New Year's Day 2013

We spent New Year this time in the north east,
celebrating at the Gatehead Hilton with Dr Wendy and Dr Simon
a lively time was had by all !!!!

New Year's day birding was spent at Seahouses in the morning where we had a lovely fish and chip lunch at the Neptune, but Jean wouldn't go on a boat ride to the Farnes !!!

In the harbour we had Long Tailed Duck, a splendid male, with long tail streamers and a cute pink bill.
Not such a good digiscoped photo, but it was windy !!!
And a Red Breasted Merganser.

Then on to Banburgh and Stag Rocks, where we came across lots of people bathing in the sea !!!!
It's the middle of winter, about zero degrees and a howling gale !!!!!

Possibly the same people who saw in New Year on the Quayside in Newcastle wearing just teeshirts !!
There were alot of Purple Sandpiper on the rocks, I guessed about 50 in two groups, very confiding, photographers were getting within a few feet of them.
Then on the sea, along with Eider, we got 2 Slavonian Grebes and Common Scoter.
As we walked back to the car, a flock of about 20 Twite landed in the field next us.

Then the long drive home.

Happy New Year.

Leighton Moss in November

I took a day out at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve yesterday as it had at last stopped raining.
Having spent the usual hour getting through Preston in the morning, I got there at about 9.45am, a bit later than I'd anticipated, and subsequently I missed the Beared Tits, although they aren't regular on the grit trays at this time of year.

This little chap perched on a twig right next to me while I waited. 

There were alot of Robins down the causeway, in fact as you looked down it, you could see them on the path about every 20 yards, at least 4 or5.

I decided to head for Lower Hide, pausing on the way at Public, who knows, maybe the Otter's about ??

There were hundreds of Coot, (somebody reported 550 !!), Mute Swan, Gadwall, Teal and on the island Cormorant, Mallard and Black Headed Gull, but no Otter, it had apparently been seen earlier. The closest I got were the spraints on the bridge in the ususal place.

As I got to the turn for Lower, a Cetti's Warbler was sounding very loudly from the right side of the path, but it didn't show itself in the 10 minutes I gave it.

Through the gate and into the woods, a flock of Siskin, about 30, were in the tops of the beech trees feeding on the seeds. I watched them for about 15 minutes and picked out a much paler grey bird, which I told myself was a Redpoll, although I didn't see it's red forehead. I had it confirmed a bit later by a fellow birder.

From Lower Hide I got 2 Marsh Harriers, one an obvious male, and the other darker bird I think a juvenile. A Bittern flew from one stand of reeds, across the lake, into another stand and disappeared, as they do, but nice to register a tick. Plenty of Teal, Tufted Duck and Mallards here as well.

Next stop, the car park for lunch and a look at the feeders. Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Blue Tit, all present along with Pheasants. But no Marsh Tits, so I wandered down to the seeded tree stump.

Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Blue Tit and Great Tit were there, but no Nuthatch today.



So now down to the salt marsh for a few waders and a look at the newly installed hides.

They are very GLASS !!!

I guess they'll be a bit warm in the summer if we get one !!!

There weren't many waders on show for some reason, maybe they're nerveous of the new hides,Curlew, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Snipe, a big flock of Lapwing contained one Golden Plover.

There were plenty of Greylag about as well as Little Egret, but I could only find one Pink Foot and a white Greylag, which must be a farmyard bird ??  Ducks included Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveller and Shelduck along with the Teal. A couple of Red Breasted Merganser were in the middle of the water, whilst a Goosander competed in the shallows, for small fish, with a Little Egret.

No Kingfisher today, and I had to listen to tales of how half an hour ago there had been a big dog Otter outside the hide !!!

55 species for the day, dipped on Nuthatch, Beardy, and Kingfisher, although I was please to get Bittern and Redpoll. Not a bad day and I didn't get wet, which was good for this year. 



Yellowlegs

Nipped up to Aldcliffe Marshes just south of Lancaster yesterday late morning to look for the Lesser Yellowlegs.
The map said to go down Railway Crossing Lane, which eventually turned out to be called Aldcliffe Hall Road !!!
That was somewhat confusing, but all turned out ok in the end.

There was an exceptionally high tide at around mid-day which completely covered all the land on the estuary to the seaward side of the wall, so the 'legs' could only be on the landward side, and so it turned out.
I looked at several Redshank before I spotted a brighter, skinnier looking wader on, what I think are called, the wildfowlers pools. Getting my scope on it, it was about the same size as a nearby Redshank, but ganglier and brighter, it's legs weren't 'yellow' to me, but less orange than Redshank's and longer, it had a noticeable supercillium coming to a point at the front and a thin dark bill. But for the size, and that's always a guess, and the brighter legs, I would have said Wood Sandpiper.
However, discussions with a fellow birder from Accrington convinced us it was indeed the Yellowlegs, so another lifer !!!
That's 242 for the UK and 419 Western Palearctic.

With the tide so high there wasn't much else to see, and a trip to see Long Tailed Duck on the river at Lancaster was curtailed by the amount of traffic, another thought of Snow Bunting at Fleetwood was deemed too far a detour.
So lunch at Glasson Dock, a quick look at the sea inlet at Conder Green, produced nothing more of note, so home by 3 o'clock.

October in Egypt

Looking for some winter sunshine, we booked a week at the Baron Resort in Shark's Bay, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Lovely hotel, friendly people and good food, the weather, wall to wall sunshine and getting upto 35 degrees in the afternoon, a breeze, morning and evening to cool things down to 28ish !!! Air conditioning required in October !!!
Birdingwise the hotel was very slow, a flock of around 200 House Sparrow, Laughing Dove and a pair of Kestrel was about it. A strange one was a juvenile Moorhen pecking about on the lawns most days.
The rest were all flypasts over the beach, Osprey, Sooty Gull, Night Heron, Steppe Eagle and Steppe Buzzard.
We hired a car for a couple of days to get out to the local nature reserves, it wasn't easy, they don't like hiring cars on the Sinai, foriegners tend to get themselves kidnapped if not accompanied by locals, we have never had a problem, ok, the driving is more erratic than the UK, but if you just accept that there are no rules, and drive like dogems, it's fine, if sometimes a bit hairy !!!!
Monday saw us take a packed lunch to Nabq Reserve north of Sharm. After two road checks, one police, one army, we got there, it was only 20 minutes away !!!

Waders on the beaches where quite distant and as Jean wouldn't let me get any nearer, she'd heard about landmines !!! But I recognised Greenshank, Redshank, Grey Plover and Ringed Plover.
Star waders were Greater Sandplover, like a pale grey plover, and Kentish Plover with a lovely orange cap seen whilst we were eating our packed lunch.
Reef Heron, Grey Heron and 3 Spoonbill were in the edge of the mangroves, where a Kingfisher was hovering around the pools.


 
The famous wreck on the edge of the reef of the German merchant ship, the Maria Schroder, had 2 Osprey on the mast, and Curlew with some more plovers around the beach.

Another Osprey looked to be dining on the body of a Dugong !!!! 

The desert around Nabq had Desert and Isabelline Wheatear, a flyby Rock Martin and a warbler I couldn't get a definitve id on , possibly a Chiffchaff.
 On the way back we stopped to look round the centre of Naama Bay, aweful place !!!!

Tuesday we went to Ra Mohammad Reserve, famous for it's coral reefs and diving over them. There were lots of dive boats and swimmers on the beaches.
As we got to the Monolyths, Jean spotted a raptor duelling a crow across the nearby hillside. We sat watching for a good 10 minutes tryiny to identify it, my first impression was 'harrier' but Jean had the Collins Guide and tried to persuade me into an 'eagle'. Eventually we agreed on a Pallid Harier !!! A lifer !!!
The Mangroves didn't have any birds but lots of Fiddler Crab

The beaches out of reach of the divers added Blue Reef Heron, Dunlin, and Spur Winged Plover to more of the same waders from Nabq.

Isabelline Wheatear and While Crowned Wheatear added to the week's total.
Another Ospey watched us eat our lunch overlooking a beautiful deserted little bay.

 All we needed was Sooty Falcon to round it off, did we, no, it was a Kestrel !!! 
On the way home we stopped to look at the fascinating old market in Sharm, the sights and smells are somewhat the real Egypt.
A good, if hard 2 days, totalled 41 with 3 lifers, so that will do !!!! and a tan to go with it.

A Day Locally

I had half a day locally yesterday.
An hour at Mere Sands looking for the Kingfisher from Rufford Hide, but no luck.
A possible Fox peeped out of the bushes, but it could have been a cat, very pale, and slinked away almost as soon as I'd seen it..

Then an hour at Martin Mere.
The highlight was 3 Peregrines sat on a fence at the back of the mere.
Looked like a male, female and a youngster, there were apparently 2 youngsters about.
I also saw a yound hedgehog, which was nice, until I saw it was eating the remains of a dead rat !!
2 Marsh Harriers eventually showed up from Millers Bridge, and 5 Whooper Swans must have been some of the first back for the winter along with lots of Teal. Plenty of Pink Feet going in and out of the reserve.
But I could only pick out 1 Ruff amongst the Lapwing ans Mallards on the Mere.

There seems to be lots of Tree Sparrows around at both sites, so maybe they've had a good breeding season. Didn't see any Reed Buntings which was strange, especially for Mere Sands, but it was generally quiet, with not many woodland birds at all, and those that were there seemed to be congregated around the feeders.

Poppy's success

Poppy took and passed her Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze award yesterday. She did very well and was one of the best in the test out of 8. One big wooly dog failed, because it wouldn't sit and stay, or recall. Poppy just managed a minute in sit and stay but was excellent on her recall. Well done Poppy.

Wirral Wander

Thought I'd have a look at the Wirral coast, the only time I'd been before was with the 'Birding and Beyond' trip to Hilbe Island.
I went specifically to look for Leach's Petrel, and did some internet research as to the best spots.
High tide was about 1.30pm and there was a strong NW wind blowing, good omens for Leach's.
I thought the best idea would be to head for New Brighton, so I took the old Birkenhead tunnel, I never remember it being so twisty !! The new one is much straighter.

Anyway I found Perch Rock in New Brighton and drove down the prom. towards the Wirral Countyside Park at the far end. Didn't encounter many birds though !!

I found Gun Sights Car Park, apparently one of the premier sites for Leach's on the Wirral.
There were a few birders there already peering at the foaming brown Irish Sea. But very few birds were obvious, just the occassional Gull and a small Cormorant roost on top of a breakwater marker.
Eventually a flock of Oystercatchers landed on the beach, a small wader with them was, I think, a redshank, but it didn't hang around for me to be positive.
After half an hour staring at the foam, I did get one Leach's halfway out to the horizon, a tick, but not a very convincing view, just a flash of it's white rump against a dark grey body, shearing between the wave crests. The chap next to me couldn't get on to even that. According to the internet when I got home 20+ had been past, but not whilst I was there !!! Typical !!!

I carried on to Hoylake, stopped first at Dovepoint, nothing there except a toilet, very useful though !!
Continuing up the promenade, I was looking for King's Gap, not realising it was 'one way' until I noticed all the parked cars were facing to other way !!! Luckily I'd only gone about 50 yards, quick 'u' turn !!!!
So I had to go through the centre of Hoylake to find the other end of the prom. How peculiar !!
King's Gap was awash with waders right next to the prom. as the tide was now up. Big flocks of Knot, Dunlin ans Sanderling, all in their various plumage patterns, interesting to pick them out. A few Bar Tailed Godwit were mixed into the Grey Plover flock and Ringed Plover were plentiful.
A flock of Oystcatcher huddling together on the edge of the water had some Sandwich Terns in it.
Shelduck mixed with the Gulls floating just off the beach, Lesser Black Back, Black Headed, Common and Herring Gulls were the ones I managed to identify. No Skuas though that I could find.

I thought I'd have a look at West Kirby marina for Geese, but it was inundated by the sea and the waves were crashing over the prom. So I called it a day, thought of trying Gun Sight again on the way home, but got on the wrong road and ended up at the new tunnel before I noticed.

Called in at Crosby Lifeboat one the way past, just in case there were any Leach's there, but nothing except the odd Cormorant, Lesser Black Back, and thousands of Starlings.

A frustrating day in some ways, but now I know where to go next time.