Uni Semester 2 Week 2

Again a very quiet week still settling back into the routine of lectures. The only highlight I can recall was a Mistle thrush feeding on berries on the tree's in Broomhill. That aside there really has not been much. There was also a Jay that alighted briefly in the tree outside my window but the view was heavily obscured and I could not really see the bird unfortunately

Uni Semester 2 Week 1

Not going to lie, compared to refreshers week there really was nothing doing this week. I did not see anything that is worth reporting
  Luckily though 2 of my lectures this week were about birds, the first one the lecturer offered £25 to i.d. a bird on the screen, red-necked Nightjar, but somebody else got there first and got it wrong, which was disappointing.
  However in the next lecture he offered £5 for every one of the bird orders on the screen that people could get, and I managed 5 out of 7. He even referred to me as his colleague for the rest of the lecture.
  But that's pretty much it for this week...

Smawthorne Marsh - Twitching Firecrest

My intention today was to get the firecrest in the morning, a bird I had long wanted to see, at Smawthorne marsh in Castleford and then go to Swillington for the Siberian chiff-chaff in the afternoon, since I was already quite close.
  Things did not turn out like this however, as I spent a good four hours hunting for the firecrest with no joy at all. I was heartbroken. There were other birds at the site, but they were mainly garden birds, with some nice more unusual garden type birds.
-Willow Tit - My first of the year
-Long Tailed Tit
-Bullfinch
-Goldcrest
-Sparrowhawk
-Goldfinch
-Greenfinch
-Chaffinch
-Blue tit
-Great tit
-Coal tit
-Blackbird
-House Sparrow
-Magpie
-Carrion Crow
-Woodpigeon
Because I spent so long looking for the firecrest I did not make it for the sibe chaff, but I figured it was only a small brown bird and probably not worth the extra expense for potentially more disappointment

Old Moor

Back to the birding then after a day off and what better way to get back into routine than by a trip to old moor, my first time at this praised RSPB reserve. Public transport ran me close but I made it in good time and the weather was decent, so all seemed good. I went to the feeding station first. when I got there I flushed a sparrowhawk which had been sat at the entrance to the viewing screen. I spotted it later in the hedge preening, though the view was obscured and poor. On the feeders I got greenfinch, finally, plus tree sparrow and reed bunting, as well as other garden birds.

  Next onto the reedbed hide, here it was very quiet, only a few birds on the pond

-Shoveler

-Gadwall

-Tufted Duck

-Mallard

-Coot

-Canada Geese

-Common Snipe, my first this year

-Stock Dove pair, Displaying on a raptor box. Very enjoyable to see, as well as being my first this year

   I made my way to the 'family hide' which felt a little tacky with plastic chairs and the like but had great views of many wildfowl species, in great numbers too. 

-Wigeon, Gadwall, Lapwing, Coot, Mallard

On the main islands there were hundreds of ducks, as well as moorhens and coots. Below is the list of species on this main pond

-Wigeon, my first of the year

-Gadwall

-Teal

-Canada Geese

-Mute Swan

-Mallard

-Tufted Duck

-Coot

-Moorhen

-Lapwing

-Carrion Crow

-Common Gull

-Black Headed Gull

-Cormorant

-Gadwall

And a yellowhammer flew across the front of the hide, my first of the year, although it was a brief view to say the least

  The rest of the reserve provided more of the same, just in smaller numbers sadly. There were a few other species, goosander and pochard were the main species not already mentioned, though there were a few very tame robins, which I got great views of.

  After my wander round the reserve I headed back to the feeding station to see if anything else had turned up. While I was there a few lovely male yellowhammers turned up, as did long tailed tits, to add to the great variety of birdlife already there. I was joined by another gentleman who asked if I had spotted the brambling that was there. To be honest I had not really tried to hunt down the brambling, though it would have been nice, but while we were talking about yellowhammers and greenfinches he spotted the female brambling above the bird table. It came down to the floor to feed and got some great views but went after about 5 mins. Still, I got great views of a very unexpected bird on my behalf. I also got some shots of the bird, which are much better than those I got at Cley last time I saw them.

-Female Brambling, right hand bird

-Yellowhammers

That left me buzzing and feeling great. I decided to wander over to Wombwell flash to see if the whooper swans reported were still there. I thought I had them at one point but they turned out to be mute swans, so that was a disappointment. Then best bit about that site was 8 grey herons roosting all in a line. I was then screwed over by public transport as my bus failed to show up, so that put a downer on what had otherwise been a great day.

Pugney's CP to finally get a Smew! (Maybe)

My Smew record leaves a lot to be desired, so what made me decided to try for the Smew at Pugney's, a solid £12 in public transport fares is beyond me. Obviously though having never been there before I was keen to check out the site and see what was going down. It took me a solid 2.5 hours to get there, and no sooner did I arrive than did the heavens open.

  My internet research had found no information on where the Smew was located on the reserve, so I decided to check out the nature reserve section first, it seemed like the logical place to start. There was plenty of stuff on the pool, and the hide offered some degree of protection from the elements, though the hide had a tin roof, so the rain made quite a din.

  So here is my list of birds seen from the hide, the top 6 are year ticks this year:

-Common Teal

-Shoveler

-Pochard

-Redshank

-Goldeneye

-Kingfisher, brief view but still awesome to see

-Great Crested Grebe

-Mute Swan

-Mallard

-Coot

-Moorhen

-Black Headed Gull

-Common Gull

-Lesser-Black Backed Gull

-Long-Tailed Tit

-Bullfinch

-Lapwing

-Cormorant

-Birds on the Nature Reserve

  Sadly though no sign of Smew. After a good hour in the hide I decided to move on and see what else was about on the site. I decided to make my way round the main lake to get to the top lake to see if it was up there. The main lake was sparse on birdlife, but still had some good stuff

-Canada Geese

-Mallard

-Goosander

-Coot

-Tufted Duck

-Goldeneye

-Black Headed Gull

-Grey Heron

  Some good birds but by now I had all but given up on the Smew, making it my 5th Smew related dip in a row. I made it to the top pool in terrible conditions. There were plenty of birds here, including another year tick: Gadwall

-Gadwall

-Tufted Duck

-Grey Heron - Fishing

-Pochard

-Usual Suspects

  And that seemed to be that. However, all Smew hope was not lost, for though my research had been futile I had read somewhere that it was on the river, twitter or somewhere like that, so that was where I made my last stop, useful since it goes alongside the top pool. There were a few Goldeneye quite close on the river, so I took a few shots to fill out this rather wordy post

-Goldeneye

But then, under the bridge I spotted a small white bird in the water. Could it be or was it another Gull, I raised my bins, water on the lens made identification inconclusive. I got closer, raised the bins again, still only a white speck, but now seemed very hopeful, I got closer again and yes, there it was. A stunning drake Smew, finally setting the record straight.

I was able to get as stunning view through the scope and get a few record shots. I watched it for about 5 mins before decided to get a bit closer, nearer the road bridge. I got to the bridge but the bird had gone, and despite my best efforts I failed to re-locate it.

That left the sighting a tad bittersweet, A stunning bird, but I would rather have been able to watch it for longer and really appreciate its beauty, but it was not to be. I managed some record shots and got a stunning view through the scope, but my Smew tick will now forever be known as 'the five minuet Smew'!

-Stunning Drake Smew

Overall it was a really good day, and great to see the Smew, even if it was brief 

Return to Broomhead

The exams are finally finished, over, done!!

So what better way to celebrate finishing my last exam than a trip to Broomhead Reservoir to hopefully catch-up with some 2 Barred Crossbills. My final exam finished at 10.00 and then it was all systems go birding. I made my way quickly up to Broomhead, since I was later than I had been before. And this time I had a new piece of kit. With my Christmas money I had invested in a new 500ml lens, and now was eager to put it through its paces with some birding.
  I arrived at the lower reser with not much going on, a winter Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorants and a usual assortment of mallards. The top reser, Broomhead, was much quieter. I reached the spot where the TBC had been but there was no sign, so made my way round to the feeding station since I had not visited the site last time.
  On the way I bumped into a Bradford birder, who had already seen them that morning. Shout out to Fred Drake, it was nice to see a familiar face. At the feeding station there were good numbers of common crossbills in cracking light, so I was able to get some record shots of them, finally!

-Common Crossbill

 Sadly no TBC's but I really had wanted some photos of common crossbills. After a bit I made my way back to the larches, nothing doing there over lunch. I then returned to the feeding station where I learned that the TBC's had turned up after I left, but they had also since departed. 

  I made my way there anyway and got cracking views of Coal Tits and Long-Tailed Tits especially, but also Nuthatch, Great Tit, Blue Tit and GSW. after that I made my way back to the larches, nothing doing so I decided to head home, not a bad afternoon to celebrate though...

  On the reser on the way back there were a few gulls starting to roost, all 3 species present were year ticks: 

Herring Gull

Greater Black Backed Gull

Lesser Black Backed Gull

So that was good too. Overall a really good day, despite missing the TBC's

Unbelievable

So I finished a 40 min session of revision at around 11.45 and turned around to find a beautiful male sparrowhawk sat on in the tree outside my room preening itself. I could not believe my eyes. I made for the camera to get some shots and it did not even flinch. In fact after a few minuets of me taking photos of it in the tree it flew down and landed on the flat roof below my window and started to paddle for about 10 minuets. There are no words for a chance experience like this. I was able to see it clumsily waddle through the water, have a poo and drink all from my bedroom window, less than 5 meters away from me. Absolutely incredible! The only downside is that because my photos were taken through my window they have not come out as well as I would have liked, but that is only a minor issue...

-Sparrowhawk

Broomhead Reservoir

The day had come...
After a whole month being at home, watching and waiting on the two barred Crossbills, I myself could finally go and see them. Of course I could have gone to see them before Christmas, but the reser seemed further away than it actually was so diddnt bother. Then over Christmas I realised it was much closer, but had to endure the wait to see if they would still be around for me.
  I tried to set off as early as possible to try and get the Iceland gull before it left the roost, but it had gone when I arrived, which was about 9.00. I had caught two buses to get there and now had a trek to actually get to Broomhead.
  There was a very thick frost the night before so everything was very still and cold for my walk, but the sky was blue and there were birds about as I arrived, which made things look very promising indeed
  The first reser on the way up had quiet a few things on it, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Mallards, Moorhens and the like, and the woods around had a few things around; mixed tit flock, robins, pheasants and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over which was nice to see.

-Broomhead Reservoir

  Moving on up I made it to the edge of Broomhead reser. Everything was very still and the only birds on the reser were a pair of cormorants and a pair of goosander. I continued wandering round the area where the crossbills were meant to be but had no luck. However I did bump into a few other birders and they told me of the birds' favorite haunts.
  I had no luck though, with only a brief glimpse and call from a common crossbill my only lead. After a while though some other birders managed to track down a large flock of around 50 common crossbills. No two barreds though. But I have only ever seen common crossbills once before so I was well choughed by this point. There was also a lovely male siskin with them, and a female bullfinch nearby.
  Sadly they flew off before I got the camera out for some record shots. The next hour was spent wandering round looking for where they had gone, for even though there were no two barred in there, it seemed the best chance off finding them. I also wanted a record shot of a common crossbill.
  At 12 o'clock I returned to the spot where they were meant to be and after a quick look spotted a small group of crossbills feeding in silence in the larches. My bins are rubbish and I could not catch them with the scope so I had no idea if there were any two barreds or not due to the sun  being behind them.
  However, another birder came up after about 5 mins, and after a few mins looking he confirmed that there were indeed two barred crossbills in the group, and then managed to find one in the scope. After a while they came down a little and I was able to get a decent view, even without the bins. Within the flock there were 4 males and 3 females, or so I was told, as I could not really get to grips with them due to the silhouettes and poor bins. I did manage some shots, but they were very poor, enough though to put in this blog for my retirement to look back on...

-Two Barred Crossbills

  I spent about half an hour watching them feed before some dog came and scared them off. Its not nice when it ends like that, but I decided it was probably a good sign to get heading back, as I still had revision to be getting on with and that would not wait. Its my intention to get back up once my exams are finished, so hopefully they will stick around. Watch this space!
  So, a review. What can I say, its the first time I have properly seen common Crossbill and the first time ever for two barred, now the 4th rarest bird I have ever seen. I eventually got some great views though they were sadly cut short, but they were well worth the trek and bus fare. Hopefully I will be able to get back at some point

Ladybower Reservoir

  So yesterday ended my month stay at home and the return to my uni accommodation, where I would be welcomed by exams and continued revision. However, on the way back, instead of going straight there we decided to make a detour into the peak district for a walk and a meal.
  For the walk we went to Ladybower reservoir, though it was packed it being a Sunday and all. There was not really much going on except at the feeding station at the visitor center. Here there were large flocks of coal tits, chaffinches, great and blue tits but also about 7 rather bold siskins in striking plumage all at one feeder. They were great to watch because I could get so close to them.

  But aside from them there was not much else going on. Except while we were driving to the reser we drove over the moors and I spotted 2 red grouse, so I can safely add them to my year-list now.

Soil Hell

The weather has picked up recently, now that I have started revision for my January exams. I did however decided to get some fresh air and  birding by making the short trek to soil hill for a little while. The top was completely dead! Sometimes I have written 'there were no birds' for hyperbole, because it sounds more committed that way, when actually there are some crows or gulls overhead.
  Today there was nothing, as in actually nothing. I was gutted. On the way up however I had a little more luck with some feildfares and redwings in the field behind our house, the first time we have recorded redwings there I recall. On the way down I rounded a corner and spooked a female sparrowhawk of a gatepost, but it came back round before flying off so I got some good views of her, my first this year.
  So overall it was not that bad, but there was a disappointing lack of birds.