28 Sept 2020 - Holme

Back in Norfolk and a new place to explore.

Despite having visited Holme Dunes since the mid-80s, I have always been dirty twitching (and dipping). I've never spent any time just birding...so with it now only 30 minutes away, I am determined to change that.

Bluethroats, Ortolan, Collared Pratincole and Collared Fly are some of my favourite memories of the place. Hopefully, I'll be able to add to those and maybe find a scarce bird or two.

So I popped up there this afternoon and as I parked, I get the message that the Lammergeier has been refound over North Elmham. Having spent a couple of hours in a field at Foxley. Both places very familiar from my years living in Swanton Novers!

I way up the pros and cons and decide to wait for more news and do a bit of birding at Holme.

The first bird I put my bins on is a Pied Flycatcher in the Sycamores, then closely followed by a Yellow-browed Warbler! Autumn has officially started.

Brent geese flying by along the beach and Pink-feet over the fields make it feel slightly wintery but it's good to be out and about.

More soon.

Mark.

Cornwall 19 - Day 2 29th October - Morning Update.

What a drizzly day

I am writing this from the warmth of Lands End Youth Hostel as I got rather wet this morning.

a let less bird movement today, as there was a howling 28mph SE down the Cot valley

a flock of 2 Fieldfare followed by a monster flock of 40+ Fieldfare soon had my wet weather gear on and out the house.

Chaffinch - only 21 birds today in 7 flocks.
Brambling - single bird flew up the valley late morning
Song Thrush - 4 birds seen working their way up the Valley
Redwing - Much smaller numbers today - only 6 birds in 3 flocks
Goldfinch - 1 + 11 birds moving up the Valley
Starling - Quite a lot of movement - over 300 birds in 4 flocks - largest flock was 180+
1 Mistle Thrush was a surprise heading up the Valley in a rainstorm
1 Meadow Pipit also headed u the valley.

Cot Valley Beach  


2 Black Redstarts
6 Meadow Pipits
2 Robins
1 Stonechat
2 Grey Heron


Cot Valley 

1 Firecrest - Showed really well
1 Siberian Chiffchaff showed well and calling
4 Blackcap ( 2 male and 2 female )
3 Goldcrest
3 Robin
4 Blackbird

Its still tipping it down and the wind is howling ... I may just stay inside a little longer - but I guess the Ovenbird wont find itself :-)

Simon

Cornwall 19 - Day 1 28th October 2019.

Wow

I do love viz mig, today was a bit special

OK, there were no rares or even a bit of juicy scarce to get my teeth into but it felt rare all day and the experience of seeing many "in-off" thrushes and finches was a day to remember

Woke up super early after a cracking nights sleep, as the clocks have just gone back, it meant that the faint tendrils of dawn started to make themsleves known about 07:15.

As noted yesterday, I had booked breakfast, which was incredible and def well worth the £6.25 price tag. Full english + 4 slices of toast + Cereal + Pastries + Yoghurt + Coffee + Juice.

I ventured out at 08:00, 6 Chaffinches were flying around the YHA grounds and I could hear Goldcrests and Redwings and there was no rain, in fact the rain held off for most of the morning and only realy started in earnest at midday ( and then didnt stop )




I decided to head through the Valley first thing and then do a bit of Seawatching at Cape Cornwall, upon leaving the YHA, I bumped into Ken Arber ( of Porthgwarra Hermit Thrush fame) Ken and I chewed the fat for 25 mins of past glories on Scilly and Cornwall before I headed down the Valley

As we were engrossed in chatting, the many Chaffinch and Redwing flocks that went over were uncounted , but were probably in the range of 50 Chaffinch and 60 Redwing, a single Fieldfare also flew straight up the Valley.

a quick look at the ruined cottage, Chiffchaff and 5 Blue Tits were active, 2 FIRECREST showed well along the coast path in the last garden out of the valley with 2 Chiffchaff and 2 Song Thrush, a female BULLFINCH was unexpected as it moved up the valley.

I started to keep an accurate count at this point and for the rest of the walk round to Cape Cornwall

Chaffinch - 32 + 6 + 19 + 7 + 14 + 1 + 46 (!) + 9 + 1 + 16 + 3 + 9 = 163 - All moving E/NE
Redwing - 84 in 6 flocks ( largest flock 62)
Fieldfare - a further 2 singles up the valley
Blackbird - 6 migrants, coming in high and up the valley
Starling - 6 + 28 in-off
Meadow Pipit - high flying birds as opposed to lingerers - 2 + 1 + 1 +3
Song Thrush - 1 + 1

I then spent about an hour looking around the Cape Cornwall Priests Cove area

10 Stonechat
9 Meadow Pipit
2 Song Thrush
4 Blackbird
3 Chiffchaff
11 Goldfinch
3 Grey Wagtail
2 Dunnock
2 BLACK REDSTARTS (1 1st winter male around the NT buildings and a female in garden of Cove Cottage)
3 Dunnock
4 Robin
2 Chough
10 Raven
1 Male Blackcap

a very brief Seawach saw 5 Red Admiral (!) , 6 Harbour Porpoise , 33 Guillemot and 2 Razorbill in ID range, many other Auks miles out, Gannets and Shags

Very few birds on way back ( the overhead migration wore off by 11:45) and 2 Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest were the best of them, 6 Woodpigeon and 25 Chaffinch were feeding at head of the valley.

a quick regroup ( well a nap ) had me raring to go at 14:30, however this was a trip to Sainsburys as I had forgotten to bring a Towel !

I decided to have a look for the Rose Coloured Starling in Penzance, but no sign, Red Throated Diver in Marizion bay was nice, 7 Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit were best off Newlyn and sadly a dead Common Dolphin was all the Mousehole bay had to offer

as the drizzle started to get worse, i finished the day off with Fish and chips at Sennen

Hopeful that tomorrow will bring more american bounty

Simon

 

Cornwall - October 2019 - Day minus one.

So, here we go again (sang James Blunt when singing about 1973, the Club in Ibiza rather than my birth year 😊)

Another blog post in this never ending and enduring blog

It’s the annual Rob and Simon Cornwall trip, but without Rob as he couldn’t make it ☹

It’s a bit weird coming on my own, but wanted to keep the dream alive.

I travelled down on Sunday afternoon after seeing the 6 WHOOPER SWANS at Linford just after 14:00.

I arrived at Letcha Vean YHA in Cot Valley about 20:50, which was too late for food from anywhere, so had 2 beers and 2 packets of crisps. Oh and a Snickers bar, because I like to live life on the edge.

Can’t wait to see what the grounds have to hold in the morning … 

Have opted for Cooked Breakfast though in light of no food this evening so will be a latish start … 

have also forgotten a towel, so will need to head into Penzance after my morning rounds

I am predicting a Parula Warbler ( but will be happy with a Blackcap :-) ) 

Simon

 

Scillies 2017 - Day 5 ( well two hours of day 5 ) - Keep quiet in the roads

Always a sad day, the one when you are leaving Scilly …..

It could not have been more different to yday, not a breath of wind and a patchy blue sky, birds were everywhere, and the first bird I set eyes on was the male Black Redstart on the roof of the garage outside the house window. 1 Chiffchaff was in the Pittosporum hedges below the house, a quick check of the Bants Carn area revealed 2 Chaffinches, 2 Goldcrest’s, 1 Stonechat and 2 Meadow Pipits.

View of my home for last 3 nights - Standing Stones

A 1^st year Northern Wheatear shot past me as I walked out onto the golf course, but nothing else was doing up there.

A Mute Swan swimming in the roads (the patch of sea between St Mary’s and Tresco was unexpected and with that, I headed back to the house to wait for the taxi to the airport.

* Please note that this is the same bird that eventually moved to the Big Pool on Bryher - it was a tad more distant when i saw it :-) c Phil Lymbery

Phil and Helen are off to Bryher today and took a lift in the taxi, dropping me off to the Airport , although sad to say goodbye , sure I will be seeing them both again soon – Phil is the CEO of Compassion in World Farming and has written two ground breaking books , please read them. https://www.ciwf.org.uk/philip-lymbery/books/ Helen is a wonderful cook ( even if she tells you she isn’t ! ) and Duke is awesome. Phil's excellent pictures will also grace these log pages when i get home and upload them ! 

But it wasn’t all over for the birds, one last find before the plane, another Black Redstart on the roof of the Terminal building

So, not quite the American fest I had hoped it would be, but some great experiences, friendships renewed and the best scenery on the planet, and the Birds were not too bad either for a 4 day stopover J

Western Orphean Warbler

Isabelline Wheatear

“Probable” Wilsons Snipe  

American Golden Plover

Little Bunting

4 Hawfinches

3 Yellow Browed Warblers ( 2 found)

2 Firecrest’s

2 Spoonbill

2 Pale Bellied Brent Geese

Lapland Bunting

Storm Petrel

Leach’s Storm Petrel

2 Peregrine

4 Black Redstarts  

Cannot wait to get back next year! 

Scillies 2017 Day 4 - Quality , not quantity

Its been a strange day, the Storm Ophelia or rather the winds associated with the storm hit during the night and hit hard, it was tough birding today and the scenes on the quay were very reminiscent of ones over 17 years ago when Steve Blain and I stood and watched the massive breakers engulf the Mermaid, I again spent some tie down there late afternoon, not late enough to get the close views of Leach's Petrel, but I digress.....

When I say Quality , not quantity , I didn't actually see that many birds today , in fact, compared to yesterday , I think I would struggle to count on both hands Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs , but those I did see were good value in the Scilly sense ! Even if they were only in 1's and 2’s! 

I had to get the bike back to Porth Mellon by 3 pm - so the morning was two wheeled and the afternoon two legged, after a very blustery ride round the coast , I ended up at Innisidgen , where I stayed for nearly 1.5 hours. 1st piece of Scilly quality was the Skylark that came in off the sea calling , battling against the wind that was blowing offshore here , 4 white birds battling low over the waves eventually revealed themselves as 4 1st Winter Black Headed Gulls !, they headed off inland. 

Then a tuu had me looking up - a brilliant Lapland Bunting headed east just above head height, disappeared round the corner in the direction of Watermill cove 

Continued scanning the sea in the vague hope that the GND might put in a show, but then a small Black seabird appeared approx. 2-300 yds. out , quick check of lack of Carpal band and a few white flashes of underwing - a Storm Petrel ! First one I have seen from the land on Scillies - it batted past at a fairly good speed (it had a tail wind) and veered out towards Great Ganilly. Brilliant set of birds and all different and unexpected 

A Stonechat, 1 Curlew and 2 Meadow Pipits were the only other birds of note seen here 

Watermill Cove was very windy and bird free (the RBF was relocated late afternoon, but no sign first thing) the best conjured up here was a Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and a Siskin.

The aftermath of the wind was beginning to show in the fallen branches and pine needles that were heaping up on the road, it was quite tough going riding into the wind sometimes, a quick stop at Newford found another 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Goldcrests and the Yellow Browed Warbler calling deep from the back of the pond, hung around a bit to see if the Grey Wagtail was going to visit – he didn’t!

I then decided to head round the south side of the island to Old town as it was getting near hide tide and they were expecting big rollers to come crashing in, on the corner of Maypole, a single Hawfinch was still in the Lichen covered hawthorn and a Redwing was sheltering from the gale in the corner of the field! This was to be the only bird I saw on the trip.

The rest of the ride down to Old Town was uneventful and the Flapjack and Jacket Potato when I arrived was excellent, was meeting Dave and his wife, who were over with the Sandwich Bay Bird group, lovely conversation about birding , the islands and diving – when I left the café, the waves were huge and they had shut off the road to Old Town Church, I took a detour through Lower Moors , again paying my respect to the empty area by the boardwalk that hosts the Spotted C rake every time I leave J

Bumped into Lloyd and his mum in the lower moors hide, 2 Teal and plenty of Mallard, but little else, continued to Shooters Pool where a cracking female Grey Wagtail was performing nicely and allowed me to finally get my camera out and take some pics.

All too soon I was back on the bike as I was due to drop off at 15:00, the bike duly dropped off ( by the way – St Mary’s Bike hire - https://www.stmarysbikehire.co.uk/ is awesome and def. worth using to whizz around the islands, great customer service and a great price.

Now back on two feet, I started to head towards the co-op as needed essentials for Phil and Helen, Red Wine and Bread – staple Scilly fareJ, whilst on route I took quite a few photos of the ever increasing swell bashing over the quay, thinking this would be a repeat of 2001 when Steve Blain and I got some great footage of waves crashing into the harbor, I headed down! It was equally as tremendous. A Rock Pipit fed around my feet as it clearly had been pushed off its beach, a Turnstone was also washed off his roost rocks! I then left (about 10 mins too early it turns out!) to walk back up to Bants Carn, a quick pop into Porthcressa showed that this side of the island was getting equally battered and the Sand from the beached was all over the grass and in the road.

Just as I was walking past Porthloo, Dick came on the radio with a Leaches Petrel off the Quay! I couldn’t quite see it from Porthloo so headed up onto Golf course via Juliet’s , after about 10 minutes scanning I finally picked out one of the 2 birds seen earlier struggling into the roads ! Who would have thought Leach’s Petrel and Storm Petrel both on the same day from St Mary’s!

On a bit of a high, I checked the Golf course on the way back, a cracking Peregrine was hanging in the wind over Bants Carn and a Raven cronked loudly as it battled with the wind and headed off north. A White Wagtail was sheltering in one of fairways and a few Goldcrests were calling in the pines as I walked back in the gale. I brought a new windproof coat from Rab before I left for the islands and it has been phenomenal! Will review in another blog post. Walking back and didn’t see anything, fantastic pasta bake and Cheese Bread. Conversation was brilliant and always and an easy couple of hours drifted by, shower and spoke to my very understanding wife, Kellie before hitting the sack.

Brilliant day with 7 trip ticks added  

Scillies 2017 Day 3 - all about the Crests and Warblers

Although it was a hard slog today with lots of walking and searching, it was rewarding for the sheer numbers of crests into St Marys - almost everywhere I stopped had birds calling, and I reckon easily 100 without trying ! Chiffchaffs were also on the up and a lot of birds seen and heard.

As i am now staying in the delightful Standing Stone cottage at Bants Carn, not only does this mean no beer at the Bishop , but also i am slap bang in the middle of decent habitat just by looking out the window , and within 2 minutes of having a look , a Black Redstart on the roof of the outbuilding, Male Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaffs were seen in the garden.

I then spent the next hour taking a very slow walk around the Bants Carn area , stopping for quite a while at the Carn itself to indulge in a spot of viz migging

although not earth shattering numbers, it was nice to see the following - all were coming from the direction of Tresco

5 Siskin
2 Snipe
1 White Wagtail
Blackcap
1 Chaffinch

around the Carn itself were 2 Stonechats and 5 Meadow Pipits

I carried on walking up the path that runs alongside the Golf course , a quick pish and Bang ! Yellow Browed Warbler always brilliant to self find one of these eastern gems ! got great views for about 30 seconds before it dived off round a bush , which suddenly Phil and Helen appeared from :-) Phil managed to get some good photos !

I then walked slowly up the path before stopping again , big pish and another Bang ! this time an Excellent Firecrest  this one allowed me to actually get my camera out of my bag and actually photograph it ! I actually got some that i like, 4 Goldcrests accompanied it

Another slow wander down Telegraph road resulted in another Black Redstart behind the water tanks, 4 more Chaffinch over , another "Alba" Wagtail and another Siskin. Sunken garden for lunch - only 2 Goldcrests here

I had by now reached Trewince, where a Dragonfly was flying around an enclosed field , i dont know any of these species well but this was very light brown if that aids ID , it or another one was called over the radio as a possible Vagrant Emperor, but no idea !

then onto the crop fields before Carrag Dhu , a quick 5 minute watch netted 2 Blackcaps, 2 Goldcrests, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Linnet , 6 Song Thrush , 4 Blackbird , 5 Wren and 10 Dunnock !

a Chiffchaff back on the road was calling loudly

decided to have a 10 minute stop in Carrag Dhu gardens and while having a quick snack , i was joined by this Blackbird with a broken wing

Later found out from Will Scott that he has survived over a year ! , not much else in the Gardens other than 2 Chiffchaffs and 4 Goldcrest

walked towards Porthellick - the new boardwalk is coming on nicely !

Nothing much doing from the Steven Sussex hide other than a brief flypast of a Kingfisher , 2 Teal and 1 Snipe

1 Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrests were between the hides , the Seaward hide held Ian B and a really nice guy called Lloyd who i chatted with for about 20 mins whilst "enjoying" the putative Wilsons Snipe ( very bad shots ! ) 6 Greenshank and another 10 Snipe in the far roost.

said goodbye to Lloyd and headed round the Porthellick loop, lots of pishing later and the tally was 1 Firecrest , 10 Goldcrests and 2 Chiffchaffs

No sign of the earlier Spotted Crake , but 2 Chiffchaff and 8 Goldcrest here , another 12 Goldcrest and 3 Chiffchaff were nearer Holy Vale , but best of all was my 2nd self find Yellow Browed Warbler of the day calling and showing really well ( allowed some terrible photos :-) ) just at the entrance to Holy Vale.

10 Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff and 2 Water Rails were the best Holy vale had to offer and then a male Siskin as I climbed the long hill upto Maypole

A couple of friendly birders pointed out the correct Hawthorn bush and two cracking Hawfinches were feeding and showing well - my photos might give you some idea of how far away i was though !

2 more Siskin buzzing over and 3 Goldcrest as we approached Newford Duckpond , despite my best efforts, could not increase on my YBW tally ( 2 were reported from there today ) and only 3 Chiffchaff gave themselves up

it was then a misty walk home .... but all was not quite over as Phils diligence paid off at 18:36 when the Short Eared Owl that was seen earlier over the Golf course began quartering Bants Carn as we viewed it from the the balcony a brilliant addition to the trip list which currently stands at 76 !

its Hurricane arrival tomorrow and having stepped outside , you can feel the wind getting up !

the biggee will be found tomorrow ......