Paul's Birding Diary

Friday 25th - Sunday 27th March 2011 The highlight of Friday afternoon in the warm sunny weather around Frampton was the butterflies, with six Peacocks , five Brimstones and three Small Tortoiseshells around the lakes. A Treecreeper (long-toed!) was singing like mad along the track on the east side of Court Lake, and a Goldcrest was similarly tuneful near the Perryway. After hearing Chiffchaff for several days, including a bird to the rear of my garden, I finally saw my first one here. It's great to hear them again. On Saturday, the pair of Bullfinches were once again in the garden (photo of male above) , while a Mallard which flew low over mid-afternoon was a garden tick! The Bullfinches were back again on Sunday, and a Lesser Redpoll put in an appearance at the feeders (below) and a pair of Ravens flew overhead, heading north. I spent a family afternoon at Clevedon, Somerset on Sunday, where a total of seven Swallows, coming straight from the sea and then heading inla...

Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th March 2011 Sunday morning's birding around the western section of the Cotswold Water Park produced a singing Goldcrest and four Siskins at pit 44; two Goldeneyes (1m), a Lesser Redpoll (above) and a pair of Reed Buntings at pit 57; and 11 Goldeneyes (3m), 13 Goosanders (2m), two Teal and a Little Egret at pit 41 (Freeth Meer). Three Tree Sparrows were at Harnhill, and at Driffield a pair of Grey Partridges and at least 15 Brown Hares . Saturday saw a return to Waterhatch, south of Winchcombe for the GREAT GREY SHRIKE , though views were disappointingly more fleeting than Friday. A male Stonecha t was a nice year tick however; a Corn Bunting at Hawling was another.

Friday 11th March 2011 A pair of Bullfinches were a nice addition the usual recent range of garden birds (above and below) ; I haven't seen a Bullfinch in the garden for a few years and after Linda telling me she saw a male last weekend I hope they continue visiting for a while. The female Brambling was also present. I had the afternoon off work so I headed to look for the GREAT GREY SHRIKE south of Winchcombe. With Mike's help it was eventually located near Waterhatch hunting from wires at SP039256 (record shot below) . Also of note was two Tawny Owls calling at Willis's Coppice, a Marsh Tit , two Green Woodpeckers, a Great Spotted Woodpecker , three Buzzards , a singing Mistle Thrush , 25 Fieldfares , six Roe Deer and a Fox . I had to go to Bristol later so made a slight diversion to Bradley Stoke to find the 24 WAXWINGS at the Aldi roundabout (below) at 4.40pm. I couldn't hear them calling above the traffic noise, but a nice year tick nonetheless.

Saturday 5th March 2011 I had an excellent morning's birding, starting at Frampton where I finally caught up with the over-wintering female Marsh Harrier ; it was showing well from the WWT 100-Acre viewing platform from 9.10-9.30am (photos above and below) sometimes being chased by crows, sometimes chasing crows! Next, the Spoonbill was showing nicely from on the WWT Top New Piece, feeding constantly (photos below) ; I'm glad I got to see that as it had been there all week and they don't normally hang around long. Two nice Gloucestershire year ticks.

Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th February 2011 Regular visitors to the garden lately include Siskins (at least four) and Bramblings (at least three) and increasingly healthy numbers of Greenfinches (highest count nine this month); a selection here of further Siskin photos below) : Male Female .. and a (male) Greenfinch photo taken at the same settings as the two photos above, with no cropping, showing the vast difference in size: The highlight on Saturday was two adult Mediterranean Gulls , one in full breeding plumage in a field near WWT Slimbridge, just over the canal bridge on the right, and another with a less developed hood turned up on South Lake during the morning (below) . The female LESSER SCAUP and one of the drake Greater Scaups were on the Rushy and there was a good selection of wildfowl and waders around the hides, with the Black-tailed Godwits being my first of the year. A trip to Highnam Wood with Andy on Sunday morning produced two drumming LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKERS; ...

Sunday 20th February 2011 I was a bit frustrated yesterday at not being able to range too far due to other commitments, but had a pleasant session at Slimbridge nonetheless, with good views of a Cetti's Warbler at the Zeiss Hide, and of one of the the first-winter male Scaups in the Rushy (second from bottom photo) . Frustrated, because I knew a nice mega was taunting me from not far beyond the Oxfordshire border. It didn't matter anyway because I got very good views this morning of the ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE at Chipping Norton (record shots above and below) as it perched in a nearby tree for about five minutes or so, after I had waited less than an hour. I thank the very nice people who allowed me and other birders into their garden, with proceeds to help provide care and support to Daisy, a local girl who contracted meningitis just before Christmas; I wish Daisy all the best. Scaup: Yesterday also brought some nice birds in the garden, including four Siskins (below) and t...

Friday 28th January 2011 Five Purple Sandpipers were at Battery Point, Portishead, over the high tide this afternoon (photos above and below) . Very nice they looked too in nice lighting conditions as they picked amongst the Channelled Wrack, and well worth the detour from my 'taxi' duties to Bristol. Three Rock Pipits and a Turnstone provided further interest here. A stop off at Aust Warth produced no owls despite a wait from 3.45pm until dusk, although one Shortie was reported earlier.