Snow Bunting and Snow Goose were our targets today at Belvide. The Snow Bunting was present there yesterday and the Snow Goose had been a regular visitor over the past couple of weeks. You guessed it! neither were seen this morning while we were there. Our lucks out at present, must have killed a robin.

The best bird of the day today was an immature Shag on the dam, this was the first one seen here for 18 years.

Immature Shag

Shags may not be very common here but theres no shortage of Cormorants.

Cormorants

We still enjoyed the morning missing the rain which started around 11:00 am. There were 2 Green Sandpipers and a Redshank present along with 30 to 40 Golden Plover. Tree Sparrows were present on the feeders, they had all flown when I took the photo below, that's the story of my life.

Male Pheasant with some of his Harem there were up to 8 females at one time. (Dirty old bugger!!)

There was Bittern and Twite mentioned as being present at Upton Warren yesterday, so off we went in high expectation of seeing both. But alas we didn't see either. I once saw 23 Twite on a fence in Scotland they were a magical sight it would have been nice to see them again, there had been 3 present on the flashes yesterday but no sign of them today. I'll just have to stick with my memories.

Still we had a lovelly morning seeing Kingfisher & Water Rail heard Cettis Warbler, there were also 22 Curlew in a field near by.

Upton Warren the Flashes

Kingfisher finally managed to get a photo of one perched.

Kingfisher

Curlew there were 22 in total

Black-headed Gulls & Cormorant

Thought I'd finish off with a typical Dude Photo!!!

I've called this entry Dunlin day as we went to 2 places Belvide and Chasewater and there was one Dunlin present at both places.

Dunlin & Lapwing Belvide

Dunlin Chaswater

We didn't stay too long at Belvide as there was a work party there about to burn some old scrub which had been removed. I managed to take this shot of Golden Plover before they were flushed by the fires. 

Golden Plover Belvide

The winter ducks are starting to arrive in numbers, I took this photo of Goldeneye at Chasewater

Goldeneye, Chasewater.

I've had better mornings but I really shouldn't complain for November. I actually had a year tick seeing a Treecreeper in the wood at Belvide, count now 201 for the year. We also had great views of a Marsh Tit on the feeders there.

There had been reports of Glossy Ibis from Middleton Lakes RSPB this is also known to us as Fishers Mill Pool and Drayton Bassett Pits. We parked on KWP paying £2.50 having tried several times before to find our way from Middleton Hall using the directions from the notice board above. The "You are here" sign does not collate to where the sign is situated and nowhere does it say you have to go throught the Farm!!!

I met the Warden this morning and complained, it remains to be seen if it makes any difference.

Back to the birds, besides the Glossy Ibis which hadn't been seen today there were Garganey, Bittern, Hen Harrier and Whinchat seen before we arrived, we didn't see any of them. The best we saw was 2 Little Egrets.

The view from the main hide at KWP

We then went back to KWP the best we saw here was a Green Sandpiper.

Green Sandpiper

There was no shortage of Shoveler here, now coming out of eclipse plummage.

Shoveler

Named as such because of their big long beaks which they use as shovels.

I still enjoyed the morning, I bet we'll pay for all this good weather before long.

We got back from the Scillies to find there were great birds here firstly Caspian Gull at Stubbers Green

Caspian Gull (the one at the back)

Then to Chasewater where there were 3 Common Scoter and a Black-throated Diver, there was also Rock Pipit there.

Black-throated Diver

Black-throated Diver

Rock Pipit this is my first in the midlands.

Caspian Gull, Black-throated Diver & Common Scoter 200 bird species seen in Britain this year Great!

Eastern Isles from St Martin's Isles of Scilly 16/10/2009

We've just come back from 4 memorable days on the Isles of Scilly. Not a cloud in the sky it was like being on the Carribean.

The first thing we saw when we arrived was a Basking Shark.

Basking Shark

Its just a shame there were not many birds the best we saw was a Rose Coloured Starling which I'd seen twice before.

Rose Coloured Starling

They are not very Rosy this time of year, just another little brown job!!

Rose Coloured Starling

It's the second year on the trot that I haven't had a life tick on the Scillies. I did get 8 year ticks though Merlin, Sooty Shearwater, Bonxie (Great Skua), Hen Harrier, Rock Pipit, Firecrest, Spoonbill & Rose Coloured Starling. This brings my annual total upto 197 for the year.

There were 2 life ticks around though (Red-throated Pipit & Radde's Warbler) we tried for them but didn't see either.

There was a Red-throated Pipit on St Martin's which we went to try to see on Tuesday. We spent many an hour looking but had no luck. We did see Minke Whale, Rossi's & Common Dolphins & Harbour Porpoises though and Sooty Shearwater, Bonxie, Redstart and Hen Harrier while we were there. It was acually quite a "magic" day.

The boat to St Martin's

What Red-throated Pipit!!!!!

The only Pipits we saw were Meadow and there was no shortage of them.

Meadow Pipits

We actually spent 2 days on St Martins as a Radde's Warbler was there on Thursday. It had been seen first thing but didn't show again that day.  I think it's been seen there since though. There was another Radde's Warbler seen on St Mary's later that day which we went for but all we saw when we got there was birders walking around aimlessly. We had nothing better to do so we joined them for a while.

For the past few years there's been a white Coloured Blackbird at Morning Point on the Garrison on St Mary's we'd never caught up with it before but we seen it this time.

"White" Blackbird

No Hot line today as Eric Clare has gone to the Scillies for a fortnight, we'll be joining him tomorrow but only till Friday. Can't wait !! yet another adventure.

With no Hot Line we decided to go to Belvide, I had picked up off Birdguides that there had been a Garganey there, this would be a year tick for me, mind there was not much chance of me finding it as it was a juvenile in eclipse plumage. Locating it with all the Teal around is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Consequently we didn't see it.

We saw 5 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 3 Snipe and 18 Golden Plover so it wasn't a wasted morning. It never is at Belvide there's always something to see.

3 Golden Plover and a Lapwing going for a paddle

3 very distant Dunlin  I had to put that in as an excuse for such a Crap picture.

2 very distant Snipe

Back to Blithefield this morning, there had been 2 Pectoral Sandpipers there all week in Blithe bay and I didn't want to miss out on getting another year tick. As it turned out I actually got 2 year ticks. We stopped on the causeway when we first arrived, there was an Arctic Tern there which was a bonus. I've seen Common, Little, Sandwich and Black Terns so far this year but this was my first Arctic Great!!!

We then went down Blithe Bay but there was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpipers there was only a Redshank there and no other waders. We were told that there had been a Peregrine around earlier so it may have flushed them. But all was not lost they had moved into Tad bay where we duly found them. Another good morning I've now got 188 year ticks just another 12 for 200. I'm of to the Scillies on the 12th so with a bit of luck I should add a few ticks there. 

One of the Pectoral Sandpipers is in the centre of the picture

I don't think I've ever seen so many  Red Admiral Butterflies they were everywhere sunning themselves on the parked cars.

We also found this Coma on the Ivy

Coma

Yes, Yet another good morning.

We've just returned from a fabulous 4 days in a caravan at Hemsby in Norfolk the weather was great!!!

It wasn't really a birding break so I was good and didn't go to the RSPB reserves I usually visit on a trip to Norfolk & Suffolk, mind you Minsmere has dried up with the lack of rain so it wasn't worth going anyway.

We did call in at Wells Wood, I didn't see one bird, mind you its a magical place as is Wells itself I've included a few pictures.

Wells Beach from Wells Wood

Corsican Pines Wells Wood

Wells Wood

Wells next the sea 

Beach huts Wells next the Sea 

Beach huts Wells next the Sea

Baby Seal Wells next the Sea

We had earlier called at Holkham Hall there must have been at least 50 Egyptian Geese around the lake with about 200 Greylags, There were also Deer here I think they were Fallow Deer due to the spots.

Fallow Deer Holkham Hall

Stag Fallow Deer

I had seen a picture of the building below so I just had to go and see it, that was my excuse ( North Warren RSPB was close by)

The House in the Clouds, Thorpeness

I did see this Egret on North Warren, It was distant and there was a heat haze I thought it was big and there had been a Great White in the area but no I think this was a Little Egret.

I couldn't resist one last look around Horsey wind pump and it paid off I found 2 Common Cranes in a field accross the road.

Common Cranes, Horsey, Norfolk

2 Common Cranes, 100+ Golden Plover in a field, Tawny Owl, Jays, Redshank in Wells, Egyptian & Greylag Geese, Hobby. Not too bad for a none birdwatching trip.

I saw 8 Mistle Thrushes fly over on my way to get my paper this morning quickly followed by 2 Jays foraging for acorns. Not a bad start.

It didn't take us long to decide where to go as there had been 2 Little Stints at Belvide for the past few days so we headed off there chasing another year tick. On arrival a Peregrine mobbed all the Waders catching one then stared to eat it on the shore. Damn and Blast!!! we thought thats the end of our chances of seeing the Little Stints. But no we were in luck they were still present when we reached the Bryant Hide.

On our way back Steve Nuttall called us to say he'd located a Ferruginous Duck, it flew and  was finally re-located in front of the first hide. Great another year tick!!!! up to 186 now.

The pesky Peregrine

I know its a bit blurred but the bird to the left of the Gull on the shore is a little Stint

Ferruginous Duck with Coot

Ferruginous Duck

Ferruginous Duck

Finally a photo of a Fish we think its the top of a tail fin of a Carp.

Its got to be a good day when you see 2 different Kingfishers, one at Stubbers Green, a flash of blue in the morning sunshine the other at Blithfield perched on a fence in the mouth of Tad Bay unfortunately it didn't stay there long enough for me to get a photo (just my luck!!!).

Were well into the Blithfield season, but its still very slow. There is good shoreline now around the resevoir but theres still not many waders around, 2 Greenshank 4 Dunlin 2 Ringed Plover 6 Snipe and a Ruff was the sum total. We did see the Osprey again though briefly in the mouth of Tad Bay.

Little Grebe

This is the best I could do today Photo wise 3 Little Grebe in Blythe Bay.

Other migrants seen today were a Wheatear in Blithe Bay and several Yellow Wagtails on the Dam.

Back to local birding after my trip to Scotland. Nothing much to shout about on the hotline so we decided to go to Blithfield it's always good this time of year anything may turn up. It didn't take long before it paid off an Osprey flew right over us in Blithe Bay we had great views.  An unusual sight in Tad Bay was a group of Red Head (female) Goosander on the shore, see below.

Red Head Goosander

Also seen were 4 ringed plover & a Wheatear from the causway a Greenshank between the 2 bays and 2 Ruff in Tad Bay.

A Ruff behind the Gull in the centre of the picture

It was a good day for butterflies by the car park, see below.

Painted Lady

Painted Ladies

Red Admiral & Painted Lady

Small Tortoiseshell & Red Admiral

Another very pleasant morning.

           The best view in Scotland!!!!!!!

We've just returned from a 6 day Coach trip to Dalmally with Highland Heritage staying at the Dalmally Hotel, we've had a fabulous time but now I'm totally shattered. It was non-stop from start to finish. 2 of the days were travelling there and back giving us 4 full days in Scotland of which 3 had pre-arranged trips the first of which was to Oban. On the coach they give us free tickets to catch the ferry to the Isle of Mull this is a big ferry and we could get our lunch on it, we couldn't land on Mull but the crossing there and back was fabulous seeing loads of seabirds, Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Shags & Black Guillemots. 

Oban

Black Guillemot, Oban Harbour

The Mull Ferry

Leaving Mull

No its not a UFO, believe it or not its a Gannet

 After Oban we went to a Sea Life Centre, there were Eider Ducks on Loch Creran, I couldn't resist taking this view it has a natural frame with the trees.

 Loch Creran

The Second day we went on the Atlantic shores trip which took us all the way down the Kintyre peninsular where we had spectacular views of the Islands of Islay, Jura, Gigha and Cara. I even saw a Sea Eagle way out to sea I could not believe the size of it (A LIFE TICK!!!!!). We had stops at Tarbert which is at the northern end of Kintyre and Cambeltown which is at the southern end.

Tarbert

Cambeltown

Oystercatchers in Cambeltown

Hooded Crow in Cambeltown

The West Loch Tarbert

The next day was a supposed to be a free day, but Highland Heretage put on a free trip to Fort William with a trip up Ben Nevis. We had other plans as we have relatives on Kintyre so we had arranged to Hire a car for the day and go visiting, all went according to plan and we had a smashing day. It was just unfortunate that we missed out on the freetrip.

North Lodge, My Cousins house on Kintyre

The last day we went down the Cowal peninsula to Dunoon, circumnavigating the Holy Loch on the way there and calling at Inveraray on the way back.

Dunoon

Eider Ducks in Dunoon harbour

Inveraray

Well what a truly marvellous few days I ended up with one life tick (Sea Eagle) and 5 year ticks Golden Eagle (seen from the hotel in Dalmally), Black Guillenot, Hooded Crow, Shag & Eider Duck. We also saw Red & Roe Deer, Common Seals, Dolphins & an Otter.

A Highland Bull

I couldn't recommend Highland Heritage more highly it was real value for money. We had a full Itinerary, Good Food, Entertainment every night, the staff were always friendly and although it was a bit like a Saga Holiday everybody spoke to you it was a truly great holiday experience..

The only place mentioned on the West Midland Bird Club Hotline with any waders was Croxall which is close to the National arboretum. Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Ringed Plover & Dunlin were mentioned as being present and we saw them all. We also had great views of Snipe this is one of my favourite birds, years ago further back than I care to remember I saw a Snipe in the hand of a Ringer at Stubbers Green, it was beautiful they look just brown from a distance which they are but they must have every shade of brown known to man in their plummage a fabulous bird.

Snipe

There were at least 6 Greenshank around heres just a couple of them.

Greenshank

Another Green Shank

We can't complain about the weather this month we have had a great August so far, long may it continue.

There had been a Spotted Crake present at Upton Warren yesterday evening so we thought we'd have a put for it. There had also been a Wood Sandpiper present here for over a week. With a bit of luck we might see both, but alas it was not to be (Whats New!!!). The Spotted Crake had not been seen this morning but we did at least see the Wood Sandpiper (back to 178 year ticks). In fact we had a good morning seeing some good birds which included Water Rail, Little Egret, Black Tailed Godwit, Common & Green Sandpipers, Snipe & a large flock of Linnets.

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Linnet

Sparrowhawk

Little Egret

Little Egret

What a fantastic start to the day we went to Blithfield and within 5 minutes we were watching an Osprey fishing around the mouth of Tad Bay. It caught a fish and went up into a tree to eat it. A wonderful sight !!! and a year tick. It wasn't long before we had another year tick as well there were 2 Ruddy Shelduck in Blithe Bay (177 ticks so far this year). Unfortunately it was a little too far away to get a photo of the Osprey but I did manage to get shots of the Ruddy Shelducks.

Ruddy Shelducks

Ruddy Shelducks

There are plenty of Butterflies around this year the next 2 photos are of a Small Copper and then a pair of Large (Cabbage) Whites mating.

Small Copper

A pair of Large Whites mating

Now the school holidays are here I have my Grandson Ellis to look after every other Friday, the first thing out of his mouth is "Grandad can we go Birdwatching" (see it rubs off).  I didn't need asking twice so I took him to Ladywalk a place I'd never taken him to before. I'm glad I did there were at least 5 Whimbrel present. Great!!!! a year tick 176 ticks for the year. Well I have now been told with 2 comments that these birds were in fact Curlews, well thats a classic example of why this blog is called Dude Birding!!! It was the eye stripe which confused me, and also I can't have been the only Dude present in the hide at the time.!!! I've now knocked one off my year total back to 175.

4 Curlew

And another

Its still in the middle of the quiet time for birds and there had been rain promised so we went to Belvide as we are always sure to see birds here, and if it rains we can always sit in the hides. Belvide didn't disappoint there were at least 5 Common Sandpipers present a Little Ringed Plover and a Ringed Plover. We didn't get too wet either the rain wasn't too heavy this morning.

Common Tern & Common Sandpipers

Common Tern & Common Sandpiper

We had a bonus on the way home calling at Stubbers Green to see if we could see the Yellow Legged Gull that had been seen here on and off for the past few days and we were in luck it was present with all the other gulls Great!!!! a year tick. 175 species so far this year.

Yellow Legged Gull

Yellow Legged Gull

Not a lot to shout about at the moment, we thought we'd go somewhere different so we went to Ladywalk Nature reserve which for the uninitiated is on the sight of the old Hams hall Power Station.

It certainly was quiet in fact I had to resort to taking photographs of the hides. 

The Sainsbury Hide from the rear.

The Sainsbury Hide from the front

The Riverside Hide

The Riverside Hide close up

The "B" hide

The "D" hide

The New hide

I did take a couple of Bird Photos though a Black Headed Gull which was posing in front of the Riverwalk hide and a Willow Tit on the feeders in front of the Sainsbury hide.

Black-headed Gull

Willow Tit

Back to normal again this Sunday having done a sponsored walk for Heartcare last week. There had been a Spotted Flycatcher and a female Red-crested Pochard reported from Gailey so we made this our first port of call, and would you believe it we saw them both. The Spotted Flycatcher was on the gate posts by the Fishermens car park, he wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a photo though.

We then went on to Belvide where a Greenshank had been seen yesterday, but we were told it was not present this morning so we didn't walk round, there are still plenty of birds here though both Reed and Sedge Warblers singing by the first hide.

We then decided to go to Blithfield where there had been 5 Common Scoter present yesterday but again when we got there they hadn't been seen today. We went down into Tad Bay where we had a good half hour seeing 2 Greenshanks (making up for the one we didn't see at Belvide ) and a Hobby & a Peregrin.

I had to put a couple of pictures in the first is of Ruddy Ducks there are still one or two around they havn't shot them all.

Ruddy Ducks

Tad Bay Blithfield