The things we do for birds... - Anglesey - 27th May 2011

Chris Bridge and I spent a whole day with Adrienne Stratford and Tony Cross colour-ringing young Chough all over Anglesey.
We visited 6 sites in all, with each one being somewhat of a challenge in terms of access. We abseiling into sea-caves as well as using ladders across the crashing tide from one side of a cliff to the other.
When we finally got into the caves, Tony extracted the chicks from the nest using a ladder and then we had to the wonderful tasks of fitting the birds with rings.
The combination of the extreme methods of accessing the caves, the scenary and the how we kept looking into our hands and seeing that there was a Chough in our grasp added up to one hell of an amazing day!
Between Chris and I, we ringed 18 chicks with the biggest brood being 4 chicks. I am slightly disappointed I didn't get more photos of the scenery and the routes we took into the caves as it was quite hard to believe we were descending some of the cliffs that we did...Extreme Birding!

Iberian Chiffchaff update

Leaving Devonshire Road Rock Gardens with photos of a bird that everyone dismissed as a Chiffchaff left me unhappy with the verdict so have subsequently written to several people whom have both has experience with Iberian Chiffchaff abroad and in the UK, both In hand and in the field, as well as people who photographed the Blackpool bird, and observed it for prolonged periods. the final verdict is that the 'second' bird I saw was indeed the Iberian Chiffchaff, so I can be happy that I got some personally decent record shots, and not just a shot of a twig with a bird behind it!

To see more photos, visit - http://zacswildlifeblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/spaniard-by-sea-blackpool-4th-may-2011.html

Pied Flycatchers - Abergwyngregyn, Gwynedd - 22nd May 2011

Chris Bridge is now in his second year at Bangor University so is doing the fieldwork for his Dissertation project this summer ready for the wonderful ask of writing his paper! The project in question is - Does the Maturity and Experience of Adult Pied Flycatchers affect the fledgling rate of their offspring? - The way he wants to complete the fieldwork is to compare different ages of Pied Flycatcher. As these can be a bugger to age both in hand and in the field, Steve, Chris and I went up to Abergwyngregyn this morning to catch and ring both the adults and ring any pulli ready to be ringed. At the end of the morning, we had ringed 20 adults and 30 pulli (from 4 broods) which I was pleased about as I have never seen Pied Flycatcher in the hand and they truly are stunning birds!
20 adults later however, and I am still no further along with my knowledge of ageing Pied Flycatcher. Some continental migrants such as Willow Warbler, Pied Flycatcher etc undergo two full wing moults in a year, so there is no real contrast in immature and adult feathers when you look at them in hand. This means they go down in the book as a '4', as they cannot be aged. The thing with Pied Flycatchers is that they can actually be aged despite this, but I found them a terror to age!
I will be helping Chris with his 2 week study at the start of June where we will be observing nest boxes for 5 hours every day for 2 weeks. It's hard going cycling the 16 mile round trip and then walking the slippy hillside, but I am looking forward to it, as I don't think there are many places I'd rather be than sitting down with Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher and Common Redstart all singing within a 100 feet or so!

Define: Record Shot - Citrine Wagtail, Conwy RSPB - 16th May 2011

I was hoping to get some decent images of the Citrine Wagtail today as it was showing well early morning, but when I arrived with my non-birding flatmate (Dan), the weather was hideous and the bird was proving to be elusive. The above photos do still show the stunning male's features and what I like to call a Pied Wagtail dipped in Lemon Curd!

Atherton Woods, Gtr Manchester - 15th May 2011

I visited Kane's again with Chris so that we could check the nest boxes in Atherton Woods. Birds ringed during the morning included Nuthatch (a new bird for me), Great Tit, Blue Tit and best of all 2 Tawny Owl chicks. Potentially the cutest birds I've ever seen! One was considerably larger than the other and we were lucky to have ringed both chicks as the larger bird will surely fledge in the next couple of days.
A short mist net session in Kane's garden rewarded us with Starling (c-r for a RAS project), Song Thrush, Robin and retrap Dunnock and Goldfinch.

Sadly, whilst away from Bangor I received news of a Broad-billed Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Citrine Wagtail all of which were twitchable and all lifers for me! I decided I would concentrate on ringing and then stopped off at RSPB Conwy on the way home where I got pleasing scope views of a stunning male Citrine Wagtail - view some images by Robin Sandham here: http://webirdnorthwales.blogspot.com/2011/05/citrine-wagtail-conwy-rspbagain.html

460 miles for a Corncrake 19 miles away... - Holyhead, Anglesey - 13th May 2011

I never posted about my trip to Morpeth on the 17th November because it was so depressing! We twitched the Squacco Heron that died overnight (the night before we went). I never thought I would experience a day like that again. 13th May 2011 decided to have a go at the title of the worst twitch ever!
I set off at 07.22 for a summer-plumaged Spotted Sandpiper in Milton Keynes which was present on the 12th. When I got to Milton Keynes, I got a text off Chris to say that the bird had not been seen today...gutted! A wasted journey and a waste of a lot of money!!
I decided to turn back straight away and within 15 mins, I got a phonecall off Mr. Bridge regarding a Corncrake that had been found by the legend, Ken Croft, at South Stack and it was calling. I should have stayed in Bangor!
I got back to Bangor at 14.30 and then onto Holyhead by about 15.00. As soon as I got off the Station at Holyhead, It started to rain. I literally thought that Mother Nature was taking the mick as there really couldn't be much more in the day that could go wrong. If there was a weather that would make the crake hard to see, it was rain and wind. Sadly, both of these were present when I arrived on site (very wet indeed)
At 16.19, I was rewarded with the wonderful sound of a Corncrake calling in a field...unmistakeable! From 16.50-17.40, the bird called ever 10 minutes, literally on the dot. I managed to catch a very brief (albeit educational) view of the bird at 17.20 when I saw the bird calling from the grass.
This is only the second bird I have ever seen, after I saw a bird in flight on Iona (Mull) in 2006. This was the first time I have ever heard a Corncrake in the flesh!

Although, when I woke up on the 13th May, I was 19 miles from a Corncrake, I travelled 460 miles to see the bird....mad!

It was a tortuous day, but a Corncrake in North Wales more than makes up for it!

Spaniard by the Sea - Blackpool - 4th May 2011

You can't stop in this game! No sooner had I got home from the Kentish Plover, I got a text that confirmed an Iberian Chiffchaff singing at Devonshire Road Rock gardens in Blackpool. Sadly, my Dad needed his car, so I was without my own transport. I got the bus into Preston and then got a train to Layton where it was only a short walk to the gardens.
Arriving at 13.45, It was literally a minute before I heard the bird singing for the first time. It was in the North East corner, in the trees next to the play area. I did my best to get some rushed photos of the bird, but sadly the one below is the best I could manage of this very mobile bird!
Soon after this, the bird relocated along the eastern line of trees about 75 meters along the tree line, still singing. An assembled group of Fylde/Lancs birders listened to the bird a few times before it seemed to shut up. A Chiffchaff appeared that appeared long winged, long billed and fairly bright faced, however the general concensus was that this was just a 'normal' Chiffchaff. A couple of birders and I however, disagree and say that (the photos below) the bird was infact the ibericus. The bird was heard to do a couple of 'odd' calls resembling a 'tseep' and a strange trill. I have never heard either of these calls coming from collybita. The select few birders who didn't give up on this bird watched it for a prolonged time observing long wings, long bill (with a pale lower mandible), a bright face with a prominent supercillium, a lemon coloured throat contrasting with a 'white' belly. The flanks and undertail coverts were also very yellowy with a bright green rump. Personally, I think this was the same bird




I would love to know everyones opinions of the 'second' bird, but it was lovely to see and hear an Iberian Chiffchaff in Lancashire.

Kentish Plover - Cockersands, Lancashire - 4th May 2011

It's been a long time since the Fylde has had a Kentish Plover, but on May 3rd, a stunning female was found off Plover Scar at Cockersands. I was unable to get there so I had to hope the clear sky that brought it in, didn't take it away again overnight.
I was up early this morning heading north up the M6. I was greeted by a mixed flock of 150+ Dunlin and Ringed Plover when I got to Cockersands. It just had to be in here! An hour went by however, and I just couldn't locate it. After an hours searching, I was joined by Keith Sharrock, Peter Ross and Len Knowles, the latter located the plover in less than a minutes scanning...how did I miss it!
This lovely wader showed superbly in the mornings sun. It was a lovely pallid colour which stood out with the naked eye on occasions. It was noticeably smaller than the Ringed Plover with a lovely subtle markings and clockwork legs. A joy to watch and a well overdue British lifer for me.
In 2010 I was year listing and by the end of August I had seen 1 new bird however by May 4th 2011, I have seen 6 already!

A spot of Regal Patching - Brockholes - 29th April 2011

After the Royal Wedding had provided me with enough Luxurious cars and plane flyovers, i decided to do a spot of patching down at the quarry.
It wasn't long before I relocated a drake Garganey first seen by Bill Aspin first thing on No1 showing amazingly well (shame I was looking right into the light). Also present was a drake Greater Scaup at the back of No1

Short-toed Lark - Fleetwood, Lancashire - 25th April 2011

When a first for Lancashire first turns up on a Bank Holiday Weekend, it is hard to ignore. The bird in question for this years Easter Bank was a Short-toed Lark, found by one of Fleetwood's finest, Ian Gardner.

Short-toed Lark (Photo: David Moreton)

I headed to Fleetwood marsh nature park mid-morning where there was an assembled crowd of c20 people in the Easter sun.
It wasn't long before I got my first views of the little lark in flight. It then landed on a gravel track which allowed very pleasing views of this stunning bird. Although, to a non-birder perhaps, it might come across as a plain brown bird, it is a lovely warm peachy/sandy brown overall with a pale belly. The rather conical bill and rather large eye give the bird a lovely face. All of which contribute to one of my favourite species. This is my second Short-toed Lark, with my first being on the Great Orme in 2006, when I also had my first Woodchat Shrike and Black Scoter...not a bad day!

Patching with the masses - Brockholes Quarry - 24th April 2011

Brockholes LWT is now an open nature reserve and today saw the first time it was open to the public. I arrived at the top of Boilton Wood at 09.30 and began looking for migrants on the playing fields and slowly descended onto the reserve. I had a Tree Pipit overhead calling at 09.44 with a smattering of singing warblers in the wood.
I made my way around the back of the reserve staying clear of the visitor centre to check the pools whilst they were still quiet. 12 LRP, 4 Ringed plover, 2 Redshank and a Common Sandpiper were all present on the island of no2
No! This is not a mass twitch!
There were guided walks throughout the whole day which seemed popular. I would estimate that there were at least 2000 people there today which, for a Brockholes regular from the pre-LWT days, was rather surreal.

I wanted to find something impressive for the wardens to show the crowds so I was scanning almost constantly. At 14.30 (6 hours after arriving) I spotted a distant Osprey flying north in the Ribble Valley, but sadly I was the only observer so couldn't show the masses!
I'm guessing the crowds will disperse, so it won't be quite so hectic in future visits, but as far as I can tell, this will only be a good thing for the site!

BEE-EATER! - Wensleydale Railway, Yorkshire - 23rd April 2011

It's not every day that you can go for a pleasant train journey on a Heritage Railway and along the journey find a rarity. That is exactly what happened when I went with my dad to the Wensleydale Railway in Yorkshire.
We set off from Leeming Bar and just after we went through Bedale I noticed a bird on a telegraph wire down a farm track. My heart started going immediately as it was very enolgated with a long tail, slim body and long curved bill. It screamed Bee-eater! Not being in 'bird mode' I had left my Binoculars in the car so had to do my best to confirm it with the naked eye. Sadly this could not be done, so I nervously lost the bird to view and had to get off at the next station. 25 minutes later, I was on the return journey and looking at the telegraph wire. The bird had moved but I did see a bird above the sycamore which was the size of a thrush and was circling with a 'flap flap flap glide' flight. This had to be the same bird!
I finally got back to Leeming Bar and by 13.00, I was in the car with binoculars and found the farm track. Getting out of the car, I couldn't see anything but within 5 minutes, I heard (personally) the most reminiscently mediterranean of all calls. A lovely 'purring' Bee-eater! It was very high up and I could just see a circling black dot very high up. I lost it to view without seeing what direction it went, but the call was enough to fully confirm my first Bee-eater in Britain!
Description - Bee-eater Merops apiaster
Jizz (perched) - elongated 'thrush sized' bird with slim body, long tail and a medium lengthed down-curved bill. (Bird generally in silhouette, but pale throat/chin observed with naked eye from moving train)
Jizz in flight - slow circling bird with a 'flap flap flap glide' flight. Bird had relatively broad pointed wings appeared rather dusky underneath. Long fanned tail with longer central tail feathers (pointed), giving a generally slim appearance contrasting with broader wings. (Pale throat also evident in flight views)
Call - classic Bee-eater call with 3 energetic 'purring' calls heard overhead whilst circling high up.
Photo above - [NOT TAKEN IN BRITAIN!!] Bee-eater seen in Nort-east Spain, August 2008

A truly fantastic find and one species I really dreamed about seeing in 2011 at the start of the year. It's a great shame I wasn't able to get a record shot (mainly to help my case when I come to submit it!) but it shouldn't mask the joy a truly superb bird to see from a train!

It's about time! 'Iceland Gull - Brockholes Wetland LWT - 12th April 2011'

The title above has surely been on the mind of all Brockholes 'patchers' for the last few years, particularly since the Preston Docks bird has wintered this year. I got a text at 11.35 saying '2cy Iceland Gull on No1 11.34'...by 11.36 I had realised I had not car available, so had already got my bike out of the garage. Readers of my blog from the start back in 2007 will remember that I used to cycle to Brockholes regularly from my home in Longsands, but that hasn't been the case for over 2 years now. To cut a long story short, upon my arrival, I was dead! I met up with John Wright and Tony Disley on the 'dash' to No1 where the gull was still present and provided pleasing scope views, but the distance proved a little too far for anything like a decent shot of the bird, so had to settle with the photos above as it flew towards the workings on the other side of the M6.

Meeting up with Bill Aspin who also managed to twitch the bird just in time, he said it did exactly what him and the other regulars had predicted, which was to drop in with the northernly migrating Lesser Black-backs.
A long overdue site first and a nice find by Pete Bainbridge and Robin Shenton. A nostalgic morning for myself too with the cycle and meeting up with regulars whom I haven't seen for sometime...it's good to be back where I belong!

Vis-mig and a first for Conwy - Great Orme, Conwy - 10th April 2011

The Great Orme is renowned for its potential when it comes to visible migration, but today is widely regarded as 'The best spring day on the Orme ever!' Chris Bridge, Hamza and I got up the top for first light with the first birds of note being a male Ring Ouzel and a small passage of Redpoll and Meadow Pipits. Reaching the start of the limestone pavement, news came in of a Short-eared Owl found by 'Marc Buzzard' whom was also on the Orme bright and early along with Alan Davies and Robin Sandham among others. It really wasn't long before we had the Shortie ourselves, shortly followed by 2 Chough and a wader calling which turned out to be the female Dotterel present the day before. It circled 5 times calling almost constantly. This is my earliest Dotterel to date, and a very early bird indeed! The group of us spread out slightly on the pavement where pretty much all of us managed to connect with over-flying Lapland Bunting (in summer plumage!), Yellow Wagtail, and throughout the day 300+ Redpoll, Crossbill and a steady passage of Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Woodpigeon and a flock of 9 Golden Plover. Totals during the day inc: Dotterel, Short-eared Owl, 2 summer plumage Lapland Buntings, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Ring Ouzel, Common Redstart, Whitethroat, Grasshopper warbler, Garden Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 50+ Wheatear, 9 Golden Plover, Brambling, 2 Crossbill, 15+ Willow Warbler, 10+ Chiffchaff.

above - Dotterel at first light

It was a truly amazing morning for passage, until we got the horrible news that we'd missed an Arctic Redpoll and a possible Greenland Redpoll (a possible first for Wales!) by the path up to the pavement. I arrived at the location where I was shown some gripping images of the little gems! Whilst present, I noted 1 of the 5+ Mealy Redpoll which was a little consolation. Chris, Hamza and I wandered off after it calmed down a little and decided to lay down on the grass watching birds flying overhead in the late morning's sun. A steady passage of 'Mipits' and 'redpoll sp' was interrupted when Chris heard a familiar 'chirrup' which set alarms bells ringing, but was quickly dismissed. He heard it again and asked me, 'Is that...Red-rump?'. I listened out intently and heard the bird do a set of calls for the third time. It was pretty distinctive and reminiscent of Catalonia from 2007, 08, 09 and 2010! I frantically scanned the sky until I got in my binoculars a hirundine sp high up, which had the general shape of Swallow, but its flight was far more erratic and jittery. I observed a peachy underside with a black tail and black undertail coverts contrasting boldy with the bright belly. As the bird flew over, it banked slightly, and I was just able to pick out pale sides to the rump, essentially clinching Red-rumped Swallow! The bird flew strongly NNW out towards the Irish Sea. Getting the news out, and discussing it afterwards with Marc, it suddenly hit home that we had found a first for Conwy, and a lifer for myself...consolation for 'dipping' an Arctic Redpoll if ever I saw one! (The bird was reported again at 14.58 on the limestone pavement which hopefully will aid our description!) A truly amazing day at one of the leading migration sites in Britain!

A morning of migrants - Caernarfon, Gwynedd - 9th April 2011

A lovely morning's ringing was spent at Arthur's farm at a slightly different location in scrub/heath. 13 species caught in total with the main 'targets' being Willow Warbler which were singing all around the site and are certainly now in for the summer. It is superb to be able to hear this signal of summer once again. I had the lovely pleasure of extracting and ringing my first Wren, Willow Warbler and Linnet this morning which was a privilege for sure.

Willow Warbler Female Linnet 2cy Wren Adult male Blackcap 13 Species - 9 Willow Warbler, 5 Bullfinch, 3 Wren, 3 Linnet, 3 Great Tit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Long-tailed tit, 1 Lesser Redpoll. Very bright Chiffchaff

I was caught out by the above Chiffchaff as in the hand it initially was a classic Willow Warbler as it was very bright with an extensive Supercillium and with dark legs. It was not until we measured the wing at 56mm that we suddenly questioned it and double-checked the imarginations in the primaries to discover that the 6th Primary was imarginated (visible in the above picture) showing that it was in fact a Chiffchaff, albeit bright! Other birds heard/seen on site included 2 singing Grasshopper Warbler which equaled my earliest date (Equalling 09/04/2006's bird at the Heswall Alpine Swift twitch) as well as a steady 'chorus' of Lesser Redpoll over.
We had a second attempt this evening to try for the Linnet roost, but they were very scattered and we only managed to catch 2, as well as 5 Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Song Thrush.

Twitching in the Sun - Dwyran, Anglesey - 8th April 2011

On the day that the Purple Heron was relocated, Chris and I decided that the views we had were really good, but the light really wasn't sufficient to get any decent photos of the bird. We decided that we would go back when the weather improved and if the bird stayed for longer. Today was the day as the weather was glorious with no wind. Purple Heron, Dwyran, Anglesey We arrived on the hill at c3.30 and the bird was instantly present right in the open in the middle of the tiny pool. The heat caused a little heat haze, but I am really pleased with the image above, considering that this is a Purple Heron in Britain...most photos you see of this species are of the bird flying to roost at dusk or the head peering out of the reeds. After about 45 minutes of showing off to the small crowd, the bird flew off to the far right of the 'marsh' almost out of view. We decided that we would induldge in a spot of raptor scanning as the visibility was superb and there were Buzzard and Sparrawhawk all around. At 16.40 I spotted a very very distant raptor circling which initially I thought was a kite due to the long tail and flappy flight. The bird suddenly started flying north-east and it was soon apparent that I was looking at an Osprey. This is incredibly my 4th Osprey of the Spring and my first away from my bedroom window in Bangor! I am returning home to Brockholes Quarry on Sunday for Easter, so should hopefully increase this number and finally get a photo of this enchanting summer migrant! A superb afternoon watching a superb bird at a very unusual location. Lets hope the weather continues into the weekend as I shall be ringing again with Steve.

End of my personal drought - Dwyran, Anglesey - 5th April 2011

News came in early afternoon about a Purple Heron on Anglesey yesterday which appeared not too far from Bangor or nearby stations. As a result, Chris and I were more than up for it when Alan Davies rang Chris to say it was seen again today and was 'showing well'. We got the train to Bodorgan at the reasonable price of £2.70 return and started walking in the direction of Drwyrn. Little did we know, it was miles and miles before we got on site (with a little help from Alex Jones whom gave up a lift for the last mile (and back to Bangor)) It wasn't too long before we were fuly caked in mud and then got a flight view of a very purple colour Heron sp. It was the Purple Heron! A lifer for the 3 of us. We gained several more views of the bird mainly in flight until we Alex saw it land. We aged the bird as sub-adult based on the wings being more tan-coloured compared to purple as well slight pale fringing to the primary coverts. The head also appeared not as fully streaked which again saw us come to this conclusion. 3 minutes later, we saw a bird fly up from another part of the pool and this time I concentrated on getting binocular views. This bird somehow appeared much more adult with really strong chest streaking, really striped head, a double crest, dark purple in the wings and a complete lack of pale fringing to the primary coverts. We were positive that this was/is another bird as we got very very good views and they looked completely different to one another. Are there two birds currently on a pool in Anglesey? I vote yes! (bird photographed above is the 'sub-adult' only) This is a well-overdue lifer for me in Britain and the others, so for others accounts visit Chris Bridge's and Alex Jones' blogs.

Spring in full-swing - Caernarfon, Gwynedd - 3rd April 2011

adult male Chiffchaff 1st winter male Goldcrest adult female Blackcap adult male Song Thrush

A superb mornings ringing was enjoyed in Caernarfon at Arthur's farm for my second time. When I first ringed at the site in late January, the feeders were full to the rafters with tits (mainly Blue), whereas this time, it was somewhat quieter with 41 birds caught from 5 nets instead of the 130+ caught last time.

With Spring well and truly underway currently, I had the wonderful job of handling 4 species 'unfamilar' to me in the hand. (Photographed above) We caught 10 Chiffchaff, all of which were male and they were a delight to ring as they generally were peaceful and they really are beautiful little things. Talking of small things, you don't get much smaller than the last bird of the day - Goldcrest. This was a tiny bird and one that I had trouble holding due to their tiny size. Something a little easier to hold was Song Thrush which was a lovely warm colour and what I believe to be, along with Redwing, the perfect size. My second species of warbler that I got to ring was Blackcap which was a lot bigger than I expected so interesting in that respect.

Totals for the day - 41 birds (14 Species) - 10 Chiffchaff, 9 Blue Tit, 5 Great Tit, 4 Dunnock, 2 Robin, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Bullfinch, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Goldcrest.

I really enjoyed this mornings ringing as it was nice to be able to use AA rings for a change, as I am not especially used to this size.

Thanks go to Steve and Rachel for the invite and training and also to Arthr for allowing the ringing to take place and for the lovely cups of tea which never go a miss!