Griswold's Birding Year 2015 (1 Viewer)

[ClarkWGriswold]

Decent morning out with a mate this morning. GSW, Cuckoo(heard), Skylarks, Wheatears, Kestrel and Peregrine at Cwm Cadlan.

Then over to Garwnant to add Siskin, Grey Wagtail, Dipper and a cracking view of a Tree Pipit belting out a tune.

149. Tree Pipit

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Went down to Pembrey Harbour this morning with the children. Heaps of people fishing so not many waders around. Rock Pipit and Whimbrel in the harbour. Raven overhead. Common Whitethroat on the scrub. Think I heard a Lesser Whitethroat but couldn't pick it out at the base of the bushes at all:-C

150. Whimbrel
151. Common Whitethroat

Heading back to Scotland for a couple of nights tomorrow. The weather forecast is dreadful so I wouldn't be surprised if the boats over to Handa are cancelled.

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Added the following on a recent short trip to Scotland:

152. Merlin
153. Bonxie
154. Sandwich Tern
155. Guillemot
156. Razorbill
157. Tystie
158. Puffin
159. Arctic Skua

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Headed East with Kev this morning. Very blustery which kept most stuff down in the reedbeds. Cettis and Common Whitethroats were present at Newport Wetlands along with good numbers of Avocet at Goldcliff. Good to catch up with Bryan again at Goldcliff who is still on his quest to see a Gwent Hawfinch - good luck Bry:t:

Added the following to the year list:

160. Grasshopper Warbler
161. Sedge Warbler
162. Bar Headed Goose (totally wild I'm sure8-P)

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

First Swift of the year earlier when I went to collect a Chinese from Pontardawe. 2 days later than last year.

163. Common Swift

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Big thanks to whoever gave this thread a 5star rating:t:B

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Great day out with the Carmarthenshire Bird Club today at Dinas reserve.:t:

On the way I stopped at Mynydd Ddu but was obviously way too late for any Dotterel:-C. A few Wheatear, Mippits and Skylarks were around though.

Next stop was the greasy spoon just outside of Llangadog - still my favourite:eat:. Next I headed to Dians. On arrival I put down a few mealworms etc. on the table. The Marsh Tit was on the table as I was sprinkling the food down!! A few other birders from Hertfordshire and the New Forest were also visiting this great little reserve.

Tbh the morning proved quite difficult. Birds were there but not showing well. Perhaps the cold weather? After lunch the sun came out - suddenly much easier:t:

Throughout the day Tree Pipits, Common Redstarts, Marsh Tits, Grey Wagtails, Yellowhammers, Wood Warblers, GSW (a couple of members saw a LSW), Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Garden Warblers, Blackcaps, LTT's, Ravens, Red Kites etc. etc. were seen. I can thoroughly recommend this little reserve:t:

The following were new for the year:

164. Garden Warbler
165. Wood Warbler
166. Pied Flycatcher
167. Spotted Flycatcher

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

A couple more from today:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Just arrived in Somerset for a week with the children. Great accommodation - will post a link when I get home - in a beautiful area.

Went with the boys for a walk around Ham Wall to stretch our legs. This is a great reserve:t:. We weren't there long but managed to some cracking birds - Cettis, Reed, Garden and Sedge Warblers, Marsh Harriers, Hobby, 3 GWE's, cuckoo and several booming Bitterns. Sod's law meant I was too focussed on getting a crappy photo of a Cettis and totally didn't see the Bittern flying over:-O

168. Reed Warbler
169. Hobby
170. Great White Egret

Will try again tomorrow morning for the Bitterns.

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Another good day in Somerset. Alarm went off at 4:30 and I headed for Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath.

Over the next few hours several booming Bittern were heard with 3 seen in flight. Warblers were everywhere plus what appeared to be more Swifts than yesterday. A couple of GWE's were seen on both reserves and two (possibly the same bird though?) male Marsh Harriers were at Shapwick Heath. At Meare Heath a cracking male Garganey was a nice bonus and Common Terns on Noah's Lake added to the year list tally.

The short drive home gave 8 Common Buzzards in the same tree, a Kestrel and a male Peregrine. Non- bird sightings were limited to some Rabbits, a Roe Deer and a Tench - the dorsal fin could be seen breaching the surface in the drain on Shapwick Heath.

I'll add a few shockingly bad photos when I get home.

171. Bittern
172. Common Tern

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Headed down to Dorset on Tuesday. Thanks for the advice btw on the Dorset thread. Stopped off at Radipole in Weymouth where a Common Tern was fishing and a few Cettis were singing away. The Hooded Merganser was also there and gave good views.

From is was over to Chesil Beach. Had a very decent half hour watching the Little Terns with the warden and volunteer -Maggie and Sally - as well as Stephen, a visiting birder from London.

173. Little Tern Lifer#6 B B :t:B

Today we headed to Greylake for an hour whilst Sars went shopping in the Clarks Village. Great little reserve but the wind was keeping everything down. Nice to see Redshanks and Lapwings with their young though. Added the following here:

174 Yellow Wagtail

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Just came back from a cracking week in Somerset - will add some shoddy photos later. Yesterday I finished the week at Ham Wall having been to Westhay Heath in the morning. Great views of Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and Cuckoos were had. Several Hobbys were hawking for Dragonflys at Ham Wall and GWE's were also present. During the day I also saw Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Common Tern, Blackcaps, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Cettis, Willow, Reed, Sedge and Garden Warblers; Chiffchaffs, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

It's a superb area.

On the way home we stopped off at Marshfield. Tony - local birder showed me where the Little Owls usually were but not at that time. Thanks for trying though:t:

Was also pointed in the direction of my target bird and there it was:

175. Corn Bunting Lifer #7 :t::t:B B

Also present were several Yellowhammers and Stock Doves.

Rich

PS thanks to Walshey for the advice re. Marshfield:t: and to all who gave feedback on my RFI threadB

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

This is a link to where we stayed:

http://www.honeycroftfarm.co.uk

Great location for accessing the reserves of Somerset. Well equipped and very clean. I'll definitely be using it again.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Some awful photos from recent trip but at least you can tell what they are:-O

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

And some more:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

And lastly:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Nothing new today but had an enjoyable hour at Rhossili with the children. Great views of Ravens, Kestrels, Fulmars and a very confiding Stonechat.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Booked the day off today with thoughts of going to Skomer. Luckily (thanks to my sister) I found out they don't run boats on a Monday. Toyed with going back to look for the Choughs again but in the end decided against it. Went to mid-Wales instead. Turned out to be a great decision:t:.

A quick walk around Dinas gave Pied Flycatchers, Wood Warblers, Common Redstart and Garden Warblers. A bit further up the road and Kites and Buzzards were soaring overhead along with a Raven cronking away. Having looked here before I knew this was a good area for the Chat that I was after and sure enough there they were - Whinchats:t:

Over the mountain road a couple more Whinchats were seen along with Mippits, Mistle Thrush, heaps of Pied Wagtails, Dabchicks and more Buzzards and Kites.

A quick stop at Y Talbot for lunch (delicious butternut squash soup and a coffee) and it was on to Cors Caron. A very pleasant walk to the hide gave Reed Buntings, Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers, Common Whitethroat, a family of Stonechats and also a very pale looking Willow Warbler:h?::h?:

Always strikes me as odd that they only get the occasional Hobby here as it seems to be perfect habitat with heaps of Dragonflys etc. for them to prey upon.

From here it was a case of making my way back. Stopped off at Dryslwyn Bridge to watch the Sand Martins which is always nice, but couldn't locate any LRP's which I was also hoping to see. Another Reed Bunting was also on the river bank and a couple more Buzzards completed the day. All in all a very enjoyable day's birding:t:

176. Whinchat

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Great day out to Skomer yesterday with a mate. Picked Kev up at 5:00 a.m. from Port Toilet and headed off. I guess we arrived at 7:30ish (with a stop) and already a small queue had formed. Whitethroats were singing away whilst we were waiting. The ticket office opens at 8:30 and we were on the first boat at 10.

Whilst waiting for the boat to depart a handsome male Peregrine flew overhead. The short trip over gave seabirds galore. Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Puffins etc. were everywhere.

On arrival we decided to head for the farm and the hide beyond. We scanned the wall behind the farm where we were told the Little Owls favour, but no joy. On the way to the hide though we were treated a fantastic view of a SEO. One of my favourite birds and a lifer for Kev. From the hide another, though possibly the same SEO was seen in the distance along with Canada Geese, Mippits etc. From the hide we carried on along the circular walk around the Island. Another, and possibly third SEO was seen which was fantastic along with Linnets, Common Whitethroats, Skylarks, Stonechats. A sea mist rolled in which was a little unfortunate but it created a fantastic atmosphere.

At the seabird colonies we were treated to fantastic views (when the mist thinned) of Puffins, Fulmars, Guillemots etc. etc.

Skomer itself is a brilliant destination and is rightly very popular with Birders. I can think of no other place where you can get so close to hundreds of Puffins - down to a couple of feet. Boat charge for adults is £10 (I think Children were £7) and the landing charge was £11. Good value for such a place in my book.

177. Short Eared Owl

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Puffins everywhere:t: