14th Jan Green Winged Teal.

Well yesterday couldnt be repeated could it? Well nearly, I started off by looking for yesterdays Iceland gull along the Maryport to Crosscanonby coast line but the tide was well out which made viewing the gulls difficult so no Iceland Gull. I did however see 15 Whooper Swans and some Pinkfeet go past but not much else.
So i came back and did some jobs at home. Just after dinner i picked Keith up and headed for Siddick. The Weather was wonderful so seeing Bitterns was looking promising. 15 Whooper Swans were the first thing we noticed, may have been the birds that flew over me this morning.

I then spotted a teal very distantly in the reeds that looked good for Green Winged Teal, i said to Keith I'm probably clutching at straws here but that looks like a Green-winged Teal. Keith had spotted the bird too but wasn't sure. So whilst waiting for it to awaken and come out the reeds we saw 4 Bitterns flying out of different parts of the reed bed, also 3 Water Rail and a year tick in the form of a Lesser Redpoll. The Goosanders showed well today too.

Eventually a Mallard gave the teal a nudge and low and behold Green Winged Teal it was... unbelievable wohhoooo, just unreal.

We saw the Bitterns flying around some more and then left to do Workington. We checked a spot for Kingfisher but no luck. We realised the tide was full in and so decided to give Workington a miss and head straight for Crosscanonby for the high tide as the birds were easier to see here now. What a mistake that was as an Adult Iceland gull was then reported from Workington...that could have been ours, oh well cant win em all.
We didn't see much on the sea so headed back to Derwent Forest for the Owls. We got here in the daylight for a change and we managed Barn Owl and Short-eared Owl in full sun. As it got Darker a few more folk turned up and we had a Further 4 Shorties 3 of which once again headed for Soddy Gap, 2 Tawny Owl and 2 Woodcock.. an amazing point to watch the Derwent forest area found by Keith.
Ive done my fair share of Moaning about how shit Cumbria is but just lately its been fantastic and i now would rather bird in Cumbria than out of it!
Well Jobs to do for Keith tomorrow morning but what will the afternoon bring!

13th Jan Glaucous Gull

Well who said Friday the 13th is unlucky, certainly not for me today. I managed to get all my jobs finished at work and decided id carry on up the Motorway to Kirk Loch for my 4th Attempt at seeing the over wintering American Wigeon. When i arrived I finally found the Drake American Wigeon, and what a relief.
The sun was out but in the wrong direction so the pics were awful.

I then returned to Cumbria via the Solway stopping at Sandsfield to have a look through the Geese. First bird i picked up however was a Cracking Male Hen Harrier. There was a birder further down the track so went to show him the Harrier.  We were looking through the Geese when i started to look through the Gulls, not sure why they were a long way off but i did manage to find a Juv Glaucous Gull an amazing record for Cumbria, I managed to get John Poland (the other birder) onto the bird before it disappeared when two canoeist went past. Couldn't find the Ross's Goose again unfortunatly.
I then heard about an Iceland Gull that had been found at Maryport this morning so headed straight back to there. Managed to get before dark and found the Juv Iceland Gull from Crosscanoby, a two white winger day in Cumbria... unheard off!!!!!  I managed to get Keith onto his latest lifer, wicked...
Just as you think this day couldnt get better, I made my way to Derwent Forest the old Ammunition dump withing walking distance of Soddy Gap. Keith had found a good Owl spot so met him there...
Amazingly we had 5 Short-eared Owl with 3 heading towards Soddy Gap, 2 Barn Owls, 2 Tawny Owls and 2 Woodcock... amazing site!!!! by 6 o'clock it was pitch black and time for home..What an amazing afternoon.

10th Jan Owl Fest

Well i think i broke the speed barrier tonight trying to get to Soddy with enough light to see some Owls that Keith had spotted last night but firstly on the way home i managed to spot the typical shape and flight of a Little Owl as it  flew along the A66 between Embelton and  Cockermouth. 

Keith and I had split up tonight Keith covering Broughton Dump and myself covering Soddy.

I had 2 Barn Owl fighting and a Short-eared Owl

Keith had 2 Tawny Owl and 2 Short -eared Owl... i still need Tawny Owl so that will be my stop hopefully tomorrow if i get the time. 

So Weather and time permitting same again tomorrow.  

Also at Soddy I had 240 Goosander and Greylags flew in after dark, I could hear Teal and Snipe.

7th January. The East...

Well i decided late last night that id nip over to the east coast as there was quite a bit about, especially Cleveland and Northumbria. There was a couple of lifers for Keith so gave him a shout and he agreed to come along. So at 7am Keith picked me up and by before 9am we were watching Keiths first lifer of the day in the form of a Drake Ring-necked Duck at Cowpen Bewely.

There were plenty of Tree Sparrows on the car park feeders to entertain us too.

After here we looked around the area but didn't see much else of real note except at Seal Sands a couple of Common Seal on show.

Eventually we got to Hartlepool fish quay after searching the other quays and bays. We locked eyes on many close Red-throated Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Some Guillemots. We then Viewed the Quay from another area where we managed to see a Juv Glaucous Gull another lifer for Keith.

Juv Glaucous Gull honest

I then Spotted our next prey, a Black-throated Diver. Things were going well, although we were running out of time to do everything.
Next we looked of the sea at the battle abutments or whatever its called and saw Common Scoter and our next target a Velvet Scoter.

Velvet Scoter

No sign of any Iceland gulls was a shame. we had dinner here and new it was time to head north to Northumberland for the long staying 1st Winter Female Lesser Scaup, at Marden Quarry, which showed nicely another great duck.

Finally it was time for our last stop Prestwick Carr for the lovely looking Short-eared Owls where there were at least 3 on show, no sign of the GG Shrike though, it was getting dark. The Owl shot below taken in Virtual darkness so what a great shot even if i do say so myself ;-)

A great finish to a great days birding on the East.
Once again my camera never went below 400 iso, one day the light will be good...........
Must cover the local patch tomorrow.

3rd January Snow Goose

Well today i was either supposed to be at work or Decorating the Bathroom, but somehow id gone birding, and I'm glad i did. Keith picked me up and we headed to Soddy Gap for the long staying Female Long-tailed duck for the year list. 291 Goosander were also present, Soddy is becoming nationally important for Goosander with max counts over 300.

After this we Drove the lanes to Abbeytown where we had found the Bewicks and Whitefronts yesterday. Today there were a lot more Geese and after a bit of Scanning we noticed a superb Blue morph Snow goose, what a find usually these are hybrids but this one looks like the real deal. Its really difficult taking photos at the moment the weather is just so poor.

The Whoopers were hidden so we only managed a couple of Bewicks but still 50 odd Whitefronts. We had a hunt round for some Bean Geese and the Ross's Goose but no luck with those today.
Almost forgot the Little Egret that flew past us at Old Sandfield.

2nd January 2012 Own Stuff

Today Keith and I's task was to find our own stuff so made our way along the back lanes to Abbeytown where on the way we saw very little it was still early and a bit dark. We Arrived at Abbeytown to check some Geese and Swans we found, It was a Great surprise when we noticed around 50 Whitefronted Geese mainly European with some Greenland, so whilst i was counting these Keith noticed a couple of Bewick Swans...Bingo then i found another 3.  So that was a great start to our day.

Euro Whitefronts

Bewick Swan and Greenland Whitefronts

Bewick Swan

We moved onto Old Sandsfield overlooking Rockcliff marsh, checking any geese on the way. When we got there thousands of Barnacles were present including 3 Leucistic individuals and 12 Euro Whitefronts. After a while i spotted a Snow goose type slightly bigger than Barnys with a gleaming white head and belly but dark back a clear hybrid but just way too far for positive parentage. The Ross's Goose was no where to be seen, although it flew in for other birders later... We found our way to Scotland stopping at Castle loch for a reported American wigeon, but couldn't find it. We did find a small flock of Pinks with 13 Euro Whitefronts and a Greenland Whitefront. We finished our day back in Cumbria trailing around the back lanes again but didn't see anything out the ordinary, including missing some Bean Geese that had returned to the spot Keith and i found before Christmas (Blackdyke).
Still another very very Good Day.

Well Happy new year readers. My birding day started off well with Keith and I heading for South Cumbria and North Lancashire toting up 76 species. Started at Whinfell Tarn for Keiths 1st lifer of the Year with Red-headed Smew and a few year ticks to boot. Not the best weather for photography.

We were passing Seizergh Castle but no Hawfinchs. Finally got to Leighton Moss where a Marsh Harrier was showing well, then the Glossy Ibis was where i left it last week and made a great early edition to the year list.

I checked my phone to see 3 Snow Geese had flew over Leighton Moss and hour earlier....bugger but arriving at the Eric Morecambe hide we noticed they were here on the Marsh although with Greylags oh dear. erm Snow goose of unknown origin then ;-).

I noticed through the rain sodden glass hide windows what looked to be a Spotted Redshank, but it disappeared without a trace....for now ;-) Usual suspects from the hides. Checking the birds from the railway produced the much looked for Spotted Redshank..Bingo!
We had lunch in the cafe and moved onto the main reserve not seeing an awful lot but Marsh tit and Little Egret being the pick of the bunch.

We finished of at Heysham where a Glaucous Gull had been reported but there was no sign this evening, But a nice selection of other stuff including Shag, Guillemot, Adult Med Gull, Red breasted Merganser and lots of Kittiwakes. It was now time for Home....

Well I was on the way home from Derby when i thought i may as well stop off at Leighton Moss for the Glossy Ibis as it was just off the motorway and could be viewed from the road at Leighton moss and was the easiest twitch Ive ever been on. The wind was howling and the light poor but still nice views all the same.. The pics really don't do it justice.

Well thankfully my last blog post wasnt my last of the year as i got the opportunity to nip over to Norfolk from Derby where i was visiting my Parents. The Original plan was last week i had a trip over to brugge on the PnO ferry, we were to get back to port early Friday morning then wizz down to Norfolk from Hull. This didnt work as the port locks broke and a delay of about 3 hours made us get back to the car by half twelve which made day tripping Norfolk impossible. I thought that was it no Birding in Norfolk.
Well come today Rach and mother decided they would like a trip to Norfolk for the day......Bingo
So by 7-30 we were on our way stopping off at Fakenham for an elusive Great Grey Shrike, it did finally show albeit distant. This put us back a bit, i then had to stop on the B1355 to check about 300 Geese mainly Pinks but nicely 5 Bean Geese.

Finally we Got to Cley, Rach and Mother dropped me off and they went to sherringham. Now i new the Western Sandpiper had been Flushed at about 10-30 but i just had to live in hope that it would return today!!!!!.

About 2oclock it did finally return but was always distant so after watching it at distant i decided to go to another hide for closer views. I took some shots of a few of the Ruff that were present and just befor i left a Water Pipit flew over and landed infront of another hide but when i got to the other hide it was no where to be seen.

I finally got to the hide Bishop i think but the light had faded and i managed good views of the Western Sandpiper but photograpghy was impossible. Video footage here.

If im gonna be honest i would never have id this in a month of Sundays, i would have said No thats not a Little Stint and No its not a Semi p but what it is F*ck knows???? So im glad i never found it.

So an Awsome finish to the year and back to sunny Cumbria tomorrow. Booooo

Merry Christmas

Well, there will probably be no more proper birding until the new year now, so this may be my last post until the New year, so ill wish you all a Merry Christmas. I may try to find time to write a 12 month birding experience from this year but dont hold ya breath.
Looks like im going to finish on 264 Species for the Year Bou, or 270 if i include Ireland. The last couple of months have been my best in Cumbria since ive moved up here, but then i had more time to cover the local area.
Im not sure how many lifers this year ill have to tally up but 367 life list is very slowly on the up.
A trip to Spain meant the Western pal list increased a little although ive only had that for 2 years and its not very important to me anyhow.
My new birding buddy Keith has made birding in Cumbria much easier too.. thanks Keith ;-)
Anyway Hope everyone has a family filled Chirstmas and ill blog to you all Soon....
ps i may try to get for the Western Sandpiper at Cley Norfolk heres hoping...

17th Dec Desert Wheatear

Well finally another year tick and probably my last if i don't manage to get to Norfolk over Christmas.
house/dog/farm sitting for a friend this weekend so this gave me a small window to go and have a look at the long staying Desert Wheatear at Newbiggin in Northumberland. So after my chores i left for Newbiggin arriving 10ish. I started the walk along the beach after parking at church point. My first search nothing, now this bird hadn't been reported lately so i was hoping it was still about. A walk back proved fruitless too. So i gave it a second attempt, and bingo found it fairly easy to spot so not sure why i missed it first time around. It did show well but it didn't stay in one place long enough which made digiscoping difficult but i managed a few shots. I then took the advice of Cain, his blog here...and sat quietly and let the bird finally come to me.

Now id seen and photographed the bird i just had a few minutes to photograph a few more birds on the way back to the car. Golden Plover, Sanderlings and Bar-tailed Godwits showed well on the shore.

Golden Plover

Sanderling

Bar-tailed Godwit

As i was driving out the car park 2 Adult Med gulls were sat on lamp posts and a 1st Winter Med Gull flew over the Village. Time for home!

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A quick update from Wednesday 14th Dec a Short Seawatch from Workington produced a Great Northern Diver...