tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85600648000845747592024-02-16T04:35:00.693+00:00The Black GrouseBirding, stravaiging, foraging and grousing in Flintshire and beyond.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-48466599131194065432012-03-01T07:06:00.004+00:002012-03-01T08:11:45.239+00:00Gull Watching added to list of Olympic Events<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtpySOnsHdWDH95ikRrali1cmQmI0iMgPpjPfG7FaDmmOjnW3bYRtm8wPP3sDJ3LmVshU8d4F8-YaOxZjRelGPQDbMygib1EbzjuAUMaAZcfFn4nCf1ksYBbw_ov4IkkM46Mviz9Tptg/s1600/Olympic+Rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtpySOnsHdWDH95ikRrali1cmQmI0iMgPpjPfG7FaDmmOjnW3bYRtm8wPP3sDJ3LmVshU8d4F8-YaOxZjRelGPQDbMygib1EbzjuAUMaAZcfFn4nCf1ksYBbw_ov4IkkM46Mviz9Tptg/s320/Olympic+Rings.jpg" uda="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was widely considered that the definitive list for events in this year’s London Olympiad had been finalised months ago, but the IOC last night exclusively revealed that a new discipline, Gull Watching, will be a last minute addition to the roster.</div><br />
Prominent IOC member Gianfranco Caspian explained the reasoning behind the last minute decision.<br />
<br />
<em>“Gull Watching has increased in popularidy (laughs) over the last few years as more and more in learnt about these fascinating critters. Contrary to popular belief, we are an open minded bunch willing to consider the inclusion of any sport, providing the relevant inducements are in place.”</em><br />
<br />
The location of the event is yet to be decided, but rumours abound that North Wales is set to be chosen. <br />
<br />
Sab’s Coe mused:<br />
<br />
<em>“We could have opted for the tip near Rainham Marshes, but felt that the global audience of billions would be turned off. Not by the mind-numbing tedium of this discipline I hasten to add, but by the large pile of garbage.”</em><br />
<br />
Instead a beach in Gwynedd or Conwy is being mooted, where the spectacular backdrop of Snowdonia will at least provide some mental succour to dazed viewers.<br />
<br />
The rules are yet to be finalised, but provisional plans hint at some sort of ‘biathlon.’<br />
<br />
Another IOC member Mr Habu Kumlein added some flesh to the bone:<br />
<br />
<em>“We anticipate that all participants will be required to take an identification test. Local chippies and other fast food outlets will be invited to deposit any waste on a yet to be specified beach or school playing field. Each competitor will then have two hours to identify as many different species, age groups and races of gull as possible. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Finally, each entrant will give a lecture to a group of local birders on the subject of gulls, with the most points allocated to the contender who puts them all in a catatonic state the in the least amount of time.”</em><br />
<br />
However, the inclusion of Gull Watching has not been looked at favourably by everyone. Old-skool committee member, Professor Communis fumed:<br />
<br />
<em>“Seagull Mithering? What the tw*tting hell will those clucking, dribbling old duffers think up next – bloody Rhinoceros Painting, I’ll bet you.</em><br />
<br />
<em>I turn my back for 10 seconds to ensure that there is some nice totty competing in the Beach Volleyball and just look what fecking happens.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Gulls**t!”</em><br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-42573318904515840302012-02-08T13:01:00.002+00:002012-02-08T13:04:40.594+00:00The Ministry of Silly Gulls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWnjIrg8ExRdGJYRR30-F9Ii8MCN1K28ZusGgE-5VW2XfFne0F3AhLWOHzNRxfmCp-tVpaF0DF2qdGciI71pnNDk_4W0iBJqsVCIVPi9EkT8-u_FWyuaECHWpGC7ZLM0pkxJnY41Y4w0/s1600/silly+gulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWnjIrg8ExRdGJYRR30-F9Ii8MCN1K28ZusGgE-5VW2XfFne0F3AhLWOHzNRxfmCp-tVpaF0DF2qdGciI71pnNDk_4W0iBJqsVCIVPi9EkT8-u_FWyuaECHWpGC7ZLM0pkxJnY41Y4w0/s320/silly+gulls.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There is a scene in Monty Python where Graham Chapman, dressed as a General, appears on the screen in order to lambaste the previous sketches for being too silly.<br />
<br />
I think it is about time for his character to make a come back, for if I read another post or comment on a birding website relating to the finer points of gull identification I think I’ll go doolally.<br />
<br />
Why have so many birders gone gull mad?<br />
<br />
It’s not that I have anything against gulls – adults in breeding plumage are handsome birds - but I must confess that after a six month tour of India passed without me seeing a single gull, I wasn’t hankering to get down to my nearest rubbish tip when I returned to Blighty.<br />
<br />
Buried in last month’s Birdwatching magazine there was a well overdue article on ‘Intraspecies variation’, highlighting, through the use of various images, how different individuals of the same species can vary.<br />
<br />
It was quite illuminating and a timely reminder that not everything can be placed into neat categories. Old olive-munching default monkey Harris Tottle was fanatical in this respect, so anybody out there scrutinising P5 on a 3cy argentatus Herring Gull is in good company.<br />
<br />
Personally, I fall into line more with the American poet Walt Whitman:<br />
<br />
You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin, and even vagueness - ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things."<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-55234921502196275922012-01-30T07:52:00.002+00:002012-01-30T08:35:20.244+00:00Return of the Native<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYys1NXKoV5e2OIezLGI4Zq20G-180WaK0n11oCaQ_7cXRuVmTiEngiMt9nCjKZUi9bKAM_wue0ZRM9FPjwcpigYlIZIg8B4n96XRBee8DDARLP2fv7yzQnGmxIUVnKIIQ25DVhWKsgEA/s1600/great+white+egret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYys1NXKoV5e2OIezLGI4Zq20G-180WaK0n11oCaQ_7cXRuVmTiEngiMt9nCjKZUi9bKAM_wue0ZRM9FPjwcpigYlIZIg8B4n96XRBee8DDARLP2fv7yzQnGmxIUVnKIIQ25DVhWKsgEA/s320/great+white+egret.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I took a trip over to the Wirral Satdee morning in the company of Mark Murphy. It’s been nearly two years since I visited my old stomping ground, so it was a pleasant change to reacquaint myself with the area.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">We started early doors at Denhall Lane on a glorious clear, frosty and mercifully wind free morning. First bird out of the hat was a belter: a Great White Egret that flew overhead on a course, no doubt, to its regular haunt of Parkgate Marsh.</div><br />
Decca Pools was encouraging; although the assembled wildfowl was scared off by a hillbilly farmer who had decided he had just enough time to shoot something before he settled down to watch his collection of Jeremy Kyle DVDs.<br />
<br />
This didn’t affect the owls thankfully and it wasn’t too long before we enjoyed incredible views of two Short-eared Owls that flew so close there was no need for binoculars – a good job too as MM’s new pair of field glasses were steamier than a Fred Dibnah documentary.<br />
<br />
Neston Old Quay was next, with fingers crossed, Water Pipits to follow. They didn’t, perhaps our chances had been scotched by our lousy field craft as when rolled up a probable flew up stream and into cover never to return.<br />
<br />
We waited. And waited, but nada. Their no show made even more galling when I read later in dispatches that one had been seen at the sewage works and two later on near the bridge. <br />
<br />
Compensation was at hand however in the form of an immature Spoonbill picked up roosting behind Neston Reedbed. Strange, but I would have quite happily swapped it for a humble Water Pipit having only ever seen two, ever.<br />
<br />
The last half an hour was spent grilling Parkgate Marsh for any raptors. Incredulously after four hours in the field we had not logged one bird of prey and our luck didn’t change at the Donkey Stand Flash with a hazy blob of a Buzzagrine way over towards Flint the closest we got.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-10536393774633571342012-01-27T20:09:00.000+00:002012-01-27T20:09:28.526+00:00Nigra Falls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gNvZnfp2oA1k33Oj5SbKJLJCIN6cRF6bbt0H3lu4GhRv2hpADM32r0Onabk9hTmrDK4bMwsXmxi5rPL2KxWFg2kCEnalYkjcFV87xTnY92msgXxg3B8Z9cFB4sAOJ7pVSDTaGosQHms/s1600/scoter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gNvZnfp2oA1k33Oj5SbKJLJCIN6cRF6bbt0H3lu4GhRv2hpADM32r0Onabk9hTmrDK4bMwsXmxi5rPL2KxWFg2kCEnalYkjcFV87xTnY92msgXxg3B8Z9cFB4sAOJ7pVSDTaGosQHms/s400/scoter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>A few spare hours during the middle of the day afforded me the chance to nip down to the Point of Ayr.<br />
<br />
My first nose was over Warren Fields. Hundreds of birds were on show including at least 2,000 Lapwing and a monkey or so grazing Wigeon. <br />
<br />
No sign of the recently spotted immature Spoonbill; linking together a host of reports from a few websites, the bird seems to be a prostituting itself all over the estuary, never staying faithful to the same site!<br />
<br />
Next stop was the dunes at Talacre for a seawatch. It was immediately obvious that the recent spell of north-westerlies had succeeded in cornering quiet a few birds in Liverpool bay.<br />
<br />
Common Scoters were the most numerous, but despite well excess of a thousand birds flying fairly close to the shore, for the umpteenth time I didn’t see the telltale white wing-bar of a Velvet Scoter…do they ever come east of Rhyl?<br />
<br />
In addition to the Scoters, the normal potpourri of over-wintering commoner sea duck, grebes, auks and divers moved out at various points over the two hours with perhaps a pair of Goldeneye the pick – not common birds at the Point of Ayr.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-12540350179083862092012-01-25T10:07:00.000+00:002012-01-25T10:07:49.058+00:00Peregrinations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCklDOLeSPi5hCKhHEB5iNHzCPm1tysuwp6Vvt6nRycs_NOYv6lxkWzluoM9e0QWJ2ydG8UTNPg3j2-KqFb-iLtvzLnn5DRhtKm0nb5nmdVKt6tte49ujc_Pw9a_WrG7BZRhy_y61OxHU/s1600/Peregrine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="295px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCklDOLeSPi5hCKhHEB5iNHzCPm1tysuwp6Vvt6nRycs_NOYv6lxkWzluoM9e0QWJ2ydG8UTNPg3j2-KqFb-iLtvzLnn5DRhtKm0nb5nmdVKt6tte49ujc_Pw9a_WrG7BZRhy_y61OxHU/s400/Peregrine.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div>Being on the dole – despite the obvious drawbacks – does have its advantages. Especially if one enjoys a pastime that is to all intents and purposes ‘free’ to engage in, such as the noble art of birding. <br />
<br />
True, my life is so much poorer for not being able to charge around North Wales in pursuit of obscure races of gulls, but I guess I’ll just have to live with it and be content with walking down to one of Europe’s finest wildlife estuaries, the Dee. What a bugger.<br />
<br />
So, with the forecast downpour not materialising I set off after breakfast on a circular walk from my village, Lloc taking in Mostyn and Greenfield Valley.<br />
<br />
When I moved here a year and a half ago my initial impression of the local countryside was fairly negative. On par with most of Britain’s rural areas, it has largely been destroyed by modern agriculture; a once rich and diverse area replaced by a patchwork of green desert-like fields separated by piss-poorly managed hedgerows.<br />
<br />
Still, if you look hard enough there are still small pockets of quality habitat. The area between Whitford and Maes Pennant has a couple of good areas of woodland and a largish area of rough grassland too. <br />
<br />
A couple of weeks ago I heard a Willow Tit calling in one of the woods, and today an adjacent section of trees produced its close relative the Marsh Tit. Fortunately it wasn’t as bashful as the Willow Tit and stood in full view atop of a Rhododendron. <br />
<br />
The tide was well in when I reached Mostyn Docks and many of the waders had opted to roost on the farmers’ fields behind the seawall. They were extremely jittery and it was not long before their tormentor-in-chief revealed herself - an adult female Peregrine I picked up bombing after a flock of feral pigeons.<br />
<br />
Things were generally a little quiet until I reached Greenfield Dock, where hundreds of Starlings thronged the sewage works pools. <br />
<br />
The area of marsh behind the Kingspan factory was a little more interesting with a good mixture of waders roosting over the high water. A scan with the ‘scope revealed another Peregrine, this time an adult male doing a decent job of impersonating a Merlin by perching on a clod.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed fantastic views of the bird as it momentarily enjoyed a brief burst of sunlight. When seen at this proximity they are unquestionably absolutely beautiful.<br />
<br />
It was one of those moments that brings John Buxton’s quote to mind:<br />
<br />
“…lived wholly and enviably to themselves unconcerned in our fatuous politics, without the limitations imposed all about us by our knowledge of Azorean Yellow-legged Gull, Kumlien's Gull, Thayer's Gull and feckin' Argentatus Herring Gulls..."<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-10993837444716464422012-01-14T08:50:00.003+00:002012-01-14T08:55:50.017+00:00Out of the Ordinary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktsx-tPTSNcLiS7WfRV7t16_iUi119dCZULX8jj1XkLrAVBoQzNOB1nni38HLfLYb6gqPwicB94mZQ_-H4upVae9k4CxhyphenhyphenNjCiuuNSqfKqnxIeCh5Nm4tkvOQLqEX4xgmNE00q4tVqAk/s1600/Grebe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197px" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktsx-tPTSNcLiS7WfRV7t16_iUi119dCZULX8jj1XkLrAVBoQzNOB1nni38HLfLYb6gqPwicB94mZQ_-H4upVae9k4CxhyphenhyphenNjCiuuNSqfKqnxIeCh5Nm4tkvOQLqEX4xgmNE00q4tVqAk/s400/Grebe.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div>At long last a clear, calm and sunny winter’s day! I didn’t need asking twice and just after half past nine I was ‘powering’ down to Lavan Sands in the Morris Traveller, following a brief stop to pick-up Mark Murphy from Rhyl.<br />
<br />
I must confess to being guilty of perhaps under-rating this large area of estuary; the nearby Dee may get plenty of plaudits for its excellent range of wildlife and lah-de –dah new RSBP reserves, but Traeth Lavan holds a few cards up its sleeve too.<br />
<br />
For starters we headed to the rather bijou Spinnies. Not much doing from the lagoon hide, although I did register my first Water Rail for the year and we enjoyed fleeting views of a male Sparrowhawk in full operations mode.<br />
<br />
Another Water Rail was added on the way to the estuary hide scurrying across a ditch so foul smelling it could grace the metropolitan area of Chennai, or ‘Madras’ in old money. <br />
<br />
The mouth of the Ogwen played host to an excellent variety of waders and wildfowl, highlights being tens of Goldeneye, a female Goosander and a trio of Greenshank.<br />
<br />
Abergwyngregyn was the next port of call where I momentarily dreamt of living under Sharia Law – maybe people wouldn’t vandalise hides if they were going to receive 50 lashes as punishment! <br />
<br />
No matter, dozens of Pintail and Wigeon thronged the shoreline, and a minute didn’t pass without a Common Snipe being flushed from the marsh by the encroaching tide. <br />
<br />
Our attention was largely focused on the water though. Excellent visibility and a calm surface provided an ideal opportunity to scan the sea for Grebes, Sea Duck and Divers. Finally, after working through many Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers I picked-up a Slavonian Grebe towards the lighthouse at Penmon Point.<br />
<br />
It was close enough the exclude Black-necked - but still too far way to enjoy properly - so after I had worked through the large flotilla of loafing gulls (fad of the year for the North Wales birders?), we moved over to Morfa Madryn.<br />
<br />
After failing to secure a Firecrest near the car park we moved over towards the three hides. A workman was shifting logs bang in front of the first one, but the hundreds of waders roosting on the shingle spit didn’t seem unduly concerned. Oystercatchers dominated the roost, the remainder comprising a smattering of Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Curlew and a single Bar-tailed Godwit.<br />
<br />
The lagoons were teeming with roosting waders too. Nothing out of the ordinary, but as I worked through the shorebirds it was incredible how many of the birds were ringed – will the clampers/bird strokers/pseudo-scientists/hobbyists ever relent!?<br />
<br />
With the light fading it was time to move over to the promenade at Llanfairfechan. Again, many birds on drink - albeit a good way off shore - with a drake Eider the pick.<br />
<br />
There was a probable distant ‘Horned’ Grebe too and as I was squinting through my scope a passing happy-snapper asked Mark what we were looking at. <br />
<br />
“Slavonian Grebe”, I said. <br />
<br />
“…Oh, we’ve seen some Ordinary Grebes today…”<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-70702131317246049712012-01-07T14:18:00.001+00:002012-01-07T17:30:51.748+00:00Eider down Mostyn Way...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0uJwXIA9ssKslbf20oDploGGLau_S_Ya-hqEWxLTkPsmDnRpCRqw6O_QDVeYXSVyZ-0aSCFdrgSmu9aNhgKjXtibt8XfGe5x5y2JQcfzI22vYwmc8rS4nJ9i9P5hnGqSxfj9ic52nOI/s1600/eider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201px" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0uJwXIA9ssKslbf20oDploGGLau_S_Ya-hqEWxLTkPsmDnRpCRqw6O_QDVeYXSVyZ-0aSCFdrgSmu9aNhgKjXtibt8XfGe5x5y2JQcfzI22vYwmc8rS4nJ9i9P5hnGqSxfj9ic52nOI/s320/eider.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Finally, six days into the New Year I had the opportunity to get out and kick-start my Flintshire year list.<br />
<br />
It is always good to start afresh, especially considering that last year only registered a paltry 152 species – a dozen down on my previous and first effort.<br />
<br />
Will I ever reach the magical 200? Perhaps, providing Fortuna keeps delivering like she did on Friday.<br />
<br />
A ninety minute stroll down through Whitford and Mostyn Estates had produced the usual woodland birds, plus a calling Willow Tit that unfortunately I could not locate amongst a large mixed winter flock.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, it is very evident this winter that the effect a mild spell has on the numbers of small passerines. Hardly a Nobel Prize for Biology observation I grant you, but the trees and undergrowth are dripping with Goldcrests, Treecreepers and Wrens currently.<br />
<br />
Arriving at the coast near Mostyn Dock I soon added a couple of Great Crested Grebes to the list and I was happily enjoying watching them lazily dive in the winter sun until I picked-up a duck loafing just behind the rusting Duke of Lancaster.<br />
<br />
As I approached the vessel, it drifted out of sight Port (okay, I admit it, I had to look that up) side. A minor civil offence was required in trespassing behind the fence, but when I crept around t’other side a cracking immature drake Eider was a mere ten yards away from me. Nice.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-3164618860195050372011-12-13T10:21:00.001+00:002011-12-13T10:22:33.249+00:00Shenton's Smew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_hJmi0j-7EMaS7yqXR1hlQRQj1r7zQlPaBO3wbkhm7cBgm5Z__D_RJXAxfmrzvytU3fdi27DU7B5bKeG-kakZ4Gw84OuNZEwmZ4VR4JXkGbosjlTfEvvHsqQUg8Q0qaMJt9Qs_m43Jo/s1600/muscovy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_hJmi0j-7EMaS7yqXR1hlQRQj1r7zQlPaBO3wbkhm7cBgm5Z__D_RJXAxfmrzvytU3fdi27DU7B5bKeG-kakZ4Gw84OuNZEwmZ4VR4JXkGbosjlTfEvvHsqQUg8Q0qaMJt9Qs_m43Jo/s320/muscovy.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>I have been out and about over the last few days, including an excellent Saturday morning at the Point of Ayr. <br />
<br />
If the seawatch at this site on Friday was a little sketchy, it redeemed itself the following day with some excellent birds.<br />
<br />
Contrition was not the order of the day early on though; although the area was thronged with birds there was little variety on the wader and wildfowl front and more gulls then you could shake a stick at.<br />
<br />
In fairness, the immature Spoonbill put on a show, but it was a good hour and a half before the first raptor appeared on the radar – a fem/imm Merlin that buzzed the roost a couple of times before docking on a mound in the middle of the marsh.<br />
<br />
Eagle-eyed Mark Murphy then caught a glimpse of a possible Jack Snipe disturbed by the incoming tide, but the bird was not playing ball and promptly buried itself in a clump of Sea Purslane.<br />
<br />
A Ron Atkinson spotter’s badge was then duly earned after he picked out a female Goosander that had stealthily drifted in.<br />
<br />
For afters it was over to Warren Fields and after setting up scopes near the railway bridge I located a group of five grey geese. My thoughts were initially White-fronts, but with my only experience of these birds a fleeting glimpse of a pair of juveniles about two miles out into Banks’ marsh near Southport, I was a little unsure.<br />
<br />
Thankfully there was one adult replete with diagnostic great whacking white band around the base of its bill – the other four being juveniles.<br />
<br />
A Barnacle Goose was also found with a group of Canada Geese, but the most intriguing bird was what appeared to be a drake Smew roosting on the bank of one of the pools.<br />
<br />
Sadly, the opportunity of a life bird for Mark was taken away when it revealed itself to be a Muscovy Duck, or to give it its new name – Shenton’s Smew.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-76998291113855612762011-12-09T19:28:00.003+00:002011-12-09T22:57:06.950+00:00Parsimonious Poseidon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhf_JKmUSupkOgOOxLEWiW1ePR7o4_unxqFtSqtXE-elvEsI19IBNpJOtPtsA6eWB84xQWJ9zHyiSUGPocWpgvzRCHqq148qdg-rbrWsrEqzjcxARkONqaM-7Q8ersQsAKcX5to-FvhA/s1600/gulls+travels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318px" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhf_JKmUSupkOgOOxLEWiW1ePR7o4_unxqFtSqtXE-elvEsI19IBNpJOtPtsA6eWB84xQWJ9zHyiSUGPocWpgvzRCHqq148qdg-rbrWsrEqzjcxARkONqaM-7Q8ersQsAKcX5to-FvhA/s400/gulls+travels.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With strong westerly winds blowing for the majority of the week, I decided to take a punt on a seawatch down at the Point of Ayr this morning.</div><br />
With most of the Skuas, Petrels and Shearwaters now safely kicking it in warmer climes, a December session is never going to set the pulse racing fully, but nonetheless this time of year can still be productive.<br />
<br />
Things started in a promising fashion with a handful of Kittiwakes and a small party of Red-breasted Mergansers moving out of the estuary before most teachers were calling their register.<br />
<br />
It was good to see a few juvenile Kittiwakes too; through no fault of their own the Scottish breeders have been about as productive as a Greek roadie in the last few years – perhaps they have enjoyed more success this year?<br />
<br />
A 1st winter Little Gull was next on the scene, battling valiantly against the strong gusts. Superficially similar to a young Kittiwake in plumage, there really is no mistaking these little critters if you take a few minutes to observe their flight and behaviour. It was a plucky little bugger too, spending plenty of time feeding from deep within the troughs.<br />
<br />
And then things gradually petered out. Great Crested Grebes, Red-throated Divers, Guillemots and a few Common Scoters passed through, but nothing too interesting.<br />
<br />
The winds began to abate too and then I noticed the Cormorants started to get busy commuting around in all directions – always a sign that normal business is resuming. Time to call it a day.<br />
<br />
It was now my time to do battle with the wind as I headed to Prestatyn to pick up a bus home. Hundreds of gulls were roosting on the beach and although conditions were not exactly conducive to careful study I did managed to pick out an adult Yellow-legged. <br />
<br />
Until later.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strike></strike>Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-74539630833017861342011-12-02T18:50:00.005+00:002011-12-02T19:01:04.495+00:00Inclement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyV_6yMuEMbKNC9zD94wtcpX3-R_5r1gz9iwxzg97I831TyQfvZS5n6BymAH_RgOV0mPRiCYLQVjSJDjYGRVre8PYlD3fFg80tMMsUQ4vPoy48n3mkcKaDTaVPpfpT-TkErvrLRwHrl4o/s1600/grey+wagtail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="260px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyV_6yMuEMbKNC9zD94wtcpX3-R_5r1gz9iwxzg97I831TyQfvZS5n6BymAH_RgOV0mPRiCYLQVjSJDjYGRVre8PYlD3fFg80tMMsUQ4vPoy48n3mkcKaDTaVPpfpT-TkErvrLRwHrl4o/s400/grey+wagtail.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I’ve been out on a couple of birding expeditions this week – a walk from home at Lloc to Prestatyn and a hobble around Greenfield Valley and Dock.<br />
<br />
Let’s start at the beginning.<br />
<br />
On Tuesday I set off in warm sunshine and a steady breeze and so it was until I neared the Point of Ayr when the skies darkened somewhat, blackened and then moved into a new level of lightless murk hitherto unknown to Man.<br />
<br />
Cue monsoon and gale force winds. Fortunately – or so I thought – there was a Hawthorn tree thicker than your average Wag, so I hunkered down leeward side and waited for the deluge to pass – except it didn’t.<br />
<br />
Forty-five minutes later I was sodden and with the prospect of three more hours of walking to go I was not a happy camper.<br />
<br />
It was a pity really, because things had started well: a Marsh Tit in Garth Wood and a quintet of Brent Geese near Mostyn were unexpected.<br />
<br />
When I squelched up at the Point of Ayr there was pandemonium as the waders and wildfowl had been caught with their pants down so to speak.<br />
<br />
The combination of the lashing wind and low pressure had caused the tide to cover the marsh in a spectacle reminiscent of a good ten metre effort. <br />
<br />
With my bins not in the best of shape and myself not entirely won over to the idea of catching hyperthermia I was in no mood to enjoy the commotion, but there were excellent numbers of birds – particularly Pintail.<br />
<br />
Leaving the marsh I headed for the shoreline to undertake a Snow Bunting/Shore Lark hunt, but was surprised to see the waves hammering into the dunes. Not being particularly partial to drowning, I walked along the tops of the dunes until the tide had ebbed.<br />
<br />
Alas, not much to report. I’ve not seen any Snow Buntings at Talacre this year and indeed I only had one passage individual last winter. I’m not sure why this is, but I have noticed a distinct lack of a strandline along most of beach…lack of food?<br />
<br />
After a day’s convalescence, I was still in the painful throws of severe chafing, but nonetheless decided a trip to Greenfield was in order.<br />
<br />
Hobbling long like John Wayne did have its advantages – I was able to pay a little more attention to any arboreal action as I shuffled along.<br />
<br />
Plenty of mixed flogs of foraging passerines around, although ‘mixed’ is pushing it a little – the three major groups I located were dominated with Blue and Great Tits with the odd Goldcrest, Nuthatch or Coal Tit thrown in.<br />
<br />
I had hoped for a Yellow-browed Warbler, Firecrest or Lesser Spot – fat chance.<br />
<br />
Still, a Dipper was a good find as was a Grey Wagtail, both earning a crust on the stream at the bottom of the Valley. This made up a little for the distinct lack of birds on any of the pools, that quite frankly were pony.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-26630150619725509882011-11-27T09:31:00.001+00:002011-11-27T09:32:50.960+00:00Quay Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A5hzf1HDOuMip9B4v4bRWcKcLen4FKvUd0_APyLeVS6k83bGP97LylviUjIHz7z7Q1An8dfpEouyIDyQam9D2CtmgG51k0vWAIqVU0kylOkC5DLR0NFU3YFhqf75Ti6SFrCPpU3sWQw/s1600/birdfest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="201px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A5hzf1HDOuMip9B4v4bRWcKcLen4FKvUd0_APyLeVS6k83bGP97LylviUjIHz7z7Q1An8dfpEouyIDyQam9D2CtmgG51k0vWAIqVU0kylOkC5DLR0NFU3YFhqf75Ti6SFrCPpU3sWQw/s400/birdfest.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It may well be the North West Birdwatching Fair at Martin Mere this weekend, but even the WWT’s premier reserve would have struggled to match the festival of wildlife on show at Connah’s Quay NR this weekend.</div><br />
Oakenholt Marsh was the reluctant host to thousands of wildfowl and waders as a very high tide forced them to compete for a rapidly decreasing amount of exposed marsh – I imagined it to be a sort of biblical scene for the unlucky creatures that didn’t make the cut for Noah’s Arc!<br />
<br />
With Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Redshank, Lapwing and Teal all probably numbering over two thousand each, plus hundreds of Wigeon, Pintail and Knot on the scene too, it was truly an incredible spectacle.<br />
<br />
Rarer birds included the immature Spoonbill, a score or so Twite, a monster juvenile female Peregrine, a Rock Pipit and on the Bunded Pools a trio of Greenshank and a Red-breasted Merganser.<br />
<br />
More distantly a juvenile Hen Harrier hunted over White Sands, whilst in the same vicinity a family party of probable Whooper Swans grazed.<br />
<br />
Mildly comic was the most incompetent wildfowler I have ever seen, who displayed about as much field craft as a NWBF photographer. <br />
<br />
I did give me an idea though. Now that the Snow Bunting stalkers have succeeded in chasing-off their quarry, perhaps they could consider buying a few wooden decoys and attempt to lure them back!<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-8902058957333088512011-11-24T18:10:00.000+00:002011-11-24T18:10:48.658+00:00Snow Buntings to appear at Leveson InquiryHigh profile celebrities such as Siena Miller, JK Rowling and Hugh Grant may have grabbed the headlines with their appearances at Lord Leveson's inquiry into standards in the press, but next week - in an unprecedented move - a flock of birds will share their experiences at the hands of the craparazzi.<br />
<br />
The avian witnesses are a flock of Snow Buntings that regularly overwinter at a beach near Rhyl in North Wales. In recent years they have been relentlessly hounded by a small group of photographers, making their lives a living hell.,<br />
<br />
One of the group - who are now holed-up at at a secret coastal location after being chased up and down the beach last weekend - commented:<br />
<br />
"When we first arrive things are generally okay, but as soon as the word gets out that we have returned all hell breakes loose."<br />
<br />
"..you think Siena Miller has problems, but we no more than she'll ever know about bring relentlessly pursued by a group of weird male fetishists with cameras.."<br />
<br />
Another added:<br />
<br />
"We were hoping to bargain with them and maybe arrange one weekend when we strike a few poses (you know, a few of us playing poker or pool etc) and in return we then get left in peace. But it's hopless, they just can't help themselves and we just don't understand what they want. What did Einstein say was the definition of stupidity...doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results? I think that pretty much sums them all up, however I was caught with a rather wistful look last weekend and I've never done that before."<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-58242620387275425872011-11-21T14:40:00.003+00:002011-11-21T14:50:29.542+00:00RSPB Valley Lakes DiscoveryExcited botanists made a beeline for Llyn Penrhyn this weekend following the discovery last week of a stem of Phragmites that was slightly longer than any of the others surrounding it, leading many eminent scientists to speculate that it could be the American subspecies americanus.<br />
<br />
Dr Reed from Bangor University was out for his weekly peregrinations around the RSPB’s Valley Lakes when he happened upon this startling discovery.<br />
<br />
“I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, but there it was growing in front of me and clearly 2 inches taller than all the other reeds around it.”<br />
<br />
“On closer inspection I was even more exited as the ligules measured 0.95 millimetres. As any fool knows The Eurasian genotype can be distinguished from the North American genotype by its shorter ligules of up to 0.9 millimetres (0.04 in) as opposed to over 1.0 millimetre (0.04 in), shorter glumes of under 3.2 millimetres (0.13 in) against over 3.2 millimetres (0.13 in) (although there is some overlap in this character), and in culm characteristics.”<br />
<br />
If verified this will be the first confirmed occurrence of the subspecies in the UK, but there are sceptics, most notably Professor Communis who quickly poured scorn on Dr Reed’s find.<br />
<br />
In language more colourful than most in academia, he boomed:<br />
<br />
“Seriously, what fucking planet is he on? Pluto? Actually not Pluto, because it’s not a cocking planet is it anymore – who do you think I am? Professor friggin Brian Cox or something? Anyway, does he think that all species in the natural world are manufactured in a mould so that there are all feckin’ identical? Has he never seen a bleedin’ Red-necked Grebe?”<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-37174449850413303332011-11-18T07:21:00.002+00:002011-11-18T07:24:14.266+00:00Spoonerism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjbuZ6vXE1rSCNw_ZMxNV7UPxVAFXIHLg3z79O-IobNoLgL0cuZPo_OAzIHuzg35DE8VxZEFwLVKRx5t-nngx79k-cW-ssUfaQ9F5TxcxtvgLpbFXOCrFmiGFqiQe4fWjhN1n28XKqr0/s1600/spoony.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjbuZ6vXE1rSCNw_ZMxNV7UPxVAFXIHLg3z79O-IobNoLgL0cuZPo_OAzIHuzg35DE8VxZEFwLVKRx5t-nngx79k-cW-ssUfaQ9F5TxcxtvgLpbFXOCrFmiGFqiQe4fWjhN1n28XKqr0/s320/spoony.gif" width="261px" /></a></div>An immature Spoonbill found feeding in the ‘White Sands’ channel, viewed from the West Hide was the highpoint of yet another rewarding visit to the excellent Connah’s Quay NR. <br />
<br />
A Red-breasted Merganser (as per Keith & Bob – great to catch-up with you both!) was also present in the Bunded Pools, where a male Peregrine delighted in giving two small flocks of Wigeon the heebie-jeebies.<br />
<br />
The only notable no-show was the sizable flock of Twite that has been patronizing the car park and wire fence near the West Hide.<br />
<br />
Interestingly these finches are apparently to be the subject of a netting exercise in order to determine the birds’ provenance. One can sort of understand the targeted study of a group of these declining finches, but why risk injuring or killing them in a mist net?<br />
<br />
If the birds are colour ringed, then surely patient observation from the West Hide with a telescope would enable somebody to obtain all the salient details without mithering them?<br />
<br />
Also the subject of a good gossip was the news that the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher of a couple of winters ago has yet to be officially accepted by the relevant bodies.<br />
<br />
The lack of a photograph is supposedly the main reason for the hold-up – notwithstanding the fact that tens of competent birders viewed the bird for weeks on end…<br />
<br />
If local rarity committees are to remain relevant, then surely this sort of churlish and pedantic behaviour should stop?<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-89822474270525348542011-11-16T18:36:00.001+00:002011-11-16T18:42:47.460+00:00Short Attention Span<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4I9BqO2PxNBReRc-gqAOHb6gH4dCGAVvVnzvzAfH4aO4TtfKHbmtaMAuBawvRB9654f3WlhQLYOn7hK1cDnissp-ZcRiE_3Vqznszb8d8txmhTXYoSJt12TSm19oHfCBLFcWvz_3PgU/s1600/short-eared+owl" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="256px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4I9BqO2PxNBReRc-gqAOHb6gH4dCGAVvVnzvzAfH4aO4TtfKHbmtaMAuBawvRB9654f3WlhQLYOn7hK1cDnissp-ZcRiE_3Vqznszb8d8txmhTXYoSJt12TSm19oHfCBLFcWvz_3PgU/s400/short-eared+owl" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Talk about saving the best ‘till last.<br />
<br />
I undertook another hike from home at Lloc to Prestatyn yesterday with the aim of rendezvousing with the high tide at the Point of Ayr and then moving over to Gronant to look for some Short-eared Owls.<br />
<br />
This time I was fully tooled up with my telescope and foldaway chair and after a two hour yomp of Goose Green-esque intensity I was in situ at the old hide site.<br />
<br />
It was glorious. Thousands of waders thronged the shoreline including surprisingly high numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits – perhaps due to the prolonged South-easterlies the birds had been pushed further east?<br />
<br />
Sadly – as is increasingly common at the POA – the high tide roost was disturbed by a cretin with a camera. Not a craparazzi, just s casual with a basic camera grinning gormlessly at the scattering Oystercatchers. Prat.<br />
<br />
Next up was Warren Fields that held good numbers of Lapwing a gross or so of grazing Wigeon and a pair of dozing Pochards.<br />
<br />
En route to Gronant I pitched-up on top of the highest dune for a scan of the drink. It was very quiet, but persistence (actually more of a reluctance to move my backside) paid off eventually with a distant flyby Great Northern Loon.<br />
<br />
Close inspection of the strandline all the way to the Little Tern watch-point at Gronant produced nowt – something I considered a little unfair considering Snow Buntings seem to be popping up everywhere else!<br />
<br />
Moron of the day number two was loose though. Sharing the same gormless retarded grin of the aforementioned, he delighted in watching his Whippet chase every element of birdlife on the beach.<br />
<br />
Exhausted I collapsed into the dunes at Gronant and waited for dusk. As it happens I didn’t have to wait that long.<br />
<br />
A tick past three and the first Short-eared Owl began its first sortie. Seemingly determined to cover every inch of territory it flew back and forth up and down the gullies in the dunes – sometimes very, very close.<br />
<br />
After thirty minutes it was joined by another bird and soon after a third. The light was fantastic and the next twenty or so minutes I spent burrowed in the vegetation watching the birds hunt was the best birding I’ve had all year. And, I flushed a Woodcock too – superb.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-86274409650746836032011-11-10T18:08:00.000+00:002011-11-10T18:08:45.216+00:00Twite Place, Twite Time.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4xD1ygPXRFvY1GyvbAMtjvYfYRy63SsjKhlPq0VbTFROjwc4Xjos9pz1tEfqNUOYRNmi3eVWDMB_KdsJavGdPnFsp0E_PkFrNFh0wyimDT8-J7Rw9HFl5nw3U2gPqWmr6kD4GngiNc0/s1600/Twite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4xD1ygPXRFvY1GyvbAMtjvYfYRy63SsjKhlPq0VbTFROjwc4Xjos9pz1tEfqNUOYRNmi3eVWDMB_KdsJavGdPnFsp0E_PkFrNFh0wyimDT8-J7Rw9HFl5nw3U2gPqWmr6kD4GngiNc0/s320/Twite.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A cracking flock of seventy-two Twite – the biggest I have ever seen – was the highlight of a trip to Connah’s Quay NR over the high tide.</div><br />
They must have bred like Rabbits this year as there were several smaller flocks bouncing about too - a sign of a Twite renaissance? Let’s hope so.<br />
<br />
Otherwise things were fairly quiet, although a male Peregrine did buzz the waders roosting towards Flint before alighting on the pylon behind the Ash Pool.<br />
<br />
A summer-plumaged Dunlin was a novelty this late in the year. I assume it must have been a female as a male Dunlin wouldn’t have taken this long to prepare its winter wardrobe!<br />
<br />
The Bunded Pools were fairly quiet, although a quartet of Greenshanks was viewable from the middle hide.<br />
<br />
For afters Mark Murphy and I set a course for Cop Hole and a scan of Burton Marsh.<br />
<br />
It wasn’t too long before MM picked out a brace of Shorties, a female Merlin and a sub-adult male Hen Harrier, before my single paltry contribution of an immature female Hen Harrier.<br />
<br />
You don’t too many male Hen Harriers on the Dee to the pound, so we enjoyed the spectacle for as long as we could before heading for home…<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-8509799212790900812011-11-04T19:20:00.000+00:002011-11-04T19:20:10.069+00:00Ffynnongroyw Rocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsntfNxKTgN2HradDU8J6yt_5d73KP9NdW8wEXfezBQ5VTpEQk-Tx9kcl4PpEQo4tzN8L67nXCAvvBk381WPnAs92qwVISPck54fpExs4EkKnJHK2Z5d4s-RPrDrORthiUSTodRQEt2dU/s1600/rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsntfNxKTgN2HradDU8J6yt_5d73KP9NdW8wEXfezBQ5VTpEQk-Tx9kcl4PpEQo4tzN8L67nXCAvvBk381WPnAs92qwVISPck54fpExs4EkKnJHK2Z5d4s-RPrDrORthiUSTodRQEt2dU/s320/rock.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I recently bumped in a chap I know from Oakenholt called Eddie. It was in Holywell and I was doing my shopping.</div><br />
“Hello Paul, how you doin’? You’ve put on weight.”<br />
<br />
He was right.<br />
<br />
I had been planning to walk from Lloc to Prestatyn for a while and now it was time for action.<br />
<br />
First port of call was the small flash at Whitford. Mallards, Mallards, Mallards, hooray a Teal, Mallards, Mallards, Mallards…you get the picture.<br />
<br />
Then something spooked them. I was a largish falcon and although flying unusually lethargically it was definitely a young female Peregrine. Good start.<br />
<br />
Garth Wood was next up and although I encountered two sizeable winter flocks of passerines they were both dominated by Long-tailed and Blue Tits.<br />
<br />
After the damp and murky woodland it was good to emerge back out into the sunshine at Ffynnongroyw.<br />
<br />
The beach and adjoining mudflats were lightly peppered with Shelducks and gulls, but it was the thin rocky shoreline parallel to the railway wall that produced the goods in the guise of a brace of Rock Pipits.<br />
<br />
Pushing on I soon reached the old hide site at the Point of Ayr. A scan of the point revealed the unmistakable metronomic swishing action of a feeding Spoonbill – I had seen reports of one in recent days, but I had imagined the bird had probably been clocked asleep on one of the flashes on Warren Fields.<br />
<br />
Doubly pleasing was the fact that it was a new bird for the Point of Ayr and the first I have seen anywhere for a good while. <br />
<br />
The next leg of the trek involved a slog along the beach from Talacre to Gronant with the aim of unearthing a Snow Bunting or two.<br />
<br />
No such luck today, with two small flocks of Linnets as good as it got. <br />
<br />
Having nearly reached Prestatyn, I opted to negotiate the sand dunes behind the golf course. After flushing a handful of Meadow Pipits I then disturbed a larger Pipit with that flew off high and fast uttering a call more reminiscent of a Sparrow.<br />
<br />
I immediately thought Dick’s Pipit, but I have only seen a couple before and certainly never heard one calling, so this one will have to go down firmly in the possible category…<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-82599222354368707222011-10-30T20:15:00.001+00:002011-10-30T20:18:14.137+00:00Llocale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7L0tXeva5vqTEdN2Eh1sQmE_wIoLCXoU1AysF3hZClDiDSM5arPO6DXnY_Ft33OSpbS7VzfrR7wgLhJppe7stJ6he_TL18KBEqzQYsyh5s5xe5JKIif69B-MWAhHo-c-lO0rjgPV5CA/s1600/red+admiral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7L0tXeva5vqTEdN2Eh1sQmE_wIoLCXoU1AysF3hZClDiDSM5arPO6DXnY_Ft33OSpbS7VzfrR7wgLhJppe7stJ6he_TL18KBEqzQYsyh5s5xe5JKIif69B-MWAhHo-c-lO0rjgPV5CA/s320/red+admiral.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I spent an enjoyable few hours performing an orbit of my cottage in Lloc early this afternoon.</div><br />
First stop was the petit Pen y Gelli nature reserve near the A55. Never brimming with birds, the site was true to form today, although it did hold a circling Raven and a brace of Red Admirals, including the above battered example.<br />
<br />
A small area of scrub near Pant y Wacco was a little more productive with the heavily berried Dogwood and Hawthorn containing a handful of buried Blackbirds and a single Redwing, plus a patrolling male Sparrowhawk.<br />
<br />
Next up was beech woodland to the north-east of the village. After a very uneventful walk through I settled down on the edge of a field to scan the horizon above Whitford.<br />
<br />
After adding, three Buzzards, another Sparrowhawk, four flyover Skylarks and a sextet of Stock Doves I noticed a trickle of Chaffinches working their way towards me through a row of mature trees next to the footpath.<br />
<br />
The trickle soon became a flood as scores and scores of birds appeared on the scene seemingly out of thin air. <br />
<br />
Soon they were flying over my head and landing in an old oak tree situated in the middle of a small pasture.<br />
<br />
After roughly 6-700 had flown by I eventually heard what I had been keeping my ears pricked for – the more scratchy and wheezy call of a Brambling. <br />
<br />
Eager to grill the flock further I decided to inch closer to the oak, but unfortunately I was not the only thing eyeing the finches. A male Sprawk buzzed the canopy and scattered them in all directions and in a matter of seconds they had all vanished as quickly as they had arrived…<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-82053566079615750162011-10-28T17:26:00.000+01:002011-10-28T17:26:54.141+01:00Black Fawr<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-d6YjqRRJfK41wvmxgNb3m7ky1HtNoXLrNT6BwJeKzhwccTTW9Jn1EYgtYeSJzawF85lwgACyG7sQuxsdvDbYO6TL1WBdhQwfhcnj0qrNGyCd5gDAiydtC6sZZGbOxGbWJbzekjp34g/s1600/arenig+fawr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-d6YjqRRJfK41wvmxgNb3m7ky1HtNoXLrNT6BwJeKzhwccTTW9Jn1EYgtYeSJzawF85lwgACyG7sQuxsdvDbYO6TL1WBdhQwfhcnj0qrNGyCd5gDAiydtC6sZZGbOxGbWJbzekjp34g/s400/arenig+fawr.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
After enduring nearly four weeks of decorating and a crisp, sunny autumnal day forecast it was time to down paint brushes and head for the mountains.<br />
<br />
Arenig Fawr was the destination and after my sister had picked me up at 8.30, it was full steam ahead.<br />
<br />
We rocked-up near Llyn Celyn and a cursory scan of the lake revealed it to be holding precisely one bird. It clearly had a talent for modern politics positioning itself precisely in the middle and thus remained unidentified, although it hinted at being a drake Goosander.<br />
<br />
Out on the slopes of Arenig Fawr it was very much a day that Henry Ford (although perhaps not one JT and Freddie Mercury look-a-like Luis Suarez) would have enjoyed – we could watch any bird so long as it was black.<br />
<br />
Thus, a handful of Carrion Crows, a pair of Ravens and a flock of migratory Starlings were all there was to be had.<br />
<br />
Then things got a little better, although very much on theme – a trio of Choughs were flushed by a chap and his howlin’ dog a few hundred metres ahead. Nice.<br />
<br />
After enjoying an incredible panorama that afforded lovely views of all of North Wales’ major mountain ranges it was time to descend and we had all but reached the bottom when the streak was ruined by a Meadow Pipit.<br />
<br />
But, in a curious twist, we then spotted what must be Wales’ only black sheep farmer. <br />
<br />
Not a farmer of black sheep ,oh no sirey, an actual sheep farmer who was black. It then struck me that apart from professional morris dancing, there could be no whiter profession than farming.<br />
<br />
Or birding for that matter – how many ethnic minority birders do you know apart from David Lindo? <br />
<br />
Bugger all?Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-10428082378737289802011-10-04T19:45:00.000+01:002011-10-04T19:45:45.455+01:00Sue, Grabbit and Runne.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMhgSFQ7hyYYFIDy1-cvGseYKuVEPlUcS-WEjx3vURNZbHMHwdS5fTc1BTMB8kAHcun2AAcAb-v70Ah6uipN_ZJhloCbU5YI87KBTmPu2wpg0uek5FL9U49tZ-QeFf-WHWvIarAJITlY/s1600/andrew-neil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="364px" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMhgSFQ7hyYYFIDy1-cvGseYKuVEPlUcS-WEjx3vURNZbHMHwdS5fTc1BTMB8kAHcun2AAcAb-v70Ah6uipN_ZJhloCbU5YI87KBTmPu2wpg0uek5FL9U49tZ-QeFf-WHWvIarAJITlY/s400/andrew-neil.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div>Dear the Black Grouse,<br />
<br />
I noticed that you were having some copyright issues with a litigious photographer.<br />
<br />
To avoid a tap on the shoulder from Inspector Knacker, I have an image that I would be happy to for you to use.<br />
<br />
I’m sure it will more than adequately replace the close-up of the Dotterel at the Great Orme as it is too of an attractive young bird being pestered by an obsessive man standing far too close. <br />
<br />
I do however take issue with your headline “If you tolerate this then your children will be next.”<br />
<br />
Although clearly to any body with an IQ higher than a whelk that this was a warning for my species not being so confiding to the craparazzi in the future and not a threat to their familes, I really hate the Manic Street Preachers.<br />
<br />
Yours etc,<br />
<br />
Dott Errel.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-3519136757885568992011-09-23T11:54:00.000+01:002011-09-23T11:54:08.826+01:00Under the RadarI have not done much ‘serious’ birding recently, with various domestic projects having supplanted any urge I have had to get out.<br />
<br />
Still, there is plenty of entertainment to be had surfing the web, with the most pulsating and compelling thread that of the technical photography discussion that accompanied the 453,958 pictures of Starbucks’ Buff-breasted Sandpiper on the NWBF.<br />
<br />
One serial snapper had boasted that he/she had taken 565 images – who says that there is no skill in photography anymore?<br />
<br />
For my part, I have never seen a ‘BBS’, but the prospect of sitting in a confined space with the associated racket of bleeps and clunks was more than enough to put me off. <br />
<br />
Perhaps a quiet corner can be found at the new RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands that I learn is due to open it doors on Saturday morning at 9.30am.<br />
<br />
Even more surprising than the fact that is has actually opened, is the rather low-key nature of the announcement.<br />
<br />
A notice on the Dee Estuary website reads:<br />
<br />
<strong>RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands will open to the public on Saturday 24th September at 9.30am. More details to follow.</strong><br />
<br />
Whereas, the Inner Marsh Farm blog is of similar brevity:<br />
<br />
<strong>Burton Mere Wetlands Opens Saturday 24th September.</strong><br />
<br />
You would have imagined the opening of a ‘new’ RSPB reserve would have been carried out with a little more fanfare rather than a brief announcement a couple of days in advance.<br />
<br />
Conspicuous by its absence is any reference to a closing time. It was always rumoured that the old ‘sunset’ deadline for being booted out would be replaced by a more businesslike 5.00.<br />
<br />
Also of interest will be the nature of the ‘viewing facilities’ down at the reserve. The RSPB seems to be moving away from traditional hides in an attempt to attract a broader range of people to its reserves – especially children.<br />
<br />
Hell, they probably won’t even call them bird reserves soon: Wildlife And Nature Kindergarten Engagement Resource Solutions would be my guess. <br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-68658762332831112392011-09-16T20:04:00.001+01:002011-09-16T20:23:57.743+01:00Copper load of this...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXHtkTfquu1PsPRVgpe2Nmxd8-AtgyoST8dAMyZG8N5e0aVdrfoRBT_NiwVr15ZMyMMYqYxA2Ph9ssZsrAf3oxa_tlMnIMxcFIkhph79BuW4lEAXgUf0ebh1AZKNj7ikKHPU7VASvC4g/s1600/copper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243px" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXHtkTfquu1PsPRVgpe2Nmxd8-AtgyoST8dAMyZG8N5e0aVdrfoRBT_NiwVr15ZMyMMYqYxA2Ph9ssZsrAf3oxa_tlMnIMxcFIkhph79BuW4lEAXgUf0ebh1AZKNj7ikKHPU7VASvC4g/s400/copper.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry for the poor image taken on my mobile, but I am not in possession of 80-400 Nikon vr lense - whatever the chuff one of those is.</div><br />
Anyhow, the cultured amongst you will have no doubt concluded that rather than being a piss-poor picture, it is clearly a subtle and brilliant pastiche of French Impressionism.<br />
<br />
Cobblers aside, the Small Copper that graced my Ice Plant yesterday afternoon was the undisputed highlight of what has been a dreadful summer for butterflies in my village.<br />
<br />
Plants hitherto unknown to me such as Phlox, Verbena, Red Valerian and the immensely handsome Teasel (a plant that I am developing an unnatural fixation with) have been lovingly installed with the express aim of turning my garden into a veritable 3 Star Michelin restaurant for bees and butterflies.<br />
<br />
It didn’t happen though. Whilst quite a few bees have remorselessly plundered my Borage and Lavender, butterflies have been conspicuous by their absence.<br />
<br />
Then, yesterday, out of the blue, Fortuna’s Wheel spun upwards and I was blessed with the beauty above and four Small Tortoiseshells; the latter all feasting on the Verbena – a plant that had until now been studiously ignored.<br />
<br />
A little research on the Small Copper seems to reinforce my good luck – it is in a group of butterflies that do occasionally visit gardens, but infrequently.<br />
<br />
Perhaps there is a small colony nearby, for there is certainly a fair amount of Wood Sorrel growing in a local wood – one of the primary larval food plants for this species.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Fingers crossed next year for a Wall Brown – my favourite butterfly and just as beautiful as the Fritillaries, whom with their gaudiness and high maintenance are quite frankly a bit ‘The Only Way is <place w:st="on">Essex</place>’</div><br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-14998171535966908482011-09-11T10:14:00.001+01:002011-09-11T10:29:21.294+01:00Jeepers Treecreeper!!! (Smiley Face)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKfth400vuPH7XqaD0EUxHhqKEWD04TlNgGNkewjYA0sjA98Hx0rLEs9t8owy3net80PHSyeinMbHYrAOQU6We_MiLe_9H-kZlFapIfGlBa7fwS5KnBjtfMyZSUIxoR9kBdkpaR93jzk/s1600/tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKfth400vuPH7XqaD0EUxHhqKEWD04TlNgGNkewjYA0sjA98Hx0rLEs9t8owy3net80PHSyeinMbHYrAOQU6We_MiLe_9H-kZlFapIfGlBa7fwS5KnBjtfMyZSUIxoR9kBdkpaR93jzk/s400/tree.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sergeant Major Murphy is a tough taskmaster, so it was out the house early on Saturday to mix with fellow crepuscular elements of humanity such as insomniac dog-walkers, dirty stop-outs, keen paperboys and well, birders.</div><br />
With the hope of encountering some migrants, we concentrated on the dunes and paddocks behind Presthaven Gulag and after a rather slow start, things began to pick-up around the small copse close to the static ghetto.<br />
<br />
A ménage a trios of Stonechats and a few skulking ‘Phyllos’ warblers kept the bins interested, but the most interesting migrant by far was a single Treecreeper – not a very <em>familiaris</em> (a gag that will surely have you 'race' nerds rolling in the aisles) bird at Talacre and my first for the site.<br />
<br />
The actual paddocks area was more productive with Wheatears perhaps nudging into two figures. These were accompanied by a host of commoner birds including Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and a solo juvenile Reed Bunting.<br />
<br />
After spending twenty minutes poking around an old farm house looking for evidence of any visible Owls, it was off to the old colliery site for an appointment with the tide.<br />
<br />
At eight and a half metres, it was enough to push all and sundry to their favoured roosting spots, but despite a good variety of waders that included a quartet of Turnstones, a Greenshank and a Whimbrel, none of the currently ubiquitous Curlew Sandpipers were on our radar.<br />
<br />
The sea was quiet (although things should heat up here early in the week), with just a handful of Terns; two of the birds were of passing interest – one seemingly in possession of a very dark bill with a lighter base.<br />
<br />
Roseate? Probably not and it was too far away to be sure, to be sure.<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-18475637183047409262011-09-07T19:09:00.001+01:002011-09-07T19:10:24.763+01:00Where were you?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Oysrpc5Js5BfBWq3nZVqTpsECgplmbHWxOPwfbERz186TnzMA2mW16eDd8XL_hHX8z1YtlfxOH3WfdWjhgQJjfFeQ30C53qsOQkqu0RWPyzXG04W_XFapXZYOYnqx5w1XA5AtuFBUCU/s1600/pommie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Oysrpc5Js5BfBWq3nZVqTpsECgplmbHWxOPwfbERz186TnzMA2mW16eDd8XL_hHX8z1YtlfxOH3WfdWjhgQJjfFeQ30C53qsOQkqu0RWPyzXG04W_XFapXZYOYnqx5w1XA5AtuFBUCU/s320/pommie.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With the strong winds entering a third day, the lure of a seawatch at the Point of Ayr was just too strong.</div><br />
Given that I am still without motorised transport, it was time for the bicycle to make an appearance and after forty five minutes free-wheeling downhill I was ensconced in the dunes by first light.<br />
<br />
Initial signs were encouraging: many Terns, Manxies and Gannets were battling against the strong westerly wind. The Manxies in particular were visibly jaded, with most of the birds unusually lethargic – the last few days had obviously drained them of energy.<br />
<br />
With so many seabirds passing by it was surely a matter of time before a Skua or a Petrel made an appearance, but two and a half hours later I was still waiting. <br />
<br />
I was about to call time when I picked up a gull just behind the Dee Light. I was hard to be one hundred percent due to the distance, but it looked good for a juvenile Sabine’s Gull, but without conclusive views, a young Kittiwake could not be ruled out. Ho Hum.<br />
<br />
After loading up the panniers, I headed over the site of the old hide (now sadly looking very overgrown), for a quick scan of the marsh. <br />
<br />
The tide was a good way out, so the waders were scattered far and wide. Still a Whimbrel was good and a flyby Kingfisher a welcome boon before the long slog back to Lloc…<br />
<br />
Until later.Paul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560064800084574759.post-50635679978110220812011-09-03T16:27:00.001+01:002011-09-04T06:51:49.609+01:00Well, it was here just a second ago...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNf3TiMzNOnjFaj4BK5in3_171EzZwINLLVTwdxSCb5EhdjpDysAG7DYK7qebKNEi31z8YXIcoKgvQcXgJVOW9auhXq1OB_XBqzjaI3v-Igq3B57IrUHg5VAFNaaEZM_CekQdszUH170/s1600/no+stint.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNf3TiMzNOnjFaj4BK5in3_171EzZwINLLVTwdxSCb5EhdjpDysAG7DYK7qebKNEi31z8YXIcoKgvQcXgJVOW9auhXq1OB_XBqzjaI3v-Igq3B57IrUHg5VAFNaaEZM_CekQdszUH170/s400/no+stint.JPG" width="400px" xaa="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An early morning excursion to the River Clwyd was the order of the day and despite the trying conditions, a handful of decent birds were rinsed out of the gloom.</div><br />
It could have been worse had the forecast rain materialised – I say ‘forecast’ here in the loosest sense of the word given the recent BBC meteorological soothsayers have been about as reliable as a dodgy Lancia (or 02 plate Vauxhall Astra for that matter).<br />
<br />
Anyway, the strong wind (again, not forecast) made things a little tough, especially for somebody as nesh as me. I’ll shut up about the weather soon, but being British it’s in my blood.<br />
<br />
The assembled waders were also a little skittish, probably due to the bone-chilling autumnal gusts driving across the estuary. (There I go again, I just can’t help it).<br />
<br />
However, brave soldiers that Tony, Mark and I are (not that there are many cowardly ones - I think they tended to be shot by a firing squad), we battled on and located a couple of Greenshanks and a lonesome juvenile Knot.<br />
<br />
The main shorebird shenanigans were further up opposite the mouth of the Gele though, so after losing Tony <em>hors de combat</em>, a quick yomp further up the river was the order of the day.<br />
<br />
And it paid dividends too – the waders were within a stone’s throw from the cycle path. After hunkering down on an old tree stump it wasn’t long before a juvenile Little Stint was winkled out from the Dunlin and Ringed Plover.<br />
<br />
It darted about like a toddler on e-numbers, hence the lovely image above. It was the first one I had seen for over two years too and the closest I have ever seen one. Grand.<br />
<br />
And did I tell you about the weather…<br />
<br />
River Clwyd 3.9.11<br />
<br />
1 Little Stint (juv)<br />
3 Greenshank<br />
1 Bar-tailed Godwit<br />
50+ Dunlin<br />
50+ Ringed Plover<br />
1 Bar-tailed Godwit<br />
1 Knot<br />
1 Snipe<br />
3 Goosander<br />
1 Sparrowhawk<br />
1 Wheatear<br />
14 Turnstone<br />
<br />
<br />
Until laterPaul Shentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280403717611745007noreply@blogger.com0