PENDULINE TIT AT AUST

 A good few weeks ago back in November after one of our days out my birding companion Steve Bool and myself dropped into a place called Aust to see if the Penduline tits that had been discovered there were still about and showing well. Steve had already seen and digiscoped them a few days previous but I had not seen them and it would have been another lifer for myself so I was a bit gutted that at that time they didn't show.

Luckily enough though the Penduline Tits have stayed at Aust and so must be overwintering there. They are a rare vagrant from Eastern Europe where birds from the South being mostly resident but the North Easterly birds are migratory and have been spreading North West in recent decades, but up to this point there's been no breeding attempts in the UK although there is a record of a male bird building a nest in the 1990's.

In Spring and Summer they prefer access to deciduous trees bordering lakeshores and rivers with thin hanging branches which are suitable for nesting, trees such as birch, willow, popular and alder are preferred but in Winter they inhabit reedbeds with reedmace and bulrush, so Aust has the perfect habitat for them. The village of Aust is located just below the English side of the old Severn Bridge in Avon, they have extensive reedbeds at two sites near the village where the Penduline Tits can be located. We arrived just as it was getting light and were there for only half an hour when eagle eyed Steve spotted them feeding amongst the reeds, they're so tiny and blend in well amongst the bulrush so locating them can be difficult. There were four birds there in total but what a rush, there they were my first Penduline Tits. Below is a couple of pics I grabbed of this tiny little vagrant.

my first penduline tits

Steve also got some superb footage with his digiscope set up, you'd never think that these vids were from a scope and a mobile phone they look so clear.

The birds took off after about ten minutes which was a bit frustrating but enough time for us to get some pictures and videos.

what a beauty

Steve with some of the birders looking for the penduline

one happy birder

For the next few hours we waited and searched both sites hoping that they would return but to no avail. The sighting we had in the morning I think was the only one of that day so we were both really glad we made the effort to get down there so early. The Penduline Tits have been seen every day since we went there giving loads of birders the chance to see this beautiful little vagrant and I'm so glad that I had the privilege to be one of them.

THE SCOPS OWL

 A Scops Owl had been discovered in a local park in Dunvant near Swansea and it has also been roosting in someone's back garden. In birding terms this is a MEGA!

The Scops Owl is a rare visitor to central Europe, it's breeding areas are the warmer areas of Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, so how it got into a park in Swansea South Wales god only knows.

Steve and myself had heard of pretty naughty behavior by birders who were relentlessly harassing the bird with torches for a view and/or a picture, so at first we decided not to go. Then a shout came out on one of the main social media sites we are members of that they were going to organise it so when the Scops Owl is located they would shine a torch on it for about thirty seconds so people could get a view and then leave it alone for about thirty minutes to allow the bird to feed. This I could cope with and as this was a mega rare bird we decided to travel down there to see it.

We got there at about 5.15pm and it was already pitch black, we walked into the park where you couldn't see your hand in front of you and already there were people with torches shining them into the trees but where was the organised twitch that was talked about on social media? There were foot paths but it was that dark you couldn't distinguish them from the grass which was like walking on sticky mud and I had already found a muddy pot hole which went up to my ankles. Steve was talking to some other birders when a shout went out it was down the other end of the park in a deciduous tree. Steve got there before me and had a good sight of it, by the time I'd got there it had moved into another tree close by but with the relentless shinning of torches I saw it perched up on the left hand side of the tree a little further down.

This image below is not mine but it is one of the Swansea Scops Owl that someone had taken the previous day. I took it off the internet but I don't know who's pic it is so I couldn't give them a credit.

the swansea scops owl

Although delighted to have seen it the experience was a bit bitter sweet with people continually shinning their bright torches and not giving the bird any space and time to feed.

It went out of sight soon after I had seen it, we met a couple of birders that had thermal imaging cameras so we stayed with them for a while but they could not relocate the Scops Owl and it was not seen again that night. 

After marching in the muck a while longer we headed home glad we had seen the mega Scops Owl but also realising that after that experience twitching definitely isn't for us.

NEW SCOPE

 My lovely wife "god bless her cotton socks" has got her wonderful husband a new Spotting Scope for Christmas and has let me open and use it before the big day what a wonderful woman.

It's a Swarovski 65mm ATS and she got me a 20x60 angled eyepiece and a nice new cover for it as well. Swarovski wanted £270 for their cover so she bought one from ACE Optics which was a lot cheaper at £80 but does the job just as well.

my new scope the swarovski ATS 65mm

and with the cover on

My old scope the Vortex Viper is a bit to big and bulky and was very heavy to be carrying around in the field all day especially as I'm getting older but I must say is still a good scope.

I haven't taken the Swarovski out in the field yet but it being a lot lighter than the Vortex and optically superior it should perform a lot better, so I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces. With it having a 65mm front lens it might struggle a little in lowlight situations but the quality weight and sharpness of the lens should more that make up for it.

I have done a bit of digiscoping with it on some of the birds that visit our garden and even through the bedroom window the quality seems great. 

Here's some short clips - chaffinch, goldfinch, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, long tailed tit and great tit.

A fantastic scope and a fantastic Christmas present looking forward to using it when I'm out and about on my birding adventures. Once again thanks to my lovely wife and I hope you like the slippers I got you😂 until the next one cheers.

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER

Reports of a Great Northern Diver landing at Lanishen Reservoir in Cardiff was enough to get the pulses racing and when my great birding mate Steve Bool said shall we get down there to take a look I jumped at the chance.

The Great Northern Diver breeds in Iceland and is a Winter visitor to the UK, they are usually found off the coast of Scotland and eastern England. Although during and after Winter storms it can be found anywhere along the coast and very rarely on inland waters, which has happened to this bird. It is the largest diver that we have in the UK with the others being the Red Throated (which we had both seen a few weeks previous at The Cardiff Barrage) and Black Throated.

When we arrived the weather was miserable but we both decided to have a look as it would be yet another lifer for me and Steve hadn't seen one for years. A very kind chap who was on one of the boats gave us directions to where it was last seen, so we strolled around scanning the reservoir with our binoculars until Steve finally spotted it right out in the middle of the water. As the weather had been so bad Steve had left his scope in the car so he rushed back to fetch it. I walked a bit further along the track and managed to get a bit closer to the bird so rattled off a few shots. By this time the rain had eased so giving us a window of opportunity to get some good views, pictures and footage.

 

my first great northern diver

Steve by this time had returned with his scope and got this lovely footage.

It was great to finally be able to tick this one off what a great bird.

more great northern diver action

After about forty five minutes of spending quality time with the Diver The heavy rain came back in again, but we were more than happy with our photos and videos so decided to call it a day. No coffee and cake this time as we were both drenched by the time we got back to the van but we had both seen and recorded it The Great Northern Diver what a bird.

MORDEN BOG & SALISBURY

My birding buddy Steve Bool and yours truly decided to go to a place called Morden Bog in Dorset as we have heard that it's another good site for Crossbills and Dartford Warblers so on a wet dank Thursday morning we set off to have a look.

When we finally got there we parked up in a small flooded car park and made our way into the bog. We soon realised that wellington boots should have been worn by both of us as it was a lot more wet and squelchy under foot than we had anticipated. We made our way to some tall fir trees that were bursting with cones and soon heard the familiar "chip chip" calls of the Crossbills. There must have been about twenty birds there all above us but really high up in the trees but they wouldn't keep still long enough for Steve to get any digiscoping footage but we had some lovely views of them through his scope. I managed a couple of photos but they are heavy crops as the birds were so high.

female crossbill

and the male

Here's Steve with his scope hoping that the birds would stay still long enough for him to record them.

stay still you pesky crossbills

We moved on from there hoping to get a sighting of a Dartford Warbler we had already heard them calling but they would show only briefly then dive back down into the undergrowth.

We got talking to a nice bloke who was telling us of the birds they get at the bog including a White Tailed Eagle what a bird that would have been to see.

We finally had decent views of a Dartie but I was to slow with the camera although Steve did manage a record shot of it through his scope and phone combo it stayed still long enough to get this record shot it's not great but it's a shot.

record shot of a dartie

With not much else showing and it being very wet and mucky underfoot we decided to make our way back to the Van and go to another good birding area called Compton in Salisbury.

this is me battling through the bog

This is the place that we came a few months ago and got to see, film and photograph the Great Bustards.

We parked up and nearly straight away were greeted by flocks of Corn Buntings, Linnets and Starlings what a sight and what a feeling as the Starlings came in whirring over our heads.

starlings settling in a tree

starling flock

Here's a small section of the massive flock of mixed finches and buntings.

mostly linnets with a couple of corn buntings

Here's a couple of heavily cropped Corn Bunting pictures.

corn bunting

There were also Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Stonechat mixed in with the Linnets and Corn Buntings.

We also spotted this Brown Hare in amongst the undergrowth.

brown hare

Although there were no signs of the Bustards this time (I think they disperse in the Winter so are more difficult to see) there were good numbers of raptors (birds of prey) with six red kites filling the sky and Buzzards circling overhead.

red kite searching for worms

red kite in flight

here's a couple of Buzzard pics

buzzard also looking for worms

buzzard in flight

We also saw a Merlin perched on a fence post but as soon as we got the gear out to record it and hopefully get a photo it took off. I would have loved to have got that beauty in my lens but it wasn't to be. We also had a flyby Kestrel but again to quick for us to get any footage or picture.

It was finally time to call it a day but we had seen some great birds and that Morden Bog would be worth a visit in the springtime. Big thanks to my good mate and chauffeur Steve Bool for taxiing me around the country so until the next one cheers. 

CROSSBILLS AT FARNHAM HEATH

A trip to RSPB Farnham Heath was the next adventure on our travels. My good birding mate Steve Bool had already been there a couple of weeks previous and said how good it was for seeing Crossbills so when he had a job delivering there a few days ago I went along with him to hopefully see and photograph this beautiful little finch.

Farnham Heath is in Surrey and is not very well sign posted so how Steve found it god only knows. It's a massive area of fir trees and heathland and is used extensively by dog walkers which doesn't go down well with the Wardens and Volunteers but still it's a cracking site and we were looking forward to spending a few hours there.

When Steve went there  previously he found a small pond where birds come down to bath and drink so we set up there and waited. Crossbills are predominantly seed eaters so have to drink regularly they eat the seeds from the cones in fir trees preferring spruce. They extract the seeds by using their specially adapted beaks to pry open the cones to get at the seeds inside. We were lucky as it wasn't to long before some came in to drink, here's a couple of pictures of the birds waiting in the surrounding trees and coming into the waters edge.

male crossbill

female

female

and another male

 As you can see from the photos above the male's are a bright red and the females more of a greyish green.

Steve took some lovely footage of the Crossbills through his Leica scope and IPhone combo here's a couple of clips of the male and female.

After their short stay at the pond the Crossbills all flew off so Steve and myself had a wander to see if we could find the Dartford Warblers which also frequented the Heath.

It wasn't long before we heard the distinctive buzzing churr of the Dartford as one hopped up on a small pine tree giving us a chance of getting some pics and a bit of video.

dartford warbler

Another showed quite well on top of a small gorse bush but they kept their distance not allowing us to get to close.

another Dartie

When we were looking for the Darties we flushed a Roe Deer which was a bit of an added bonus.

roe deer

As we're now in November the days are getting a lot shorter so with not much light left we went for one last look at the Crossbills. They did come in again giving us cracking views a great way to finish off our visit.

What a stunning bird - We left Farnham Heath with some great memories and met some lovely people and will hopefully if Steve gets another job in the area go back there again.

On the way back we stopped off at Aust which is the Bristol side of the Seven Bridge or as it's called now the Prince of Wales Bridge. A Penduline Tit has been there for a few days, Steve had been lucky enough to see it on the Saturday but I had family commitments and was unable to go. Although the light was fading we were hoping to get a glimpse of this quite rare and lovely little bird.

Here's Steve's footage of the Penduline Tit he took a few days earlier.

No luck I'm sorry to say but we did have some nice views of a Kestrel and the sunset over the bridge was pretty spectacular.

female kestrel

gorgeous sunset

We had a great day out and even though I didn't get to see the Penduline Tit those Crossbills and Dartford Warblers more than made up for it.

two happy birders

Big thanks once again to Steve for doing the driving and taking us to these wonderful places another excellent day out, so until the next one cheers.

A DIVER AT CARDIFF BARRAGE

 A Red Throated Diver had turned up at the Cardiff Bay Barrage over the last few days so when my best birding buddy Steve Bool asked me if I wanted to go down to see it I absolutely jumped at the chance.

Red Throated Divers breed up in Scotland on inland lakes but in the Winter although scarce can turn up on UK coasts as this one's done in Cardiff.

When we got there we spotted it nearly straight away swimming with a Great Crested Grebe but the sun was shinning straight into our faces so views were pretty poor. We decided to move onto one of the pier like structures so the sun wouldn't be so obstructive but the time I'd got into position it had gone. The tide was going out so it must have swam out to deeper water, divers can swim underwater for two hundred yards or more so it might be the reason why we didn't see it leave. 

We decided to have some refreshments and wait for the tide to come in a bit before trying to relocate it. After an hour or so we went back to the same place it had disappeared from, the tide had started to come back in and the mudflats that were left after the tide went out were now underwater again. After about another half hour of scanning the sea with our binoculars it finally turned up. It was a good way out to begin with but came closer and closer until at last I was able to get some decent images.

red throated diver

The bird is obviously now in it's Winter plumage, some were saying it might even be a juvenile but it's difficult to tell.

what a cracking bird

One annoying thing was it was constantly diving so Steve couldn't get any video footage but just to see it is sometimes enough what a beauty.

Whilst trying to photograph the Diver a Seal turned up and caught a huge Salmon. Lucky enough it wasn't to far out and I was able to grab a few shots as it devoured this massive fish.

seal with it's catch

 
After seeing that unexpected treat we concentrated back on the Diver what a privilege to see this handsome bird.

red throated diver

 After a while the bird once again decided to do it's disappearing act and as our car parking time was nearly up and the rain started to come down we decided to call it a day. What a morning it was though Red Throated Diver and a Seal with a Salmon it don't get much better than that. Big thanks as always to Steve for doing the driving what a diamond he is and what a great morning it was at Cardiff Barrage brilliant.