Paul's Birding Diary

Saturday 29th December 2007 The Cattle Egret was still at Fretherne this afternoon with nine Little Egrets . The Egrets were the in the part of the field nearest the road, giving me my best views yet of the Cattle Egret. On the way, a Peregrine flew over the A38 at Hardwicke, just south of the Quedgeley by-pass roundabout. It headed towards the industrial park causing a large number of gulls to take to the air.

Friday 28th December 2007 A windy day with increasing rain although fairly mild. I surveyed SO81D around Hempsted with Andy this morning. Of course, taking in part of the landfill site meant a lot of gull counting - and Carrion Crows. I find it best in these situations to take a series of photos (like the one above) which can be 'stitched' together on the PC allowing a more leisurely and accurate count. Here is the total count for the two-hour survey period: Mute Swan 1 Wigeon 2 Mallard 10 Sparrowhawk 1 Buzzard 1 Pheasant 17 Moorhen 1 Common Gull 39 Herring Gull 842 Lesser Black-backed Gull 648 Great Black-backed Gull 11 Black-headed Gull 156 Feral Pigeon 10 Wood Pigeon 13 Collared Dove 6 Meadow Pipit 6 Dunnock 1 Mistle Thrush 2 Redwing 20 Fieldfare 13 Blackbird 13 Robin 5 Stonechat 3 Chiffchaff 1 Goldcrest 1 Long-tailed Tit 12 Great Tit 3 Blue Tit 5 Magpie 10 Jackdaw 13 Carrion Crow 347 Raven 2 Starling 30 Chaffinch 8 Greenfinch 6 Goldfinch

Sunday 23rd December 2007 A frosty and very foggy day with fog remaining around the vale, and at the Cotswold Water Park where I took Andy and mark. The visibility was abysmal, and at pit 46 tantalising glimpses of one particular bird suggested Red-necked Grebe but conditions just didn't allow us to be certain. On pit 46 we did see a red-head Smew , a drake Goosander and five Goldeneyes in the murk. On the way back at Driffield, nine Grey Partrigdes were hunkered down in a field, the most I have seen together in a few years, a female Stonechat was nearby and two Tree Sparrows were at Harnhill.

Saturday 22nd December 2007 A slightly warmer (or less cold!) day brightening throughout the morning to some nice spells of hazy sunshine. Sightings this morning were: Frampton, a Water Rail calling and 12 Long-tailed Tits at the reed-bed south of Splatt bridge. At the 100-acre, from Green Lane, there was a Kestrel , 220 Lapwings , a Kingfisher , 2-3 Stonechats , a Mistle Thrush , a Sparrowhawk , a Buzzard and four Curlews . Slimbridge WWT, two Little Stints , a Peregrine , a Black-tailed Godwit , a Redshank , 70 Golden Plover , 50 Dunlin and a Buzzard were on the Tack Piece and another Peregrine was on the Dumbles. The White-fronted Geese and Bewick's Swans (photos) were quite dispersed. A male and a female Blackcap were near the restaurant.

Thursday 20th and Friday 21st December 2007 The photos of Marsh Tit , Robin and Blue Tit were taken at the RSPB Highnam Wood car park yesterday lunchtime on a very cold and frosty day, with daytime temperatures down to -3 0 C. This morning at Hardwicke, with temperatures up to 3 0 C (wow!) a Little Owl was near the Pilot Inn, about 50m on the other side of the canal on the right of the lane to Elmore, at 7.45am.

Saturday 16th December 2007 A brighter morning but with a cold easterly wind. A trip with Andy to Frampton along the canal between Cadbury and Splatt bridges produced a Cetti's Warbler (calling and singing from the far bank and then flew across the canal towards us), a Chiffchaff , two Stonechats , a Reed Bunting , a Goldcrest , three Pied Wagtails , a Linnet , two Nuthatches , a Green Woodpecker , a Great Spotted Woodpecker , three Buzzards , a Raven , four Redshanks , a Curlew , 20 Lapwings , a Cormorant , a Little Egret and a Grey Heron .

Saturday 15th December 2007 Another gloomy day but feeling colder with a light NE breeze. I went out with Andy, first to Fretherne where the Cattle Egret was with and five Little Egrets at first but later teamed up with the Black-headed Gulls . Then at Frampton, along the canal from Cadbury to Splatt bridges, there was a Kingfisher , a Sparrowhawk , a Reed Bunting , three Green Woodpeckers , a Great Spotted Woodpecker , a Little Egret and three Curlews and at the 100-acre from Green Lane, two Peregrines , two Buzzards , a Kestrel , a male Stonechat and six Snipe . A Water Rail (above) was at the reed-bed south of Splatt bridge.

Friday 14th December 2007 At Hardwicke, on a very gloomy day, a Green Sandpiper (above) was still next to the A38 on a flooded part of the field opposite the large lay-by (near Moreton Valence) this afternoon. At Saul there was a Little Egret and two Great Crested Grebes (below) on the fishing-lake, and a Grey Wagtail (but no sign of the Cattle Egret although it was reported earlier). At Slimbridge WWT this afternoon, six Ruff and 100 Dunlin were among the Lapwings and Curlew on the field alongside the approach road, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose was on the Tack Piece (bottom) also a Tundra Bean Goose , while a Stonechat and a Buzzard were seen from the Zeiss Hide. A Chiffchaff and a Cetti's Warbler were heard near Robbie Garnett hide.

Monday 10th December 2007 A lovely sunny day but with a cold NE wind and a short visit to Aust Warth this afternoon produced just one Short-eared Owl . I located the owl distantly on the ground near the edge of the estuary where it remained and steadfastly refused to take to the air. No doubt it did just after I left! The only other birds of note were a Kestrel , a Buzzard, a few Meadow Pipits , a calling Curlew and a male Stonechat .

Sunday 9th December 2007 With less rain and wind than yesterday but still cold, a Cattle Egret turned up at Fretherne today in a field near Fretherne Bridge with Little Egrets . The Egrets were disturbed after some time by a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard and the Cattle Egret disappeared from view. (Photo above with a Little Egret) Earlier at Slimbridge there was a Little Stint and a Spotted Redshank on the Tack Piece, also a Peregrine , 63 Bewick's Swans , a Snipe , 85 Golden Plovers , 25 Redshanks , 40 Curlews , c50 Dunlin and 1000 Lapwings . 80+ White-fronted Geese were on the Dumbles.

Sunday 2nd December 2007 A very windy day with rain in the morning clearing to give sunny spells and the bird of the day was the American Golden Plover with the Golden Plover flock from the Holden Tower this afternoon. It showed well for a short time before the birds were put up yet again by the two Peregrines which were giving everything in sight a hard time. It was strikingly different from the Golden Plovers, greyer in comparison with a taller stance. Now trust me, it's the greyish- looking blob in this very poor record shot (left) - the upper-most bird to the right of centre. Hopefully the bird will stay over the winter and allow further study not to mention better photos. Also on the Dumbles were 50+ White-fronted Geese , around 2000 each of Golden Plover , Lapwing and Dunlin with large numbers of waterfowl including Wigeon and Teal both here and on the Tack Piece. Four Ruff were seen from the Zeiss Hide and c25 Redwings were in the overflow car park (photos also of G