Shropshire Birding

[pandachris]

Can't see any thread similar to this, so maybe it's not needed, but I'll give it a go anyway.

A few recent sightings

Thursday 9th October - about 5 p.m. - Shrewsbury, over the building site near Tesco - 1 Kingfisher

Sunday 12th October - about 1:30 p.m. Longnor - 1 Dipper in usual spot

Sunday 12th October - about 2-4 p.m. - Cardingmill Valley, Church Stretton - lots of raptors - numerous Kestrels and Common Buzzards, one female Sparrowhawk, one Merlin (near top of valley), one probable Peregrine (it went behind a tree and didn't reappear) - lots of Ravens, Stonechats, 1 Grey Wagtail.

[Dean Powell]

At long last a thread for Shropshire. I will be keeping an eye on this one and hope to learn more about good birding sites and sightings in the county.

Dean:t:

[Patrick_L]

Yes, about time too.

If anyone whats to see any good birds in Shropshire, wait until I'm on holiday, as everything turns up when I'm away (not that I'm away a lot).

Went to Haughmond Hill last weekend and note that some of the dense conifer plantations have been cleared, leaving some good open rough ground. Nice place all around, so worth keeping an eye on. Several Crossbills in the area immediately south of the main car park where the tea van is.

Early morning Wood Pigeon movements seem to picking up, with at least 20 high south over Mytton Mill this morning, and 30 Starlings west.

[pandachris]

[QUOTE=Patrick_L;1311794]Yes, about time too.

If anyone whats to see any good birds in Shropshire, wait until I'm on holiday, as everything turns up when I'm away (not that I'm away a lot).

QUOTE]

Let us know the dates Patrick. ;)My last trip out of the UK produced a Pectoral Sandpiper at VP, but I', not complaining too much because we saw our 1st Gt. Bustards, plus 4 species that we've only seen outside Europe before, on a guided day trip from Barcelona.

Back to real Shropshire birds, one presumed Redwing overhead in Shrewsbury at 07:20 yesterday (heard it, couldn't pick it out against the blue sky) and 5 tired looking Woodpigeons sunbathing on the lawn outside my office in Telford. Probably limited options for birding this weekend but hopefully others will contribute their sightings. Might see if I can fins some time to look for those Crossbills next week, though.

[Patrick_L]

Let us know the dates Patrick.

Not for a while, only just got back from Scilly, missing Shropshire's first Yellow-browed Warbler whilst away.

Plenty of Redwings over Shrewsbury this morning.

[pandachris]

About 40 minutes ago, a Raven over Central Park, Telford, upsetting the local magpies. don't recall seeing one in central Telford before.

One Common Buzzard in a treetop, Heath Farm Shrewsbury at 07:30 until dislodged by crows.

[Patrick_L]

Mytton Mill, 5pm, Monday - currently a mixed party of Redwings and Fieldfares circling the river and calling frantically - probably about 30 Redwings and 12 Fieldfares, the latter my first of the autumn.

4 Goldcrests in the car park here this morning.

There's been a Bittern at Venus Pool recently, and a Common Scoter, but I've not seen either.

[pandachris]

Two Red Admiral butterflies past the office window this afternoon. Hardly surprising given the weather.

Mistle Thrush by Darby House, Telford Town centre (near the footbridge).

[Patrick_L]

Grey Phalarope at Venus Pool yesterday evening.

[Patrick_L]

A nice morning at Mytton Mill, and 20 Siskin in the alders along the river, followed by a local scarcity overhead - a Linnet! Also a Comma.

The Grey Phalarope at Venus Pool seems to have gone, but the Bittern is still there.

[Silver Ether]

hiya ... I am often around Shropshire, So chuffed that this has been started ... Can I ask Where is Venus Pool please.
Edited to say its ok google helped out.

[pandachris]

Venus Pool is just south of the River Severn between Shrewsbury and Telford - I'll try to get a Grid Reference for it shortly. It's a Shropshire Ornitholigical Society reserve with a few hides open to the public. Can get some good stuff.

From Shrewsbury take the Much Wenlock/Bridgnorth road and then 2nd right after leaving Cross Houses village (there's a small caravan site by the junction). VP is less than a mile down the road with parking for 20 cars at a push. The main attraction is the pool itself but management of the site is allowing the marshy area adjacent to increase and there are hedgerows and some arable fields, so there's usually some birding interest all year round.

[pandachris]

OK - can't use the OS Get-a-map facility from my work access, so someone else will have to provide the GR.

This p.m. at Venus Pool, no sign of the Bittern and the Grey Phalarope was nowhere to be seen. Highlights were a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail, with the Grey Wagtail probably the more unusual - I seem to see Kingfishers just about everytime I visit nowadays.

I'm working an overnight shift so will give the Bittern another try in the morning after hand-over.

Other sightings this afternoon - a Common Buzzard over Abbey Woods, Haughmond Hill that must have spent 5 minutes soaring with barely a twitch of its wings. Sparrowhawk also at this site. 4 Buzzards together over the caravan site mentioned above.

[pandachris]

Oh yes, 4 Red Admirals at Abbey Wood as well and several large dragonflies at Venus pool.

[Silver Ether]

I found map and info on Venus Pool ... but it says the carpark has a barrier thats 2 metres...:-C no good as I drive a Bongo and it needs more height... is there a spot to park with out a barrier...


Bridgnorth today by the bridge. Grey Lag Geese, Mallards, a lot of white ducks

[pandachris]

Parking is very limited away from the reserve car park. There's a farm gate about 20 metres further on that might have space for one vehicle, but I can't be certain of this and clearly access for people working locally is of paramount importance. I'm not even sure if the barrier is still there, but I certainly don't need 2 metres so might not even notice it.

Went yesterday mornig after work for 30 minutes. I was tired and it was very cold and windy and there was no sign of a bittern or much else of interest. If I can manage a reasonably early finish today (4 p.m. is my best case and it's looking dodgy) then I'll have another look. Nothing on shropshirebirds for yesterday as yet.

[Patrick_L]

Despite the sudden very cold weather, I've not noticed any movement of any note.

Water Rail on the river at Mytton Mill, first time I've heard them calling here.

[pandachris]

All I've done is work this week. Get here in the dark. Leave here in the dark. Not even an owl to show for it. Still here now with no clear deadline for departure. Might get Friday off if things calm down.

[Patrick_L]

Stacks of Redwings around Mytton Mill this morning, and also several parties of up to 100 Starlings heading west as well.

[pandachris]

No Friday off but I'm hopeful of an early finish today, having worked on all of the last 12 days and covered every hour of the day in that period.

A couple of flocks of winter thrushes around the railway bridge by the A49/A5 roundabout west of Shrewsbury - too distant to id species but looked like both.

[pandachris]

A very quiet 50 minutes at VP yesterday. Main items of note were a Shelduck and a rather discreet mixed flock of tits, finches, goldcrests etc. I scoured the reeds for the Bittern again but no luck. I'm out of the county this weekend but might try to get back for late afternoon, because that seems to be the best time to see it.

Silver_ether - the 2 m barrier is definitely still there. I've no idea what a Bongo is, so your best bet is to drive down there and have a look if there's space to pull in by the adjacent entrance without blocking access. Failing that, it's a walk of probably less than a mile from parking in Cross Houses and there are usually birds along the lane to VP.

[Silver Ether]

Silver_ether - the 2 m barrier is definitely still there. I've no idea what a Bongo is, so your best bet is to drive down there and have a look if there's space to pull in by the adjacent entrance without blocking access. Failing that, it's a walk of probably less than a mile from parking in Cross Houses and there are usually birds along the lane to VP.

Thankyou ... a bongo is errrrrrrr scroll down this link a bit
http://www.pictures-of-cars.com/Mazda-Car-Pics.htm:t:

A Mute Swan has joined the gang at Bridgnorth...

[pandachris]

Oddly enough, I was standing outside one of my workplaces this morning and what should pull up in front of me other than a Bongo Friendlee, so now I know.

Pleased to see a Bullfinch for a few minutes this morning here in Central Park, Telford. If 2007 and 2006 are anything to go by, several will be around most days between now and the Spring.

[pandachris]

Two partidge (Sp unknown, probably RL) over the high point on the A5 between Shrewsbury and Telford yesterday. Lots of Redwings over Shrewsbury last night - calls heard every time I was outside - about 10 times - between 18:30 and midnight.

[Silver Ether]

Well a misty and colorful Baggeridge late morning offered up lots of Blue and Great Tits a few Long Tailed Tits Chaffinches, Robins and Gold Finches in several area. A Kestrel that flew into a tree and sat there for some time on the concrete road...
I got into my Bongo and was about to start her engine when a delightful Wren looked straight into my window and sang to me .... how smashing is that:t:

[Patrick_L]

Cattle Egret at Ellesmere this morning - half a mile south of Ellesmere, 200 yards from Blackwater Meadow Marina in a sheep field between the canal and plantation.

2 Lesser Redpolls in the Siskin flock here at Mytton Mill.

[Rob1991S-O-T]

no sign of the cattle egret when we were there at 2 30

so we went colemere whilst here
and there was a big gull roost there
with 2000 + black headed gulles
15 lesser black backs
2 herring gulls
3 common gulls
snipe
2 wigeon
5 tufted duck
4 great crested grebes
2 buzzards

[pandachris]

Shame about the Cattle Egret. Was thinking of going up there later for a look. If anyone gets any further info, please post it. Finally getting a day off today and the 'phone's staying at home. We might nip up to Haughmond Hill shortly and then VP later on.

[sylvia staffs]

Still there this Am directions as before, info from RBA.

Sylvia (who works in Shropshire!!!!!)

[Brian Stretch]

Cattle Egret relocated SE of Ellesmere at Wood Lane NR this afternoon (flew off from original location at 10.30am).

Brian

www.westmidlandsbirding.co.uk

[pandachris]

Cheers both. Forecast for tomorrow sounds awful so I might give it a miss.

Haughmond Hill around lunchtime was quite quiet. No finches at all - not even chaffinches. Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Jay and several tit species were about it.

VP hide was very busy at 15:30 - 13 people inside at one time. Kingfisher present for much of the time and a large raptor over towards the Wrekin that seemed to make the geese go very quiet and wasn't obviously a Common Buzzard - however I don't know what it was. Didn't get a very good view and my first thought was Osprey, which it certainly wasn't, but by the time I'd decided that it was out of site. The Bittern put in an appearance at about 16:40 when the light was getting a bit poor, but after 5 minutes of teasing it actually gave decent views.

[Silver Ether]

oops just realised posted my last post in the wrong thread ... sorry can some one tidy it away...

[Patrick_L]

Caught up with the Cattle Egret at the marina at Ellesmere on Saturday morning before it became more mobile, and looking forward to Jim's photos of it in due course.

I understand it was seen around the nature reserve at Wood Lane occasionally yesterday, and should still be around, it was feeding well in amongst the sheep by the marina (follow the signs for the marina when in Ellesmere, park by the bridge and walk along the towpath towards the east to view the sheep field by the marina itself).

However, the movement of Thrushes and Finches on Saturday morning, both over Ellesmere and subsequently Shrewsbury, was outstanding - not only thousands of Redwings and Fieldfares passing westwards up until early PM (when it seemed to stop) but also Chaffinches, a party of Curlews, Reed Buntings, Sky Larks and 1 excellent Brambling that flew over the garden calling late morning. 2 Goldcrests moved through the garden at the same time, and there were several along the canal towpath at Ellesmere earlier in the day.

Had a walk at Haughmond Hill later in the day, but nothing other than a few more Goldcrests in the trees, and nothing passing overhead by then.

[pandachris]

Might see if I can get a day off this week, after the exertions of the last few weeks. I'll have a look at what the weather's doing. Haven't seen many Cattle Egrets in the UK ans certainly none in Shropshire.

[pandachris]

Day off looking less and less likely.

I was stopped on the way into work this morning (Central Park, Telford) by a Sparrowhawk that was circling for several minutes overhead.

The Bullfinch "flock" is now up to three. I think that the most I've seen since moving to this location in December 2005 has been five.

[Patrick_L]

Jim's photos of the Ellesmere Cattle Egret are now on his Shropshire Birder blog.

[andy latham]

hi patrick, if you manage to complete your webs count at melverley this weekend, in light of the weather = floods I would be very interested if you record Bewicks swan or any grey geese. I'm doing a county bird list and still need the above species, other want's Ls pecker GG shrike, Black redstart, waxwing, the only gulls are RBill or Kittiwake.
My list is curently 172 and my previous best (unofficial record 175, how/when will it be official?) so any help would be appreciated, post the news here or yahoo shropshire birds. 1 other gap is Curlew sand, however its late now....

andy.

[Patrick_L]

Hello Andy

We did manage the WeBS count on Sunday and picked up a remarkable number of birds on the extensive flooding around the S/Y floods. None of the species you mention yet although I will put any of those on the pager if we pick them up. In addition to the Whoopers (I also had 5 Whoopers over Shrewsbury, flying along the river, Sunday PM) there were excellent numbers of Thrushes, Finches (including Bramblings), a Goldeneye and male Peregrine.

Large numbers of winter thrushes at Bridges on Saturday as well, plus at least 30 Ravens on the Long Mynd, several of which were displaying. Usual Red Kite over the pub at Bridges at lunchtime.

3 Crossbills and at least 3 Lesser Redpolls at Haughmond Hill on Saturday PM.

[andy latham]

Thanks patrick,
I had a day out of county yesterday with captain Kirk and an old friend from staffs. We nailed steppe grey shrike & two barred crossbill both showing extremely well (check out jim's blog in a few days!!). I don't twitch very often these days but I think twitchers/birders are becoming a right grumpy lot, rather than enjoying a new bird they seem to find something to complain about instead. eg: Jim was asked not to enter the crop fields, he stepped into a rut which was a nano-millimetre from the track. Andy B commented 'He could see no reason for people to chase the shrike because it was so tame' which was a major moan on the lincolnshire forum last week, a curt reply was "the shrikes' chasing us" from another birder standing nearby and Jim was told I needed some manners at the crossbill site, presumably because I asked a birder "do I need my scope mate?" and omited excuse me, please & thank you sir, the birds really did perform, in brilliant light, the birders sadly did not!
Saturday I had a water pipit (173 for the county) at allscott and Wood sand @ the mire lake flew in from the east late morning.
Back to grind now for another week..

andy

[Patrick_L]

Andy

Sounds like a good day! Have to say that my mainland twitching days are, with the exception of local stuff (if I'm not away, which seems to happen a lot!) and the very occasional longer distance thing, over for the very reasons you give, and particularly if:

a) I've seen it abroad; and/or
b) It's going to be a miserable experience like you say!

I hear there are now 24 Whooper Swans at Melverley. Also, there was a record Common Snipe count (97) for the area on Sunday as well.

Water Pipit's a good bird - I'm keeping an eye out for them around the floods at Melverley as it looks ideal.

Cheers,

[pandachris]

Patrick

Where's the best place to park for the Melverley floods? Haevn't been down there for ages. Last time I visited I wasn't sure where to go for best views and legitimate access/parking.

Might not be online for a few days, so don't interpret no reply/thanks as bad manners.

[Patrick_L]

Where's the best place to park for the Melverley floods?

Chris

Park at the Royal Hill public house on the road between Pentre and Melverley and explore the area from the minor roads that run to the west and north. There are also some footpaths that cross the area, but beware that the ground is now very wet.

The WeBS counts go off the roads and paths by private agreement with the farmers, but there is still plenty to see from the roads - the best area we counted on Sunday is from the minor road opposite Cae Howel.

Cheers,

[andy latham]

Hi patrick/all,
I finished work early today so managed the last 40 minutes of daylight at the mire lake. the wood sandpiper was still present but not alot else, 9+ green sands and 50+ lapwing.
The record of Whoopers over shrewsbury is a good one and I've been meaning to go to Haughmond hill for ages, just re-read your post from the weekend!!!
I have to say that the prospect of twitching leaves me cold, I have to occainsonally to remain sane, shropshire can be hard work!!! I' m of the same opinion as you regarding birding abroad, It's much easier and far less hassle, and generally the birds seem to perform much better in better light etc etc...
I ve got a trip to Goa organised for christmas, so another bucket load of new birds and extremely warm climate to boot, to look forward to.
cheers andy.

[pandachris]

Thanks Patrick

I'll keep my fingers crossed for some reasonable weather. Could do with some pics of Melverley church for our website as well, so a bit of sun would be nice.

Andy

Are you on DIY or an organised tour for Goa? We had a great time there a few years ago. Our trip report is on our website. Probably doesn't add much to lots of other reports that have been written although I think that the site where we got Desert Wheatear and a good selection of larks and pipits is not that well known. I'm sure you've got your field guides sorted out but I can lend you Helms Southern India (Grimmett and Inskip) if not.

[pandachris]

Andy, should you get around to reading the report, don't get too excited by the claimed "Ruddy-breasted Bittern". Not sure what's happened here, except that our web host have been messing about a lot and have really screwed some of our galleries. Ruddy-breasted Crake and Cinammon Bittern is more like it and there might have been a Baillons in there as well.

I'm getting quite envious.

[Patrick_L]

Hello Andy

Goa's great - the Backwoods site up in the Ghats is top rate, but if you get the chance, I'd recommend that you try and get a bit further south towards Cotiago as well. If you haven't got a copy of Pete Harris's Independent Birder's Guide to Goa, PM me and I'll post it to you. The Hotel Molymar - "A Taste of Paradise".

Without wishing to sound smug or like a grumpy old git, I'd rather get my fix by spending a week on Scilly in October than mainland twitching. For one thing, you don't spend more time looking for a parking space than you do looking at the bird.

Haughmond Hill is a win-win site - good birding, and you can take visitors there as the views from the southern end over the river and Shrewsbury itself are superb.

Cheers,

[andy latham]

hello,
thanks for the info on Goa, should of mentioned its a return trip I was there last year for two weeks so this year will be more relaxed with a few species to target and backwoods is on again!!!
Patrick I can't afford scilly anymore! I went to peru in september so if either of you need any info just post the question, chris your trips are similiar to the areas I have visited I couldn't access your gallery from the link provided so could not see the cinnemon breasted rail, but both species showed well last year from the Breira Mar.

Cheers andy.

[pandachris]

Don't know why the link isn't working, but if you're interested the gallery is here
http://avengerpenguins.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=6964&g2_page=1
and a rather nice pic taken at Backwoods is here ...
http://avengerpenguins.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=7354

Must get back to those Shropshire Birds though. Last weather forecast I saw was looking ok for the w/end.

[Patrick_L]

Tawny Owl calling at Mytton Mill this evening.

Waxwings are getting closer to Shropshire, appearing in both Cheshire and North Wales in good numbers. Won't be long now.

[pandachris]

Keeping my eyes peeled for those Waxwings too. There were plenty at Telford Central Railway Station during the last big Waxwing year (2005/6?).

A Green Woodpecker over the office in Central Park, Telford today - possibly my first here since the Spring.

[andy latham]

Hi Chris,
I've seen your photos via the link you posted, your trip rep etc. link the page will not appear. Any way the desert wheatear this is a site relatively new you say, where was it? did it turn up any other interesting sights? I see you visited salim ali was it good? I never went last year, diva island was better apparently, well we had lesser florican there it worth it for that alone!
I've got harison etc. plus web reports but any other info would be appreciated.
Cheers andy

[pandachris]

Andy

Hopefully this link will get you to the trip report direct. The site seems to be working fine on the four computers that we use regularly.

http://www.avengerpenguins.com/Goa.html

Viz Salim Ali - the track to the left near the entrance was pretty good for an hour with Terek Sandpiper and Lesser Sandplover the highlights - doesn't beat the Florican, though.

Directions for the Desert Wheatear site ...

From the O Pescador hotel in Dona Paula go up the hill and turn right at the main road to follow the coast. I've a feeling that this was signposted for the Ciudade de Goa hotel, but if not, this is a very well known hotel locally.

The site was a short distance past the hotel on the left and is an unremarkable area of scrubby fields with a few bits of walls and surrounded by dwellings. The area takes a couple of hours to work. Highlights included Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Oriental Skylark, Malabar Lark, Richard’s Pipit, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Blyth’s Pipit and Tawny Pipit as well as Black-headed and White-rumped Munias. And don't forget the beach path just before the hotel where we had a few forest species i/c Indian Blue Robin and White-throated Fantails.

If you're staying at/near Beira Mar, then it's probably not too expensive in a taxi and it would be a left turn at the junction just before you drop down into Dona Paula. I would suggest that an early morning visit would be ideal before there are too many people around.

Let me know how you get on. We're off to Poland next week and hoping to promote Nutcracker from 'heard only' status but not expecting too much. Apparently there's a lot of snow in the Tatras mountains.

[Patrick_L]

We're off to Poland next week and hoping to promote Nutcracker from 'heard only' status but not expecting too much. Apparently there's a lot of snow in the Tatras mountains.

Chris

If you're going to the Tatras and looking for Nutcracker, try the cafe that's beside the lake at Morskie Oko - we had Nutcracker coming to bread there a few years ago.

The walk from Zakopane to Morskie Oko and Czarny Staw is awesome, as is area itself, although take a coat, and avoid the local home brew.

[pandachris]

Thanks Patrick

Cafes with birds sound appealing. I'll do a little research. We'll hopefully be well kitted out for a bit of winter walking.

Bullfinches very active around the office in Telford this morning, finishing off the poisonous looking white berries. Caught a flash of something quite delicate looking but didn't have my specs on. Blackcap is the best bet as we've had occassional visits from males and females late-autumn and winter for the last few years.

[pandachris]

Don't get over-excited, but ...

09:25 - Park Inn, Telford - Waxwing heard.

I'll claim a little previous here - of the four lots of Waxwings that I've "found" - i.e. I had no prior information or expectation that they would be there, two of them have been located on call before visual confirmation, so I quite fancy myself for having a good chance of a positive ID. Also I can only think of one occassion when I've thought I've heard them and not seen them before today and that was in Denmark in November, so probably a fair likelihood - it was also about 20 minutes after sunset, so I've an excuse for not finding them!

Anyway, I'd just parked in the hotel car park for a 9:30 meeting and heard the call. My impression was of one bird calling several times, probably in the trees between the hotel and the raod (Rampart Way). I had a minute to spare but no bins handy, so walked over to try to get a view, nearly slipping on a patch of ice in the process, but couldn't see anything.

I had another look after the meeting at about 14:00 but couldn't see/hear anything. I then went down to Telford Station where there are often plenty of berries but no luck there either.

If anyone else fancies a look, there's no free parking at the hotel. Staples is probably closest or the station. The flock that was around in spring 2006 was quite mobile and could often be seen from the ramps to the footbridge for the station, the trees between the westbound waiting room and the A442 and even, oddly enough, in the poplars between Staples and the A442.

May not be worth a specific trip but any birding train users should keep their eyes peeled.

I'm in London tomorrow and Poland until the middle of next week, so I'll look forward to hearing about any others found in the county this weekend, which given the changing conditions must be a possibility.

[Patrick_L]

Good shout Chris, alas I'm away from Shropshire in the daylight for the next few days, so will have to leave to Andy to check out.

[andy latham]

Unfortunately I'm never near telford during day light in the week however the rowans in trumpton are disappearing rather quickly, the only problem the starling shaped birds eating them are just that, starlings!!!!
If on the rare occaison I'm any where near town I'll check.
andy.

[Patrick_L]

Not much to report over the weekend - stopped off at Ellesmere yesterday evening on the way back from north Wales to check the gull roost which was mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls with a scattering of Herring, Black-headed and Common. Apparently very few immature birds of any species.

Goldeneye, Wigeon and Shoveler amongst the ducks on the Mere.

[andy latham]

Hey up,

Waxwings have found shropshire... 2 this morning in Rowan rd Market Drayton at 9.15. Unfortunately they could not be relocated despite several people looking. I'm sure they're around there somewhere I'll check again in the morning.
I had a look at Telford Train stn last week chris but there wasn't any berries or waxwings or at least no berries I consider to be waxwing fodder!
andy

[pandachris]

Andy

The Waxwings in 04/05 (?) at Telford Central seemed to be doing ok. They were there for several weeks on both sides of the lines. I'd hoped to locate some Waxwings in Poland to compare the calls, but no luck. Good to hear that they're about, though. Saw my first ever in Market Drayton many years ago.

Patrick

Thanks for the info on the Nutcrackers. We saw two at about 2-3 metres. A great end to a two hour walk through the snow and it gave us a boost for the return trip. Best ever views of Crested Tits as well.

[Patrick_L]

Chris

Good news about the Nutcrackers, look forward to seeing your trip report if you're doing one.

[andy latham]

Chris
Was that the bird behind the post office down the alleyway? Checked rowan rd this am but no sign of waxwings I'm afraid I'll keep looking.

Andy

[pandachris]

We'll do a trip report, Patrick, although I'm waay behind on my reports this year due to PC problems and general laziness. I've got Morocco to finish off, then Scotland, Hungary and Catalonia to write - and Julie needs to work out how to upload documents since our webhost messed about with all the settings. It won't be a very birdy report as the only species of great significance that we saw were the Nutcrackers and Crested Tits along with a single Norther Grey Shrike and a Kingfisher.

I reckon that it was the Post Office Waxwing, Andy. I certainly can't recall seeing any before that. My guess is that was in the mid 1990s. If this cold weather keeps up, then maybe we'll get a few around the county before too long - and hopefully those Nutcrackers will have taken my advice and set off for Shropshire by now ;)

[pandachris]

Biggish Accipiter over the M54 near the 'Tesco' roundabout at 08:20 this morning - most likely a f Sparrowhawk.

I counted 40 L-t-Tits flying across Holyhead road whilst parked at the temporary traffic lights - they were still crossing when I moved off.

My winter finch floch visible from the office window has arrived - seems bigger this year. It usually turns up about an hour before sunset - perhaps 100 yesterday. I'll try to find some time to sneak out and find out what's in it - plenty of Greenfinches yesterday but I'll expect Siskins and Redpolls too.

[pandachris]

About 5 minutes ago, Peregrine over Central Park, Telford, heading south and mobbed by a few large (prob LBB) gulls.

[Patrick_L]

Lovely morning yesterday at Haughmond Hill where a very showy and vocal Willow Tit was the highlight of a very good selection of woodland birds there.

The Willow Tit was in the mixed woodland beside the blue trail some 200 yards to the south of the car park at the point where the path splits to go either side of a large tree.

Also some 15 Lesser Redpolls in the birches, 3 pairs of Nuthatches apparently starting to hold territory along the blue trail, several Marsh Tits, Treecreepers and Goldcrests showing well through the woods and a party of Bullfinches including 2 very bright males just south of the car park. Several Chaffinches flying over high during the morning.

Not much on The Long Mynd today from a walk from Bridges up to Shooting Box and back - a pair of Stonechats, the Red Kite over Bridges as usual, a Kestrel and a few Fieldfares.

Heard about the Waxwings that are now in Ellesmere town centre, but went to Shrewsbury Town v Rotherham instead as Waxwings will get to Shrewsbury soon enough. A small roost of Pied Wagtails in the roof of one of the stands there.

[pandachris]

You did better than me at Haughmond, Patrick. We went on Saturday late morning and the highlight was the cherry cake from the cafe, although I think we had a few Crossbills over - I'm not confident with the call, though. Worth the effort for a walk on such a gorgeous day.


2f/1m Goosander and a Kingfisher at the Severn/Rea Brook confluence yesterday at about 11:50 and 4 Goosander at Atham bridge (from the car). Decent views of the Bittern and brief sighting of a Water Rail at VP from about 15:30.

[jada dulo]

Couldn't get to see the Waxwing's as I was working yesterday!!! (& I dipped Andy's at Trumpton, despite being the first person to get there!!)....
Massing quite a dip list at the end of what has been an awesome county year!!! (no less than 11 county ticks for me.... plus I've dipped a further 5!!! ~ SE Owl, Yellow-browed Warbler, Nightjar, Honey Biuzzard & Water Pipit!!)...
3 visits to the Long Mynd have failed to produce a Hen Harrier, no sign of a Jack Snipe at Whixall... missed Andy's Wapit at Mire by literally seconds!!!!...
Hoping my luck changes very soon... just 2 more county year ticks for 160 for the year in Shropshire!!!

[andy latham]

Couldn't get to see the Waxwing's as I was working yesterday!!! (& I dipped Andy's at Trumpton, despite being the first person to get there!!)....
Massing quite a dip list at the end of what has been an awesome county year!!! (no less than 11 county ticks for me.... plus I've dipped a further 5!!! ~ SE Owl, Yellow-browed Warbler, Nightjar, Honey Biuzzard & Water Pipit!!)...
3 visits to the Long Mynd have failed to produce a Hen Harrier, no sign of a Jack Snipe at Whixall... missed Andy's Wapit at Mire by literally seconds!!!!...
Hoping my luck changes very soon... just 2 more county year ticks for 160 for the year in Shropshire!!!
Hey jason,
you need to get to ellesmere apparently they've increased to eight today, med gull in trumpton yesterday, maybe it is the centre of the known universe like the locals think!!!!!

andy

[pandachris]

Two ten hour days for me so far this week, so no chance of getting to Ellesmere in daylight. Mind you I've got a meeting in Warrington on Thursday p.m. and Ellesmere's pretty much on the way from Telford, isn't it? :-O

If anyone sees them there tomorrow or Thursday morning I'd appreciate a nod, if only so I can compare the call to what I heard in Telford two weeks ago.

[jada dulo]

I'll try tomorrow Andy if I'm up in time as I'm currently working nights, have to pick my daughter up at 3pm, so shall only have a narrow window of time...
Mind you, fairly confident I had 7 in Bayston Hill today, just a naff view (no bins either!!)... Had a scout round, but no sign... more worringly, no real berry bushes (apart from in private gardens!!)...
I'm relatively confident I'll nail one before the years out.... ;)

[Patrick_L]

I've got a meeting in Warrington on Thursday p.m. and Ellesmere's pretty much on the way from Telford, isn't it.

Chris - it is, I dropped by at Ellesmere yesterday afternoon briefly on my way back from Warrington to Shrewsbury but didn't see any Waxwings in the 10 minutes I had free. However, I understand they did come back later so hope to try again at the weekend if there aren't any in Shrewsbury by then. There are 2 small trees with berries in the town centre car park at Ellesmere which 8 Waxwings won't take long to clear, so they may move on before long anyway.

[Patrick_L]

3 visits to the Long Mynd have failed to produce a Hen Harrier

Just to raise awareness if anyone is going to the Long Mynd over the next few weeks, but we had a very distant view of a persistently hovering buzzard-sized raptor at Ratlinghope Hill on Sunday. Whilst it was too distant to get any detail on it, and by the time we'd got closer it had gone, it might be worth keeping an eye out for.

Ratlinghope Hill, viewed from the east, is good for the local Red Kite anyway.

[pandachris]

Some interesting Starling-sized birds in the trees at the Heathgates island end of Sundorne Road this morning - the car behind was a bit close so I couldn't safely slow down and no time to pull over for a better look. There are almost always Starlings around there, so that's probably what they were. I'll try to have a proper look tomorrow morning. All the Starling-size birds around Heath Farm this morning were definitely Starlings.

Persistently hovering buzzards sized bird eh? As I'm sure you're aware, Common Buzzards do hover, but I can't say I've seen one doing it persistently. They normally realise how clumsy they look and go and do something else. Sounds worth a look for anyone down there this weekend. I'm out of the county.

How long to Ellesmere from Warrington (Birchwood, actually - 5 minutes to the M56)? I might be able to get two bites at the Ellesmere cherry (berry?) if my meeting finishes on time.

[Patrick_L]

How long to Ellesmere from Warrington (Birchwood, actually - 5 minutes to the M56)? I might be able to get two bites at the Ellesmere cherry (berry?) if my meeting finishes on time.

Less than an hour yesterday via Chester and Wrexham. The berry trees are located at the far end of the car park from the entrance off the main road, around to the left.

Most of the Bridges' Common Buzzards seem too fat and lazy to bother persistently hovering, especially as Sunday morning was pretty calm in the valley there. I will keep an eye out for this one, but it was too distant on Sunday to get too excited about.

[andy latham]

hi all,
The weather conditions on sunday could be the reason for a consistantly hovering buzzard, as a word of warning there is/was a very pale buzzard in the area which I ran halfway accross the moor at pole cott to get a better view of which was not the hoped for rough leg!!!
Which patrick I assume you were hoping for?
The berries on rowan road have all but gone now and the ellesmere birds have not been reported today alan heath & howard prince have put quite a lot of time in looking but no success, both today & monday+tuesday. in fact they would like to know who is seeing them??!!
cheers andy

[Patrick_L]

Which patrick I assume you were hoping for?
... in fact they would like to know who is seeing them??!!

Andy

Indeed - but as you say, it was always a long shot. Hence my vagueness, but I thought I'd flag it! I do like that area, however, as there's good potential for raptors and a decent pub for lunch.

Jim's blog has some great photos of the Waxwings.

[pandachris]

Some interesting Starling-sized birds in the trees at the Heathgates island end of Sundorne Road this morning ...

Stopped on the way in to work this morning - absolutley no birds about at all at 8 a.m. Along the whole length of the road up to the A49 I saw two Blackbirds and two Magpies! Even the Startlings weren't there.

[Patrick_L]

The 8 Waxwings that were found yesterday afternoon on Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury were still present this morning at 08:50, feeding in a small tree in the car park of Aldi, opposite the former Tesco site or sitting up in a Birch on the former Tesco site itself.

The Two-barred Crossbill near Leomister is temptingly close - haven't seen one for nearly twenty years!

[pandachris]

The 8 Waxwings that were found yesterday afternoon on Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury

Teasingly close to the birds I saw on Sundorne Road on Wednesday. Wish I'd had two minutes to have a proper look now.

Next time I'm in Shrewsbury in what might be considered daylight hours is Tuesday morning. I hope they're still around.

Good look if you go for the Crossbill, Patrick. I've never seen one.

[andy latham]

Teasingly close to the birds I saw on Sundorne Road on Wednesday. Wish I'd had two minutes to have a proper look now.

Next time I'm in Shrewsbury in what might be considered daylight hours is Tuesday morning. I hope they're still around.

Good look if you go for the Crossbill, Patrick. I've never seen one.

Chris the rowans the waxwings are feeding on will probably be gone tomorrow, I'll be amazed if they are still there after the weekend. I would think other birds will be found some where else, maybe Telfords turn next...!
andy

[Ellell]

I called at Aldi today, I thought I heard a waxwing, once, but there was no view of them and the only berries left were some berberis and rose hips along the side. Can't be sure what 'I heard really was one. I'd guess they've moved on.

[Brian Stretch]

8 Waxwings still present at Aldi this morning.

Brian

www.westmidlandsbirding.co.uk

[pandachris]

I looked at a lot of starlings around Wolves yesterday but not even a hint of anything different. Might see if we can get back to Shrewsbury before sunset, just in case.

[Patrick_L]

Good look if you go for the Crossbill, Patrick. I've never seen one.

I didn't see one either, and unfortunately the photo that appears with the report was, I understand, not of this bird! Not sure what's happening there! However, despite that the area is great for a day out, with extensive mixed woodland with a good range of the commoner stuff, superb views (when it's not too foggy) and good facilities, including an excellent tea room, at the National Trust property, so a not wasted day out at all. Shame it's not in Shropshire!

Did the WeBS count at the S/V confluence yesterday - a nice morning for it as well. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of disturbance, which meant the ducks were very mobile, but the Pintail and Wigeon numbers were excellent. No raptors, though.

[CardiffBluebird]

We live in Derbyshire but are currently putting in a new kitchen in our house in Shropshire. The other day I was out with the dogs over there (just south of Bridgnorth) and I was really excited to see a buzzard fly out low from the trees right in front of me and land on a telegraph pole - this couldn't have been more than 10 metres away - I've never seen one that close. Typical though, I didn't have my camera with me!

[pandachris]

Decent shots of Buzzards seem hard to get. Always nice to see though.

Twenty minutes around Aldi from 10:00 yesterday morning but no sign of any Waxwings.

A Raven over the A5 at 8 a.m. today about a mile west of The Wrekin, heading south.

[Patrick_L]

A Raven over the A5 at 8 a.m. today about a mile west of The Wrekin, heading south.

Chris

I hear that there was a party (a "Murder") of 19 Ravens recorded on the S/V WeBS count on Sunday - thought to be feeding on a corpse. Didn't say what sort of corpse, though.

Peregrine over Mytton Mill this lunchtime - excellent, as didn't get one at the weekend on the WeBS count.

[pandachris]

Patrick

Without checking I reckon it's an 'unkindness' of Ravens. We pay for most of our bird/wildlife trips abroad out of our pub quiz/pub trivia machine winnings :brains:

Murder is generic for crows and I've no idea whether Rooks or Jackdaws get their own collective terms, but I reckon that if you know the species, then unkindness trumps murder ;)

As for the corpse, bit worrying that. I used to go out for occassional birding trips with a few other Shropshire birders and we maintained a 'dead list' out of a macabre sense of fun. It had some quite good stuff on it, including horse, polecat and Bonxie.

[jada dulo]

Yeah, despite crashing my car last week!!! I got the Shrewsbury Waxwings thanks to a lift from Yvonne!!...
Sadly, missed out again on SE Owl at Whixall as I was struck down with the worst cold I've ever known!!! (still suffering now almost a week on!!)....
Now I have a loan of a car (from my fab girlfriends equally fab Mum!!), I'll try to get up Whixall next week (added bonus of Great Grey Shrike now, plus pos. of Hen Harrier & Jack Snipe!!).... Working lates 'til Tuesday tho!!
SE Owl is my target as it is my only remaining county bogey!!!... ;)
.....I couldn't possibly have gone Sunday Andy, as not only would Dave had to have driven me there, but he'd have to have carried my onto the Moss I was that b*llocksed!!!).... :)

[Patrick_L]

Without checking I reckon it's an 'unkindness' of Ravens. We pay for most of our bird/wildlife trips abroad out of our pub quiz/pub trivia machine winnings :brains:

I bow to your knowledge Chris, as long as you will stand as a "phone-a-friend" when I eventually get to sit opposite Chris Tarrant. Can't help thinking that compared with a "Murder", an "Unkindness" sounds a bit nesh for a bird like a Raven.

I have Otter on my Shropshire dead list (by the Baschurch Road last year) - great shame. Fortunately, I also have it on my alive list!

[pandachris]

Patrick

I'll happily be a 'phone-a-friend' - I can do just about anything except football/soap opera/reality TV and recent pop music. Another £25 in our kitty last night after a very good weekend (though it probably cost me the Waxwings). We've paid for almost all our holidays this year from our winnings and that covers Germany (twice), Morocco, Mull and Aviemore, Hungary, Barcelona, Poland and probably some odds and ends I've forgotten. We've even had a few new birds along the way.

Jada

Any details on the Whixall birds? I'm not that familiar with the area but might have a couple of hours tomorrow, unless we decide to nip up to Southport to deliver my mum's Xmas presents.

[jada dulo]

Yeah, they're 2 Shorties, pretty mobile but easy to pick up on!
The Great Grey Shrike was only seen by one (reliable) witness, but was waaaayyy over on the Fenns (Welsh) side!!..
You could flush a Jack Snipe along any of the flooded paths I believe & Hen Harrier is always a possibility!!
I'm desperate to get up there, cold now gone, got a loan of a car for a few weeks.... just stuck working every day now 'til 30th Dec!!!!...
I may try to get up there on Sunday morning... SEO is the only one I really want!!..

[pandachris]

Spent 3 minutes this morning in the 8 a.m. gloom in Telford trying to track down a call that I didn't recognise. Dog whistle. :gn:

Off to Manchester for a night out later - hoping to finally connect with some Waxwings there. Seems to have gone quiet in Shropshire of late.

160 birds in the county in a year. I'll be lucky to get to 170 for the UK and that includes a week in Scotland in the late spring.

[jada dulo]

Finally!!! Nailed SE Owl on Whixall Moss on Tuesday, my 160th species for Shropshire this year (& my 193rd species on my Shropshire Life List ~ 7 more for the Salop. 200 Club!!) ;)
It was my 12th county tick this year, which is truly awesome (plus I dipped on 4 more!!)...
What a great year 08 has been for Shropshire, here's hoping 09 is just as good!!!
(Oh yeah, I didn't see the Shrike!)

Happy Christmas all.... :)

[pandachris]

...my 160th species for Shropshire this year ...

Nice one. Might try for the owl/shrike tomorrow - we've got three days when we can do as much birding as we like - off to North Wales for a couple of nights. Whixall isn't too far out of the way.

Just had a Coal Tit in my Heath Farm garden - first I've seen here for a couple of year, although to be fair I'm not actually here all that much in daylight. Must be about time for my Blackcaps to appear - I've had m & f virtually every winter since I moved in, in '99.

[jada dulo]

Cheers Chris, I'd given up on my county yearlist after my divorce was finalised in July, but soon realised with the massive influx of seriously great birds I could still hit this target, so I'm really pleased to have done it!!
Certain birds still remaining for the county 09 list, Bittern at VP, SEO at Whixall (maybe the shrike?)... Waxwing still a great possibility too...

[pandachris]

No luck with the shrike or the owl on 27th, but we did manage over 50 species before we left the county. Nice walk, nonetheless. Think we'll have another go this morning.

Good couple of days in Wales and a tremendous few days in Germany, although not much time to do any birding- we did manage to find out own Black Woodpecker, Northern Grey Shrike, Hawfinches and Great White Egret, though on the one reserve we visited for a couple of hours and I still have Middle-spotted Woodpecker and Muskrat to research, so if anybody's heading for the Heidelberg/Worms area give me a shout and I'll pass details on.

[pandachris]

... and one final 2008 entry from me - a Tawny Owl just north of Cockshutt at 9 p.m. on 29th December.

[jada dulo]

Hi all ~ great start to the county year list with 84 species seen on New Years Day, incl. Waxwing (at Stokesay), Jack Snipe (at Mire Lake), Scaup (at Whitemere) & Yellow-legged Gull (at gull roost on Whitemere)...

Next day scored 2 Water Rail at VP (looks like the Bittern has gone as it aint been seen since 31st Dec!!).
Had a Stonechat in Admaston (of all places) yesterday...

.....& best of all... a 2nd w. Iceland Gull at Priorslee lake today!!! There was an ad. Caspian Gull there on the 2nd Jan. No sign today.

(We had 4 Brambling at the feeder staion at VP incidently on New Years Day!!)

Heading for Roden tomorrow am for the flock of c.60 Corn Bunting. Then Tuesday I hope to nail Hen Harrier on the Mynd (plus Red Grouse)!!...
Still need Siskin & Jay too!!... In the following days hope to get Crossbill (Bury Ditches), Whoopers (Melverley), Willow Tit (Whixall) & Grey Partridge (Upton Magna)...
Looking at breaking the 100 mark by end of January!!! (currently on 87!!)...
Looking to be a good year already... Hawfinch seen today at Ellesmere too!!!

[Patrick_L]

Happy New Year to everyone!

Having started the year list off with the likes of Mugamaki Flycatcher in Singapore, this weather is not suiting my bones!

[pandachris]

My year list stands at 51 this morning and that includes 3 different countries! I reckon it will be a while before I get to 100 because I don't see many opportunities before early Feb and that will be outside the UK.

Surely Shropshire's warmer than Singapore. ;)

A nice walk around Whixall yesterday but very few birds. The canal and all the ponds were frozen with very little open water. Highlights were Green Woodpecker, a single female Stonechat and a mole.

The biggish flock (50+) of Reed Buntings that was present on 27th December had reduced to about 10. I had a good look at them but couldn't see anything else with them. No sign of the "office" Bullfinches this morning.

[jada dulo]

Hawfinch reliably seen & photographed today on Brown Clee!!!

[jada dulo]

Looking set to be a great year again for us Salop boyo's!! I'm sat at 88 species on the owd county list so far, with still some easy goodies to nail such as Jay, Siskin, Tawny Owl, Barn Owl, Peregrine, Red Grouse, Crossbill, Whooper Swan... Then those slightly tricky ones like Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge, Little Owl, Hen Harrier...
Hoping to get Yvonne's Hawfinch (it's a county tick for me!!), & also that the Caspian Gull returns to Priorslee...
So, 100+ before end of Jan. is pretty much on!!... Just work getting in the way now for the next 2 weeks!! ;)

[Patrick_L]

[QUOTE=pandachris;1372349]Surely Shropshire's warmer than Singapore. ;)[QUOTE]

Hur, hur, no it chuffing isn't - going from 30 degrees on Sunday morning in Singapore to -7 this morning at Mytton Mill is not funny.

Not surprisingly, there was some cold-weather movement over the Baschurch Road this morning, particularly Lapwings in small parties moving south.

[Patrick_L]

Despite the sleet, both Great Tit and Song Thrush were singing at Mytton Mill this morning.

My Swift nestbox arrived as well - hopefully with the still decent population of Swifts we had around Coton Hill last year, I can get them on the house.

[pandachris]

Anybody got any up-to-date info on those Donnington Waxwings? There's a chance I could try for them on Friday if still around. Which they probably won't be.

On a lighter note, I think we've just booked for Barcelona in September. We mostly go for the Merce festival but we had a day out last September with Stephen Christopher, a BF regular who guides in Catalonia and got a lifer (Gt. Bustard - one due for Shropshire this year?) and 4 WPal ticks. He put us on to a great spot for raptor migration which we finally found about 10 minutes after we'd given up looking (and well after we should have been heading back into town) but we managed Osprey, S-T abd Booted Eagle, Peregrine and Hobby plus a couple of 'not sures' whilst we were looking for it.

[pandachris]

Thought I'd cracked it there for a while. I was being driven to a meeting across Telford this morning and noticed some suitable sized birds in the poplars at the back of Staples - same place where the Waxwings used to gather in April 2005.

After the meeting I decided to walk back and made a quick detour around Staples and over by Telford Central Railway station. No Waxwings, of course but 40 or more Redwings feasting on the berries, so if anybody needs a decent Redwing photo, I reckon that the ramp down to the westbound (Shrewsbury) platform is the place to go.

Am I the only birder in Shropshire who has failed to see any Waxwings this season?

[jada dulo]

WOOHOOO!!! Went to Brown Clee today, not only did I see the Hawfinch - showing superbly down to 20ft, out in the open for 15 minutes or more, but I also found a Great Grey Shrike on the summit at Abdon Burf, just down from the aerial masts, to the right of the frozen pool!!!...
Hawfinch my 1st county tick for 09!!!...

Only slight downer was no Crossbill... but hey, who cares... what a 2hrs county birding!!! :~D
I'm a seriously happy chappy!!! ;~)

93 for Shropshire Year List now!!

[Rob1991S-O-T]

for the brown clee hill site did you drive up the ice road or walk up from abdon
the walk up was abit hard with snow still up there
no sign of the shrike at 2:30 till 3:30 but brill scenary
and exploring the ruined house thing was fun

[jada dulo]

Yeah, you were in the right area, the Hawfinch was def. still present at 15:00hrs!! If you walked back down from the ruined house, sticking to the tarmac road, head over the cattle grid & you'll reach a X-road, just down from here on the left are a few berry bushes, the Hawfinch was in here feeding with 2 Blackbird!!

My friend went back up Brown Clee not long after I found the shrike (she found the Hawfinch incidently!!)... She also had no luck! But I'm sure the bird is still there, sadly there are huge areas around Abdon Burf that you cant easily explore!!
We only saw the shrike 'cos it flew up from a small hill right by us!!

(Incidently, to answer your question, we walked from the parking area by the picnic area at the base)

[Rob1991S-O-T]

cheers will probs go back up there nice site mybe when snow has gone a bit :P
and ice but im sure be up if shrike gets reported again
cheers we werent sure where they had been reported with not knowing the site at all
did u see any red grouse whilst up there we just found there foot prints :)

[mosschops]

Yes, about time too.

If anyone whats to see any good birds in Shropshire, wait until I'm on holiday, as everything turns up when I'm away (not that I'm away a lot).

Went to Haughmond Hill last weekend and note that some of the dense conifer plantations have been cleared, leaving some good open rough ground. Nice place all around, so worth keeping an eye on. Several Crossbills in the area immediately south of the main car park where the tea van is.

Early morning Wood Pigeon movements seem to picking up, with at least 20 high south over Mytton Mill this morning, and 30 Starlings west.

Hi there,
Nightjars move into forest clearings quickly so make sure you check at dusk from the last week of May onwards. Good luck, they are fascinating birds.

Jason

[jada dulo]

To the best of my knowledge Red Grouse haven't been reported on Brown Clee... prints were most likely Pheasant...
Best place for Red Grouse are Long Mynd & Stiperstones...

Also, 2 roosting Hen Harrier on Long Mynd (around Boiling Well) & a SE Owl seen near gliding station...
Whooper Swans on Melverley floods & the 2nd w. Iceland Gull was at Priorslee Lake again today...

[Patrick_L]

Jada's yesterday's excellent bird list from South Shropshire is supplemented by the news from Chelmarsh of a possible Kumlien's Gull, an Iceland Gull and Bittern from the hide in the afternoon.

Chris - have you found those Waxwings yet? They were somewhere near Asda in Wellington apparently.

[jada dulo]

There was an Iceland Gull at Priorslee?... Did Chelmarsh also have one (& a Bittern!!)?...
Where did the news of the Kumlien's come from Patrick? No news on the Yahoo group?

[Patrick_L]

There was an Iceland Gull at Priorslee?... Did Chelmarsh also have one (& a Bittern!!)?...
Where did the news of the Kumlien's come from Patrick? No news on the Yahoo group?

Jada

It was on RBA last thing last night - the pager woke me up (I'm still jet-lagged from Singapore!).

[jada dulo]

Ah right, I've heard nothing! Always slightly concerning if a Kumlien's & an Iceland are both reported from the same sight?

[pandachris]

"Nightjars move into forest clearings quickly so make sure you check at dusk from the last week of May onwards. Good luck, they are fascinating birds."

I'll certainly be looking in May/June. The recently cleared area looks to have the potential.

Re those Waxwings - might actually get two bites of the cherry today, so I'm keeping fingers crossed.

[Patrick_L]

Always slightly concerning if a Kumlien's & an Iceland are both reported from the same sight?

Hmm - the possible Kumlien's was reported as an adult, and the Iceland as a juvenile, so possibly not.

[jada dulo]

The Priorslee bird was a 2nd w. There was an imm. Iceland roosted at Belvide a couple of nights ago?... Be very interesting to see if anything comes of it?...

[jada dulo]

Oh yeah, I meant site, not sight in my earlier post!! ;)

[Fair Isle is best]

"Nightjars move into forest clearings quickly so make sure you check at dusk from the last week of May onwards. Good luck, they are fascinating birds."

I'll certainly be looking in May/June. The recently cleared area looks to have the potential.



From personal experience, recently clear-felled areas tend to attract Nightjars once they are 2-3 years old. Not sure exactly why this is, but I've found several Nightjar sites in Staffs away from Cannock Chase following this rule of thumb :t:

Cheers
Steve

[pandachris]

Well it's only 5 minutes drive and 10 minutes walk from my house, so I'm quite prepared to give it a try for a few years :)

Looks pretty good for a shrike or two as well so I'm hoping to get down there on a few weekend mornings over the winter/spring. There's a rather good butty van in the car park with bird feeders that attract Nuthatch, GSW and Marsh Tit, so double the incentive.

No luck with Waxwings at lunch time - had a wander around the Asda car park but only Blackbirds and Magpies. A Buzzard very low (below the street-light level) over the main Telford Town Centre (Railway Station) roundabout upsetting the local crows a bit and another one settled in a tree on the Priorslee roundabout at the end of Holyhead road.

I'm off now to try to win some money to pay for those holidays.

[Patrick_L]

No luck with Waxwings at lunch time - had a wander around the Asda car park but only Blackbirds and Magpies.

Chris

There's one there this afternoon apparently - something to do with Granville House?

Also, there's a White-fronted Goose at Polemere and both the Shrike and Hawfinch are still at Brown Clee. No sign of the Kumlien's Gull at Chelmarsh, however.

[jada dulo]

Yeah, it was me who reported the White-front at Polemere!! 2 birds reported yesterday, but I saw just 1 today!! But 1 is more than enough for my 2nd county tick in as many days this year!!!
A very smart goose it is too, I viewed it from the hide, as the Greylag flock spread across a wide area, to well out of view of the hide! (you'd have to walk back down the road to view the whole flock as the field slopes away!)...
Going to look for the Black-necked Grebe reported on the Severn after work tomorrow!!! (somewhere around Shelton Water Tower??... but in with c.50 Little Grebe!!! So, should be relatively easy to locate!... I hope!!) ;)

[Fair Isle is best]

Well it's only 5 minutes drive and 10 minutes walk from my house, so I'm quite prepared to give it a try for a few years :)

Looks pretty good for a shrike or two as well so I'm hoping to get down there on a few weekend mornings over the winter/spring. There's a rather good butty van in the car park with bird feeders that attract Nuthatch, GSW and Marsh Tit, so double the incentive.



Cool, wish I had somewhere like that 10 min walk from where I live!

Cheers
Steve

[jada dulo]

White-fronted Goose still at Polemere this morning! No news as yet on the Hawfinch or shrike... (or anything else...)

[Patrick_L]

Going to look for the Black-necked Grebe reported on the Severn after work tomorrow!!! (somewhere around Shelton Water Tower??... but in with c.50 Little Grebe!!! So, should be relatively easy to locate!... I hope!!) ;)

Jason

Any joy with the Grebe? (and are there really 50 Dabchicks there?).

Still a couple of weeks until the WeBS counts at the S/V confluence, so I don't know how the duck numbers there have been affected by the cold weather.

Patrick

[jada dulo]

Hi Patrick, I walked the river Severn all the way from Shelton water tower, to 'Doctors Field' & on to Frankwell (another bloke called Dave apparantly did the same walk as me, possibly earlier in the PM as I saw no birders yesterday)...
Anyway, all I had was 2 Little Grebe, 6 Goosander & 2 Blackcap (year tick, plus they were close to where I parked the car!)
So, quite a fair walk for b*gger all really, no sign of BN Grebe!! But in all fairness with all the disturbance on the river cant blame it for clearing off...
Off to Meleverley later for the Whoopers!!...

[pandachris]

Waxwings, finally! But not in Shropshire. We were in the West Mids yesterday and diverted from out money making activities to have a look at the flock in Shirley, which were in view as we arrived, before I'd even parked. Checked a few pubs out in the local area and we've won enough this weekend to pay for the Portugal hire car - so I might even manage a lifer or two there - GS Cuckoo being the most likely.

So what's the guessing for the 1st Shropshire cuckoo? Don't think I heard one in the county last year, although they seem to be doing quite well in the Western Highlands and islands of Scotland.

[pandachris]

Cool, wish I had somewhere like that 10 min walk from where I live!

Cheers
Steve

There must be a butty van somewhere up in the North East! ;)

It's swings and roundabouts though - it's a 90 minute drive from here to get to the nearest coast and considerably further to get to somewhere where we might see cetaceans - another of my passions. But we have Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Wood Warblers (getting harder) in numbers that birders in some parts of the UK get quite envious of. I suppose it's the diversity that makes the UK such a fascinating place to be a birder.

[jada dulo]

Mid-April for Cuckoo Chris!! I normally bag Redstart, Pied Fly & Cuckoo just after my birthday!!.. ;)

[jada dulo]

Just had a call from Dave Western who informs me that he & Damo have just had at least 3 Hawfinch on Brown Clee!!! Follow tarmac road up from parking area, & view 'tree' (??) by yellow salt bin!!...
Great to see that there is more than just 1 bird there... maybe they've been there some time??...

[Patrick_L]

considerably further to get to somewhere where we might see cetaceans - another of my passions.

Chris

Agreed - have you taken the Bardsey day trip from Pwllheli? H and I try and get over to Bardsey for the day a couple of times a year, and we've had some outstanding cetacean sightings on the trip including Basking Shark (not strictly a cetacean?) and many Dolphin.

This is the link:

http://www.enllicharter.co.uk/

A good day out all round, as Bardsey is always a superb place to visit and the boatman is very knowledgeable. You get about 4 hours on the island, enough for a full walk around the main areas, a picnic and a visit to the observatory.

Cheers,

[pandachris]

I'll stick my neck out and go for 7th April for Cuckoo (not by me) with Waxwings still around.

We were thinking about doing the Bardsey trip in June 08 but the weather was awful. For the last couple of years we've set up a watch point for the National Whale and Dolphin Watch Week and last year we were based over the Bardsey Sound. We'f done a quick recce about 3 weeks previously and had continual sightings of Harbour porpoise for a couple of hours and some very close Choughs, but we saw nothing at all during the official 'watch' - howling gales and high seas didn't help. Julie had a dolphin sp. from the hotel window whilst I was in the shower. At least she didn't claim she'd seen a whale!

Quick trip to Polemere yesterday. Barnacle Goose recorded in the log biook, but no sign of it or the WF Goose, although a lot of geese were out of sight, grazing in the fields and down in a dip.

[Patrick_L]

On the basis of the last few years, I'd not be confident of hearing a Cuckoo at all.

The Bittern is back at Venus Pool today, according to the pager.

[jada dulo]

Hi all, yeah Patrick, it was me again!!! I got the Bittern at 14:00hrs today sat on top of the reeds opposite the main hide!! Showed well for 30 odd seconds!!
Had 2 Tawny Owl this morning en route to work plus at least 14 Green Sands at Mire.

Now on 99 species for 2009 county year list ~ going well!!...
(if you're interested you can read more at - http://tsbantics.blogspot.com/ ). ;)

[Patrick_L]

Had the closest I get to a "Gull Day" on Tuesday, as a meeting I had already set off for in Cambridge was postponed for an hour. This gave me some time to stop off at Priorslee to look for the Iceland Gull (a long shot I know) and also Long Drove, at Cottenham near Cambridge, for a reported Glaucous Gull.

No good at Priorslee, with a handfull of large gulls there and others arriving and departing fairly regularly, but nothing doing Iceland Gull-wise.

Arrived at Long Drove (a site I knew well in my Cambridge days) to find the hedge had grown up and the landfll site there grown outwards. Huge clouds of gulls there and only a small gap in the hedge to see them through. Thinking that gulls are not worth the bother and just about to give up, what should turn up in full view but an impressive first-winter Glaucous Gull.

Shame it wasn't in Shropshire, as it wasn't a Cambs tick! However, it's a bit late for me to worry about a Shropshire list, only having moved up here a couple of years ago and so having missed most of the previous notables (including some since!).

WeBS surveys at the S/V confluence this weekend.

[jada dulo]

Hey, it's never to late Patrick! ;)
I only started listing in Shropshire towards the end of 2003! I had 12 county ticks last year, & already had 2 this year!!!
Not quite hit the 200 mark yet for Shrops! Need 5 more for that.
Belvide had a Glaucous in to roost last night, I'm gonna check Priorslee in the morning.
Hoping to get up the Stiperstones/Long Mynd tomorrow also, if the weather holds off!!
Let you know how I get on...

[pandachris]

Birding in Shropshire. Oh, I remember that.

We're in our busiest period of the year. I've already done my hours for the week and am in all day tomorrow and I think I've got conf. calls on Saturday and Sunday. We're on the verge of booking Andalucia for Easter which will mean four days in Tarifa (well known migration watch point) so even if I see daylight this weekend we'll be concentrating on winning the cash to pay for it! Still - just think of those eagles and vultures and thousands of swallows and ...

Good luck to anyone after anything good. It will need to be within about 10 minutes of Telford town centre if I'm going to stand a chance on a weekday.

I don't think I have a Shropshire list but I could probably knock one up. There'll be one or two decent birds but I doubt if I'm near 200. Probably more like 150.

[pandachris]

Better than I thought - 172 if I include the Little Tern that the Rarities Committee didn't fancy for September 2007 - though I agree the photos were unconvincing. Not sure about a couple - must have seen Spotted Redshank at some point. Glaucous Gull is quite a big hole - in fact I've never seen one in the UK. I've a feeling that I've seen Avocet somewhere but can't think where.

[Patrick_L]

I shall spend a little time over the weekend totting up my Shropshire list, if only to see what I haven't seen. However, I was away for last year's Woodchat Shrike, have not yet caught up with the Bittern and the likes of Scoter, Pectoral Sandpiper, Little Owl etc, etc are also missing.

On the plus side, however, is Lesser Scaup! Little did I know when I dropped by at Monkmoor all those years ago on my way to North Wales that a few years later, I would be living just around the corner.

[jada dulo]

Well... you'd be surprised how good a list you may have!!?...

My Shropshire total is now 195!!! Just five for the magic Salop 200 Club!!!

Crap day today.... but we did have 15 Waxwing in Ludlow, at least 5 Red Kite & a Goshawk!!!

101 for Salop this year!!

[jada dulo]

Sadly, due to the insurance running out on my girlfriends Mum's car I couldn't meet up with Andy & Dave today, which was a HUGE shame as they scored with a Glaucous Gull at Candles tip!! (& again later at Granville!)... Hope to catch up with it some time soon!!
Plus they had a Hawfinch on Brown Clee (so, they are still there, but obviously now very elusive ~ Andy no doubt shall post where they had them...)

I did manage 1 year tick today however!! A Peregrine in Shrewsbury, over the Welsh Bridge. No.102 for the Shrops. year list!!
Gonna try to do 110+ by end of Jan!!...

[Patrick_L]

Morning all.

Very dull WeBS Count at the S/V confluence yesterday - only Mallard and Wigeon exceeded double figures, the latter reaching about 200, and only 7 Teal and 3 Pintail.

Highlights were a flock of about 20 Linnets and an argentatus Herring Gull (a real brute) amongst the Lesser Black-backs. Other than that, just plain cold.

Went to Venus Pool on Saturday PM with H to see if the Bittern was around, but it wisely stayed out of the way as the storm wound itself up.

Cheers,

[Patrick_L]

Well... you'd be surprised how good a list you may have!!?...

140 in exactly 2 years (and 1 day trip). But there's enough holes in the list to make very quick progress!

[mcmerlin]

wow, theres finally a shropshire thread on here. good to see!!
back at uni now, but the last time i was in my hometown of newport(the shropshire one), was january 10th and was slightly stunned to see a Grey Wagtail in the middle of the cobbled st.marys street! this area is often frequented by pied wags, but before this id never seen a grey wagtail in newport that wasnt right by the canal!

[Patrick_L]

The weekend provided a Shropshire tick in the form of Iceland Gull at Priorslee Lake.

Having done the chores (and watched the tennis) we drove over there on Saturday PM on the basis of a report of a Glaucous Gull followed by a completely separate report of Iceland Gull there at about the same time in the morning. Sounded worth following up (there was obviously something there!). However, on Saturday PM the only gull species there was Black-headed, with no other gulls at all. The trip wasn't entirely wasted, however, as we witnessed a satisfying end-on shunt at the M54 roundabout with a couple of 4-wheel drives knocking bits of plastic bumper off each other. Can't imagine they'd stand up to much off-roading.

Sunday late AM was more promising - there were some larger gulls there. However, by 1pm nothing white-winged had turned up, and we started to think about leaving. At that point, the Iceland Gull appeared high over the north of the lake and flew slowly westwards towards the Wrekin, giving me enough time to alert the 2 blokes in the car next to us.

So, 141 it now is.

[pandachris]

Nice one Patrick

What was better? The new county tick or the schadenfreude?

We actually managed a bit of birding over the weekend, although being out in daylight is quite tricky at present. Willow Tit at Haughmond Hill on Saturday but not much else, then on Sunday we got our first Bullfinch of the year, the office regulars having seemingly deserted the area during the Xmas/New Year freeze on the way to Longnor to check on the Dippers. Very high water levels meant that we dipped on Dipper there for the first time ever, but a flock of 50-70 small finches were mainly Redpolls with a few siskins mixed in. They were put up by what looked like a very small raptor indeed that we only got a rear view silhouette of. Assumed to be a male Sparrowhawk.

Year list now at 63 with 58 for UK (mostly Shropshire). Might get a bit of a boost in Portugal in 10 days time, though. :)

I'm doing some silly shifts over the next week or so, so I might get down to VP early one morning.

Popped into the Wheatsheaf in Ludlow on Sunday hoping to get their excellent carvery. They were full, but Julie did overhear a couple of birders discussing Lynford Arboretum. Wonder if they were Birdforum members.

[Patrick_L]

What was better? The new county tick or the schadenfreude?

Chris

Certainly the prang - the value of witnessing 2 4-wheel drives crashing is much more than an Iceland Gull. I'd say that, realistically, we're talking at least adult Sabine's Gull ...

[mcmerlin]

does anyone do much birding in the weald-moors area? just wondering, because i went to a couple of spots there last summer and saw some nice farmland birds like corn bunting and yellow wagtail which are few and far between in most areas of farmland nowadays. im guessing grey partridge and even quail in the summer are a real possibility in that sea of appropriately-managed farmland

[Patrick_L]

does anyone do much birding in the weald-moors area? just wondering, because i went to a couple of spots there last summer and saw some nice farmland birds like corn bunting and yellow wagtail which are few and far between in most areas of farmland nowadays. im guessing grey partridge and even quail in the summer are a real possibility in that sea of appropriately-managed farmland

I think it was that general area that held the 2 Common Cranes last summer.

Jason recently had a large number of Corn Buntings in the area just to the west of Weald Moors, so that area does look good for farmland birds.

[jada dulo]

Hi all ~ yeah Patrick, at least 100 Corn Bunting east of Mire on the single lane Roden road. Grey Partridge were seen here last week although I failed to see one...

Went up Long Mynd the other day & had a ringtail Hen Harrier at 17:00hrs around Shooting Box area... sadly I missed out on a SE Owl there that same evening!!!... Plus I aint been able to find the Glaucous Gull... :(
A few dips stacking up here, which aint great!! Had a patch tick at VP yesterday with Jack Snipe!! Bit distant, but a pretty good view tho!
County yearlist now 104 species!!...
Still need a Curlew!!!

[pandachris]

"Well it's half past two in the morning and I'm the last man on this 'plane still awake ..."

Well not quite. 10 points for the song and the artiste though. I think the lyrics are right. Certainly close.

I sense a new thread coming on, comparing injuries to vanity vehicles with sought after birds.

Jack Snipe at VP, eh? If I've got the energy left after my graveyard shift I might just pop down there later this morning.

[Patrick_L]

"Well it's half past two in the morning and I'm the last man on this 'plane still awake ..."

Chris

No, closest I can think is Crystal Gayle, but that was 3 o'clock in the morning, and she wasn't on a plane, she was in bed, listening.

I'm happy with the "injuries to vanity vehicles with sought after birds" comparison discussion - after all, with all the agitation that's going on with the Iceland Gull in Sussex at the moment (see the rare birds forum) it's probably safest to steer clear of actual birds.

So I kick off - I like Jack Snipe, so I reckon it's worth a dent in the door of a Mini Cooper.

What will you offer for a chip in the windscreen of a "Bongo".

By the way - a Mytton Mill tick yesterday - a Dabchick on the Mill Pond. Good Goosander numbers at the moment - 5 redheads and a male this morning on the river here.

[andy latham]

does anyone do much birding in the weald-moors area? just wondering, because i went to a couple of spots there last summer and saw some nice farmland birds like corn bunting and yellow wagtail which are few and far between in most areas of farmland nowadays. im guessing grey partridge and even quail in the summer are a real possibility in that sea of appropriately-managed farmland

Hi Mcmerlin,
Martin Grant (newport birder) spends his time birding the area, and you're right Quail is a possibility especially in 'quail years'. Corn bunting, Yellow wag, Grey Partridge, little & Barn owl are other species to look for. Stonechat winter and passage at wall farm wetlands can be excellent, if a little frustrating- Spoonbill, temmincks stint, Bittern, raptors in recent years.
Like any area the more you watch the more you see, the buttery near Kynnersley has held Bewicks swan in the past and whoopers have been recorded near waters upton. The corn buntings jason has posted are near to roddington similiar habitat to the weald.
Who knows maybe shropshires' next Rough leg could be found here, your best option is to drive slowly along the lanes stopping and checking frequently, by the way the floods at the dukes drive have now gone well they went late summer, the fields are flooded by the farmer to eradicate eel worms that attack the potatoe crop. I,m sure that Martin won't mind other birders working the area in fact it could be a bonus extra eyes etc....

Andy

[pandachris]

Bit quiet at VP on Saturday morning but we popped in during the snow squalls yesterday late afternoon to see if we could get a look at the Barn Owl that has been seen there a lot recently. No Bittern on show, I'm afraid, but a couple of year ticks (Shelduck, Snipe) and the Owl appeared, albeit briefly, over the pond at 17:05.

See below for something possibly more interesting ...

[Patrick_L]

Bit quiet at VP on Saturday morning but we popped in during the snow squalls yesterday late afternoon to see if we could get a look at the Barn Owl that has been seen there a lot recently. No Bittern on show, I'm afraid, but a couple of year ticks (Shelduck, Snipe) and the Owl appeared, albeit briefly, over the pond at 17:05.

Hello Chris

There was a Hen Harrier reported from VP yesterday, could be the start of some movement this snow shakes up or one of the Long Mynd birds hunting further afield. Went to Parkgate on the Wirral yesterday PM and had 3 Hen Harriers and a Short-eared Owl, good for the year list but no help for the Shropshire list.

[pandachris]

At about 4:30 p.m. yesterday a birder in the public hide at Venus Pool spotted a goose with the Greylags that looked different. I was probably a bit lazy because I had a squint at it, decided that it definitely wasn't a Pink-footed Goose and went back to searching for the Bittern.

My other half ahs been looking at Bean Goose pics this morning and has found one or two that look quite like the bird we saw. I felt at the time that it was probably a somethingxCanada Goose hybrid because the head and neck were very dark, but from memory the bill looks good compared to some photos I've seen this morning and the size id probably about right.

Might be worth a look for anybody down there in the near future and an object lesson in the pitfalls of lazy birding.

[Patrick_L]

Hello again Chris

I see from Jim's blog that he's been the the Haughmond Hill butty van for Willow Tit and also had Lesser Spotted Woodpecker by the Abbey. As always, exceptional photos.

But no word of anything at VP goose-wise on either his or Jason's blogs, and I've seen a couple of Greylag x Canada hybrids over the last year or so there that were originally mooted as Pink-foots, so you're initial reaction may well be correct.

[pandachris]

The bird might have been a bit small for a CanadaxGreylag. I'm very familiar with Pink-feet - they used to be my alarm clock in the winter when I was a lad and we lived in Southport - we used to get 4,000 or more in the fields opposite our house. There was nothing about this bird that said Pink-foot. I've seen very few Bean Geese, and to be honest didn't even consider it at the time, although a couple of other birders who were present did give it some consideration. If I had to put my money were my mouth is, I'd stick with a hybrid, but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.

No more Shropshire birds for me for a while. Can't see myself doing any birding this week and then it's Portugal on Friday. Might not be so much snow there :)

[pandachris]

Didn't notice mention of the Hen Harrier in the log book, Patrick. It certainly wasn't around later on. We did see an 'odd bird' over the pool that we couldn't quite place in the gathering gloom. We speculated briefly with the other birder present that it didn't look much like a buzzard and wondered if it might have been a Tawny Owl. Snow often brings some odd sightings, though.

Bit worried about our early morning flights on Friday and we're keeping our fingers x-ed. I was hoping to upgrade Julie's Azure-winged Magpie status from "That was an A-W M, that was" as we zoomed past it in a car in the Sierra Nevada to "That's a really good photo" by Friday lunch time but that won't happen if we're stuck in East Midlands!

[Patrick_L]

Jason

I see from your blog that you noted up a very bright male Bullfinch at Haughmond Hill at the weekend, which might be one of those I had there in early December last year (see my 7th December entry above).

A smart bird, and I will have another look as soon as I can to check out any Northern credentials, particularly as the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is around that area as well.

Cheers,

[jada dulo]

Hi Patrick - yeah, it just struck me as 'different'! Very bright, looked bigger & also the bill seemed 'stubbier'??... But I hold my hands up as I simply aint sure of the credentials...

Chris - very dodgy geese regualry at VP, quite a few hybrids... Also, a few Barnacle's knocking about & there were 2 White-fronts at Polemere plus a Pink-foot has been seen at VP this year!

Anyway... at last!!! Got the Glaucous Gull at Priorslee today!!! Thanks to Jim who called me... the bird was present for at least an hour & half! Showing brillaintly too...
Stacks of gulls present today, over a 1000 easily!!...
Nothing else of note though...
Cheers... J.

[Patrick_L]

Very bright, looked bigger & also the bill seemed 'stubbier'??... But I hold my hands up as I simply aint sure of the credentials...

Jason

Check out this excellent account:

http://www.birdsireland.com/pages/site_pages/features/bullfinch.html

If the weather allows, I'll try and have a look at the weekend. When I saw them, they weren't far south of the butty van near the fence of the quarry, along the newly surfaced cyclepath (with a couple of females as well).

No chance with the Glaucous Gull - I was in Cambridge taking advantage of the one clear day to travel to meetings.

[jada dulo]

Cheers Patrick, very interesting account & it certainly makes me believe the bird I saw was a very strong possibility of being a Northern Bullfinch! Certainly in as much as the bird was very noticably brighter around the head & breast plus it certainly seemed visably larger (to me, at least!)...
It would be good if someone else could see the bird & maybe give their opinion on it!

[jada dulo]

Woohoo!! What initially looked to be a crap day, turned out a belter!!...

Basically, to save me writing it all out again, I scored Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on Haumond Hill - stunning close views for around 20 minutes!!!
Then, on my 4th try, Grey Partridge at Painsbrook Lane, Hadnall!! Great last hours county birding!!...
For a more in depth write up feel free to check my blog, here's the linky-pooh!! -

http://tsbantics.blogspot.com/

Cheers all, J.

[Patrick_L]

I scored Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on Haumond Hill - stunning close views for around 20 minutes!!!

Hello Jason

Well done with the year list - excellent! H and I only had half an hour spare this weekend and so we dropped by at Haughmond Hill on our way north to see if the Bullfinches were around, which they weren't. However, the bird table by the butty van was very busy and well worth a look for a good range of woodland species.

Are the LSWs to the south of the main road at Haughmond? Should have much more time next weekend, and so looking to cycle there and have a look for these.

Dropped by at Priorslee yesterday afternoon on my way back from Cambridgeshire but it was so late and gloomy that all but a handful of gulls had gone. Therefore, no Glaucous Gull again for me.


Cheers,

[jada dulo]

Hi Patrick, you need to park at the Abbey car park, NOT the woodland car park (where the butty van is!!)... The Abbey ruin is signposted clearly on the approach road. When here cross over the road & into the decidious woodland... Head along the main track for aprox. 300yds until you reach a large tree stump (15ft high, aprox), on the left of the track!
The Lesser Spots were to the right of the track here. The one bird showed brilliantly for around 20 minutes!!
Good Luck! J.

[wilsonjonathan61]

Hey Everyone,

Just found this thread and wanted to chip in. Currently living up at Childs Ercall (which is near Newport McMerlin) and go to HAUC. So far have missed the LS Woodies a number of times but caught up with the Glaucous Gull. From looking at the photos I am wondering whether this is the same bird that has been frequenting Copmere area. I thought that the gull yesterday looked pretty dark for a juvvy Glaucous, very much like the Copmere bird. Or is this a Belvide bird? Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Happy Birding

Johnny

(still need SE Owl for the year/county list- grrr)

[Patrick_L]

Greetings Jonathan, and welcome to the thread.

Can't help you on the Glaucous Gull, as I still haven't seen it. Had a few minutes this afternoon to drop by at Priorslee on my way back west, but despite good gull numbers, still no Glaucous Gull. I think Jim arrived just as I was going, so hopefully he had better luck.

Cheers,

[jada dulo]

The Priorslee Glaucous Gull roosted at Belvide for the first time last night. It is a very dark bird & Steve Nuttall is 100% this is the first time the bird has roosted at Belvide.
I'm pretty certain this bird has been roosting at Cop Mere, although I aint seen any pictures of the Cop Mere bird!
Cheers...J.

[pandachris]

Back from Portugal. 116 species (+ one pending). No lifers for either of us. We were feeding bread to two 1w Icelands and one 1w Glaucous in Sagres Harbour on Sunday morning - both much scarcer in Iberia than in the UK (something like 70 records for Spain & Portugal of GG, I was told). I've now seen a grand total of two Glaucous Gulls and neither have been in the UK.

We got some cracking pics, though :)

Jason - what are the underfoot conditions like for the LSW site? We might pop down there tomorrow morning.

[pandachris]

Male Blackcap in my Heath Farm (Shrewsbury) garden right now. First record of the year - we usually get them much earlier, sometimes first noted in December and then presumably regular, not that I'm often at home, thereafter.

[jada dulo]

Hi Chris, sorry for late reply - the track on Haughmond to the Lesser Pecker spot is a bit muddy, but not too bad, but you'll need walking boots on! (Not trainers like I had on the first time I went!!) ;)

[jada dulo]

Spent 5hrs today at Bury Ditches/Clunton Coppice area searching for ****ing Crossbill!!!
Not bloody one seen!!! This is my 3rd visit here... this year!! & still I've drawn a blank with the little cross-billed blighters!!! :p

On a brighter note (other than the great weather today!!), I had 6 Red Kite & spectacular views of Goshawk!!! Esp. at Bury Ditches, but I also got a brief, but still pretty decent view, of another Goshawk at Clunton Coppice!!!...

Got Willow Tit also, but only 1 Redpoll & no Siskin!!??...
Crossbill proving very elusive at the moment in the owd home county!!...

[Patrick_L]

Any luck with the LSW, Chris?

Totally useless weekend spent at home waiting for Sky to turn up and install a dish, who didn't, so we cancelled our order. What a waste of time.

I noticed last week that whilst our local Song Thrush is giving it all he's got at dawn, our garden Blackbirds are still busy gorging themselves on the mealworms and not bothering to sing. However, I stopped off at the Esso garage by Dobbies on the A5 by-pass on Friday afternoon for some fuel, and there were at least 3 Blackbirds singing. I guess either ours are lazy, or there's no competition.

A pair of Dunnocks have set up territory in the garden - first we've had in the 3 years we've been here. My landscaping has paid off.

[Patrick_L]

What appears to be a bit of early Spring movement this lunchtime - a loose party of 35 Lapwings flew northwards very high over Mytton Mill.

[pandachris]

A combination of idleness, other commitments and (very) minior illness kept me away fro the LSWs at the weekend. Did manage to get to VP on sunday evening for prolonged views of the Barn Owl. Still no Bittern though.

I haven't noticed my local Blackbirds singing yet. We usually get two broods in the garden. We did see a Woodpigeon bringing nest material into one of my trees, though - we thought they probably bred last year but saw no direct evidence.

Well done on the Goshawks. Haven't seen one in Shrops for a few years. My most memorable one was along the A5 near the Wenlock when I saw a large bird flying towards me as I was driving. At first it made no sense at all - I thought it might be a big pheasant about 50 feet up, but as I got closer I saw it was a Gos clutching a Magpie in its claws, closely followed by another, very angry Magpie.

[jada dulo]

Finally nailed a county Curlew today, with 3 at VP!!!

For the Bittern, go to the Fen Hide (the far hide, accessed via the causeway), it's been showing its balls off round here!!!...

Good luck!

[pandachris]

I can't believe that there was a species in Shropshire that I'd seen this year but you hadn't! I've now had Curlew in three countries in 2009. :)

I've wondered whether or not the bittern would be visible from 't other side. Hope it's still around in about 10 days time because that's going to be my best bet. Might just make the effort and walk around.

[Patrick_L]

Morning all - nice to see we have a rating at last!

In case you haven't seen it, Archie Archer's Google map is excellent and may well be useful for us if we're heading in a Birmingham direction:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=134475

This month's WeBS count at the S_V confluence is this weekend.

[pandachris]

That's an excellent link, Patrick. Thanks.

I'm in Wolves this weekend so we might get a chance to look for those Cannock Chase Waxwings (I was already pondering going up that way for the Hawfich that has been seen frequently) and possibly the Fordhouses SE Owl, though that might need to wait until tomorrow.

[Patrick_L]

A less than spectacular WeBS count yesterday was only really notable for a record count of 25 Whooper Swans at Melverley, a decent number of birds of prey up and displaying (mostly Buzzards, but also 2 Sparrowhawk) and a single Common Snipe.

Fieldfare and especially Redwings were on the move all morning in small parties. Only a handful of Wigeon and Teal left on the limited floods, but 2 Reed Buntings singing.

[jada dulo]

Hi all, year ticks proving tricky at the mo! Failed to locate the Little Egret today thats been knocking about recently (aint too worried though as VP always pulls 'em in during autumn).
However, another 1st w. Glaucous Gull at Priorslee today was a corker, looked a paler & slighter bird to the one I saw previously?... But it was a much clearer day today, so who know's if it's a 'new' one??..

Little else there except an ad. Yellow-legged Gull.

VP was pretty drab & only 95 Teal & 25 Wigeon of note at Polemere.

[pandachris]

Not much to report but the mention of the GG gives me an excuse to post a link to the bird we fed in Portugal two weeks ago ...

http://avengerpenguins.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=18777

My Blackcap is in the garden every day now - probably was before but it's finally getting light when I'm having my breakfast. Yesterday and today it was being bullied by a pair of Dunnocks.

Bullfinches from the office window were the first there in 2009. They've been a permanent feature from about November to March in the last few years but they weren't around when I went back to work on 2nd January this year.

There was a Starling doing a quite magnificent impersonation of Common Buzzard from a rooftop when I got home this evening.

Might try to get down to Priorslee tomorrow late afternoon.

[jada dulo]

Both Glaucous & Iceland Gull's present at Priorslee yesterday evening! If the lake is quiet dont forget to check the flash as both sp. have been seen on here also!!

[pandachris]

The blackcap was looking quite pleased with itself this morning, the dunnocks have found someone else to bully.

I took advantage of half a dozen empty spaces in the car park and actually went to do some birding for half an hour at lunch time. There were about 300 large gulls on Priorslee Lake, predominantly LBB adults but with a pale-headed juv GBB very obvious amongst them. A female aythya with a lot of white on her face, easily visible from the car had me reaching for my bins but was certainly a Tufted. No Icelands or Glaucous present. Surprisngly all the gulls we flushed when a Common Buzzard came drifting high over the hillock beyond which the Lodge? pub nestles, but they soon settled back down.

I relocated to Priorslee Flash were another bird watcher was just departing. The were plenty of gulls close in but he told me that there was not much beyond a couple of YL Gulls so I chickened out and went for my lunch instead.

[Patrick_L]

Morning all!

Anyone checked out this one yet?

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=135072

Looks like one of those Doctors from the Black Plague!

Cheers!

[pandachris]

Poor little blighter. We had a bill like that at The Fox in Cheslyn Hay on Wednesday.

Barn Owl on a roadside fence post by the Atcham Business Park last night at about 22:15.

[pandachris]

Juv Glaucous Gull at Priorslee Flash for about 10 minutes around 16:50, spotted by my old mate Peter. Nearly didn't bother because I'd been down to both Lake and Flash at lunchtime. The lake had no gulls at all and the flash had several hundred Black-headed and virtually nothing else.

A new Shropshire bird for me - first of 2009.

[pandachris]

A pair of Ravens over Telford's Central park at about 11:15 today, not popular with the local crows.

Max count of 33 Curlews at VP at about 17:45. No sign of the Barn Owl.

[pandachris]

And from an e-mail from Peter both Glaucous and Iceland Gulls at Priorslee Lake yesterday lunchtime. Didn't go myself today because it is horrible out. That wet rain.

Just ... a Song Thrush in the bushes outside my office window. Don't recall seeing one there before.

[jada dulo]

Hi all ~ had a 3hr search across the barren lands that are Whixall/Fenn's Moss today.... sadly no SE Owl (would've been a year tick!), but some consolation in the shape of a ringtail Hen Harrier, which I watched hunting low over the fen on & off for around 10-15 minutes, great views in the bright sunshine today...

Very little else of note though!....

Not had a year tick now for 2 weeks despite putting in quite a bit of time... but with spring en route, wont be long before the bedlam begins!!!
Sand Martin, Wheatear & maybe Osprey before April?...

Bittern flew into Priorslee yesterday, great record for the site!! (I wonder if it was the VP bird, which aint been seen/reported for around a week now??)...

[pandachris]

I had a good look at VP on Monday evening until after 6 p.m. but no sign of any Bittern there. I recall a Bittern at Priorslee a few years back, in the reeds near the stream at the "far side". Is it the same area?

[Patrick_L]

Glaucous Gull falls at last! Priorslee Lake, today!

[pandachris]

And again yesterday, departed at about 16:50. According to a birder who was already on site it had been there from about 15:00.

[pandachris]

A couple of Grey Partridges just north of Hadnall at about 16:00.

[Patrick_L]

Morning all.

Dropped by at Priorslee yesterday PM but only 3 Black-headed Gulls there - I wonder if the large gulls have now started to disperse as there were some flocks of larger gulls heading over north very high.

Treecreeper singing at Mytton Mill.

March WeBS this Sunday at the S/Y confluence - don't expect very much as not much water around.

Cheers,

[pandachris]

Nine buzzards between Shrewsbury and Ellesmere yesterday morning, enjoying the sunshine and mostly in pairs.

[pandachris]

An hour at VP yesterday evening. No hirundines about but a pair of swans defending the whole pool resolutely against all comers. Some rather attractive Fieldfares coming into breeding plumage amongst the 40 or so that were roosting there and two bats hunting over the path back to the car park.

[jada dulo]

Had a brilliant day yesterday!!!...
Had several Wheatear on Titterstone Clee (plus a Merlin nearby).... Moved to VP & had a Chiffchaff outside the main hide & a Sand Martin through at 15:20hrs!!

Then off to Whixall where we had the very ellusive Great Grey Shrike (on Fenns Moss - over by the large barn frame structure), a ringtail Hen Harrier (almost flew into me when I walked onto the mosses!!), & a Short-eared Owl giving great views!!!...
Brilliant day - 11hrs birding, 5 year ticks 1 big celebration last night (phew - bad head today!!)...

[pandachris]

Nice one. I was hoping for Wheatear at VP but no luck. I was also hoping to get off work in time to have a look for an early Ring Ouzel but no luck there either.

[jada dulo]

Hi Chris - bit early for Ouzel, from memory I've never had one in Shropshire in March?.... VP generally get's just the odd Wheatear, but again it's usually end of March, early April...
Osprey will be the next good VP bird, first sighting's end of March generally... LRP's should be around soon, plus, I'll be heading off to The Mere's next week, March is prime time for Med. Gull's!!! Hoping for a Kittiwake too!!...

[pandachris]

I remember when you could get Med Gulls at The Mere pretty much from December-March.

Funny you should mention Kittewake. An unusual looking gull flew high East to West over VP on Monday evening, when there were very few gulls around at all. I only got on to it as it was well past the hide and heading for Shrewsbury, but I quite fancied it for Kittiwake. Didn't "tick" it though because I was far from certain.

[Patrick_L]

Evening all!

Managed to get onto the Forum at last - work has blocked access to anything but serious sites, and so access to forums, blogs etc. are barred. I have to get the old laptop out at home now!

Despite the late date, Sunday's WeBS count was very rewarding in the sunny weather - still some Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler around, 12 Snipe, a decent flock of Curlew and displaying Buzzards by the dozen.

Only obvious migrants were several Siskins over (also one over the garden on Saturday) and few gulls. At least 3 pairs of Tree Sparrows along the tree belts as well.

Cheers!

[jada dulo]

VP was pretty dire yesterday, & my search for Crossbill has still drawn a blank!!....
Working lates all week now, so not much birding, next week I hope to get out & about (although working nights, but at least I get early mornings & evenings free....)

[Rob Jones]

Hi folks
Out of area birder here (Staffs) but always enjoy a day at VP. :t:
Nice and sunny there yesterday. Highlights were Sand Martins high over the pool pm and a Chiffchaff which is the first this year. Brambling and Tree Sparrows on the feeders. A Marsh Tit, at least I don't think it was a Willow? Oh, and a Rook that has figured out how to hang on to a bird feeder. :-O

Snipe to the left of the hide and Curlews but not in numbers previously recorded in the book. Sadly no Bittern, but was recorded the previous day so maybe it was just hidden away. Barnie at 6.10pm. About 20 mute swans dropped in before I left.

[pandachris]

Did somebody mention a Pallid Harrier? No access to a suitable phone and I don't have a pager. I can finish work within 20 minutes though.

[Patrick_L]

Chris

The Pallid Harrier was reported yesterday over the road between Hook-a-Gate and Hanwood. It's an odd time of year - I think the Parakeet is a better option for a Shropshire tick, even though it's a long way south!

Cheers,

[Rockbirder]

Hey up folks, Greetings from Cheesedale. If in the unlikely event that you've got a Pallid Harrier there's only one man for the job. Get that fat bald bloke from Telford(my best man) Andy Latham on the case, he eats rare birds for breakfast!!!!

cheers

Andy Barker.

[pandachris]

Perish the thought that I might be sceptical, but I had to think a bit before I even came up with a road between Hook-a-Gate & Hanwood. Presumably it's the narrow lane south of both villages which from memory woold be an awful place to bird - one car wide, few places to park and lots of tall hedges.

Nipped out to Painsbrook Lane this morning in the hope of Ring Ouzel. Nothing much about and too cold and breezy to stand around for long. Couple of R-L Partridges and a splendid and almost completely black m pheasant was about it. I suppose they breed them like that deliberately but it was a fine looking bird.

[pandachris]

My first of the year in the UK (and surprisingly before I've seen/heard my 1st Chiffchaff) on the Ellesmere road on the way out of Shrewsbury at about 16:30 today.

[jada dulo]

Re: the Pallid Harrier report, I've given this some thought & I certainly aint gonna accuse someone I dont know of stringing... But it strikes me as odd!! The person in question obviously has the skill & knowledge to ID a Pallid, therefore he must know the rarity value of the bird? Then why did he wait 24hrs to post his sighting (when he saw the bird in his home village - so he had access to his computer etc...), & even then his 'report' was just one sentence long with no detail at all!!!...

It doesn't seem right to me.... But again, I guess you never know?... But the area isn't far from the Mynd where a pair of Hen Harrier (M&f) have been roosting all year!!...

I went & got the RN Parakeet the other evening, very smart bird & well worth going to see!!! Still aint had a Swallow or House Martin! Still no LRP's at VP.... Going for a Ring Ouzel hunt next week, also looking to get Mandarin at Borle Brook!!

[pandachris]

Swallow at VP yesterday p.m. but not much else of note. Decent look at the Brambling at the feeding station and the male pheasant there was stunning in the sunshine. All irridescent purples and greens.

Of note was the number of people there - I counted 20 vehicles ar about 3 p.m. - never seen it so busy. Several people there obviously new to the hobby, which is always good to see.

[jada dulo]

Had 4 Ring Ouzel on Titterstone Clee today (in the quarry), vocal, but typically flighty & elusive!!... Only 1 Wheatear.

At VP the 1st LRP has arrived, it was joined later by 2 more!!! As I shot off to Titt. Clee Jim had 2 Swallow & a House Martin thru!!... Not that I'm too worried about missing them!!...
County year list now on 120 species!!...

[jada dulo]

Woohoo!! My April 1st Osprey theory came very, very accurate today when an OSPERY flew into VP at midday!!! The bird remained flying high & flew off NE after just 5minutes!!
Rob Stokes, Shirley Dodwell & 2 others in the hide all saw the bird, but sadly Richard Dodwell somehow didn't manage to see the bird!!...
Also had my 1st Swallow today!!!
A good morning!!

[pandachris]

Nice one. Had a 5 a,.m. start today so I'm fancying an early finish and an hour at VP "on the way home" Probably my last chance at Shropshire birds until May, as we're off to the Far East early on Friday morning.

[Patrick_L]

Have a good trip if I don't catch up with you beforehand Chris, and good luck with the Straw-headed Bulbuls!

I was away in Sussex for my Dad's 75th at the weekend, and had a nice small fall of migrants at Beachy Head, mainly Willow Warblers but Redstart as well. They are on their way.

Cheers,

Patrick

[amh2029]

Dear shropshire birders,

I'm spending the easter break in Wellington. Never been to this neck of the woods before as I'm a soft 'southerner' and was wondering whether there's any good birding to be had there - or near abouts?

Any suggestions most welcome.

Andrew

[pandachris]

See you when we get back, Patrick. Might post a few updates whilst we're there, if we have time.

Andrew - assuming that you've got transport, Venus Pool is probably a good bet. Google it for location - easiest way is to follow the minor road through Atcham from Wellington toward Shrewsbury, then turn left just after the bridge at Atcham, left again at the end of this road in Cross Houses and 2nd right after you leave Cross Houses village. Keep an eye on this thread. With any luck you'll get some updates on arriving migrants. Might be a bit early for Pied Flycatchers, Wood Warblers etc. but you never know.

[amh2029]

Thanks pandachris - I looked at another thread in this section after I posted my question and it also mentions VP, as well as the Wreakin? Pied flycatcher is one of my (many) bogey birds - they're arriving down here on the coast already, so fingers crossed eh?

[jwreeves]

Probably a week or two too early for pied fly/wood warbler/redstart at the wrekin/ercall but with luck you could find lesser spotted woodpecker there and red kite is an outside possibility. Prioslee lake off j4 of the m54 can also be good (reliable-ish willow tits for example).

[amh2029]

Thanks jwreeves.

I don't have transport unfortunately - well, a bicycle. That should get me to the wrekin ok, but if anyone is going to Venus Pool on Sunday and happens to live near wellington, I'd love to cadge a lift (i'm staying on wrockwardine rd but could meet anywhere nearby). Happy to cover petrol costs. I'm a very sociable birder!

cheers,

Andrew

[pandachris]

Andrew

Good luck with the lift - if I was around I'd pop over, but I'll be thousands of miles away. Actually it's not a bad ride to VP from Wellington - nicest route would be to go past the west side of the Wrekin, under the last junction of the M54 (where it turns into the A5) then first proper left (signposted Eaton Constantine, and Garmston, I think) then along a straight, narrowish lane, follow this round to the right at bend, left at the junction then keep heading down towards the river. Straight across at the Ironbridge-Shrewsbury road (slightly offset junction) then dow, down, down, over the Severn, right onto the Bridgnorth-Shrewsbury road then left when you get to the small caravan park after about 3? miles (after the fishery sign). You can return via the Cross Houses/Atcham route mentioned above. I'd guess an hour or so on a bike, each way.

Let us know how you get on.

[Patrick_L]

The Blackcap arrived back at Mytton Mill this morning, and joined the 2 singing Chiffchaffs and the over-excited Kingfisher there.

[birding maniac]

Hi, i have come down to my grandmas thhis week and i am hoping to do some serious local birding, and get a couple of year ticks. please could you tell me where the best places for hirundines, green pecker, Lsw, warblers (all but chiff chaff, especially cettis) and hen harriers would be? I am hoping to get 200 for my list this week as i am only 27 off.
thanks, BM

[pandachris]

OK, not really Shropshire but if anyone fancies a read about an incompetent birder in SE Asia, I'll try to update this from time to time.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1454420#post1454420

Hope the migrants are arriving in force.

Chris

[jacana]

Hi folks, seem to be some good birds about back home in my absence!

Pandachris: are you coming to Thailand at all? i'm based there now, currently in Krabi on the way to Gurney's Pitta et al.

[jada dulo]

Hi all... Green Woodpecker at VP. LSWoodpecker at Haumond Hill. Warbler would be also VP, Wrekin, Clunton Coppice...
There are Redstart & Pied Fly's in the county, best spot for these is Bridges!!
Hen Harrier - Long Mynd. (Also regular Merlin & Red Kite)

Scored the male Black Redstart at Pole Cottage, county yearlist just shy of 130 now, with stacks of easy stuff still to go!!

[birding maniac]

thanks for the reply. Went birding today, managed a lone male pied fly in ratlinghope regulary visiting a nest box by the stream. a possible female was in the visinity. Lots of both wheatears and ravens on thje stiperstones, along with a kite, handful of buzzards, two oystercatchers, 4 curlews, a lone male stone chat, some mipits as well as a kestrel. A sky lark was heard too.

[amh2029]

Had a good day birding around the Ercall on Sunday, and did manage to cycle over to VP. Thanks again for the directions. The tree sparrows at VP were a bonus as they are quite rare down in hampshire, and yellow hammer, yellow wagtail, and red kite were also nice year ticks. Met some very friendly birders at the pool - what a nice bunch you are in the Midlands!

Andrew

[jada dulo]

Found a Lesser Whitethroat at VP this morning in the top field, with an added bonus of a lone Whimbrel which flew over...

At Bridges later on I had at least 3 male Pied Flycatcher!! No sign of any Redstart yet though!!...

[birding maniac]

i was at vp today, with a fair few summer migrants. I first had my lunch on the bench overlooking the top field, and from there i had two reed bunting, a yellowhammer[/B[B]], crow, rook, two stock doves and numerous woodies.A gsw was in the trees behind us. there where common garden birds flitting around us. Jada dulo, where you there with a large camera on a tripod looking into the bushes running by the road? a lesser whitethroat was heard, and may have been seen (i am pretty sure). in the big tree with the owl box on it, there was a flock of long tailed tits. A black cap and and a marsh tit where in the bushes, along with a robin. A flock of thirteen swans, one whooper flew in and landed on the fishermans hide, but the whooper continued on. From the far hide blue and great tit showed as did dunnocks, wrens and reed buntings. a chiffchaff called but was not located. A grey heron flew in, but took what looked like a duckling and was chased of by a mallard. From the main hide i saw 4 lrp, 2 oystercatchers,teal pochard, canada geese, great crested grebe, yellow wags, tufties and lapwing. The woodland hide contained the usual, without the GSW and brambling, but a willow warbler was a suprise.

[birding maniac]

anyone heard about the stork? was it just a fly past or has it actually landed. do you think it would be twitchabble?

[jada dulo]

It was one, it was there, it flew off at 11:20am!!!... Just 30 minutes before I arrived!!!!
I was back at 5pm & remained til 8:30pm, along with Jim, Andy & Dave - no sign!!! What a total sod!!!

Barwit was at VP first light this morning & the Lesser Whitethroat is still in the top field!! I did score my 1st Whitethroat of the year at Rednal today...
Off the weekend, going to search for Cuckoo, Redstart & maybe Tree Pipit & Crossbill... oh yeah, Mandarin too... Hoping to hit 140 on my county yearlist by end of April!!... Only hope I stop dipping all these top county birds!!!

[jada dulo]

Holy sodding shite!!!!

Adult Little Gull!!! Drake Garganey!!! AND.... Female Ring-necked Duck - all this evening, all at Mire, all on me owd county year list!!!

Totally awesome!!!

[jada dulo]

...& it continues, Arctic Tern at Mire first light this morning, followed by Common Sand & a male White Wag at VP!!...

Phew!! Taking some keeping up...

[jwreeves]

does anyone know what the future access plans to allscott/mire lake are? is it going to still be permit only or be made more public after the beet factory closing down?

[Patrick_L]

Final WeBS count this weekend - hope it's more successful than our trip up to the canal Wednesday evening to try and add White Stork to the Shropshire list - nice spot though.

Off to walk the Long Mynd today - could be nice.

[Patrick_L]

Walked from Bury Ditches to Clun and back on Saturday - scenery like something out of a Muller advert and spectacular. Seems to be a good population of Tree Sparrows around Clun, including some at the Castle itself.

Good numbers of Siskins singing around Bury Ditches, plus a couple of earlyish Tree Pipits.

[Patrick_L]

WeBS survey at the S/V confluence on Sunday - another very nice morning after the early low cloud burnt away.

Not surprisingly, not much in the way of Wetland Birds - a pair of Shelduck, a pair of Lapwing and a couple of Curlew. However, plenty of singing warblers and 2 Redstarts, plus Yellow Wagtail and Kingfisher.

There seems to be good numbers of Swallows around already this year - promising for the summer.

[Patrick_L]

First Swift back over the house this evening.

Went to Bardsey for the weekend - outstanding, as always.

[pandachris]

Garden Warbler singing along the Railway line a bit west of Telford Central since Tuesday.

Any dolphins on the Bardsey trip Patrick? toying with the idea of going over to New Quay on Sunday.

[Patrick_L]

Any dolphins on the Bardsey trip Patrick? toying with the idea of going over to New Quay on Sunday.

Nothing in the way of dolphins, Chris - the boatman said that he can go for much of the season before they arrive in the area, but then may see them every day. Good numbers of Manx Shearwaters on the crossing, but no Puffins as yet.

Any joy for you at New Quay (where is that, by the way?).

Cheers,

[pandachris]

New Quay is about 20 miles south of Aberystwyth. Old haunt of Dylan Thomas. One of the best places in the UK for Bottle-nosed Dolphins.

We took the 2 hour trip today. Quite a swell but winds were not too bad and it was sunny. First time we've been to New Quay and not seen dolphins. We saw a few Manx Shearwaters, but oddly only with the scope from land, although the boat passed through the area we were seeing them in about 30 minutes earlier.

A red kite over the Welshpool by-pass at 7 p.m. was a couple of miles the wrong side of the border. Got our first UK Swift of the year.

[pandachris]

Yesterday at about 12:30, just south of the Grinshill turn-off on the A49, courtesy of a rather slow-moving Iceland lorry (otherwise we'd have been further north). Drifting low and quite close to the road - we have a high degree of confidence in the ID - struck us as "different" from some distance off and the views just improved as we drew close.

Interestingly, this bird was heading slowly in a generally southerly direction (i.e. towards Shrewsbury) - resting during migration or thinking of sticking around? Habitat around there is probably ok.

[Patrick_L]

Not much doing recently in Shropshire as was in Sussex for the Bank Holiday weekend - some of the worst sea-watching I can remember. Good old north-westerlies! However, saw the Pallid Swift on Monday at Seaforth so all forgiven - my first British tick for 18 months!

However, nearly got a Shropshire tick on Sunday on the way back to Shrewsbury - an Osprey over the M54 just on the "wrong" side of junction 3 - probably heading towards Belvide.

Went for a walk on The Stiperstones Tuesday evening - blowing a gale and just a few Lesser Redpolls, Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroats around.

Well done on the Honey Buzzard, Chris.

All the best,

[pandachris]

Cheers Patrick

I'll buy you a pint somewhere to return your books/leaflets etc. and bore you with several hundred holiday snaps (plenty of wildlife included) if you like. Should have the pics edited and labeled up some time next week.