Review of 2011

In total 227 species were seen in the UK in 2011 (2010 -226). Of this figure 9 were lifers and allowed me to break the 'magic 400' barrier in the UK.

January started very cold with hard frosts and most of my time was spent at local reservoirs including Hogganfield where an adult Med Gull was seen:

Trips further afield included Tyninghame where 5 Shorelarks were seen including this one:

January was also characterised by large numbers of Waxwing in and around Cambuslang. Another highlight was my first garden record of Brambling.

February's longer days encouraged trips further afield including Loch Ryan and Loch Ken. Best bird was closer to home in the form of a 3rd Winter Iceland Gull in the Strathclyde Park Gull roost. This photo was taken in near darkness:

March saw a trip through to Ruddens Point in Fife where the wintering Surf Scoter was seen distantly. Both Slavonian & Red Necked Grebe were also seen. On the same day Elie produced 14 Pale Bellied Brent Geese:

March also produced my 1st Spring migrants of the year in the forms of several Sand Martins at Keilder where several Crossbill also showed well. Closer to home my 1st Chiffchaff was in Cambuslang on the 31st.

April brought my 1st lifer of the year when I successfully twitched a drake Black Scoter off Stag Rocks in Northumberland:

Right Hand Bird

A very successful weekend was spent in the Scottish Highlands where I saw all 4 Grouse and had incredible views of Osprey at Lochindorb. Crested Tit & Scottish Crossbill were also seen.

A trip to Leighton Moss was also successful with splendid views of some of the reserve specialties including Marsh Harrier and Reed Warbler. It was also good to see several Marsh Tits. Lesser Whitethroat in the scrub close to the Allen Pool was also welcome. A confiding male Pheasant also allowed a good close up:

Caerlaverock is always a favourite of mine and a visit mid month gave great views of Barnacle Geese and ducks such as Shoveler:

May began with a trip to North East Scotland. First stop was the Ythan Estuary where amongst other things we saw the long staying King Eider and Bonapartes Gull. Moving North there were 5 Dotterels in a field at Collieston. Loch of Strathbeg was the next stop where the highlights included Corn Bunting.

At Strathbeg we debated whether to stay around on the off chance that the Common Cranes might reappear but in the end we pushed West across to Burghead Bay where we had splendid views of a White Billed Diver.

Mid month we organised a weekend in Norfolk. Following an overnight drive we were at Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire for first light and were greeted by a hunting Barn Owl.

Sunrise over Frampton Marsh

We were soon enjoying Little Ringed Plover and Avocets:

After breakfast we moved on to Weeting Heath and had distant views of Stone Curlew. Moving across the border into Suffolk to Lakenheath we had a Bittern in flight but the weather was ultimately against us and we failed to see the Golden Orioles and oly had a brief view of Hobby.

The second day was spent at Cley Marshes where we had views of Lesser Yellowlegs and Temminck's Stint. 

A visit to Musselburgh Lagoons late month provided 2 Little Stints:

 Early June provided my second tick of the year. A day off work and a drive to Hartlepool was required, as was a rather bizarre climb on to the fire escape of a house overlooking a 'doctor's' garden to see a White Throated Robin (only the 3rd record for Britain):

Mid month a visit to the Endrick Mouth produced great views of Ospreys & a male Redstart:

 Just when I thought that twitching was over until the Autumn a Juvenile American White Winged Scoter (a 1st for Britain) turned up off Murcar Golf Course in Aberdeenshire. The bird eventually showed mid afternoon in a very large Scoter flock that also included at least 3 Surf Scoter.

July was fauirly uneventful with the highlight being Green Sandpiper at Baron's Haugh:

2 weeks in August were spent with the family in Halkidiki in Greece. Although not a birding holiday, the hotel was in a rural area and it was possible to see a good range of birds including 4 different species of Shrikes and some superb European Bee Eaters.

September and indeed the whole Autumn was characterised by records of many transatlantic waders in the UK including a Long Billed Dowitcher at Baron's Haugh:

The appearance of a Sandhill Crane at St Combs in Aberdenshire in late September was my 400th bird in the UK:

 October saw my annual trip to the Scillies. The 2011 year was probably the best on the islands since 1999. Images of some of the best birds are shown below:

Another feature of 2011 was the outstanding number of records of Pallid Harrier in the UK, including 1 in Ayrshire at Garnock Floods in late October.

November continued the American Wader theme when a Greater Yellowlegs turned up at Hauxley in Northumberland mid month:

Accompanied by a Grey Phalarope !

The month of December was quiet apart from the appearance of good numbers of Tundra Bean & White Fronted Geese in the northern half of the UK. There was at least 29 of the former near Bishopton mid month.

Another Day of Crap Weather

Another day of God awful weather. Blustery showers in the morning, light awful, main beam headlights on on the way back from Heritage Loch at 10:45 am.

The aforementioned location produced 27 Lapwings today. SF all else, even the garden feeders are empty. Thinking about twitching "the Western" in Norfolk on 2nd/3rd Jan...................... will the wife let me ?

Stormy Weather

Another gale was forecast for today & that's exactly what we got. My run round the Heritage Loch was really hard work in the high wind. I however, noted C15 Lapwings sheltering from the elements on the South bank.

Goosing (Or Not) at Slamannan

After my run round the Heritage Loch in the morning I spent some time looking through c100 Gulls that had come over from Cathkin Tip. An adult Great Black Backed was the pick of the bunch.

After dropping Rachel in EK in the early afternoon I went over to Slamannan to see if I could get a year tick in the form of Taiga Bean Goose, 157 of them had been reported from close to Hillend Farm c1 mile North of the village. Not an area I know. Could not find the birds, could not even find Hillend Farm. I really should try looking up Streetmap before I go ! Probably if I had parked in the school and looked across the fields I might have had some success ? 11 Whooper Swans was the only thing of note in the entire afternoon.

Around and About

This time last year we were in the grip of a deep freeze. By complete contrast this years festive period has seen near record temperatures in some parts of the country. After a run round the Heritage Loch, my first run in over 3 weeks, well the weather has been poor. I headed over to Strathclyde Loch in the hope that the high winds over the last few days had maybe brought something in. There was an adult Pom Skua after the last blow in early December.

In truth it was all much as expected with 50 Greylag Geese, 40 Goosander and a single Great Black Backed Gull. Also lots of Cormaorant and 10-15 Goldeneye perhaps.

I drove round into the Hamilton Services & took a brief look at the Island Pond. 3 Whooper Swan were present along with small numbers of Wigeon & Gadwall. C15 Canada Geese were also present.

Onward to Hogganfield I sat in the car for about 20 minutes in the hope of seeing the 1st winter Med Gull that has been apparently 'coming to bread'. There were several people feeding the birds but no sign of 'the Med'. C15 Whoopers present with Gadwall, Goldeneye & Goosander all showing very close into the car park.

Hooded Crow in Burnside

There was a single Hooded Crow feeding on the grass close to the road in Stonelaw Woods Park this afternoon in Burnside on the South Side of Glasgow.


In all my years of living in this area I do not recollect seeing this species in this area before.

Slim Pickings on the Clyde Estuary

The lying snow and frozen ground meant that there were no Geese at all at Nether Southbar this morning. At Newshot Island things were no better. Some idiot with a camera walking onto the main area for roosting birds had seen to that !

At Ardmore Point the tide was distant and this produced c90 Lapwing in the North Bay together with good numbers of Shelduck. A flock of several hundred Wigeon & Teal loafed close to the waters edge and the Greenshank I had heard calling earlier was present with a few Redshank and a couple of Dunlin.

From the point there were perhaps 15 Great Crested Grebe but nothing really else.




Ardmore Point with Snow Covered Hills in the Distance

 

Lone Curlew

Christmas Robin

Bean Scene

Two weeks until Christmas and I can put the shopping off no longer ! But the shops don't open until later on a Sunday so time to squeeze in some birding beforehand. I took another trip down to Erskine to see if the Tundra Bean Geese were still present. I had seen no reports all week either positive or negative but given the rotten weather and the general dearth of observer coverage in the Clyde area that did not altogether surprise me.

The weather forecast was mostly dry with periods of sun and so the Goose viewing might be favourable, but as I approached Erskine the light was pretty poor, so I decided to do Newshot Island first. There were several hundred Black Headed Gulls on the river with a lot situated around the outflow on the North side. Given the gale we had mid week I was hoping for a Grey Phalarope perhaps, but despite my scrutiny there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. 11 Goldeneye remained however.

The tide was high, and up at Newshot Island there were impressive numbers of waders including at least 220 Lapwing and 60 Dunlin. There were also good numbers of Redshank and Wigeon and a few Teal.

Drake Wigeon in the Gloom

A Water Rail was calling from the reedbed area.

By the time I left Newshot, the sun has come out and I spend some time with the DSLR shooting the view downriver towards the Erskine Bridge:

On to Nether Soutbar.From the road there appeared to be very few Geese around, but after turning the car round and parking up I found this not to be the case ! Rather than where they had been last week, i.e miles away they were in the field adjacient to the road. Not quite as many Greylag as last week, but certainly up to 30 Tundra Bean, this time with very obvious orange legs.

A few Fieldfare were also of note.

By 11:30 am it was time to give up and confront the X-Mas shopping !

Wild Goose Chase

The last two weeks have done nothing but rain and that combined with last weekend's party and overnight stay in Aberfoyle have restricted birding opportunities.

The weather this morning was a bit more promising and I decided to head down towards Erskine to search for the flock of Tundra Bean Geese that have been getting reported recently between there and Bishopton. This is a species I have only seen once before and given the recent influx in the UK this was a good opportunity.

Erskine is not a place I know very well and I drove round for a good 20 minutes, eventuall finding Southbar but failing to see any fields with Geese in them at all. I gave up and headed towards Erskine Harbour and walked up the Clyde towards Newshot Island.


Newshot Island





Again first time I had been here. It certainly appeared promising with a good selection of ducks and waders
including both Wigeon & Teal and Dunlin and Redshank and I had a probable Grey Plover. It looks as though the birds will vary depending on the tide and the area of reedbed off to the right looked promising for raptors. I seem to recollect a Marsh Harrier being reported last Spring ! With the recent extension of the M74 it is only 25 minutes from home so I hope I can do it more often. The whole area probably falls into the category of 'severely underwatched'.

Anyway back to my Goose chase. I finally found the site (not sure why I had missed it in the 1st place !), a stubble field some distance from the A8 running between Bishopton & Erskine and indeed there were several hundred Geese present. I set the scope up on the window mount and spent over an hour going through them. Given the distance and the light this wasn't easy ! By far the greatest majority were Greylag with up to 30 that looked like Pinkfeet but given the distance could well have been Tundra Bean, 4 Barnacle and 1 White Fronted. As regards the Tundra Bean I found seeing leg colour impossible and as such the record for me is inconclusive, hopefully, they will stay around and I might get another shot. At least next time I'll know where the site is.

Jack Snipe

The days are now noticeably shorter and coupled with the often dull & dreary weather it makes sense at this time of year to stay close to home.

This morning I headed up to Cathkin Braes for 09:30 and was soon enjoying at least 4 Tree Sparrows accompanied by a few House Sparrow and Chaffinches at the Windlaw feeding site.

Armed with my wellies, I waded as short distance into the Windlaw marsh in search of Jack Snipe. Jack Snipe when approached often crouch until the last minute and then fly often quite feebly and land a short distance away. I got into an area where I had already flushed several and stood and looked in an attempt to locate one to photograph. Each time I edged forward another one would flush from almost under my feet and yet I hadn't seen it. This happened several times until I gave up so as not to disturb them any more.

Jack Snipe.....though not today !

 


























After this I went round to Cathkin Marsh and enjoyed a large flock (>100) of Fieldfares & Redwings in the surrounding fields and hedges. 

Greater Yellowlegs !!!

The MEGA Autumn for North American waders just keeps coming with the discovery of a Greater Yellowlegs in Northumberland yesterday. Still present at dusk yesterday evening, I was out the house at 6:15 am this morning to twitch it.

Although it had been a reasonably clear night in the West, by the time I got to Berwick it was wall to wall fog & drizzle, just perfect for keeping it put. By 7:30 am the pager was reporting it as still present although given the weather I wondered what the view would be like.

I arrived at Low Hauxley around 9am to a sea of cars. I parked as best I could and followed the crowd towards the 'Wader' hide. Fortunately, it was quite a big hide but even so it was a bit of a scrum. Initially, 'The Yellowlegs' was not in view having gone round the corner out of sight just before I arrived. There was a tense wait before it appeared again, with a Grey Phalarope for good measure. Despite standing 3 deep at the window I somehow got the scope on it and managed some shots. Given the poor light and the vibration in the hide the shots are okay:

With 'The Phalarope'

Birds From All Points of the Compass

  

See 'Lesser' for Comparison



Lesser Yellowlegs on Mary's this October for Comparison

 















Given my recent exposure the Lesser Yellowlegs this Autumn, this bird was strikingly different. Being much stockier and when seen out the water has legs 'up to its armpits'.

Other notables today included Wigeon, Teal, Goldeneye, Snipe and Tree Sparrow.

On the way home I stopped off at Torness Power Station. As well as the 'resident' Peregrine I got an absolutely cracking view of the Yellow Browed that had been there for a few days. I watched it for about 10 minutes foraging in a Sycamore barely 6 feet away at times. Best view I've had of one of these little gems in years !

A Pleasant Late Autumn Afternoon

On what was a very bright and dry early winter day, I took the new DSLR up to Cathkin to attempt some shots of the woodland. I am slowly beginning to learn about some of the camera's functionality and am keen to put some of it into practice. I have been learning that the camera has several focus points and if you don't tell it where you want it to focus it is likely to pick the nearest point. I also learned a bit about exposure lock, that basically means taking an exposure reading from a small area of the scene, locking it, recomposing the scene without the camera being able to adjust its exposure again. Basically, I am on a very steep learning curve !



 Whilst blundering about with the camera a Crossbill flew over calling.

Also today at least 2 Fieldfare and only 1 Snipe seen at the marsh. I still need Jack Snipe for the year. should get it between now and 31 December.

Nice Day for Photography.............. Shame about the Photographer.

Some images from a beautiful day at Caerlaverock:

Splendid Pallid Harrier in Ayrshire

Successfully twitched a splendid juvenile Pallid Harrier at Garnock Floods near Irvine this afternoon !

I had initially missed it just before 10am and had to wait over 2 hours for it to show again. It was relocated initially perched on a fence in the old munitions site just north of Bogside. On reaching for the camera I found that the battery was completely dead, I had omitted to charge it after Scilly believing there still to be plenty of juice. Obviously not ! In any event it flew off almost immediately and I doubt I would have got anything even if the battery had not been flat.

Anyway my overall impression of the bird was that it was very slim with warm brown tones to the underparts and a very obvious contrasting neck collar. Its flight was light and easy, very akin to what I remember from Monty's Harrier and completely different from Hen that is an altogether much bigger bird.

Whilst waiting for the Harrier to reappear, I had my first Fieldfares of the Autumn, 3 Sparrowhawks and c6 Crossbill.

Photo Review of Scilly 2011

Black Redstart

Bluethroat

Bluethroat







Lesser Yellowlegs

 

Northern Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

Pec Sand

Red Throated Pipit

Rose Coloured Starling

Sub-Alpine Warbler

Upland Sand

Wilson's Snipe