Photos:
Song Thrush at Porthmadog – I forgot to put him in the previous post
Lesser Yellowlegs (dodgy record shot) and sleeping juvenile Goldfinch at Uttoxeter quarry
Red-necked Phalarope (another dodgy record shot) plus Avocets, juvenile Black-headed Gulls and Stock Dove at Upton Warren
Tuesday 31st May
I headed south today for work in Somerset tomorrow. In a change to my usual routine when going down there, instead of trying to reach Shapwick Heath in the evening I decided to twitch a couple of waders on the way down.
First of all a 20 minute detour off the M6 brought me to Uttoxeter quarry where a Lesser Yellowlegs has been in residence. After trekking round the path and wondering which pool of several the bird was on I arrived at a very large disused quarry with a shallow lake and lots of exposed mud plus loads of channels, gullies and islands. Two other birders were already present and a third chugging up behind me – none of us knew where the bird was supposed to be.
There was lots of other interest – this place looks superb for waders and could easily hide an army of them. There were at least 14 adult Little Ringed Plovers plus 8 Ringed Plovers, 21 Dunlin, a Sanderling and 9 Goosanders plus loads of scruffy, sub-adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
One of the other guys spotted the star bird and then just as quickly lost it again. Another birder then found it and then lost it. Finally I found it and this time the Lesser Yellowlegs stayed put and showed well, albeit a very long way off. I needed 60x zoom to get a good view through the scope. Cracking bird – I do like these. This evening I had a good look at my poor attempts to photograph it and compared it with the photos of Jonathan’s bird. It confirmed my impression in the field that they are different birds.
I hung around for a while watching the wader – a Common Sandpiper also turned up and a Yellow Wagtail flew around us. On my way back to the car I was stood on the path watching a distant Reed Bunting when a juvenile Goldfinch landed on the branch of a tree just a couple of feet from my head. It looked at me, stuck its head under its wing and promptly went to sleep!
The next stop was one of my regular reserves – Upton Warren which is just 5 minutes off the M5. I had a natter with one of the wardens who I have met before. From the hide I then watched a breeding plumaged adult female Red-necked Phalarope swimming around. What a stunner! This is the first of this species I have seen in breeding plumage. She remained somewhat distant and difficult to photograph, even for the guy next to me who had a camera lens abut the size of a canon!
Also here were plenty of adult and juvenile Avocets plus Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers. Nothing much else so I continued on to Somerset.
Wednesday June 1st
Very early start and finish in Somerset helped me get home for tea time. Back has eased but not I am coming down with a cold. Sod it!
HGF was as normal though it is good to see the Starling flocks building up. The incubating Great Crested Grebe is still going strong and the male Kestrel was perched up just above the nest box. Not much else though. A pair of Yellowhammers were in the garden this evening.
Song Thrush at Porthmadog – I forgot to put him in the previous post
Lesser Yellowlegs (dodgy record shot) and sleeping juvenile Goldfinch at Uttoxeter quarry
Red-necked Phalarope (another dodgy record shot) plus Avocets, juvenile Black-headed Gulls and Stock Dove at Upton Warren
Tuesday 31st May
I headed south today for work in Somerset tomorrow. In a change to my usual routine when going down there, instead of trying to reach Shapwick Heath in the evening I decided to twitch a couple of waders on the way down.
First of all a 20 minute detour off the M6 brought me to Uttoxeter quarry where a Lesser Yellowlegs has been in residence. After trekking round the path and wondering which pool of several the bird was on I arrived at a very large disused quarry with a shallow lake and lots of exposed mud plus loads of channels, gullies and islands. Two other birders were already present and a third chugging up behind me – none of us knew where the bird was supposed to be.
There was lots of other interest – this place looks superb for waders and could easily hide an army of them. There were at least 14 adult Little Ringed Plovers plus 8 Ringed Plovers, 21 Dunlin, a Sanderling and 9 Goosanders plus loads of scruffy, sub-adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
One of the other guys spotted the star bird and then just as quickly lost it again. Another birder then found it and then lost it. Finally I found it and this time the Lesser Yellowlegs stayed put and showed well, albeit a very long way off. I needed 60x zoom to get a good view through the scope. Cracking bird – I do like these. This evening I had a good look at my poor attempts to photograph it and compared it with the photos of Jonathan’s bird. It confirmed my impression in the field that they are different birds.
I hung around for a while watching the wader – a Common Sandpiper also turned up and a Yellow Wagtail flew around us. On my way back to the car I was stood on the path watching a distant Reed Bunting when a juvenile Goldfinch landed on the branch of a tree just a couple of feet from my head. It looked at me, stuck its head under its wing and promptly went to sleep!
The next stop was one of my regular reserves – Upton Warren which is just 5 minutes off the M5. I had a natter with one of the wardens who I have met before. From the hide I then watched a breeding plumaged adult female Red-necked Phalarope swimming around. What a stunner! This is the first of this species I have seen in breeding plumage. She remained somewhat distant and difficult to photograph, even for the guy next to me who had a camera lens abut the size of a canon!
Also here were plenty of adult and juvenile Avocets plus Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers. Nothing much else so I continued on to Somerset.
Wednesday June 1st
Very early start and finish in Somerset helped me get home for tea time. Back has eased but not I am coming down with a cold. Sod it!
HGF was as normal though it is good to see the Starling flocks building up. The incubating Great Crested Grebe is still going strong and the male Kestrel was perched up just above the nest box. Not much else though. A pair of Yellowhammers were in the garden this evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment