August Bank Holiday 2012 - Autumn's coming!!

Driving down past Dart's Farm I pulled over quickly into the Bridge Inn car park as I had just seen what I suspected to be a large herd of Curlew, and I was nearly right... It turned out to be a large selection of Curlews AND Black Tailed Godwits, and many of the males were in their russet breeding plumage.

At Bowling Green Marsh there were plenty of Canada Geese, along with the odd Little Grebe and Godwit flying in. At the observation platform there were plenty of waders including smaller bodied waders, but the light was so bad they were all rendered anonymous by the silhouetting effect the light was creating. There was also a large Black Swan making it's way across towards the quay.

It was well and truly molting season with these scraggly Blackbird and Robin making appearances -

There were also many signs of Autumn creeping in, not least the abundance of burgeoning blackberries.

Back at the Jess's parents house I confirmed a suspected Garden Warbler that I had seen before going out, and also a female Blackcap. The warbler was chowing down on berries, and according to the BTO website, they switch to berries from primarily insects in early autumn to prepare for their migration journeys. Get it while you can little warbler!

Down At the Bottom Of the Garden

Amongst the Bird and the Bees,

There live a lot of little people...

They're called the Poddington Peas.

Or they would be, but they're frogs and tadpoles that live in the small pond in the garden of our new Whitchurch bungalow. Luckily for me our new place is near Forest Farm! We'll have to keep an eye on our garden pals though I think, I'm not sure how the tadpoles are going to get out when they mature. Either that or we'll be swamped with frogs!

These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For.. - Tunisia - 8/07/2012

For our Summer holidays Jess and I were generously taken to by her family for a week. Although not in anyway a wildlife holiday, I still managed to spot some of the local wildlife! Even the hotel avian occupants were impressive, with Spanish Sparrow, Spotless Starlings and Laughing Dove all checking in at the Riviera Hotel.

 There were also many Swifts, House Martins and the odd Swallow hawking around the hotel level with our balcony on the 4th floor-

On one of our excursions to the Bardo Museum and Carthage we saw White Storks nesting on pylons along the roadside. I managed these shots from the speeding bus windows -

We also saw these Flamingo and further storks in the foreground -   

There were also Gull-billed Terms flying up and down the Salt Lakes too. Not bad for birding on a bus!!

One thing I wasn't too happy about was the captive animals being used for rustling up Denar..

However this Stick insect came for free at a roadside cafe...

We also took a two day trip called Simply Saharah and I managed to see many types of birds I couldn't identify or get photo's of. We did manage to see this little House Bunting in the small ravine at -

Then after powering round the stunning area I also think I glimpsed a blue bird, potential Rock Thrush!! and this White Crowned Wheatear! Annoyingly I had left the 300mm in the Land Cruiser we were travelling in at that point.

At the beach, Jess managed to run afowl of these guys a couple of times unfortunately!

Taming a resident mammal!

Pembroke Day 2 - 12/06/12

After an early rise (6.15 am!) and a quick breakfast we were soon on the road again heading for Marloes. When we arrived there were already a fairly large number of people present so we headed straight for the Lockley Lodge to make sure we got on board! Realizing our landing fee would be covered by joining up to the Wildlife Trust, we took out a joint membership. As we waited for the boat I took some shots of the Swallows nesting at the toilets -

The trip over was shrouded in mist but we could see the odd Puffin in the mist, and when we arrived on Skomer we were greeted by the bizarre guano smell wafting from the cliff sides. After a quick briefing by the Warden we made our way toward the farm at the centre of the Island and were lucky enough to see a Short Eared Owl flying nearby.

We took a course around the Island and saw some stunning sights once the mist started to clear up! We were shocked how unafraid the Puffins were of us, some content to walk right by us! 

Taking a shot of an in-flight Puffin proved to be a terribly hard task but I’ve managed some decent ones on the way back to the landing zone -

These Razorbill and Guillemot were also pretty unafraid of us on the steps on the way back down!

From the boat we also had three fly-by Gannets - 

And so we returned home, sun burnt and shattered, but more than happy to have made the trip, having enjoyed every minute of it.

Pembroke Day 1 - 11/06/12

Afraid as to what would become of our long planned trip down to the Pembrokeshire Coast and Skomer Island after seeing our fortunes change in regards to weather forecasts, we donned waterproof gear and set out for Stack Pole Estate. After arriving we made straight off for the cliffs, vaguely aware of the military firing in the distance.

The first check point was unmanned so we went on, taking in the stunning coastline. House Martins were everywhere, taking mud in the car park when we parked up and nesting in the cliffs by the sea. A brief shower saw us fear the worst, but it soon passed and we had a great cliff-top walk, heralded by a particularly noisy Thrush. 

I stood slack-jawed watching some Fulmar gliding by stiff-winged and managed a decent flight shot -

Razorbills lodged in the rocky outcrops, Shags stood like sentinels on stacks and a Jackdaw that had found a watery grave soon became food for a marauding gull.

We then ate our sandwiches watching the likes of Chough, Rock Pippit, and Gannet. 

As we approached Stack Rocks we realised the MOD had actually closed off the area so we sadly left that plan for another time, and headed back for Bosherston across the beach. On route we noticed a good amount of butterflies, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, and Holly Blue respectively -

We then took a lovely walk around the scenic Bosherston Lily Ponds -

We heard a Willow Warbler and saw some Cygnets, a few fledgling Chiff Chaff, and this perky young Robin-

After making our way around we relaxed at the beach before making our way back to the car and then off to the B+B, Ty Rhosyn in Camrose, where we had some stunning home-cooked food, desert and a couple of beers before getting an early night ready for Skomer Island. As we watched Springwatch I became confused about where a series of chirps were coming from and I looked outside to see some fledgling Wrens just outside the door!

Tit For Tat - 04/06/2012

After working at Hay On Wye Festival this weekend I drove down to Exeter to Jess’s parents to see her. On Bank Holiday Monday we took a trip up onto Aylesbeare Common to try and find Dartfords, but were unsuccessful on that front. We did manage to see a pair of Stonechat, a Yellowhammer calling form the top of a tree, a male Linnet in fine breeding plumage, and also a Wall Brown that landed briefly on the path ahead.

We then went down to Exminster Marsh to try and see the Glossy and Spoonbill that had been reported on the Devon Bird news forum, and found that they were no longer around so we went down for food at Turf Lock, and noticed some Swallows nesting in the tires on the lock. From the lagoons we could see a male Godwit in summer plumage, and we also aided a large Drinker Moth caterpillar across the path on the way back by the canal -

Jess had discovered that the bird box I had bought her parents Christmas time had Blue Tit’s nesting in it on the Sunday, and after keeping an eye out the kitchen window we realised there were some fledgling Blue Tits in the garden being fed by some adults on the feeders! We couldn’t figure out if they were fledglings from the box or if from nearby, as the adults still seemed to be going into the box with food.

Ham & Cheese -

I've been long overdue my first visit to Ham Wall for sometime now. Having missed my chances to go for the autumn murmuration I told Jess we had to make a spring trip, and I'm glad we did! It was a scorching hot day and on arrival we were treated to views of a Great White Egret off the first observation point.


It was actual a bit of ornithological history in the making as it was one bird out of the UK's first breeding pair, which are nesting over at the neighboring reserve Shapwick Heath. We sat watching it eating our sandwiches and I shouted out as a Bittern flew past over the far side, Jess's first Bittern, albeit a distant one.





We explored some of the short trail hides and I'm sure I saw a distant Marsh Harrier. The reserve was stunning in the sunshine and we could see Glastonbury Tor from afar. Even the squirrels were out sunbathing on branches!

Cuckoo's were out in force with a few calling from distant parts of the reserve. Warblers, and especially Black Caps were plentiful and so were the Four Spotted Chasers! Plenty of fodder for the Hobbies.

I managed to see the Cuckoo perching on a dead tree on the red loop walk and a quick view of a Cetti's as we came back towards The Railway Inn for a cool pint of cola each. I was lucky enough to see a Weasel with what I think was a Great Tit in his mouth as I brought the car around to the car park.

After refreshments we walked down to explore some of Shapwick Heath, and saw what we think was the other Great White of the pair, along with more distant flying Bittern and our first Hobbies! By the time we had got around to the first hide we were altogether a bit too frazzled to be out in the sun much longer, and we headed around to see the Avalon Marshes Centre.

On the way home we drove through Cheddar, and visited the DWN peregrine site, and saw two juveniles testing out their wings on the steep cliff sides.













A stop at Cheddar reservoir cooled us down in the breeze, and there were plenty of Mallards and Swans, and this perky young Wagger, unfazed by the lapping waves -