End of March trips

March was a long month with five weekends. I managed two trips before the end of the month.

Saturday 29th March 2014

A busy day that started off back in Macclesfield where the COUE'S ARCTIC REDPOLL had shown on the last two mornings, but only up to 07:30hrs. We decided to skip Westport to maximise our chances. We arrived just after 06:30hrs, and the two birders already present said they had probably seen the COUE'S ARCTIC REDPOLL in the tree. We joined then, but for some reason, the Redpoll flock couldn't settle at all. Very rarely did any drop onto the feeders, and when they did gather in the trees, they soon flew off. 

Eventually, we were alerted to a pale Redpoll perched high up. As soon as I saw it, it looked good for the Coue's Arctic Redpoll. I was particularly impressed by its frosty appearance. It really did stand out from the other Redpolls. I managed a short video clip of it before it flew off.

We headed south, briefly visiting Westport and dropping CJW off before we headed to Belvide Res to see the Firecrest. Excellent views were had as it showed extremely well. I had to admit I do rather like seeing Firecrest.

Next stop was at Blithfield on the dam, but there was no sign of the ROCK PIPIT, and there was no sign of the AVOCETS at Branston.

Undeterred, and still early in the day, next stop was at Brownhills in the fair county of West Mids for the long staying Glossy Ibis that had recently reappeared. When we arrived it was showing well in the paddocks.

Brownhills Glossy Ibis - my first in West Mids. Its a shame some birders refuse to recognise this beautiful county

There had been a report of two TAIGA BEAN GEESE in Worcestershire, but some bird information services were reporting them as TUNDRA BEAN GEESE. Having never seen TAIGA in the Midlands, we still had just enough time to head even further south to Kemerton Lakes, down in south Worcestershire near to the Gloucestershire border. On our arrival, it was only a short walk to see the two Taiga Bean Geese sat in a field with c30 Greylags. The general consensus amongst the local birders was indeed with Taiga and not the original Tundra. A fine Midlands tick indeed.  

 

Monday 31st March 2014

A busy week ahead and so Monday was the only day we could have a trip out. We headed down to Cambridgeshire where we hoped to see the three decent ducks that had turned up in recent days. 

First site was at Fen Drayton where a fine drake Baikal Teal was present. It seemed strange to see another one so soon after ticking the bird in December last year.

Next stop was Pymore and the Ouse Washes where there was a 1w drake American Wigeon. Luckily for us, two nice ladies had been watching it and knew exactly where it was. Unfortunately, our first views were rather distant, and the bird was asleep.With a handy swan nearby, we were soon on to it.

American Wigeon - you can just see the white blaze about 5 o'clock from the swan. Copies of the photo are available at £13 a copy (only in size 3x2) 

We headed a little further up the road to opposite the Four Balls Farm to look for the female RING-NECKED DUCK but despite quite a crowd searching, we couldn't find it. Not a bad day with Marsh Harrier and a pair of Garganey also seen. 

Mid March 2014

I hope you don't think the blog is becoming like that blog that is always a month behind, or even one of those blogs that ends then restarts under a different name, and then ends again. 

No, its just I've been doing quite a bit of birding recently, mainly due to my short unscheduled holiday nearing its end. I needed to test my physical strength during March, so what better way than a few birding trips.

Monday 17th March 2014

Following our return from our Scottish adventure, I took CJW up to Broken Cross in Macclesfield to look for the COUE'S ARCTIC REDPOLL that had been visiting a birders garden here. PJ and PLo had successfully seen it on Sunday. We stood for two hours watching the Redpoll come and go, but there was no sign today of the Coue's. Good views were had of several Mealy Redpoll though. 

 

Mealy Redpoll at Macclesfield

Friday 21st March 2014

Westport had a small purple patch at the end of March. On 19th, a Green Woodpecker showed well in the back, on 20th, a flock of Golden Plover and an adult Kittiwake flew over, on 21st, an Oystercatcher spent a few hours feeding around the lake, on 22nd, two Little Egrets flew over, and on 25th two more Kittiwake dropped in, plus my earliest ever British Swallow was seen.  

Pictures taken with my phone at Westport - Cormorant, Kittiwake and Oystercatcher

Saturday 22nd March 2014

A day out in Staffs with CJW was hard going, until we popped into Blithfield on the way back home. There we saw a fine drake Garganey and two early LRP's.

Drake Garganey at Blithfield - my first one in March in Staffordshire

  

A short trip to Scotland (Day Two - March 14th 2014)

Our aim this morning was to check the harbour out before breakfast, just on the off chance that the AMERICAN HERRING GULL would fly in. We were up at 05:45hrs and down by the harbour at 06:00hrs. The mist had cleared, and we could see far more than yesterday (like hills and mountains). 

Again we were entertained by the 40-50 Eider in the harbour, plus the Guillemots and Black Guillemots. The only other birder in town (Ewan - we'd met last night) arrived again and we exchanged phone numbers for later in the day. He also mentioned he'd seen the possible NORTHERN EIDER in the new harbour, but also said the beak wasn't right. With no sign of the AHG again, we drove round to see the Non-Northern Eider.

It was an easy task. All we had to do was find the Eider with the prominent fins and the normal beak, and that would be the Non-Northern Eider. As I sifted through the 40+ flock, I noticed quite a few of the males when they were displaying had small prominent fins. We soon gave up. CJW spotted the pre-breakfast bird of the day when four Rock Doves came on the jetty to feed. They came back later, with a Feral Pigeon amongst them. A single Greenland White-fronted Goose also flew over.

Eider in Campbeltown Harbour

Rock Dove

Campbeltown Harbour

Following our excellent breakfast at Redknowe Bed and Breakfast we set off for the AHG hunt. We checked the fields by the airport first, meeting up with Ewan again, the only other birder in town. We found a flock of 100+ large gulls plus several flocks of Greenland White-fronts, but no sign of the AHG. We drove back up to the main road to check out previous haunts, but again, there were no large gulls around. There appeared to be just the one flock in the area. 

We headed down to Southend to check out a different area. We even managed to do some birding from the beach, seeing Black-throated and Red-throated Divers, Black Guillemots, Gannets and Shag.  

 

 

Shots of Southend at the bottom of the peninsular.

We got back into the car and headed back up towards Campbeltown. CJW then checked his phone and found to his horror that he'd had a missed call from Ewan. He tried to ring him back but there was no signal. We hurtled back up towards the airfield, our hopes were rising. We were hoping that Ewan had found the AHG. Just as we could see the airfield, the signal was restored and CJW rang him back. He had indeed found something - a 2w Iceland Gull. 

Iceland Gull by the airfield.

We sat and thought about the situation. The wind was whipping up now and you had to hold onto your scope to stop it being blown over. We'd search the area and found no more gulls. It was now cold, and raining. We discussed staying until the evening again in case it returned to the harbour. The only problem was it would mean at 02:00hrs arrival back at home, and CJW had to be at work for 06:00hrs. We headed for the Snow Geese.

We headed north to Tayinloan  and checked all the geese in the area and down to the ferry. There was no sign. We headed north again and down to the holiday park but again nothing. Then as we headed even further up the road, CJW spotted two white blobs in a field with more Greenland White fronts.

 

Two Snow Geese near Rhunahaorine

With the drizzle turning to rain, and the mist coming down again, we decided to head for home. We thought that it would just be a repeat performance of last night. 

As we were driving home through the rush hour in Glasgow, a novice low listing photographer decided to tweet CJW and inform him that the AMERICAN HERRING GULL had returned to roost in the harbour. Not to worry, we've dipped before and we'll dip again. At least we've learnt birding etiquette though. 

Of course, there always has to be a song at the end. Now I'm feeling a lot better following my small session of body part altering, and the songs can return now that I'm fit enough to dance. 

A short trip to Scotland (Day One March 13th 2014)

We had been discussing a trip to Scotland for a few weeks now, and with the continued presence of three decent rarities - the BLACK DUCK, the AMERICAN HERRING GULL and the AMERICAN COOT, we devised a route which would see us add a few year ticks along the way as well. We originally planned to go last weekend, but with one thing or another we had to cancel. CJW was off again on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th and so plans were finalised. 

Unfortunately, the AMERICAN HERRING GULL's routine had changed since the weekend, and it was only now showing in the harbour pre-roost. On Wednesday evening, following several lengthy discussions with CJW, we totally reversed our route around Scotland. We set off at 01:00hrs on Thursday morning.

We decided to be safe and responsible, and we only did two hours driving each. GAS did the first drive up to the Lake District. Unfortunately it was foggy. So foggy, that you could hardly see where the bonnet ended. As we changed drivers at a service station in the Lake District, the access road was unlit and CJW almost had to walk in front of the car to guide us in. 

CJW did the next stint and with the fog clearing we sailed up through Glasgow. I took over and did the wonderful A9 stretch just as dawn was breaking over the snow capped mountains. Yes I timed my drive perfectly. 

We arrived at Loch Garten at 07:30hrs and spent an hour searching for CRESTED TIT. The reserve was obviously still closed and we made our way right up to the special forward hide. A Red Squirrel was the only bird of note. We also tried the woods on the opposite side off the road. These were quiet too, but there was a Red-throated Diver on Loch Garten plus a few Goldeneye. 

It wasn't the ideal start, and with a tight schedule to follow we headed to our next location. We were hoping to see CAPERCAILLIE here but that was a very long shot as it was mid morning now. Luckily, we did see two Crested Tits so it wasn't a complete waste of time.  

Another half an hours drive and we were pulling into Loch Flemington, east of Inverness. We soon found the famous white stones and the lay by to pull in. Then it was a race to find the American Coot. CJW won only because his bins were round his neck and mine were in the boot. Slight cheating I thought. The American Coot showed extremely well and we enjoyed our stay at the loch.

The Loch Flemington American Coot

And here's one I saw earlier - 10 years ago now on South Uist. How time flies

and this Cormorant showed quite well too

Unfortunately the white stones and a Coot weren't enough to put smiles on the faces of these two

We now had the long drive across Scotland from one coast to the other. The drive took in some of Scotland's finest scenery, driving the length of Loch Ness, through Fort William and down to Oban. As we reached the west coast, the mist descended and we had spells of drizzle. 

We finally arrived at Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre at 17:00hrs. Unfortunately, the mist had followed us, and the visibility in the harbour was poor. We found the yellow buoys that the AMERICAN HERRING GULL perched on and so we stood and waited. There were already quite a few gulls in the harbour, but quite large flocks were heading straight over us and out to sea. There was plenty to see to pass the time. A female Common Scoter was feeding, along with nine Black Guillemots, 20-30 Eider, a Red-breasted Merganser, Hooded Crows, Shag and a few waders. 

We realised that the gulls had stopped flying into the harbour and with the light fading with the increasingly poor visibility, we had dipped the AMERICAN HERRING GULL this evening. We still had tomorrow to try again.

We headed to our accommodation for the night. We unpacked and headed out to the Argyll Hotel for a very nice tea of Chicken stuffed with Haggis. An excellent way to end a long day. We returned to the B&B with the sound of Greenland White-fronted Geese flying overhead.    

Early March 2014

Just realised my last posting was on February 21st. I do apologise for slacking. We've done quite a bit of birding recently. Its good for my recuperation.

On Saturday 8th March, we popped into Gailey to see a female Red-crested Pochard that SR had found during the morning. We were quite surprised to see how pale it was, most likely a leucistic bird.

The ginger one at Gailey

On Tuesday, March 11th, we headed up to North Wales again, starting off with a visit to see the Black Grouse. They were showing exceptionally well by the side of the road when we arrived, some of the closest views we've ever had. Unfortunately, it was foggy, so it was a good job they were close.

We payed a brief visit to Llanbedr-y-cennin, but there was no sign of any Hawfinches today. I decided to pop down to Caerhun, a site that hasn't been good to me in the past. In fact, I've never seen Hawfinches there ever. Today was different, with one singing as we arrived. We eventually had brief views of one, before an amazing 14 birds flew out of the trees and away.

We finished the day on Anglesey at Cemlyn Bay, where an adult Mediterranean Gull showed well plus there was a Greenshank on the lagoon.