Paul's Birding Diary

Sunday 29th June 2008 I spent the day at Brandon Marsh , in between taking my youngest daughter and some friends to Drayton Manor. Brandon Marsh, near Coventry in Warwickshire, is always a good day out and with the birding typically quiet for late June, insects and flowers were the main interest. Bird highlights included plenty of singing warblers still with Blackcap , Whitethroat , Willow Warbler , Chiffchaff , Reed Warbler and Cetti's Warbler all in evidence, plus several pairs of breeding Common Terns with young, two Green Sandpipers , two Redshanks , four Oystercatchers and a Ringed Plover . Insect highlights included Common Blue , Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies , Black-tailed Skimmer , a Beautiful Carpet moth, Comma , Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies and the hover-fly Volucella pellucens . Botanical interest included Common Spotted Orchid , Fringed Water-lily , Common Centaury , Marsh Thistle and Marsh Woundwort . (Photos, from the top: Azure Damselfly, Beau...

Saturday 28th June 2008 The highlights of a BBS survey at Hardwicke, around Clarke's Farm, this morning were a pair of Whitethroats (photo above) taking food to young, and another pair and several singing males, Yellowhammers in song, lots of Swallows and Swifts feeding over the cereal and rape fields, a Brown Hare , and Grass Vetchling in flower (below) .

Thursday 26th-Friday 27th June 2008 A Curlew flew SSE over Clearwater Drive wetland this morning at 9.05am, and a Whitethroat was singing towards Sims Bridge. Yesterday a Lesser Whitethroat was also singing near here and a Common Tern was fishing on the Gloucester-Sharpness canal at two-mile bend. Several Chiffchaffs are also still in song along the canal between Clearwater Drive and the city.

Tuesday 24th June 2008 A Grasshoper Warbler was calling and reeling at Warden's Wood, Cleeve Hill Common, late evening. I made the detour in between Dad's Taxi runs, and the bird eventually performed and gave good views in the twilight amongst the gorse. A Willow Warbler and a Whitethroat were also in song, a Buzzard and 2-3 Brown Hares were along the approach road from Whittington.

Sunday 22nd June 2008 With a strong SW wind, a morning visit to Middle Point at WWT Slimbridge over high tide produced a Fulmar . Andy and I picked it up at 10.20am on the far side of the river as it headed north and was last seen in front of Hock Cliff going towards Saul Warth. Other birds included, mostly flying into the wind, nine Oystercatchers , 10 Curlews , c8 Canada Geese , 14 Shelducks , four Great Black-backed Gulls, 10+ Black-headed Gulls , three Skylarks , two Pied Wagtails , a Reed Warbler and a Reed Bunting . A female Redstart was along the summer walkway, a Brent Goose was lounging by the Knott Pool abd 23 Black-tailed Godwits were on South Lake. (Photos: above, windswept reeds and white-topped waves at Middle Point, below, from the top, Curlew, Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gull).

Saturday 21st June 2008 A Ring-necked Parakeet was still at Down Hatherley today (photo above). Many thanks to Helen and Bill Welsh for allowing Andy, Mark and myself to see the bird from their garden. We also saw two Little Owls , a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green Woodpecker . A female Redstart was along nearby Ash Lane. A trip to Coombe Hill Meadows afterwards produced two Little Egrets , three Redshanks , five Lapwings , 1-2 Cuckoos , a Kestrel , a Sparrowhawk , a Buzzard and another interesting Buzzard hovering, with white patches on it's upperwing and on the base of it's tail - we watched it somewhat distant before it dropped down out of view. A Green-veined White was seen along the old canal (below) .

Sunday 15th June 2008 I spent father's day at Cannop Ponds, and had a very pleasant time with the family, once the early afternoon heavy shower had ceased. Nature highlights were a Firecrest (calling) a Garden Warbler (singing), a Grey Wagtail , a Pied Wagtail , a female Mandarin with eight young, a pair of Mute Swans with eight cygnets, a Speckled Wood , a few Common Blue Damselflies and a Four-spotted Chaser (photos: cygnet above, Mandarin young, a Four-spotted Chaser and a Speckled Wood below).