Slimbridge ... a brief tour

 Collared Pratincole has never been recorded here in Cumbria, contrary to some published material eg. Brown & Grice 2005.  Recently one was reported in Northumberland and also in Cleveland.  Hence, a trip to Slimbridge.

I arrived in the Discovery Hide and a helpful member of staff told me it was on the small island.  Peering into the sun across the extensive South Pool I scanned all the smallish islands but with no success.  The small island turned out to be a tiny patch of half submerged shingle only 30m or so in front of the hide.

Here it carries a recently caught wasp.

During the course of the morning the sun became less unfavourable and the bird gave good views ...

It flew circuits of the pool occasionally but remarkably always returned to an area of shingle just in front of the hide ...

Slimbridge always seems to deliver an interesting selection of birds.  Most of these were rather distantly out on the fields toiwards the river so phonescoping was the only option ...

A group of Russian White-fronted Geese fed way out along with some Barnacle Geese and Greylags ...

and a Snow Goose flew in, although probably not from America ...

... followed by a small group of Cranes ...

... what a wonderfull place !

Some waders roosted by a pool from the Zeiss Hide ... along with the Redshank were two Spotted Redshanks ... just occasionally preening a moving a few steps ...

Also a Great White Egret conveniently posed along with two Little Egrets to emphasise its greater stature ...

Norfolk in October ... large numbers of Geese creating atmospheric skyscapes ...

 The dominant feature of the saltmarshes last week was the flocks of Dark-bellied Brent Geese while the skies were filled with skeins of Pink-footed Geese ... each uttering their characteristic wild calls ...

At the start and end of each day the Norfolk skylines included lines of Pinkfeet ...

... and sometimes giving nice views as they passed overhead ...

... here the top three birds are adults showing barred flanks while the lower two are juveniles with their plainer flanks ...

The Brents showed best near the pool on the Eye Field at Cley as they fed on the short turf ...

... an adult on the left with its neck collar and plain mantle while the juvenile on the right shows white tips to the mantle feathers giving white lines on the back ...

... three smart juveniles on their first Norfolk visit from their Arctic Russian birthplace ...

... and two adults

Holkham Freshmarsh had a Great White Egret but rather distantly but some Little Egrets showed nicely over the saltmarshes ...

Sometimes a common species can show particularly well and allow the finer plumage details to be observed closely, and so it was with this second winter Herring Gull on Blakeney Point ...

... while a Red-throated Diver lingered offshore ...

... and two Red Kites made a rather unexpected appearance over the point ...

... and a flock of Golden Plovers moved through ...

... the predominance of adults among the Black-headed Gulls was interesting with just an occasional first-winter as here along with a Grey Plover and a couple of Turnstones ...

Another creek held a single Greenshank ...

Pat's Pool at Cley held plenty of birds and this male Teal showed more of the speculum than usual as it fed nearby ...

... and then a Barn Owl flew by ...

... before drifting away over the reeds ...

... but tantalisingly a flock of gulls gathered rather far away to the east ...

... among the melee was a fine male third winter Caspian Gull ...

A fitting finale to a good Norfolk day !

It's September ... and some Solway Waders at last !

 While the rest of the country was awash with passage waders, the Solway had thin pickings until the last week or so ...

A week ago there were four Greenshanks at Glasson Point and a paltry five Knot there - today the Greenshanks numbered at least six and Knot numbers had rocketed up to around 500.  As is so often the case on the Solway, these birds were at a range of  at least 400m and looking into the bright morning sun even phonescoping was out of the question - a good start to the day however.

Campfield Scrape was uninspiring with only Wigeon, Teal and a probable sleeping Pintail which was looking worryingly inactive ...

The sun was again tricky at Anthorn but there were clearly good numbers of waders present and a nice adult male Ruff quickly lifted the spirits ...

... there were some small groups of Dunlin and scrutiny of these flocks soon revealed a few juvenile Curlew Sandpipers ...

... the tide was now starting to rise and among the Redshank and Dunlins, more Curlew Sandpipers showed up as the movement of the wader flocks became increasingly energised ...

... with the constant movements it was difficult to be sure of numbers but seven Curlew Sandpipers and five Ruff would be a conservative estimate ... the tidal bore was impressive to see, and hear as the water rushed in ...

... even in the gentle breeze this Ruff showed the typical tertials blowing around ...

Golden Plovers numbered around four hundered and nearby about twenty Grey Plovers and a few Ringed Plovers added to the Wader list.  More Greenshanks appeared here too.  Curlews, an impressive 100+ Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers and Lapwings were scattered around also to add to the cast list of a true wader-fest.

It's July ... and the Med.s are back in town (Mediterranean Gulls in the Workington area)

 In the harbour at Workington there were three adults ... always nice to see, but the plumage I always love to see is that of juveniles ... this beauty was lingering by the outfall pipe ...

Siddick Pond had no Med.s ... so it was on to St.Helens ...

Here there were four second winter birds, always good to see and seemingly one of the more scarce ages ...

... with a northerly wind all the birds were tail-on but this one turned itrs head occasionally to show a nice yellow bill base ...

And one of the 35 adults ...

... just moulting out of summer plumage ...

Birds and Wildlife in Cumbria 2021 - Out Now !

 This is my third year as Editor of Birds and Wildlife in Cumbria.  It is the first year that Cumbria Bird Club has been the publisher.  It was previously published by the now defunct Cumbria Naturalists' Union and the only difference is that we now have one fewer layer of management - this is a good thing !

In all other respects it is the same as before, same Editor, same species account wtriters and the same photographers.

This is the first time since 1991, I think, that the cover image is not a photograph - these sketches of a Leach's Petrel are by Barry Robson.  He was one of only five people to see this bird which spent a short time on Tindale Tarn on 5th November.  There are a number of Barry's other lovely sketches throughout the report.

The content is similar to that of the last two years with the systematic list comprising species accounts written by a wonderful team of sixteen writers which includes some academics, remowned published ornithologists and keen birders.

The RSPB Reserve managers have once again given us reports that help us understand the great work they do through the year, CWT wardens have done likewise.

The year produced two new species for the county, Caspian Gull and Long-toed Stint (this was accepted by BBRC just after the report went to print) and two others still IC with BBRC, Elegant Tern, Marsh Sandpiper. Western Subalpine Warbler from 2013 before the split is also IC (these will hopefully be accepted).

The Ringing Report is not simply a list of recoveries, rather, it explains the significance of the selected recoveries and highlights how ringing both illustrates the routine and highlights the unusual.

Copies are available from Cumbria Bird Club website now.

Copies will shortly be in Bookends in Carlisle and in Keswick and possibly in other independent bookshops through the county.

France ... a Spring Tour ... some Highlights ...

 The first location was in the southwest near the small town of Septfond ... a quiet spacious campsite set in oak woodland with Golden Oriole, Woodlark, Turtle Dove, Nightingale, Short-toed Treecreeper, Honey-buzzard and Western Bonelli's Warbler ... the lanes around the town had Melodious Warbler, Cirl Bunting, Corn Bunting and a miriad Blackcaps.  

The species that interested me the most was Western Bonelli's Warbler ... these were singing almost constantly from the taller scattered oaks through the campsite ... unlike our own phylloscs they were quite hard to observe ... they sang from the high canopy remaining in one position while looking around ... they would then relocate to another tree before singing again ...

... the song, a repeat of a single note has two subtly different frequencies ... often the fast version is followed by the slow rendition ... the call is upwardly inflected and has a husky timbre ... a really delightful species well worth the effort to observe ...

The next place was on the Mediterranean coast at Gruissan, with its saltpans, etang, and limestone hills ... the wetland areas had hundreds of Flamingoes, many juveniles ...

... and spectacular adults ...

... Black-winged Stilt, Crested Lark, Glossy Ibis, Short-toed Lark, Zitting Cisticola and some apparent intergrade Yellow Wagtails of probable cinereocapilla x iberiae origin ...

... Kentish Plover, a male ...

... and a female ...

... but the best of all here were Slender-billed Gulls, on the etang, saltpans and some coastal lagoons ... 

... the limestone hills had their own delights with Bee-eaters passing overhead, Tawny Pipit, Southern Grey Shrike and Woodchat Shrike ...

... more warblers in the shape of Dartford and Subalpine and that typical Mediterranean species, Sardinian ...

... Serin, sang from a high branch ...

The Tarn Gorges and adjacent Causses were the next location, just half a day's drive to the north ...

Black Vultures numbered only a few but Griffon Vultures were in the skies in good numbers ...

... while Wryneck called in the scattered woodland where more Western Bonelli's Warblers were scattered and overhead, Black Kite, Goshawk and Short-toed Eagle occupiued the skies ... Crag Martins wizzed around the church ...

The Causse had Ortolan Bunting, Hoopoe, Red-backed Shrike, Chough and a good scattering of Rock Sparrows ...