Cotswolds - 24th-28th October

After a few days in Cornwall and the excitement of the Grey Catbird, Sarah, Tobias and I headed to our cottage in the Cotswolds for a few days to relax and catch-up with work. I didn't plan to go birding as such and with a dramatic fall in nighttime temperatures there was not a lot of moth'ing to be done.

With the cold and clear nights I experimented with some star trail photography following the tips provided on this website. I was fairly pleased with my first effort but it was difficult to frame the image I wanted exactly, I would have preferred the North Star to have been in the frame and further to the left.

I ran the moth trap for two nights and caught little, the highlights being a Feathered Thorn, December Moth and Green-brindled Crescent but temperatures were around 6c so I didn't expect much.

I spent a couple of hours at Slimbridge on 26th, there was not a massive amount to be seen. There were good numbers of Shoveler, Pintail and Teal, mainly in eclipse plumage and looking far from spectacular. From the Zeiss hide there were two Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, c.150 Golden Plover, 200 Lapwing and five Common Crane. I saw little else of note and the place was heaving with people enjoying their half-term breaks. I headed home and met Sarah for lunch in Cheltenham.

Star-trail from Cowley, taken using Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark ii on Live Composite mode at 45mm F8, 800 ISO with a three hour exposure and images taken every 25 seconds.

Feathered Thorn - Cowley, Cheltenham

December Moth - Cowley, Cheltenham

Shoveler - Slimbridge WWT

Lapwing and Golden Plover - Slimbridge WWT

Moulting Pintail - Slimbridge WWT

October Birding

Work has been very busy and with an upcoming trip I have spent a great deal of time treating Sarah and making her as happy as possible, hopefully paving the way for an acceptance of another foreign foray - its been tough going and taken a lot of financial input! So birding has taken a bit of a back-seat position and I have hardly been out at all since Scilly at the end of September in what has been billed as one of the best Autumn's for rarities ever in the British Isles. Much of this birding action has been on the east coast and in the northern isles and local rarities have been a bit thin on the ground with the exception of a few Yellow-browed Warbler here and there. I wish I could have twitched one of the Siberian Accentor's though!

On 8th October I paid a short visit to Pennington Marshes, the birding was nice but there was little of any real note, the days totals were:

• Brent Goose - 9
• Pintail - 21
• Wigeon - 190 (49 on Efford Lagoon)
• Shoveler - 36
• Pochard - 1
• Tufted Duck - 35 Efford Lagoon
• Coot - 110 Efford Lagoon
• Spotted Redshank - 1
• Lapwing - 45
• Stock Dove - 120
• Sky Lark - 55 over
• Swallow - 11
• House Martin - 14
• Bearded Tit - Small group calling from Avon Water reedbed
• Whitethroat - 2
• Blackcap - 2 male, 1 female
• Dartford Warbler- 3
• Willow Warbler - 1
• Chiffchaff - 13
• Goldcrest - 7
• Wheatear - 1
• Stonechat - 9
• Siskin - 8
• Brambling - 1 over 
• Raven - 2

On my return home 11 Redwing flew over home, my first of the winter.

Northern Wheatear - Keyhaven Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Grey Heron - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

On 9th October we were in Cheltenham for the day and I was able to get to Slimbridge while Tobias spent time with his cousins and Sarah went out with her sisters. I spent most of the time in the Discovery Hide scanning the South Lake where the highlights were 21 Knot, four Ruff, 11 Common Crane and a Spotted Redshank. The highlight of the morning was a rather distant Pectoral Sandpiper from the Zeiss Hide.

Knot from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Shoveler from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Common Crane from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Common Crane from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Common Crane from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Shoveler from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Herring Gull (adult, 3rd winter and 1st winter) plus Lesser Black-backed Gull (3rd winter) from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Herring Gull (2nd winter) from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult winter) from the Discovery Hide, South Lake, Slimbridge

On 12th October I paid another visit to Pennington Marsh but it was pretty slow going, highlights were six Chiffchaff, five Swallow, 45 Brent Goose and four Greenshank.

Oystercatcher on the intertidal at Pennington Marsh

My final birding of the month on 29th October was a trip to Slimbridge with Tobias while Sarah was meeting a friend, we spent most of the time feeding ducks but did stop for the group of six Cattle Egret that had been present since 26th October. They showed fairly distantly feeding amongst the cattle opposite the school - a tick for Tobias. I didn't have a camera with me but below is a shot of five of the group by Roy Shilham.

Five of the six Cattle Egret at Slimbridge - Image by Roy Shilham

Hampshire and Gloucestershire General Birding - Early January

My birding in this first part of 2016 has been pretty limited by work and the continuation of Christmas and New Year socials. I have dropped in here and popped in there and put some time in for the three Penduline Tit that have been knocking around at Titchfield Haven but with no luck. Here is a selection of my successes.

On 2nd and 3rd January we went to the Isle of Wight to visit my family. On 2nd I popped to the Station Pool opposite the 'Off the Rails' restaurant in Yarmouth where a Grey Phalarope had been present since 27th December the weather was terrible with howling winds and heavy rain. The bird showed distantly, I rattled off some shots and dashed for the cover of the car. On Sunday the rain was almost horizontal and the wind was gusting to a Force 8 so I headed out early birding, a Barn Owl along the Military Road and a seawatch at St. Catherine's Point produced 15 Kittiwake, 6 Razorbill, 3 Red-throated Diver and 1 Black-throated Diver all east between 9:00 and 10:30. After this short period in the field I was soaked so it was time to head back for a shower.

Grey Phalarope - Station Pool, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Grey Phalarope - Station Pool, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

On 5th January after a winter bird survey I popped into Eastleigh Sewage Works where a Yellow-browed Warbler has been present since 20th December. The weather was pretty rough, wet and windy. The bird was calling and showing on and off and eventually popped up for a few pictures.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Chickenhall Lane, Eastleigh Sewage Works

Yellow-browed Warbler - Chickenhall Lane, Eastleigh Sewage Works

On 7th I had another survey but had a little spare time, about an hour actually, so popped to Southsea, Portsmouth for the Iceland Gull that had been present since 2nd January. I arrived to hear that the bird had just flown west so I popped along to the castle to see the Purple Sandpiper, there were around 10 present and showing fairly well. Eventually the Iceland Gull returned but showed rather distantly on the water before flying east and out of view. Time-up and no chance to spend more time looking for it.

Purple Sandpiper - Southsea Castle, Portsmouth

Purple Sandpiper - Southsea Castle, Portsmouth

Iceland Gull (1st Winter) - near South Parade Pier, Southsea, Portsmouth

Iceland Gull (1st Winter) - near South Parade Pier, Southsea, Portsmouth

Iceland Gull (1st Winter) - near South Parade Pier, Southsea, Portsmouth

On 8th January I was heading up to Cowley for a weekend in the cottage. I popped by to see the two female Ring-necked Duck that had been present at Rooksbury Mill Local Nature Reserve in Andover since 21st November. These birds showed well in bright conditions loosely hanging-out with a flock of around 25 Tufted Duck. My recollection may not be great but I believe that these are the first female Ring-necked Duck I have ever seen in the UK.

Female Ring-necked Ducks - Rookesbury Mill, Hampshire

On 10th January I visited Slimbridge WWT in fairly grotty conditions - mainly heavy rain. I spent my time in the Rushy Hide, Martin Smith Hide and Holden Tower. There were fantastic numbers of birds present and in particular the numbers of Teal, Wigeon, Golden Plover and Lapwing were astounding, running in to thousands of each. Highlights were two female Greater Scaup from Rushy Hide and two Common Crane, around 150 Bewick Swan, 130 White-fronted Goose and 150 Barnacle Goose from the Holden Tower.

Common Crane - Slimbridge

Common Crane - Slimbridge

Tufted Duck - Slimbridge

Pintail - Slimbridge

Bewick Swan - Slimbridge

Two Greater Scaup and Shelduck - Slimbridge

Tufted Duck and Pochard - Slimbridge