Whilst 'green' birding is my main focus these days, I haven't completely forsaken the temptations of an old fashioned twitch by motorised means when circumstances allow and the mood takes me. In fact when the cycling gets a bit much, a day out in the car provides a bit of respite and also feels like a great indulgence! I do very little local birding by car as I can reach most good sites in Dorset by bike, and the Baikal Teal at Abbotsbury last October made me realise I care much more about my bike list than my Dorset list. One is, after all, a reflection of physical effort and personal commitment; the other a function of random medieval boundaries.
 |
| Booted Eagle, Marazion, 18th January |
 |
| Booted Eagle, Marazion, 18th January |
 |
| Booted Eagle, Marazion, 18th January |
But back to the 'brown' birding highlights of last year. Long-standing and loyal readers of this space may recall that my British list actually shrank last year as I saw no new birds but the 'lumping' of the redpolls took me back below the landmark 500 to 499. Whilst initially a bit annoying (especially as Canada Warbler was my 500th British bird), this did at least provide me with the opportunity to enjoy reaching 500 all over again. I didn't have long to wait to reach this milestone a second time when a Booted Eagle took up residence in Cornwall in January.
 |
| Spectacled Eider, Texel, Netherlands, 18th February |
 |
| Pygmy Cormorant, Lelystad, Netherlands, 19th February |
 |
Short-toed Treecreeper, Amsterdam Zoo, 21st February
|
Teaming up with the legend which is Cliff Smith, I ditched my car near Exeter and jumped into his for the rest of the journey to Marazion. We managed to see the bird fairly early that morning, albeit distantly, but our best views were enjoyed when it flew right over the car on the A30, necessitating a bit of nifty work behind the wheel from Cliff to pull over and enable me to grab a few photos. Cliff's superior knowledge of the back lanes of west Cornwall came in very handy subsequently, as we relocated the Eagle on higher ground and enjoyed excellent views. Not quite as glamorous as the Canada Warbler perhaps, but a pretty good species to reach BOU 500 second time around.
 |
| Smew, Den Helder, Netherlands, 19th February |
 |
| Smew, Den Helder, Netherlands, 19th February |
 |
| Smew, Lelystad, Netherlands, 19th February |
I hadn't seriously considered twitching the long-staying Spectacled Eider in the Netherlands but with time off at February half-term, and the family lobbying for a City break with Amsterdam on the short-list, a slightly complex plan came together in which I accepted the offer of a lift with Steve Smith to Harwich, from where we took the overnight ferry to Hook of Holland. The itinerary then allowed for a day and a night on Texel to see the Eider, and another day on the mainland to enjoy some other good birds, including my first Pygmy Cormorant, before Steve dropped me off at Lelystad train station, from where I caught a train to Amsterdam to meet Claire and Rowan who had travelled independently. As well as enjoying non-birding sites, a trip with them to Amsterdam Zoo proved surprisingly productive with good views of Short-toed Treecreeper and the colony of free-flying Night Herons.
 |
| Smew, Den Helder, Netherlands, 19th February |
 |
| Ring-necked Parakeet, Amsterdam, 19th February |
 |
| Night Heron, Amsterdam Zoo, 21st February |
In April I got to fulfil a long-standing ambition to see and photograph a trip of breeding plumaged Dotterel on migration when a group of four took up residence in Cefn Cadlan. I waited for news that they were still there before setting off, planning to stay until late and hoping to see them in golden light. The plan couldn't have gone much more smoothly, and I spent the last hour or two of the day crawling slowly through sheep shit with Graham Jepson, the only other birder present, to get closer to the birds which seemed completely unbothered by our presence. I like to think this was a testament to our field craft but in truth we could have done with a tiny bit more activity from the birds which barely moved for the last couple of hours of daylight!
 |
| Dotterel (male), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
 |
| Dotterel, Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
 |
| Dotterel (female), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
It took until May for the next opportunity to add to my British list when news of an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler at Dungeness coincided with myself, Phil Saunders and 'Guernsey' Dave Andrews, visiting Dorset before heading back to Norfolk, all being without other commitments for once. We didn't hesitate and arrived in the late afternoon to find birders milling around not looking at much in particular. It didn't take long though the hear the Warbler sing, and eventually get a flight view of the cotton-white underparts before it landed out of view and sang again.
 |
| Dotterel (male), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
 |
| Dotterel (female), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
 |
| Dotterel (female), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
If I had only heard it or only seen it in flight I don't think I would have ticked it, but the combination of both was enough to add it to the list - just. In fact the only people who saw it well after we arrived were Phil and Dave, who managed a brief view of the bird sat out as we rounded a corner - but unfortunately for me I was a yard behind them and the bird had flown before I could get onto it! Possibly my most frustrating twitch in a long time, and I dare say I will be tempted by another to add it to the photo list which I was unable to do on this occasion.
 |
| Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, New Forest, Hampshire, 30th March |
 |
Green Woodpecker, New Forest, Hampshire, 30th March
|
 |
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, New Forest, Hampshire, 30th March
|
Travelling to discharge family duties occasionally enables a bit of birding in unfamiliar locations, and I used the drive back from my sister-in-laws in Hampshire at the end of March to successfully recce a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker site in the New Forest, prior to an ambitious bike ride which I completed a week later. In fact I enjoyed views of all 3 British woodpeckers in the same tree! Later in the year, I was initially unimpressed when my eldest son informed me that my Father's Day treat was to drive him to his flat in Bristol, pack his shit up in the car and drive home alone while he went out with his mates.
 |
| Pied Flycatcher, North Devon, 29th May |
 |
| Desert Wheatear, Keynsham, 15th June |
 |
| Desert Wheatear, Keynsham, 15th June |
But all was forgiven when the birding gods smiled upon me by dropping a smart male Desert Wheatear on a football pitch in Keynsham, barely a mile detour from my route home. The journey home from my parents in North Devon in May also allowed me to check out a new nature reserve where I hoped to see Wood Warbler but had to settle for a Pied Flycatcher. Ironically it was the other way around for the non-motorised year list as I managed to see a Wood Warbler in the New Forest but failed to bump into a Pied Fly all year!
 |
| White-winged Snowfinch, Fuente De, Picos de Europa, 29th June |
 |
Alpine Accentor, Fuente De, Picos de Europa, 29th June
|
 |
Wallcreeper, Fuente De, Picos de Europa, 29th June
|
Late June and early July saw us heading off to the Picos for a family holiday - details of which are recounted elsewhere. But it would be remiss of me not to mention the close encounter with a Wallcreeper which provided one of the birding highlights of the year.
 |
| Great Shearwater from Scillonian III, 10th August |
 |
| Cory's Shearwater from Scillonian III, 10th August |
 |
| Common Dolphin from Scillonian III, 10th August |
In mid-August, Garry Hayman, Rob Johnson and I headed down to Cornwall for a day trip to the Isles of Scilly, hoping to see seabirds and cetaceans. Although we didn't see any major rarities, it was a pleasure to see Cory's, Great, Sooty and Manx Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, as well as both Common and Risso's Dolphin. August also provided the chance of another British tick in the form of a Black-winged Kite.
 |
| Common Dolphin from Scillonian III, 10th August |
 |
| Risso's Dolphin from Scillonian III, 10th August |
 |
| Great Shearwater from Scillonian III, 10th August |
Phil Saunders and I have a bit of 'history' with this species having dipped the first twitchable UK bird in Norfolk and later in Essex, so when another was located near Slimbridge in Gloucestershire I was keen on a dawn raid. I negotiated a morning off work but Phil couldn't do likewise and was therefore unable to join me. Arriving at Splatt Bridge not long after first light the bird was soon seen actively hunting, and after a bit of a yomp up and down the canal there some good flight views were enjoyed - my second new British raptor of the year.
 |
| Black-winged Kite, Splatt Bridge, 21st August |
 |
| Black-winged Kite, Splatt Bridge, 21st August |
 |
| Black-winged Kite, Splatt Bridge, 21st August |
Happily I was reunited with Phil for my next British tick - the Siberian Thrush on Shetland which we saw within a few hours of our arrival in October. The rest of our Shetland team, in the form of David Bradnum and James Lowen, were also there to enjoy the spectacle. The ups and downs of that trip are recounted in gruesome detail in some previous posts.
 |
| Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, Shetland, 6th October |
 |
| Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, Shetland, 6th October |
 |
| Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, Shetland, 6th October |
I've said for years that November is the new October when it comes to rarities but last year it appeared that December was the new November, as some late excitement was provided by the discovery of a Lesser Crested Tern on the Exe Estuary in Devon. Phil and I teamed up once again, kidnapping Jol Mitchell on this occasion in case having just me in the car didn't make for a sufficiently neurotic environment.
 |
| Red-breasted Flycatcher, Hamnavoe, 6th October |
 |
| Glossy Ibis, Norwick, Unst, 10th October |
 |
| Red-tailed Shrike, Dunwich, Suffolk, 4th October |
News reached us that the tern was still present when we were just 10 minutes from Cockwood, where a quick stop enabled us to get a distant view before we hoofed it around to Dawlish Warren to enjoy more extended, closer views and a few record shots. The Tern lingered for most of the morning in the same spot, about the only time it did so during its stay, so we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
 |
| Lesser Crested Tern, Dawlish Warren, Devon, 4th December |
 |
| Lesser Crested Tern, Dawlish Warren, Devon, 4th December |
 |
| Lesser Crested Tern, Dawlish Warren, Devon, 4th December |
So with a combination of family holidays, visits to extended family, and a few carefully selected twitches, it was a pretty good year. My British list increased by 5 species, 4 of which were also 'world ticks' - add to these the Spectacled Eider, the Pygmy Cormorant and the Middle Spotted Woodpecker I saw in the Picos and my world list - if I kept one - would have increased by 7!
 |
| Great-tailed Grackle, Holbury, Hampshire, 13th December - one last dirty twitch of the year with Jol Mitchell to see this (ship-assisted) bird |
 |
| Dotterel (male), Cefn Cadlan, 4th May |
No comments:
Post a Comment