Brown Shrike (Jeff catches up) !

Having missed out on the jaunt to Staines Moor the previous Sunday I was particularly keen to catch up with the Brown Shrike which as for a lot of birders was also a "lifer"for me and I couldn't let the lads get one up on me could I ?

Whilst talking with "Smudger" (Richard Smith) that well known Glamorgan bird photographer during the week about digital SLRs and "big" lenses (I'm about to take the plunge !!) he mentioned that he quite fancied going for the shrike and a telephone call on Sat 24th Oct reaffirmed his interest.

We struggled to get anyone else interested as lots had already seen the bird and others were unavailable for one reason or another and so early on the morning of Sun 25th Oct we headed east up the M4 hoping that the bird was still there.

We needn't have worried,a quick check with Birdguides confirmed that the shrike had been seen early morning.

My trusty sat-nav soon got us parked up in Hithermoor Road and a couple of birders walking back to their car informed us that the bird had been showing well but distant at the back of the scrub area.

The operative word was "had" as with several Joe Public walkers crossing the area the bird had since gone to ground.

We joined about 30 or so other birders and waited for the shrike to show and waited and waited and wai............................

Five Rose Ringed Parakeets dashed above us and broke the monotomy as did a small group of Redpolls.

We waited and the mood turned to anxious,were we to be disappointed,the bird showed briefly at the back of the scrub !!,Richard got on it quickly - did I,naaaarrrr!

It showed again and I had a good look at it through someone else's 'scope just to be sure of a "tick" before finding it for myself,it was distant but settled and I managed a couple of distant digi-scoped record pics.

The bird disappeared again for a short time and then started to move around the scrub area getting as close as about 70-80m and giving some good 'scope views,still not close enough for some good pics but allowing a few more record shots.

This was an absolutely cracking bird and well worth the 2 1/2 hour wait for a good view,the mood had been a little fractious to say the least with birders jostling for position but with everyone getting a good view the mood soon lightened to one of relief,"lifers" all round for most !

We "filled our boots" with some great views and decided to call time at about 1.15pm and head back to the Jeep for a well earned sarnie and cuppa with a bit of impromptu SLR tuition thrown in (cheers Rich !)

With not a lot else around in the vicinity we decided to head back down the M4 with a call into Aust Warth between the two Severn crossings to check out whether or not the regular wintering Short Eared Owls had started to return.

A small group of local birders who I've seen there before advised us that one had been seen in the past few days and so we gave it an hour or so before abandoning our quest due to the heavy squally showers and heading for home.

A great day out and excellent company,what "Smudger" doesn't know about Glamorgan birding is not worth knowing.

Ok,we had to wait a while but were then teated to some superb views of this "mega" shrike.

Shrike Hike

As you've no doubt realised, we haven't been out much lately. It appears to be an annual Birders in Boxers tradition by now to be stuck a). indoors b). in work c). with family* (delete as applicable) during the autumn. You've only just got a better chance of seeing us in the field than an Ivory-billed 'Pecker. We're now a BBRC description species.

It was quite a considerable achievement therefore that three of us (Kev, Wayne and myself) managed to find ourselves on our way to Staines Moor yesterday. We would have been four, but the Boy Birder was ill - he must have been to pass up on a chance of seeing a Brown Shrike.

For "Staines Moor" read "End of Heathrow Runway #1". A nice bit of habitat in a very built up area, but local birders must spend most of their time birding by sight rather than sound because of the constant roar of aircraft overhead which seemed to be taking off at a rate of 1 every 90 seconds.

A typical view while birding on Staines Moor

Despite the noise the Brown Shrike appeared happy enough in its choice of site. It was showing when we arrived and, although it disappeared from view every now and again, put on a good show.

The photo above is a bit distant but I'm sure you'll be able to pick out all the salient ID features in the close up photo below.

I'm sure you'll agree that his is clearly a Brown Shrike!

Having easily bagged the shrike - a lifer for all of us - we had plenty of time to kill. We briefly toyed with the idea of going for the Red-flanked Bluetail at Minsmere. That was slightly out of our range for the day, so where could we go to 'top' "Heathrow Runway #1"? Easy - Didicot rubbish tip.

And so it was that an hour later we were scanning the fields around the rubbish tip for the Azorean Yellow-legged Gull that had been seen there lately. There were plenty of gulls but no sign of our gull amongst them. So we switched our efforts to a pool just oustide the tip. Overhead I counted at least 34 Red Kite which nearly made up for the unpleasant surroundings.

There were a few hundred gulls on the pool with plenty more coming or going. We gave them all a good 'grilling' (well, a light 'toasting' at least) but there was still no sign of the atlantis. On the other hand, there was another gull there which certainly deserved some more attention. Over the next half an hour we gave it a good going over and noted the key features needed to allow us to positively identify it as a 1st winter Caspian Gull. An unexpected lifer for all of us.

Seeing the Brown Shrike was obviously very special. But, somehow ticking this gull, although regularly seen in the UK now, gave me a lot more satisfaction. I'll think I'll be thumbing my Olsen & Larsson more often in future. Oh, and if you're looking for me, I'll be down Lamby Way Tip.

Sea Trust Pelagic

Whilst on the Pembrokeshire Bird Club sightings blog early last week I noticed Richard Crossen's post of a few available spaces on the Celtic Wildcat for the last couple of Sea Trust (West Wales) cetacean survey pelagics one of which was going out of Neyland Marina on Sat 19th Sept.

Teresa didn't take much persuading for a day out dolphin watching and a positive resply to my e-mail to Richard meant an early start.

We left Maesteg at 07.00 and quiet roads soon had us arriving at Neyland at 08.30 in time for a cuppa at the marina cafe before meeting up with Richard and his lovely wife Sarah and our fellow participants at 09.00 ready to sail at 09.30.

Unfortunately Cliff Benson was a little "under the weather" and not able to make the trip.

I'd been on several of the GBC Celtic Bird Tours pelagics on the Sabre Tooth before from Neyland so new what to expect although with no chumming and cetaceans being the main target any quality birds would be a real bonus

We were soon underway and once outside the speed restriction area the boats twin 300hp motors kicked in and in just over a half an hour we were out of the sheltered haven and into open water.

Just offshore passing Freshwater West we spotted 3 unidentified cetaceans which I think were Harbour Porpoises but they were a long way off and only gave brief views.

We headed out to survey an area heading into the Bristol Channel towards Lundy Island.

.

The first couple of hours were quiet and pretty uneventful,we came across a trawler with a host of seabirds gathered around it and hoped that maybe a skua was amongst the throng,sadly they were mostly gulls and gannets.

At between 11.30-12.00 a shout went up and a small party of Common Dolphins were heading towards the boat to "bow-ride",everyone grabbed their cameras and jostled for position as these enigmatic mammals treated us to an amazing display.

This was to be the first of several pods that came to visit our boat that afternoon and it wasn't so much a case of us finding them ,but them finding us !!

About half an hour later another pod of about 20 animals came in and they stayed with us riding the bow-wave for up to 15 minutes giving everyone a really good photographic opportunity.

We steamed on towards Lundy and the weather really opened up into a fine sunny day and soon it was time for the hardier souls amongst us to discard the fleeces and big jackets.

Lundy came into view and although it looked only a couple of miles away I was reliably informed by Nick our skipper (what a great guy !!) that the closest we reached was 11 miles.

Apologies for the sloping horizon but our boat was listing to and fro in the slight swell.

More pods came into the boat at regular intervals and although they brought immense pleasure I think that deep down we were all hoping that the large pod of Fin Whales that had been seen by the lucky few from the boat on 13th August were still in Pembrokeshire waters.

I guess that really was a "once in a lifetime experience" and something that the passengers on that day will never forget.

At mid afternoon we changed course and started to head back slowly to Milford Haven,the weather was truly glorious and the sea probably as calm as it gets,I think even Wayne would have survived this one !!

We started to pick up a couple of good birds and several Manxies were followed by singles of Bonxie and Arctic Skua.

Unfortunately my super-slow focusing Fuji "bridge" camera wasn't allowing me to get the best of shots and I was secretly well envious of the serious photographers on board with their super-fast digital SLRs and big lenses.

A chat with Janet Baxter on the way back to port who was taking some fantastic photos confirmed that I should be looking to invest in a Canon 40D with a 100-400 IS lens,I know I'm going to have to indulge and it's only a matter of when,I'll just have to work my way around Teresa !!

By 17.45 we had docked back at Neyland and a fantastic day had come to an end,okay we "only" saw Common Dolphins but to see them in such numbers and so close to the boat that you could hear them "blow" when bow-riding was unforgetable,I believe the final tally was approx 122 !!

Both myself and especially Teresa thoroughly enjoyed the day and would really like to repeat it next year if places are available.

Huge thanks to Richard and Sarah,Nick our skipper and our fellow passengers for making us so welcome and giving us both a day to remember.

Sunday in Somerset

An early start on Sunday 13th Sept saw me meet up with Kevin in Cardiff and with Dan working and Wayne unavailable with family committments we were soon winging our way over the Severn Bridge to Somerset to catch up with the Spotted Crake which has been at the RSPB Greylake Reserve on the Somerset Levels for a few weeks.

Crakes are a big gap in my UK list and so I was keen to see this bird which has been showing well on what is quite a small pool on the reserve.

We arrived at about 08.30 and after a short walk we joined three other birders who were already on the bird.

The bird picked it's way around the pool sometimes dropping out of sight but when it did re-appear it gave me a good digi-scoping opportunity in quite bright sunlight.

A "lifer" in the bag and with little else around we decided to head for Meare Heath not that far away to pick up a couple of Little Stints that had arrived there the day before and anything else which may have turned up.

We soon arrived at the car park and after a walk along the path running beside the main drain we were soon on a couple of juvenile Little Stints in fresh plumage with the white back "braces" clearly visible feeding on the scrape,unfortunately they were too distant to photograph even at 60x on the scope.

A couple of juv Ruff were a little closer though and I managed a couple of snaps.

As we watched a single Spotted Redshank flew in and fed on the muddy scrape.

We walked to a few other areas of the reserve but it was generally quiet with little of real interest although the sightings book at Noah's Hide where we had seen the Whiskered Tern from a few years ago held notes of Osprey,Hobby and Marsh Harrier all in the same few hours just days earlier and also regular sightings of Otters,unfortunately we saw nothing that made us want to pick up the pen.

With mission accomplished and a "lifer" for me under my belt and little else around in close proximity not even at Slimbridge we decided to head for home.

Pembrey Glossy Ibiss

What's the plural of Ibis,Ibiss just doesn't look right !!

With Wayne unavailable due to family committments an early start on Sunday morning 6th Sept saw me meet up with Dan and Gethin at our usual meeting place at Sainsburys' car park at Junc 36 on the M4 before headed West to try and catch up with the group of 10 Glossy Ibis that had recently arrived near Burry Port/Pembrey.

A pull in at the Harvester at Llandarcy saw us pick up Kevin and within half an hour we were driving down the road alongside the Shoreline Caravan Park where the distant figure of Robbie Taylor taking photos with his snazzy digital SLR and huge lense confirmed that the birds wre still there,more than that they were only some 10m or so from the edge of the road feeding in a small flooded hollow !!

We piled out of the Jeep for a good look at the birds,a quick count confirmed that the 10 were still there.

I had taken the camera hoping to digi-scope the birds at some distance,I hadn't bargained for almost being able to poke them with the end of the tripod and had to "back up" across the road just to be able to get the birds in the frame !!!

A passing jogger put the birds up and they flew to the far side of the field just after Brian Thomas had arrived to join us.

There was a large gull roost out on the sand spit so we thought we'd check it out hoping that the Glossies may have returned by the time we walked back to the car.

The large gull roost held mostly Herring,Lesser and Greater BB and a few Common Gulls but nothing more exotic.

A little further along the spit a flock of about 30 Ringed Plover foraged amongst the shingle.

Eagle-eyed Geth aka "The Twitchmeister" spied a distant Kestrel perched on a piece of driftwood until flushed by some numptie dog walkers.

Unfortunately our morning was cut short as Kevin who was "on call" over the weekend with his job received the dreaded phone call and we had to leave.

A scan of the shoreline on the way back to the car picked out a couple of Med Gulls in the distant group of BH Gulls.

As we arrived back at the car park we were informed by Robbie and Brian that the Glossies had taken flight again and this time were last seen disappearing West in the general direction of Ashburnam golf course but having checked the various sightings pages on the 'net looks like they returned shortly after to give great views.

We dropped Kev off at Llandarcy and a quick call into Eglwys Nunnydd failed to produce any terns although the wildfowl numbers are increasing and Ogmore was similarly unproductive with little there to get excited about.

Geth has yet to see RL Partridge so we doubled back to Tythegston where a scan of several fields also proved unproductive and the only birds of interest were two perched up Common Buzzards and a couple of Stock Doves that flew up off a stubble field.

No "lifers" today even for "The Twitchmeister" but a "Welsh" tick for the four of us.

Fair Play

The celebrities were queing up to have their photgraphs taken with the Twitchmeister at this year's Bird Fair at Rutland.

Who's the guy on the right?!

Summer plumaged Simon King - without hat and camo gear.

Big Cat Jonathan Scott

And while Geth was hob-nobbing with the stars Jeff, Kev and I were drooling over the latest gear in the optics and cameras marquees. While we were there the boy birder not only managed to add Willow Tit to his UK life list (#213) he also managed to help ring one. A great day out.

A Natural Born Ringer

'Yo! Ho! Ho! And a Barrel of Chum' or 'Rubby-Dubby, Three Men in a Tub'

Yes, you've guessed it we've been on pelagic. Well, two of us have - Wayne and I, joined by Penarth's finest, Wayne Strong (who'll be known as Wayne S for the rest of this blog to avoid confusion).

Wayne S in action

Between Aug 14th - 17th we went on a Celtic Bird Tours (which has now evolved into Oriole Birding) trip to explore the seas around The Isles of Scilly. This is our salty tale of Seabirds, Stugeron and a boat called the 'Sapphire'.

The three of us left Cardiff late on Thursday, Aug 13th to travel down to Penzance. Wayne S had been on a few pelagics before and was completely chilled out about the prospect of spending a long weekend on the High Seas. The same can't be said about the other two, less than able, seamen in the car. There was a distinct whiff of nervousness on the way down as we anxiously exchanged tales of previous experiences of projectile vomiting and various theories on how to avoid the mal de mer.

We stayed the night at Penzance Youth Hostel. Be warned if you're planning a similar trip. It was the only place available to us in the area as all the B&Bs were either full or only accepted bookings for a minimum of two nights. Still, Youth Hostels have moved into the 21st Century and it was a comfortable place to stay. You don't have to bring your own bed linen or do any chores any more. We enjoyed a nice meal and some good beer there and, at £17.50 a night, it's excellent value.

Day 1: We met up up with the rest of the tour (led by Ashley Saunders) on the quayside at Penzance and, on a grey and damp morning, we were soon on the 2.5 hr trip on the Scillonian III to St. Mary's. One advantage of the weather was that it kept non-birders away from the top deck so we had plenty of space to spread out and start seawatching. The usual suspects appeared: Manx Shearwaters, Northern Gannets, Norther Fulmar, Shags and a few European Storm-Petrels. Some Harbour Porpoises and unidentified Dolphins also showed briefly.

The good ship Scillonian safely arrived in St. Mary's

Once on St Mary's were were met by our local leader Dr Bob Flood, along with his colleague Ashley Fisher and the skipper our boat, the Sapphire, Joe Pender. We checked in at our guest house, The Mincarlo (excellent accommodation by the way) and with stomachs full of Stugeron, and our rucksacks crammed with ginger biscuits, we were soon heading out to sea on the Sapphire.

We were on our way east of the islands to the Seven Stones Reef - the site of the shipwreck of the Torrey Canyon back in 1967. Bob started to flick the chum off the back of the boat which immediately attracted a load of gulls, particularly Great Black-backeds, as well as Fulmars and Gannets. The theory was that the presence of gulls etc would act as a visual clue to bring in . . . erm, more interesting birds. We were soon surrounded by European Storm-Petrels - we were to see about 30 of them during the afternoon.

Shed loads of Stormies (Photo: Wayne S)

Once we reached the reef the engines were cut and we started to drift and chum. This allowed us much closer views of the Stormies - much better than the distant fluttering dots we're used to seeing from Porthcawl! Suddenly a cry, "Sooty Shearwater!" which came in close and gave us fantastic views. But, we weren't able to enjoy it for long because there came another cry "Wilson's!" The first of three Wilson's Petrels we were to see feeding over the chum slick over the next hour. Steaming back to St Mary's the chumming continued which eventually attracted two Great Skuas to hassle the gulls following the boat.

Wilson's (Photo: Wayne S)

Back on dry land, taxis were waiting for us to take us quickly to Porth Hellick so we could tick off the Lesser Yellowlegs present there before the pubs stopped serving food. And so day one of the trip kicked off with two of our target birds already in the bag and a bonus wader to boot, rounded off nicely with no sign of any seasickness.

Day 2: Not that we were going to be blazé about our new found sea-legs because day two of the trip was an all dayer - 10 hours at sea. Throwing open the curtains at 6.00 the following morning our hearts sank when we saw the decidedly 'lumpy' sea.

Bob Flood and Ashley Fisher

As we steamed 10 miles out to sea the weather improved but the sea swell didn't. Our first drift and chum attracted a decent number of Stormies and a couple of Great Skuas. Joe, the skipper, had set out a couple of rods in the hope of catching a shark and soon his balloon float was skidding over the water surface as his reel screemed. Somebody quipped à la Richard Dreyfuss to Robert Shaw "You're goin' to need a bigger boat!" It took at around 20 minutes to haul the Blue Shark in to the boat (a whopper at at least six feet long and 120lb in weight) before it was tagged and released.

Blue Shark (Photo: Neil Fletcher)

A small fishing trawler was spotted on the horizon and off we set in pursuit. As we approached it a Sooty Shearwater followed us for a while but this one was again overshadowed by the appearance of our first Great Shearwater, which was soon joined by another. We remained alongside the trawler for about half an hour as it pulled in its nets which in turn attracted scores of seabirds. Gulls picked off small fish from the surface while Northern Gannets plunged in deeper. All the while two Great Shearwaters 'sheared' around us and our first Wilson's Petrel of the day put in an appearance. British birding doesn't get much better than this.

Great Shearwater (Photo: Wayne S)

But, things were about to take a turn for the worse. After the excitement of the trawler we cut the engines and started chumming again. We endured what was essentially a 'quiet' hour where, apart from the ever present Stormies, there was little to see. This gives an opportunity for your mind to wander . . . on to how your stomach is feeling. Ever the hypochondriac, I persuaded myself that I was going to be ill and, as a precaution, I took another tablet - too soon after my first one but, "What the heck! Just to make sure. My stomach will be fine after this". I should have read the box. May cause drowsiness it said. May cause drowsiness?! Within 10 minutes I could hardly keep my eyes open and only just holding on to the contents of my stomach. I actually fell asleep three times (mini nano-second sleeps) where I lost control of my body and almost smashed my nose on one of the seats on the boat. Just about holding on to the contents of my stomach it was a relief when we started to steam home. Suddenly, we were surrounded by Common Dolphins. I went up to the bow where I was able to watch some of them bow-surfing below the boat. Brilliant! And the best possible cure for seasickness.

Better that Stugeron (Photo: Wayne S)

On pelagics it ain't over 'til the fat lady pukes. As we approached the calmer waters of the Scilly archipelago, and we were already contemplating the success of the day, a Balearic Shearwater approached the boat. Listed as critically endangered by the IUCN this bird put on a fantastic show for us - down to no more tha a few metres. We threw small pieces of fish into the sea which inevitably attracted a host of gulls. But, this shearwater was clever enough to dive down under the gulls to pick up scraps which they weren't able to reach. An experience which will live long in the mind.

Balearic (Photo: Wayne S)

Day 3:

Our third pelagic wasn't scheduled until the afteroon and so the morning was spent birding on land. 6.30am saw Wayne and I at Porth Minnack hoping to find the elusive Melodious Warbler that had been present there for a few days. Wayne S had got there 10 minutes earlier. He saw the bird briefly - we didn't! That'll teach us to have a 'lie in'! But, a few hundred metres up the path at the end of the airfield runway we caught up with the Buff-breasted Sandpiper which had been found earlier in the day.

Buff-breasted (Photo: Neil Fletcher)

We were due to go to Poll Bank on the afternoon's pelagic. But, in the expert hands of Bob Flood we changed plan. Cory's Shearwaters and Sabine's Gulls had been reported earlier in the day past Pendeen in Cornwall. We'd all but given up on Cory's because they'd been virtually absent form Scillonian waters this year. There was also an unconfirmed report from trawler fishermen of an albatross having been seen that morning too. So, as you can imagine, there was an extra frisson of excitement on board the Sapphire that afternoon.

We obviously didn't see an albatross or you would already have heard about it! But it was another cracking trip. We saw four Cory's Shearwaters close in within half an hour of leaving port; an Arctic Skua; 2 Great Shearwaters; 2 Wilson's Petrels; 2 Sooty Shearwaters and, best of all, a 1st summer Sabine's Gull provided us with a full house of target birds for the tour. To round off the day, yet another Blue Shark was caught and tagged and everybody held on to the contents of their stomachs.

Day 4: No pelagics today but, having dipped on the Melodious Warbler yesterday Wayne and I were at Porth Minnack at first light (6.00am). Two hours later we'd dipped again, although James McCallum, another member of the tour managed brief views. James is a very talented artist and his website is well worth a visit. After breakfast most of the party headed off for Tresco. Having already spent a few hours searching for the Melodious in a difficult to bird, heavily vegetated area, I'd given up on the damn thing. But, almost as soon as we'd landed on Tresco, James rang to say that he was enjoying crippling views of the bird. Bugger! (The bird, not James). My one consolation was that he'd had to wait 4 hours before the bird showed. That'll teach me for being such a wuss.

Wayne on Tresco - wishing he was on St. Mary's looking at a Melodious

Tresco was quiet - full of some very posh holidaymakers enjoying the wonderful scenery and white, white beaches. A female Marsh Harrier was the only bird of note. And so that was that. The tour was over apart form the couple of Great Skuas and a few Stormies which we saw from the Scillonian on our return journey to Penzance.

It goes without saying that this was a great trip. The knowledge of Bob Flood, Ashley Fisher, Joe Pender and the other local 'spotters' on board the Sapphire, not forgetting Ashley Saunders, is incredible. They were picking out Wilson's Petrels from a couple of hundred metres away without bothering to use thier bins! Their ability to read the weather and sea conditions and to get the best out of every pelagic trip was invaluable. The birds performed on cue and all in such close proximity to the boat. Sadly, it's back to the reality of seawatching from Porthcawl for all us of us . . . until next time.