October 28, 2009
Black-Throated Thrush in Devon
The start of a good day had me being woken up by a TAWNY OWL that was calling outside my house in Topsham , I then went out to Scorriton Down on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon with Brian Heasman to look for a reported Black-Throated Thrush but after spending quite a while looking for it there was no sign ! but there was a couple of RING OUZEL , numerous REDWING & FIELDFARE , 6 BRAMBLING & 3 YELLOWHAMMER , so we headed for home ! Wellllllllllll I had only been home a short while when news came out that the BLACK-THROATED THRUSH had been found again & was showing quite well , so off I went again & this time I was in luck & got great views of this 1st for Devon & managed to get these shots of it just before the light went .
BLACK-THROATED THRUSH . SCORRITON DOWN . DARTMOOR . DEVON . 28 / 10 / 2009
October 25, 2009
Red-Throated Pipit
Yesterday I had a look in the top fields of Gore Lane in Exmouth for a RED-THROATED PIPIT that had been found the day before but I was out of luck & couldn`t find it but did see 3 WOODLARK , so this morning I was down there again just after first light but after looking for around five hours I only got it on call twice ! once very close but still couldn`t see it in the very windy conditions ( what a shit )
But there was numerous MEADOW PIPIT & SKYLARK , 2 LESSER REDPOLL , 50+ FIELDFARE , 10 RAVEN & a REED BUNTING .
October 18, 2009
Stover Country Park
For some unknown reason I decided to go for a look around the Stover Country Park today ( a big mistake ) as the place was full of family parties & dogs dogs & more dogs !!!
But I did manage to see a few birds with numerous BLUE TIT , GREAT TIT , COAL TIT & GOLDCREST , 3 NUTHATCH , 2 BULLFINCH , 2 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER , a GREEN WOODPECKER & a TREECREEPER & I also found this Fly Agaric Mushroom & as I have never seen one of these before it made my day !
( Eurasian ) NUTHATCH . STOVER COUNTRY PARK . DEVON . 18 / 10 / 2009
FLY AGARIC MUSHROOM . STOVER COUNTRY PARK . DEVON . 18 / 10 / 2009
October 15, 2009
Wednesday 14th October . 2009
On my third attempt I finally managed to see a BROWN SHRIKE after dipping twice before in Yorkshire & Cornwall ! the bird showed very well on Staines Moor in Surrey but was quite a long way off for good shots of it but I was still glad to get what I could , also seen were 7 ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET some in trees & others flying over .
We then went for an Azorian Gull in Oxfordshire & on the way there we saw a RED KITE close to the M4 near Reading , on arriving at the rubbish tip near Didcot we found out that the Azorian Gull had flown off but we did see a very nice adult CASPIAN GULL , an adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULL & flying around us were quite a few more RED KITE !!
October 8, 2009
Birthday !!
Today is my birthday so like I always do on it I went birding ! to start with I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham & saw 30+ AVOCET , 6 GREENSHANK , a RUFF & a single CHIFFCHAFF .
I then met up with my mate Andy & we went up to the Mear Heath Reserve in Somerset & we saw a CATTLE EGRET . a LITTLE EGRET , a GLOSSY IBIS that spent most of its time in the far side of the reserve behind the reedbed , 4 RUFF & 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPER were also seen , we then walked on to Noah`s Lake & were lucky enough to see the long staying GREAT WHITE EGRET but it was quite distant .
October 7, 2009
Ring-Necked Duck
A trip up to Somerset today with the first stop at the Cheddar Reservoir & the first bird of the day was a NORTHERN WHEATEAR that was flitting around on the edge of the reservoir , we then had a look at some ducks that were quite close in & saw a female RED-CRESTED POCHARD & a male RING-NECKED DUCK that were in with quite a few MALLARD & TUFTED DUCK .
The next stop was the Chew Valley Lake to look for the Ferruginous Duck that has been seen there but we were out of luck today ! but there was over 100 LITTLE GREBE , 20+ RUDDY DUCK , 4 GREEN SANDPIPER , 2 COMMON SANDPIPER , a RUFF & over 50+ BLACK-HEADED GULL , onwards again to our last stop of the day the Mear Heath Reserve but we didn`t give it long as by now the rain was coming down quite heavy but we did manage to see 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPER , 6 GOLDEN PLOVER & another RUFF before we called it a day & headed off home .
