Glorious Gloucestershire

The weather recently has been nothing short of appalling. So, seeing that Sunday 16/02 was due to be a sunny, still day and with the Gloucestershire Red-Flanked Bluetail well and truly in situ, a trip to the west country was in order!

With the bait of the Bluetail, Dave, Jon & Kirsty took little persuading. After being picked up on the way we arrived soon after 9am in bright sunshine. There were plenty of others already there including several familiar Northants faces! It took next to no time before we were getting fleeting initial glimpses of the 1st winter male Red Flanked Bluetail flitting about from bush to bush. It then sat largely obscured, to preen for what seemed like ages before carrying on leading us a merry dance.

After disappearing for a while it showed again, calling loudly for a short time. It then began to show frequently in an area bated with mealworms by photographers. Here it showed well at times, though all too often was obscured by branches in between darting down for the buffet kindly laid out for him!

After enjoying views of the bird as well as the local Ravens and Buzzards. We headed off late morning for the Forest of Dean, in the hope of a second lifer of the day and a long awaited one, Goshawk!

We headed to New Fancy View watchpoint, a well known spot for viewing displaying Goshawk. The views were awesome, virtually 360 views of endless pine forest. The sun was beaming down and a Bumblebee was bombing around. A real feel of spring in the air, some welcome rest bite from the recent endless storms.

Happily, it didn't take long for our first Goshawk sighting, a female distantly cruising around over to the right. Get in! We went on to see at least 3 birds all fairly distant but showing all the characteristics really nicely. It was great to have a good look at one and to see just how different they were in profile from the similar sized Buzzards. Somehow I even managed a decent iphone-scoped shot of one of the birds (below). Also about were a single distant Raven as well as several Crossbills and Siskins.

After enjoying the Goshawks we finished up at nearby Cannop Ponds. Sadly we found no Mandarins, however there were a nice selection of common woodland birds on show. We then met a guy who told us of a great spot for Hawfinch at nearby Parkend. So late in the day we headed over there to an area full of yew trees by the village cricket pitch. We waited a while before Dave eventually spotted a male Hawfinch up in one of the nearby Lime trees. It sat there for a short while before flying over our heads and off into the distance. Jon managed an awesome photo (below) as the beast cruised over our heads! Super end to the day.

South West yanks

So Em and headed down to the South West last weekend, staying with her Mum & partner in Barnstaple, Devon. After spending some time with them on Saturday, (01/02) I left them all to it and set off for a day birding by myself all Sunday. Happy days!

After setting off at 07:45am I drove SW into Cornwall to Dozmary 'Pool' (in fact a fairly sizable lake!) on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Here, a drake Lesser Scaup had been lingering for a few weeks and was a species I've been wanting to catch up with for ages! I started scanning and found a fair few ducks, with several Goldeneye, Pochard and Teal. Scanning the middle of the lake I located a few Tufted Duck and to my utter surprise, associating with them was a female Ring Necked Duck! What a great self find! After taking in the bird for a short while, I scanned a little right to be greeted with my main quarrel, the drake Lesser Scaup. Brilliant! At one point I even had them in the same view! Sadly though, they were rather distant and therefore the photos aren't anything to shout about (RN Duck top & L Scaup bottom). But wow, what a cracking start to the day!

  














On a bit of a high, I left at about 09:45am. Next on my radar was a c.60 mile journey east to Dawlish Warren in Devon. Here, an adult Bonaparte's Gull had been lingering for much of the winter. This was another potential long-awaited lifer having been away when one turned up in Northants back in 2012. Also I'd been down to Devon twice this particular winter, however I could never quite find the time to get over to Dawlish. Thankfully, I now had much of the day to try and locate it.
I arrived at 11am and headed straight for the seawall and Langstone Rock. Sadly no sign initially. Several yearticks here though, consisting of several Shag, a couple of flyby Oystercatcher, c.15 very distant Common Scoter and best of all of Langstone Rock, a group of at least 5 female type Velvet Scoter.

I then headed back along to the beach, dodging the hoardes of dog walkers! Came across a Great Northern Diver offshore, as well as one or two Great Crested Grebe. I then saw something pretty close in just off the beach. Closer inspection revealed it to be a nice Long Tailed Duck, swiftly followed by another. I stopped briefly for a few snaps before noticing something rather small and gull-like sitting on the water a little beyond...

...ahhhh Bonaparte's Gull!!!! YES! The little guy was just chilling, bobbing up and down on the waves slightly beyond the ducks. Was dead chuffed, thank god for those LT Ducks! I watched the bird for about 10 minutes rattling off a fair few photos and a decent video. It then took flight, revealing the white underneath of the primaries, before zooming straight off out to sea. I watched it very distantly feeding before eventually losing it.

Again, not for the first time during the day, I was rather chuffed. I gave the sea a bit more of a scan and added a further Great Northern Diver, however nothing else of note.

I finished the day a few miles down the coast at Labrador Bay, a small RSPB reserve just beyond Teignmouth. I arrived there about 14:00pm. It took a while, but I was soon connecting with a flock of at least 30 Cirl Bunting. This is such a reliable site for the species and you can view the birds a very short distance from the car park too. The birds were a little more tricky to get good views of than previously, spending most of the time on the deck out of view in the field. However the whole flock did suddenly decide to land in the hedge right next to me! Views were restricted though and no chance for any decent photos really. A lovely end to a perfect day really, connecting with two new birds and finding my own yank vagrant too!