Some Little Egrets, three were fishing together in one ditch and showing very well for the camera

Also, this morning I got a text from Matt Eade, saying he, Marc Read and Bob Self had seen a Serin flying over Hope Gap! I was on course to arrive at school a few minutes early, so I walked out for a brief circuit of the Golf Course. Unsurprisingly, I saw nothing at all, very jealous, if only every good bird could turn up at the weekend!

No Alpine Swift or Scandinavian Rock but a boreal Jack and White Wags saved the day

On Sunday 21st woke up at a reasonable 10:00, NW winds had rendered Splash Point completely useless for the day, but I still planned an afternoon visit to the Cuckmere to take a look for some Scandinavian Rock Pipits. However, Ian Whitcomb phoned the house at about 10:30, saying he and brother Andrew (his blog has details and a record shot) had seen an Alpine Swift flying over Rodmell! As unlikely as catching up with the bird seemed, Dad and I had to go for a look anyway. We stopped at the garden centre at Kingston, where you get a decent view accross the floodplain, but before long it became apparent there was no Swift anywhere around. However, we did bump into Matt Eade and Marc Read, both out looking for the damded thing too. We all eventually decided to have a quick look from Southease, again to no avail. Matt called Paul Marten (the poor bloke was up in Crawley, trying to act as ambassador for us and the Whitcombs, as none of us had their phone numbers and vice versa!). However, despite rather spoiling his morning, we did gather the Swift had last been over Piddinhoe, heading strongly South. It didn't look promising, and Marc was especially annoyed, he lived in Newhaven and might have managed a garden tick if he'd stayed at home! We all decided on one final search, at the Ouse Estuary Project. Inevitably this didn't pan out well at all, 3 Chiffchaffs and a squealing Water Rail being small consolation, and dad and I left Matt, Marc, and Geoff Gowlett and Charlie Perverett at the Ouse as they searched a while longer, to no avail, while we went home to sulka and keep a look out over the garden! Still, all part of the twitching experience, I suppose!

At around 2.30, I set out for cuckmere, in the hope of seeing  Scandinavian Ripit or two. Immediately noticeable was the continued presence of at least 120 Wigeon in the valley, while also counted fairly easily where at least 50 Meadow pipits and 7 Chiffchaffs. In the horse paddock and saltmarsh the Scandies are supposed to be, there were three White Wagtails among their pied friends. From here on I searched up and down the riverbank and horse paddock several times. two Blackcap were chacking away from inside a Long-tailed Tit flock, but there was nothing else of note, bar a Curlew and a few Little Egret. However, in one final burst of activity, I was walking the horse paddock for the last time before leaving, when three feet in front of me, a small wader burst out from a patch of tussocky grass, flying out over the bridge in a low and direct manner.
 I assumed at first it was a Snipe, but it had been very diffiult to flush, and as it was flushed it didn't make their usual rasping call. It also looked quite small for the five seconds I saw it, with two bright yellow stripes visible along its back as it took off. Comon Snipe, when flushed, also tend to cartwheel off into the sky and carry on going until they quite a distance away. It finally occured to me that I had seen a Jack Snipe!! I had been cautious about it at first as Jack Snipe typically fly into the nearest bit of cover and then aren't seen ever again, but I soon realised this was just about te only cover in the horse paddock. I presumed it was an exhasuted and grounded migrant, that had perhaps stopped to feed on the saltmarsh, as winter birds generally pick more suitable habitat! I took a few photos during the day, which i will add at a later date.

14 Feb 2010-Bittern and some other stuff

I didn't expect much birding today on mother's day, but sometimes you can get really surprised!

I started at the Cuckmere, with some of the pictures I took shown below.

In the Cuckmere Valley between Charleston Reedbed and Litlington, totals of 60 Wigeon, 30 Teal, 7 Redshank, 5 Snipe, 2 Shelduck, and a possible Yellow-legged Gull with the gull flocks, a record shot of which is shown below.

This gull was seen with a small flock of Common and Black-headed Gulls just south of Litlington. Dad and I decided it was probably a juv Herring Gull, but it didn't look quite right, and may have been a Yellow-legged. Comments welcome on it. If it was a Yellow-legged, it wold be the second good gull around here this March, after the Glaucous Gull seen by Steve Dawson at the start of March

After this, and at the slight annoyance of mum, dad got a phone call from Nick Pope, who had found a Bittern at Deans Farm Pond (actually a flooded field) with some reeds around the edges. As ridiculous as it sounded, when we got there, the bird was showing very well. I got a few record shots, but the evening light, the bitterns camoflage and my shivering hand in the cold evening all made a steady and focused photgraph a less than easy task! My best effort is shown below.

Note* A better photo of the Bittern can be found on Matt Eade's blog