Patchwork Challenge 2015

One of my goals this year is to try and work a local patch, this will still be limited as I work and live in London during the week so am only home (most) weekends.  Every 2nd weekend my children stay over so I won't be able to visit every time they are visiting as it's not fair on them - they unfortunately do not share my passion for 'Geeking'.....

As I live in Bidford, the perfect local patch for me has to be Salford Priors Gravel Pits, I don't think they are watched a great deal although I believe a few local birders visit once a week.  Salford GP are still working pits, actually I believe the majority of the quarrying has been completed and unfortunately they're being returned to agricultural use.  Such a shame really as they site appeared not to have been touched for a good 5 years and already had the potential for a great reserve.

@NeilDuggan80 had also registered Salford GP for PWC2015 so we decided to cover as much ground between us to see what the area produces whilst maintaining our own PWC2015 lists.

Neil had already marked his territory and chose to cover the GP and the area to the West and North:

Neil's Patch - GP's bottom left.

 

So that left me with the South and East, which suited me fine as I live to the East and wanted to cover a few areas in this direction, obviously I've still included the GP's in my PWC2015. I included my garden as Tawny Owl pair visit in the evenings, the filed adjoining has 'stop-over' Turtle Dove most years so here's hoping:

 

My Patch - GP's centre left.

 

I believe Neil is off to a flying start however this was my first time home since Christmas so this was to be my inaugural visit.  This was a kids weekend so the wife kindly stayed at home with 2 of them whilst my daughter Rosie came along for the hell of it.

 

It was absolutely freezing at the GP's with a biting wind. Access was difficult as the path leading up to the main pit had been blocked by a huge mound of earth.  None the less we made our way round instantly being treated to some deer which we inadvertently spooked.

 

Our first species was a flock of Long-tailed Tit flitting around the small plantation, these were followed by a large number of Carrion Crow and Jackdaw feeding in the field to the right of the path.  Among them I found 1 Raven when they were flying between the tall trees of the plantation and the field.  Next was a Common Buzzard crying overhead, this then spooked a couple of hundred Woodpigeon also making use of the tall plantation trees.

 

We arrived at the Main Pit, I was hoping to see the Scaup Neil had reported the week before but I searched the water over and over and scrutinised the Tufted Duck time and again but I was unable to locate it.  The water held a small number of Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Coot and Little Grebe but not much else.

 

As we made our way to the Little Owl tree a few Meadow Pipits went up, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch and Wren were also seen.  We didn't find the Little Owl which didn't surprise me in that biting wind, must have been hunkered down in his nesting hole.

 

I didn't go any further as Rosie was feeling the cold so we headed back and added Mute Swan and Canada Goose to the list whilst having another futile search for the Scaup.  Our timing was spot on as a tractor and trailer were crossing the field across from the main pit, the trailer full of shooting folk. We got back to the car and drove up to Pophills Pit where we added Red-legged Partridge, Black-headed Gull, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch and a bonus Grey Wagtail.  We stayed for 5 minutes to watch the shot but Rosie wasn't comfortable with it, she didn't like seeing the birds falling out of the sky.  She asked me "how do they know what they are shooting" to which I replied "Exactly". Coincidentally a story running on Twitter was of a shooter boasting of his 'Bag' in which he had Snipe, only the photo was of a Jack Snipe, just about answers Rosie's question really.

 

We headed home them were I added Dunnock and Collard Dove to the list from my garden.  Then last night I added Tawny which was sat in the tree 'kewicking'

1st outing of 2015 - Dorset - Day 2

After yesterdays geeking around Studland we travelled to Portland for our first stay at the Portland Bird Observatory.  It was the wife, myself and a friend so we opted for the cottage.  Very basic accommodation but comfortable, reminded me of many places I stayed in the Army....  I've booked to return in May although this time I'm taking the kids and we are going to stay in the lighthouse bunk rooms, thought they'd find that more exciting.  All three of us spent the evening in the Pulpit Inn where we had a very tasty meal and some equally good wine.

The following morning I spent a few hours sea watching, this is something I am a complete novice at so could have missed anything.  What I did comfortably identify though were hundreds of Guillemots back and forth from the cliff face further along the coast.

I was hoping for a Great Skua as I have still not seen one, it was not meant to be though but I had some amazing views of a huge flock of Gannet in what I can only describe as a feeding frenzy, it was great to see them performing their synchronised plunge diving.  The only other birds I really saw were Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, some Cormorant and a couple of Shag.

After a few hours, which was all I could manage in the biting strong wind, I met the wife in the Lobster Pot for breakfast, a nice pot of tea and sausage sandwich always sorts me out.

I said goodbye to the wife who was walking the coastal path back to Weymouth where I would meet her later that day.  I'd heard there was an overwintering Black Redstart around the beach huts so thought I'd go hunt him down.

I didn't connect with the Black Redstart but did manage to find 4 Purple Sandpipers along with 5 Oystercatcher and 5 Turnstone plus the usual scattering of Rock Pipit.  The Purple Sandpipers were all taking baths in the rock pools which was fun to watch.  This time last year Purple Sandpiper was a lifer for me so it was great to connect with some I'd found myself.

Oystercatchers + Purple Sandpiper bathing

Turnstones + Purple Sandpipers bathing..



 

I was having no luck with the Black Redstart around the beach huts so I decided to try up at the horse paddocks before heading off (I had other targets to reach).  On my way there a gorgeous Raven drifting low over me 'cronking' as they do.  Still no Black Redstart but I was rewarded with this beautiful male Stonechat for my persistence.

 

Stonechat

Stonechat

 

Satisfied I took a brisk walk back to the car (still searching for the Black Redstart!) and made my way up to Grove Lane for the long staying Hooded Crow.

 

I was hoping this was going to be an easy find as this would be a UK tick for me, only seen them in Ireland and Europe.  How wrong was I... I arrived at the pig farm and there were plenty of corvids on the wing which I searched thoroughly but could only find Carrion Crow and Jackdaw, there was a few Magpies in the area too.  I scanned the hedgerows and field for 45 minutes as the crows floew back and forth but decided 45 minutes was enough.  I turned to walk back to the car only to noticed the Hooded Crow sat on a fence about 20m away!!! Probably been sat there for 45 minutes laughing at me.  I quickly reached for my camera but he had other ideas and flew to the furthest corner of the field hence this unbelievably poor record shot shows....

 

Hooded Crow - UK tick..

 

The Hooded Crow in the bag it was time to visit Portland Harbour.  I arrived to a nice adult Mediterranean Gull about 20m out.

 

Mediterranean Gull

 

I also reconnected with the Black Guillemot and Eider Duck, both I which I'd managed to get for the back end of 2013's year list a few weeks back.  The harbour also held a decent number of Red-breasted Merganser and a single Little Egret.

 

Red-breasted Merganser

 

After this I had to dash to Weymouth to pick the wife up, I convinced her to meet me at RSPB Radipole and had time to quickly view a flock of 8 Bearded Reedlings feeding relatively close to the path, I also added Reed Bunting to the year list.

 









1st Outing of 2015 - Dorset - Day 1

The wife and I were invited to a friends for New Year - in Dorset! I obviously started hatching plans for both my 2014 (end) and 2015 (start) year lists...... However....as we used to say in the Army (I'm sure they still say it), 'No plan survives first contact'  To start with the head gasket went on the car, so, I bought a second hand one the following day but the head gasket went on that one 24hrs later!!!!

 

Anyway, this weekend I returned to Dorset in a nice shiny hire car (to scrap the 2nd car) with 2 days geeking re-planned.

 

Day 1 was spent with the nice people from the Upton/Poole RSPB group on their monthly field trip, I stumbled across this event when checking out local sightings.  The weather was forecast to be treacherous with high winds and heavy rain. It was windy alright but fortunately the rain held off.

 

I rose nice and early and headed to Shell Bay on Studland where the group were meeting, I took the longer route and went via RSPB Arne as there had been some great reports from the day before, namely 8 Spotted Redshank, Avocets in their 100's and a few Spoonbill.  I had check the tide table, low tide was at 07:00 so I arrived at 08:00 with the hope it had started to make its way back in, it hadn't.  Being the first outing of the 2015, every species is new :)  Middlebere contained approx. 120 Eurasian Teal, 30 Eurasian Widgeon and a fair number of Curlew and Redshank, I was unable to find any Spotted Redshank though.  I only stayed for about 20 minutes as I had to get to Sandbanks.  On the way back to the car I added Green Woodpecker and Long-tailed Tit.

 

I arrived at Shell Bay to strong winds and rain, it didn't look promising.  Still, about 10 members of the group had turned up and were willing to brave the elements so the guided walk was on.

We headed for the beach which we planned to follow, the first birds were Shag, then somebody picked up some birds flying towards us - 5 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, that was me happy.  I couldn't believe it when I heard some Terns screeching, but there they were, 3 Sandwich Terns patrolling up and down the shoreline with a group of Black-headed Gulls, I'd seen reports of 1 overwintering but never thought we'd find it , never mind 3..!

Our walk along the beach also presented us with Pied Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Meadow Pipit, Cormorant, Sanderling and a further ~20 Dark-bellied Brents, a good start I thought.

 

We took a walk over to Brands Bay next, I didn't know there was a hide there, this time last year I stood in the bitter cold and wind, eyes streaming, looking for a Surf Scoter... No need this time, 10 happy campers squashed snugly into the hide for a scan of the Bay.

 

There were quite a few Shelduck, a couple of Eurasian Teal, a Little Egret and what looked like 3 Red-necked Grebe although the view wasn't good enough for me to be content they weren't Great  Crested. One of the group (with Eagle eyed vision) then picked up a duck across the bay, I was the only one who'd brought a scope so was asked to have a look, it was a cracking male Pintail.

 

We all headed back to the cars to take a drive up to Middle Beach, we spent some time scanning the open water below us, the Black-necked Grebe never disappoint here at this time of year, we quickly got onto a group of 7, lovely little birds.  There were some great beasts of Great Black-backed Gulls on the water, we also had a Red-necked Grebe in with 3 Great Crested Grebe which I found bizarre seeing on salt water.  Somebody found a small raft of duck so I put the scope on and there were 8 female Long-tailed Duck with an extremely handsome male.

 

After way too much excitement (for me anyway), we went to look for the Ring-necked Parakeets, I wasn't overly bothered what with living in London during the week.  We didn't manage to locate the Parakeets but I did managed to find a female Common Scoter quite close in on the water, one of the group had Goldcrest too.

 

The group called it a day at that point and we all went to the Middle Beach café for a nice brew, I managed a sausage sandwich too :o)  When we returned to the cars, I could resist one last look at the Long-tailed Duck.  I failed to relocate them but did find a Great Northern Diver.

 

I'd like to thank the Upton/Poole branch of the RSPB for allowing me to join them for their walk, I had a great morning with some very friendly people and got to see some fantastic birds which would not have been possible without their local knowledge of the area.

A New Year - A New Challenge

I can't believe I haven't posted since April last year, however it has been a very busy year spent wedding planning, getting married, new job and house renovation....

I've also been posting on Twitter rather than here, I suppose it's quicker, easier and more interactive but that's no excuse and this year I aim to make more of an effort.

I've signed myself up for the 2015 Patchwork Challenge and selected Salford Priors Gravel Pits as my 'patch', I'm sharing this with another local birder, so it should be interesting what this under watched site produces between the both of us.  I fear Neil may be visiting a lot more than me as the patch is at home and I work away during the week so can only bird it the weekends I'm back.

I've also signed myself up for a home study level 3 Diploma in Environmental Sciences.

I'm going to make the effort to get out birding more this year and really need to connect with the fabled (in terms of my life list) Long-eared Owl..... plus I'm going to try to record my sightings on BirdTrack but we'll see how that goes as this can easily take over your life.

That said, I'm going to keep my 1st year list for moths which, all in all should keep the wife happy, she has zero interest in birds or moths and thinks I already spend too much time geeking...

Oh, the wife has decided we are going to run the Southampton Half Marathon in April and I'm her training partner.

I was extremely fortunate to be able to visit the Galapogos Islands and Ecuador a few months back (honeymoon) so I should attempt to write up my birding encounters too.

Happy New Year and here's hoping you have a bird (and moth - if that's your thing) filled year, and that I have something to write about......

Farmoor Reservoir

My journey home from work takes me along the M40 so on route home on today I decided to pull off for a quick visit to Farmoor Reservoir to see the summer plumaged Red-necked Grebe.

I arrived to a nice sunny site and was able to walk around in a t-shirt, it was very quiet though, only one other car in the car park. The first birds I saw were 2 of these cute little ducklings:

Mallard Chick

One of the workers from the yacht club said there were 5 of them the day before, I suppose they stand out being yellow and are probably easy prey. I started to walk around the F2 reservoir as the Red-necked Grebe was reported to be in the SW corner - typical, the furthest possible point from the car park.... A female Mallard was swimming around with her ducklings, she had 12 in total! The ducklings were of a decent size so hopefully they will all survive.

Mallard & Chicks

There were quite a few Great Crested Grebes, I reckon there must have been 40 of them, they were looking resplendent in their bright summer colours, a number of pairs were starting their weed dance but they none did more than dabble.

Great Crested Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

I spent about half an hour in the SW corner and checked Great Crested Grebe after another but was unable to locate the Red-necked Grebe - typical...

I decided to head down to the Pinkhill hide to see if any waders were about, shouldn't have bothered though as some twat(s) have burnt it down, really pisses me off to see this, I went to two reserves last year where this had happened.

I then walked down to have a look at the fields were the Barn Owls can be seen hunting during the day although I never expected to see them at this time of year but one can hope. There were no Barn Owls though. I thought I'd head back to the car and check the F1 reservoir for the Red-necked Grebe on the way back. I bumped into another birder who had seen the Grebe - in the SW corner...! I couldn't believe it... He showed me it through his telescope, I could see it was close to the opposite site and couldn't resist tabbing back round to see if I could get some photos.

The tab back round was worth it as I got some amazing views, I must have taken about 200 photos of him. He was up and down the south side of the reservoir so kept me on my toes. Before I left the Grebe was up and down collect fish.

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

I couldn't stay forever so finally upped and left and was lucky enough to see my first Swallow of the year when one flew over my head but then turned and headed back over farmland. A bit further round another 2 Swallows flew over and out over the water and another 3 about 200m further round.

Swallow

Last bird was a handsome Pied Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail

I do like visiting Farmoor, for an inland site it has some great birds stop over, a Firecrest had been reported earlier that day and an Avocet was reported as arriving later in the day.