Tree Sparrow in Warks.

Tree Sparrow

Female House Sparrow


Thursday 12th November 2009


Quiet day yesterday birdwise, places to go, things to do, people to see, but I did manage to get a few shots of some Tree Sparrows.
The Thursday Club was in fine form, as were the Ales at The Church End Brewery. With many of my favourites on at the same time it was difficult to choose being limited to just a couple. I opted for Goats Milk and Boston Fat Boy but Nuns Ale and Hoppy Poppy are equally tasty.

Caspian Gull at Coton

Caspian Gull, Coton lakes. Photo by Lee Johnson

Wednesday 11th November 2009

A typical November day damp and dreary but a walk was called for. It started at Mancetter, bridge 36 on the Coventry canal along the towpath to bridge 23 at Judkins quarry Nuneaton and back. Getting on for 10 miles I reckoned. Not quite as spectacular as Venice but a pleasant walk even on such a dull day. Canals and their towpaths can be useful to access areas with no public rights of way but the downside is that the view of the surrounding habitat is often restricted by hedges and banks and the path is all on one level.
People who live, or spend a lot of time on barges at moorings quite often put out feeders for the birds and at one such mooring there was quite a little feeding station which attracted Tree Sparrows as well as the usual 'garden birds'. I counted a nice little flock of 7 Tree Sparrows. The rest of the route produced little of great interest. The only flocks apart from Corvids, Woodpigeons and Goldfinches were c12 Pied Wagtails and c20 Meadow pipits in a field of winter wheat next to the Windmill Hill Marina. Jays continued to busy themselves preparing for winter but there were few thrushes except a single Yew tree near Hartshill in which Redwing, Mistle and Song Thrush were feeding.
Being close to home I went back for refreshments before setting off again for Coton for the Gull roost. Alan Dean and Mark Priest were already in the hide and it wasnt long before we were joined by John Harris. At 3.30pm Alan spotted the adult Caspian Gull (172) which he had seen earlier in the day at Dosthill. Although at the back of the flock the gull showed well in the 'scope. Alan described all the features of Caspian gull which were clearly visible and I felt more confident I would be able to id the bird for myself given similar views. At about 4.00pm the Caspian gull flew off to the North east and did not return by dusk. Shortly afterwards an adult Yellow legged gull dropped in to what was now a small roost. It was great to compare the features I had just seen on the Caspian gull. I'd like to think I was at last getting to grips with Gull ID but maybe I'll just keep on struggling and hope that theres somebody around who really knows what they are talking about.

For further analysis of the Coton Caspian Gull see Alan Dean's excellent website :

http://www.deanar.btinternet.co.uk/wmgulls/CaspG/ad111109.htm

Nice weather for Ducks ?

Tuesday 10th November 2009


Its a stupid expression isn't it, why would ducks 'regard' persistant rain as nice. It cant be nice to fly in it. In fact heavy rain and bad weather generally must contribute to many of the sightings of unusual ducks on Midland reservoirs as birds seek respite from the elements.
Anyway I waited till the rains had eased before I ventured forth. Alvecote first stop where I was met by a couple of Stonechat. The group of Red crested Pochard with 3 drakes and 4 ducks were at the southern end of Mill pool.

After a brief look round the Coton/Lea Marston area I moved on to Shustoke reservoir where there were 3 Common Scoter, a drake and 2 ducks. They stayed in the centre of the reservoir. At 2.00pm they took off for no apparent reason. They flew round the reservoir several times gradually gaining height until lost to view. The light was poor throughout the day so it took considerable skill to obtain any sort of photographic record of the days highlights!

Common Scoter, Shustoke reservoir

Water Rail at Brandon Marsh

Water Rail, Brandon Marsh N.R.

Water Rail

Saturday 7th November 2009

It was a lovely day, lets be fair. I had hoped the Purple Sand might stay at Draycote but the sky at dawn was as clear as a piece of blue paper with no writing or drawing on it so I opted for a wander round Brandon Marsh. I heard a couple of Cetti's and a Willow tit but didnt see a great deal except the tamest Water rail you could hope for. Even when a fellow photographer contrived to slide down a bank and barely manage to avoid a watery end, the bird continued on its way around the small pool. The long staying Greenshank was on East marsh but I was too late to see the Bittern flying over Newlands or the Sparrowhawk bathing in front of Carlton hide.

Purple Sandpiper at Draycote Water

Purple Sandpiper, Draycote Water : Photo taken by Dave Hutton

Purple Sandpiper : Photo taken by Max Silverman

Purple Sandpiper with Dunlin, Draycote Water :Photo taken by me with a very small camera!

Friday 6th November 2009

It had been a difficult journey fom the depths of deepest Somerset. We had foolishly let the Sat nav take the strain and it simply wasnt up to it, guiding us through the back streets of Bristol rather than find the quickest route to the M5 via Glastonbury. Anyway we finally gave up on the Sat nav and just followed signs to the M5. On approaching Stratford I picked up a text from Dave Hutton via Tom Perrins that there was a Purple Sandpiper at the overflow at Draycote Water. After assuring Jan that she needed a break and that the cafe latte from the van was as good as anything Italy had to offer we made the slight detour to Draycote. Purple Sandpiper is a huge bird for Warks. well worth getting a few dirty looks for. I met Francoise, Bob Hazel and Max Silverman on the way in. They tried the old 'it flew off 10 mins ago' routine but I wasnt having any of it. I was surprised though that there was no one at the overflow when I got there. I quickly located the Sandpiper in company with 4 Dunlin, but it was frustrating having no bins or scope let alone camera with me. Finally Kevin Groocock arrived who kindly let me use his bins as did Steve Haynes when he arrived shortly afterwards. It was a cracking new Warks tick for me so Im very grateful to Max for finding the bird, Bob H for Id-ing it, Dave Hutton and Tom Perrins for putting the news out and Kevin Groocock and Steve Haynes for helping me to see it properly. I tried to take a few photos useing Jan's compact camera but as you can see with limited success.

Venice

Welcome to Venice !

Grand Canal

Ist - 5th November 2009

Jan and I teamed up with Gail and Ciaran in Somerset to travel to Venice from Bristol for the flight to Venice's Marco Polo airport. The water bus from the Airport took us across the lagoon to the Rialto bridge via the Grand Canal, the main thoroughfare through the city. The scene beyond the Rialto bridge was my wow moment of the trip as the canal, flanked by impressive buildings was alive with activity with boats of every description plying their trades. Our hotel was small but comfortable and ideally situated between St Marks square and the Rialto bridge. The old city with its canals, bridges, narrow streets and medieval buildings was all around us. Even off season in November the streets were busy with tourists mainly Japanese and French. The street sellers were doing a brisk trade in umbrellas as the heavens opened on the Tuesday of our visit and we took to the board walks as a high tide meant flooding in several ares including St Mark's square. It all added to the uniqueness of the place as we did the touristy bit.

Eating out was very expensive and I thought value for money was hard to find. It was great fun nonetheless, despite the weather. Quote of the week was probably ' the front of the church is round the back '

Venice

Yellow legged Gull - Piazza San Marco

1st - 5th November 2009


Venice isn't noted for its bird life and so I didnt expect to see much in the way of bird life particularly as I had no optics with me. The old city of Venice is on an island, one of several on a salt water lagoon. The city's airport is on the mainland right next to the water so to get to Venice you have to take a water bus (13 Euros) across the water but passing mudbanks and uninhabited weedy areas. Birds observed on the 2 crossings were: Black headed Gulls, Yellow legged gulls, Grey Heron, Turnstone, Hooded Crow, Stonechat, Cormorant, Great crested Grebe, Starling and Marsh Harrier. Apart from Feral pigeons, Starlings and Gulls birds were few and far between in the city a few Blackbirds and House sparrows were the only other birds seen.