Paul's Birding Diary

Sunday 24th February 2008 A trip to Slimbridge WWT this afternoon with Mark produced a female Merlin hunting over the Dumbles (that's it sat on a log in the photo above - what's known as a 'record' shot!) , whilst on the Tack Piece the mass of bird-life included three Ruff , 300 Dunlin , 700 Golden Plover , and the Bean Goose with the White-fronted Geese . Earlier in the garden, there were six Bramblings , 20+ Chaffinches , seven Greenfinches , two Starlings , two House Sparrows , and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker . A Kingfisher was at the Clearwater Drive wetland.

Saturday 23rd February 2008 Despite the unpromising conditions, i.e. windy, dull and some light rain, a trip to Great Barrington this afternoon with Andy and Mark produced exceptional results. A total of four Short-eared Owls gave superb views, plus a ring-tail Hen Harrier and a Red Kite , all of them obliging by flying over the county boundary into Gloucestershire. Other sightings included 13 Tufted ducks and c80 Wigeon on the Windrush at Sherborne, and a group of eleven Corn Buntings at the Hawling triangle. Atlas survey Earlier in the day I carried out my late winter visit to SO81D around Hempsted. Here is the total count for the two-hour survey period: Grey Heron 1 Mute Swan 1 Shelduck 2 Mallard 5 Pheasant 9 Common Gull 17 Herring Gull 263 Lesser Black-backed Gull 104 Great Black-backed Gull 2 Black-headed Gull 444 Feral Pigeon 3 Wood Pigeon 70 Collared Dove 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Grey Wagtail 1 Skylark 4 Dunnock 5 Wren 4 Blackbird 16 Robin 12 Great ...

Friday 22nd February 2008 On a mostly dull day with some light rain, I had the day off, so headed for Slimbridge WWT first thing. On the way, the Green Sandpiper was still on the flooded part of a field next to the A38 at Hardwicke, 0.7 miles south of the BP roundabout. At Slimbridge, a Water Rail (above) was showing well around the Holden walkway feeders. The highlights from the Holden Tower were a Little Stint , a Spotted Redshank , two Ruff , a Peregrine , 400 Dunlin and around 300 Golden Plover . In the garden, there was a total of eight Bramblings today, plus a female Blackcap , and a Cormorant over was a garden tick. Below is a video of a male Brambling I took this afternoon, and some more photos.

Thursday 21st February 2008 On a dull day with an increasingly keen south-westerly breeze, I headed for Great Barrinton straight after work. Here, two Short-eared Owls were showing on the Gloucestershire/Oxfordshire border, along the road towards Taynton. One of the owls made it into Gloucestershire, and I was grateful for the first county tick for shorty in nearly two years. It was also nice to see a Yellowhammer nearby in full song, plus a Stonechat . This morning I noted seven Bramblings in the garden, the highest number so far.

Sunday 17th February 2008 On another beautiful sunny day, I spent some of the morning watching the garden birds. These included three Bramblings , eight Greenfinches , c15 Chaffinches , a female Blackcap , a Great Spotted Woodpecker , a Dunnock , two Robins , two Blue Tits , a Great Tit , a Goldfinch and a Wren . Look at this hungry lot - I'll need to start bulk-buying the sunflower seed!

Saturday 16th February 2008 On a sunny but cold day, the Great Bustard was showing well for Andy, Mark and myself this morning, in a Brassica field near Foss Cross. The left wing-tag is clearly visible in the second two photos above. Three Grey Partridges and seven Bullfinches were nearby. Other highlights of a tour of the Cotswolds, starting at Quedgeley included: Quedgeley Three Bramblings and 14 Chaffinches in my garden. Cassey Compton An amazing 19 Buzzards , including 15 on the ground in a field. Sherborne Four Yellowhammers with 40 Chaffinches at Northfield Barn. Hawling A pair of Stonechats (female pictured below) , 180 Golden Plovers and 100 Lapwings at the triangle. This afternoon I carried out my second winter BTO Atlas survey at Quedgeley South SO81B tetrad with Linda. The results were: Mallard 4 Buzzard 2 Moorhen 1 Herring Gull 22 Lesser Black-backed Gull 25 Woodpigeon 22 Collared Dove 5 Pied Wagtail 1 Skylark 2 Wren 1 Dunnock 11 Robin 22 Blackbird 47...

Thursday 14th February 2008 A dull and cold day. Four Bramblings , including a male, were visiting the garden again today. Also 14 Chaffinches and four Greenfinches .