Whose a push over?

Great spotted Woodpecker, Ladywalk N.R.

Ladywalk N.R.

Red Fox

'I cant see any birds' - I wonder why?

'Oh look darling, Fido's pretending to be a Duck'

Little Egret, Fishers Mill

Tuesday 16th March 2010

After all the excitement of yesterday, it was back to the reality of the Tame valley. I still had gull fever and tried my hardest to find a Mediterranean Gull among the increasing numbers of Black headed gulls on the various pools at Kingsbury Water Park. No luck but great day weatherwise. Went to the usual haunts but no sign of any early migrants again. Significant numbers of Wigeon about 41 on Cliff pool, Kingsbury and 24+ at Ladywalk. Little Egrets at Cliff and Fishers Mill. Somebody must do something about people walking between the pools at Fishers Mill, no excuse really you can see the birds perfectly adequately from the canal or the river tracks. While I'm having a go: Kingsbury WP gets more depressing every time I go. Dogs again today, swimming in Canal pool. The concept of a Nature reserve is a bit of a joke. While we're on the Grumpy Old Man thing I might as well get it all off my chest. Dogs, I love dogs. Theres almost nothing I'd like more than to have a Springer but I couldn't give it the lifestyle it would need and the birding would have to take second place. No, it not dogs but some dog owners that I find hard to understand. I was trying to photograph a moth in a bit of woodland this afternoon when I got pushed over by a puppy, worse than that the moth disappeared before I could get it in focus. I could hear the owner screaming for Gemma or Jemima or what ever it was to come back, and then the 'Good girl' when the dog reappeared having found me no further fun. The dog owner was completely oblivious to the havoc the dear little thing had caused. It didnt spoil my day though, having watched Common Buzzards jousting, Great spotted Woodpeckers drumming, Crossbills and flocks of Lesser Redpolls with Peacock and Brimstone butterflies on the wing it had been a good day.

The Leicestershire Gull

Possible Mew Gull, Albert Village lake, Leics.

Possible Mew Gull, Albert village Lake, Leics.

Possible Mew Gull

Monday 15th March

It was a question of unfinished business really. Having made the effort to go and have a look at this odd gull on Saturday and failed, when news broke it was still around I had to have a go. Not that I could have contributed much to the great debate but there certainly wasnt much else doing. Even the Waxwings at Wilnecote had gone missing. The gull performed well and I hope the couple of half decent images I managed to get will help clarify the issue one way or the other.

Not so Common Gull

Mediterranean Gull, Albert Village lake

Mediterranean Gull

Saturday 13th March 2010

Albert village lake is the Leicestershire version of Stubbers Green near Walsall, West Mids. A good place to watch gulls as these pre-roost sites are relatively small bodys of water compared to the main roosts at Foremark and Chasewater reservoirs respectively. I'd never been to Albert village and when news of a possible Mew gull there broke I didnt feel the need to charge off. It was Dave Gray's enthusiastic report and photos on his blog which finally got my backside into gear. The lake was very easy get to on the A444 but having waited until the weekend I knew I'd reduced my chances of seeing the bird whatever it was, as the tip wouldn't be working at full tilt if at all, so that Gulls wouldn't follow their normal behaviour pattern. I joined a mixture of Gull enthusiasts, local birders, insurance listers and those who were simply curious. Unfortunately, the bird was only seen briefly mid-morning and did not reappear by late afternoon. I also missed a Kittiwake which had been present in the morning. An adult Mediterranean Gull did put in an appearance though.

Quiet day

Treecreeper - Broomey Croft, Kingsbury W.P.

Wednesday 10th March 2010

Bit of a tour round looking for something new. Started at the old spoil heaps at Picadilly for very early migrants but apart from Green Woodpecker and Common Buzzard there was no sign of anything else not even a Skylark or Meadow pipit. At Coton lakes again nothing new. Checked the areas of rough ground at Hams Hall but nothing except Polish lorry drivers and a Peregrine. Ladywalk was doing a roaring trade judging by the car park. I had a look in hide B. A Curlew flew over the trees at the back and the Tawny Owl was on station. Oystercatchers were heard but not seen. Cliff pool, Kingsbury had a Green Sandpiper while at Broomey Croft were a pair of quite confiding Treecreepers. On the way home I picked up Little Owl (114) for the year near Polesworth.

Species recorded in Warks so far this year : 127

Left overs

Temminck's horned Lark - Tagdilt

Temminck's horned Lark

Temminck's horned Lark

Temminck's horned Lark

Temminck's horned Lark

African Desert Warbler - Tagdilt

Woodchat Sous valley

Greater Flamingo

Black Redstart - Oukaimeden

Birder's Lunch - anywhere, actually a healthy, practical and safe alternative to Pork pies and Hula Hoops.

A common street scene throughout Morocco - an opportunity to stock up on Bananas and Sardines.

The group

Tuesday 9th March 2010

A few omissions from the photographic record of my recent Birdfinders trip to Morocco. As Temminck's horned lark was one of the most delightful birds of the trip and African Desert warbler one of the most difficult to find they had to be included with a few other bits and pieces.

Ye of little faith

Bittern - Whitacre Heath

Smew - Draycote

Cetti's warbler - Whitacre Heath N.R.

Monday 8th March 2010

Bits and pieces sort of weekend birding wise. Started at Draycote with 2 Great northern Divers and a drake Smew but no sign of the Red necked Grebe reported the previous day.

Sunday went to Whitacre Heath. Bittern and Cetti's warbler on the reserve but no sign of the Curlew from the bridge. Went home to watch THE MATCH. Well, I have a confession I gave up on my team. At half time the Villa were 2 nil down and playing like..... well it was poor. I deserted them and went out to look for LEOwls. I know I'm not a real supporter etc. I didnt get to know the result till this morning. Wem-bell-y, Wem-bell-y. What a team! In the end I didnt get to see Carew's hat trick or any Owls.

Today I did a walk from Burton Hastings to the Lime Kilns and back. One of the attractions of the walk was an area of rough ground with a ruined building. Although the area was only the size of a junior football pitch I'd had Stonechat there and flocks of finches. Today it was no more, ploughed over, homogenised, just part of a huge area of cultivation. At least the landowner had the decency to remove the Defra posters declaring the farm environmentally friendly or something like that. The last vestige of bio-diversity in a two square mile area had gone. I did find another little poster from an organisation called the Game conservancy. Amongst other things the poster declared that sprays were not used on the land to encourage insects. Wrong, the tell tale loops of tractor tracks suggested otherwise. Ok stepping down carefully from me soapbox, I did see a few birds. Still a good few Fieldfares about on the pasture land and a smaller number of Redwing. Also 1,000 Woodpigeon, a Cormorant, Mistle and Song Thrush, several Common Buzzards, mixed flock of Linnet and Chaffinch c30, 6 Common Snipe, 2 Grey Heron and c20 Golden Plover.

Morocco - February 2010 Part 4

Lammergeier - Oukaimeden

Crimson winged Finch - Oukaimeden

Crimson winged Finch

Alpine Chough

Red billed Chough

Black crowned Tchagra - Sous valley

Moussier's Redstart

Moussiers Redstart

Hoopoe Lark

Thekla Lark

Day 9

We drove south of Agadir to the Sous river, we didnt actually get to the main river because of the extensive flood water. As it was I had to take shoes and socks off to wade to a bridge which nearly crossed a tributary of the Main river. The site had loads of potential as the flood plain was well vegetated with plenty of habitat for migrants. From the bridge we picked up Wryneck and Grasshopper warbler as well as another Moroccan speciality Black crowned Tchagra. We searched the river for hirundines. We could see a group down river but having lost access to the main site for Plain Martin as a result of flooded roads we were desperate to try and locate them here. The birds we were looking at were Swallows and Red rumped Swallows but we picked out something smaller flying up river towards us. It looked more and more hopeful as the two birds continued to fly towards the bridge. As they flew over us we could confirm Plain Martin.

Other birds seen in the area included: Glossy Ibis c60, Grey headed Wagtail, Moussier's Redstart, Marbled Teal. We moved on to have lunch at the De sous Massa reserve. A walk towards the estuary produced good views of Subalpine warbler and Blue rock thrush as well as more distant views of Marbled Teal, Ferruginous Duck, Pintail and Cormorant. On the drive back we had yet more Cream coloured Coursers and Stone Curlew. We decided to have another attempt at the Red necked Nightjar, as before we had a fleeting glimpse as it was picked out in the beam of a torch flying low into the trees.

Day 10

The day involved a long drive back to Marrakech and then on to the Ski resort of Oukaimeden in the High Atlas mountains. At one stop for coffee we had great views of a Black shouldered Kite circling above us with a group of Little Swifts. The temperature at mid morning near Marrakech was 31 but even though it got a little cooler as we started to climb into the Mountains we still had an over heating problem with the Mini bus. We made several stops as the driver nursed the bus on the long ascent but we made good use of the time recording Short toed, Booted and Golden Eagles on our way to the summit. We reached our hotel and were out again to explore the gardens and tracks leading up to the snow covered peaks. The first birds we encounted were Choughs, both Red billed and Alpine species filled the skies and were also very confiding amongst the tourists. Other birds seen during the afternoon were Black Redstart, Alpine accentor, Rock Sparrow and Rock Bunting.

Day 11

We woke to a howling gale the next morning. Prospects for birding looked bleak as the wind whipped up a penetrating dust. We soldiered on up to the ski lifts. It wasn't until the top lift that we started to see birds as the wind abated. Flocks of finches were feeding on the patched of bare eath at the bottom of the snow line and some came to feed amonst some disguarded Walnut shells. Crimson winged Finches were all around giving great opportunities to take a few snaps. By this time the group had fragmented searching at different levels along the track. The highest group saw it first. A large raptor with a diamond shaped tail. An immature Lammergeier flew over our heads and landed in a col. Wow! A bird I'd always dreamed of seeing. I'll never forget that moment, quite emotional. As we pulled ourselves together we were conscious that other members of our group further down the track may not have seen it, but luckily everyone had. Not the rarest bird we'd seen but in many ways the most impressive.

I wandered back to the hotel to try and get a coffee. Luckily they were still serving breakfast. so it was nice to sit and take in the wonderful mountain views and relax for perhaps the first time on the tour. Despite the bad weather initially it had been a very successful trip. Morocco is an amazing experience, full of contrasts. The birdlife is also diverse reflecting the many different habitats the country has to offer. Thanks must go to Peter Lansdown for his calm leadership and knowledge throughout. Thanks also to 'the team', everyone contributed in one way or another to make it a very good humoured and enjoyable trip.We found a total of 196 species and connected with all the 'special' birds except Desert Sparrow.