Return of the Manx

An afternoon out took us to Borth in the hope to catch up with some spring migrants. Our hopes were rewarded but with an exciting show of seabirds instead of the expected passerines. Manx shearwater were gliding effortlessly up and down along the returning tide, accompanied by a couple of fishing gannets. Auks (probably both razorbill and guillemot, we didn't have the scope to confirm) were bobbing up and down with the gentle waves and numerous (20+) great crested grebe had gathered together close in to shore. The long-staying long-tailed duck fished very close in right behind the surf and revealed a very different plumage to what we saw last time. Right behind it we spotted a red throated diver which quickly took off for a short flight (photo montage below). Just as we were heading off, three sandwich tern appeared and filled the air with their distinctive calls and a peregrine approached us from out at sea. Inland we had a flock of 300+ golden plover, about a dozen wheatear, a sparrowhawk, buzzard, red kite, a female reed bunting and three pair of stonechat.

This morning at home our breakfast was interrupted by a loud bang coming from the front window. Turned out a male blackbird had flown into it and completely stunned itself. We quickly put a towel into a shoe box and offered the bird a save place for recovery. Meanwhile I went into the garden and dug out three earth worms which we placed on the patio for him once he was strong enough to be released from our care. Unfortunately, he was still a bit dozed then and watched helplessly as another male blackbird came in and grabbed his snack. Nonetheless, a few minutes later our bird was able to fly across the garden into the rhododendron. Also, this morning whilst pottering about in the gardening I woke up both a hibernating toad and palmate newt. They were quickly relocated and hopefully went back into hibernation. Redwing and fieldfare still accompany us in large numbers at home and out in the field.

Brockstar

As promised, badger photos. We sat by the open window for over an hour, and of course they did arrive, but later than the previous nights. Still, Steffi managed a few shots with the flash, which didnt bother them at all.

The female great spot has taken to landing on a particular tree stump we salvaged from the river before leaping up to the peanut feeder, and this allowed Steffi to get some cracking close-ups of this beauty.
Another bonus from today came in the shape of garden tick number 78, when a much longed for male wheatear was seen feeding up by the railway crossing gate. Still plenty of fieldfares and redwings in the meadow, along with the regular mistle thrushes, whose numbers are up to the mid twenties.

An Easterly Easter

The Easter weekend was spent up north visiting friends and family, with a little bit of birding thrown in for good measure, making sure we were wrapped up against the bitter wind. A nostalgic morning out at one of our old stomping grounds, RSPB Leighton Moss, yielded a few year ticks, such as marsh tit, marsh harrier, avocet and spotted redshank, alongside good views of feeding snipe, 9 duck species and black tailed godwits.

 

Later on the same day we headed off to my brothers local patch, Aldcliffe marsh, and had 3 little ringed plover and our first wheatear and chiffchaff of the year. A walk down the river Wenning with my parents dog had 60+ golden plover, numerous wigeon, ringed plover and reed buntings.

Back home in Wales, an afternoon spent at Broadwater gave up 9 sandwich terns, 26 ringed plover, a single grey plover and lapwing, blackwits, redshank and curlew.

Still plenty of fieldfares around in the meadow in front of the house, along with a smattering of redwing, and our peanut butter loving badger population has risen to two individuals. As today has been warm and sunny, without that biting easterly, tonight could be a good night to sit with the window open and try to get a shot of them.
Our local dippers were busy nest building today, with mixed results. One struggled to get up into the site, only to drop its beakful of material when it finally did so. However, it carried on with the tenacity of that spider in the story of Robert the Bruce.

how does your garden (list) grow...

Apologies for our tardiness, but a combination of things to do and the freezing conditions have kept us away from birding as much as we would like. However, we have had some great moments since our last blog, including a cracking close overhead adult goshawk at the Clettwr - one of those rare times when straight away you know theres no mistaking it for a sparrowhawk. A couple of brief trips to the Leri have produced great views of quartering hen harriers, as well as merlin, red kite and sparrowhawk, which included seeing a female take a starling in flight by the boatyard. Other than raptors, fairly quiet - still good numbers of scoter at Borth, with g c grebes and the odd r t diver. Yesterday we got up close to a couple of hundred golden plover at Ynyslas in a brief snow shower.

On Monday morning as Steffi was returning from a nights lambing, a barn owl drifted across her path near Cors Dyfi.
Good news from the garden - 4 new additions to the list, with 3 on one day. On Sunday,much anticipated, a lone common snipe showed itself when a low flying buzzard drew it out of deep cover and into view, before it headed off into the rush grass to hide itself away. Also, again much hoped for, not just a stonechat finally got on the list, but 4 in one day, 2 male, 2 female. Three skylark completed the triumviate of newbies on that good day, with a hunting merlin on Monday boosting the tally. The reason we saw most of these was because we were keeping track of the large numbers of redwing, fieldfare and mistle thrush that have been moving through the valley this week.
Another garden visitor of note concerns the badger that has taken a liking to the overspill from our bird feeders, and is now relishing the peanut butter treats we put out nightly for it. Hopefully Steffi will be able to get a photo soon.

Spring on Hold

Well, the brief spell of spring like weather we enjoyed at the beginning of last week abruptly vanished and was replaced with a bone chilling wind and plummeting temperatures that put paid to the trickle of migrants that had begun to appear on the Welsh coast. So, as we sit here in the cabin with the heating back on still dressed in our winter woolies, we are yet to add wheatear or sand martin to our 2013 list. The poor weather has coincided with a busy time for us, so not much birding has been done apart from the day to day observations as we go about our daily chores. Red kites are very much in evidence, wheeling around in pairs or small groups calling constantly, as are the buzzards. Steffi had another hunting short eared owl whilst commuting into Aber on Monday, and we had a new tick for the garden list when we had pairs of curlew heading east up the valley on consecutive days. In the garden itself, and around the immediate area, siskin numbers seem to be growing, with at least a dozen coming to our feeders every day, and larger groups feeding on the woodland edge behind Bryn-y-goch, and goldcrests are being very vocal. The male sparrowhawk had a succesful strike at the feeders this afternoon as one more tit was despatched to avian heaven.
On the river, the dippers continue to entertain, and are regularly joined by grey wagtails but as of yet theres been no sight of the kingfishers we had here last year.
Plenty of frog spawn in the temp pools by the river, though what this recent cold spell will mean for it is anyones guess.
Across the river the heronry is in full swing and the raucous croaking and squawking coming from it is becoming the backdrop to our life.

Dusky Delights

The fine spring-like weather continues, so we decided to get out of the house on Saturday and head over to the coast at Ynys-las for a good stretch of the legs. Checking out the beach first we saw little of note, though it being the weekend and good weather, we didn't expect much as the hoardes of dog walkers and day trippers that generally descend upon the area were very much in evidence. The 2 snow buntings had been seen earlier, but all was quiet during our stroll, with a small group of golden plover being the highlight. They do look fantastic in the late afternoon sunshine, and always worth a photo.

Heading inland over Borth bog, we figured on doing a circular walk through the reedbeds and along the river. A group of feeding reed buntings held our attention for a while, whilst on the river a few redshank and a lone dunlin gave us something to look at other than the incredibly annoying group of constantly honking canada geese, who seemed determined to ruin the solitude as the sun set and the temperature dropped. We had just stopped on the river bank for Steffi to get some shots of the sunset when a barn owl appeared hunting over the raised bank opposite, ghosting past us without a sound and occasionally twisting and dropping down onto the ground - the kind of sight that makes you forget about the cold creeping into your fingers and the culling of noisy geese.

Earlier in the day, sat in the garden soaking up the warm sun, I watched buzzards, kites and ravens soaring and diving as they went through their courtship routines over the valley, and observed the comings and goings of the heronry. A group of 5 fieldfare were feeding amongst the sheep, and I couldnt help but think they might well be the last we'll see here this winter.

Today we checked on our local dipper pair, and both were on show, feeding just up from the nest site. Bullfinches are showing well around the drive up to the house, and the great spots are drumming up a storm. What with the snowdrops and daffodils bursting out everywhere, and Steffi seeing a comma butterfly down by the river, it finally feels like the end of a long wet winter might just be round the corner.

Nifty Shades of Grey

With Steffi having a day off, and good weather forecast, we decided to make a day of it and head inland to the moors around Coed Llandegla forest. The main reason was to get Steffi a tick in the shape of a black grouse, and hopefully clean up on some other moorland species. Arriving at the puzzlingly titled Worlds End, we parked up and took a stroll along the road, scanning the moors either side. All was quiet, except for a lone skylark, and after an hour or two so our initial optimism started to fade. We took a track across some land and I stopped to scan the hillside opposite, picking up a female black grouse - unfortunately Steffi had walked on and by the time I got her attention and she made it back to point where she could view the bird, it had crept into deep cover. We hung around but to no avail. Deciding to take another track, we pushed on further into the moor, flushing a male red grouse along the way. Suddenly Steffi picked up a movement by some scattered conifers and uttered those lovely words - 'is that a great grey shrike?' Sure enough, sat atop a tree, looking resplendent in the sunshine was a gorgeous butcher bird. Luckily she managed to grab some shots as it flitted from tree top to tree top, all the while heading away from us, finally vanishing from view as it headed east down the valley.

Having had our fair share of luck, we figured we could head over to Coed Llandegla, grab some lunch and have a stroll round the trees to see if we could add some woodland birds to the days list. As it turned out, the denizens of the forest were playing hard to get, but at the view point on the forest edge, which overlooks another chunk of moorland, there, in a distant clearing amongst the heather, was a very relaxed, feeding male black grouse. Even at distance, that classic shape, bright white undertail, long tail feathers and glossy blue/black colour made it stand out. We watched it for 20 minutes before it ambled off into cover; happy with our days work we too ambled home, doing the obligatory call in at a farm shop, something Steffi finds impossible not to stop at to purchase very tasty, but expensive, cheeses.