Local update and SPAIN...again!

Hey all, old man of the group Oliver Reville with an update on Norfolk birding.

Well, its all been rather quiet on the whole spring front. Today was the first day for a long while i've been able to go outside in just a t-shirt as the temperatures reached a head spinning 11oC!!!!!!!

This doesn't mean terrible birding, just different to what we would expect for April. At the back end of last month I made my way over to the desolate wasteland known as Sea Palling in search of Glaucous Gull.

Risking my life and optics (No seriously!) I finally managed to connect with one of these great beasts of the Larus group as it bombed into the main mob of gulls present on the beach.

To make up for the lack of birds I have been focusing on specific birds to photograph. A male Barn Owl has proven to be very obliging and giving excellent views. It certainly seems a creature of habit so more photos should be possible with the right positioning.

Another bird that caused a local frenzy (At least in the Reville household) was a Nuthatch which has decided to visit my garden recently. This is a first for us in the 7 years we have lived here so naturally has been getting a lot of attention.

The real delight of recent times has however been my discovery of a Long-Eared Owl. For obvious reasons the location of this bird will not be given out so photos will have to do, just so there isn't any suspicion that i'm making a Fulmar out of a LEO.....

The final item to report from local birding is the Great Grey Shrike at Egmere. Going on a bit of a gamble I decided to go along and see what it was up to. Arrived to find four other birders present and the Shrike a good 150 metres away in a hedge, shrouded in this mystical atmospheric phenomenon called "heat haze"!
The other four birders headed off leaving me alone in the baking heat of 9oC Norfolk in April. The minutes passed and slowly Mr (or Mrs) Shrike moved closer...and closer....and closer.
Frozen to the spot like a man just cursed by Medusa I watched in wonder as this tiny bird ended up no more than 20 feet away from me.
Whatever drove it to come so close I will never know but I wasn't complaining in the slightest.

Now its on to the important business.

Spain is just around the corner once again (12 days!) so its time to gather up all my notes in order to make it a sensational birding trip. Joining me this time (God help them) are Joseph Nichols (A fellow NGB poster), Daniel Watson (Who is even older than me!) and James Knightbridge (Who is also older than me but not quite as old as D.W). We will be out there for 10 days from the 20th to the 30th of April and needless to say excitement has reached dangerous levels.

The reason 10 (9 full birding days) days were chosen was so that we would have far more flexibility when it came to birding. The area is so rich with birding sites that 7 (6 full birding days) days turns it into a frenzy to see as much as possible, something I was keen to avoid. By going for longer we should be able to dedicate more time each site and, hopefully, have greater experiences with the wildlife of Spain.

If anyone would like further information on the areas of Cadiz and Malaga then please visit my personal site at www.avesdelsur.wordpress.com .

Thanks for reading.

Almost spring like...

Hi all Jonny here with an update from my weekends escapades. With my mum walking in the Lake District all weekend I was left facing the prospect of two days without the availability of the car, and as such little birding. Luckily on Friday evening another NGB member Ashley Baines text me asking if i wanted to accompany him, his dad and local birder Ian to Cheshire the following day, and so it was that they picked me up at half 7 on the Saturday morning. Ian often takes me and Ash out for the day and it is thanks to him I've seen 6 of my last 7 lifers (Greenish Warbler, Red Breasted Flycatcher, Ferruginous Duck, Woodlark, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a drake Blue Winged Teal a week ago). Our main target for the day was the drake American Wigeon that has been seen on the marsh near Neston on the Wirral, and when we arrived just after half 8 there was already a small group of birders present who immediately put us onto the bird as it fed in the high grass with a group of it's Eurasian counterparts. The pale crown was easily visible despite the distance, practically glowing white in the beautiful spring sun that was beating down for what felt like the first time all year. The biting cold easterly wind had also subsided resulting in it actually feeling rather warm, dare I say it almost spring like? It was probably this hint of spring that prompted a Chiffchaff to give some bursts of song from the tree above our heads, a real sign that the year was finally progressing. A brief Short Eared Owl eluded our view as it had dived out of view and never reappeared from the patch of tall grass it was in, but an even better bird of prey was soon picked up by Ash, a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering distantly out in the heat haze. It began to circle upwards rising on a thermal as it gained height. Eventually it got so high that it disappeared into a cloud and was lost to view, perhaps given the fair weather it had decided it was time to depart back to it's breeding grounds further north? It was too far away to get any recognisable photos so instead here is a shot of a ringtail from just downriver that I took a few years ago.

Our next target was a Water Pipit that had been hanging around the sewage works just up the road, doesn't birding take us to the most glamorous places? One of the locals who we had been watching the wigeon with was heading up there so we tagged along with him and after a short walk (and Ash having an altercation with a couple of horses) we arrived at the sewage works. It was immediately obvious that there were no small birds at all present, but we were patient and over the next 20 minutes a Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtails, 3 Meadow Pipits and then a Rock Pipit all came down to feed on the waste beds. Whilst we were discussing the features of the Rock Pipit and trying to determine whether it was of the nominate (petrosus) or Scandinavian (littoralis) race, I spotted another pipit fly down and land on the concrete edge of one of the beds. Scoping it revealed an all together different pipit, much sandier coloured on top, less streaking underneath and with a striking white supercillium, it could only be a Water Pipit. It hadn't yet developed the buff colour of a summer plumage bird so we theorised that this was somewhere in the middle of it's moult, and as such a different individual to that seen at the same site earlier in the week. Whilst it was feeding it was interesting to note that it's overall structure and jizz was more similar to that of a wagtail rather than a pipit, with a longer tail, more horizontal stance, and whilst walking it almost bobbed along just like a wagtail, running along the wall at times before eventually hopping out of sight. On the way back to the car we seemed to be caught between between two waring seasons; Chiffchaffs and a Cetti's Warbler singing coupled with my first Small Toirtosieshell of the year made it feel summery, making a flock of wintry Redwings feeding along the edge of a field look almost lost as the thermometer reached into double figures.

The spring feel continued a little further up the coast where a female Wheatear at Leasowe was a first of the year for the others, my second following on from a male on Fleetwood golf course the previous week. The area however was relatively birdless and so we decided to head back northwards to Marshside RSPB where as usual the Avocets showed exceptionally well from the hide. Also in the hide Ash pointed out a small moth above one of the windows, which I later identified (and had confirmed by others) as Depressaria daucella, my 277th British moth and the first record in the 10km square for over 100 years! Moving round the coastal road we failed to located any scarcer geese in amongst a small flock of c300 Pink-footed Geese on Crossens Inner Marsh, but this was forgotten about when the the semi-resident Spoonbill flew in and landed in one of the ditches crisscrossing the marsh, my first sighting of the year. Alas it remained too distant for the camera to capture, but some closer Black Tailed Godwits were more photogenic.

With news of several Ospreys being seen around the North-west we decided to stop off at Brockholes Quarry for an hour on the way home, the best spot in Lancashire to see migrating Ospreys. Me and Ash walked along the river whilst his Dad and Ian parked up before they set up on the high bank near the visitor centre. We were hoping that a Sand Martin or two might have dropped in too feed and given the multitude of midgees this seemed quite likely, but despite a good search there were none to be seen. 6 Goosander (3 pairs) were the best sighting along the river itself whilChiffchaffs could be heard along the banks. Reaching the others on the bank they informed us that they had had a single Sand Martin pass through the reserve, bugger. We settled down to wait for any large birds of prey to appear on the horizon, but I was distracted by my first Little Ringed Plover and Mediterranean Gull of the year, a pair of each were on the lake in front of the visitor centre. As it turned out these were our last additions to the day list which stood at an impressive 83 species, including 6 yearticks for me taking me up to 153 for the year. It was still pleasantly warm as we left, however by the time darkness rolled in the temperature had dropped to below freezing, I did say it felt almost spring like...
st more

Atrogularis Antics

We have now entered April, and even at this point of the year the redolence of spring is all too faint, more or less intangible. Inevitably, migration has been excruciatingly slow in Aberdeenshire of late, with none of the commoner migrants having made an appearance in the region of yet as far as I am aware. March, for me, has always represented that painful hiatus between the decent birding of midwinter and the start of spring migration, as has been the case this year. Yet paradoxically, for the last couple of years at least, it has also provided two top draw birds in the region.

What better BB rare to turn up to continue the winter theme than a corking 1st winter male Black-throated Thrush (Turdus atrogularis) in a local birder's back garden in Banchory! News filtered through on Tuesday morning (26th March), with access details and extremely gripping photos surfacing that evening. School beckoned the next day, but I had a beautifully subject free morning, so thus pounced on the opportunity to make a trip up for this bird in the allotted time schedule from 9-11 on the Wednesday morning with the knowledge that it would not interrupt anything at school. Handy! It couldn't have felt more wintery that morning. As we made the 15 mile drive towards Banchory, a blizzard welcomed us. This eventually dissipated into light snow showers, but the blizzard from beforehand and snow from the previous night meant there was 3 inches or so was lying, making for a dramatic drive. This did not hinder our progression. We had arrived within half an hour at the house, situated in front of a line of snow-dusted tall conifers. We were ushered into the house, where another 4/5 birders were staring out onto the tiny garden. An area of seed and some apples were scattered to attract the bird in question. A pair of Blackbirds fed on the seed, whilst a couple of Long-tailed Tits were accompanied by a range of commoner finches and tits on the feeders. At this early point, however, there was no sign of the Black-throated Thrush. The bird in question had not been seen in 10 minutes. Only 3 of the birders present had connected, so I was not alone in my anxious anticipation to see this bird. As we waited, I was told that when the Blackbirds clear out, the Black-throated Thrush would be back. 

And that was what happened. After ten minutes or so, the 1st winter male Black-throated Thrush descended on the bird seed, shoving the Blackbirds off and having the seed to itself. DSLR primed as I sat close to the window, I was filled with scintillating adrenaline as this absolutely gorgeous bird presented itself to the admiring onlookers, feeding away intently. Here was one of the most stonking vagrant sibe thrushes, in resplendent attire, within less than 10ft of the window in a back garden, a birder's dream! It was quite a surreal experience. As the snow fell gently but consistently in the compact, pine fringed Banchory back garden, there a Black-throated Thrush was sat. In the heat of the moment, you could maybe forgiven for thinking you were actually in Russia. Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, but at that moment it certainly felt like deep mid-winter. After a few minutes of cripplingly close views as it gorged on the seed, the bird retreated into a bush at the back of the garden, where it sat bold and upright briefly before moving up into the conifers once more. It returned shortly afterwards, when other newly arrived birders photographed the bird at similar quarters to me originally, whilst I admired it in the bins from a distance as it started to feed on an apple. I had hoped it would move onto the bird bath, so as to allow for more artistic photo opportunities, but in the conditions it was more attracted to the seed. The third and final time that it put in an appearance, just before I left, saw it more or less come right up to the french doors, allowing for views down to 5ft and difficulty getting the full bird into the viewfinder, even though the bird was standing tall. Nonetheless, I couldn't have asked for more photography and view wise. Below are the best photos I managed from the session: 

   first winter male Black-throated Thrush on seed at Banchory, Aberdeenshire (27/3/13)

    at its closest on the final occasion, when it was literally right in front of the french doors

   sat in the bush at the back of the garden

      in the process of eating seed

The extremely close views also allowed for plenty of notes on the structural and plumage features of this beautiful bird. There has been some doubt over the age of this bird, but I believe that the original call of first-winter is correct. The detailed notes made, albeit in some cases from the photos, are below and linked with the photos above and have proved helpful in my understanding of how to age these birds:

• Head charcoal grey rather than jet black as in adult. Ear coverts, nape, mantle and uppertail coverts all concolourous with head.
• Jet black eye with faint yellow iris, though not strikingly bright contrast with face as in full adult
• Upper mandible blackish, contrasting with golden yellow, fairly thick set lower mandible. Black from upper mandible bleeding roughly a quarter of the way down from tip of lower mandible (photo 7)
• Upper breast a mottled, spotted black 'bib' rather than full black sheen as in adult, ending at start of flanks
• Flanks subdued, smudged brown contrasting with off white underparts, rather than unmarked flanks as in adult. *
• Upper scapulars with black centres and fringes. Alula deep jet black contrasting with brown fringed, black centred lesser coverts.
• Median coverts and greater coverts black centred with increasingly pale fringes. Two outermost greater coverts with evident white fringes (Phot0 2, 4 etc.), this diagnostic of a first winter bird.
• Legs a pale fleshy pink. A touch smaller than Blackbird, often standing erect like Fieldfare (photo 8). Very aggressive behaviour, intimidating local Blackbirds.

* The subdued flanks maybe make this bird quite a well developed 1st winter, as some younger 1st winters such as this bird have far more pronounced, extensive flank streaking.

***

Within a couple of hours, I was back at a snow free school, and getting on with the working day as planned. But that hour was one of the most enjoyable I had had for some time, alleviating all my winter related frustrations and my academic pressures disappearing in the company in one of the most stunning and exciting passerines I have seen in Britain to date. Just an amazing bird, one to remember for a long, long time to come. Hopefully it will not be the last regional rarity that I will see here before I move away from the area in the summer.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

some pretty awful views of a bittern

I can only apologise for the quality of the film blogger, my camera and the cameraman all ought to be held accountable

at Blashford Lakes, Hampshire. Another was also seen here (both are at North Hide, Ivy Lake), but wasn't showing quite as well as this bird!

also managed slightly worse views of the Great Grey Shrike at Beaulieu Road Station, and far more awful views of a Goshawk at an undisclosed site near Fritham. Other highlights at Blashford were 2 Black-necked Grebes showing distantly, 20+ very gorgeous Goosander showing quite well, fabulous views of Pintail, Shoveler, Goldeneye and Gadwall (you learn to appreciate these things living in a relatively duck-deprived area!), and fantastic views of 2 Brambling (male and female) from the Woodland Hide, alongside my nicest views of Redpoll, Siskin and Coal Tit for quite a while (again, we're generally deprived of these species anywhere local!). There were Woodlarks galore singing their hearts out at both New Forest sites we visited, but none of the hoped for Dartford Warblers or Crossbills.

try to spot the Great Grey!

lovely Bittern, I urge anyone with a brain to visit Blashford Lakes!

and if you have a better camera than I, you might get an even more lovely photo of a Brambling to boot :)

I also tried to string a Yell'egull out of a 1st-winter Lesser Black-back, and got 9 yearticks, including Nuthatch and Mistle Thrush. Embarassing, I know. Though surprisingly the best bird(s) of the day was not one. I still need Turnstone!

Twite in N.Wales - 15th February 2013

 Colour-ringed Twite

 A stunning little 1st winter bird.

Flint Castle

With Twite now on the move back to breeding habitat, birds are moving along the Welsh Coast from the Dee, so we went to Flint today where there was a superb flock of c40 Twite gathered on the high tide. It was great to see the birds so well as it's a bird I rarely see and certainly rarely see well. We managed to see 4 colour-ringed birds including: Orange above Metal, White above Yellow, which was a bird that isn't from the known Welsh population which was great.
The highlight was of course catching and ringing a lovely 1st winter bird that was duly colour-ringed. A new species for me in the hand, and a taste of the near-future as I will be taking over the N.Wales project for a Post-grad degree.

A really enjoyable day thanks to Kelvin and Matt.

Cheers
Zac and Matt

Patch Proves Winner By A Long Neck (Norfolk, 1st-13th Feb)

Hi all, Joseph here. I live and bird up in Aberdeenshire, but I do occasionally escape from that harsh climate and spend small periods ranging from a week to two weeks down in Norfolk at my mum’s place just outside Norwich.

These small windows mean hardcore patching. When down here I’m based between Old Costessey and Drayton, where I patch Costessey House Private Estate. The patch is private land comprised mainly of meadows and deciduous woodland on the Wensum Valley, with a few sparse areas of reedbed. About 30 miles inland, it is largely waterless, with just the river and an artificial pool outside periods of flooding. Despite this its been productive since I started patching it in October 2011 with nearly 90 species recorded thus far, and provided the best birding on site yet this visit.

Anyway, I am leaving tomorrow, but have been here since the beginning of the month. Things started on 2nd February with a bang when these beauties graced my presence over Drayton Meadows, the largest areas of meadows on site....

6 Cranes; absolute patch gold! First picked up over ‘Hidden Pool’, they flew languidly in a north-westerly direction over Marriot’s Way, their elegant silhouettes set against the intensly lit sky as they continually gained height. Filled with an adrenaline unknown to me, I hared it down the meadows so as to not lose sight of them. Luckily, they wheeled around over Old Costessey village, allowing for some distant photos such as the above, before heading roughly over the cottage in the direction of Taverham at 12:15pm. By 1:30 they had apparently made it to Lynford; surprisingly slow!

After that experience, I couldn’t ask much more of the patch. The year had been made. But the quality kept on going. Flushing this Bittern on Tuesday 5th February (again from Drayton Meadows) was an equally intense moment, having been just a patch dream beforehand. Areas of reedbed on the patch are basically confined to two small areas, so scoring this Bittern was well off the radar.

Explaining the brief presence of this Bittern is the flooding at the moment. Whialthough mostly subsiding now, Drayton Meadows remain flooded and have a marshy feel as a result. This attracted 30 Teal on 2nd, a patch first, and flooded fields elsewhere on site have seen more regular occurences of uncommon patch species such as Little Egret. Other highlights were a Little Grebe on the Wensum on Thursday, again a patch first, and a Little Owl out the back of the cottage on 2nd.

It’s when these sort of things happen that you’re reminded of why patching can be the most rewarding type of birding out there. For more information on Costessey House Private Estate, see here on my blog, or any of the other pages or posts on there relating to the patch.

I've also managed some birding elsewhere in Norfolk, with 2 Rough-legged Buzzards briefly and Short-eared Owl at Haddiscoe Marshes on Tuesday, and a full weekend of birding producing a couple of Bitterns in the Broads, 11 Common Cranes at Hickling, 13 Snow Buntings at Salthouse affording fantastic views the day before and a single Pale-bellied Brent Goose amongst a large flock of Dark-bellied Brents at Cley.

One of the Snow Bunts appeared to be of the Greenland/Scandanavian, nominate nivalis subspecies, the more irregular of the two subspecies occuring in Britain. The more regular Icelandic subspecies insulae has noticeably brown upperparts with a dark mantle and ear coverts and a blackish rump. The single nivalis 1st winter male here really stood out from the crowd, a real snowball with very extensive white on the wing coverts, a frosty, rufous tinged mantle with discernable dark streaking, rufousy ear coverts and a much paler rump. A fascinating article here shows that on some years nivalis do inter mingle with insulae in Norfolk almost to a 50:50 point, though the latter race tends to predominate most years. Certainly an educational bird. I leave with you some photos taken on patch and elsewhere in the county during my stay.


6 of 11 Cranes in field at Hickling (10/2/12)

 Bittern at Strumpshaw Fen (10/2/12)

 Snow Buntings at Salthouse (9/2/12). If you look closely at this dire digi-binned shot there is a Snow Bunt at the top right hand end that is distinctly frostier than all the others; this is the 1st winter male nivalis. 

Barn Owl on patch, in the process of devouring a vole.

Robin giving it some welly on patch...



The resident patch Mutes

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Weekend in Norfolk

Jake here, spent the weekend in Norfolk with some friends very enjoyable couple of days. Picked up 12 year ticks and 2 year ticks making it very enjoyable.

The weather on Saturday was absolutely lovely to the point where I am slightly sun burnt! Anyway the day started with a sea watch from Hunstanton despite the sun shining the wind was still deathly chilly, on the beach we managed to pick up turnstone, bar tailed & black tail, fulmar, common gull, oystercatcher, curlew, kittiwake, brent geese and a group of birders claimed to have a yellow legged gull, was actually just a common gull with yellow legs! Out to sea itself we had at least 9 divers too far away to be conclusive but most likely red throated, 3 great crested grebes, 3 common scoter and that was about it! 

We then moved over to Holme with the hope of seeing twite (but alas no) the same group who claim to of found yellow legged gull also claimed to of found some twite we went over to where they reported them and could only find skylark.. Though a lone knot was a nice bird to see up closer. The rest of holme was disappointing, we added, Bullfinch, goldcrest, coal tit and little grebe being the only interesting birds.  

Bullfinch (the last place I'd think to see one)

Knot showing well

Our next stop was Titchwell on the path to the reserve the usual tame as hell robins showing off, I actually managed to hand feed one of the birds which was pretty cool, I was literally a robin stroker! At the feeders we managed to see at least 5 brambling, 5 siskin, 1 redpoll, 1 water rail and a stack of commoner species. Out on thornham marshes we managed to add heron, ruff and redshank to the list whilst watching a pair of folk try and ID a wren as a bearded tit because 'it was in a reed bed'.... The first hide provided brilliant views of at least 40 ruff, 15 avocet, 1 marsh harrier distantly and the usual wading species. A spotted redshank also showed brilliantly close to the main path. A quick sea watch we managed to locate the female long tailed duck which showed distantly but clearly with 5 golden eye. On sea we also managed common scoter, eider and a few distant diver.

We briefly stopped a Choseley Barnes and added yellow hammer, corn bunting, stock dove and grey partridge.  

How many can you see? 

I wish they where this easy to see in Sussex! 

After hearing about the Rough-Legged Buzzard in the Burnham area we thought we'd try our luck but as we had only a rough idea off where to look it was all rather in vain! However we briefly stopped at a lay by and managed to pick up 2 marsh harrier, 5 barn owl, 25 red wing, 10 fieldfare, 1 kestrel and the highlight for me about 300 pink footed geese flew over! 

So many! 

We quickly stopped in at Holkham to try see some more geese, a couple hundred flew in about 5 buzzards and another barn owl where the only real interesting things. Mr Joseph Nichols recommended us to a raptor roost just behind Brancaster, it was pretty much pitch black at this point but we still managed barn owl and a woodcock which typically was flushed! 

The second day which was both wet and cold wasn't looking to promising. An early start aiming for golden pheasant was a total waste of time, not even a glimpse! Though we did pick up tree creeper which was nice! 

We decided to pay a visit too Flitcham farm the best bird hide in the world. From here we managed to see little owl, mistle thrush, tree sparrow and kestrel. 

Worst picture in the world of little owl

Along the A11 I managed to pick out a harrier hunting along a field we pulled over and got brief but good views of a female hen harrier, a rather unexpected but well welcomed tick! We decided to make two final stops before heading home, the first being lynford arboretum looking for hawfinch which we did fail to see, Though we did manage marsh tit which showed very nicely and a good flock of at least 60 siskin and redpoll made it worth visiting. Our final stop of trip was to visit the black bellied dipper a worthy bird to end on.  

Good company, good birds and good banter, the makings of a perfect trip. 105 species in grand total. Also 1 Lee Evans who showed very briefly. 

Wader ringing - 8th February 2013

On Friday night I joined my trainer Steve, Rachel and Ros on the marshes in N.Wales and made a rather successful catch of 68 Redshank, 14 Curlew, 5 Oystercatcher, 1 Dunlin, 1 Knot and a Bar-tailed Godwit. The latter was a new species for me, so I was very thrilled indeed! I've waited for a long time to get my hands of this stunning species! They appear surprisingly small in the hand compared to the gigantic Curlew!

Quite a few of the birds caught were recaptures and the oldest recaptures came from Curlews with the oldest being ringed in 1994 and the oldest Redshank being Oct 2001.

An enjoyably night, but I think I might repair my chest-waders for next time as my white left sock appeared distinctly wet and brown by the end of the evening!

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve

Morning/Afternoon/Evening all (Depending on where in the world you are!),

On 1st February I decided to visit Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve. This reserve has a very special feeling about it in my opinion, the usual lack of other birders being the main reason!

Where as on the coastal reserves hide space is limited due to people numbers, Sculthorpe's hides are often empty and you get time with the birds to yourself, it makes it a great experience.

The main attraction for this visit was the numerous flocks of Brambling. From starting my walk at the visitor centre to the far hides every tree had a Brambling in it (Not literally of course!). The peak of the spectacle came at the Whitley hide where numerous birds joined Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Marsh Tit and others on the feeders, the base of which was occupied by a fairly showy Water Rail.

 

 

 

After a great start to my walk frustration crept up on me with the news that I had missed a Bittern at the far hides by around 8 minutes! I will always thank the couple present for being so precise.....especially when they kindly stated it had shown for an hour at around 30 feet away, curses!

Despite waiting 1 1/2 hours it did not show again.

It was now 4pm and closing time for the reserve so I headed back towards the visitor centre, still in a strop about missing the Bittern. My mood brightened in the fading light as 4 Common Buzzard circled over the reserve as I reached the visitor centre, 2 landing in trees close by.

A nice end to the day but that Bittern miss will be painful for quite a while, such is birding.

My next post will be up in around 3 weeks and will be a detailed report of my trip to Spain, needless to say it will be quite a long report....

Thanks for reading.

O.R

Check out my other blogs and flickr:

www.avesdelsur.wordpress.com

www.scoutingforbirds.wordpress.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oreville1989/

Malltraeth RSPB Wetlands

Today I followed in Zacs foot steps to attempt to "grip" back some of the species he added to his foot it list. On his trip to Malltraeth he picked up 9 new species, including Marsh Harrier!! So I was very hopeful the night before. I made a last minute decision to go out for the night for a friends birthday and just stay up until 4am, the meet time I had arranged with a another birder to start the walk. Needless to say, this was a terrible decision as I felt horrendous and tired for the entire 7 mile walk there. The weather was horrid (Welsh sideways rain, 60 MPH gusts!) and the birding was poor. With my bins all steamed up, I had o choice but to keep walking round the reserve so I could head home. Only consolation was a flyover Gadwall, and a very confiding adult female Hen Harrier just as we were leaving. Footit list is now at 107, and if I do continue my footit list all year, I will definitely pick a better weather day for that trip again!

Matt