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A Video of the Gulls From Herastrau Park Bucharest

February 10, 2017, 1:36 pm
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I have finally got around to editing some of the video I shot during my trip to Romania.

This was recorded through my scope - enjoy!


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A Colour-Ringed Glaucous Gull!

February 11, 2017, 1:17 pm
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He who dares wins!

Today was bitter cold and the light was terrible, but still I headed to Shawell. I had arranged to meet a friend there, so I had to turn up.

I was there first and started to search through the gulls. Initially there was nothing of note, but a juvenile Iceland Gull flew in followed shortly after by a new juvenile Glaucous Gull. The Glaucous Gull was quite a dark individual and obviously different to the three others I've seen this year. The Iceland Gull appeared to the same juvenile that I saw in January.

When Tim arrived the two white-wingers were still there.




Mid-morning I spotted an adult Glaucous Gull and I was surprised to see that it was colour-ringed. Reading the orange ring was very difficult. I knew from the ring that it was a North Thames Gull Group bird. Eventually I managed to read G1NT. It was ringed at Pitsea Landfill Site, Essex in 2015. There are also sightings of this gull from Northamptonshire and Cheshire.


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The Vikings Have Arrived

February 17, 2017, 2:05 pm
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Over the last week I have seen not one but two Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrids - aka Viking Gulls. Both in the Shawell area.

Both were structurally very similar to Glaucous Gulls - large size, shortish primary projection and large bi-coloured bills. The first one, a first-winter, was a large gull with pale buff upperparts and greyish brown primaries. It had a full greyey brown tail band, which is not that common, but certainly not unprecedented for this hybrid type. The other was a second-winter. When I spotted it it was facing head on and I thought it was a Glaucous, but as it turned sideways on I could see its primaries were not right - too dark.






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Today's News From Shawell

February 18, 2017, 11:16 am
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I was looking forward to today's session as Steve Nichols had seen two adult Glaucous Gulls yesterday on the tip. He had managed to distantly view the landfill area from the small lane on the north side.

The weather was against me at first with fog making viewing difficult. As it began to clear I spotted a juvenile Glaucous Gull distantly, but soon lost it as the gulls took to flight. I re-spotted it several times before it came close enough for a record shot. It appears to be another new one, as last week's Glauc was really dark whereas this one was a typical biscuit brown.

Juvenile Glaucous Gull

At the same time as the juvenile Glaucous came close so did the regular juvenile Iceland Gull.

Juvenile Iceland Gull


After taking record shots of the two gulls above I began to scan through the gulls on a raised plateau situated about another 100 metres behind the main flock. Amongst them was an adult Glaucous Gull. It may have been last week's colour-ringed one, but its legs were hidden in a rut. It was too distant to photograph well, so I didn't bother trying

Four Caspian Gulls were around too. Three first-winters and a second-winter.

First-Winter Caspian Gull
First-Winter Caspian Gull

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The Easiest Twitch Ever

February 19, 2017, 12:04 pm
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I am a bit slow off the blocks these days when collecting new British Ticks. I had seen a sickly Blue Rock Thrush at Hemel Hempstead many years ago and I missed a good one on the Scilly Isles by a day, so when one turned up in Stow on the Wold I was not really that tempted - that much! I was a bit fed up last Sunday due to the weather, so I decided to have a ride down to the Cotswold's in search of a bird that was confusing the yellowy coloured Cotswold stone for a rock face in the Med.

It took just over an hour to get there. I walked into the Maugersbury Close and soon spotted my target perched on a roof top. No wait for hours to see this bird. After a couple of minutes it flew off and didn't reappear. I was back home almost before anyone knew I gone.

The light was terrible, so I videoed it.

Enjoy...




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Birding The Algarve

March 22, 2017, 12:31 pm
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I'm a bit late posting this, as I've been busy with other jobs since returning home.

At the end of February Dawn and I made another journey to the sunny Algarve. I have now been to The Algarve six times including autumn, spring and winter trips. One of the tasks I have been doing before writing this was to work out my Portuguese bird list. My total is 208 species, with an average of around 125 per trip.

I managed to get some new ticks on this trip, which included Dunnock! Also Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, Great Black-backed Gull, Razorbill, Purple Sandpiper, Song Thrush and Sora.

A storm at the end of the trip proved excellent for sea watching. I was able to watch Great Skuas passing along the coast right from my hotel balcony. At Cape St Vincent Cory's Shearwaters were passing by continually and amongst them I counted 20 Great Skuas in an hour.

Cape St Vincent

The following morning after an even stronger blow I picked up 11 Common Scoters passing westwards just offshore at Praia da Rocha. At the eastern end of Praia da Rocha the Arade River empties into the sea. At this point there are two breakwaters and along one of these I found a single Purple Sandpiper. These are quite scarce down in The Algarve, so a good bird to find for a visitor.

Purple Sandpiper

Before I set off on my trip I knew that a Sora Rail was wintering near Silves. This is only about 20 minutes from Praia da Rocha where we stay, so as soon as we picked up our hire car we headed to Silves. It was high tide when we got there, so we had plenty of time to kill. Dawn had a look around Silves, which is a splendid old town with a fortified town wall and castle. I spent some time photographing some metal ringed Black-headed Gulls. One had been ringed in Poland and the other at Silves. Eventually the water level dropped as the tide fell and as soon as the mud was exposed out came the Sora. The viewing position is much higher than the riverbed, so it was difficult to photograph well.

Sora

We visited the usual spots in the course of the holiday. Salgados Lagoons had been drained of much of its water and so fewer birds were there than normal. In contrast we had a great day near Faro at Ludo Farm and Ria Formosa West. Here we recorded 73 species in the day. The highlights were a couple of showy Glossy Ibis and a female Little Bittern.

Glossy Ibis

Little Bittern

I always search the harbour at Portimao for colour-ringed gulls. Since my first trip in 2013 I have been on the lookout for colour-ringed Yellow-legged Gulls from further north in Portugal - the supposed heartland of the sub-species lusitanius. Since 2013 I have actually realised that the breeding Yellow-legged Gulls along much of The Algarve's rocky coast are also of the sub-species lusitanius. On this trip I was pleased to find two first-winter Yellow-legged gulls that had been ringed on Berlengas Island near Peniche.

Yellow-legged Gull (L. m .lusitanius)

These lusitanius Yellow-legged Gulls are slower to moult their tertials and coverts compared to their michahellis cousins.

Another challenge I had set myself was to find a colour-ringed gull there that I'd also seen at Shawell. Well there was something familiar about the code DLDA. When I checked I realised I'd seen this one at Shawell during June 2016. It is a Lesser Black-backed Gull and was ringed as a chick in 2012 in Suffolk.

I'm also always on the look out for one of the Severn Estuary Gull Groups colour ringed Lesser Black-backs. I had only seen one during my previous trips, so I was pleased to find another this time.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

The two hour drive to Castro Verde was once again worthwhile. We arrived at the LPN centre just after the sun had started to peak above the distant horizon. Approaching the reserve we spotted Crested Larks frozen to the spot, as they were caught in the beam from our headlights. As we parked up a Lesser kestrel landed in the tree right by our car. It sensed our presence and disappeared as quick as it had arrived. I was surprised to hear many Quail singing, as it was still February.

We set off on the circular walk and found it difficult to avoid standing on the thousands of slugs and caterpillars that covered the path.




I missed out on seeing a Great Spotted Cuckoo last May, so I was delighted when I saw one flying towards us on this trip. It alighted on a fence not too far away and stayed there for at least five minutes. The caterpillars that were everywhere proved attractive to the cuckoo and in the video below you can see it enjoying eating a few.

Little Bustards avoided us this time, but we did enjoy watching a male Great Bustard displaying.

The video below shows the Great Spotted Cuckoo, displaying Great Bustards and a Lesser Kestrel. Don't forget to set it to HD quality.


I had always wanted to visit Sines on the west coast of Portugal, because of its strategically placed fishing harbour. I did this time, but I was very disappointed. There were few gulls there and the fishing fleet didn't arrive with a good catch to bring the gulls in. I'm sure another time it would be much better. I did enjoy seeing the surfing waves rolling in on one of the beaches near to Sines.



The harbour at Sagres proved better, although the rare gull I hoped to find was avoiding me. I did enjoy photographing a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls there, which was a new bird for Portugal for me.

Great Black-backed Gull

It felt like spring in the Algarve with Swallows and House Martins already nest building. The White Storks were also on their nests, but they are always on their nest in The Algarve.

House Martins
White Stork

The Algarve is a great place for birding and as you can see it has quite a lot of diversity.


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Iceland Gull

April 1, 2017, 9:52 am
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It has been a difficult month at Shawell - plenty of gulls, but difficult to pin down. Today Steve Nichols and I were scanning through a group of gulls when Steve spotted a a second calendar-year Iceland Gull.  It's hard to tell whether it is the same juvenile that I saw in both January and February with faded plumage, or is it a new bird?

Iceland Gull, Shawell, 01/04/2017

Iceland Gull, February 11th 2017

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The Iceland Gull is Still Enjoying Shawell

April 15, 2017, 11:51 pm
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I have been spending some time at Stanford Reservoir recently, but I still can't drag myself away from Shawell for long.

You would have thought we were still in the grips of winter with the amount of gulls at Shawell yesterday. I spotted the pale juvenile Iceland Gull that Steve Nichols and I first saw on April 1st. It was a quite mobile initially, but showed well later in the afternoon at the lagoons. I also saw a couple of first-winter Caspian Gulls as well.

The weekend before another German ringed Caspian Gull  (yellow X312) was at the lagoons. X312 was a slightly odd looking, so it might have a bit of Herring Gull in it.

Juvenile Iceland Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, 15/04/17

First-winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, 15/04/17


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Black-winged Stilts

April 20, 2017, 12:52 pm
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Before work this morning I went to Brascote Pits. It was fairly quiet there but I did see my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year. Unusually for a spring bird it showed well on the outside of one of the hawthorns.

Just as I was about to leave a text came in from Chris Hubbard saying three Black-winged Stilts had been seen early morning at Stanford Res. They were a county tick for me, so I rushed over and luckily they were still there. A male and two females as far as I can see. One of the females was still quite immature.

I couldn't stay long, so I had to make do with some distant images from the Leicestershire side. The birds were feeding while I was there in the channel showing the course of the River Avon. The water levels are low enough to show the channel that marks the county boundary. They were mostly mid-channel, but they did come on to the Leicestershire side at times. The agreement between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire for recording purposes is birds on the water are counted for both counties. Birds on the banks are of course counted for the single county they are in.


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Stanford Reservoir

April 30, 2017, 1:21 pm
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Having obtained a permit for Stanford Res I have been taking advantage of the great conditions there. The water level is low and the exposed mud has been attracting lots of birds.

Highlights today included eight Bar-tailed Godwits and single Little and Black Terns.

The terns were on the Northamptonshire side all the time, which was a shame as I need Little Tern for my Leicestershire list.

The short video below is of the godwits and the terns.



The long staying immature Long-tailed Duck was still present on today, however, it has not been seen since.

Long-tailed Duck, Stanford Reservoir, 29/04/17



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A County Tick and a Local Area Tick in One Weekend

May 7, 2017, 12:12 pm
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The weekend started well when I found a Whimbrel in a field in the west of Leicestershire. I then made my way over to Stanford Reservoir where a nice gathering of waders was present although most of them were in Northants. My phone rang as I was scanning for new birds: it was Dave Gray calling to let me know that a Great Reed Warbler was at Albert Village Lake. The only record of this species in Leicestershire & Rutland was way back in 1963.

I made my way back along the Northamptonshire side of the reservoir stopping to admire a subtle looking second-summer Caspian Gull. Stanford Res. is not the best place to be when heading for Albert Village Lake, but it didn't take too long to get there with the help of the M1.

The Great Reed Warbler was very vocal, but elusive wasn't the word. After about three hours I managed to get one brief view of it. I don't think anyone else did much better than a brief view.

Well done to Rhys Dandy, Dave Gray, Ben Croxtall & Marc Lansdowne for breaking the highest day total for Leicestershire & Rutland with 121 species and finding the Great Reed Warbler in the process.


On Sunday morning I announced to Dawn that I was going out to find a Grey Plover for my 'South-West Leicestershire List'. I missed one last year at Brascote Pits when I was on holiday in Portugal, so I needed to make amends  Things didn't go quite to plan, as it was actually Adey Baker who saw the it first. Adey called Grey Plover and I was on it about a second later. We had been grumbling about the lack of good birds at Brascote these days, but we shouldn't lack faith! I was really chuffed to see another good wader species in the area some describe as the desert of Leicestershire.

Here's a short video showing the beautiful summer-plumaged Grey Plover...



Grey Plover, Brascote Pits, May 7th 2017
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Another South-West Leicestershire Tick and a Bonus Wader

May 9, 2017, 1:59 pm
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Steve Nichols sent me a text this afternoon to say a Whooper Swan was at Shawell A5 lagoons. I rang Dawn and told her to cook tea on a low light, as I would be late home from work. The swan was tucked up in the corner of the furthest lagoon, but I got reasonable views through the hedge along the side of the A5. This is a local area tick for me.

Whooper Swan, Shawell A5 Lagoons, May 9th 2017

A few gulls had gathered on the bank between the lagoons and amongst them was a second-summer Yellow-legged Gull. I scanned the shore hoping that a wader had dropped in, but nothing was doing. I walked the short distance between the viewings points and thought about packing up. I had just one last scan as always and this time I was in luck! A smart Wood Sandpiper had appeared.

I walked along the footpath which runs along the side of the lagoon and managed to get close enough to get some good quality video.


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Swan Lake

May 21, 2017, 9:06 am
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It's been an odd spring. At times the local birding has been first rate, but at other times a bit poor. I'm not on my own in thinking that the recent unsettled weather might have grounded a few more migrants. It's not too late though and I can't complain too much really as I've seen two Wood Sandpipers, two Bar-tailed Godwits and two Whimbrels locally plus the splendid Grey Plover at Brascote Pits. It's more of a case of trying to work out the optimum weather conditions.

The Whooper Swan was still at Shawell A5 Lagoons yesterday, so I took the opportunity to photograph it with my DSLR. It was a good job I did because it looks as though it has moved on today.



At Stanford Res yesterday it was generally quiet apart from an immature White-fronted Goose and a very showy Hobby that was hunting insects above the reed bed on the Leicestershire side. It was difficult to get a good photographic opportunity, but I did grab a record shot of it.



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Solitude

June 2, 2017, 1:57 pm
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It had been a while since my last trip to Scotland and I was itching for a bit of peace and quiet and excitement.

The weather forecast for the latter part of last week looked good for an overnight adventure in the Cairngorm Mountains. I hastily arranged a few days off work, found my kit and jumped in the car and headed north.

I set up base camp at Glenmore near Aviemore. Once that was done I headed to the ski car park and into the hills, but not before filling out a form in the Mountain Rangers hut just in case something drastic happened to me. My rucksack was a little heavy with tripod, camera, food and drink plus tent stowed inside. I had only just left the car park when I spotted a very pale warbler. It's bill was quite orangey and it looked a little larger than a typical Willow Warbler. I spoke to another birder later in the day and he said that it was most likely a Northern Willow Warbler.

It was very hot and I soon began to feel the effects of carrying my heavy pack. My route took me past the magnificent Corrie an Lochan. I always feel the urge to get out my camera and take a few images at this point. It was around here that I encountered the first Ptarmigan.


Corrie Lochan

After a quick drink I continued upwards towards the plateau. Near the plateau I felt a searing pain in my right thigh. It wasn't cramp as the pain wasn't right for that. I decided to try and walk it off and luckily the pain began to subside. I had an idea where I was going to camp, so I limped off across what I call the 1083 plateau. I chose a campsite close to the edge of the Larig Ghru: a chasm, which cuts through the Cairngorm massif. The area was one of the few locations where the ground is flat enough to be comfortable to sleep on. It was warm, so I had only brought my outer tent and a sleeping bag.



I left all of my heavy kit in the tent and started searching the plateau for birds. A pair of Ptarmigan were feeding quietly close to my campsite. I stopped to photograph the female, as females are often harder to find during summer.


Female Ptarmigan

Just south of Cairn Lochan I found a pair of Dotterel. The male was keen to defend his female and always made sure he put himself between me and his mate. Another female was close by and in total I saw five individuals - three males and two females.


Male Dotterel


Dotterel are having a hard time in the Cairngorms especially in the more accessible places.

By know it was almost 9.00 pm and I had the plateau all to myself. I planned to be back at my tent to enjoy sunrise and a miniature bottle of Glenfiddich 12 Yr. Off in the direction of my tent I could hear a Snow Bunting singing. It was perched on top off a small cairn. It was a friendly chap and remained there singing whilst I sneaked up on it.


Snow Bunting

Back at my tent I watched the sunset and drank my whisky. As the sun was setting I noticed some cloud oozing across Breariach and down into the Larig Ghru. As it did the wind started to pick up.






I retired to the comfort of my tent, but the wind speed was increasing all the time. The tent was being buffeted quite severely and despite using anything I could to block the gaps it soon became quite cold. My sleep came in fits and starts, but by 3.00 am I'd had enough of being woken up by the wind and decided to head towards the summit of Ben Macdui. If I moved quick enough I would enjoy the sunrise although I'd run out of whisky.



Just a singing Snow Bunting and I were in place to watch the sun come up above the summit cairn of Britain's second highest point.
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Green Sandpiper - An Exceptional Record

June 3, 2017, 12:25 pm
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Whilst I was up in Scotland I took an early morning stroll into the forest. I was pleased to see a Crested Tit and half-a-dozen crossbills. Through the trees I could see a lochan (small lake). A path snaked its way through the trees to the waters edge, so I followed it. I disturbed a small wader, which flew to the other end of the lochan. Through my binoculars my first thought was Wood Sandpiper. Apart from Common Sandpiper this was the obvious choice, as they do breed in the Highlands in small numbers and the forest habitat seemed right for this species. I decided to walk back to my car and get my scope, as I felt I needed a closer look.

It was a good job I did, as it turned out to be a Green Sandpiper. I took some video to confirm the sighting.

The Highland Bird Recorder described it as an exceptional record as they only get one or two in the Highlands on passage each year (sometimes none) and this one was recorded during the breeding season. He initially questioned my record before I sent him the photo below.


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Orchids at Brascote

June 4, 2017, 7:22 am
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Brascote Pits is once again festooned with orchids.

Many of them are hybrids (I think) between Southern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids. These seem to favour the shaded areas amongst the young trees. Bee Orchids are much in evidence in the more open areas. The Southern Marsh Orchids have increased in number, but there are fewer Common Spotted Orchids.

I remember visiting Ketton Quarry many years ago to see my first Bee Orchid, but Brascote Pits to the west of Leicester puts Ketton into the shade with the numbers of orchids present.

Southern Marsh Orchid


Southern Marsh Orchid

Hybrid Southern Marsh x Common Spotted Orchid

Hybrid Southern Marsh x Common Spotted Orchids

Bee Orchid

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Caspian Gull Score at Shawell 2017

June 27, 2017, 10:27 am
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All those listed below are considered to be different individuals, however, some duplication is inevitable:

  1. second-winter, January 4th (also seen December 2016)
  2. adult, January 4th
  3. adult, January 4th & 6th
  4. second-winter, January 6th
  5. adult, January 11th
  6. sub-adult, January 18th
  7. adult, January 27th
  8. first-winter, January 27th & 28th and February 7th
  9. third-winter, February 3rd & 4th
  10. first-winter, February 3rd
  11. first-winter, February 4th & 7th
  12. first-winter, February 4th
  13. first-winter, February 6th
  14. first-winter, February 7th
  15. first-winter, February 7th
  16. second-winter, February 7th
  17. first-winter, February 18th
  18. first-winter, February 18th
  19. first-winter, February 18th
  20. second-winter, February 18th
  21. first-winter, March 25th
  22. first-winter, March 25th and April 1st
  23. first-winter, April 8th (German colour-ring X312)
  24. first-winter, April 15th
  25. first-winter, April 15th
  26. first-winter, April 29th
  27. first-summer, May 13th
  28. first-summer, May 13th
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News From SW Leics

July 2, 2017, 8:41 am
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My corner of Leicestershire is often ignored as a birding location. Well things are going quite well this year especially with locally rare breeding birds. At Brascote Pits a pair of Oystercatchers have three chicks and the Shelducks have five well grown ducklings. Neither of these two species breed successfully every year in south-west Leicestershire.

A respectable number of schedule 1 breeding birds have bred in the area this year including the first pair of Red Kites.

I had to travel to deepest darkest Wales to see Red Kites when I was a lad and back then no one expected to one day see one in Leicestershire. Well yesterday I stood enthralled as I watched 14 in the air together in south-west Leicestershire. Eight of them alighted in the same dead tree - how things change!

Red Kite

Whilst I was out yesterday I bumped into Neil Hagley who told me he'd seen some White-letter Hairstreaks at Croft/Huncote. It had been a few years since I last saw White-letter Hairstreaks there, so it was good to know they had survived. Adey Baker and I went to look for them this morning and luck was on our side. Two were nectaring on bramble flowers. The one that I photographed had its head hidden from my position, but at least I got a record shot. From the Huncote end of Croft Quarry you need to park by the metal gates and turn right as you go through the gate. walk uphill and stop just past the double telegraph poles. There is an obvious bramble bush with pinkish flowers and this was where we saw them.

White-letter Hairstreak, Croft Quarry




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Red Kites, Gulls and Dragons

July 11, 2017, 10:55 am
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At the weekend I did the rounds checking the progress of several breeding birds. The gulls seemed to be doing OK on their new roof at Scudamore Road, Leicester and I am pretty sure that a few pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and one pair of Herring Gulls are nesting at Troon Industrial Estate, Leicester. The young Red Kites I'm keeping an eye on are almost ready to fledge and the young Oystercatchers are growing night and day. Initially the Oystercatchers proved difficult to find, but then all of a sudden one swam out from underneath some vegetation at the side of the lake.

Oystercatcher Chick


At Cotesbach it was great to see that there was still ten Red Kites scavenging for any food they could find on the tip.

Red Kite

There are a couple of new ponds by the landfill site, which didn't take dragonflies long to discover. At least four Emperors were present including this ovipositing female.

Emperor Dragonfly

There were plenty of gulls at the landfill and I managed to read some colour-rings for a change - most were from Norway.
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Gulls at Last

July 15, 2017, 1:56 pm
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I have only just started to get good views of the gulls again at Shawell. The tip face had been moved too far away to view and the disturbance from the dog walker has been bad at the lagoons. He is still causing problems, as management haven't caught him yet.

Anyway the last few weeks have been better since the tip area is now closer to the road, but still a little too far away. At least I'm reading some colour-rings again. The bulk of these ringed gulls are intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which may be a surprise as at one time we thought of these dark mantled gulls as winter visitors.

Amongst the horde of LBBG are a few Yellow-legged Gulls including some juveniles and I've had a couple of first-summer Caspian Gulls this week as well - one today and one on Thursday.

First-Summer Caspian Gull

The highlight at present, however, is the gathering of Red Kites. Fifteen were there today including two pristine juveniles.

Juvenile Red Kite

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