Paul's Birding Diary

Sunday 26th October 2008 After a damp start to the day, the afternoon was very pleasant with some sunshine. At Ashleworth Ham from 2.30pm-5.00pm there were 50 Fieldfares , 10 Redwings , 65 Wigeon , 33 Teal , nine Gadwall , 11 Shoveler , seven Mallard , a Little Grebe , 12 Snipe , 160 Canada Geese , 15 Greylag Geese , a Barnacle Goose , two Stock Doves , two Skylarks , six Meadow Pipits and a Buzzard .

Saturday 25th October 2008 A visit to Sharpness docks this morning with Andy and Mark produced little of note, just two Stonechats , a Redwing , a Redshank , three Little Egrets , eight Wigeon and a Buzzard . Slimbridge WWT was also pretty quiet, with two Stonechats , a Spotted Redshank , a Snipe , a Cetti's Warbler , a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk at the Zeiss hide. At home, the Coal Tit was on the garden feeders again this afternoon.

Thursday 24th October 2008 A trip to Upton Warren this afternoon to see the Shore Lark produced some good views of the bird on its favoured island on the Flashes, feeding on Orache seed (above) . Also at the Flashes Pools were 75 Teal , 12 Lapwings , 175 Black-headed Gulls and eight Lesser Black-backed Gulls . At the Moors Pools there were 152 Canada Geese , 40 Lapwings , eight Little Grebes , four Great Crested grebes , 40 Shoveler , 11 Teal , a Wigeon , four Pochard , five Tufted Ducks , 30 Mallard , 270 Coot , a Curlew , ten Cormorants and 13 Snipe .

Sunday 19th October 2008 This morning a party of c8 Long-tailed Tits (above) with a couple of Blue Tits were feeding in the Rowan tree in my front garden. The Coal Tit was seen again briefly yesterday on the feeders. A visit to Ashleworth Ham later this afternoon produced 80 Fieldfares , 11 Snipe , a Bullfinch , two Peregrines , a Buzzard , a Green Woodpecker , 80 Teal , two Pintail , 37 Wigeon , six Shoveler and 34 Mallard .

Saturday 18th October 2008 A morning at Slimbridge WWT around the high tide (10.49am, 9.2m) produced a Bar-tailed Godwit , a Curlew Sandpiper , a Little Stint , a Cetti's Warbler , 200 Golden Plover , 200 Dunlin and a female Sparrowhawk from the Holden Tower, and at Zeiss Hide, a Little Grebe , eight Black-tailed Godwits , a Peregrine , a Buzzard , two Cetti's Warblers , 100+ Teal , 600 Golden Plover , two Snipe , a Spotted Redshank , a Ruff and 20 Linnets . Also six Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll over near the Zeiss Hide. Despite the 9m-plus height of the tide, this wasn't quite enough to push the small waders on to the Dumbles or Top New Piece.

Friday 17th October 2008 I arrived home from work this evening to find the Green Woodpecker (above and below) in the garden again - it continued poking around the lawn for another half an hour until 5pm.

Sunday 12th October 2008 A misty start turning into another warm sunny day, even warmer than yesterday. Highlights today were: Netheridge NR, Hempsted - 15 Siskins on alders with five Goldfinches , a Little Grebe , a Green Woodpecker and a Great Spotted Woodpecker . Gretton Hill, Gretton - five Redwings , two Buzzards , a Kestrel , a Green Woodpecker , a Great Spotted Woodpecker and five Linnets .

Saturday 11th October 2008 Another warm, sunny day, and a visit to Ashleworth Ham this morning produced 12 Snipe , 105 Teal , 17 Wigeon , three Pintail , two Gadwall , eight Mallard , 20 Lapwings , a Heron and four Buzzards . No sign of the Great Grey Shrike or of a Red-throated Pipit noted in the hide log-book for 7/10/08. In the garden this afternoon a Green Woodpecker was a great garden tick, also a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen by Linda this morning, and a Coal Tit was the first seen coming to my feeders for a couple of years.

Friday 10th October 2008 Another very pleasant, sunny day. Even better, I took the afternoon off work and, with my recently repaired zoom lens, I made for Frampton. The Black-necked Grebe was showing nicely on the sailing lake (photos above and below) . Also present were two Little Grebes , several Great Crested Grebes , a Kingfisher , a Chiffchaff and several Common Darters . Also a couple of nice Hoverflies at the Sailing Lake: Myathropa florea Helophilus pendulus At Slimbridge WWT, things were quiet (not surprising given that it was low tide on the river), but 220 Golden Plovers were notable on the Dumbles. At the Zeiss Hide, a Cetti's Warbler sang briefly, and two Snipe were basking in the sun. A Jackdaw was trying to intimidate a Buzzard (below) over the centre. Going back a couple of days, a Tawny Owl was calling in my back garden at 11.30pm on Wednesday evening.

Saturday 4th October 2008 At WWT Slimbridge, a cold day with a SW breeze produced nothing of great interest over the high tide at Mid Point this morning. Returning to the Holden Tower, a search along the edge of the Dumbles with Mike , aided by Neil Amphlett, eventually turned up a Pectoral Sandpiper amongst the gulls at 1pm. Two Ruffs and two Grey Plovers were also present along the edge of the estuary, whilst 35 Dunlins , two Ringed Plovers and a Little Stint provided better views on the Holden pool.