It's just a HOBBY!!

Garden Centenary!

2011-11-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Just totted up my garden list and this mornings Short-eared Owl was my 100th species!!

Viz Miggin' - Tuesday 14th November 2011

2011-11-15T05:19:00.000-08:00

This mornings efforts watching the visible migration over my house produced the following between 0900-1030hrs. Weather was fine with occasional cloud and a stiff E/SE wind with stronger gusts:

Chaffinch - Resident birds showed some dispersal but only c50 actually counted
Fieldfare - 41
Redwing - 124
Bullfinch - 1 male
'Alba' Wagtail - 4
Starling - 87
SHORT-EARED OWL - flew high west mobbed by Carrion Crow.
Skylark - 10
Meadow Pipit - 7
Woodpigeon - 44
Black-headed Gull - 1
Curlew - 1
Lapwing - 144 (flocks of 30,24 and 90)
Golden Plover - 1
Goldfinch - 10

Other species recorded but not counted were: Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Wren, Magpie.

1st winter male Desert Wheatear at Nanjizal

2011-11-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

Finally got the opportunity on Tuesday to nip down and see the Desert Wheatear at Nanjizal. What a superb bird. The weather wasn't particularly pleasant but I spent about an hour with this bird completely on my own! It came extremely close at times and finally close enough for one or two reasonable photo opportunities. This is only the sixth record for Cornwall and the first since 1997!

Probable Eastern Asian Lesser Whitethroat, St Agnes, IoS 27th October 2011

2011-11-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

A few photos of the presumed East Asian Lesser Whitethroat on St Agnes. I'm of the opinion that this is 'minula' rather than 'halimodendrii'? If my memory serves me correctly the halimodenrii at Lelant and Porthcurno a few years ago showed much more grey on the head than this bird. Photos of the Porthcurno bird on the right for comparison.

Photos above and below by Matt Sallis.

Scilly Week - Day Eight

2011-11-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

I had purposely booked a late plane ticket to take full advantage of a whole day on our final day on Scilly. However, as per usual the bloody weather put pay to any great ideas and by 10am the fog rolled in and the wind picked up. I resigned myself to the fact that once again I would be going home on the Sicklonian III. So that was that, but no complaints. Another superb week on Scilly with three lifers (!), seven Scilly Ticks and 15 year ticks, aswell as great company with the lads and meeting up again with loads of birding friends and aquaintances. It'll take some beating!

Scilly Week - Days Six and Seven

2011-11-13T06:25:00.000-08:00

Me, Adam, Nathan, Ash and Mark in The Turk's Head, St Agnes

Thursday and Friday were spent on St Agnes, although the best bird was back on St Mary's. The presumed central Asian Lesser Whitethroat was our first quarry on St Agnes and gave incredibly close views. There was no sign of the Bluethroat or Radde's Warbler from yesterday so we had to do with a Lapland Bunting skulking in a field and a flyover Richard's Pipit. Anyway, after a fairly uneventful day, we were just pulling into St Mary's harbour when a Red-eyed Vireo came up on the pager. Ideal. A run, jog, fast walk to Carn Friars lane soon saw us all watching a superb REV! Nice end to the day.

The following day Me and Mark went back to St Agnes. The weather was reminiscent of May rather than October! Very warm sun with hardly any wind and very few birders! Bliss! Unfortunately, there weren't many birds either, but a Pallas's warbler showed really well in The Parsonage and a Brambling was in weedy fields at the end of Barnaby Lane.

Scilly Week - Day Five

2011-11-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we were joined by Ash, so I spent the afternoon walking round with him, looking at the Upland Sandpiper again and picking up Pink-footed Goose (2), Peregrine and Wheatear and the first Fieldfares of the week. Earlier I had a bit of fun trying desperately to photograph the Dusky Warbler in Black and White Woods, Lower Moors. The image shown is the best of a bad bunch!! The best bird of the day however, we saved til last. Sitting quietly in Carreg Du gardens waiting for Firecrest and Yellow-browed Warblers, we were treated to superb views of a Treecreeper!! This was only the 12th record for Scilly making it rarer that the Upland Sandpiper in terms of records!!

Scilly Week - Day Four

2011-11-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Day four dawned bright and early with beautiful sunshine! The view from our digs is superb, looking across The Roads to Tresco, Bryher and Samson. Tresco was the destination for today but with the boat not leaving til 1015hrs, I went for a walk to Porthcressa beach with Mark. Merlin, Water Pipit and Common Sandpiper gave good views on the beach and the Lower Broom on the Garrison looked sheltered and full of birds so I decided to look there. Stupidly I took the route along the rocks on the beach and by the time I'd got to the southern end of Lower Broome I was dripping with sweat and exhausted!! Luckily I bumped into Nathan who kindly agreed to take my fleece back to the digs! I'd cooled down considerably by the time I boarded the boat to Tresco. The first boat was full so I caught up with Mark ten minutes later photographing the two Snow Buntings at the south end of Tresco. A short walk to the Great Pool and we were soon watching Spotted Crake and Lesser Yellowlegs on the exposed mud. The latter being a Scilly tick for us both! The heavens opened shortly after but we still managed to see Tree Pipit, Mistle thrush, Pectoral Sandpiper and Med Gull before catchimg the boat to Bryher. This was a wasted trip as the Pallas's warbler seen a few days previously was not seen again!

Scilly Week - Day Three.

2011-11-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

My third day was again spent on St Mary's where I concentrated on the Porth Hellick/ Lower Moors area for most of the day. A first winter Med Gull was with ten Little Egrets in Old Town Bay. A female Merlin zipped through and a Kingfisher was also present. I finally caught up with the flighty White-rumped Sandpiper on Porth Hellick beach after running backwards and forwards between there and the airfield! A Pallas's Warbler showed very briefly at Lower Moors so I went to the ISBG hide for better views of the Wilson's Snipe. A stroke of luck as I was watching it as the Northern Waterthrush hopped out right at the side of it!! Highlight of the day, with nothing much else seen after that.

Scilly Week - Day Two

2011-11-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

After yesterdays binge on megas' our second day was bound to be a slight anticlimax, but that doesn't matter on Scilly and gave us time to spend a bit more of a relaxing day enjoying the scenery and finding our own stuff. The weather wasn't too bad, occasional sun, occasional rain but a very strong SE wind made birding hard work. I decided to find some sheltered areas and headed for Carreg Du gardens, taking in a Whinchat on Porthmellon Beach en-route. The gardens were indeed quiet and sheltered and afforded me good views of at least three Firecrests and a Yellow-browed warbler whilst picking through the Chiffchaffs for a trisitis type.
I left the gardens and headed for Salakee farm, taking a detour along the Tremelethan Trail. Two Pink-footed Geese flew in from the north and alighted on Porth Hellick pool, so i headed back to get a better look. Quite a scarce bird on Scilly and only my 5th and 6th after the four on Tresco at the beginning of the year. I decided on a seawatch from nearby Giant's Castle and hunkered behind a rock I recoreded, 11 Bonxies, 2 Arctic Skuas, a Pomarine Skua (juv), which was a Scilly tick, a juv Med Gull, 9 Kittiwakes and over 150 Gannets in an hour. By now the rain had set in and I decided to head back to Hugh Town for a cuppa. Ten Ringed Plover (no Semi-palmated after scrutinsing the juvs!), a Golden Plover, a Dunlin and four Turnstone were on the airfield and 17 further Turnstone and 120 House Sparrows (!) were counted in Old Town.
After a cuppa back at the ranch I ventured up to Peninnis Head with 20-30 others where a 'possible' Nighthawk (or kestrel!) had been reported the previous evening. No sign of it after waiting til dark but a Woodcock flew over the house in Hugh Town as I arrived home. Tired and ready for a pint!

Epic Week on Scilly - Day One

2011-11-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

After a few leaner years and a year off (for me!) the 'Team' ventured across to Scilly again from Oct 22nd - 29th 2011. Myself and Mark (Halliday) flew over for 10am with Adam Hutt, Adam Stoyle and Nathan Pickering arriving just after midday (too late for the Tanager unfortunately!) Anyway, on arrival Mark and I headed straight to Lower Moors and got straight on to the Northern Waterthrush which was showing well at Shooter's Pool, along with Firecrest and a Yellow-browed Warbler. After only 10-15 minutes, the pager went off, signalling a mad rush for Sandy Lane, where a Scarlet Tanager was showing. After an agonising wait I was soon watching it moving through the top of a pittisporum hedge! Nice to get that one back after missing the one at St Levan the previous day. There has been talk of the birds being one in the same, but closer scrutiny of photographs shows them to be different. After the rush, it was nice to take a relative stroll to Watermill Lane where the two Olive Backed Pipits showed extremely well in the bulb fields. The Upland Sandpiper was next on the target list and was located in another bulb field at the back of Borough Farm. Three lifers in the space of a few hours, superb. The others had by now landed on the island and were enjoying views of the Waterthrush!

The rest of the day was spent between Porth Hellick and Lower Moors, the latter area providing great vioews of the Wilson's Snipe from the ISBG Hide.

New Look and long update!!

2011-11-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Blog has had a bit of a re-vamp as you can see and I hope you like the new design! As for birding, 2011 has been a superb year and Scilly was well above average on our week birding holiday there at the end of october. Im currently on 249 species for the year with some goodies like Northern Waterthrush, Upland Sandpiper, Scarlet Tanager (three lifers in one day!), Olive backed Pipits, Red-eyed Vireo, Pallas' and Dusky Warbler, Glossy Ibis, White-rumped Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe at the end of October. Before that Black Kite in Cornwall, Common Crane in Yorkshire as well as an awsome viz mig day at Spurn, Red-backed Shrikes in Devon then back to Cornwall for Baird's, Buff-breasted, Semipalmated and Pectoral sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs and a Bee-eater on The Scillies. A superb seawatch off St Ives on September the 18th produced all the Skua's, Leach's Petrels, Sabs Gulls by the dozen, Black Tern and Red-necked and Grey Phalaropes! One more bird for 250 and I can retire for the year! I'll keep you posted.

Rare and Scarce Birds 2010 now Available!

2011-08-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Report is ready and we have managed to keep the cost to £10 (£12 inc p&p). Please use the Contacts and Submissions page on Cornwall Birding to purchase a copy NOW!! It comprises 112 pages of Species accounts, finders reports and 74 colour photos (and more....).

Readers say: " Excellent Glossy report, almost rivals the Scilly one!" BD

"Well done, great report, obviously lots of work gone into this" JD

"At last, a decent report on Cornwall's birds, well done Conrwall Birding!" PM

"Thanks for a fantastic report and a great website, we live out of county but use it daily to see what we are missing! MC

Barnies and Sooties............

2011-08-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

After driving hundreds of miles at night at work I would have hoped to have seen a Barn Owl by now (this year), but no. Not until July 20th that is when I get called to a farm at St Erth to see to an abandoned car. The farmer was very obliging and showed me an old water tank complete with youngsters being fed by adults!! Year tick number 195 (the pacific goldie was 194). The following Sunday saw my first seawatch of the year at PG with Monty and Mark. About 3000+ Manx Shears passed close inshore in two hrs until the fog roled in and finished our morning. Before that we were treated to a very close Sooty Shearwater (196), a Balearic Shear and two Puffins (197). Two of this year Choughs gave extremely close views nearby and a family of Northern Wheatear were on the slopes below us.

Another Tundra Plover Dilema!

2011-08-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

Working night shifts often provide me with oportunity to do a bit of birding either before or after. So I left home early on Tuesday 19th July in order to call at Ryan's Field RSPB before work. The tide was high and there were good numbers Curlew and BH gulls but apart from a few Common Sands, very little else of interest. I scoped the far bank from the hide and a summer plumaged adult Golden Plover came into view from one of the ditches at the back of the field. Alarm bells immediately started ringing. The white 'snake' from the supercilium to the upper flanks was bold and didnt appear go past the forewing as you would expect in European GP. So I'd got an American or a Pacific. I was aware that time was moving on and light was fading fast. I didnt have my camera and I didnt want to go round to the road to get a closer view in case it flew. Plus I had ten minutes before I had to go to work. I immediately phoned Mark Halliday and Ash Hugo and told them to view the bird from the road side and of course get some photos! While I waited for them to arrive I looked through some literature and photos I had on my phone and made a sketch and nbote in my notebook. Everything pointed towards Pacific but a combination of distance, poor light and sporadic views meant I could'nt rule out American 100%. I saw the others arrive and made a quick phonecall to Ash to make sure they got plenty of photos. Unfortunatley I then had to leave for work, leaving Mark and Ash to clinch the ID. At about 2200hrs I got the call from Mark to say they'd seen the bird in flight, got plenty of photos and after much deliberation and scouring the literature were convinced it was Pacific Golden Plover. Excellent, only the fifth record for Cornwall and the first since 1999! I immediatley phoned the news out to RBA and Ash put it on the website.
The following morning, straight from my night shift, I returned to Ryan's Field but the bird was nowhere to be seen. It was now raining heavily and the tide was on its way in, so I tried my luck on the main estuary. The bird was still there, showing well from the causway bridge. I was joined by Monty Curtis and Ash and a little later Dave Parker. The bird performed well being driven closer by the incoming tide and allowing for some more photos to be taken, this time in better light. At about 0800hrs, the bird began calling, a distinct two sylable, 'two-ee, two-ee' then flew straight towards us before circling high above Ryan's Field and heading North, still high up, over Harvey's Towans and out of sight, giving good views of the dark underwing in flight.
Despite searching the surrounding areas of the estuary, Copperhouse Creek and St Gothian Sands, the bird could not be relocated and was not seen again. A report of it seen at about 1340hrs in the mouth of the estuary was thought be eronneous.

Pacific Golden Plover is an extreme rarity to the county. The previous four records were:

1999 - At Culdrose on 19th October - 22nd November
1998 - At Bosanket, between Sennen and St Buryan on May 3rd and 4th.
1994 - At Hayle, an adult moulting from summer plumage on Aug 26th.
1978 - At Stithians, a first cal year on 7th November

For photos of this bird see: http://www.cornwall-birding.co.uk/recent-sightings/wednesday-20th-july-2011-cornwall-bird-reports/

Quality Rarities in Abundance!

2011-05-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

What a superb spring we're having! Since the Bonapartes Gull, the decent yearticks have not stopped! A Reed Warbler (174) at Marazion on Apr 16th was followed the next day by an elusive PURPLE HERON (175) at the same location. It was well spotted by Mark Halliday hiding amongst the reeds at the west end of the reserve. A trip to Goonhilly Downs the same morning did not bring us the Montagu's Harrier we had hoped for but a male Dartford Warbler (176) and a Cuckoo (177) were obliging all the same. My 1Km square count around Godrevy Head on 19th April saw Little Ringed Plover (178), Yellow Wagtail (179) and House Martin (180)added to the list and my first Swift (181) of the year flew over the A30 at Redruth on the 30th whilst I directed traffic after a nasty car crash! A Common Sandpiper (182) was on the estuary at Hayle later the same day.

American Golden Plover (P.Freestone)

Sunday the 1st May saw pretty awful weather conditions with lots of that fine rain that wets you through! I met up with Mark on the Hayle Estuary who informed me that Brian Mellow had seen an 'interesting' Golden Plover on the estuary earlier in the day. I located it a short while after out on the mud flats from the old garage on the causeway and immediately phoned Mark, who had his scope with him. I managed a few distant flight shots which clearly showed a dark under wing, diagnostic of both Pacific and American Golden Plovers. So we had a rare one, but which was it. The bird looked really dark as it was very wet and views we had were relatively poor. After an hour or so we were fairly confident we had seen all the features of American Golden Plover, but put the news out as a 'probable', to at least get other birders out to see it. Fortunately it showed really well in much better weather conditions the next day and it was indeed an AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER(183). On the evening of the same day I received a phonecall from Tim Twiggs who alerted me to a drake Garganey (184) at Gwithian. Luckily it was still there when I arrived! The next day I returned for better views of the Golden Plover with Ash and Monty and as we walked down to where it was being viewed from, a superb adult Hobby (185)flew overhead. After watching the plover for a while we headed back to the bridge to photograph the Bonapartes Gull. Monty and Ash left a short while after, missing the Curlew Sandpiper (186) that flew in with Dunlin!

Great-white Egret (Photo by Monty Curtis)

And so to more recent events..............On May 8th I arranged to meet Ash and Monty at Marazion early morning. I had been on night shift and was obviously quite tired. However, I still needed the GREAT WHITE EGRET(187) for the year. I soon had that in the bag as it flew a short distance in the sanctuary area. It did not show again, but Monty and Ash had already seen it so weren't too bothered. It was blowing a very fresh southerly at Marazion so I mentioned to the others that Gwithian might be a bit more sheltered for tired migrants. What a decision that turned out to be!

Black-winged Stilts (P.Freestone)

The other two were in Monty's car and were well ahead down the main path at St Gothian when I arrived and I admit i was struggling to catch up with them in my tired state. Fortunately they stopped to look at the sanctuary area on the left enabling me to catch up. As i approached them I scanned the spit on the end of the island on the main pool as I always do for waders and Gulls. There, to my suprise and then elation I could quite clearly see a black and white bird with very long red legs. I lifted my bins and saw not one but three BLACK-WINGED STILTS! (188) I said to the others, "What the bloody hell are you two looking at! Theres three Black-winged Stilts over here!!" After a few seconds panic, both got onto them and we moved around the corner for a better view, only to find ANOTHER! So four in all, a new County record! I quickly phoned RBA and then all the numbers I had at my disposal. A steady trickle of birders gathered through the day and the birds showed really well.

Temminck's Stint (P.Freestone)

Friday 13th is thought to be unlucky by some. But not for Phil Taylor and Hilary Mitchell! I recieved a phonecall from John Swann to say that two visiting birders from Yorkshire (Gods other own county!) had found what they believed to be a TEMMINCK'S STINT (189) on Ryan's Field and did i have time to have a look. Fortunately I did and I soon joined Phil and Hilary in the hide who were still watching the bird in question. Temminck's Stint is a really rare bird in Cornwall, so I got the news out straight away allowing for plenty of locals to catch up with it. It remained until about 1630hrs when it walked out of sight on one of the islands and simply disappeared! A superb little wader and my 292nd County tick. Eight more to go!

Summer migrants, Goodies and missed Goodies!!

2011-04-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hmm. Where to start. Its been a bit of an up and down period since i last updated. Plenty of summer migrants to catch up with and equally as many good scarcities. I managed a superb male Ring Ouzel (164) whilst waiting (in anticipation) for the roaming Golden Eagle (165) which eventually soared over after a two hour vigil on March 23rd. Spring migrants followed with Swallow (166) on 31st, Manx Shearwater (167)and Sandwich Tern (168) on 8th April, Willow Warbler (169)from my back garden on 8th. An extremely unsuccesful trip for Gull-billed Tern, Sub-alp and Woodchat on the 11th was further ruined by the fog and the fact i missed alol of the aforementioned. The Whitethroat (170) felt like little consolation as i trudged back, wet through, to the car at Trevilley!! I did manage to get a Sedge Warbler (171)the same afternoon after taking the kids to the park at Copperhouse.

The bike into work on the 13th April proved dividends when I got Grasshopper Warbler (172) whilst passing Loggans Moor NR. Finally, after three attempts, I caught up with the 1w Bonapartes Gull (173) at Cooperhouse Creek this evening. Some you win.........as they say!

Sunday Morning...

2011-03-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Waxwing performed (if you can call sitting in a tree performing!?) at Treneere agaion this morning, but again the light was rubbish for photos. Still managed a reasonable one below! The Hoopoe (162) at St Levan was less obliging for the camera, but did show well. And nearby Porthgwarra had a Wheatear and two Chough (163). A quick look on the estuary at Hayle produced two Ruff and a Little Gull. Lovely weather and nice to get out with the boys (and girl) again.

Yorkshire and Devon Delights.

2011-03-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

So, after a fairly successful trip to Yorkshire and Devon visiting family, I managed to get to 159 species by the end of Feb. Since then Ive been back at work and back to building my extension, so not much birding time! Spring is definately on the way though and i finally got to 160 sp. with a Wheatear at St Gothian on Friday. Land's End was freezing this morning with nothing but Magpies in the way of birds so Mark and I headed back to Marazion where two Sand Martins (161)were over the marsh.

New birds 'aquired' in Yorkshire included a Smew, Lesser Redpoll and Bramblings at Hatfield Moors, my old patch, but i failed to connect with the RL Buzzard that was reported nearby. Nearby, Park Drain, gave me good views of Grey Partridge. Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve had over 70 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Marsh Harriers. A walk around Lakeside, Doncaster produced two Mealy Redpolls with the Lessers, but no Ruddy Duck. I also dipped on my Little Owls for the second year running.

A days birding in Devon began at Yarner Woods with Lesser Pecker and Marsh Tit soon added to the list. From there I drove to Bowling Green Marsh where I caught up with Avocets (loads!) and another Smew, but no Spotted Redshank. I then got directions to Aylesbeare Common where a Great-grey Shrike had been seen two days previously. Didnt take too long to find the place but I'd nearly given up on the bird when it finally showed in flight then briefly perched up. Cracking bird and my first for quite some time. Finally I spent the remainder of the day at Dawlish Warren where Surf Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Black-necked, Red-necked, Slav and Great-crested Grebes, Long-tailed Duck and Eider were all offshore. Great couple of days birding, the GG Shrike being the highlight. Bring on the spring goodies!

Oh and i caught up with the Rose-coloured Starling in Penzance too.

Recent Photos

2011-02-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Been a bit busy since the end of January but managed another 19 yearticks. Photos of some of them below and I'll update the text when i get a minute!

Photos from last Sunday (31st Jan)

2011-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

A few record shots from Bodmin Moor last sunday. Not sure about the Deer? It was pacing the fence having got itself stuck in a cattle field. I think it's a Red Deer? I have shots of it from behind and it doesn't have the cream/white arse like a Roe Deer. Any thoughts?

Walmsley Goodies.....

2011-02-06T05:10:00.000-08:00

Luckily the geese and swans have hung around at Walmsley long enough for me to catch up with them. So, with Mark, Monty and Ash, I ventured north to the sanctuary. As we parked up in the layby and got out of the car we were treated to a flock of 15 Barnacle Geese over the reserve and a short walk to the public hide produced the Pink-footed Goose and Bean Goose (141) in fields to the west. Three Spoonbills were asleep at the back of the main pool and five Black-tailed Godwits flew off. All hell let loose when the 'tundra' Peregrine put in an appearance. It appears a much bigger bird than our regular Peregrines.
Across the main road, the Whooper Swan (142) was with two Mutes.
We tried in vain at a very windy Trevose Head for Corn Buntings, so headed west to Pentire. En-route I noticed a flock of distant birds, which turned out to be Skylark. A short detour to Park Head, National Trust reserve provided us with some amazing views of huge flocks of Skylarks. The two groups totalled over 500 birds and a nearby flock of mixed buntings held, Chaffinch (300+), Yellowhammer (12+), Reed Bunting (10+) and finally three of our quarry species, Corn Bunting (143)!

140 at last......

2011-01-31T11:42:00.000-08:00

Another day emptying dumpy bags of sand and gravel! I needed to get one more bird to reach 140 sp. before the end of January but couln'd escape the building work! Fortunately I'd run out of decent work gloves so had to go all the way to Penzance B&Q for some! Calling at Marazion en-route to see Reed Bunting (140)!!! Where theres a will theres a way, as they say! Might have to slow down in February a bit or divorce will be on the cards again!

Frozen hopes....

2011-01-31T11:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning was put aside for another trip up county in hope of catching up with a few bits we missed at Bolventor during our earlier trip. Freezing conditions put all hopes of seeing the Lesser Scaup at Dozemary on hold as the entire pool was a sheet of ice! So Ash and I headed for Ninestones looking for Willow Tit. The sun had not yet broken into the valley and the only wildlife of note were deer, one Roe in particular gave great views as it paced up and down inside the cattle filed it had managed to get iteslf stuck in!
We decided to try Golitha Falls again for Treecreeper (138) and after about 15 minutes I finally caught up with one as it accompanied a small tit flock.
Happy with our year tick we decided to spend the rest of our time staking out the Willow Tits (139) and we didnt have to stray far from the car at Ninestones before we heard one calling. It proved elusive at first but fortunately continued to call until we saw it.
A quick call in at Colliford on the way back proved fruitless, so we spent the remainder of the morning photographing the RN Duck at Gwithian and trying in vain to see Reed Buntings there.

Stunning Ring-neck

2011-01-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of ducks in general but when a drake Ring-necked Duck (137)turns up on your local patch, you have to see it as a matter of principle. So after receiving texts from Tim and Ash, I managed a half hour in the freezing cold at St Gothian with the superb duck. Unfortunately I forgot to check the battery on my camera. Hence no photos!

Ringing at St Allen

2011-01-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

Had a great morning at St Allen with Ash, Mark Grantham and others ringing finches and buntings. Highlight of the day without doubt were the five Yellowhammers (136) we caught, photographed by Ash below.

Garden Tick....

2011-01-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

The building work does have advantages. It means Im out in the garden most of the day, which was ideal on Friday as a Firecrest flew past me while I was emptying the wheelbarrow! Garden tick number 96!.

Still playing catch up.........

2011-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

Finally caught up with a few more species, some of which were harder than others! Balearic Shearwater (130) in Carbis Bay was one of the easier ones on 11th Jan, followed by a small flock of Linnet (131) on Copperhouse Pool. Still no sign of the Little Gull so another crack at Carbis Bay on the 15th in the hope of catching up on it proved fruitful with a Red-necked Grebe (132) close inshore. A Knot (133) was on the hayle estuary during the afternoon. On my return to St Ives the pager alerted me to a Glaucous Gull off Porthgwidden Beach. On my arrival there were very few larger gulls offshore but within a few minutes there were about 1000 Herring Gulls feeding in a frenzie on sprats. I was just thinking, "How the hell am i going to see a Glauc in amongst that lot?" when they all settled onto the water and the most right hand bird was the 2w Glaucous! (134). Typical, no camera!

The following day I eventually caught up with the Little Gull (135) in Carbis Bay (with thanks to Mark Halliday and Monty!).

With building work about to start at home, it may be a while before I get out again!!

Long Day in the field.....

2011-01-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday started for me and Ash, before it got properly light with a woodcock over the A30 near Redruth. We soon reached Golia Falls, Bolventor in the hope of catching up with a few woodland specialities. Despite hearing Treecreeper on a few occasions we failed to see one! Nuthatches (118) were everywhere, as were Coal Tits (119). Jays (120) were also in abundance and we were lucky to see two Dippers (121), one of which was very obliging, singing from a rock under the bridge.
We then drove the short distance back to NineBridges to look for Willow Tit. No luck this time so a return trip will be on the cards. We did get great views of a pair of Green Woodpeckers (122) and a male Bullfinch (123). A Scan of Colliford Lake only produced a single Barnacle Goose (124) but we did have two White-fronted Geese flying over as we left Golia.
Par beach and Pool was our next destination. The Bittern (125) showed briefly in the reeds at the back of the pool and another Barnacle Goose was with the four Bar-headed Geese. The sea produced 8 Great-crested Grebes (126) but little else.
Ten or more Cirl Buntings (127) showed well on the Roseland Peninsular, including a very smart, un-ringed male.
En-route back to west Cornwall we called in at Tresillian to look for Avocets. Again our luck was out but a Black-tailed Godwit (128) on Tresemple Pool was a bonus. Finally, a cold hour at Men-an-Tol saw a single ringtailed Hen Harrier (129) drift into view.
A really good day, resulting in 79 species (not includuing Treecreeper and Greenfinch that we only heard!). We covered over 160 miles but didnt get a few of our target species. Maybe next time!

Catching up

2011-01-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

A couple of days rushing round the west and Ive managed to catch up with the main birds in the area. Yesterday it was the Pacific Diver in Mounts Bay and more importantly i finally got my county Waxwing (112) tick. Superb bird at Treneer, Penzance showed extremely well, number 288. My next county tick was today at Stithians where i 'twitched' the 8 Bewick's Swans (113) that have been there for the past week or so. Four adults and four juvs. Very nice too. 289. Two Goldeneye were also on the reservoir (114)

Carbis Bay next where there was no sign of any Balearics but 8 Goosanders (115) were still present. The estuary turned up 6 Med Gulls (116), another 5 Goosanders and a Brent Goose.
Finally to Gwithian where I hoped to catch up with the Jack Snipe. No such luck but the Water Pipit (117)showed well!
Below are a few photos taken in the past few months. Grey Plover at Gwithian and Rock Pipit at Marazion.

New Year miscount!....

2011-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Oh no! Once i started writing out my yearlist I've realised that I wrote Greenshank down TWICE in my notebook, meaning I only actually saw 99 species on th Islands! Gutted! Should have tried harder for those Guillemots and Razorbills!

A Very Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

When you get the opportunity to work on the Isles of Scilly over the new year period you just dont turn it down! So on December 31st I flew out of Penzance headed for St Mary's to spend five days. Lovely.

Anyway, to cut a long story of four days birding/working short, I managed to see 100 species! The first birder on the islands to reach a tonne in 2011. This was finally achieved this morning with a Great Spotted Woodpecker in Holy Vale, a scarce bird on Scilly and a Scilly tick for me. I got at least 6 Scilly tick during my visit including Waxwing, Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and three superb Long-eared Owl. Other good birds included Rose-coloured Starling, Spoonbill (2+), Firecrest (4+), Woodcock (lots!), Jack Snipe, Hooded Crow, Jackdaw (only three birds on Scilly!!), Brent and Pink-footed Geese and Long-tailed Duck. One-hundred species on the islands is a good total and even more so when you think i still havent seen a magpie!

Can't wait to go back in October!

Waxwing Woe....

2010-12-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

After missing the Waxwings at Hayle earlier in the month, thanks to poor communication again, the onset of more inclement weather brought with it the hope of catching up with more of these avian gems. I wasn't expecting one (or more?) flying over my house, which is why I was carrying a bag of rubbish (to the dustbin) and not my bins, when i heard the unmistakable ringing call!! A mad dash for the Lieca's and scan after scan of the mid afternoon sky proved fruitless. Gutted. Waxwing over the garden, heard only! A Peregrine half an hour later was scant consolation.

I know we 've been lucky with the snow down here but I drove up to Torquay (and back!) this morning and the snowscapes across Bodmin and Dartmoor were outstanding!

The Big Year, read it.

2010-11-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ive just closed the final pages on Mark Obmasciks' 'The Big Year', which follows the exploits of three American Birders, hell bent on seeing the most species of bird in North America in one year, 1998. Its a gripping read and one that really does put our UK yearlisters to shame. The winner, Sandy Komito, finished on a total of 745 birds, logging 270,000 airmiles and spending over $60,000 in the process! It makes you wonder why people in the UK bother!? Anyway, back to the county list......................

287.....and counting!

2010-11-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

What a great October and early November we've had in the county! Who would have predicted Green Heron AND American Bittern turning up, both superb birds, one slightly more obliging than the other! (don't belive the rumours about flushing the other either!) Well I was fortunate to connect with both birds, both of course were county ticks (neither were lifers), which got me thinking about my county list. On totting it up one evening I found Im quite near to the 300 mark, which isn't too bad for 7 years in the county. So I decided to make it next years goal to get to 300.

A trip to Devon with Ash and his Mum (Thanks for driving Kay!) to see the American Robin was a success with it being a lifer for Ash and my third for the UK. More importantly we called at Golia Falls on the way back for Treecreeper etc, found some nice Brambling amongst the Chaffinches and a timely stop at Ninebridges produced two very showy Willow Tits, county tick 286 for me. 14 to go.

American Robin, distant record shot!

I can't believe a goose could cause me so many problems. The Greenland Whitefront was reported sporadically then daily from the Hayle Estuary but could i find it!................

Anyway, today with a little help from Mr Barnard (Thanks Chris) I finally managed to see the bird as it swam with two Canadas in the main channel. Another county tick, 287. Hopefully 13 will not be unlucky for me!

Whats new?......................

2010-09-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Well I have managed to get out a few times in the past few weeks and even got a few shots of the Black Tern at Gwithian. Tim Twiggs phoned me last week to say he had a Wilson's Phal on the estuary at Hayle, so I packed up the girls and my optics and shot down to Lelant platform where the superb american vagrant was feeding amongst the gulls and waders. I was just on the phone to Ash Hugo to let him know when i saw a wader flying past. I got Mark Halliday onto it as it landed and there it was, a Pectoral Sandpiper.

Went out with Mark, Ash and Monty on Sunday morning and spent a lovely sunny morning at Porthgwarra. Plenty of Wheatears and i relocated the Wryneck in the garden of the coastguards cottages. Lots of other birds about in the county recently, is September the new October?

Wheatear, Porthgwarra

Record shot of the Wryneck.

Still nowt t'report!

2010-07-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Very little happening with me at the moment, mainly due to a bout of Shingles knocking me for six. Still have the energy to lift up the Sigma and take a few garden snaps. I love young Robins! and i decided to persevere with the niger feeder with great results, the Goldies love it!

2010-07-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to report! Ive had the new lens now for about three weeks and so far not had anything to test it on! I managed a trip out to Gwithian one evening and got the photos below. Also 'site ticked' Cetti's Warbler which made the trip worthwhile. Very little in the garden apart from a confused (by my imitations!) Bullfinch and a Chiffchaff, trapped and ringed. Photos of both below.

Macro Jungle

2010-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

With the big lens broken and nothing much in the way of birds to photograph anyway, i borrowed a Macro from a good friend and tried my hand at the smaller beasties in my garden. I was fairly pleased with the results! And thanks to Monty for his invaluable advice!

Night Shift.....

2010-05-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

Spent dusk at Eagles Nest the other night. The sunset was stunning but obviously delayed the darkness meaning i had to stay out a bit longer than anticipated. Anyway, i was rewarded with a single churring Nightjar and a Grasshopper Warbler, which were both year ticks.

Viz Miggin' again

2010-05-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

In charge of the rugrats yesterday and tempratures outside soaring i decided best place for all was the back garden. So sun lotion on, lounger out, bins and a beer at hand, eyes skywards in the hope of a passing Red or Black Kite.
No such luck today but Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard all got the resident Swallows and corvids excited. A few Swifts passed northwards and Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat were singing in the scrub behind the garden. The only other bird of note was a flyover Bullfinch.
The Great Tits have fledged, so all quiet in the box! Roll on Sunday.

Finally caught up with a rarity!

2010-05-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

After night shifts is getting to be the only time i get to go birding these days! I could have got out this morning but Im now waiting in for the Tesco's delivery! Anyway, the Squacco Heron on Sunday morning was a stunner. Ive not seen one in Britain since the one at Thorpe Marsh, Doncaster in 1994? I think it was then? Might have been 1993? Anyway, the Par bird was even more obliging than the ones I've seen abroad. Also year ticked Mistle Thrush and Siskin whilst there. Lovely setting too. Met one or two birders who I have conversed with via Cornwall Birding but never seen face to face, Angie and Trevor and Nigel, nice to meet you!

Week on Scilly

2010-05-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Firstly, allow me to apologise for the quality of the following photos! I knocked my 500mm lens the day before i went to the Scillies for a week and the auto focus has packed up completly! So these are pretty much the best i could muster. We had a great week and the weather was very kind. Three Scilly ticks in the form of Wood Warbler, Woodchat Shrike and a fly over Red Kite. The latter was the one that got away as by the time i'd dashed into the room for my camera, it had gone. Bugger. I managed ten year ticks out of the 80+ species i saw during the week (better than last October!) I can definately recommend a week on the islands in Spring.

Porth Hellick Pool from Carn Friars. Lovely sunny morning after finding Red Kite!

Whimbrel at Deep Point

Linnets everywhere. This one was at Carn Friars

Gadwall on Porth Hellick Pool

Wood Warbler at St Warnas Cove, St Agnes

Basking Shark off St Agnes

Guillimot and Razorbill heads!

Puffin on the only rainy day of the week. Off Western Rocks, wet through on a boat!

Cracking adult female Woodchat Shrike. This bird was seen killing a Swallow!

Good in the Garden

2010-04-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

A quick drive down to Ryan's Field yesterday at 19.05hrs secured Little ringed Plover on the yearlist, but the RB Gull had gone out with the tide. Faired better today tho' when the alarm calls of a Herring Gull alerted me to an Osprey flying east over the house. I quickly grabbed my camera (the auto focus is still broken on the 500mm lens!!) and managed two record shots. Once i'd blown these up you can see the bird is actually carrying a large fish! This is the second Osprey Ive seen from the garden.
A Common Buzzard with an unusually pale rump grabbed my attention and while looking through the bins at it, a Swift flew past it. Another garden year tick! Shame the weather is going to change this weekend.

2010-04-23T03:34:00.000-07:00

A superb sunny morning spent at St Gothian Sands with endless blue skies tempting at least four Buzzards and two Kestrels into soaring around. Dunlins had increased to six birds on the unfenced Pool with a Ringed Plover in tow. It wasn't long before an inconsiderate dog walker had flushed them all onto the gated pools. Thank God for fencing!!

Hirundine numbers were lower today but this was compensated for by the first Swift of the year, which flew south. A drake Gadwall was on the main pool and five 'singing' Whimbrel alighted there briefly before flying off towards the beach. Six House Sparrows were in bushes around the main pool opposite Sandsifter and a Sedge Warbler was singing from the Red River ditch. Suprisingly, not a single Wheatear was seen, considering the numbers there two days ago.

The cornwall yearlist now stands at 123! I decided to tot up my Gwithian List and concentrate on that again this year, so it stands at 73 species as of today, with Sedge Warbler, Swift ,Whimbrel, Gadwall and House Sparrow added today!

'Scruffy' the Blue Tit

2010-04-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

This is the apptly named (by my daughter!) Scruffy the Blue Tit. How he ever managed to survive the cold winter we've had with that amount of feathers. I'll never know. He's still a regular visitor to the feeders despite being bullied by the other Blue Tits.

Good Ol Marazion!

2010-04-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

A lucky half hour at Marazion a few weeks ago saw me county ticking the Great-white Egret, at last! And it was third time lucky with the singing Savi's Warbler at the same site this morning! Very, very brief glimpse tho. An early morning walk at Rosewall Hill, St Ives on 17th April produced a nice male Ring Ouzel and yesterday morning at Land's End and Marazion saw Reed and Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and House Martin added to the meagre year list. House Martin was also an addition to the Garden list yesterday, which now stands at 53 species.

Things are hotting up at last!

2010-03-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

Hopefully the sign of things to come, local birder Sam Williams found a Red-rumped Swallow at my local patch of St Gothian Sands NR yesterday afternoon. I was in St Ives when Tim phoned to tell me about it and despite a mad dash over to Gwithian I managed to miss it. Barn Swallow was a year tick though!! On our walk back to the car, Tim took another phonecall to say that the bird (or another?) was now at Marazion. We were soon watching the stunning bird hawking over the reed beds with Barn Swallows and Sand Martins. Sams record shot of the bird at Gwithian can be found HERE on the Cornwall Birding website.

First signs of spring....

2010-03-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

Managed a good mornings birding with Mark, Monty and Ash, adding ten yearticks! The Bittern showed well on Long Rock Pool and was joined by a Water Pipit and numerous singing Cetti's Warblers. A Green Sandpiper was on the pools opposite Long Rock Pool and offshore, two Slav grebes, GN Diver and Common Scoter were all on the sea. Next brief stop was Sandy Cove where a Black-necked Grebe showed distantly. The one at Drift was slightly more obliging and the Whooper Swan was still with the Mute flock. Finally, a tour around the moors was unsuccessful in locating the elusive Pallid Harrier.
This afternoon was spent with my eldest daughter enjoying the sunshine at Gwithian. Finally caught up with the two Black Redstart which performed well between the main pool and Sandsifter and three Wheatear were in the fenced off area. Nice to get out again.

Ive been out of the House!!

2010-03-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Just the once mind! Managed an hours walk at Gwithian with the girls in the beautiful sunshine yesterday. Still a very cold wind though. The main pond was busy with Gulls and wildfowl. 27 tufted ducks were notable with 7 Teal, 2 Little Grebe and half a dozen Canada Geese on the water. Four Shelduck and two Redshank were also on the reserve. Highlight of the walk were the two Wheatear in the open part of the fenced off area closest the road. I missed the Black Redstarts that were reported later! Nice to be out in the fresh air.
The year list is up to an impressive 92 species!!! Not!!! Recently added Fulmar at St Ives and Common Sandpiper and Ringed Plover at Copperhouse. The garden is fairing slightly better with 47 species and Ive got the net up again, which caught a superb male Starling yesterday. Will add some photos over the next few days and looking forward to Sunday morning with Mark and Monty.

Photos from the Garden

2010-02-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

..................................And the Scaup at Tehidy CP!

Two new additions!!

2010-01-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Yet another family trip to feed the ducks at Tehidy providid much better views and photos of the Scaup. Better still was the Treecreeper (87) just along the southern footpath near the main lake! Added Peregrine to the garden list this morning (43) but the ringing was poor with just a female Chaffinch of note. Heres a few snaps from yesterday as promised. Dunnocks are much better 'in the hand'!

Nothing much new!

2010-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Since going out in the first few days of the year with Ash i think i have managed another 6 or so species!! Year total now on 86, with recent addition being Black Redstart (84), Green Woodpecker (85) and Scaup (86). 42 of these species I have recorded in my garden this year! Caught a cracking male Blackcap this morning aswell as a few Long-tailed Tits, which are always nice in the hand. Will put some photos on soon.

And a few more.....

2010-01-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

Reed Bunting above and Common Gull below. Both at Lakeside, Doncaster on Boxing Day 2009.

More Photos.....

2010-01-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

The good thing about cold weather and a loaf of stale bread is that gulls are easy to photograph! This Black-headed Gull was taken on Boxing Day at Lakeside, Doncaster. The winter light conditions were perfect.

Recent'ish Photos

2010-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

One or two snaps I've taken in the last few months seeing as i haven't posted any images recently. The Fieldfare was one of two ringed in my back garden, both took up residence seeing off the resident blackbirds and Song Thrushes. They didn't bother with the Redwings unusually?
The Great-crested Grebe was taken at Lakeside, Doncaster during my christmas break 'up North'.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

So 2010 is here already and night shifts for me over the first four days of the new year!! Not particularly good for birding but i managed Black-headed Gull, Mute Swan and Wigeon before 6am on the 1st! The rest of the day was spent in bed but i managed an hour i the garden before it got dark, resulting in a total of 24 species and 22 for the garden list. A few trips out on the 2nd and 3rd got the year list up to 80 species, including a brief Water Pipit at Marazion. In the early hours of the 4th i flushed a Woodcock from the side of the road in Zennor. So that puts me on 81 sp. so far.
Anyway, back to the garden. The list on 1st January:

BH Gull
Carrion Crow
Rook
Jackdaw
Chaffinch
Song Thrush
Woodpigeon
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
House Sparrow
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Herring Gull
GBB Gull
Starling
Goldfinch
Robin
Magpie
Dunnock
Wren
GS Woodpecker

4th January 2010

Cormorant
Buzzard
Golden Plover
Curlew
Collared Dove
Meadow Pipit
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Long-tailed Tit

Total = 32sp.

Weather Balloons and another tick!

2009-12-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Or should that be another tick thanks to a weather balloon? The balloon went over mid-afternoon trailing a long wire with what i presume was recording equipment, putting up every bird for a mile radius, including two MISTLE THRUSHES that flew NW towards the towans. Species number 93! Not a great deal else of note but there is a large flock of pipits and finches in the distant fields that will be worth a look with the scope tomorrow, too far away for the bins today. A Grey Heron flew west early this afternoon and a distant Peregrine was to the north.

Ive decided Im going to keep a garden Yearlist in 2010 and record everything on this blog. I'll count all species seen from the perimeters of my house and garden. I must total up the species that have actually occured IN my garden i.e. not flyovers.

Bad Guts

2009-12-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

......are not good. And having spent two days in bed with sickness, i have managed to look out of the kitchen window on about two occasions! Just long enough yesterday to see a Cormorant fly up from the pond and a Bullfinch, nice male, in the trees in the boat yard. Still feel crap. Wish i could go back to bed!

New Species for the list!

2009-12-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

A flock of approximately 150 Herring Gulls and 30+ Black-headed Gulls decended on the field opposite the cottage yesterday and a scan with the scope produced an adult and a first winter Med Gull! That brings the garden tally to 92. Nothing much else to report. The rarest thing in the sky these days is the sun!

Viz Migging - 26th November '09

2009-11-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

A distant row of waders dropped frustratingly out of sight before i could get the bins on them. Threy could've been Oycs, but will remain un-identified. Otherwise a quiet hour, the Great-spotted Woodpecker landed in a tree in the boat yard before flying west.

Other species were:
Goldfinch 5
Chaffinch 22
Redwing 3
Blackbird 3
Starling 28

Viz Migging on 20th November '09

2009-11-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

Missed out a Viz Miggin' session in my haste to post a photo of the Diver. A clear sunny morning with slight Westerlies after very strong Westerlies during the night. Highlight was a prey carrying Peregrine, which didnt quite make it over the top of the house due to a helicopter disturbing its flightpath. Lots of Starlings moving west this morning too including flocks of 500+.

Other species were:
Skylark 4
Chaffinch 25
Redwing 3
Pied Wagtail 2
Goldfinch 6
Curlew 12 (south)
Herring Gull 4
Mipit 4
Greenfinch 2
Linnet 4
Woodpigeon 23
Fieldfare 13

Nothing but record shots.

2009-11-25T08:13:00.000-08:00

Spent an hour with the Diver again this morning (and Mark) but it managed to stay far enough away from us to get nothing but a record shot. There were four Med Gulls and three RB Mergs also on the pool. Back at home and the garden produced two Common Buzzards, Great-spotted Woodpecker again and a Cormorant, that didnt seem to know where it wanted to go, circling for long enough for me to grab the camera for a record shot!

PACIFIC DIVER - Carnsew Pool

2009-11-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Managed to sneak out for a view of the Pacific Diver at Carnsew over the last few days. It showed relatively well but spent a lot of time under water, feeding. Today i arrived at about 08.20hrs and the only other birder there, nice to meet you Mr Gibb, hadn't seen it. A few minutes of explaining that it usually arrives as the tide comes in etc, etc and low and behold, right on cue, Diver arrives. I wondered if the bird was swimming up the channel and then hopping over into the basin or was it actually flying in straight from the bay? I have a few hours free in the morning so i may be able to enlighten you tomorrow. There was also a Red-breasted Merg on the pool.
A drive up to Porthgwidden car-park, St Ives produced a very close GN Diver offshore and six Purple Sandpipers on the rocks. Two other GN Divers were off Porthmeor, as was local and internationally known surfchick, Sassy Swallow. What a great name!
The Black Redstarts are still around the police station car park too.

Viz.Migging - 18th November 2009

2009-11-18T03:01:00.000-08:00

What a difference a change in wind direction makes! A much more southerly strong wind this morning and very little on the move. Bird of the morning so far was a Merlin that flew right between the houses. Other species were:

Redwing 2
Starling 29
Herring Gull 28
Grey Wagtail 1
Chaffinch 10
Woodpigeon 12

Viz.Migging - 17th November 2009

2009-11-18T02:56:00.000-08:00

Another morning watch today 09.15-12.00 (on and off). Blue skies, slight westerly wind and the occasional squally shower. Thrushes have been fairly scarce with only four Redwing noted. Bird of the morning went to the Great-spotted Woodpecker that flew north over the house and landed in trees at the small reservoir at the back of the cottage. Other birds were:

Mipit 3
BH Gull 1
Greenfinch 2
Chaffinch 11
Goldcrest 1
Woodpigeon 3 (seems like most have now past through)
Starling 9
Herring Gull 93
Skylark 4
Curlew 11 flew east
Great Tit 2
Blue Tit 3
Magpie 1
Pied Wagtail 2
Carrion Crow 15 flew north

15th November - Viz. Miggin' again

2009-11-15T04:28:00.000-08:00

I think this could be contagious! At 0745hrs with brew in hand i was again stood at the back door viz.migging. Not as many birds as on the 9th, but still, 25 Lapwings was a good start. I finished my first watch at 09.30hrs with the following totals:
Woodpigeon 502
Redwing 39
Meadow Pipit 5
Curlew 3
Lapwing 25
Black-headed Gull 1
Herring Gull 31
Chaffinch 40
Goldfinch 5
Bullfinch 2
Song Thrush 2
Pied Wag 2
Grey Wag 2
Blackcap 1 fem
Chiffchaff 2
Long-tailed Tit 13
Buzzard 1
Skylark 11

Firecrest, Isles of Scilly

2009-11-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

Took these shots of a Firecrest in Holy Vale, St Mary's on 29th October. The light was very poor so i decided to try a few shots with the flash on. I was quite pleased with the results!

The BIG Garden birdwatch!

2009-11-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Having a new baby and now with the wife back at work I was considering my birding options this morning. With the little 'un down for a nap i stepped outside into the glorious sunshine, camera and bins at the ready and a cuppa in hand. I immediately noticed the amount of birds flying over. Skylarks, Chaffinches, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and a Snipe, all within a couple of minutes. I decided to stick it out until the baby woke up (two hours she slept fortunately!) Four Golden Plover flew north, Meadow Pipit, more Skylark (flock of 22 was highest count), two Bullfinch and quite a few Blackbirds, one flock totalled eight birds! At about 1030hrs a 'honking' noise caught my attention and i raised my bins to see a juv WHOOPER SWAN flying west across the fields, my first garden tick of the day. By the time the baby had woken up i had totalled over 30 species seen!

Whooper Swan (juv) flying west. Two adults were at Gwithian the same morning.

Not long after, my neighbour, Mike popped round to tell me he had a Woodcock on his lawn. The photos shown here were taken by me through his front double glazed window! Amazing bird!

Woodcock on my neighbours' lawn.

At about 1330hrs, the missus came home and i tended to the washing up. I'd been at the sink for about 5 mins when a pale looking bird flew up the garden towards me. My expletives made the wife jump and i grabbed wildly for my camera shouting, "ROSE-COLOURED STARLING, Bloody Hell!" The juvenile bird then alighted briefly on wires next door before dropping down out of sight. I phoned Mark Halliday and text a few others to alert them of my good fortune. Before long Mark was waiting with compulsary 'fag and a brew' in my back yard waiting for another Rosy appearance.

Rose-coloured Starling, a surprise Garden Tick!

After about 30mins Mark picked up on a ring-tailed Harrier flying south being mobbed by a crow. HEN HARRIER was now my 3rd garden tick of the day!!Mark finally located the Rosy Starling on wires at the front of the cottage as he left.

Hen Harrier being mobbed by a Carrion Crow

What an amazing day! Three garden ticks (not sure what my list stands at at the moment?) and a total of 40 species altogether. Thank god i had my camera with me!

Sparrowhawk (below) and Raven (above)

Week on the Scillies

2009-11-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

Had another thoroughly enjoyable week with the gang on Scilly in the final week of October. The company and laughs made up for the lack of major rarities. There was still plenty to keep us amused including an unusually plumaged Citrine Wagatil on Tresco which i admit to 'twitching' as i needed it for Scilly! The four Spoonbills were obliging off Tresco as were the Whoopers on Big Pool, St Agnes. I didnt bother going for the Raddes or Pallas's Warblers on Aggie late in the week. The Bluethroat at Lower Moors was probably the highlight of the week for most and although it was very elusive, it showed well very briefly on occasion, allowing for three (!) photos in poor light to be snapped. Happy with one of them though! There were unusually low numbers of Goldcrests this year but Firecrests were fairly abundant. Tweo were regulary outside our digs at Holy Vale. A YB Warbler was also there all week. The end of the week saw more winter thrushes and Black Redstarts but the 'biggie' was never found. Thanks to 'The Team' for another great week, looking forward to next year already!

Garden Tick

2009-10-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

Not much about at the moment and not intending to travel up north for the Eastern crowned with the annual scilly trip tomorrow. The net is up in the garden with nothing but a Dunnock caught this morning but vis. mig. over th house seems productive with over 100 Redwings, 20 Skylarks, plenty of Mipits and the odd Siskin. Bird of the morning was a garden tick, a Water Rail in the ditch calling and seen briefly!!

Fea's again...............

2009-08-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Another Fea's past PG today. Seen twice, at 2.21pm then again at 3.25pm. Same bird?? Not according to one bloke (who didnt see it), he reckons two different birds and earlier off Prawle point, Devon, another bird. Like buses these Fea's.
I on the other hand spent two hours not seeing the Citrine Wagtail at Marazion. I did however have a good chat with mates and see the Spotted Crake. Very jumpy bird. Went back later in the afternoon with Mark and had cracking views of the Wagtail, just before the rain. Photo on Cornwall's Premier website (in my opinion! LOL) on the link below

http://www.cornwall-birding.co.uk/recent-sightings/monday-31st-august-2009-cornwall-bird-reports/