Dodgy photo time.  Will be sorting out some more photos soon.

I had booked myself on a pelagic out of Bridlington for a Skua and Shearwater watch.  I got out of my nice warm pit at 4.30am and headed off around 5.30am, getting to Flamborough Head by 7.45am.  My plans were to have a look around here, get a big breakfast somewhere, go on the pelagic, and then keep an eye on the pager and go whereever.

 

 

I came here first because sea watching is particularly good here and there was also a good bird which had been present for a couple of days.  Once I parked up, I only had an hour and I saw a few birders head off along a path next to the golf course so off I followed hoping they were not just going to the toilet or something.  From the car park I saw  Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail and Lesser Black Back Gull.  Out to sea there was plenty of Gannets.  A couple of blokes gave me a shout and I walked over to them and they  pointed me out the bird.....a fantastic BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER.  What a start to the day, half an hours birding and tick.  I got some dodgy shots on the camera, dodgy because a) I am rubbish and b) it was blowing a gale.  It was hard enough standing let alone digiscoping but I got some for my records.  Not only was the bird a lifer for me but it was also my two hundreth bird for the year.  i have never seen two hundred birds in a year before so I was well pleased.  Whilst looking at the sandpiper I did a bit of looking over the sea and picked up Great Black Back Gull, Cormorant, Sooty Shearwater, Razorbill, Sabine's Gull and then Blackbird and Wren on the way back to the car.  Sorted.  I got back to the car and gave the trip organisers a ring to see if the trip was on.  Unfortunatly it was cancelled due to the high winds.  It didn;t come as a suprise considering the height of some of the waves.  I went and had breakfast and pondered the future.

 

 

I decided to go to Bempton and have a look around.  I have been here before but only a quick visit so I had a walk around the reserve, hoping for the odd blown-in thingy.  I saw Blackbird and Goldcrest in the car park.  There was quite a few Redwings in the nearby bushes.  I then went down to the cliffs edge and sat down for about half an hour.  I saw Herring Gull, Gannet, Jackdaw, Razorbill, Sabine's Gull (one came in quite close to the cliffs, excellent view of the markings on the wings), and Great Black Back Gull.  A few Meadow Pipits were in the field behind me, along with a Pheasant.  Another walk back along the track and I picked up Kittiwake, Little Gull, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow and a Skylark.

 

Pretty quite in this area and there was some activity down in Kilnsea near Spurn point so it was an hour and a half drive to get there.

 

 

A few decent birds had been reperted here and nearby so I parked up and had a wander.  having never been here before I couldn't believe it.  There was birders everywhere looking in every tree and every garden.. The locals must be friendly.  Any bird that flew, binoculars were on it straight away.  It was proberbly a Chaffinch or a House Sparrow but it could also be something special, blown in off the sea on it's migration.  A big group of birders were in a pub car park, not getting lashed, but hunting a nice bird.  I decided to have a walk around and opposite the pub there was the sea.  In a nearby garden there was loads of Goldcrest.  On the mud flats I saw Turnstone, Dunlin and Oystercatcher. A few Blackbirds were around the garden and then a Black Redstart landed on some big rocks before shooting off for some cover.  Other birds around included Robin, Swallow, Redshank, Herring Gull, Collared Dove Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Great Black Back Gull, Golden Plover, and Redwing.  I walked back towards the pub and a large group of birders were looking into someones garden so I hung around.  I picked up Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, House Sparrow, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler (what on earth was a Reed Warbler doing in a village in someones garden), and Chaffinch.  Then a phone call and people were rushing into the pub car park and I followed.  There was lots of us looking in a small buch of trees for about three quarters of an hour untill a shout from a birder and the bird was seen - right in front of us.  A GREENISH WARBLER was the bird and it lingered in front of us for about thirty seconds before hiding again.  Brillianty.  I stayed for a bit but it didn't show so I carried on my walk very happy.  Other birds around were Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, and  Stock Dove.

 

 

A small drive and I was at the start of Spurn point, a large spit about three miles long which extends into the Humber estuary.  A great place for birding when the winds are right.  It is a big place and I just roamed around and watched the following :- Black Headed Gull, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Stonechat, Dunlin, Cormorant, Lesser Black Back Gull, Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Moorhen, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Redwing, Grey Heron, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Sparrowhawk, Little Grebe, Coot, Wren, and a Jack Snipe.  There  was one more bird which had been reported on the pager but it was very mobile.  I was walking back to the car and came across a birder who said had I seen the bird to which i replied no.  He then got his bins out, looked over a hedge and pointed it out on a hedge in the distance.  A Great Grey Shrike had been around all day, avoiding me, but was resting on top of a bush.  I set my scope up and got distant but good views of it.  A great way to end a brilliant days birding, two life ticks and three other year ticks.  Now for a two and a half hour drive back home after a twelve hour day.            

I can't keep away at the moment.  All of these visits are evning walks with my dog and we usually go th Whitemoor but it has been suprisingly quite so I have been coming to Croxall.  From the car park there was over 100 Mallard, 3 Pochard, Coot, Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe, Goldfinch and Tufted Duck.Along the track I saw Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit, and the bird of the day a Willow Tit.  Not a rare bird by any means but a nice bird which is sparse around Croxall.  I also saw a Swallow whose satnav was not working correctly as it was busy feeding and heading north.  Proberbly in Orkney by now.  Magpie, and Cormorant made up the birds to the hide.  Teal and Black Headed Gull from the hide.  Over to the East Hide and I saw a Snipe comin in to roost/feed, 2 possibly 3 Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Chaffinch, Green Woodpecker, Kestrel and Pied Wagtail.  I left the hide and went to inspect some rubbish that had been left over by the stream next to the keep out sign.  Some lager cans had been dumped and some burnt timber was lying around.  Anyway, always the birder I picked up Long-tailed Tit, Stock Dove and Mute Swan.  Back through to the main lake and I also saw Robin, Dunnock and Herring Gull. 

Our rubbish bin in the car park has been missing since the floods so I had a spare one and took it down.  I did a litter pick, went around the reserve, came back and some @*&$!*? (fill in the missing word yourself) had ate their fish and chips, opened the car window, threw out the rubbish and drove off.  Thanks for that whoever in a black fiesta.  On top of that, it was quite around the reserve.  Canada Geese, Mallard, Moorhen, Teal, Black Headed Gull and Great Crested Grebe from the car park, Cormorant over, Linnet, Tufted Duck, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Kestrel and Starling along the track.  From the hide there was two Little Grebe on the pool at the far side.  Now if you go to Barton GP or somewhere like Conwy RSPB reserve (where I love) or most other gravel pit sites, there are hundreds of Little Grebe, but at Croxall they are hardly there.  Depths of water, size of pool, I dont know but I wish they were always here they are fun to watch.  Anyway, to the East Hide and the only birds I could add were Rook and Grey Heron.  On the way back to the car along the main pool I picked up Green Woodpecker, Herring Gull, Goldfinch, and Magpie.

Not been around the square for some time so decided to walk the dog and do a bit of birding.  Unfortunetaly the weather was not very good, dry but incredibly windy.  There were lots of little brown jobs whizzing  past at one hundred mile an hour so id was impossible.  Grey Heron, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Yellow Wagtail, Black Headed Gull, Moorhen, and a single Wheatear from around the area where the car is parked.  The rest of the walk I saw Rook, Swallow, Greenfinch, Lesser Black back Gull, Lapwing, Starling, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Linnet, Blue Tit, Pheasant, Kestrel, and Robin.  

Cannock Chase is a place I usually visit quite a few times during the Autumn and Winter and the Visitor Centre on Marquis Drive is always a good place to go as there is a feeding station just behind a cafe which sells very nice hot chocolate and very nice cake.  So after walking around in the wind on Brocton for the last couple of hours, I decided to pop in here to warm up and watch some birds.  This is, in winter, a very good place for Brambling and Yellowhammer, Bullfinch and sometimes the odd Siskin.  However it was a bit different today.. First of all the hot chocolate was more like the canal water which I work on every day.  Then at the feeding staion there was no food at all on the tables and it didn't look as if there had been anything on them for some time.  Hanging around were Robin, Carrion Crow, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Magpie, and Wood Pigeon.  It is always worth a visit if you are in the area. 

Fancied a walk around the chase so chose Brocton.  A bit windy up there but I still saw a couple of birds.  Buzzard and Kestrel as I drove to the carpark opposite the glacial boulder (if you know where that is),   Magpie, Swallow, Robin, Green Woodpecker (quite a few of them), Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Stonechat, and Wren.  Nothing much to write home about but a nice stroll none the less.    

An early morning visit to the reserve and it certainly paid off with lots more bird species around.  Mallard, Grey Heron, Pochard, Coot, Swallow Wood Pigeon, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, and Buzzard all from the carpark.  Walking from the carpark to the Main Hide I saw Blue Tit, Chaffinch, moorhen, Kestrel, Robin, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Teal, Magpie, and Stock Dove.  Two Goldcrests were a nice site in the ivy on the first bend on the track.  Blackcap, Linnet, Blackbird, Canada Geese, Gadwall, Lesser Black Back Gull, Herring Gull, Starling, and Goldfinch make up the birds up to the Main Hide.  Off to the East Hide and more birds followed.  Jackdaw and Rook on the meadow, and Mute Swan, Shoveler, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, and Chiffchaff from the hide.

Again, a dog walk/stroll to check the reserve was ok.  Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant over head, and Long-tailed Tit all from the car park.  Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Magpie, Grey Heron, Kestrel, Little Egret, Green Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Robin, Blue Tit, and Great Tit upto, from, and around the Main Hide.  Walking into the East meadow and upto the East Hide I saw Swallow, Herring Gull, Rook, Pied Wagtail, Curlew, Greenshank, Wood Pigeon, Yellow Wagtail, and Moorhen.

A late evening stroll with the dog bought the following:- Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Carrion Crow and Wood Pigeon from the car park.  Goldfinch, Coot, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Black Headed Gull, Hobby, Mute Swan, House Martin and Swallow along the track and up to the first hide.  little Egret, Rook, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail, and Moorhen upto and around the East Hide. 

Sit or go out, sit or go out, sit or......Im going out.  Barton Gp or Branston Gp.  Im not too sure but I have always known it as Barton GP.  This is the gravel pit just outside Barton near Dunstall.  Barton GP by the A38 at Catholme I call Catholme GP.  Does this help?  I doubt it.  Anyway I was there and I was birdwatching........and it turned out to be a good three hours.  Driving down to where I park the car I saw a Sparrowhawk flying low along the road in front of me for about 10 seconds.  Great.  Walking up to the first pool and I saw Black Headed Gull, Robin, and Wood Pigeon.  At the lake from a small gap in the hedge I saw Lapwing, Blackbird, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe (and loads of them), Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, Pied Wagtail, Ringed Plover, Starling, Grey Heron, and a cracking Spotted Redshank.  Around the corner and on the same lake I saw Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Wigeon, Cormorant, Ruff, Buzzard,  and Herring Gull.  Walking along to the next pool I encountered Great Tit, Stock Dove, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Robin, and a few Lesser Black back Gull above.  To the last pool I visited which is shallow and with a big beach and the following were there.  Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Dunlin, Pintail, Teal, Sand Martin, Pheasant, Swallow, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, and a Green Woodpecker.  This is a site which, i will admit, I do not visit often enough.  Just look at the list of birds.  Huge variety, a good number of species and not very far to walk too....oh and a good crop of sloe berries around for this years sloe gin.  It wont be long till the next visit...  

just stopped off at the lake to see if any waders were around.  Answer......NO.  But I saw Coot, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Magpie, Carrion Crow, and Chiffchaff.  Wow. 

Back to normal birding and back to Croxall.  Decided to do a wildfowl count today.  The last few weeks had seen an increase in wildfowl with Teal arriving,  Mute Swan turning up in high numbers to moult, and lots of Coot.  So off around the pool and this is what I got.  Canada Geese - 130, Great Crested Grebe - 19, Shoveler - 8, Moorhen - 4, Mallard - 52, Coot - 5, Tufted Duck - 3.  Pretty rubbish really considering the other week I counted over 100 Coot.  Anyway back to birding.  From the carpark I saw Wood Pigeon, Canada Geese, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Shoveler, Moorhen, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, and Great Tit.  Walking up to the hide I had Tufted Duck, Chaffinch, Swallow, Carrion Crow, Coot, Chiffchaff, Lapwing, Dunnock, Wren,Starling, and Goldfinch........and lots of them.  Through to the East meadowand there was Kestrel hunting, Snipe flying over, Sparrowhawk and Rooks having a spat, Green Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, a group of Meadow Pipit returning to the flash to drink, Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper, Chaffinch, Magpie, and Mute Swan.  I visited mid-morning and could notice a more variety of birds starting to become a bit vocal, a bit different from a few weeks ago.  Come on Autumn. 

We were not expecting much cetacean action as we were back in shallow water.  However I got my first view of a MINKE WHALE.  There was also some Harbour Poipoises, and more Bottle-nosed Dolphins.  Amongst the dolphins was the seven hundreth cetacean sighting this trip.  Birds that we saw were Cormorant, Gannet, Great Skua, Fulmar, Storm Petrel, Lesser Black Back Gull, Swallow, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Common Tern and Great Black Back Gull.  Overall I had an excellent trip, seeing lots of cetaceans and some new birds too.  Cannot wait for the next trip. 

Back on the ship, after a meal, I went to the top of the ship and had a look around the port.  I saw Black Headed Gull, Kingfisher, Cormorant, Yellow-legged Gull, White Wagtail, Sandwich Tern, Buzzard, and Herring Gull.  Back out to see and we were allowed on the platform.  The drop from shallow ater to deep water is only an hour off the spanish coast so it was not long befor we had several sightings of cetaceans.  Bird wise we had Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Herring Gull, Sooty Shearwater, two possible Mediterranean Shearwaters amongst a group of Manx Shearwaters but identification was not made, Grey Heron, White Wagtails, Sabines Gull, and Greylag Geese.  Cetacean wise we had more Striped Dolphin, and Fin Whales.  A suprise came in the form of three CUVIERS BEAKED WHALES.  A rare whale and they came really close to the boat.  About an hour later we saw another one a bit futher out.  We had another suprise a bit later when 8 RISSO'S DOLPHINS swam past the boat.  We also saw various schools of TUNA, which species we couldn't tell.  A bit quieter trip back but some new sightings.  

We docked at the port of Santiurzi in Bilbao at seven in the morning.  Our two guides then led us through the town to a concrete path which winded up a hill.  We had only four hours here but we had some fantastic birding.  House Sparrow and Goldfinch numerous at the begining.  There was also a few Black Redstarts around.  Spotted Flcatcher, Cetti's Warbler and Willow Warbler were also showing and singing.  In a hedge a bird showed well so with the scope on it, we saw a RED-BACKED SHRIKE.  Then we had another, and another.  Kestrel, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Green Woodpecker, Raven, Stonechat, and Whinchat were showing as we climbed the hill.  In a small field we spotted a group of ten SERIN feedingon the ground.  Amongst them were five Tree Pipits.  Furthur on we saw Great Tit, Collared Dove, House Martin, Wren, Magpie, Greenfinch, a single Peregrine, Pied Flycatcher, and White Wagtails.  At the furthest point we could go on the hill we were watching various butterflys including Adonis Blue and Clouded Yellow.  Then a bird flew from a bush to another and perched on a twig.  A SARDINIAN WARBLER showed very well for a few seconds before hiding in deep vegetation.  On the way down we added Wheatear and Buzzard to the trip list.  Not a bad couple of hours birding. 

On the way out of the English Channel towards the Bay of Biscay I got lots of Gannet, a Pied Wagtail which was trying to get a lift on the boat, Great Skua (Bonxie), Herring Gull, and Fulmar.  We travelled over the imaginary line which seperates the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay and the whale watching started.  It started with a group of Harbour Poipoises.  I have seen these before, a single one which showed for about two seconds in Bridlington Bay.  These showed much better from our view point at  the highest part of the ship at the front.  Gannets were numerous, then we were treated to a small school of BOTTLED-NOSED DOLPHINS. We were having several fly-bies by Great Skuas, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a Common Tern.  We then had a couple of large schools of COMMON DOLPHIN.  About 150 in one and about 200 in anothere.   Whilst everyone was looking out for cetaceans, a Turtle Dove came crashing on the deck, gathered its composure and flew off.  Not a typical bird to see in the middle of the sea!  Then came the first sighting of our main quarry, a FIN WHALE.  The first thing you see is the blow as it takes a breath, then the animal dives down again and the identification comes from the size and shape of the back and the fin.  The Bay of Biscay starts of with water which is about a hundred metres deep from England and past France.  All of a sudden it drops away and eventually reaches four thousand metres deep and this is where the big whales are seen.  As we reached this area sightings definetaly picked up.  We then got a few sightings of Storm Petrels.  These were a good spot as they look like ants from where we were standing.  Next came a bird which I had always wanted to see, a SABINE'S GULL.  A single bird was picked up then as the day went on we picked up futher groups of them.  Whilst looking in front of the ship for signs of cetaceans, a warbler flew around the front and then disappeared.  We never got a good look as to what it was - another stowaway.  The next sighting we got was a group of STRIPED DOLPHINS, a larger dolphin which lives in deeper waters.  The last different sighting of the day was an Arctic Skua flying over the front of the boat.  Throughout the day we saw 17 Fin Whale, 50 unidentified rorquals, 1 Minke Whale was seen by someone, 6 Bottle-nosed Dolphins, 462, Common Dolphin, 69 Striped Dolphin and 12 Harbour Poipoises.  A fantastic day.   

As I am not one for travelling abroad, it is not a suprise that I have never seen a cetacean (whale or dolphin).  I decided to treat myself to a holiday with Company of Whales.  This was a trip aboad the Pride of Bilbao ship.  The trip down, I assumed, would be the normal, boring long drive with idiots who cannot drive on motorways but I was wrong.  I passed a place called Chieveley near Oxford and soaring on the wind was a Red Kite.  I was well happy as it has been a couple of years since I have seen one.  We eventually set sail around ten oclock at night so an early rise for some sea watching was in order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am away for this week, whale watching so there will be nothing new untill next weekend.  Thanks. 

I have been going to the Birdfair at Rutland for a couple of years now and when I am in the optical tents, looking out over one of the lagoons, I keep thinking this would be a good place to visit.  I am sure many of you guys are too.  So I decided toi head off over and have a day there.  And believe me, if you have been to Rutland only for Birdfair, get over there.  What a fantastic place.  There are 25 hides from which to view various areas of the South Arm, which is the main birding area on Rutland.  These hides are in two areas, one is Egleton Nature Reserve were 18 hides are spread over a fair area and it is a good walk to get round them all (trust me I knew about it last night, I could hardly lift a pint I was that tired, but don't worry I did eventually manage to lift a few up).  Then there is Lyndon Hill Nature Reserve where the other 7 hides are. This area is well known because this is the place to see the Osprey nests.  I started at the Egleton Reserve where most of the birds are found in the lagoons.  I will not tell it in story fashion because it would be way too long so you will have to put up with a list.         

Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and House Sparrow around the feeder outside the Birdwatching Centre.  Snipe, Teal, Coot, Cormorant, Lapwing, Shoveler, Black Headed Gull, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Lesser Black Back Gull, Great Black Back Gull, Mute Swan, Starling, a possible Cetti's Warbler was singing outside the Mallard Hide.  Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit which were in a big flock along with a bird which I had trouble to id so I wrote a few notes after failing to get my camera out to photograph it, it turned  out to be a Sedge Warbler.  Funny as I have seen loads of these but this one did not look like a Sedgey but my notes described a juvenile one.  Little Egret, Jackdaw, Greenshank, Ruff, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Pintail, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Wren, Robin...........have you had enough yet.  Well there is more, loads more.  Dunnock, Goldfinch, Swallow, Herring Gull, Curlew, Common Tern, Mallard, Pheasant, Carrion Crow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Common Whitethroat, Green Sandpiper, Pochard, Blackcap, Wigeon, Hobby, and Red Crested Pochard.  Wake up I haven't finished yet.  These were from the Egleton Reserve which holds the majority of the hides.  Now off to the Lyndon Hill Reserve where I will admit I only visited a couple of hides due to the time.  I went to the Shallow Water hide and Deep Water hide and got the following.  

Black-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Black-necked Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Kestrel, Magpie, and Collared Dove.  That is not a bad days birding for me with a couple of year ticks.  Access for the hides is at a price of four quid, well worth it.