Paul's Birding Diary

Monday 29th December 2008 On another very cold day, I made the journey to the Fairford area this afternoon for the Slavonian Grebe , on pit 114 (Dudgrove pit), in the eastern section of the Cotswold Water Park (photos above and below) . The grebe was fishing along the north-western edge of the lake, and I saw it take several fish. Also present were four Goldeneyes , two males and two females. My county year list is now on 208.

Sunday 28th December 2008 On a bitterly cold day, the highlights of a trip out to the Forest of Dean today included: Littledean Waxwing - 3 opposite The Belfry pub (photos above) Speech House Hawfinch - 2 Stock Dove - 1 Raven - 1 Redwing - 100 on cricket field Nuthatch - 2 (above) Coal Tit - 3 (below) Great Spotted Woodpecker - male drumming Treecreeper - 1 Cannop Ponds Mandarin - 47 on lower pond (below) Marsh Tit - 2 at upper pond feeders (2nd below) Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 Bullfinch - 2 Back at home this afternoon, a Redwing (below) was a welcome visitor in my garden.

Wednesday 24th December 2008 After Andy sighted what appeared to be a Glaucous Gull at Epney early this afternoon, It rather frustratingly flew off before I could get to out, despite me being only a short distance away checking the river at Longney. My frustration soon turned to joy though as I eventually managed to track it down at 2.00pm down-river at Priding (photo above) . I got good views of it, especially when it moved closer, before it and most of the other gulls took off and headed towards the estuary at 2.40pm. The bird is now believed to be an albinistic Lesser Black-backed Gull . Some more photos are below, I was puzzled by its size at the time, and its very white plumage, and the bottom photo gives a chance to compare its size next to another Lesser Black-backed Gull , in front, and the much larger Great Black-backed Gull , behind.

Sunday 21st December I carried out my first Bird Atlas TTV survey of the season this morning in SO81K Huddinknoll Hill, aided by Andy and Mark. The two-hour visit produced a total of 37 species, with the following counts: Red-legged Partridge 21 Pheasant 4 Buzzard 2 Kestrel 1 Common Gull 2 Herring Gull 2 Stock Dove 80 Wood Pigeon 54 Collared Dove 2 Green Woodpecker 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Meadow Pipit 1 Pied Wagtail 1 Wren 8 Dunnock 6 Robin 16 Blackbird 16 Fieldfare 2 Song Thrush 4 Redwing 3 Mistle Thrush 2 Blackcap 2 Goldcrest 6 Long-tailed Tit 12 Blue Tit 15 Great Tit 21 Nuthatch 2 Treecreeper 1 Jay 1 Magpie 13 Jackdaw 129 Rook 103 Carrion Crow 107 Raven 1 Chaffinch 13 Goldfinch 1 Bullfinch 1 (Photo above: Stock Doves near Huddinknoll Hill)

Saturday 20th December 2008 The highlight of the morning was the Waxwing in Longlevens which was feeding in a Rowan between the Co-op and the BP garage at 9.00am (photos above and below) . This takes my county year list to 207. It's fantastic to see the species back in the county. Sightings at Epney with Andy included a Goosander flying downriver, 2000 Lapwings and 200 Golden Plovers being harassed by a Peregrine , two Ravens and a Stonechat . Two Little Owls were at Stonebench.

Sunday 14th December 2008 A couple of hours around Quedgeley (tetrad SO81C Quedgeley North) with Andy this morning taking in Clearwater Drive, Rea Bridge, Stonebench, The Orchard and Green Farm, produced 39 species: Cormorant 1 Mute Swan 1 Mallard 12 Red-legged Partridge 3 Pheasant 6 Moorhen 5 Black-headed Gull 1 Herring Gull 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Feral Pigeon 10 Wood Pigeon 22 Collared Dove 4 Little Owl 2 (Stonebench) Green Woodpecker 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Meadow Pipit 10 Grey Wagtail 1 (photo above) Pied Wagtail 4 Wren 2 Dunnock 8 Robin 14 Blackbird 42 Song Thrush 3 Goldcrest 4 Long-tailed Tit 10 Blue Tit 20 Great Tit 20 Magpie 10 Jackdaw 5 Rook 2 Carrion Crow 12 Raven 2 Starling 33 House Sparrow 46 Chaffinch 8 Greenfinch 1 Goldfinch 17 A trip to Slimbridge WWT in the afternoon was very pleasant, but the best birds were in the road side fields, including 43 Bewick's Swans, five Ruffs, a Redshank, 60 Dunlins and 500 Lapwings. A Green Woodpecker was in the car park, 1...

Sunday 7th December 2008 I wasn't intending doing any birding today, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to look for the WWT 100-acre Breaded Tit this morning. Despite perfect conditions, i.e. sunny and still, the bird could not be found. Compensation was provided however by a Short-eared Owl , a Cetti's Warbler and a Stonechat . Linda and I decided to make the most of the winter sun with a visit to the National Trust's Snowshill Manor this afternoon where both the gardens, and more importantly, the tearoom were open. Several thrushes, including Redwings, and Fieldfares , were enjoying the local fruits (photos, above: Redwing eating Cotoneaster berries, below:Blackbird).

Saturday 6th December 2008 I spent the day with Mark, Andy and Mhairi in Gwent at Newport Wetlands. The weather was fantastic wall to wall sunshine, and feeling warm. The highlight was the wader flocks. The several thousand Knot and Dunlin created stunning aerial displays whenever they took to the air as the tide approached. Here's a summary of our sightings: Little Grebe - 6 Eurasian Cormorant - 1 over Little Egret - 3 Mute Swan - several Shelduck - c40 on the foreshore Wigeon - c20 Gadwall - c30 Eurasian Teal - 3 Mallard - numerous Pintail - 3 on the foreshore Shoveler - c15 Pochard - 1 Tufted Duck - c10 Goldeneye - 2 Common Buzzard - 2 Common Kestrel - 1 Moorhen - numerous Coot - numerous Ringed Plover - 1 Golden Plover - 3 Grey Plover - 8 Lapwing - 60 Knot - 5,000 Dunlin - 1,000 Jack Snipe - 1 Common Snipe - 50 Black-tailed Godwit - 100 Curlew - 50 Common Redshank - 40 Turnstone - 8 Black-headed Gull - numerous Common Gull - several Lesser Black-backed Gull - several Herring Gu...