Bristol to Kagu ? (1 Viewer)

Nicky and I are currently attempting to get from Bristol to New Caledonia without (or with as little as possible) flying. Hopefully we'll get far enough for there to be some lifers involved, maybe even Kagu.

We left Bristol at dawn on Nov 1 in a mate's lorry who was delivering to Brighton. Redwing was first bird of the trip, calling overhead as we hit the streets of central Bristol with our backpacks. We'd been up all night (and most of the week) so little was seen on the road to Brighton as I was largely throwing up in a saucepan. After a few days in the Brighton area we caught a train to London where we have been for a week sorting out Mongolia and Vietnam visas. So little "active" birding so far, but areas birded were : area around cousins caravan in rural Sussex, Brighton Pier, Hyde Park, Walthamstow Reservoirs, and the amazing RSPB reserve at Rainham Marsh in East London with my oldest birding mate Paul White.

Few "good" birds as Brits would see it, highlights being a prolonged light northwesterly movement of Yellowhammer in Sussex, the huge swirling Starling roost on Brighton Pier, single adult Mediterranean Gulls at Hyde Park and Rainham, a Peregrineat central London's Tower Bridge,6 Green Sandpiper at Walthamstow and a 1st cal Yellow-legged Gull and Water Pipit at Rainham. Trip list so far is below, in order of seeing them as I thought it would be interesting to see how it changes as we head (hopefully) further from Bristol. Apologies for archaic anglocentric nomenclature if it confuses anyone. Just add Northern/ Eurasian/ European/Common or in one case Great to the birds with one word names.

1 Redwing
2 Carrion Crow
3 Black-headed Gull
4 Woodpigeon
5 Magpie
6 Collared Dove
7 Starling
8 Herring Gull
9 Blackbird
10 Lesser Black-backed Gull
11 Rook
12 Moorhen
13 Common Buzzard
14 Jackdaw
15 Cormorant
16 Wren
17 Nuthatch
18 Robin
19 Jay
20 Chaffinch
21 Blue Tit
22 Grey Wagtail
23 Pied Wagtail
24 Dunnock
25 Meadow Pipit
26 Coal Tit
27 Yellowhammer
28 Goldcrest
29 Great Spotted Woodpecker
30 Goldfinch
31 Linnet
32 Great Tit
33 Kestrel
34 House Sparrow
35 Treecreeper
36 Mistle Thrush
37 Greenfinch
38 Bullfinch
39 Green Woodpecker
40 Mute Swan
41 Common Gull
42 Tufted Duck
43 Coot
44 Mediterranean Gull
45 Mallard
46 Shoveler
47 Grey Heron
48 Great Crested Grebe
49 Pochard
50 Kingfisher
51 Long-tailed Tit
52 Great Black-backed Gull
53 Peregrine
54 Goldeneye
55 Little Egret
56 Green Sandpiper
57 Sparrowhawk
58 Little Grebe
59 Gadwall
60 Reed Bunting
61 Wigeon
62 Song Thrush
63 Stonechat
64 Lapwing
65 Redshank
66 Pintail
67 Black-tailed Godwit
68 Golden Plover
69 Shelduck
70 Snipe
71 Dunlin
72 Yellow-legged Gull
73 Skylark
74 Water Pipit
75 Rock Pipit

So next we're going on the train to Amsterdam, via the Harwich Ferry. Hopefully there'll be some stuff on the crossing, surely Little Auk's on the cards. London is as far as we're taking a scope (might regret this at times, but be glad of the lack of the bulk for most of the trip). Paul gets to "borrow" it for however long the trip takes.

The only other journeys we have prebooked are the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Beijing on Dec 4, and a boat from Singapore to Brisbane on May 24. I'll try and post how we've been getting on.

Sounds fantastic, keep letting us know how its going (if at all possible).
What's your prediction for total bird list?

Haven't a clue on what the final number of birds on the list will be I'm afraid Chris.

We took the ferry from Harwich to Hoek Van Holland on Nov 13. It was very overcast and calm so viewing conditions were excellent. As we pulled out of Harwich 2 Med Gullsfollowed us briefly and we passed some Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the mudflats. I seawatched for the majority of the first half of the crossing, and for the approach to the port in Holland. Highlights were 3 adult Little Gulls, 2 Great Skuas, an Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, and a Brambling heading towards the UK. There were lots of Blackbirds and Starlings heading west too, with the odd Fieldfare and Redwing thrown in. A close flock of 20 Lapwings half way across was a lovely sight too. Additions to the trip list were :

76 Dark-bellied Brent Goose
77 Kittiwake
78 Red-throated Diver
79 Shag
80 Gannet
81 Brambling
82 Guillemot
83 Razorbill
84 Fieldfare
85 Fulmar
86 Great Skua
87 Little Gull
88 Arctic Skua
89 Oystercatcher

A treecreeeper in Vondelspark in Amsterdam today went down as a sp. Hope to add a couple more while in Xenospizaland if we're lucky. We're going on a bike ride tomorrow so might find some countryside. On Nov 17 we're catching a train to Berlin.

Cool! And good luck!

Good luck Larry, I once went from just the other side of the Severn Estuary (ie Monmouth) to the Cape of Good Hope, via the North Cape of Norway, all without any form of public transport or own vehicle - I had the single principle of going from the northern tip of Europe to the southern tip of Africa only by hitch-hiking or on foot. I did it, so good luck, keep at it

PS how are you getting to Moscow? If it involves passing through the Baltic States, drop me a PM, I'll add a few species to your list ..and there is a train from here direct to Moscow each day

I am looking forward to reading about the rest of the trip - sounds fascinating so far :t:

God to meet you the other week in Scilly.

Larry Wheatland said:

Nicky and I are currently attempting to get from Bristol to New Caledonia without (or with as little as possible) flying. Hopefully we'll get far enough for there to be some lifers involved, maybe even Kagu.

I'll try and post how we've been getting on.

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Sounds fantastic. Hope you both have a great time. Will be keeping an eye out for this thread.

Gareth

ps. I like that avatar.

Wow, thats going to be one amazing trip.

Good luck to you!!

Joe

´Dam

Jos Stratford said:

Good luck Larry, I once went from just the other side of the Severn Estuary (ie Monmouth) to the Cape of Good Hope, via the North Cape of Norway, all without any form of public transport or own vehicle - I had the single principle of going from the northern tip of Europe to the southern tip of Africa only by hitch-hiking or on foot. I did it, so good luck, keep at it

PS how are you getting to Moscow? If it involves passing through the Baltic States, drop me a PM, I'll add a few species to your list ..and there is a train from here direct to Moscow each day

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Thanks a lot Jos, we had planned to go from Warsaw after visiting some friends in Poland. We have Belarus transit visa from 29th Nov I think. Ill ´look into if there´s a way we can change our route via Lithuania, but it could be to tight timewise. It would be great to see your famous feeders !

Spent the last two days around and in Amsterdam. Highlights were 4 Short-toed Treecreepers in Vondelspark and a flock of Redpolls including both Lesser and Common, as well as an intermediate-looking bird. We cycled south along the Amstel out of town and found a lake with 1000~Wigeon.Extra birds for the trip were

90 Curlew
91 Lesser Redpoll
92 Common Redpoll
93 Siskin
94 Short-toed Treecreeper

Birds 92 and 91 being a taste of the taxonomic confusion to come on hitting Asia. Oops, there´s a queue for the computer.

Larry Wheatland said:

Thanks a lot Jos, we had planned to go from Warsaw after visiting some friends in Poland. We have Belarus transit visa from 29th Nov I think. Ill ´look into if there´s a way we can change our route via Lithuania, but it could be to tight timewise. It would be great to see your famous feeders !

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Vilnius to Minsk only 100 km, plenty of buses daily If you can get here on the evening of 27th, I do not work on 28th so would be more than happy to show you round and get you to a bus station for an onward connnection to Minsk/Moscow. If not, no prblem, there are going to be many better places further east ...Novembe in Lithuania is not mindblowing

Berlin

Well I wasn't really expecting to add anything here but as we walked out of the door of our hostel a few minutes walk from Checkpoint Charlie we were greeted by Hooded Crows and Tree Sparrows yesterday. A 2 zone travel card (less than the price of an equivalent in London) today got us to the western edge of the city, where there is some fairly extensive woodland around some large waterbodies. Here we saw our first species not on the British list, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, and other goodies included 2 fly-over Hawfinches, Crested Tits, and 5 Goosander. I also heard a rather distant call that as far as I can remember was a Black Woodpecker, but not quite sure enough. Anyone know if they occur round here? Off to Poland next.
95 Hooded Crow
96 Tree Sparrow
97 Middle Spotted Woodpecker
98 Hawfinch
99 Goosander
100 Marsh Tit
101 Crested Tit

WOW! I've only just found this thread, but I'll certainly be keeping tabs on it from now on - it promises to be an amazing story. Bit mundane compared to what's ahead, but I'm glad you liked Rainham, Larry!

Larry Wheatland said:

I also heard a rather distant call that as far as I can remember was a Black Woodpecker, but not quite sure enough. Anyone know if they occur round here? Off to Poland next.

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Yes they do, you should bump into more in Poland and, presuming you get here, in the Baltic States too.

Looking forward to the northerly diversion Jos !

Saw quite a few more Hawfinch in town parks today, and plenty of Mandarin Ducks, a species I'm really hoping to finally see in their original range later with a bit of luck. Maybe I'll finally get to see Common Pheasant too !

Berlin to Moscow

Well we've made it to snowy Moscow, but not without a bit of travel stress along the way. Firstly we ended up having to buy 1st class tickets on our train to Poland (should have booked in advance), and secondly we very nearly missed our bus to Vilnius (saved only by some illegal dukes of hazard style driving by our Polish host in the Warsaw rush-hour traffic jams.) While stressing we did see a couple of largish (100+) flocks of Waxwings though. Missing this bus would have been very costly as we would probably have had to change our plan to not go via Lithuania, and Jos Stratford had by then very kindly already bought us onward train tickets to Moscow.

For the next couple of days Jos showed us around, taking us to his local patch and letting us experience the delight of hoards of birds visiting his many feeders at three locations. Quite a major one-man operation he has there, and you can check his thread on "your birding day" for what's turning up. If anyone deserves an Azure Tit on their nuts this winter it's him ! Highlights in Lithuania were stunning views of Lesser, Middle, and Great Spotted Woodpeckerson the feeders. More Waxwings, a couple each of Great Grey Shrikeand Whooper Swan , at least five White-tailed Eagles, including three together standing on a frozen lake, and most luckily a Goshawk, skillfully picked out by Jos at what I would call a long way away. Perhaps not the optimum time of year to visit that part of the world, but definitely worth the unscheduled diversion (thanks Jos !).

We had onward tickets to Moscow now so what could go wrong ? A puncture on a track 30km from Vilnius with 4 hours to get the train would normally be not much of a big deal, but the 3 of us just couldn't budge the wheel after removing the wheel nuts ! We had a fair walk before finding a suitable metal bar and plank of wood, and were very relieved when this got the b****** off when we got back to the car 40 minutes later. Whew !

So some extras from Berlin to Moscow :
102 Firecrest
103 Waxwing
104 Raven
105 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
106 Great Grey Shrike
107 White-tailed Eagle
108 Scaup
109 Whooper Swan
110 Goshawk

So we've got 3 full days in Moscow before the Trans-Siberian. Anyone know any nearby Azure Tit sites ? That would be a fabulous first lifer of the trip if they're in this area.

I'd also like to say a massive thank you to mcaribou for sending potentially very helpful travel gen for China in English and Chinese. And thanks for the encouraging messages from others.

Larry Wheatland said:

So we've got 3 full days in Moscow before the Trans-Siberian. Anyone know any nearby Azure Tit sites ? That would be a fabulous first lifer of the trip if they're in this area.

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Did a quick google. Best I could find is a site 70 or so miles north west. Where they are regular but not guaranteed by the sounds of it. Looks like you need to go much further to get a reliable site

Lotoshinskij fish-ponds http://www.flickr.com/photos/yeliseev/233107428/


maybe worth a quick email to the Mr Yeliseev, he might have some uptodate gen. His email is probably at the bottom of this page: http://yeliseev.nm.ru/ maybe someone reading this can translate Russian.

eg Jan this year - http://m.flickr.com/photo.gne?id=1471015721&

and

http://elis-birds.narod.ru/index.htm


Gareth

Thanks Gareth, thought I was pushing it a bit ! Where in Berks are you ? Dinton Pastures was my local patch when I was at school

Caught the metro to the last stop on the red line to the SW of the city yesterday and birded Troparevo Park. Got quite hopeful when I found some feeders which were attracting a fair few Great and Blue Tits as well as Red Squirrels. Saw the first Willow Tit of the trip, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and the Nuthatches are getting even paler than in Lithuania and with noticeable supercilia (asiatica ?). But all pretty much like home really...certainly with respect to the numbers of a certain hoped for tit species anyway.

so....

111 Willow Tit

Hi Laz and Nicky. Only just found this thread, but will now be dropping in regularly. Good to hear it's not been boringly uneventful so far!

Larry Wheatland said:

Thanks Gareth, thought I was pushing it a bit ! Where in Berks are you ? Dinton Pastures was my local patch when I was at school

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Im in west berks on the downs. I visited Lavell's once couple of years ago and saw couple of Bittern. As a former resident of the Royal County you may understand my desire to try and do most my birding outside of Berkshire (I dont have much of the required will power to do inland lakes and gravel pits ;-) The downs are pretty good tho.


Good luck on the next leg of your journey :t:

Gavin Haig said:

Good to hear it's not been boringly uneventful so far!

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That's you off my Christmas Card list!

An account of his two days in Lithuania, lifted from my thread...

Larry Hits Lithuania

So, any self-repecting overland tourist wandering from Bristol to Indonesia has little option other than to spend a couple of days suffering my local patch and land. So it was, Larry Wheatland (and blue pilium) arrived in Vilnius in the middle of the night on Tuesday. Having my phone permanently on silent meant that I was fortunately able to miss several calls, thus getting him into the spirit of early winter birding out here - ie. cold! So, having finally rounded him up, off we headed through the driving snow and drove the 70 km up to my land. Arr, into a winter land of snow ...and a cold house (I had not been there for a couple of days). So, being the good host, I gave them the biggest room with the proper bed, whilst I kipped down in the other room - which incidently had a fine fire going. I slept snug as a bug, they half froze.

Then morning came - outside snow and birds, many birds, the feeders were heaving. Tree Sparrows by the dozen, Great Tits by the bucketload and the first Middle Spot Woodpecker too. Having resussitated them with coffee, I then got them out into the garden - five Waxwings landed on cue, a Sparrowhawk shot through. Two kilometres away, at the forest feeders, the woodpecker feast got going - first up, female Lesser Spotted, then Great Spotted, then an assortment of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers too. Nuthatches and Marsh Tits as well, and all the regulars. Another Sparrowhawk appeared, a big female, plus a flock of northern Long-tailed Tits.

By now I guessed they should be cold again (or still cold), so thought I'd be kind by allowing a retreat back to the house - and there we stayed, not leaving the house, but peering out the windows - two more Waxwings arrived, this time sitting on the stork nest, then a young White-tailed Eagle lumbered its way across the sky, just before a Great Grey Shrike made a close pass at the feeders. Walking out to watch the eagle fly over, another 19 Waxwings flew over!

Bah, enough of this, there had to be something of more interest - and there was, not only had four Yellowhammers joined the Tree Sparrows at the feeders, and eight Mealy Redpolls ended up in the orchard, but ...top bird of the day ...a male House Sparrow suddenly appeared in the midst of the commoner folks! A class bird, though they breed in a broken lamp in the garden, they rank almost as a mega at my feeders during the winter - I saw only a single all last winter! I wonder why the Bristol-based birders were not so excited? Bah humbug, no gratitude! Seven more common ol' Waxwings flew over!

And 70 more Waxwings in my other garden the next day. And eight more on the way to the local patch! And at the local patch, lots of ice, along with four White-tailed Eagles sitting about, a few odds and ends amoungst the dwindling numbers of wildfowl present, the best being two Scaup and two Bewick's Swans, the latter wnich managed to sneak past without Larry noticing. One Goshawk flying so far away it might have been in Australia too.