A taste of things to come?

On the 27th November I injured my back. I wasn't doing anything stupid. I wasn't even doing anything that could be considered risky. I simply turned around.

At first I thought it was just a bit of a muscle twinge, but as the day went on it got worse to the point where my boss sent me home. I spent the next two days in a variety of uncomfortable positions before finally succumbing and going to see a GP who inspired me by saying it would just take time and giving me some painkillers. By the weekend it was worse and had spread into my leg in the form of sciatica. Back to the GP for some more advice and heavy hitting anti-inflammatories. After two weeks I was just able to get into work with a lift - driving was out of the question. And now, a month later I am still suffering with a range of weird and wonderful symptoms, largely affecting my leg but also my lower back. I have seen a physio and his exercises have no doubt helped, but I am some way off being 100%

An added downside to all this is that I haven't been birding (or even out of the house apart from for work) since the 27th November. Until today.

It had got to the point where I had to get out, apart from anything, the dog hadn't had a decent walk in a month. Because I am still struggling to drive I kept it local and went to the Three Sisters. This is somewhere I used to work and is actually somewhere I volunteered at when I was just 10 years old - albeit only once as I couldn't get there when my dad was working, which was every saturday pretty much. It has sadly been the victim of the local authority cuts, in just the same way that lots of places in the area have over the last few years, and is now getting into a bit of a mess. However its still pretty good for a bit of birding, and its only a five minute drive away.

My intention was to spend a couple of hours mooching about, particularly to see if I could find a Long-eared Owl. The site used to hold the odd roosting bird in winter a few years ago. It can also be a really good site for Siskin and Redpolls, holding significant flocks of both in some years. Sadly today I found no Long-eareds and only a handful of Redpolls flying over. A roosting Tawny was a nice, if unexpected find too. A first for me for the site.

But my main discovery of the day was that I was absolutely knackered after just an hour of walking around. My leg was giving me some serious grief which made walking harder and I didn't spend anywhere near as much time out as I had planned. What has me worried is that this could be the new 'norm' if I cant get my back fixed, and as everyone likes to keep telling me, when its gone once it will go again!  A lovely thought. Not. And if I'm honest, quite a scary one.

Bit Windy On't Wirral

I took the day off work today to go birding. I had arranged to go with a friend so even though the weather forecast looked rubbish it was a bit difficult to change the arrangements as we had both booked leave.

After considering our options we decided on a trip to the Wirral. Our logic was that we could at least start at Burton Mere Wetlands and if the weather was as bad as expected we'd be able to shelter in the hides. If it was any better than forecast we'd have plenty sites along the coast to go at.

We arrived at Burton Mere at around 09:30. Barring a couple of showers the rain was largely holding off and the wind didn't feel that bad either.

We did a quick scan around from the reception area and set off around the reserve. It was very quiet.

A ten minute spell in the hide in the centre of the reserve (think its called Marsh Covert) produced nothing more than a few Teal and Shoveler, a single Pintail and a Little Egret. A single Kingfisher was sat on a perch less than 10 feet from one of the windows - a photographers dream but there were no photographers there!

On our way round to the Inner Marsh hide we spent a bit of time looking over what appeared to be a seed crop field. It was just a bit too dense to see into, but there were plenty Chaffinches and Linnets flying around, suggesting other stuff may well have been feeding down between the stems but we couldn't see if there was.

From here we made our way to the Inner Marsh Farm hide, quickly checking the hawthorn where the Long-eared Owl had been roosting a couple of years ago. Again the pool in front of the hide was pretty quiet. There was a flock of Black-tailed Godwits immediately in front of the hide. I love the noise they make when they're feeding. Mixed in were a few Dunlin and Redshank and I picked up a Stonechat and single Whooper Swan on one of the islands. Ian had a go at scoping some distant geese to see if there was anything of interest, but they were so far away it was impossible.

Black-tailed Godwits

The view from the Inner Marsh Farm Hide

We spent around half an hour in the hide before heading back to the reception. On the way we discussed trying Parkgate for the high tide which was at 13:30. It wasn't a massive tide, only around 8.4m and usually a tide of 10m is needed to push things off the marsh. But we decided to have a go anyway. As we got to the car it was obvious that the wind had picked up considerably now that we were out from the shelter of the trees and earth bunds in the reserve. But, we headed off to Parkgate anyway.

To say it was a bit breezy would be an understatement. By standing at the side of the car we managed to get enough shelter to keep the tripods steady and we had a decent hour with at least three, maybe four Marsh Harriers, one male and one ring-tailed Hen Harrier and singles of Greenshank and Merlin. Ian thought he'd got a Great White Egret but it was so distant it was difficult to tell.

We stayed until just after the tide had peaked and then moved on. This time to New Brighton to check out the marine lake. As we drove along the promenade waves were crashing over the sea wall and when we got out of the car on the car park at Perch Rock it was obvious why. Whether it was because it was that bit more exposed or because the wind strength had increased I don't know, but it was blowing a hoolie!  There were very few gulls on the lake itself, but as we walked around to the end with the pontoons we were pleased to be able to see a tidy flock of waders were there, roosting in what turned out to be a very sheltered spot.

The hoped for Purple Sandpipers were there, along with a couple of Knot, a few Dunlin, more than a few Turnstones, a single Greenshank and plenty Redshanks. One Redshank had a Cockle or Clam clamped to its toe. It was obviously uncomfortable for the bird as it kept trying to put the foot down and then pulling it up quickly. Neither of us could work out why or how the bird had ended up with a shellfish stuck to its foot.

By this time it was around 14:30 so we called it a day and headed home.

Gull Season Begins

I'm not going to pretend I'm a gull expert. I'm certainly not going to pretend I'm a gull fanatic like some birders. But I am trying to 'get better' and that means 'doing the gull roost' as as they provide such a great opportunity to observe and compare birds of different species and races.

I managed to get to Pennington Flash roost for the first time this afternoon.The window to make the most of the roost is quite small, normally gulls start to gather from around 14:00 but the light goes by 16:00. I don't finish work until 15:00 at the earliest, so my chances to watch the roost are limited to weekends.

Today the light was excellent, no wind and a reasonable number of gulls (eventually). The best place to watch the roost is usually the opposite side of the flash to the nature reserve so that's where I headed. At 14:30 conditions were perfect as you can see below.

I was joined at around 15:00 by another regular and we set about checking through the birds. There were around 7000 Black-headed Gulls and a few hundred each of Common, Herring and Lesser Black-backed. Two or three Great Black-backed gulls were also present. What I was really hoping for though was something a bit different. There have been a couple of Mediterranean Gulls recently, an odd Iceland Gull and two or three Yellow-legged Gulls. I had seen what I thought was a 3rd winter YLG just after I had arrived, but at a considerable distance, near the hide on the opposite side. John, the other birder, confirmed that a YLG had indeed been where I'd seen my bird as he'd been in the hide at the time. After about 20mins John picked it up again a bit closer, perched on a buoy. Ten minutes or so later John found another bird, an adult much closer. This bird was incredibly clean and was a great individual to study and compare with the other Herring and LBB Gulls.

I managed a few phoneskoped shots which I think just about show the key features - obvious darker mantle, white head and longer winged than the Herring Gulls. The spot on the Gonys was also very obvious but doesn't really show up in these photos.

Unfortunately nothing else of interest turned up but it has piqued my interest for the rest of the winter, and I expect I'll be back a few times as the year goes on.

Another Spurn visit

So, another visit to Spurn Bird Observatory comes to an end. Its been an enjoyable few days. The weather has been less than brilliant for birds, or more specifically migrants from Europe and farther afield. The westerly/south-westerly winds were just the wrong direction for species like Redwings and Fieldfares, and although there were a few about, there were nowhere near as many as I had  hoped for. A south westerly can be good for visible migration, and although it wasn't too bad on Thursday morning, on the other days it was just too strong. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom.

On our arrival on Tuesday there were still seven good birds hanging around from the previous week - Slavonian Grebe, a Barred Warbler, a Rose-coloured Starling, an Olive-backed Pipit, a Red-backed Shrike, a few Bearded Tits and an Arctic Warbler. We made a point of going for the Bearded Tits and Barred Warbler first as they were the nearest to the Obs. After a slow walk down the canal I heard the Beardies pinging and two birds appeared briefly flying along the reed tops before disappearing into the reedbed. A few minutes later and two birds popped up and flew back north, but they had come from a different spot to where we saw the first pair drop in, so we waited and sure enough five minutes later another two came out and flew past us in the same direction as the first two. Great to see them and a nice Spurn tick for me and a lifer to start Rob's week off. We dipped on the Barred Warbler

We then tried the churchyard for the Arctic Warbler, also without success, so after lunch we decided to go for the Starling.

The Starling was frequenting a garden in a group of bungalows. Not a very 'birdy' location but it was supposedly quite an easy bird to see, and it was. After only a couple of minutes it showed really well for a good ten minutes perching in bushes and on the roof of the adjacent bungalow.

 

Rose-coloured Starling

 

 

Unfortunately it wasn't a black and pink adult, but still a nice bird and another lifer for Rob. From here we went to the Olive-backed Pipit (or OBP) site. We had to walk along Vicars Lane and the site of last years Siberian Accentor, which brought back some brilliant memories, especially as it was almost 12 months to the day since its appearance.

 

Our search for the OBP proved fruitless, as did all subsequent attempts. A pity as it would have been yet another lifer for Rob. Still two lifers in a day isn't bad going.

 

The wind on day two (Wednesday) was a strong 20mph+ South Westerly and most things were just hunkered down. We started the day in the hide at Kilnsea Wetlands where we had great views of good numbers of waders, including a few Little Stints. Sadly we couldn't find the Spotted Redshank or Curlew Sandpiper - both lifers for Rob, but he did get the Slavonian Grebe that was hanging around. We didn't stay long as there was some interesting 'hide etiquette' on show, Some people are just plain rude.

 

From here we went to see the Red-Backed Shrike. It was showing really well, perched on top of a bush along the hedgerow.

 

 

 

Phoneskoped Red-backed Shrike

 

 

Then, it was off to see if we could nail down the Arctic Warbler which we did after a bit of chasing between the churchyard and the Crown and Anchor car park (yet another lifer for Rob). Trying to photograph this little cracker was a challenge with my limited gear - the photo below is about as good as it got. Don't think I'll ever make a wildlife photographer.

 

 

Arctic Warbler (if you can find it)

 

 

Thursday was a day for a bit of 'Vis-Migging' and between 08:00 and 11:00 over 1800 Goldfinches were counted going south, along with a couple of hundred Skylarks, good numbers of Redpolls, plus a  few Siskins, Greenfinches etc etc. Sadly, not much else was around so we spent the rest of the day having another look at the Arctic Warbler and chasing a Pied Flycatcher!

 

 

Vis-Migging at Numpties!

 

 

On the way to the pub on Thursday evening the sunset was stunning. As per usual, I had left my main camera with its wide angle lens in the car so I had to make do with an iPhone picture, which I think does the sunset justice.

 

 

Sunset across the Humber Estuary

 

Although the birding was a little bit 'slow' the 'Observatory Experience' is about so much more than just the birds - although birds are obviously a very important bit! The characters you get to meet are so varied and interesting that there's always someone to talk to who has a story to tell, or who is doing something unusual. This time I had the fortune to meet Bob Pyefinch - a name I recognised but couldn't place until we chatted for a while when I realised he was the co-author of the Atlas of Breeding Birds in Lancashire and North Merseyside, a book that I have used a lot over the years. Another 'Obs' guest was a birder called Ross. It turned out he was the finder of the Eyebrowed Thrush in the North East last autumn, an experience that encouraged him to become a birder. Another birder I've met a few times before but had not really spoken to, turned out to be an expert entomologist and we had a good chat about carabid beetles, and then on the last day I met Tiffany, a nature writer who was doing a bit of research and brainstorming. Sounds like her new book is going to be very interesting.  Really interesting people with great stories. Well worth the fee for staying over.

 



 

 

 





Petrels

There had been a few reports of Leach's Petrels along the Lancashire and Cheshire coastline over the last few days, and the impending storm 'Aileen' was promising to bring even better conditions today. Typical as its a working day. However I managed to get away from work a bit early and shoot up to the Old Gunsite near Leasowe.

I pulled onto the car park at 16:40. There was a strong onshore wind, the tide was up and it looked promising for Leach's. I set the scope up at the side of the car for a bit of shelter and had my first look  back towards the Mersey mouth at New Brighton, just using my Bins. Immediately I picked up a Petrel, close in and motoring along the foreshore towards me. I got it in the scope and there was my first Leach's of the year. Great views as it flew along just behind the breakers. Two mins later and there was another two but much farther out. In the first hour I had 8 go past, plus a Kittiwake, a Fulmar and a Guillemot sat on the sea. Someone at New Brighton was having a much better time with 35 during the same period. I guess the birds spread out once they exit the mouth of the Mersey hence I didn't see anywhere near 35 in that same period. The birds I saw were certainly well spread out. Some close in and others very distant. In the second hour the numbers did jump considerably and I had 16 in 45 mins. Again some very distant and some much closer. I almost certainly missed quite a few due to not being able to watch at close quarters and the middle distance at the same time, and many birds were only visible for a few seconds before disappearing into the troughs; they could very easily pass unnoticed.

Its the first time I've managed to get to see this 'spectacle' and it was well worth it. Watching these comparatively small seabirds battle into the headwind, yet seemingly not be bothered by it showed just how well they are adapted to a life on the open ocean. One of the local kitesurfers (think thats what you call them)  pulled up to ask what the 'tiny little black and white birds are hovering over the sea?' He'd seen quite a few whilst out on his board and was amazed something so small could survive out there.

After 2hrs I was ready for home, the movement seemed to have stopped, the tide was dropping and I was frozen (in September!). No photo's I'm afraid- far too windy and too distant for a good shot with only a 300mm lens - but a great couple of hours.

Migfest

I spent Saturday and Sunday morning at Spurn helping with 'Migfest' or the Migration Festival to give it its full title. I have never been to this event before. It always struck me as a great event, but not something for me - I like it when its quiet on the people front.  However, when the late Andy Roadhouse asked me if I wouldn't mind helping out this year, of course I said yes.

I was down to help leading a couple of guided walks, one around the Triangle on Saturday morning, the other around Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Lane on Sunday morning. There were quite a few people turned up on the Saturday morning, sadly the weather didn't encourage many birds to show themselves - a very stiff south westerly meant many birds were keeping a low profile, and a high tide meant there were few birds on the estuary either. But, we managed to find a few bits including three Whinchats - my first for the year.

A Wryneck had been found on the Friday and after the walk I accompanied a few of the guests up to where the bird had been showing. Sadly I didn't see it at this attempt.

I spent the afternoon mooching around, helping direct visitors and re-visiting the Wryneck to see if I could finally catch up with it, which I did eventually.

I'd just got back to the Observatory for a brew when the call came out that a Long-billed Dowitcher had been found on Holderness Field so a quick march up the road and across to the field was in order. There was quite a crowd so my initial views were quite restricted, however I eventually got a better spot and had great views of it, along with a Greenshank and Little Stint for size comparisons.

Once again I had left my phoneskope attachment in the car (need to start keeping this round my neck or something), so had to make do with holding the phone to the eyepiece. I was pretty pleased with the results.

I was all done and dusted with my second walk by 09.00am on the Sunday and as I had family commitments later in the day I decided to leave early. There were still good birds about, thankfully nothing I hadn't seen before, so the Migfest visitors had another good day.

Migfest is a brilliant event. The range of talks, demonstrations and walks means there's something for everyone and I'd highly recommend it.

Overall a great weekend and hopefully a nice little taster of things to come when I go back in a few weeks.

Holidays

I have just returned from a family holiday on the island of Tenerife.

I am fortunate that we have the use of a private apartment in Los Cristianos, so whilst this is a bit of a cheaper family holiday, its also in about the worst location for birding that I've ever stayed in - bear in mind I don't do car rentals when abroad. But the wife and kids love it and I can't get my own way all the time.

To date the best birdy highlights have been a Barbary Falcon over the apartments, ditto an Osprey that rather took me by surprise when I looked up from my sunbed one day. Berthelots Pipits down near the coast, a regular phalanx of Little Egrets flying to a roost spot somewhere and best of all, Corys Shearwaters when on a whale watching trip.

This year was to be no different. I again had a Barbary Falcon over the apartment, but that was all. However one evening we did hear a Corys Shearwater, and the night after my daughter picked one up when we were out browsing at a shopping centre - its white underwings reflecting the lights of the shops below. Everything else really came on a whale watching trip. Once again there were masses of Cory's Shearwaters some coming quite close. Sadly my photography skills were not up to getting the best shots on what was quite a choppy sea. I also had a single Osprey over a fish farming area, along with a Grey Heron and numerous Yellow-legged Gulls. On a non birdy theme we saw a single Pilot Whale (a bit disappointing as last time we saw several pods) and several Dolphins - I am assuming they were Common Dolphin but if anyone can confirm I'd appreciate it.

Cory's Shearwater

Pilot Whale

Dolphins



All, very nice and bonny, but then an example of the dreaded human influence on the sea. A sea turtle - again no idea of species yet so suggestions appreciated - with a plastic bag stuck in its mouth! A stark reminder of what happens to discarded plastic bags!

Sea Turtle

On a different note, I had chosen a slightly different style of book for my reading entertainment this year: The Invention of Nature! The biography of Alexander Von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf.





 I'm nowhere near finished but so far this book is fantastic. It has made me incredibly jealous thinking of all the 'stuff' that was out there waiting to be discovered, and this man went on to do just that. Its also fair to say that this guy was well ahead of his time. He identified issues such as climate change, problems with de-forestation, bad agricultural practices etc etc. He appreciated the links between all ecosystems, he identified predator/ prey relationships, keystone species and so much more. Its also clear that politics hasn't evolved much since Alexander's time in my opinion, and many of the political observations he made could be true now or at least recently. It was fascinating to read that he visited Tenerife in the late 1700's and climbed Mount Teide - something I have done too. Humboldt  visited in mid June compared to my visit in mid July, but he found it freezing cold and yet the ground burned his feet. I definitely didn't experience that when I climbed it even though it was a month later! I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in wildlife or scientific discovery. Its not something to read in one go I don't think. It needs to be absorbed in short blasts of a chapter or two at a time. But once you are into it its brilliant. 

Not Birding!

Four-spotted Chaser

Yesterday I decided I wasn't going birding! If you aren't a Birder, chances are you wont know that June is pretty quiet on the birding front. And, although a few friends on twitter are reporting 'Autumnal' bird activity on their patches, it definitely isn't feeling that way on my patch.

So, instead I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for ages - get out and do a bit of insect watching. Well, mainly Dragonflies, Damselflies and Butterflies.

I live very close to the Abram and Lightshaw Flashes. A sequence of small subsidence flashes that sit between the bigger Wigan Flashes complex to the north west and the expanse of Pennington Flash to the south and east. They are bordered pretty much along the entire length by the Leeds Liverpool Canal, and Hey Brook runs adjacent to, or very close to all of them. A big chunk of the area is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and much of it is owned by either the Forestry Commission or the local Wildlife Trust. From the point which I started my walk to the farthest point is approximately 2.5km in a straight line, but my route took a much longer path of about 4km. In the sun and heat it was more tiring than I thought and I was glad I'd had the forethought to put sun cream and insect repellent on before leaving (Clegs abound in the area), and taking a bottle of water and a wide brimmed hat too.

I wasn't at all disappointed with my 'non-birding' day out. The first pond I visited held two pairs of Black-tailed Skimmers, an Emperor Dragonfly and numerous Azure Damselflies. This latter species is one that I have never seen in the area before - probably due to not looking too hard -  its mainly been Common Blue Damselfly that I have seen. I caught one to check and they were definitely Azure and lots of them. The next few ponds all held a similar mix, although on one at least four, Four-spotted Chasers were darting around with females ovipositing and at least one Emperor doing the same. I was also pretty certain I glimpsed a Southern Hawker patrolling one pond edge but it wouldn't settle close enough to allow me to confirm it.

The walk between Abram Flashes and Dover Basin along the canal was quiet, as was Dover Basin itself. I could see several dragonflies in the distance but too far away to stand a chance of identifying them. The only one that came close enough was a jet powered Brown Hawker. It was a similar tale on my walk up to the most distant point - a viewing screen overlooking Lightshaw Flash - where it had been reported that Beautiful Demoiselles were showing. This would be a new species for me in the vice county and one I always enjoy seeing. The walk was hot and quiet, but I did manage to add Comma and Red Admiral to the list. Meadow Browns and Speckled Wood Butterflies had been pretty ubiquitous all the way along my route.

There were no Beautiful Demoiselles at the screen, and very little of anything else. A Small Skipper added to the Butterfly list as did Green-veined, Small and Large White. On my return walk I watched a pair of Swallows feeding newly fledged young on a telephone wire which is always a treat and then had brilliant views of a stunning Yellowhammer, sadly I was not quick enough with the camera to get a shot. I had my first confirmed Southern Hawker on the old railway line that forms one of the footpaths. A very confiding individual that allowed me to get a reasonable shot.

The walk back home was hot and uncomfortable and rushed as I had spent far too long out and about and I needed to get a bit of a move on, so I couldn't stop and double check any of the ponds again, but I will definitely be out again to see if I can add to the list.

Black-tailed Skimmer - it loved this piece of paper!



Four-spotted Chaser





Azure Damselfly



Southern Hawker

Swallows feeding juveniles

Comma

Meadow Brown

This Moorhen didn't like me being around, it stayed like this for a good 10 minutes whilst I was shooting the Dragonflies

Small Skipper