Reflections of the year - what were your special moments?

Happy New year to all our readers.

So here we are again, 2018 is bowing out and we look forward to whatever 2019 may bring. We've all been reflecting on our best moments of the year and here's a few.

I've had quite a few special moments home and abroad this year myself, here's a few I'll share. 

Spring saw me in Chilly Scotland with Jeff Clarke's group staying at the birders hotel The Grant arms. I dipped the Capercaillie😒 but loved the Loons

Black throated diver

Loch Mallachie

and the landscapes.

Not long after I was in the 30 degree heat of Extremadura staying on a farmhouse/ranch with Jeff's group again.

Casa Rural Las Canteras - Casa Rural en Trujillo

 Every morning I woke up to the sound of hundreds of sparrows in the hedge, hoopoes calling and storks clacking fabulous.So many great birds, butterflies, mammals. Nightjar on the road was a highlight ..sorry no pic.

Gt spotted Cuckoo

Queen of Spain fritillary

Read all about it here - http://www.jeffclarkeecology.co.uk/blog/extremadura-may-2018

Make no bones about it I had a busy and fortunate year.

September, and I was in Bulgaria with the RSPB group. Corncrakes under foot, stone curlews, head turning Wrynecks and a fabulous Bluethroat.

Bluethroat

Wryneck - Chris Daniels who was on the same trip also named this as one of her  highlights too

Team Liverpool with Iolo Williams

Back at home I was on the march in London -  the People's walk for nature, and standing up for nature at the Parkgate Hen Harrier day. WE WILL WIN

Team Liverpool

Laura Bimson

Enough about me....

Chris Tynan has been doing the patchwork challenge at one of the local parks http://patchworkchallenge.com/

Hawfinch Stadt moers -I Igglesden

I never thought of being able to find hawfinches 5 minutes from my house but the 2017 hawfinch invasion meant that I found a single bird 7th January and by Febuary there was two

At the end February the beast from East brought snowstorms and gales to the UK and  a very unexpected bonus, when some friends were saying that they were finding lots of displaced golden plover.

Golden Plover

So I called in to the park after work and couldn't believe it when I counted eight birds, three birds were still there in the morning but dog walks flushed them and witnessed fly high and away.








Phil & Sue Heery

My best birding experience of 2018, was a trip at the start of the year to Parkgate on 3rd January 2018. The RSPB had advertised the event. Almost as soon as we arrived, we watched a merlin crossing the marsh, glimpsed a peregrine taking a snipe and saw hen and marsh harriers hunting.

Water rails at wall  R Blythe

Then later, as we walked coastwards the high tide seemed to surge. The marsh swelled with rivulets of saltwater driving the tide towards us. Looking up there were suddenly 12 short-eared owls that really seemed to come out of nowhere; some hunting, some perched scanning for the scurrying voles and waders.

Short eared owl

 A gull, buffeted in the wind, dropped and knocked and then grabbed a water rail about 20 feet from us, lifting it clear in to the air. The wind was strong though, and the rail broke free, and found refuge in a hole in the old quay. This, in itself, was a revelation; that water rails may find sanctuary in a wall - not where you would expect to find one.
Thanks, happy new year and best of luck for 2019!!!

Azure tit    R Lewis

Rob Lewis

My highlight was an azure tit at Baltoji Voke in Lithuania, which was the 5th record for the country. Picture made it on Tarsiger and birding Lithuania fb pages. Loads of other highlights as I was abroad eleven times in 2018.




Jen Brown
My best part of 2018 was my trip to Canada and America with the highlight being seeing a hummingbird, not once,twice but 3 times. What an amazing bird!! Sorry don't have pics!


Sean O'Hara

Snowy Owl    I Igglesden

  

S O'Hara

In July an exceptional day. Sean caught up with the Snowy owl on Anglesey and his first grandson was born on the same day!











Ann Thomson

Lambs   A Thomson

Feeding the orphaned lambs, North Ronaldsay Observatory was one of the highlights for me!

Sanday

Sanday, Orkney Isles, nice place to stop for lunch.

Grey Phalarope   N Gordon

Neil Gordon

Highlight either this grey phalarope that landed at my feet at new Brighton or watching Austin run in the rain for the worst common rosefinch you'll ever see 🤪







Damian & Austin


Highlight of the year for me I think has to be the Red Billed Tropicbirds me, Patrick, Austin and Gary saw in Fuerteventura.

Austin & gang

Tropicbird   A Morley

 When we booked to go we new they were there and had very ropey directions (which proved to be wrong) but I don't think any of us really thought we'd see them. But we eventually found them and got the most incredible views too. Literally at touching distance. Unbelievably fantastic birds seen with a great group of fellas. This is one of Austins pictures and there's a full write up of our trip on his blog if anyone hasn't read it. https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/fuerteventura-april-2018.html?m=1


Ian Igglesden

Pitta   I Igglesden

Had this Male Blue Pitta with a Female also 2 Coral-Billed Ground Cuckoos,Siberian Blue Robin and a White-Rumped Sharma all within touching distant while I was hid practically inside a bush.

Ground cuckoo   I Iggleseden

Had to stay totally silent and not move.I watched them on my own on and off for two hours. Didn't think life could get any better till........White rumped swift at Hornsea 🤓


Jackie Binks

Tree sparrow   J Binks

 I was made up to see the grey phalarope but I’ve got to be honest and say watching the barn owl and tree sparrows has been my highlight.

Barn Owl   J Binks

John Doragh

Smew

Lots of highlights this year but I'll go for the drake Smew at a snowy Scotsman's Flash back in February





Jenny Jones

No pics, but I'd say capercaillie in flight in Scotland was mega for me, but the Golden & White tailed eagles in Findhorn valley came close second.

Team Ronaldsay

Lengths gone to when birding on North Ronaldsay 2018

 Paul Kurs

Goshawk over my head at Hale on Vizmig was a special highlight I won’t forget. Another would be going to Spurn and Kilnsea Wetlands with Tyno, Rev and Shaun O. Grand total of 80!!  Sooty Shearwater, Arctic Skua and the Sabine’s gull I believe I may have located myself although I’m open to opinion.



Thanks to all contributors

Vis Mig at Hale 09/10/16

Sun's up. Runcorn/Widnes bridge in distance

Church lane watchers

It was a beautiful morning on Sunday at Hale for our visible migration field trip.

Highlight for me was the Merlin, tree sparrows, redwings and flappy fieldfare, looovve our scandinavian visitors. 

 Laura

Fieldfare

Hale Head (Widnes, Halton, England)

Sunday 9 October 2016

Counting period: 07:25 - 09:30 Count type: incomplete species list, not all species submitted Weather: wind NE1, cloud-cover 3/8, visibility 25m, temperature 9 ℃, Sunny , cool NE wind F1,  3/cloud slowly decreasing cloud cover through watch Observers: Jeff Clarke, Chris Tynan plus RSPB group Pink-footed Goose * 8 Woodpigeon 4338 Magpie 9 Jackdaw 4 Coal Tit * 6 Skylark 3 Swallow 5 House Martin 2 Starling 13 Fieldfare 41 Redwing 1479 Song Thrush 15 Mistle Thrush 3 Tree Sparrow 9 Grey Wagtail 2 alba wagtail sp. 13 Meadow Pipit 11 Chaffinch 204 Brambling 1 Hawfinch * 2 Bullfinch 1 Linnet 12 Lesser Redpoll 1 Goldfinch 56 Siskin 6 Reed Bunting 1 Totals: 6245 individuals, 26 species, 2:05 hours Bold = Remarkable observation (scarce or rare species or large number) * = Additional info (on mouseover species) Comments: Probably significant undercount on passerines due to large group presence impeding call reception. All migrants vectored south or south-east unless otherwise stated. Count Website http://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/392/20161009 Hale lighthouse

Gloucestershire glories

Last weekend two of us (Linda and Jen) joined Jeff Clarke and 7 other people for his Birdcraft weekend in Gloucestershire.  It was a weekend of contrasts between Day 1 which was spent in the Forest of Dean and featured cold, but clear, dry weather and Day 2 which was spent at WWT Slimbridge accompanied by pouring rain.  The latter was an effective reminder that Slimbridge is a wetland site.

Panorama of the Forest of Dean from New Fancy

The ancient Forest of Dean lies between the valleys of the Rivers Wye and Severn with Gloucester on the east.  It features 110 sq kms of mixed woodland, a haven for a variety of birds and mammals.  The day began at New Fancy viewpoint which affords excellent views across a large area of the Forest.  We were there to see Goshawks.  It was not long before we saw the silhouette of this beautiful bird in the distance and above the treeline.  If only it would come closer.  A short while later another pair of Goshawks appeared. We could not believe what we were seeing.  After one hour there we had seen 5 of these beautiful birds.  Together with the Buzzards, Carrion Crows, Wood pigeons, Robins, Ravens, Siskins, Goldfinch and Great spotted woodpeckers it was an excellent site and a brilliant start to the day.

Main pond, Cannop Ponds

Our next destination was Cannop Ponds, a pair of linear ponds divided by a small causeway.  These man-made ponds were constructed to supply water to Parkend Ironworks in the 19^th century.  They are now home to various duck species with good footpaths around their perimeter.  The first pond gifted us sight of a Cormorant displaying its wings beautifully.  Also visible were several pairs of Mandarin ducks.  The site gave us good opportunities to see many species at relatively close distance.  Total species seen at Cannop Ponds were Cormorant, Mandarin duck, Little grebe, Tufted duck, Coot, Mallard, Herring gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Moorhen, Robin, Nuthatch, Long-tailed tit, Great tit, Goshawk, Blackbird, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Siskin, Marsh and Coal tits. 

Day 2 dawned with a heavy frost and temperatures of -3^oC, with much ice to be scraped off cars before we headed back to the cricket pitch in search of the elusive Hawfinches.  This time our persistence was rewarded.  We had excellent sightings of 9 of these glorious birds with those impressive bills.  Chaffinch and greenfinch also put in an appearance.  What a way to start the day.  From there it was off to WWT Slimbridge.  En route we noticed crowds of people and thought that perhaps it was a Sunday car boot sale.  Then, we realised that the attraction was nothing material, but the excellent Severn bore which was due to be spectacular as the tides were at an 18 year high.  Sadly, we could not delay to watch this sight.

By the time we arrived at Slimbridge the weather was very wet, but we were not to be deterred.  En route to our first stop we saw a Water rail which showed up several times during the course of the day.  One of the most spectacular sights was that of a large group of Wigeon which moved out of the water and rippled across the marsh like a slow moving carpet.  The Cranes put in an appearance, 4 of them with two showing multiple leg rings clearly.  These rather primitive looking birds are a delight to watch flying across the marsh.  Large groups of Black-tailed godwits put on good displays particularly when spooked by an incoming Peregrine which failed to capture any prey.  Closer to one of the hides we had excellent views of Pintail and Greylag geese. 

Two male and one female Pintail

 There is not enough space to speak of all that we saw.  Suffice to say that by the time we left our notebooks additionally had records of Wood pigeon, Moorhen, Lapwing,  Shelduck, Teal, Bewick’s swans, Little Stint, Dunlin, Pied wagtail, Golden plover, Coot, Mallard, Redshank, Shoveller, Tufted duck, Meadow pipit, Sanderling, and Pintail.  So our Gloucestershire sojourn had ended.  It is an area well worth visiting with Parkend proving to be a useful base.

Jen

Hail, Hawfinches and Harriers

Watchers at the verandah 

Rob Pocklington National trust ranger met us at Sizergh Castle’s car park; here we hoped to see the cherry stone crunching Hawfinch.  Arriving at  8:00am, after a somewhat scary drive from the ‘pool,  managing to survive the onslaught of a massive hailstorm that fell from black skies as we cruised along the motorway, the world turned white and evidence of those who had travelled before skidding on the slippery surfaces!

Back at the car park expectation was high as Rob was busy telling us that the had seen nine birds the day before, 6 in the trees and  3 feeding on the ground;  when suddenly   2 birds flew over head, heading for the trees behind the cafe.  A tick but we hoped for better.

The playground/picnic area and surrounding Hornbeam trees(favoured by these finches) were busy with foragers, chaffinch, blue and great tits, wren, blackbirds, nuthatch, coal tit,  jay, robin, dunnock, goldfinch, bullfinch, collared doves, and song thrush.

Where was our quarry? A small party of four redwing flew over;  50 minutes later  a little unease was growing,  when  a single Hawfinch made an appearance and thankfully  landed on  the top of a cherry tree directly in front of the café verandah where we were all gathered. We had good views of the bird for a few minutes, as it flitted around in the tree, before it flew off.

9.15am and most of the watchers had retired to the café for bacon and sausage butties when the bird returned! this time it landed on the embankment and mooched about with the other foragers. Fantastic, the cafe had picture windows you didn’t even have to leave your seat!!

Hawfinch -South Cumbria Hawfinch Project

So there we have it objective achieved, before we left Rob told us about his work with the South Cumbria hawfinch project, hawfinches are in decline by 70% locally.  The group have been ringing and attaching radio trackers to the local hawfinches, in particular females as they hope to ascertain where the birds go to breed, with the plan of surveying the woodland areas they favour and subsequently re-create and maintain habitats for future generations.  However tracing the birds after has been difficult, in 2012 they were only able to track down a male who turned out to be 10 kilometres away! If you would like more information on the project then please contact Rob the ranger, robert.pocklington@nationaltrust.org.uk  Also if anybody sees colour ringed birds (red ring with 2 white digits on left leg) then please let him know.

With the clock ticking towards 10am we made our way to RSPB Leighton moss for a rendezvous with a few more local group members who hadn’t heard the cockerel call!

First stop was the comfy Lillian’s hide.   It wasn’t long before a sharp eye had located the female long tailed duck, continually in motion, on the water for seconds before it dived down

Long tailed duck- Neil P

again and again. Long tailed duck Others on the waters and islands, tufted duck, gadwall, goldeneye, teal, moorhen, coot, heron, greylag, lapwing, lesser black backed, herring and black headed gulls. A solitary Snipe camouflaged, motionless sat huddled in the grass along the reed bed edge. Teal gleamed in the sunshine, in the grassy waters. No Water Rail today.

We then set out for the grit trays set up for the Bearded Tits, situated in the reed beds close to the causeway path. A Chiffchaff flitting around the pond dipping area was an unexpected bonus. Unfortunately the weather had turned blustery with intermittent heavy showers, this did not bode well and as expected the temperamental beardies failed to make an appearance.

A frantic shower dodging dash for the public hide ensued.  Here where mallard, gadwall, cormorants, pochard, coot, greylags, gt black backed gull, lapwings, tufted duck, gt crested grebes, grey heron and tufted duck. An excited shout alerted us to two otters frolicking at the back of the mere, apparently having made short work of an eel lunch. Sadly no Kingfisher streaking across the water or booming bittern sighted.

We made our way down the woodland path down to the lower hide noting yet more greylag and pheasant in the fields alongside.  At the hide a treat was in store.  Marsh Harriers hanging and swooping over the reeds, giving us great views of their underwing markings, both male and female. Impressive!!  Shelduck, shoveler and redshank stood out from the others seen before.

Marsh Harrier - Neil P

Time for a break and another café stop, we headed back along the path, another opportunity to tick a few more off, this time treecreeper, goldcrest, marsh tit and gt spotted woodpecker.

Mid afternoon, cake ate.

Spotted Redshank -Neil P

A quick visit to (Eric and Ernie hides) Allen and Eric Morecambe hides, before heading home. These hides look over the saltmarsh towards Jenny Brown’s point and Morecambe bay. Highlight of the saltmarsh pool was a splendid spotted redshank, giving us an opportunity to compare it to more common redshank nearby. Others added to our day list here included avocet, pintail, little egret, oystercatcher, curlew.

Another Jolly birding day out in beautiful Lancashire. 

Laura