Back online

Hurray! After months of my computer playing up and then finally giving up the ghost completely I have, at last, my new PC up and running. I've been borrowing other peoples to check email etc but it's so nice to be back at my own desk!
Time for a bit of a catch up-
The good life garden is winding down for the winter after a pretty good harvest. There are still leeks, onions, broccoli, parsnips, swedes and spuds to feed us both so our weekly shopping bill is pretty small. If you have the space I definitely recommend it (so long as you don't take the munching bugs and pests to heart too much). The guinea pigs have been well supplied with the waste from the runner and french beans (of which there are masses in the freezer......beans that is, not guinea pigs)
Baileys is thoroughly enjoying obedience training. She does pretty much everything I ask of her and knows subtle hand signals so I barely even have to speak to her. I have been so lucky with her, she fitted in so well with us and has turned into a smashing little dog. She proudly learned shake a paw last week. She does have a bit of a thing about people looming over her to say hello (particularly if they are carrying something.....'scope carrying bird watchers beware!) She will go to say hello then panic and try to escape but being on the lead just means spinning in manic circles. She is much much better if people just ignore her and let her go about her business. Luckily, most birdwatchers are brilliant, they just look at her with complete disgust and look away- which is the absolute best thing they can do. At twitches she now just sits or lies down at my side and behaves better than the people do. What an angel.
We spent a sunny but windy afternoon at Stubbers Green last Sunday watching the gulls with our mate Paul. The gulls move in and out between the loafing area and the adjacent tip and good views are pretty much guaranteed. There were two Caspian gulls there during the course of our watch (don't ask me to age them, I can't remember!) plus a 'fake' Caspian that was really a herring gull with some Caspian features. I haven't done a Chasewater roost so far this season but the Caspian gulls are regularly being picked up there. Work starts next year on the dam at Chasewater so the lake will soon start to be drained. The consequences for the wildlife not only in the lake but the surrounding marsh land which will almost certainly dry out are too awful to think about.
I have a sun tan at the moment; the result of a trip to the Scillies in mid October. Our week was very quiet for migrants but I had a fab time despite the grumblings of some of the birders who mostly looked a little bit glum all week. I adopted my usual tactic of going the opposite way to the crowds but managed to pick up most of the best birds of the week (I think I only missed common rosefinch and ring-billed gull). New ones for me were Richard's pipit and Radde's warbler, plus a very brief view of a little bunting whilst I was perched on top of a bramble covered wall. Other good birds included rose-coloured starling, red-breasted flycatcher, pied fly., red-throated pipit, wryneck, yellow browed warblers, and masses of black redstarts. A small flock of whooper swans put on a nice display at Higher Moors and on the big pool on St. Agnes. Being on the wrong islands meant I missed the basking shark and minke whale that showed well on separate occasions off Tolman Point. I did however video a nice pod of dolphins of Penninis. Some pictures of my trip;


Puppy on a boat


whinchat in heat haze


Richards Pipit on Bryher


Spot the Raddes warbler


Black redstart (always looking the other way!) on St Agnes


Whooper at Porth Hellick


Blurry hummingbird hawk moth.


Caterpillar of the yellow-tailed moth, how funky is he? I also caught up with the most twitched stick insect of all time. Two spiny stick insects spent the week near the monument in Old Town church yard. They provided a nice distraction for all the birdless birders.


Sparrows are very tame on the Scillies


This would make a lovely Christmas card!


Bishop rock lighthouse


Baileys birdwatching at the Parsonage on St Agnes (this is her typical birdwatching position)




But she does know how to have fun!

We took a detour on the way home and went to see the brown shrike at Staines Moor. We were amused to bump into lots of the birders we'd seen on the Scillies doing the exact same thing. The bird showed very well, moving between several of the bushes. This was my kind of twitch, a steady trickle of birders coming and going, all watching the bird from a good distance and not chasing it about. Baileys was as good as gold although boredom from several hours of being stuck in the car did eventually set in and she started to get into mischief. She jumped up on the tree trunk bench that was by the path, found someones discarded cocktail sausage and wolfed it down. She paid the price of being such a gannet when the sausage was returned to the outside world about 20 minutes later. We went for a walk along the footpath where we saw lots of ringed necked parakeets- you can't really fail to miss them, they are so very noisy


I've been for a twilight walk around Chasewater tonight, it was a beautiful evening. The autumn colours looked gorgeous around the North heath and there must have been an owl roosting in the trees as the magpies were frantic. The gull roost was fairly spread out and when I met up with Ian after my circuit he'd seen a Caspian and a yellow-legged gull but otherwise the birds hadn't lined up well with there being no wind. I'm looking forward to winter and the white-winged gulls.

Loch of Strathbeg

My husband asked if I fancied a day out with him whilst he worked on an installation for work in Fraserburgh. Having no idea where this was, I just said 'yep, go on then'. I got a bit of a surprise when I got the map out as we headed up the M6 on Saturday morning and found our intended location was the moszt North Easterly point of Scotland!
Many hours later, the installation having only taken 20minutes (!) we spent our afternoon exploring. We visited the RSPB's Loch of Strathbeg where thousands of pink footed geese are currently taking over the marsh. There was a white rumped sandpiper amongst the dunlin- a species that has eluded me in the past due to lack of my 'scope and which eluded me on this occassion.....due to lack of 'scope! I did have my camera however so took a few pictures. The red square indicates the presence of the White-tailed eagle that has been on the reserve for a while (honestly, it really is an eagle)




Our afternoon of birding ended at the Ythan (I think that's how you spell it) estuary where masses of eider ducks, gulls and waders were feeding close to the car. We stayed in the car so as not to flush them; besides, had we left our car I think we would have been blown right into the middle of the mud flats it was so windy. By now we had decided that driving home was going to be too much like hard work so we headed two hours West to Carrbridge and stayed in a lovely warm hotel.
The following morning the wind had dropped and the sun was shining so we decided to head up Strathdearn to look for golden eagles. We had two distant views this time, one juvenile bird alighted on a rock for a while. Too far for photographs though. I did manage a couple of pictures of the red deer; present in massive numbers, mainly bachelor herds. One herd was a stag with his harem and he spent a lot of time bellowing out his name across the valley.
All in all a lovely weekend away and nice that it was so impromptu and unplanned.

Spooked

I have worked incredibly hard with Baileys since I had her to make sure she becomes a well adjusted little dog. It's hard to be uprooted from the place you know as home, find yourself with two complete strangers and not be left with a few issues. She has a tendancy to be a bit skittish around things she doesn't understand but her confidence and manner have improved leaps and bounds. However, you cannot predict the unpredictable and tonight she has taken a bit of a hit to her progress. While walking home from my dads half an hour ago in the dark she was trotting by my side like a dream until someone (something!) emerged from the carpark of our local squash club where there was obviously a party going on. Now bare in mind the one things Baileys finds difficult to cope with is strangers; what should this man be dressed as? Only a six foot tall willy! Forgive me but that's enough to scare anyone to death. Luckily she had a tight collar on as she shot backwards. I got her to sit but she was growling and desperately trying to run away. The bloke finally realised that he might actually be causing a bit of a problem and so he scuttled off into the bushes. Despite my upset that B was so freaked out it was a rather amusing sight. However literally 10 seconds later an old minibus turn into the road and let out the most explosive backfire I've ever heard. There was an enormous white flash beneath the vehicle and a horrid smell. That was the end of it for B, she wouldn't listen to me as all and pulled me all the way home with her little ears flat to her head. She's now tucked up on her duvet with a dose of zylkene to help calm her down.
My next plan is to buy a 'sounds scary' CD which has recordings of fireworks that you can play at low level to get your dog used to loud noises as I'm worried she'll be frightened of the fireworks now. This would be a shame because they never bothered her last year. The CD's work very well. However, I'm not sure how to accustom her to the other of tonights little surprises!!!!! (please don't send answers on a postcard, I have quite enough for one evening)

Out of reach

Some of the blogs I read are alive with talk of the bird of the moment, a sandhill crane that has found itself on Orkney. There are some pretty good photos on Surfbirds and it looks like a right handsome beastie. My other half is away at the moment in Germany and I can imagine he is very frustrated. He returns late tonight and I suspect it won't be long before he is on the road up to North. What about me!? I'm working until Saturday evening and restart work again on Monday morning. I'm thinking it's probably not possible to fit in two 10hour drives (to John o'Groats and back), two ferry rides and a search for a bird during daylight hours whilst still having enough sleep and relaxation to cope with a 10 hours shift on Monday. I wish I was more rebellious and could feign some kind of evil disease that will keep me off work in the early part of next week. Unfortunately I'm the worlds worst storyteller and have never managed to even attempt a sicky in the last 15 years! I know my fellow gull rooster Julian is in Shetland at the mo; I hope he manges to hop over and see it. Good luck to all that try for it and keep the photos coming for us that can't

Heat in the East

As the end of my week off was looming we decided to head to the North Norfolk coast to look for migrants. My dad joined us too and a 5.30 am start meant we arrived before the masses. An early morning trip to Titchwell can't really be beaten; the aim being to have all your birding done before the crowds arrive. It being a public footpath down to the coast means that Baileys can come too. We spent the first few yards moving other people dogs gifts from off the path. I can't believe how selfish and inconsiderate people are and they give all dog owners a bad name. They shouldn't be allowed to keep dogs if they can't be arsed to clean up after them. We spent the next few yards stalking cetti's warblers and moaning how the crunchy paths, so typical of todays sterilised bird reserves, mask a lot of the bird calls and lets all the local wildlife know where you are. We stopped whining as we reached the reed bed as we couldn't fail to hear the pinging of a flock of bearded tits. They posed beautifully, perching nearby and looking immaculate. Where was my camera.....at home. I did manage a very dodgy shot on my mobile phone. I may add it to this post if I get the chance some time. The scrapes were rather quiet but then there is a lot of work going on in at the reserve at the mo. We did find some distant little stints though and lots of the usual waders and wildfowl.
Onwards to Burnham Overy Staithe and a walk to Gun Hill. Unfortunately the hot sunshine and clear skies had pretty much cleared out most of the migrants. We found a lesser whitethroat, a few reed warblers and a garden warbler for our efforts. A single snow bunting was present on the beach, it stayed close and showed very well. A nice water rail showed well in one of the ditches and a hobby flew over. A walk around Wells Woods in the afternoon helped us locate a couple of pied flycatchers and a cuckoo.
Our final stop for the day before fish and chips in Sherringham was the sea wall at Cley. The North Scrape is viewable from the footpath where a couple of pintail were seen amongst the many widgeon. Marsh harriers were hunting in the increasing mists. Whilst my husband and dad walked along to the East Wall, Baileys and me set up camp on the beach. Four snow buntings flew in and landed nearby, feeding amongst the shingle completey ignoring me. I was also joined by a juvenile ringed plover and a nice purple sandpiper which refused to be photographed before flying away. To see birds landing so close makes me realise what a good little dog I have. She is better behaved than many of todays birdwatchers who themselves have forgotten the art of staying quiet when watching the birds they are so interested in.
Today we went to Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire. Again the weather left the migrants thin on the ground with blackcap, lesser whitethroat and whitethroat being our highlights! A beautiful little stint showed well on the mere and a sparrowhawk was tormenting the gulls on the brackish lagoons. Water levels on the freshwater pools was incredibly low but the saltmarsh had flooded with the high tide leaving the path 8 inches deep in water. Baileys thought it would be fun if we walked right through it. My feet are just about dry now!

A quick catch up

After our Cornwall adventures we decided to go the other way. Last weekend we went on a trip to Northumberland. Lindisfarne was like New Street Station so after a fairly brisk walk around we headed back onto the mainland stopping off at Budle Bay for a quick scan. Here we detected a Med Gull amongst the large roost and a distant curlew sandpiper demonstrating it's obvious white rump in flight. Both these birds had been seen on Lindisfarne the day before and it was obvious they thought as much to the crowds as we did. After an early check in to our guest house we gave Baileys a good walk and did a bit of gannet watching off shore. After a great night's sleep we stumbled back out of the doorstep onto the beach which was right outside and gave Miss B another good run. I don't think she wanted to leave what she thought was her very own personal back garden beach. The rain started around lunch time and seemed to follow us wherever we went. Birds were thin on the ground, just another curlew sandpiper at Amble. We decided to head South to outrun the devil weather and found ourselves on an old quarry, now local nature reserve, just outside Sunderland. The name of the place completely escapes me but it is apparently rather a good spot for migrants. Here we spent a good couple of hours whilst a greenish warbler lead us a merry dance. I did get one or two glimpses of the bird doing what it seems greenish warblers do best; being elusive. The end of a nice but wet weekend away we headed home feeling we should have gone back down to Cornwall where the sea watching at Pendeen was reportedly rather good.

On to this weekend, the forecast for Flamborough looked good; a North Easterly and mists. It turned out to be a tropical heatwave with still air. I was not impressed by the heat and neither was Baileys who spent most of the afternoon dunked in the sea to cool off (which she didn't mind as she loves to swim). That asides I had cracking views of the barred warbler after I'd finished swearing at an impossibly rude man who deliberately and insistently kept standing in front of me despite there being masses of space (we were away from the main group of birders keeping the dog from under their feet). I'm normally quiet and mild mannered but this guy really got my goat!
The afternoon was spent failing to locate a greenish warbler at Scarborough despite getting all excited by a tape luring gentleman who was very apologetic.
Our day was finished off walking along Filey Brigg then scrambling down to walk back along the beach, stopping to look at a large rock that a man, from Pelsall, we bumped into told us was in fact a meteor. Which was either really cool or he was sniggering in the bushes after telling porkies.
Tiredness and inability to remove my head from the pillow meant that on Sunday we did not arrive at our destination until early afternoon. Our location was a toilet block in the middle of Wells woods on the North Norfolk coast frequented not by dubious characters but by an icterine warbler. Deciding not to lurk too long we headed off road deep into the woods to search for the tit flock the bird had been knocking around with. Eventually we caught up with the flock and once I had removed myself from a rather spiky bramble that was degloving the skin from my elbow we sat down to watch. It was a large and mixed flock, in itself a delight to watch but the icing on the cake was seeing a brief view of the icterine warbler. Its head shape, upright stance and open expression were noted well before it did an impressive disappearing act into the depths.
Eventually having found our way out of the woods our next port of call was Cley. The wind was blowing a gale but it didn't stop us from sea watching. Quite a few birds went through including pomarine skua, red-throated and black-throated divers, manx shearwaters and the like. The cold got too much for me in the end (Ian was in his shorts and I swear would have stayed there for hours!). I had a look at the red-necked phalarope from the hide which showed especially well. Onto our final destination for a last bit of sea watching from the comfort of the promenade at Sherringham. It was a good watch with plenty going through but sadly no Leach's petrel which was my target bird (we missed one at Cley by 5minutes, c'est la vie).
Another long drive home which seemed to take forever. I just managed 10 minutes reading before bed of my New Naturalist Isles of Scilly book which is absolutely fab and is making me very excited about going this year already.
Today was less fruitful but still fun. We've been chasing after the rose-coloured starling near Stone. It has however eluded me and takes the proud place of my official bogey bird now that barred warbler is in the bag.

Right place at the right time

On Friday I found myself at Exminster Marshes. My husband left me and Baileys there whilst he went to a meeting. In between rain showers spent hidden under various bushes we walked quite a distance. There were very few birds to look at however. This place is rather dependant on the time of year I think although I've had some good days here in the past. Reunited with my other half we spent the afternoon walking along the river Otter with the rest of the UK population. The river was full of mullet swimming upstream, presumably to spawn. I can't say as I know much about mullet. Feeling rather frazzled after walking so many miles we spent the evening eating chips and pancakes in Sidmouth. This is the town where I spent many a childhood holiday and I was pleased to see it hadn't changed a bit. Homeward bound and stuck in 2 hours of solid traffic on the M5. Whilst this was supposed to have been caused by some poor bloke ending his life on the Avon Bridge it actually turned out to be a queue for Sedgemoor services!

After a day at work on Saturday we headed back down South in the early hours of Sunday morning to spend the Bank Holiday in Cornwall. Arriving fairly early we set up camp at Porthgwarra in the mists along with several other birdwatchers. It turned out to be a good move. Lots of shearwaters flying close in (Manx, sooty and the odd Med.), hundreds of gannets, fulmars, a few kittwakes, loads of storm petrels, a few great skuas and.....a Fea's petrel. How exciting! It certainly caused a stir amongst the seawatchers. Baileys thought it would be rather funny to knock Ians 'scope off the bird- oops. Considering the misty conditions we were so lucky to see this bird in a brief but rewarding clear spell. Seawatching is great.

The murky conditions at Porthgwarra.

The late afternoon was spent at Marazion in a fruitless search for the reported citrine wagtail and chatting with some very unlucky blokes who missed the Fea's earlier while nipping down to their car to make a bacon butty.

Refreshed after a fab nights sleep, on Monday we headed back to Porthgwarra for another stint. The weather could not have been more different with sunshine right in our faces and the birds less frequent. We still had several storm petrels and it was great to see some basking sharks. It was very tough identifying some of the birds in the glaring sunlight. Back at Marazion later that day we finally caught up with the wagtail. The rain set in early evening so we decided to bunk down for the night in a b&b instead of driving home.

Baileys finds a spot to snuggle into (she thinks seawatching is boring)

Tuesday was a day of mixed weather. The sea watching matched yesterday but with frequent squally showers. Fea's petrels were seen on each of our three days; we were glad to have been lucky enough to see just one and hoped that the bacon butty guys managed to get another chance.