Sorry there is not much news but I am still struggling with my eyesight.  I am off work now so I had a chance to get out and have a walk around the reserve, but I did struggle getting birds which were flying as I could not focus.  Birds I managed to get were Robin, Chaffinch, Redwing, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Kestrel, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Teal, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Great-crested Grebe, Moorhen, Lapwing, Cormorant, Wigeon, Green Woodpecker, Starling, Magpie, Dunnock, Rook, Skylark, Snipe and Bullfinch.  Not bad.  I did have a look for any Jack Snipe but none showed today.  I dont know if i will get out over the weekend, hope so. 

I forgot to say that before I left for Croxall today, a Grey Wagtail dropped into the garden and proceeded to drink out of the pond.  This is bird number 37 for our back garden.  I managed to get some photos but I was shooting through glass so they are poor.  Same as usual then.

I have good news and not-so-good news.  The good news is this weekend is totally free so I can do some good birding.  The not-so-good news is when I woke up last Sunday morning (Titchwell trip), I told my mother my eyes were funny but thought nothing of it.  Monday morning I woke up and the left eye was blurry and I had double vision.  As I turn left, my left eye loses focus and takes about two seconds to start focusing again.  I have also lost some balance so it looks like I am a bit drunk.  I am currently seeing the doctor but they are puzzled and I have had an eye test and they are perfect.  I am also banned from driving.  The Shorelark in Worcester was going to be one of my targets.  So if you are birding Croxall or Whitemoor Haye or Alrewas pits and you see someone who looks a bit punch drunk then thats me.  If anyone is going there saturday, contact me and I can meet you.  Got nothing else to do.   For you male birders, check out Lydia's space in my friends section.  Say no more!!!!!!

For the rest of the afternoon, the tour leader decided on Holkham Pines.  We turned up at the car park and the gate man told us that Firecrest, Hobby and Rough-legged Buzzard had all been seen today.  We got all of our gear together and headed for the dunes at the west end of the pines where a Great Grey Shrike had been present a few days earlier.  Whilst walking to the dunes and back to the mini-bus I saw Pink-footed Geese, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Hobby, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Brent Geese, Black-headed Gull, Kestrel, Wren, Mallard, Little Grebe and Shelduck.  No Firecrest, Rough-legged Buzzard or Geat Grey Shrike.  Then it was the long trip back home.  A very enjoyable day but I am not sure if I would go on one of these group trips again.  

A few weeks agoI decided I would go on a trip with the Burton and South Derbyshire RSPB group.  This would be a bit strange for me as I enjoy birding on my own.  With a group, yes you see more, but you are restricted to the slowest person or times to leave reserves.  This weekend was a trip to a hot migration point, most proberbly Spurn.  All week I have been monitoring the pager and birdguides and Spurn was ice cold.  The minibus turned up at 06.30 and we were told it was not Spurn and we might as well go to Norfolk.  Fantastic, that will do me.  We arrived at Titchwell at 09.30, and because the tide was in we decided to head for the beach to do some seawatching.  After that we walked back down to the car park, had some lunch and headed off to another place.  Walking down to the beach we saw Wood Pigeon, Pink-footed Geese, Brent Geese, Wren, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Black-headed Gull, Redwing, Mute Swan, Tree Sparrow, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Little Grebe, Stonechat, Dunnock, Spoonbill, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Skylark, Shelduck, Avocet, Shoveler, Mallard, Grey Partridge, Starling, Moorhen, Carrion Crow, Grey Plover, Ruff, Cormorant, and Herring Gull.  On the beach I added Redshank, Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, Eider, Ringed Plover, Common Scoter, Sanderling, Velvet Scoter, Great Northern Diver, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, and 7 Snow Buntings.  A very friendly Purple Sandpiper was letting photographers get some good pictures as it would walk up to groups and almost walk over their feet.  back down to the car park to head off somewhere else and I added Wigeon, Pintail, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Great Black-backed Gull, Little Egret, Snipe, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Meadow Pipit.  Not a bad list, but I would have rather spent a whole day at Titchwell, doing all of the hides and walking to the beach several times.  I am sure I would have adde to the list as well.  

Could the person who is called Jo, from Staffordshire and has a blog please send me your blog address.  I was reading it the other day and was going to put a link from mine to yours but I had a complete memory blank.  You have already put a link from my blog to yours so I thank you for that.  Cheers.  This time last year I was in Norfolk having great fun.  This year I hoping to go and see a friend up in the Orkneys so I cannot go to Norfolk.  Looking at the birds there this week, I am quite glad as it seems to be pretty quiet.  Scilly on the other hand has gone mad.  I am not brave enough to venture out there on my own, I will miss to many decent places too bird watch.  With my last fishing match this Saturday (if I win I am guaranteed second place), Sunday is my only birding and hopefully I am going to Spurn with Burton RSPB. 

With the bright sunshine this morning, it was impossible to look over the quarry pool, so with a severe lack of wader action today I thought that pool might have something in the early evening.  Wrong.  I saw Carrion Crow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tufted Duck, Great-crested Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Pochard, Canada Geese, Pied Wagtail and Lapwing.  Pretty rubish.  I then decided to have a drive around the rough track to see if I could add anything else.  I did see Wood Pigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling, Dunnock, Kestrel, Yellowhammer, Buzzard and Magpie. 

I was getting a bit tired by now but was going to carry on birding so I chose Willington as it was on the way home and it would be some nice, gentle birding.  Gentle was the word.  It was very quite for what this place can be.  Birds I encounted were as follows:- Wood Pigeon, Wren, Robin, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Coot, Mute Swan, Great-crested Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Canada Geese, Goldfinch, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Lapwing, and Wigeon.  Not one of the best visits but its better than watching TV. 

A Richard's Pipit had arrived at this site on the Saturday so i decided to go and have a look.  The last time I saw one of these large pipits was in Kinmel Bay (of all places), a few years ago.  I arrived on this vigin site only to be hated moments later.  I walked up a steep slope along with a bloke who knew the site.  When we got to the top of the hill, he decided we should walk over to the lagoon.  I saw a load of birders to our left, probebly 600 yards away,  so we headed straight over towards a track and were going to turn left and join the group.  As we neared the track and large pipit flew up off the ground, over the pool and disappeared.  The group of birders then caught up with us telling us the bird had landed around here.  The guy I was with was certain the bird was the Richard's Pipit.  Ooops.  One of the guys looked pretty upset whilst the bloke I followed up was explaining we did not know it was there.  For half an hour we were the most hated birders in the Midlands as nothing else was worth seeing, and what was, we had just flushed.  Mean while I had seen Great Tit, Robin, Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Skylark, Stonechat, a flock of ninety Pink-footed Geese, Meadow pipit, Goldfinch, Lapwing, Stock Dove, Reed Bunting, Coot, Snipe, Tufted Duck, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Pied Wagtail, Yellowhammer and Magpie.  I had not counted the pipit yet as the only view was of it flying off.  About thirty minutes had passed since it flew off, and with everyone scanning the area it was not looking good.  The majority had all seemed to come together when one guy heard its call.  I did not have a clue what it sounds like but we all got onto it as it flew overhead, on to some grass before hiding.  Much better views this, enough for the tick.  Much more hanging around was done again but it did not show.  I decided to part the area and about an hour later it was giving excellent views.  Typical. 

Last weekend a bad back, this weekend stuffed with a cold.  Saturday I felt rubbish so I chilled out and suffered.  yes suffered as I watched England.  Garbage.  I am used to this type of football though being a Derby fan.  Croxall was the first port of call and it was a lovely morning with a heavy dew and some fog with the sun burning through.  From around the car park I saw Cormorant - about 65 of them, the most I have seen here, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Teal, Moorhen, Little Egret Chaffinch and Dunnock.  Further on I added Wren, Robin, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Tufted Duck, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Little Grebe, Coot, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Kingfisher, Canada Geese, and Skylark.  From near the hide I had a look over the far bank and added 8 Snipe.  Other birds before the east side were Great Tit and Pied Wagtail.  Through to the east side and I saw Green Woodpecker, Goldcrest - there was a flock of about fifteen in the willows by the pool, I counted them as they flew through a big gap, Blackbird and Pheasant.  I had a large flock of Greylag Geese fly through the fog and over the reserve.  With limited views I guess there was about 60 to 70.  Back towards the car and I added Starling and Pied Wagtail.  Not a bad start to the day.

First of all thank you for a few who contacted me about Berryhill Fields.  There is a walk organised on Sunday (12th) and I am hoping to be there.  Also I have managed to rid myself of backache.  The cause of the backache was good old hard work, not alcohol or Dipper re-locating reasons.  Whilst at work I was eating my breakfast at Sutton Cheney wharf on the Ashby canal.  Whilst I was shoveling Bran Flakes into my stomach, I saw my first Redwing of the Autumn.

Later in the day I was at a place called duck bend near Dadlington.  It is a bend in the Ashby canal and there are lotsof ducks there!!!!!!  Whilst I was there I saw my probable last Swallows - eight in total.  Also amongst the ducks is a Mallard.  But whilst the body is fine, the head and bill is that of a Teal.  Is it a Tallard or a Meal?

On Saturday (4th) I was working all day layiong slabs for a friend.  After I had finished my back was wrecked.  I wanted to go birding but walking was not easy.  Oh yes, it was also chucking down with rain.  About eleven it started to clear up and I made my decision where to go.

 

Knotbury.

 

The plan was to get two birds today, one here at Knotbury (bet you cannot guess what), and another one at another site.  At Knotbury I was indeed looking for the elusive Red Grouse.  Elusive to me, seen by every other birder, just like the Honey Buzzard.  However, unlike the Honey Buzzard, I managed to nail not one but five RED GROUSE.  As I parked up along the narrow track by two wooden gates, I was just getting out of the car when five crow-looking birds flew from the feild.  As I looked, they were flying a bit odd and suddenley I worked out what they were.  They flew straight over me like a fly-by and landed in a far off field.  I was well made up, not much walking to be done.  A quick look around did not offer much apart from Kestrel, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Meadow Pipit.

 

River Dane s/w of Flash.

 

I had not seen a Dipper this year and I have not seen a Dipper in Staffordshire.  I could kill two birds with one stone (for want of a better phrase), and so I headed for the River Dane which is the border of Staffordshire and Cheshire.  This meant two things, finding a Dipper and then, to be accurate, see it on the correct bank.  After about twenty minutes and an OK walk, I located the bird but it was sitting on the wrong bank.  Two minutes later it was on the correct bank and I can now add Dipper to my Staffs list.  Other birds seen were Jackdaw, Great Tit and Robin.

 

For most people, a rubbish days birding, but for me it was an imprtant life tick and an important county and year tick.