Joe's Birding Blog

Movember!!!

2011-11-08T16:34:00.004Z

As the autumn birding season dies away, thoughts turn to other, more important matters, like checking your balls. To be honest, i've probably spent more time checking my balls than I have birding over the last month anyway, thanks to uni work, being drunk, being hungover and being a lazy git, but that's not the point. The point is that one man dies of prostate cancer EVERY HOUR in the UK, and heaps more from testicular cancer ( I couldn't find a figure). A big reason for this, is that us blokes generally don't like to think about health stuff, cos it sounds horrible, and we don't want some doctor poking around our tackle, so we do our very best to ignore some very serious issues.

So, over recent years, a campaign called Movember has sprung up to raise awareness of male cancers, and to collect fundage to go towards the fight against the 'orrible things. Basically it involves growing a moustache for the month of November. This provides the perfect reason for blokes to get chatting about why they do it, and hopefully educate the un-informed about the dangers. And of course, the main reason i'm posting this on here: to gather sponsorship money. The Movember website has a far more comprehensive breakdown of where donations go to than I can manage to put on here, so go have a look. There's also a Mens Health section telling you what you should know about keeping your essential parts healthy, so even if you can't throw us some cash, take a look at that for your own sakes.

Obviously, we're trying to make a bit of fun out of a fairly serious situation, otherwise it would be a bit depressing, so there's a bit of friendly competition going, between Mo-bro's (I know, it's an awful term) and between teams so if you can donate I would much appreciate it if you donated to my effort. We've only just set the team page up so its currently looking as sparse as my chin but hopefully we should get plenty of pictures up soon once the group of lads i'm doing this with (all studying Ecology and Wildlife Conservation here at Bournemouth Uni) get themselves signed up.

So, click here for my team page. and please be generous!!

And as a thank you for your generosity, here's a photo of me looking like an absolute tool after 1 weeks effort.

Malta Photos

2011-10-30T16:57:00.004Z

A tad belated I know, but here's a few pictures from Birdlife Malta Raptor Camp 2011. Since returning from the camp i've been meaning to write a piece detailing my experiences, but to be honest, it's been a bit of a struggle coming to terms with the contrasting emotions over the fortnight. I'm not the most fluid of writers at the best of times and writing a report of that crazy two weeks has been a series of aborted attempts.

For those of you not familiar with Talking Naturally, you really need to take a listen to this podcast with Ceri Levy, which goes a long way to explaining the situation out there. The quote that sums it up best for me is 'Malta messes with yer head'!

Little Egret, shot down in front of us on the first day of camp

Purple Heron

Mixed heron flock

Dotterel in a cage for use as decoy bird. We called the police but the trapper legged it

HB's

Osprey over Buskett

Bee-eater, during the first few days we saw many hundreds of these cracking birds, often hawking just metres from us. These birds are often shot at.

More Honey Buzzards

This juv Honey Buzzard arrived low over us at Buskett one afternoon. The damaged primary is very typical of shotgun damage, and the wet breast feathers suggest that it may have been shot into the sea recently

To our horror it was then shot down again, it fell into a wooded area before rising flying weakly off. We didn't fancy its chances of survival after such an ordeal but wow, what an effort!

Black Kite

Early one morning, this Eleonora's Falcon gave us fantastic views at Girgenti, only the second one the species i've ever seen following a brief flyover 2 days previous

4 days later the same bird was seen shot out of a tree by a local birder, who also recovered the body of the bird. Words just can't explain the feeling when something like that happens.

Little Egret shooting video

2011-09-22T20:06:00.002+01:00

Check out the video of the Little Egret shooting at Delimara on the first day of raptor camp here

Since then I have also witnessed a Marsh Harrier and a Night Heron being shot down, unfortunately the circumstances didnt make any sort of prosecution possible. More later, maybe.....

Raptor Camp- day 7

2011-09-21T09:38:00.005+01:00

Just a short update here, check my page on the Birdlife Malta for much more photos.
http://www.birdlifemalta.org/Content/hunting/rc2011dailyupdates/joesphotos/1112/

2 Pallid Harries have been the best birds for me so far, this juvenile flew past us the other afternoon and an adult male was part of a great display of migrant raptors over Buskett, photos from that afternoon are on the page linkd above.

Raptor Camp day 2 onwards

2011-09-17T11:27:00.002+01:00

My plan to update the blog daily has failed already!! Birdlife Malta have given me the opportunity to do some media work for them and this includes creating a page on their website with plenty of photographs, basically to be updated whenever I see something worth seeing. Here is that page.

For updates of all the latest news, check the main updates page of the website here.

I'll bring more news when I can, it's all a little bit mental busy here. I was up for 25 hours yesterday/today including a shift watching over 2 roosting Black Storks from 8.30pm to 5am last night. The birds apparently left safely to Africa this morning. Main bird sightings for me have been my lifer Eleonora's Falcon, a Booted Eagle, nearly 1000 Bee-eaters in an afternoon and a spectacualr flock of 140 Grey Herons (and 1 Great White Egret)

Raptor Camp Day 1

2011-09-15T11:18:00.000+01:00

Picture the scene; a quiet clifftop overlooking a tranquil bay, a handful of pleasure boats rocking gently from the onshore breeze that is taking a welcome edge off the afternoons heat. A few Swallows pass twittering overhead as they migrate south and a Sardinian Warbler chatters from the scrub behind. Suddenly the peace is shattered as two gunshots ring out and everyone is reminded that this is Malta. Turning to the direction of the shots, we see a Little Egret tumbling from the sky into the azure waters, foundering for a while, then agonisingly slowly hauling itself onto the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. Welcome to Raptor Camp!
We call the ALE, the police branch responsible for wildlife crime, who manage to communicate with a local group in a boat who are attempting to rescue the bird from the rocks. It flaps feebly out to sea but soon drops again into the water in the middle of the bay, where, clearly exhausted it allows itself to be plucked to the relative safety of the boat. They pull alongside at a basic jetty for fishing vessels where we take it off their hands, grateful that most Maltese are an infinitely better bunch than the hunters who tar the name of these islands. On inspection, the bird is found to have several wounds to its body, wings and legs. It is whisked away to the vet, but its chances of survival appear slim. We continue our watch and hold our breaths as two juvenile Night Herons approach the same bay after a journey over the sea from Sicily. To our relief, they appear to sense that all is not well at the site, and turn sharply before heading purposefully South, next stop: Africa.

Back on the Levels, back in the game

2011-09-12T13:17:00.004+01:00

The lack of bloggage this summer has been a sad reflection of my birding effort lately, I won't whinge about it though, cos its my own bloody fault. I did manage another a few days birding on the Somerset Levels at the end of August. This was typically brilliant for this fantastic area and produced the following goodies:

Great White Egret, The resident colour ringed bird from the Loire-Atlantique

Spotted Crake at the back of the drained lagoon, far too distant for a photo, use your imagination!

Osprey on Noah's Lake, possibly the annually returning bird.

The highlight of the week. A Pectoral Sandpiper that flew in to the drained lagoon early one morning, a much appreciated self-found tick for minimal effort

I'm currently back in Bournemouth and soon to start my 3rd and final year of uni, but laziness and hangovers have prevented any birding.

Shit gets real later this week however as I return to Malta to join Birdlife Malta for 2 weeks of their annual raptor camp. After witnessing for myself some of the horrors inflicted on migrating birds back in the spring I knew I had to go back and do what I could to help. This time i'll be taking my laptop and will be writing a daily blog describing the events, the work of the Birdlife Malta staff and volunteers, birds, birding and life on camp, primarily with the goal of persuading other people to join future camps. Hopefully i'll be able to get some nicer photos of birds than the 'images' shown in this blog post.

Raptor Camp dates announced!!

2011-06-11T10:49:00.003+01:00

Birdlife Malta have announced the dates and opened bookings for this years Raptor Camp. It will be running between 14th September and 2nd October. For more details and to apply, click here

Harry, Luke and Joe's london Bird Race!!

2011-05-24T13:24:00.004+01:00

The last few weeks have been pretty dire for me, revision and exams have totally taken over and i've been unable to spare any time for birding, despite some promising conditions at one of the best times of year, how rotten!!
Some of you may be aware of the challenge set to Harry Boorman by his girlfriend Hara to see 100 species in London over a course of weekend. I met Harry in Malta and he's asked if I would like to join him and his cousin Luke on this adventure. I'm always up for trying something new and having never birded London before, or even taken part in a bird race, this was too good an opportunity to turn down. So next weekend, thanks to a convenient break in exam schedule, i'll be joining Harry and Luke in what promises to be a mental weekend haring around the capital birding like hell.
Of course, i'm not just telling you this because I think you might be interested, but because I want your money, or more accurately, I want the RSPB to have your money. As with most challenges, this is an ideal opportunity to raise a bit of cash for a good cause, so if your feeling altruistic, pop over to our page at Justgiving and whack a donation our way. Of course, if your not sure we deserve a donation, you could wait and see if we reach the target and be particualrly generous if/when we do. Either way, any donation, however small would be much appreciated, and will go towards the conservation of Britain's birds, you know, those small feathery things without which your life would be utterly dull and miserable. Yeh, thats got you reaching for the hyperlink above to chuck a fiver in the pot hasnt it, good on ya!!!
Anyway, wish us luck, and if you're birding in London next weekend and see us about (apparently we have some snazzy t-shirts made up and waiting) come over and say hi, and point us in the direction of anything cool you may have seen, I think we're going to need all the help we can get!

White Storks shot in Malta

2011-05-19T14:26:00.005+01:00

I am literally shaking with rage as I write this and finding it very hard not to resort to profanities, capital letters and exclamation marks. Yesterday evening a record sized flock of 200 White Storks arrived on Malta. In most countries this would be a fantastic sight for birders and 'normal people' alike to witness. Not in Malta. The birds were shot at as they tried to roost, and again when they left the roost this morning. It appears that they may also have been shot at overnight whils roosting, utterly appalling behaviour. For the full story, check out the Birdlife Malta news page.
White Storks hold such an important place in European folklore. Historically then were common across the mainland but farming practices led to their near extinction in many countries by the early 1900's. Re-introduction programmes and provision of nesting platforms, involving thousands of hours of dedicated work by volunteers managed to restore populations in many parts of Europe and now they can be enjoyed across the continent. An incident like this is a crime comitted against the whole of Europe, and I can only hope that it stimualtes a serious public outrage and forces the Maltese Government to do more to prevent illegal hunting. Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested, and also those who probably aren't. People need to know just how bad things are out there.
You can show your support for preventing this sort of behaviuor by joining Birdlife Malta here.

Levelling

2011-05-08T22:25:00.007+01:00

After getting back from Malta it was back to the Somerset Levels for a few days birding with my Dad, which yet again produced the goods. After being picked up from the airport early afternoon, conventional logic would have suggested having a nap, as an average of 5 hours sleep a night on Springwatch had left me totally drained. However, it just felt a bit 'birdy' so after a quick lunch we headed down to Shapwick, the journey down being hurried by breaking news that a Wood Sandpiper that had been on the drained pool for the last few days had been re-identified as a Lesser Yellowlegs, a mega bird for Somerset. Sure enough, when we arrived this leggy transatlantic vagrant was pottering around the pool already with a decent sized crowd of admirers. It never came very close and this was the best shot I managed in several visits over a few days.

Rare as it was, the 'legs couldn't quite compete with this absolute stunner of a bird. I've never seen Great White Egret in breeding plumage, so it awesome to see this colourful beast fishing and flying about the same pool, check out the colours on the tibia and the lores, it's frickin glowing!!

Come at me bro'!!

The place was alive with birds as ever, and very noisy too. Cuckoos were flying around all over the place, phyllosc, sylvia and acro warblers singing from every bush, Bitterns booming and Hobbies and Marsh Harriers constantly overhead, excellent birding.

That evening I was in the mood for finding a Night Heron (we've all been there at some point) so after dinner we were just picking up our stuff to head back for a quick look when the news came through that a Gull-billed Tern was over Noah's Lake. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't best happy. When a bird as good as that gets found at a site that you're just on your way over too, it's difficult to not feel a bit 'gazumped', especially after almost the same scenario with the Yellowlegs earlier in the day. Still, it was another great bird for Somerset so we hastened on down and got good views of the bird hawking for c20 minutes before it naffed off high to the South, never to be seen again. It was a bit dark for photography but the following just about qualify as 'record shots'.

It was back down to Shapwick first thing the next morning to see if the previous days stars were still around and if anything else new had arrived. The Leeser Yellowlegs was still showing nicely in the same spot, and the drained pool also attractd in a drake Garganey, and briefly resting Whimbrel, Ruff and Little-ringed Plover alongside the constantly turning over squabbling flock of Black-tailed Godwits.

If you're not seeing the sun like this then you need to man up and get out of bed earlier

One of the ubiquitous singing Blackcaps

It'll be a sad day when I can walk past one of these bad boys without taking a photo

After the horrors of Malta it was a delight to see Marsh Harriers safely going about their business

The next day morning was just as good, with a majical highlight being two Bitterns circling high over the reedbeds just as the dawn broke. With the crisp, still air, the soft sunlight starting to break through a light mist and the cuckoos and all the warblers singing in the background, this was a really evocative moment, and for me summed what The Levels are all about. I took a few photos but they don't do the moment justice at all, so I won't post them here, you'll just have to go experience it for yourself.

I dont like to end on a sour note but you really should check out the latest awful news from Malta here. Frickin Pallid Harrier!! Where does this shit end!!

Springwatch Malta 2011

2011-05-01T20:59:00.007+01:00

From 10th-20th April I took part in the Birdlife Malta Springwatch 2011 camp. The situation in Malta and the purpose of Springwatch has been covered by many pieces with much more depth, accuracy and eloquence than I could hope to achieve here ( This page gives the best overview of the situation, and be sure to listen to the podcast linked in at the bottom of the page)so for this trip report, I will focus instead on what YOU can do to help.

I’m sure that many of you previously aware of the hunting problem have already donated to Birdlife Malta, signed petitions, and written to MP’s, and I implore you to keep doing so. This has clearly had the effect of applying external pressure to the EU and the Maltese Government, encouraging such actions as not opening a Spring hunting season in 2008 or 2009, which had the immediate effect of allowing a fantastic breeding season for the birds of Malta, as well as providing a certain level of protection to countless migrants on their journey North. However, despite this pressure, the Maltese Government defied the European Union by opening Spring Hunting again in 2010 and 2011. Given the dismal lack of resources allocated to the Maltese Police to ensure that the conditions of the hunting season are followed, it is necessary for Birdlife Malta teams to act as observers, and as you may have guessed, this is what this post is about.

Birdlife teams of 3-5 people spread out across the island during the ‘danger’ periods of dawn and dusk, armed with optics and video cameras and a direct line to mobile police units. During previous camps, teams have managed to obtain footage of illegalities being committed, which has led to several convictions. This has had the predicted effect of making hunters very wary of breaking the law whilst in view of a Birdlife team. During the 10 days that I was on the camp I saw just one raptor being killed. A Marsh Harrier leaving a roost at dawn was shot down as it was gaining height to continue its journey North to its breeding grounds. This was a horrible moment for me. We were on site to protect that bird and we failed, the moment I saw it hit, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach, it was sickening. What made matters worse was that it was too dark to be using the video cameras, and we didn’t see where the bird fell, basically, we had no evidence that the incident ever happened. Still, we called the police immediately, and they responded admirably, with 2 patrol cars on site within 10 minutes. By this time, the hunters in the area had become aware of our presence, and 4 more birds left the roost safely. I think it is fair to say that had we not been on site that morning, it would have been more than that 1 bird that died. This was the general feel throughout the camp, that the hunters knew where we were (they had ‘spotters’, and were in radio contact alerting each other to our presence), and so, were unwilling to shoot protected birds in front of us, in case they got caught.

A fine case of 'Malta moult' on this Marsh Harrier

Of course, this is far from an ideal scenario. Birdlife teams can only cover a certain, small proportion of Malta, limited as they are by the number of volunteers attending the camp. This is where you come in. By coming on a future camp you can make up the numbers to allow Birdlife Malta to send extra teams out into the field, thus covering more areas, and providing a good deal of protection to any birds passing through those areas. The next camp is the Raptor Camp 2011, running during the last two weeks of September. This is a plea for you to be there.

So, what is the camp actually like? Well, I absolutely loved it. Aside from the expected low points upon seeing a bird getting shot, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. The hotel was comfortable and clean, with decent, plentiful food. The general atmosphere was great, with plenty of banter keeping spirits up despite witnessing some terrible things. It was a privilege to work alongside some fantastic inspirational people, both from Birdlife Malta Staff and camp attendees.

The surveillance sessions themselves were quite variable. A few times the fine weather meant that migrants were simply not present, and so there was no hunting activity to record. Generally though, we were kept busy, with illegalities taking place almost constantly. Most frequently, it was a case of shots being fired outside of legal hours, recording sightings of birds bearing gunshot injuries, hunters not wearing the compulsory orange armbands, use of illegally modified shotguns firing more than 3 shots, and of course, the occasional instance of shooting at protected species. As well as recording all of this and alerting the police if necessary, the major work involved was using the video cameras to film any large bird constantly while it was in view, so that if it was shot, we would have proof of the incident. Also recording numbers of all migrants passing through is a key role for teams, as Malta is on a major migration route, and as such deserves monitoring . Standard watches are run from shortly before dawn until about 8am, and then from 3pm until dark. If there are roosts or movements of birds deemed to be at risk outside of these hours then volunteers can go and watch over these birds (this is optional, as obviously people need rest). I did a few night watches over Harrier roosts, which turned out to be fairly uneventful, though still exciting!

I know that personal safety is an issue that deters many birders from visiting Malta. It is true that there have been some shocking incidents in the past. Local birders have been threatened, verbally abused, beaten-up and had vehicles and optics destroyed. However, the bad publicity caused by such aggression has seriously tarnished the hunters reputation in Malta, and they are aware of this. During my time in the camp, ¬one team received 30 minutes of abuse, and bit of chest-shoving from 2 particularly aggrieved hunters, but this was the only incident of any note. Personally, I only had one face-to-face encounter with hunters, and that was a very civilised, quiet debate, and at the end we simply agreed to disagree. I never felt threatened in any way, and I don’t think anyone else on the camp did either. Bear in mind though, that being treated to verbal abuse is a strong possibility, and if you’re the kind of person who would be overly upset by this, then maybe the camp isn’t for you.

The birding was good, with a daily passage of Common and Lesser Kestrels, Hobbies, Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers, and a few Pallid Harriers and Black Kites. Herons featured too, with some big flocks of Purple, Squacco and Night Herons. Other typical Mediterranean species were also easily seen, mainly Golden Oriole, Bee-eater, Black-eared Wheatear Red-rumped Swallow, Pallid Swift, Woodchat Shrike and Blue Rock Thrush. We did have one session that ranks as one of my best birding moments ever. On our afternoon shift at Mosta Gardens, strengthening North-easterlies and some heavy rain forced in a spectacular arrival of 110 Marsh Harriers, 40 Montagu’s Harriers, 1 Pallid Harrier and 60 Lesser Kestrels!! Add to this 2 male Golden Orioles and 42 Bee-eaters hanging around us and I was left pretty gobsmacked. It was apparently a slow spring for passerines and I was quite disappointed with just a few Wood Warblers, Pied Flycatchers and a single Eastern Subalpine Warbler. These are just my personal sightings mind, and such crackers as Roller, Red-footed and Eleonoras Falcons, Collared Flycatcher, Little Crake, and Little Bittern were recorded by other teams. I should also mention that Autumn passage is much bigger than in Spring on Malta, and I have heard some gripping tales of flocks of Short-toed Eagles and Black Storks battling through hordes of Honey Buzzards on their way South, so I can’t imagine anyone being bored by the birding in September.

I expect Birdlife Malta to announce details and dates of Raptor Camp 2011 on the website before the end of May, and I will post again on here when they do, until then, watch a few videos, read some articles and convince yourself to go.

Finally, all I can say is that I would definitely recommend attending a camp. I will be back for as many as I can in the future, including almost certainly the Raptor Camp this Autumn. It may at times be tough, but you will have some great birding, meet legendary people, and most of all, play a major part in protecting Europes finest birdlife. If any further encouragement is needed, watch this, and see what we’re working to prevent. Thankyou.

Oh yeh, and if you're thinking about it, feel free to ask me any questions, as a comment on here, by e-mail or stop me for a chat if you have the misfortune to bump into me in the field.

Karma Strikes Early

2011-04-03T14:08:00.003+01:00

This time yesterday I was roundly cursing the birding gods for forsaking me by producing a Red-flanked Bluetail at Durlston, just down the road from my student house in Bournemouth, a mere 18 hours after I had left Dorset for the Easter holidays. I had made what was looking like a shocking decision to head up to Somerset for a few days birding on the Levels with my Dad, before a starting a weeks work tomorrow, and the Dorset departure was looking like a bad move: I still 'need' RFB for Britain, and indeed the world if they're split from the Himalyan birds. There's not many things that i'll twitch these days, but that would certainly have been on the cards, being so close to 'home'. Still, it wasnt going to stop us birding the levels and this morning had been most pleasant, with a whole heap of migrant year ticks; LRP, Ruff, Willow Warblers, Sand Martins, and best of all 2 Swallows, my favourite of all our native birds. Just five minutes from getting back to the car for the last time before departing for East Somerset, we noticed a large bird passing distantly through a gap in the trees, clearly wasn't a heron, bins up and another glimpse before disappearing behind the trees again- BLACK STORK!!!!!! SHIIIIIT!!!!! (wholly accurate representation of the ensuing conservation). The bird looked to be simply heading away behind more trees when it decided to turn around, circle twice and then carry on drifting low North-east, giving us just enough time to get some nice views and blast off a few record shots. Unfortunately my camera, unused for several weeks had switched itself to some horrendous setting and my first shots, of the bird at its closest were overblown something rotten. Luckily, a bird that big manages to burn itself onto a sensor despite the photographers ineptitude and I got the following 'souvenirs': And what's all that about Karma? I hear you cry. Well, on the 10th April i'm off volunteering in Malta with Birdlife at their Springwatch Camp to do my very best to protect migrant birds from being shot indiscriminately. Anyone who watches 'My Name is Earl'-one of the few watchable programs on E4, will know that if you do good things, good things happen back to you. I like to see this as Nature's reward for my upcoming trip. The moral of the story, if you want to find as many good birds as I do (smug much?) do you some volunteering, not neccessarily in Malta, try the RSPB, or your local Wildlife Trust, you never know, it could pay off!

Twitchers in Poole Park

2011-02-06T22:09:00.004Z

Two posts in two days, that is unprecedented productivity for this blog. Anyway, I have this amzing little gadget that tells me how people arrived at this blog, and over the past few days i've had a fair few hits from people googling 'Twitchers in Poole Park'. Now, being a birder living in Poole, the words twitcher, poole and park appear frequently throughout the blog, just not in relation to these queries, ironically really, as I happen to have been one of the twitchers in question.

And this is why, a Long-billed Dowitcher, a vagrant from North America, hatched up in the Arctic tundra last summer, accidentally flew East over the Atlantic on it's migration South last autumn, and after a winter dithering around Western Europe has somehow ended up in Poole Park, and finds it very much to its likeing, feeding just metres away from an admiring crowd of birders and curious passer-bys.

Astonishingly, over the last two days there has also been a Ring-billed Gull, another American vagrant, but I haven't seen it yet so can't share any photos, there are a few here if you're interested though, grotty looking thig if you ask me.

POLITICAL INTERLUDE!!
While you're here, take some time to whip over to the 38 degrees site and sign the petition to save our forests if you haven't already, cheers!

Then check this witty (though a little rude, you have been warned!!) song by Frank Turner, who i've wangled tickets to go see in the Students Union in a few weeks. Hits home a little too hard given the current government 'firesale' eh!!

Nepal photos

2011-02-05T20:39:00.013Z

About a month ago I returned from a family christmas to the fantastic country that is Nepal. I had a few interesting sightings, so in the near future I should get around to writing up a proper trip report, but in the mean time, here's a brief taster of how it went.

After a few days settling into Kathmandu and seeing the usual touristy sights, we set off on a trek up the Langtang Valley. Seeing as how I was leading the family, it was difficult to do much full on birding, but I managed a few lifers, including some birds of top-class quality, and as expected, a glittering supporting cast of local goodies.

Long-billed Thrush- Lama Hotel

White-capped Water Redstart- Ubiquitous along the river

Hoary-throated Barwing-Rimche

Golden Eagle and Lammergeier above Kyanjin Gompa. Truly awesome sight

The same Lammergeier as above

Ashy-throated Warbler- Rimche

Appalling photo of the bird of the trip- Himalayan Monal, just above Langtang village. Watching the morning sun glittering off this stunning National Bird of Nepal as it fed on the mountainside was one of the highlights of my birding life so far.

Peregrine Falcon (peregrinator?) taking a breather from chasing Snow Pigeons around Mundu

Snow Pigeons taking a breather from being chased around Mundu by a Peregrine Falcon

Other highlights of the trek included Little and Spotted Forktail, Rufous-fronted Tit, White-throated, Guldenstadts and Blue-capped Redstart, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Spotted Laughingthrush and Black-faced Warbler.

Immediately after returning to Kathmandu we headed down to Chitwan National Park for the remainder of the trip. Unsurprisingly, highlight of our time here was an astonishingly close encounter with 2 Asian Rhinocerous (from the safety of the back of an elephant, unlike my previous visit to Chitwan). The only lifer for me in the park was White-rumped Needletail, but again, there were plenty of commoner local birds to enjoy, frequently at close range.

Grey-backed Shrike

Indian Pond Heron

Pied Kingfisher

Great Hornbill- the sight (and sound) of these beasts passing over a rainforest canopy is one of the many experiences that make Oriental birding so special.

Taiga Flycatcher

For more typical holiday photos, this link should take you to my Facebook album of the trip

Update!!

2010-12-14T23:44:00.003Z

Sooo, blog not updated for several months, pretty much standard for me.
Basically, i've not done any birding to report on. I've just been too busy at uni with, errr, assignments, yes that'll do, i've been doing assignments all autumn/winter.
I have however found the time for some volunteering with the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which has it's many rewards, such as this Little Auk whichwas sat off the landing stage upon arrival at Brownsea Island a few weeks ago.

Excuse the shite picture, digibinned with a naff little compact from a moving boat!!

I finished uni for the year on friday and since then i've had a few days birding the Somerset Levels. I haven't looked around the levels properly for about 10 years or so, so I was surprised and very impressed to see how the reserves have come along there. The area of land now setaside for conservation around the shapwick/westhay area has increased massively and theres new paths everywhere, well done to the organisations involved. It was all pretty birdy too, with Bitterns and Cetti's Warblers in particular seemingly all over the place. Highlight however was watching 3 Otters at close range feeding along a frozen drove, pure magic.

Anyway, any recent sightings will pale into insignificance with what i'll be seeing over the next few weeks. After a long period of no travelling i'm finally back on the road, with a 3 week trip to Nepal beginning tommorrow. It's a family holiday so won't involve the usual reckless pursuit of exotic rares, but should still be good fun. There will of course be pictures galore and hopefully a trip report (if I can find the time away from those pesky 'assignments') when I get back. Until then, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

Small Compensation

2010-09-28T21:09:00.008+01:00

Missing the Point, MISSING THE POINT!!! Shit.
How prophetic those words turned out to be. 9 days after I leave and the lads go and find an empidonax flycatcher. OK, so its not the first for the WP Yellow-bellied that it was first put out as, but anyone who knows how dangerously obsessed I am with finding rares can imagine just how devastated I was when I heard the news.
At that point I realised that I had two options; to crawl into a corner and spend the rest of the autumn crying, or to bird my ass off for the rest of the season and try and find a rarity to match it, however unlikely that would be. Obviously the second option is much more appealing, and aside from spending Sunday volunteering down at Studland with the National Trust, i've been mostly birding during daylight hours. Hengistbury Head has been the site of choice of site for the last 2 days, and was particularly enjoyable today, as I found a Wryneck up on the heath on Warren Hill. Small beer indeed compared to the recent fare on Blakeney but its always nice to find something unexpected and is exactly the sort of thing I need to give me the motivation to keep getting out there over the coming weeks.
Back to the horrible beast that is the empid, I can only repeat what I said about the cornish bird at the time. Willow and Alder are pretty much impossible to seperate. We banded plenty of empids in Canada, Least and Yellow-bellied are pretty straightforward, but even in the hand, Willow and Alder just went down as 'Traills'. There are supposedly methods of seperating the two using biometrics but we tried them and they all turned out to be inconclusive. OK, so Alder is much more likely on probability but what sort of Rarities Comitee adds a species to a National List based on probability. As many people have suggested already, I think the best bet is to just recognise the birds as Traill's Flycatcher and hope that soon some clever bod comes up with a way of separating the two conclusively.
Anyway, and most importantly, massive congratulations to James and Paul for finding the bird. As all the twitchers who visited the point over the weekend will attest too, it is an absolute bitch of a place to bird. Imagine doing that walk pretty much every day over the course of the autumn! This find was a monumental reward for a monumental effort, top marks to the lads, you deserve all the glory you get, and I say that with only a smidgen of the bitterest jealousy.

Wryneck at Hengistbury

One of many very tame Stonechats

Ring Ouzel record shot

Another one of the Wryneck

Missing the Point

2010-09-24T16:12:00.004+01:00

Having left Blakeney Point last week, i'm back in Dorset for my second year at Bournemouth Uni. Mylast few weeks up in Norfolk were pretty awesome, providing some of the most challenging, yet rewarding birding of my life. Although we had no more rares after the Booted Warbler in the last post, a constant stream of classic scarcities, and good numbers of common migrants combined to make it feel like the good ol' days of the '70s. As this was my first season on the Point, I feel extremely lucky to have been present for what the locals are calling the best August for decades. Here's just a few of the little gems that made all the suaeda bashing worthwile:

Redstart

Bluethroat- 1 of 3 seen in a week, and I think before any others had been seen elsewhere in the country!!

Wryneck

Spotted Flycatcher- ticked by one happy visitor as the bird below, jesus wept!!

Barred Warbler

Lapland Bunting. This was the first bird to be seen in England and possibly the UK this autumn, and appears to be spearheading an impressive invasion.

Bootiful Day

2010-08-27T22:10:00.006+01:00

You're probably thinking something along the lines of "What!! Joe's Birding Blog has been updated, that can only meant that he's found something rare and wants to brag about it to anyone who cares to listen"

Well, thats pretty much spot on. Autumn on Blakeney Point has been absolutely brilliant. With 2 Icterine Warblers, a Barred Warbler, a Marsh Warbler and a Bluethroat over the last few weeks making this August the best for a long old time.
Searching for the Bluethroat this morning, we were delighted to find a Lapland Bunting, the earliest record ever for The Point. We were pretty chuffed with this and assumed it would be taking the 'bird of the day' slot.
A last gasp tramp around the Long Hills soon trumped this however, when we flushed a small, sandy warbler with white outer tail feathers from the suaeda. Logic decreed that such a bird could only be a Booted or Sykes's Warbler, and soon enough the bird jumped up onto the suaeda tops, showing off its short bill, relatively strong head pattern and contrasty tertials, definately a Booted Warbler, GET IN!!!!!!

The bird proved to be very elusive and mainly only gave flight views, though it did perch up a few times, giving some reasonable looks to the few birders who came along to see it.

My best attempt, possibly qualifiable as a record shot?! This shot is pretty typical of the views we got.

The Lapland Bunting on Far Point

Barred Warbler from a while back.

One of a good number of Pied Flycatchers so far this autumn.

I dont generally twitch these days, but this Lesser Grey Shrike at Kelling made a nice day trip for me and a visiting birding friend from Canada with the excuse that he needed it for his world list.

On a totally different topic. I have managed to totally break my phone recently (too much birding in the rain in), and having recently lost most of my e-mail contacts, and Facebook being blocked on the work internet server I use, I am pretty much un-contactable with the outside world. If you're a friend of mine and want my new number, or think I ought to have yours, just drop an e-mail to my usual address.

BOOM!!!!!

2010-05-31T21:34:00.004+01:00

You slave away all spring, you trek back and forth over every dune, you slog through every yard of sueada, you peer into every bramble, and you see naff all. Just one thought keeps you going- It only takes one moment, just one bird.
And as Spring fades into Summer, you start to think, will that moment come, has it happened already, and slid away unnoticed, has it....., but you carry on.
And then, just as you start to lose hope, and just as you least expect it, as you're yakking away on the phone, you glance out of the window, and KA-POW, a pale thing with pink bits on it flits past, and you remember that feeling, the feeling that just has no equal, and it all becomes worthwhile.

Fair Weather Birder

2010-03-03T16:04:00.002Z

After a lengthy period of gross inactivity I was finally lured out yesterday by the glorious weather and the imminent onset of spring. A trip across the harbour to Studland was the order of the day and turned out to be very pleasant indeed.
With a total lack of wind, the bay was mirror calm and produced decent counts of 18 Black-necked and 4 Slavonian Grebes, along with a Common Seal, which I think might be a Dorset mammal tick for me.

Slavonian Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

I should have been getting angry at this beast scaring the grebes but I was too busy drooling with jealousy and trying to work out a way I could get my hands on one. I'm still thinking.

One of five Purple Sands on the rocks at Sandbanks, typically confiding.

My first proper spring migrant came earlier this afternoon as I took a run along Poole seafront and spotted a Sandwich Tern roosting with the block-headed gulls on Baiter Park, spring truly is on!!!!

I've got plenty to look forward to at the moment, first up being a ski trip to France next week with the my university TA unit which should be cool, hopefully i'll find time to digibin a few snowfiches and alpine accentors.

Most exciting however, is that I've got a job on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, for the summer. I'll be starting early April and that will see me returning to a more pro-active state of birding, and hopefully i'll manage to find a few goodies during my time there. I really can't wait to get properly 'back in the game' again, once you've lived on site at some migrant hotspot like that, its impossible to be totally happy when you're not!!!

First attempt at blogging a video

2010-02-10T17:51:00.004Z

After a promising start to the year i've turned lazy again. Apart from turning my head towards the shoreline whilst jogging along the front at Baiter park i've not been birding at all. Still, the starling roost in Poole has been good value. This evenings gathering wasnt particualrly impressive numbers wise, but there were a few cool little manoueveres and I happened to have nothing else to do at the time so thought i'd try out the video functionon my digital compact on them. this was shot from my bedroom window a few minutes ago.

The reason I own a DSLR....

2010-01-10T16:58:00.005Z

....to leave it home assuming that it would just be more of the same stuff.
Holes Bay was excellent again today. A slightly late start following a heavy night at the mighty Sound Circus got me to the site as the tide was starting to come up. Loads of waders right in close to the path. Luckily I had the compact (just in case i needed a record shot of the Baikal Teal i'm blatantly going to find there before the winters up) so I could resort to digi-binning.

Lapwing

Adult Yellow-legged Gull ,a 1st winter was over at Kerry Foods with a load of mixed commoner gulls who had managed to get into the bins.

2 of the three Spoonbills present
Also had a Jack Snipe and 4 Spotted Redshanks which gave ideal photo opportunites for the DSLR but evaded being digi-binned.

Yesterday I only managed a quick look down Baiter and Poole Park before heading up to campus for a revision session. Nothing unusual down there and no sign of Barney G. Apparently theres been a few other Barnacles turning up along the Dorset coast, potentially wild birds from Holland fleeing the cold. I was counting it anyway but that information helps ease the guilt.

Kingfisher

Buzzard causing the whole harbour to go apeshit

This Med Gull should be looking rather fine shortly

One of c40 Siskins in the park

The lotties were a bit more lethargic than usual in the cold

Pied Wagtai looking for a drink

Once Bittern.......

2010-01-08T16:52:00.004Z

OMG, WTF!!!! Yes, I just went birding ,and guess what, I really enjoyed it.
Last year, after moving down to Poole/Bournemouth, my birding effort was embarrasingly pathetic. Having spent half the year living on the Farnes, with all sorts of cool seabirds and potential rares literally on my doorstep, it came as a bit of shock to find myself in a situation where I would have to catch a bus or walk for a while to get into a decent bit of habitat, this, along with plenty of other uni-based distraction resulted in me going birding about 5 times in the last 3 months of the year, a very poor show.

Now, i'm not really one for New Years Resolutions, all this bollocks about turning over a new leaf, becoming a better person and shit like that .If youre a rubbish twat in 2009 ,chances are you're going to be a rubbish twat in 2010. However, before I came back down here from Somerset a few days ago, I did promise myself that i would get out and about a bit more, and even decided to do a self-found year list to help motivate me. I got bored of the list somewhere between writing in Great Tit and Blue Tit (probably at Coal Tit come to think of it) so i've sacked that off, but the reasoning is still there.
Yesterday I went out to Holes Bay, where I was happy to see that it was low tide, Dorset birders will know that Holes Bay is never at low tide, somehow, its always lapping around the footpath and hence has shit all waders there, but yesterday it was absolutely rammed with birds. 500 odd blackwits, nearly 300 avocets and crawling with redshanks and dunlins. Unfortunately, I didnt take any gloves and my fingers actually stuck to my tripod so I cried off home earlier than I should have but I had seen enough to tempt me out again this morning.

Avocet at Holes Bay

This morningI went down to Baiter Park, where there were 14 spanking Med Gulls, all but one of which (a 2nd winter) were adults, like this one.

A greenshank was showing nicely right next to the path

Over the railway line this Barnacle Goose was sat on the ice with Canada Geese at Poole Park. A little bit dodgy maybe, fuck it, if i was still keeping a self-found year list I'd have that straight on there

After a six-pack of hot cross buns from sainsburys for lunch (my way of banishing any remainign thoughts of christmassy times and looking forward to easter), it was off to Hatch pond for a spot of filthy twitching. The goal was to see the Bitterns that have been hanging around all winter and started showing well now that the ice is forcing them out of the reeds. Shortly after arriving, one bird flew over and into the reeds:

Probably the worst photo of a Bittern ever, and my first (and still only) shot of this species ,as it dropped into the reeds.

After landing ,the bird only gave occassional glimpses of eye or bill from deep in the reeds. Walking around to the other side of the pond, a second Bittern was sitting on the edge of the reeds but quickly turned around and crept back in.

Little groups of teal were whizzing around the place. My favourite duck I think

This Goosander wsa fishing close into the edge of the pond, at one point it tried to pikey a fish off a Cormorant, but quickly got told where to go.

And finally, in an attempt to get ove the cold, heres a pair of Scarelt Macaws patrolling the rainforest in a toasty southern Costa Rica pretty much this time last year.

Costa Rica Pt 1

2010-01-02T12:37:00.003Z

After Nicaragua it wa on to Costa Rica, via an overnight ferry crossing of Lago Omtepe.

Conditions on the boat were far from luxury

But were compensated by a nice sunset

First birding stop in Costa Rica was La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. A day trip up to the grounds of Arenal Observatory Lodge produced a few nice sightings:

Spotted Antbird

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Green Honeycreeper

Crimson-collared Tanager

Violet-headed Hummingbird

Broad-billed Motmot

White Hawk

Procrastination for the nation

2009-12-31T11:31:00.004Z

It may come as a bit of a shock to you to see this blog back in action following a lengthy spell of inactivity. Bascially i've been so busy with uni stuff that I haven't had the time to even go birding, let alone write it up on here.
However, now i'm back in Somerset for the christmas holidays, i'm bored out of my skull and need something to pass the time. I really should be revising for chemistry and biology exams that I have in a couple of weeks time, but really can't face that so, in a desperate attempt to put that off, remembered that my posting of photos from my epic Ameicas trip lst year was incomplete, so here's the next installment, nearly in real time, plus a year of course.

After a mental New Years in the Yucatan, we whipped through Belize and into Guatemala where we camped at the legendary mayan ruin site of Tikal for a few days.

Highlights here included this super rare Orange-breasted Falcon that was nesting on the scaffolding being used to repair one of the pyramids

Occelated Turkeys, wandering around the temples

And this young Pheasant Cuckoo skulking in the scrub alongside the track that lead to the airfield

Not hanging around, we exited Guatemala so quickly that we somehow missed the immigration departure point, oops. A short boat trip later and we were in Honduras, where we camped near Lago Yojoa. We took a short trip into the cloud forest, where we were rewarded with some mega shit more normally seen in Chiapas in Mexico.
Prevost's Ground Sparrow, of the muttonchopus subspecies

Bushy-crested Jay

errm, not sure I remember this one, possibly chestnut-capped warbler, or something along those lines

Oh Yeah, The Boy: Resplendant Quetzal, an awesome sighting, one of the best of the trip. Terribly evocative and atmospheric and just plain amazing as it floated around in the mist through gaps in the canopy

Blue and White Mockingbird. We didnt even realise that his occurred in the area we were so casued a bit of jubiliation at the time

Rusty Sparrow

And finally, a Howler Monkey, pretty much the only picture I took in Nicaragua, thanks to a vicious bout of food poisoning that struck me for most of our time in the country.

Out with a Bang!!!

2009-09-18T11:19:00.003+01:00

Well, thats it. My time on the Farnes is over. After 6 fantastic months at at one of the most amazing places in the world, i've moved back down South to start a degree in Ecology and Wildlife Conservation at Bournemouth University.
The Autumn had been really slow migrant-wise on the islands until this last week, and then it all went absolutely mental. Last Friday, a Minke Whale cruised North between the islands and the mainlands, and I managed to get decent views of this dinky whale and secure a British cetacean tick. We were all really happy with that, but what happened next blew us all away. On Sunday, the skipper of a dive boat gave us a call to alert us to a Humpback Whale off Longstone, the most easterly of the island group. Frustratingly, Longstone was blocking our view so we sped out in the zodiac to the Big Harcar to get a clearer view. By the time we got there the beast had moved a fair way to the North but we were still treated to the incredible sight of this 40-ton monster breaching clean out of the water, and coming down with an almighty splash. As far as worldwide wildlife spectacles go, witnessing this behaviour has got to rate up near the top, so to observe it in British waters was just phenomonal, definately the highlight of my year so far.

Surely things couldnt get any better, but on monday they surely did. A quick trip over to Staple Island ib the morning revealed a Barred Warbler lumbering around the sparse vegetation, a long awaited first of the year on what has become a very reliable site for this species on recent years.

A seawatch soon after saw good numbers of Manxies passing close by, and then unbelievably, more cetaceans, this time 3+ Risso's Dolphins that lingered off the South end of the Islands for c10 minutes, giving good views of their tall dorsal fins and scarred bodies, proving that they really are so much more than 'gay sharks'. The Risso's were a cetacean world tick for me, so I was feeling pretty bloody happy.
An hour or so later, David Steel and Jason Moss, the 2 birders on Inner Farne, came over to have alook at the Barred Warbler with us. At one point, the Warbler flew a short distance and dropped into a weedy gulley, only for another bird to jump out onto the rocks, a Bluethroat!!!!

Quality stuff, having birded Staple thoroughly earlier, this was clearly a new bird in, something mega wa happening. Inspired by this, we drove out to Longstone, where we greeted by a Goldcrest, 2 Willow Warblers and 2 Lesser Whitethroats scarmbling around on the seaweed, and then, a Common Rosefinch appeared too, this was just getting better and better.

It was starting to get dark by now, so headed back to Brownsman to celebrate a superb day. As we walked up towards the cottage, a chunky, pale bird flew up from the nettles at our feet. As it flew away, I knew immediately that it was a bird I had never seen before, it just looked wierd. luckily it landed on the wall of the veg garden, bins up, and, BLACK-HEADED BUNTING, HOLY SHIT!!!! The bird dropped down behind the wall straight away, leaving us rolling around on the ground, punching the air and generally going apeshit until we realised that we really ought to crack on with the ardous task of ruling out Red-headed Bunting. The bird showed well on the ground before flying back to wall giving us great views through the scope and allowing me to grab some record shots in the gloom.

The black streaks on the crown, shadow of a black-face and rufous tint to the scapulars are all spot on for Black-headed Bunting. Some books are pretty useless when it comes to identifying immature black/red-headed bunts but it seems that with good views there shouldnt be too much of a problem.

Cor, he's a Shearwater

2009-09-05T16:39:00.003+01:00

With a 3-4 West-nor-west this morning, and no new migrants on the land, along with an overnight departure of yesterdays birds (including the Icky), I settled down for a morning of data entry on the computer (a big job when you have as many seabird nests to monitor as we do). Just minutes after turing on the computer, Head Warden David Steele called us on the radio to warn us that some lads seawatching down the coast at Newbiggin had just had a Cory's Shearwater heading North. Myself and fellow brownsman warden Adam Scott needed no further excuses to abandon work (come on, it's a Saturday) and headed down to the seawatching spot at the Brownsman South End. It wasnt looking good, with the few manxies that were moving being very far out and with the morning sun right in our faces, we weren't feeling overly confident that we would get the bird.
After an hour, the sky started to cloud over things were looking a little easier, maybe we had a chance. 80 minutes after the Newbiggin sighting, a sudden radio shout from Inner Farne, they had the bird and it was heading our way. After a few frantic seconds searching through distant manxies, the beast loomed into view no more than 300 metres offshore, and slowly sauntered past, giving me my best views ever of this awesome seabird. it showed so well that I was able to pass the scope on to Adam, giving him great views of a British Tick and I even managed to grab a few photos that could just possibly be classed as 'record shots'.
This was an excellent example of how good communication between coastal sites can allow plenty of people to enjoy great birds like this, so many thanks to the guys down at Newbiggin, Cheers Lads!!!

Icky at last!!

2009-09-04T16:57:00.003+01:00

Well, I had been hoping to update this blog quite frequently this autumn with tales of rares and mega falls on the Farnes, however to be perfectly blunt, the autumn thus far has been absolute shit, no two ways about it.
Like the rest of the country, we've been dominated by howling westerlies and clear skies, which for an east-coast site like us is a total waste of time.
At long last, wednesday night and thursday morning gave us a brief spell of easterlies, as the wind direction backed a full 300 odd degrees to the nor-westerlies we're stuck in now. Yesterday (thursday) was quite an exciting day, with The Farnes beating its record day counts for Teal and Swallow, with 894 and 248 north respectively, along with the first Ruff and Goosander of the year. However it failed to produce any of the much anticipated rares, just a few commoner land migrants. And then the Nor-westerly picked up to Severe Gale Force 9 and driving rain all night and all this morning, effectively the end of any rare hopes.
Still, us wardens on the mighty Brownsman don't give up that easily and a most un-pleasant walk in horiffic weather this morning was rewarded with brief looks at a nice Icterine Warbler trying to shelter in the sparse vegetation by our pond.
Luckily the weather cleared up this afternoon and we were able to get excellent views of this eastern scarcity feeding in typical Farnes fashion on open rocks and then in our artifical 'stick' (a bundle of driftwood nailed together to look like a tree!'

I've only got 2 weeks left on the Farnes before moving off to pastures new (watch this space!!!), so i'm desperately hoping for some easterly orientated weather conditions to bring in a few more goodies before I leave, fingers crossed eh.

So Farne So Good

2009-06-20T20:30:00.003+01:00

Apologies for a rather long-term lack of postings since returning from my travels.

Way back in mid-march, I moved oop north to The Farne Islands, in Northumberland, where I'm working as a Warden for the National Trust for the summer. It's been a superb season so far, it's just an amazing place, absolutely covered in birds. For example, Brownsman, the island I live on, has 1000 pairs of Arctic Terns, 10,000 pairs of Puffins and 8,000 Guillemots!!!

It's a good spot for 'real birding' too, this spring we've had 2 Red-throated Pipits, a Bluethroat and a Wryneck, along with a good sprinkling of common-ish migrants.

Here's a few pictures for now ,hopefully i'll be able to add a few here and there over the course of the summer.

Roseate Tern, not breeding unfortunately, but always nice to see

Arctic Tern, one of the massive colony around our cottage

Puffin, THE bird that people come to the islands to see

The second Red-throated Pipit, in horiffic weather back in May

Possibly the best bird of the spring. A male Bluethroat that spent a few days showing ridiculously well around the cottage

Yucatan

2009-03-07T18:12:00.005Z

From Palenque, we headed into the Yucatan Peninsula for a few days.
We stayed a while at Tulum, where we mainly got very drunk, but we did manage some birding in the scrub opposite our hostel.

Rose-throated Tanager (yucatan endemic)

White-eyed Vireo (my hot tip to turn up in Britain or Ireland sometime soon)

We also had a day out at the nearby Mayan ruins of Coba

Black-headed Trogon

Plain Chachalaca

Worm-eating Warbler

After rushing through the grim town of Playa-del-Carmen (think Costa Del Sol, but with the package holiday brits replaced by their american counterparts, yuk!!) we got the boat out to Cozumel Island, which was also very plasticky and crappy around the main town, but exploring the island, we found it be quite a nice spot, and we also caught up with some local endemics;

Cozumel Vireo

Yucatan Vireo

Cozumel Emerald

Palenque photos

2009-03-01T15:08:00.005Z

After a gruelling 26 hour bus journey from Oaxaca, we arrived at the historic Mayan ruin site of Palaenque, where we stayed for 4 days over Christmas. The ruins themselves were extremely busy with tourists, but the trails leading off into the nearby gave us some excellent birding.

White-collared Swift

Red-capped Manakin

distant White Hawk

female Great Antshrike

Kentucky Warbler (taken through a window in our tent)

Bat Falcon, sat in a tree in the centre of the ruins early in the morning

Lovely Cotinga, taken from the top of one of the Pyramids. These birds are infinitely better seen in the sunlight, they are an unbelievable electric blue, with big purple patches, just stunning!!

Oaxaca

2009-02-25T21:32:00.005Z

One of the highlights of our trip was a 5 day stay with our good friend and expert local birder, Eric Martinez, in Teotitlan Del Valle, in Oaxaca State. The birding was truly excellent in this area, and with Eric's knowledge of the local sites, we were able to pick up a decent number of regional endemics and specialties, along with plenty of other great birds.

Oaxaca Sparrow

Lesser Nighthawk, Usual Excuses for poor quality(near darkness, manual focus, Max ISO ,blah blah blah)

Bridled Sparrow

Black-throated Grey Warbler

Rock Wren

Bullocks Oriole

Vermillion Flycatcher

Boucard's Wren

Red Warbler

Chestnut-sided Shrike Vireo

Red-faced Warbler

Violet-green Swallow

Lark Sparrow

White-throated Towhee (looks like a heap of shit, but a very range restricted endemic and my 1000th bird of the year)

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

Curve-billed Thrasher

Western Mexico

2009-02-24T18:26:00.004Z

After Baja, we crossed the Sea of Cortez to Western mainland Mexico, where we spent a few days each birding around San Blas and Uruapan:

Russet Crowned Motmot

Slate-throated Redstart

Russet Nightingale-thrush

3 appaling record shots of 3 cracking warblers, all in the same tree;

Graces's Warbler

Olive Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Elegant Quail, a tricky North-west Mexican endemic

Masked Tityra

Citreoline Trogon

Bell's Vireo

Tropical Parula

Cinammon Hummingbird

Rufous-backed Thrush

The end, and the beginning

2009-02-23T20:37:00.004Z

For anyone reading this who wasn't already aware, the trip is over, we're safely back in England.

It was an epic journey and we had a fantastic time, seeing incredible places, meeting some truly excellent people and of course, some mind-boggling birding. The final trip list was a monster 873!!! of which about 850 were recorded in the 3 months from leaving the Tip of Long Point, Canada to departing Panama City.
Of course, now i'm back I have the monumental task of sorting through stacks of photographs, here's the first installment, all from the peninsula of Baja California, in North-western Mexico.

Spotted Sandpiper

Blue-footed Booby

Yellow-footed Gull

Double-crested Cormorant

Clark's Grebe

Savannah Sparrow

Sage Sparrow

Western Sandpiper

American Avocet

To be honest (and it may well become painfully obvious as I continue to upload photos) I took relatively few shots on this trip. I simply found that it was challenging enough getting good looks at birds, particulalry in rainforest/jungle (which most of our birding was in).

Still, I managed to take a fair few shots, and i'll be slowly sorting through them over the coming weeks/months/years, so be sure to check back frequently.

Osa Good

2009-01-30T20:26:00.002Z

We made it, we´re in Panama, phew, woop woop, hurrah etc.

From San Jose we stopped at the highest point on the PanAmerican Highway at the lovely little cabins at La Georgina, just below the Cerro de la Muerte. It rained for the entire time we were there but we still picked up most of cool stuff around; Fiery-throated and Volcano Hummers, Sooty Thrush, Large-footed Finch, Flame-throated Warbler to name but a few, oh yeh ,and ZELEDONIA, and great views of this little skulker too, bouncing around in the bamboo just feet away from us.

Next stop was golfito, down on the pacific coast, a quick look around in the evening gave us a stunning male Prothonotary warbler in the mangroves, along with Panama Flycatcher. 5am the next morning we took a launch across the gulf to Puerto Jiminez on the peninsula de Osa, from where we took a collectivo taxi up to Dos Brazos, and then hiked up into the junlge to stay at La Bolita Hostel on the edge of Corcovado NP. This place is truly excellent, its very rustic (and very ´eco´) but comfortable and set right in the woods, i dont have time to list everything we saw but this list should give you an idea of how bloody good it is: Black-cheeked Ant Tanager, Great Currassow, Barred Forest Falcon, Bicoloured and Chestnut-backed Antbird, Little Tinamaou, Blue Ground Dove, Turquoise Cotinga, Fiery-billed Aracari............
Get the idea, i´ll be writign more about this place for sure when I have the time, as its a mut do for any Costa Rica itenary and currently seems to be a bit underwatched.

ANyway, we´re in David in Panama now, having crossed the border a few hours ago. Only 11 days of the trip left until we fly out of Panama City. We plan on spending it around Boquete, Santa Fe and finally Panama City and the legendary Pipeline road.

Shoule be good.

Costa Rica

2009-01-25T12:36:00.003Z

After a few days chilling in Granada, we once more pushed on South. We boarded the passenger ferry in Granada at 2pm, arriving on the other side of Lago Nicaragua at 7am the next morning, probably one of the most uncomfotable nights of my life (after the horrific Nepal-India bus ride this tiem last year). We had planned to spend a few days at in intriguing site near San Carlos but found that we would have to wait a few days for a boat out there, so instead decided we might as well move straight on to Costa Rica. We jumped on the next boat to the border, which turened out to be an excellent trip, as we saw a Sungrebe skulking down the side of the river almost immediately after we crossed the borderline. A flyover Muscovy Duck was our first genuine bird of this species too.

After sthe most painful border formalities of the trip so far, we got a bus onwards to Ciudad Quesada, and then to La Fortuna as night fell.

First thing next morning we caught a taxi up to the access to road to Arenal Observatory Lodge. We walked the last few km's of the track to the lodge, seeing Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Bay wren, broad-billed motmot, Buff-rumped Warbler, Emerald Tanager, White-ruffed Manakin and Fasciated Tiger heron, among others. The lodge didnt open its grounds to visitors until 8 30am so we had a quick look down the Tucanes trail, where 2 Spotted Antbirds gave very good views and a Green Hermit buzzed around.
Entering the lodge grounds, we went straight to the feeding station outside the restaurant, where Green Honeycreeper, Black-striped Sparrow, Olive-backed Euphonia and an assortment of Tangers all showed well.

After a quick walk around the lodge grounds, we headed down the waterfall trail. we struggled at first in the heavy rain, hardly seeing a bird ,but suddenly came across a busy flock containing Orange-billed SParrow, streaked crowned Antvireo, scale crested pygmy tyrant and strip breasted Wren, and a bit further along, a Rufous Motmot. Thats just the way rainforest birding goes, you work for ages seeing nothing and then it all becomes worthwhile when you are totally surrounded by great birds.

After La fortuna, we took a Jeep-boat-jeep trip across lake arenal and up to monteverde, staying in the small town of Santa Elena. on the first afternoon, we went up the cerro tres amigos trail (one of the few free trails in the area), we saw absolutely nothing on the way uo but the way down produced Prong-billed Barbet, Azure-hooded Jay and Black-thighed Grosbeak.

Next day we took the first bus of the morning up to Santa Elena Cloud forest reserve. again it rained heavily nearly all day, but we still picked up some good birds like Barred Becard, Red-faced Spintail, Black Guan, Magenta-throated woodstar, Green thorntail, Ruddy-capped and slaty-backed nightingale thrushes, brown-billed Scythebill and Yellow-thighed Finch. That night, we took a guided night hike at the Santamaria reserve which was a great experience, as we got superb views of a two-toed Sloth with baby and an orange-kneed tarantula at its burrow, along with roosting Emerald Toucanet, Wood Thrush and Yellow-throated Vireo.

On our last morning in monteverde, we too kthe bus out to the monteverde reserve for a quick look at the Hummingbird Gallery. I wsa expecting it to be a bit dudey and contrived, and it was, but it was absoulutely awesome, with hummers like Coppery-headed Emerald, Violet Sabrewing, Green-crowned brilliant and purple-throated mountain gem feeding just inches away, I bloody love hummers, and i'm seriously contempalting trying to smuggle some back to England to introduce them.

We're now in San Jose (which, like most capital cities, is a shithole), having spent a night here after getting a bus down from monteverde yesterday, and we will shortly be heading off to the Cerro de la Muerte (literal translation: Moutain fo Death) for a few days before spending our last few days in Costa Rica on the Peninsula de Osa, before crossing into Panama for our last week before flying home.

Tikal yer fancy?

2009-01-17T22:39:00.002Z

Yes, I know, ages betwen updates again. I'll be keeping them fairly brief and hopefully will write full trip reprts for some of the more interesting sites that we've visited once I get back home.

Ok, Tikal.

What a fantastic place, infinitely better than Palenque. Its a much bigger site, with temples and pyramids spread over several kilometres, and all covered in prime rainforest. We arrived in the afternoon and first off took a walk down the track towards the old airstrip. Despite looking fairly ordinary scrubby stuff we saw a stunning male White-collared Manakin, Blue-crowned Motmot and a skulky White-browed Wren. Walking back to the campsite, we came across the bizarre sight of a group of Ocellated Turkeys strutting around the car park. We bought our tickets for the Archaelogical Site itself after 4pm, allowing us a quick evening visit before closing time at 6pm but also giving us entry for the following day. Whizzing around as much as possible we caught up with several groups of Crested Guan and a Ruddy Woodcreeper. Getting back to the campsite at dusk, a pair of Paraques were hanging around the edges of the reservoit near the entrance booth.
Dawn the next morning saw us back at the reservoir, where we picked up the hoped for Bare-throated Tiger Heron. The woods around the ruins were vrey productive for woodcreeprs, with SPot-crowned, Tawny-winged, Barred and Ocellated all giving good views. Undoubted bird(s) of the day were 3 Orange-breasted Falcons, a pair and a young bird hanging around the magnificent Templo IV, where they appeared to have nested. On our last full day at Tikal we again went down the Airstrip track, where we scored superbly, with a showy Pheasant Cuckoo feeding right next to the track, making a crazy sound as it shook its body, apparently in some kind of display as it fed. This isnt written in any of the books we have but the noise it was making is really difficult to describe, like an uneven static hiss, it was damn wierd. A thicket Tinamou also gave us excellent views before creeping off back into the scrub. To end the day, a pair of Grey-necked Wood Rails were feeding around one of the crocodile pools at the end of the track.

The next day saw us catching a bus down to Rio Dulce in south Guatemala, where after staying a night we got on a fast boat to take us to the town of Livingstone, on the Carribean coast, seeing several Fork-tailed Flycatchers on the way. From Livingstone we caught another boat across the bay to Puerto Barrios, from where we took a bus to the Honduras border, crossing that nice and quickly and staying the night in the beachside village of Omoa. Next day we took a bus SOuth to Lago Yojoa, slap bang in the middle of Honduras, where we camped at the excellent D&D Microbrewery, set up by an Oregonian Brewmaster. What a great idea, set just off the edge of the lake, with several good walking trails close by, this place offers good cheap accomodation (even cheaper when your camping!) and allowed us to tasts some real beer, for the first time since, ironically enough, we visited some brewpubs in Portland Oregon. The porter and Amber ales were really very good, and the Raspberry and Apricot Ales were very interesting, and much nicer than they might sound, similar ot Badger Breweries peach flavoured Golden Glory. We were very disappointed that the Mango Ale was not available though. From the brewery, we went up into the Santa Barbara National Preseve for a few days, and stayed at the small village of San Luis Planes, right on the edge of the cloud forest. Birding around the village was excellent, seeing the regional endemic Bushy-crested Jays, the 'white-faced' race of Prevosts Ground Sparrow ( a cracking bird with cool sideburns) and Rusty Sparrow. The cloud forest was as tropical forests generally are, mostly birdless but with a few hidden Gems. What was one of most exciting moments of the trip came when we picked out a stunning male Resplendant Quetzal sitting on an exposed perch above the canopy, with wispy cloud drifting past, it peformed several little flight off the perch revealing just how long its incredible tail streamers are. Some of the regional field guides claim that this is the most beautiful birds on the world, i'm not quite sure about that, but its certainly right up there with the best of them. Other good birds up there included Black-banded Woodcrepper, Violet Sabrewing and Green-throated Mountain Gem.

After Lago Yojoa, we continued South, crossing the border into Nicaragua, and stopping at the Nicaraguan coffee capital of Matagalpa. Feeling the need for more cloud forest, we took a bus up to the swanky Selva Negra lodge to use their trails for the day. We forst got the feeling that this wa a good site as we walked down the access track from the road, seeing Ornage-billed Nightingale Thrush and Rufous-browed Wren. The lodge has an excellent network of trails covering a good variety of habitats and it felt criminal to only spend one day there, seeing such excellent birds as Grey-collared Becard, White-faced Quail Dove, Emerald Toucanet, Green-breasted Mountain Gem, White-ruffed Manakin, White-winged Tanager and Slaty Antshrike.

From Matagalpa, we took a bus down to the fascinating town of Granada, where we are now, on the shores of Lago Nicaragua, a huge inland waterbody. The town is full of great old colonial buildings ad feels totally different to anywhere we've been so far on the trip. Walking around the square yesterday evening we were more than slightly surprised to see flocks of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers flying low over the rooftops, presumably on their way to roost nearby.

We have a few more days here, then the plan is to catch a ferry across the lake to the town of San Carlos, where we will explore a very underwatched and potentially very interesting area, before crossing over into Costa Rica.

I don't Belize it!!!

2009-01-04T02:23:00.002Z

No, i've not joined the horders of bloggers deciding to call it a day, i've jsut been too busy to update this lately.
Since the last post we've been racing around all over the place, seeing shitloads of birds and generally having a good time.
First stop was Palenque, after a hideous 24 hour bus journey across Oaxaca, Tabasco and Chiapas states. It was definately worth it though. We spent 4 days camping in the jungle nearby to these amazing Mayan ruins. Brief summary of highlights: Being woken up by Howler Monkeys on Christmas Day, sitting on top of the highest temple and watching Lovely Cotingas and Keel-billed Toucans flying across the ruins site. Walking the cascades trail, just outside the site, and seeing Mexican Anththrush, Giant Antshrike, Red-capped Mankain, and thrillinglyl but frustatingly, a sublimanl glimpse of a big spotty cat that almost the trail in front of us!!!
After Palenque, it was up to the Yucatan Peninsula and the island of Cozumel, cycling around the island (70km) one very hot day, getting shockingly sunburnt but seeing the endemic Cozumel Emerald and Cozumel Vireo, plus other Yucatan specialties like Yucatan Vireo, Black Catbird etc.

New Years saw us just down the road at Tulum, joining a very international crowd from the hostel, mainly europeans in getting incredibly drunk on the beach before being moved on by the police becasue some poor soul had taken a badly judged swim and not made it back, very sobering indeed.

The last couple of days we've been travelling down to here at San Ignacio, in Belize, pretty much on the Guatemalan border. The plan is to cross into Guatemala tomorrow and spend a few days at the legendary site of Tikal, before moving swiflty on to South-east Guatemala and Honduras.

I[ll get my excuses in early this time, I probably wont have internet for quite some time, so there will just be a half-hearted rush job of an update next time I have the chance, just like this.

Wow-haka

2008-12-22T23:21:00.002Z

After an excellent few days in Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-hah-kah), we´re moving further East. Though not as quickly as we had hoped thanks to all the buses being full up because of the holidays. Why couldn´t those bastard christians keep their crappy traditions to themselves instead of infecting most of the rest of the world.

Following our excellent day with Eric, we spent the next couple of days wandering around the village of Teotitlan del valle trying to catch up with a few more local specialties. The fields south of the village were fairly quiet but still we saw our first Blue Grosbeak and Western Wood-pewee.

By far the most productive area was around the reservoir just to the North of the village. Wandering around the roadside scrub and following cattle trails up onto the slopes gave us Bridled Sparrow and Ocellated Thrasher, 2 very range-restricted species, along with Audobons Oriole and Elegant Trogon at the southernmost extreme of their range (the birds in Central America are considered a sperate species by many, including me if I see one). We followed the road up the hill a bit further until we found a promising looking dry stream-bed leading up into the woods. Promising it most certainly was, we scored with a couple of Oaxaca Sparrows, a very difficult to see endemic, and I even got some acceptable photos, of which it seems there are none on the internet so far, i´ll be uploading them onto this blog as soon as I get some decent internet facilities, along with heaps of other shots of course.

We´re currently waiting outside Oaxaca bus station for a bus or three towards Palenque, which will be a very uncomfortabe 18 hours i´m sure. It should be worth it though as the avifauna will be totally different from anything we've seen so far, so I should have plenty more to write about. I'm also really looking forward to seeing the Maya ruins that the site is famous for, it will certainly make for an 'interesting' way to spend christmas. Bollocks to tradition!!!!

1000 up!!!

2008-12-20T00:28:00.005Z

OK, it may not be very spectacular compared to the efforts of The Biggest Twitch, but i'm proud of it (and I bet i'm owning them on birds per pound spent). Today, whilst birding in Oaxaca I saw my 1000th bird species THIS YEAR (EDIT:like a dumbass, when I originally wrote this post I forgot to mention that it was 1000 species this year. I have absolutely no idea what I have seen in total!!!), a White-throated Towhee, a Central Mexican Endemic.

We arrived in Oaxaca city early yesterday morning after another tortously long bus journey. We were picked up there by the living legend that is Eric Antonio Martinez, who we met volunteering at Long Point. Eric took us to his village, the birding hotspot of Teotitlan Del Valle, where we'll be staying for a few days. We went back into the City yesterday evening and had a goo look around the zocalo at all the cool old buildings. Whilst taking a gander at the impressive baroque church (one of only 4 in Mexico), we spotted several Lesser Nighthawks hawking for moths in the spotlights, a great atmospheric way to kick off our birding in arguably the most diverse state in Mexico.

At dawn this morning, we headed down to the scrub and rough farmland a few km's Southeastof the village to try and pick up some of the endemics. First bird up, before it was even light was a Rufous-capped Warbler, which was swiftly followed by the White-throated Towhee, bird no.1000. After a quick punch of the air, we moved on, and soon Eric picked up the call of Boucards Wren, another endemic. Soon enough, a pair of these hoooge wrens were giving excellent views amongst the cacti. Other good birds in the area included Curve-billed Thrasher (finally!!), Hooded Yellowthroat, Virginias Warbler and Black-vented Oriole.

After grabbing some breakfast in the village, we started climbing up into the hills North of the village. We stopped at a small reservoir to look through a big feeding flock of Violet-green and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and found a female Dusky Hummingbird sat on a nest close to the track.

Next stop was a long way up into the wooded hills, where after good looks at Crescent-chested and Red Warblers (as stunning as they were before), a Red-faced Warbler showed up and gave excellent views. A bit of piching produced somemore monster wrens, this time it was a flock of Grey-barred Wrens, looking very bizarreclambering overthe bromeliads looking for insects. Climbing a little further, a paritculalrly good spot held Amethyst and Blue-throated Hummingbirds and Green Violet-ear. Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo and Collared Towhee were a good score, along with a skulking Grey-breasted Wood-wren along the very birdy gulley. A confusing looking empidonax (are there ay that aren't) was finally nailed as a Grey Flycatcher, and we returned to the car to climb further. After a quick stop for a look at several White-throated Swifts buzzing high over the forest, we reached one of Erics 'special sites', near to the village of Benito Juarez. The hoped for Aztec Thrushes didnt show, but Chestnut-capped and Rufous -capped Brushfinch (which actaully look very different from each other) were welcome compensation, aswas more good looks at a Red Warbler.

Overall, a very enjoyable day, with some really good local endemics and other cool birds. Big thanks to Eric are in order for all his local knowledge and keen ears, as well as ferrying us about.

Drowning in lifers.

2008-12-17T01:29:00.002Z

Where was I, oh yes, we were just about to catch a ferry to Mazatlan from La Paz right.
Wrong!! Contrary to what was written in the Lonely Planet latest edition to Mexico (published this September!!!), there are no ferries to Mazatlan on Fridays, only on Sundaays, mondays and thursdays, boll-ocks. We didnt find this out til we arrived at the terminal (no Xantus Hummer), so after much cursing of Lonely Planet, we decided to jump on the boat to Topolobampo instead, several hundred miles North of where we wanted to be, not ideal. Moral of the tale: Lonely Planet are a bunch of lazy pricks who cant be arsed to update their info for their new books. Or maybe its that travellers should do some of their own research rather that putting all their eggs in one thick paperback basket.
Anyway, the few hours on board the boat before sunset were pretty productive for us, we scored Red-billed Tropicbird, Magnificent Frigatebird, Grey Phalarope, Brown Booby and Black Strom-petrel, so we wern´t that pissed off when we arrived in Topolobampo in the middle of the night with the prospect of a long day on a bus ahead. And it was a long day. We left at 11pm, the bus broke down, we switched to a new one, 7 am, and the bus was involved in massive high speed smash-up (thats a bit dramatic actually, some little lorry clipped us slightly) so we had to wait a few hours for some insurance weasel to arrive and take photos, 5pm and after a change in Tepic ,we fianlly arrived in San Blas, one of the premiere birding spots in Western Mexico. It was soon too dark to do any birding that night, but the next day was mind-blowingly awesome:

47 lifers in a day!!! That doesnt happen very often.

Starting off at dawn around the sewage pond trails (sounds lovely I know) we were soon racking them up, Broad-billed and Cinammon Hummingbirds in gardens, Varied and Painted Butnings feeding on the tracks, Citreoline Trogon and Russet-crowned Motmot sitting on telephone wires, Happy Wren and Bells Vireo in the scrub, it was hard work keeping track.
We then headed up to the small fort overlooking the town, and continued to score with Tropical Parula and MacGillvary´s Warbler giving exceptional views, Mexican Parrotlets buzzing around, a pair of Masked Tityra sitting quietly in a fruiting tree. After a quick streetside Taco in town, we caught a bus up to the nearby village of Singayta. Walking down the dirt road through the village and into some scrubby areas we rounded a corner and there were a load of Elegant Quail on the side of the track, resultado, a difficult North-west Mexican endemic under the belt. The hummers contined to stack up, with White-eared and Violet-crowned ,and Golden-crowned Emerald. Orange-fronted Parakeet, Godmans (Scrub) Euphonia and Stripe-headed Sparrow were other good local birds, and we finished off with a fine pair of Black-throated Grey Warblers as we waited for a bus back. A final look at the Sewage ponds trails before dark added Clapper Rail, Stilt Sandpiper, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat and Black-bellied Whistling Duck to a day list of around 120 species.

The real fun however started today.
After a long, shitty bus ride from San Blas to Uruapan, in the Western Central Highlands, we arrived to find that the bus terminal was still 2km outside fo town, just great! Luckily, just as we feeling a little jaded, some local family offered us a ride into town in the back of their pick-up, dropping us right outside our cheap, but slightly fowl hotel.
Up early again today, we caught a bus to the nearby town of Angahuan. It wasnt a known birding site but we had heard that the trails up to the adjacent volcano passed thorugh Pine Forest, the habitat of some very sough after species. Arriving in the village, we saw that the volcano was actually some way off, and instead decided to have a mosey up a hill what was labelled as a ´recreation area´ with signs showing bike trails through the woods ,sounded promising, providing the bikes kept away for the morning. What a choice it proved to be, we immediatley picked up Yellow-eyed Junco, Mexican Jay, Grey Silky and Slate-throated Redstart. Pushing on up the hill, we encountered a few mixed flocks containg Olive, Grace's and Golden-browed Warblers, Greater Pewee and Tufted Flycatcher. Reaching the radio masts at the summit, there was a sudden flash of colour, up went the bins, and, SHIT THE BED!!! RED WARBLER!!! What a stunning bird; bright strawberry red all over apart from a shiny little silvery ear-covert patch and a subtle pink wing bar. I´ve tried searching the net for a picture but none quite do the bird justice. It´s one fo those birds that the first time you see a picture of it, you just have to see it ,and it was one of my most wanted birds of the trip, and I wasnt disappointed, its even better in real life. Hopefully we'll see a few more before the year is out and´i'll try and compose myself enough to compose a photo. On the way back down we picked up Mountain Trogon, Painted Redstart, Russet Nightingale Thrush and a whole heap more hummers; Rufous, Magnificent, Black-chinned and Green Violet-ear, along with several bizarre Cinammon-bellied Flowerpiercers.

In the afternoon, we caught another bus out to the Cascades De Tzararacua, a series of waterfalls about 10km outside Uruapan. Despite it being really chuffing hot in the middle of the day, we added Bridled Titmouse, Crescent-chested Warbler, Arizona Woodpecker, Cassins Vireo and White-throated Thrush to our growing trip list.

Overall not a bad day considering that the area around Uruapan is hardly recognised as birding area, it just sounded good, and accesible by public transport for plebs like us so we though we'd give it a go, and it paid off. Thats what this sort of birdy travel is all about.

Anyway, thats me up to date for the time being, hopefully on the next post i'll be able to tell you of a small personal milestone that I should reach within the next few days. Don't look away!!!

Grey Vireos do exist (but they are shitty)

2008-12-12T13:40:00.003Z

Contrary to popular belief, Grey Vireo's actually do exist, i've seen them myself!! However, i'm not surprised they're so difficult to see, as they are really quite a boring looking bird. Imagine a really smart bird, like a Blue-headed Vireo, and then remove all colour, and there you have it, a Grey Vireo.

We've just arrived in La Paz, down in the South of Baja, after a long overnight bus from the small town of San Ignacio, slap-bang in the centre of the peninsula, and we're currently killing time waiting for the ferry to take us to across the Sea of Cortes to Mexico proper.

After Ensenada, we caught a bus South to Guerrero Negro, where we birded around the extensive salt pans just outside of town. The pools were heaving with shorebirds and we picked up plenty of new species, including American Avocet, Western Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher. Herons were also plentiful, with Little-blue and Tricoloured Herons, and Reddish and Snowy Egrets everwhere. We also found the scrub around one particular pool to be heaving with Sage Sparrows, right at the Southernmost limit of their range.
After GN, we took a short bus ride down to San Ignacio, which is prominent for being a big lagoon in the middle of the desert, and very birdy for it. On the lagoon itslef were a Least Grebe and a somewhat out-of-place Great-northern Diver, but it was the surrounding scrub and vegetated desert that really scored. After a quick look on Google Earth, we decided to take a look up a small canyon behind the supermarket on the junction going into the town from Hwy 1. This proved to be a good decision, as it was heaving with birds. Canyon, Rock and Cactus Wren all showed well just behind the supermarket. Verdin, California Gnatcatcher and Black-throated Sparrow were in some ver spiky shrub just up the canyon and Harris' and Zone-tailed Hawks flew overhead. Dubios highlight was the aforementioned Grey Vireo, which gave us excellent views about 200m up the overgrown streambed from the supermarket. We hadnt really expected to see this species so it was even more of a surprise when another came into a spot of pishing near the far end of the canyon later on. Scrambling up the canyon walls to a plateau on the top, we found the cacti to be very popular with Ladder-backed and Gila Woodpeckers, along with a few Gilded Flickers. The odd Costa's Humminbird zoomed past, repalcing Anna's Hummer which had previously been common, and a few Ash-thorated Flycatchers were being vociferous.

For slightly easier birding, we crossed back over the road towards town and had a gander around the scrub opposite the Motelito Fong, where we found our first Baja Endemic, a pair of Grey Thrashers, hanging around with some Cactus Wrens and a few Pyrrhuloxia. Hooded Orioles, stunning Vermillion Flycatchers and White-winged Doves were hanging around the Motelito and then it was time to move on, with a quick stop in Santa Rosalia for a look at the Yellow-footed Gulls and Blue-footed Boobied feeding in the harbour.

Now we have until this afternoon to try and score Xantus Hummingbird somewhere and La Paz before jumping on the ferry, probably at the very last minute, a la Scillonian. Then we're on mainland, where we expect to be totally overwhelmed with a a whole new avifauna, I can't wait!!!

Jumping into the deep end!!

2008-12-08T02:36:00.001Z

America's all well and good, but you know, its a bit like a paddling pool; fun and easy but just a little bit too shallow.
It's been great travelling through the country, but it's time to move onwards with our journey so we jumped on a train in San Diego that took us to the Mexican border and the notorious town of Tijuana. After hearing reports that Tijuana is, and I quote, "a total fucking craphole", we decided to bypass it and head on down to the 'more sedate' town of Ensenada.......Sedate my arse!!!! We went out on the piss last night with a couple of lads in the hostel and had what ranks as one of the craziest nights ever, them Mexicans sure know how to party!! The night culminated in us being chucked out of an Izusu Trooper at 5am on some random road outside of town, though to be fair, it was kindof uncomfotable with 11 people in it. The situation was looking a little bit sketchy at one point, but luckily we managed to find a taxi to take us back into town safely.
Anyhoo, this is supposedly a birding blog so I guess that I ought to write about what we've been seeing:

Not a lot really. From San Francisco, which is a really cool city by the way, we got a bus down to the college town of San Luis Obispo, which is located roughly in the middle of nowhere. We birded the scrubby hills around the village one morning, picking up Acorn and Nuttall's Woodpeckers, California Towhee and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
Since San Luis Obsipo (or SLO as us in the know call it), we haven't birded much, but a walk around the harbour in Ensenada today gave us our first Royal and Elegant Terns flying around, a few Clarks Grebes around the boats and several Cassin's Kingbirds thorughout the town itself.
We're heading South on a bus tomorrow morning, probably going as far as Guerrero Negro, on the border with Baja California Sur, where we'll start trying to see some of the Baja specialties, of which there are quite a few!!

Pelagic Photographs

2008-12-03T03:32:00.005Z

A few pictures from the weekends pelagic in Monterey.

Townsends Warbler in trees along the Seafront

Western Grebe in the harbour

Surf Scoter

Sooty Shearwater

Rhinocerous Auklet

Rhincerous Auklet

Pomarine Skua

Pink-footed Shearwater

Pacific Loon

Bullers Shearwater

Bullers Shearwater

Black-footed Albatross

California

2008-12-02T18:40:00.003Z

Well, its been a pretty hectic few days since leaving Portland. We caught an Amtrak train South to Salinas, and got a bus on to Monterey, ready for a pelagic trip the following day.
The train journey itself was pretty good, and we saw some quality birds including White-tailed Kite, White-faced Ibis, Long-billed Curlew and Marbled Godwit as we trundled along.
Early on the morning of the 29th we joined up with Debra Shearwater for a rare November trip. Even waiting on the quay I picked up a lifer in the form of a Pacific Diver fishing around the supports, along with a load of Black-necked and Western Grebes. Setting off out of the harbour a Black Turnstone was ngits way through a steaming pile of California Sea Lions hauled up on the breakwater, and flocks of Surf Scoters scattered as we passed close by. As we got out into the bay we came across plenty of Rhinocerous Auklets loafing about, and soon after masses of shearwaters started to appear. The vast majority were Black-vented Shearwaters but with a smattering of Sooties and Pink-footed, and a couple of Short tailed. Highlight of the day for all the locals on board was a Great Shearwater (heaps rare out here apparently) but for me a late Bullers Shearwater stole the show. A good number of Black-footed Albatrosses was entertaining too. I bloody love albatrosses, they're right up there with the best birds in the world, and this species is no exception, being a totally different colour to any other members of the family, they are a truly striking bird, and I apologise to anyone next to me on the boat who might have been slightly shocked by some expletives that I couldn't hold in upon seeing the first of these beasts glidig into view.
Further quality came in the form of Cassin's Auklets and Ancient Murrelets that were all over one particualr area of sea, and the trip was rounded off nicely by a school of Pacific White-sided Dolphins that came in for a bit of bow-riding as we steamed back.
Overall an excellent day on the water with a good variety of species, including some much wanted lifers. Though I must say that I wasnt impressed with the price of the trip compared to the others i've done around the world.
The next day was spent in Monterey recovering from bar-based celebrations of the pelagic. This turned out to be a good move however, as we were walking along the sea-front we spoteed a pair of Harlequin Ducks hanging around some rocks in the marina!! All the photos that i've seen of these stunning birds couldn't quite prepare me for just how exquisite a drake Harlequin Duck, they are superb little birds, and all the better for the fact that I really wasnt expecting to see them. After getting good looks at wintering Townsends Warbler, Audobons Warbler and Black Phoebe in nearby trees we had some fun feeding bread to the gulls (Heermans, Western and California) and enjoyed a brunch of Clam Chowder from one of the many outlets on Fishermans Wharf.
After Monterey, we headed up to San Francisco (Matt was lucky enough to pick up Yellow-billed Magpie on the journey). We were supposed to be moving South again today, but the hostel we're staying at is just too good and we were in no fit state this morning to sort out trains and stuff, so we're staying for another day at least. Having seen Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday, we might try and hit up a few museums today, before coming back to the hostel for the promised 'Beer Olympics', with free booze from a local brewery, I said the hostel is good!!!!

Noth Pacific

2008-11-25T23:25:00.002Z

The birding didnt stop after our trek across te country. From Portland we've been out on a couple of day trips acrss Oregon State and had some excellent birding.

On Sunday we headed West to Cannon Beach in the hope of some martime goodies, we weren't disappointed.
First up was Ecola Stae Park, where a scan from the car park revealed a sea swarming with lifers. Pelagic and Brandts Cormorants were sitting on the rocks, Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls loafing around offshore, several Pigeon Guillemot and a single TuftedPuffin buzzing by and Surfbird and Black Oystercatcher on the rocks below. A wlak through the woods added even more, with one particualrly active area holding Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Wrentits, and single Huttons Vireo and Townsends Warbler, with a Red-breasted Sapsucker just up the trail. The highlight of the day however came as we were scanning the ocean from a high viewpoint and a Grey Whale breached several time really close inshore below us. Although I'm predominantly a birder, theres something extra special about seeing mammals and particularly cetaceans, they're just that much more impressive than birds
A quick stop at Seaside Cove gave us a small group of Black Turnstone feeding on the rocks, and loads of Surf and White-winged Scoter and Western Grebes feeding just metres away from very cold looking surfers.
Finally we stopped in Cannon Beach at Dusk to check through the roosting gulls. Glaucous-winged and Western comprised most of the flock but we were rewarded with single Thayers and Heermans Gulls and a monstrous flock of Brown Pelicans roosting alongisde.

Monday we went South to William Finley Wildlife Refuge. All the wetalnds were swathed in dense fog when we arrived so we had a walk through some nice lookng woody areas, picking up Spotted Towhee, Bewicks Wren, California Quail and Bush Tit. Then, suddenly we heard a strange call, like a single whictled note and a hum at the same time. Colin recognised it instantly as a Varied Thrush and sure enough, a spanking male flew up in to a nearby tree. WHAt A BIRD!! Vibrant Orange and subtle Slaty Blue, erched on an old Oak tree covered in moss and dripping with lichen that looked like it had been sprayed from a can of silly string. And there were more too, with about 6-7 birds n one group, all whictling mournfully to each other. One of the best moments of the whole year for me. Walking back to the car we saw another dozen or so of these brilliant zootheras and even had one later in the car park of the refuge headquarters.

As the fog lifted we moved on to the more open areas of the refuge where we saw vast flocks of Canada Geese, mainly Cackling, but with a few Dusky and Taverners thrown in. The area was buzzing with raptors too, with half a dozen Rough-legged Buzzards and Northenr Harriers in view at once, but alas no sign of the hoped for White-tailed Kites. There was one hilarious incident when we spotted a group of geese flying in towards 3 young Bald Eagles sat hunched in a field, obviously thinking tht they were fellow geese, and realising their mistake at the last minute and pulling up in chaotic mess of flapping and honking, and then another group doing exactly the same thing a few minutes later, classic!!

USA road trip pictures

2008-11-25T22:54:00.004Z

800 up!!!

2008-11-24T05:14:00.004Z

Phew, what a mission that was!!
7 days and 4000 miles later, and we're in Portland, Oregon. We arrived at Colin's parents place yesterday afternoon after a furiously paced trek across the country.
From Long Point, we drove non-stop for 24 hours to Kansas ,where we stopped for a short while at Quivira National Preserve for a bit of birding. This was an impressive wetland site, with large numbers of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, along with smaller numbers of Canada and White-fronted Geese, and assorted other wildfowl. We had a few good smaller birds with Loggerhead Shrike being a nice lifer as well as a Harris's Sparrow at some other site back along the road.
From Quivira we carried on in to Colorado, seeing very little until the last few kilometres of plains before the Rocky Mountains started, where we had a stonking Ferruginous Hawk and Prairie Falcon perched up on adjacent telegraph poles, giving fanastic views. We stayed in the Rocky Mountains for a few days, picking up some quality mountain birds, like Pine Grosbeak, Clarks Nutcracker , Stellers and Grey Jays and Three-toed Woodpecker. Unfortunately the weather had been too good to push Rosy-finches down to accessible areas, i'll have to try again for them some time in the future.

We pushed on in to Wyoming seeing Barrows Goldeneye, Western Grebe and Trumpeter Swan on roadside lakes and pools and arrived in the legendary Yellowstone National Park. The only new bird in Yellowstone was an American Dipper, my 800th bird species of the year. The highlght of Yellowstone however, was the mammals ,we had crippling close views of grazing hordes of Bison and Elk, and hunting Coyotes and Red Fox. The only budget acommodation available in Yellowstone at this time of year was camping, so we set up at Mammoth Campsite expecting a freezing night, luckiy iy was surprisingly warm, though when we woke up there was 2 inches of fresh snow on the tent!!! A Great Horned Owl calling from a tree above the tent was a nice disturbance in the middle of the night.

Overall it was an excellent trip across the country, we managed to do it fairly quickly, and on a decent budget thanks to some unbelievably low gas prices (for a european at least). We also saw a pretty decent selection fo birds considering a total lack of planning, we pretty much decided where to go each day by picking a random spot on the atlas each morning!!

We're on a road trip to.........

2008-11-15T12:31:00.004Z

Yes, thats right, we're on a road trip to PANAMA!!!!
possibly.

Later this morning, Oregonian birder Colin Woolley, fellow Brit birder Matt Slaymaker and I are leaving Long Point to drive back to Colins place in Portland, Oregon, from there Matt and I going to peel off (Colin has a job, boooo!) and the current plan is to head down South along the Pacific coast, and travel down through Central America, probably as far as Panama before flying home sometime early next year, depending on jobs, finances and crappy real-world stuff like that.

It has the potential to be a birding trip of epic proportions, and even if it doesnt wrok out as planned we should have an awesome time, and should see some spectacular birds.

We have 10 days to get to Portland from here, so the current idea is to 'properly book it' through the boring middle part to Colorado and then take our time birding back up through the Rockies, hopefully picking up some quality moutainish stuff like Rosy-finches, and Nutcrackers, and maybe some grousey/chickeney things.

It feels wierd to be leaving Long Point, i've been here almost 3 months and had a fantastic time. I've learnt more about birds during my time here than over any other 3 month period during my birding life, apart from the very beginning obviously, and had the opportunity to study some really cool birds close up.
Highlights have been many, and include catching a Great Blue Heron in a net strung up over a pond to catch Snipe (quite possibly the only time i'll ever handle such a dangerous bird), stumbling across the first Boreal Owl (Tengmalm's for all you crazy Europeans) for Long Point, while tape-luring Northern Saw-whet Owls into nets, a dazzling variety of new world wood warblers, even though most were in comparitively grotty fall plumage there were still plenty of gems, catching 6 Cave Swallows over 2 days (only one has been banded in Canada before) including one that I caught in the Heligoland trap, and banding a variety of raptors, the best of which was a stunning adult Red-tailed Hawk, caught on the last day of banding at The Tip.

Anyway, I really ought to pack my stuff up and work out how we're going to make it through USA border control later today.

I hope to be updating this blog fairly frequently as we make our merry way down South, and i'll try and get pictures up as often as I can.

Oh, and if anyone has any good birding gen for the Rockies over the next few days, or for anywhere else between Portland and Panama, particularly for California, please do e-mail me at joe_cockram@hotmail.com, any help will be much appreciated!!!

Pics from a superb fall season at Long Point

2008-11-14T00:49:00.005Z

Long Point pics

2008-09-30T22:27:00.005+01:00

Finally, a few pics from Long point Bird Observatory. As you might imagine, i'm having a wicked time!!!

Epicentre

2008-09-19T01:18:00.003+01:00

You're going to have to stick with me here, i'm far too busy to update this regularly. To sum things up, birding at Long Point is friggin brilliant. The fall (autumn) has properly got underway and we're starting to catch an average of 100 birds a day, so i'm banding plenty of exciting stuff. The highlights over the last few days have been a spanking male Connecticut Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, several Northen Parulas, Hooded Warbler, heaps of other wood-warblers (blackpolls, bay-breasted, Magnolias, Orange-crowned etc).
A few days ago I had an epic vis-mig session here at Old Cut. I spent the entire day (0745- 1945) standing on a 2m diameter picnic table overlooking the marsh, with breaks only to fetch more beer and to help launch the boat taking supplies to The Tip, and recorded an awesome 93 species. An excellent variety of birds with lots of raptors, waders, ducks and passerines. Highlights were 19 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 16 Merlins, 9 Sandhill Cranes and 1 Red-headed Woodpecker, great stuff.
Other exciting birds have included a Whip-poor-will that we caught in the middle of the night a couple of days ago, a good haul of Northern Flickers (really cool birds to handle, if you dont mind having your fingers lacerated), the first Eastern Phoebe of the fall (they smell like fresh laundry/or, 'like spring' according to some people).
I'm still racking up the lifers and today i've recorded my 100th lifer of my trip over here, and pushed my world year list up to 726, not that i'm counting it religiously or anything sad like that.
Basically i'm having an excellent time over here and have come to the conculsion that birding on North America is heaps better than birding in England, and I don't want to ever come back.

P.S, I see all the birds I sent to my friends in Ireland made it over in one piece.

P.P.S, only joking (sort of)

LPBO

2008-09-05T21:04:00.003+01:00

After a couple of weeks at The Tip, i'm back at Old Cut for a short while. Migration has been slow to get underway but we're catching a steady trickle of birds, not much of any interest to the locals but heaps of new birds for me, i've already had 70ish lifers, and my world year list has been given a welcome boost after stagnating over the summer.
Highlight so far were 2 Willets that I found on the beach at The tip. We even managed to catch one on a midnight spotlightlighting session, and it became the 3rd ever banded at LPBO, we also got a Sanderling and a Semi-palmated Plover that night. I also banded a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which was pretty cool, and not at all bad for my 5th bird extracted from a mist net!! I even have a couple of holes in the webbing between my thumb and forefinger to remind me to to be slightly more careful next time I band a hawk, which should hopefully be pretty soon. Other interesting birds banded here (but not by me) were a Great-horned Owl that was found waterlogged in someones garden having been sprayed by a skunk it was attemtping to eat and then falling into a navigation channel after being blinded by the acrid liquid. The banding lab still stinks. Also an Eastern Screech Owl that was tap lured in one night.
Apart from awesome birds like that, i've been badning plenty of common warblers, sparrows, vireos etc,which has all been educational for when/if I ever find one back in the UK.
I've got plenty of photos of birds being banded and real birds in the field that I might get around to posting up here soon, don't hold your breath tho.

Oh and also, I completely forgot to mention how the Little Terns at Kilcoole did this year. In the end we had 74 pairs, with 130 young fledged, the 4th most succesful year at the colony since the project begun. We were all very pleased with this score, and hopefully will result in decent numbers coimg back again next year.

Across the Pond

2008-08-21T18:38:00.002+01:00

Right, enough of this noncey "meh, i can't be arsed to go birding " shite. Courtesy of an 8 hour flight westwards from London Gatwick, i'm well and truly back in the game!!
I'm now in Canada, at Long Point Bird Observatory, just south of Toronto. Long Point is a sandy peninsula sticking out 40kms into Lake Eerie and is one of the best birding spots in North America. Just looking at the map you can see that it was almost designed as a migrant trap, and the figures over previous years certainly back that up. Since banding began back in 1960, over 750,000 birds have been banded, including over 35,000 last year, that is a helluva lot of birds. I got here on Monday night and have already been racking up the lifers. Highlights so far have been a good selection of warblers, including Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green and Black and White. An early White-winged Crossbill was also nice. I've started banding (ringing) in earnest and done some quality birds like Cedar Waxwing, Norhtern Flicker, Magnolia Warbler, Brown Thrasher etc. You get the idea, all crippling rares back in England but dirt birds over here.
Having spent a few days learning the ropes here at the Old Cut Station (LPBO HQ), i'm being shipped out to The Tip of the peninsula this afternoon, where most of the action is.
If I dont get to update this very frequently, then check out the Bird Studies Canada Long Point Sightings Page, which should be updated with all the news fairly frequently.

oxegen 2008

2008-07-24T16:40:00.004+01:00

I've given up birding!!
Well, for the time being at least. Seeing as how i'm spending all day every day staring at a seabird colony for a living, the last thing I want to do on my days off is go birding again.
A few weeks back I wandered off to Oxegen festival near Dublin which was absolutely brilliant. MGMT were the stars as they played a packed Pet Sounds tent, i even managed to get in a bit of crowd surfing, a much more satisfying life tick than the King Eider down at Tacumshin would've been.
Embedding music videos in birding blogs seems to be all the rage in times when there are sod all rares about so heres my first foray into stealing stuff off of Youtube.

I was somewhere in the middle of all that lot, and far too busy having a good time to try and film it myself, but I reckon that these videos manage to convey the sense of madness pretty well

The Chemical Brothers finished off with a blistering 90 minute set, which included this sequence in their big screen spectacular which I think has permanantly fucked me up (You need to have worked as a seabird warden to fully understand!!)

On the subject of seabirds ,a quick update on the progress of the Little Terns down here at Kilcoole. We had 72 pairs nest this year. So far we've had 48 chicks fledge, and theres another 60-80 chicks still somewhere between hatching and fledging, hopefully i'll be able to provide a moe accurate figure closer to the end of the season, but as things stand, its definately a successful season, especially compared to the last 2 years, both of which only managed to produce 20-30 fledglings.

Ouch!!

2008-05-19T09:18:00.002+01:00

I guess everybody has been checking this blog recently hoping for some record shots of the crippling rares flooding Portland at the moment. I'm afraid that wont be happening as i'm currently living in a caravan on the edge of the Irish Sea, and i'm somewhat lacking in computer and rares.
Yes, having spent the last 2 months desperately waiting for the time to leave the island of dreams, i've finally started my job wardening the Little Tern colony at Kilcoole, just south of Dublin, and literally as I stepped onto the tarmac at Dublin Airport, an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler was plucked from the nets in the obs, and yesterday a Thrush Nightingale turns up. Oh well, shit happens.
Still, i've got plenty to keep me happy over here. Kilcoole is a wonderful site, a network of brackish lagoons and grazing marshes backing onto a strip of coastal scrub and a shingle beach, it looks like a superb spot for some goodies to turn up, I can't imagine what birds would turn up there if it was sited somewhere more promising, like right down in the south-east, oh, right, that would be Tacumshin.
The Little Terns are shaping up nicely for a good season with about 150 birds present, and the colony looking extremely hectic, with a constant stream of males bringing back sandeels for courtship feeding, we're expectign to find the first eggs any day now, and then the work really starts, with 24 hour watch on the site to deter predators during the night, and keep the public informed during the day.
Dont expect too many updates to the blog ,as my caravan isnt fitted out with wi-fi yet ,and I wont have too much time off to waltz into internet cafes, i'm only writing this as i'm waiting for the Government Offices in Bray to open so I can sort out all the tax stuff, oh the joys of working abroad!!!

What a Lark!!

2008-05-08T16:21:00.005+01:00

Another day with a total dearth of common migrants, but exciting again on the rarity front.
Early on into a a seawatch off The Bill we had a Short-toed Lark in off the sea, unfortunately it didnt stop and we couldnt find it despite a good search over the slopes, top fields and obs plough.
Not exactly the best views but we followed it in the scopes long enough to see the lack of white trailing edge, general paleness to upperparts, clean underparts and dark patches on the breast sides. Nice but slightly frustrating.

After returning to the seawatch and clocking up a nice total of 72 Black Terns going East, we had another try for the Lark in the Top Fields, on the way back to the obs we picked up a Red-rumped Swallow flying distantly over the East Cliffs, we went down to have a look and found 2 more sat on the fence, presumably some of the birds from yesterday, but at this time of the year you just can't be sure.
For the next hour or so, they were flying around with masses of Barn Swallows giving fantastic close views and calling loudly all around us. I managed some much better photos than yesterday, be sure to click on them for full effect!!

The Swallows lined up in front of The Obs tower

A lone Arctic Skua off The Bill this morning

Too much to Swallow

2008-05-07T17:22:00.007+01:00

A cracking day on the island today with a good arrival from the south.

First up a was a single Red-rumped Swallow in the Top Fields, while looking for that bird, the call came through that there was 2 sat on the wires by the obs.
I dont know why, but I just love Red-rumped Swallows, they're one of those birds that no matter how many you see, it's always worth seeing more. So I legged it down to the obs, arriving just 5 minutes later, thats got to be a record, and even more impressive considering that I was carrying bins and a camera with telephoto lens, and was on the phone most of the way too. And even more impressive considering my spectacular fall as I tripped over a stray bramble vine, sending me flying several metres off track, jamming my bins into my face and getting a dead leg from landing on the pager in my pocket. I now have a nice square bruise on my thigh, thanks RBA!!

After a good look at these little beauts, and cooking and eating beans on toast in what was probably a record time too, I was back in the field again, arriving at the obs just as a Bee Eater appeared hawking over the Old Higher Light, Get In!! My british bogey bird. I've missed several by a matter of minutes, and only heard 2 (including the one a few days back). It was pretty distant but gave acceptable views before disappearing North up the Island, and despite extensive searching, was never seen again.
A very satisfying day overall, and all the more enjoyable for the sublime weather, I even caught the sun a bit, a very rare event in England for me.

What with todays birds and the Whiskered Tern down at Radipole, things are certainly looking up down here in South Dorset, and hopes are certialy high for the next few days.
It may seem a bit greedy after what we've had already but we're really hoping for a proper 'biggy' to put Portland back on the rarity map. White-throated Robin would do nicely!!

The Cats Whiskers

2008-05-05T16:56:00.004+01:00

Apart from a decent arrival of Spotted Flycatchers and Turtle Doves, Portland was a bit quiet this morning. luckily news broke of a Whiskered Tern down in Weymouth at Radipole Lake RSPB giving us a good excuse to give up early.
After a nervy moment when it disappeared temporarily and saw us dashing off to look for it at nearby Lodmoor, the bird returned and gave excellent views as it hawked around the Buddelia Pool, viewable from the Buddelia Loop or the Tennis Courts.
The last Dorset record wasback in the 1980's I think, so there was a fair few people there throughout the morning.
An excellent bird to see as all the Whiskered Terns that i've seen before have been grotty winter plumaged birds out in Asia. This was the first sum plum bird that i've seen, a real cracker.
After watching it for a while I remembered that it was even a British tick for me, result!!

What a load of sh*t

2008-05-04T18:14:00.005+01:00

Well, actually it was a pretty good day on the Island, but this Blue-headed Wagtail could have chosen a more photogenic perch!!

'Most awkward bird of the day' award went to this spazzy Redpoll. Looks like a Lesser, but its got a pale rump. I don't get it!

Seawatching was quite productive with a Roseate and a few Black Terns, them two together was like Ying and Yang.
A fine male Hen Harrier off on a jolly to France was unexpected but most welcome
Also a couple of Poms, Arctic Skuas and these 3 Velvet Scoter

A few more shots of the Blue-headed Wagtail

Yet another Sibe Chiff

2008-05-03T16:54:00.002+01:00

A new Siberian Chiffchaff that was pulled out of the obs nets this afternoon

Whinchat

Early Purple Orchids

Stock Dove

Common Buzzard

A few of the many thousands of Manx Shearwaters feeding off The Bill each day

Herring Gull with Spider Crab

Another disatant Pom Skua

Iceland Gull

2008-04-29T16:43:00.002+01:00

Yet another day that started off promisingly but failed to deliver the goods (on the rarity side of things at least)

First up were two Hawfinches that flew over us on the Top Fields shortly after dawn, 'zick'ing away as they do.

Next a seawatch off the Bill was going painfully slowly until an Iceland Gull rounded the cliffs right in front of us, just as a Pom Skua was bombing through a bit further out, some people just didn't know where to look!

I'm a bit unsure of the ageing of this bird. The greyish tint to the mantle, and well marked bill would suggest a 2nd winter, but the dark eye looks more in line for a 1st winter. I know sod all about gull ageing though, so if anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

Prruup Prruup!!

2008-04-28T16:46:00.010+01:00

Today got off to an excellent start when what was presumably yesterdays Serin appeared in our garden as we left home early in the morning.
Half an hour later, as we were checking Culverwell, I heard a distinctive prruup prruup, bloody BEE EATER. I rushed out of the trees and frantically scanned the skies but there was no sign of the bird. A search back over the Top Fields and the gardens of Southwell was equally fruitless. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

The Serin returned again in the afternoon and sung for a while from the tree behind our kitchen window.

Crappy Brambling flight shot that I forgot about from a week ago.

And the Serin's back again now. How cool is that, it's like living in Spain, but without the wierd language, oh, hang on, this is Portland, just like Spain then.

EDIT: 10 minutes later, here it is again, back in the Silver Birch, thats an awesome tree, we've now seen Mealy Redpoll, Ring Ouzel, Pallas's Warbler and several Yellow-browed Warblers in it (in reverse chronological order)

I even heard it tinkling through the bathroom window as I was having a tinkle myself, how ironic!!
For the non-birders anongst you, (and probably a few "birders" too), 'tinkling' is a good way to describe the song of the Serin, I wasn't listening to it taking a slash or anything wierd like that.

We Wuz Robbed

2008-04-27T19:15:00.004+01:00

It was all set up nicely for a parade of poms this morning, and then the crappy weather went and spoilt it all. First, a big-off thunderstorm was hanging around offshore for ages and all the seabirds were blatantly passing around the other side of it (which is fair enough really), and then as soon as that moved on, thick sea-mist rolls in for the entire day, reducing visibility to the exact distance of sod-all, rubbish!!

Still, a male Serin was fine compensation as it spent the morning feeding and singing in the Obs Garden and Hut Fields.

These might just qualify as record shots, but i'm not sure if they're even up to that standard.

The first view I had of the bird as it flew over us on the Bill Common, calling loudly

It then gave excellent views through the scope in the hut fields but was far too far away for photography.
And there were way too many people around to try and creep up on it. You can get hanged in public for doing that sort of thing days you know. The Birdforum lynchmob gets everywhere, no-one is safe!!!

Poms are coming

2008-04-26T16:24:00.006+01:00

There can be few sights as specatacular as a flock of fully spooned Pomarine Skuas thundering past a South coast headland in spring. We're just starting to get the vanguard through now, with several seen each day. They've all been a bit far off for photgraphs, with this bird this morning coming the closest.

Note the heavy chest, long spoon shaped tail and big white flashes on the wings. Photos like this just can't do the birds justice, you really need to see them powering along to fully aprecciate them.

This Great-northen Diver flew close past the bill this morning

Several hundred Manx Shearwaters were feeding off the Pulpit Rock, but never came in too close to shore

The usual residents are always flying by, including this Shag

And this cock Pheasant was skulking around Culverwell this morning.

Gropper

2008-04-23T19:55:00.010+01:00

Another good day for common migrants on Portland with heavy rain overnight and dense fog at dawn. The fog cleared very quickly, leaving behind a big whack of Grasshopper Warblers, they were reeling everywhere, it was like some crazy form of tinitus!!

Gropper trapped at the obs, just about the only way to get a picture of a whole one, unless your very patient or very jammy. I am neither.

Fat Skylark: You should cut down on your craneflies mate, Get some exercise!!!

It must be at least 6 months since I last posted a pic of the Little Owl in the Obs Quarry, so here's another one
Yet another flyover Whimbrel

NOTE: I am aware that craneflies aren't the chosen fodder of Skylarks, nor does it really rhyme with 'pork-life', but what ya gonna do about it.

How Stupid Do I Look

2008-04-21T18:42:00.003+01:00

Typical, bloody typical!!
Just hours after proclaiming the Mealy Redpoll as Portlands 'bird of the day' yesterday, a Black Kite and Red-rumped Swallow turn up in quick succession.
Unfortunately I didnt see either, but I won't beat myself up over that.

Plenty of migrants on the island today. Year ticks in the form of Reed, Sedge and Garden Warlber (taking me over 600 for the year, and all in Dorset too, apart from a short visit to Asia, but that didnt have much of an impact on the total really).

The Reed showed exceptionally well responding to some fierce pishing.

Also, this total heap of a Black Redstart

Other unphotographable goodies included a handful of Ring Ouzels and Groppers, 10 Little Gulls feeding off the bill, a few Pied Flycatchers and best numbers of the year of Redstart and Whitethroat

Mealy Roll

2008-04-20T16:42:00.003+01:00

The best day of the spring so far on Portland today, a good variety of stuff on the land and passing by on the sea. Bird of the day goes to this Mealy Redpoll trapped and ringed in the Obs garden this morning

Most noticable bird today was Common Redstart, with around 40 on the southern half of the island. This male was in our back yard at lunchtime and a another bird was in the front garden. My excuse for the rubbish photo is that it was taken through our mucky kitchen window.
One of the many Whimbrel that went East this morning

A Weasel is weasily recognised:

2008-04-17T16:29:00.006+01:00

An inquistive Weasel in the Top Fields was one the highlights of a pretty good morning yesterday. After it ran across the track, we managed to squeak it in for some really good views of this cool little mammal. It was pretty birdy as well, with a good arrival of Grasshopper Warblers ( I heard 10 singing, but only saw 3!!!), Common Redsarts, and the commoner migrants like Willow Warblers and Wheatears.

I had left the scope at home, but there were a few things moving by on the sea, best Whimbrel numbers of the year so far......

and a pair of Tufted Duck, not something we see that often off The Bill

With howling Easterlies this morning, birding on the land was nigh on impossible, so the morning was spent huddled down on The Bill seawatching. Nothing spectacular but a good variety of birds, mainly waders and wildfowl and a fair bit of passerine vis-mig overhead

SEO by the sea

2008-04-16T11:05:00.003+01:00

You can tell that summer is on the way when you can watch Hollyoaks, and there's still enough time in the day to go birding!! A short walk around the top fields yesterday evening produced this Short-eared Owl but not a lot else. Not the best shots, but you wont get that lovely ocean blue background photographing those stuffed things at Ouse Washes.

Airborne action

2008-04-14T18:29:00.007+01:00

Not many birds around portland again today, so the dubious highlight was this coastguard helicpoter faffing around off the East Cliffs, but apparently not actually rescuing anyone

the light was so good that I had to stop down to f32 to get a shutter speed slow enough toget some motion in the blades, unfortunately it also shows up the filthy state of my sensor, yeuch!!

flyover Lapwing at dawn

Kestrel getting decked by the local yobs

One of 5 Common Sandpipers at The Bill

sad looking oiled Guillemot. I wanted to catch it, but it was sat on an offshore rock, so was unreachable. I might have a try if it's still there tomorrow though.

Fulmar off the West Cliffs

The curse is lifted!!!

2008-04-13T16:49:00.004+01:00

Finally, we've had some windy weather. Friday and Saturday had a moderate south-westerly, resulting in some good numbers of Manx Shearwaters, moving East on the Friday, and coming back West on Saturday, most of them coming in really close as well. We've also had a few Bonxies and Red-throated Divers, allowing me to give the new scope (Kowa773) a good trial at last. Basically i'm very impressed with it, its superbly bright and sharp, and pretty light and compact as well (considering the large 77mm objective lens) so i'll have no qualms about taking it on long foreign trips. Focusing is a delight to use as well, lovely and smooth, and the dual geared knob (fnarr fnarr) is much easier to use than I had expected.
Hows that for a comprehensive, in-depth review eh?
Also, the price of it went up by £200 yesterday for some peculiar reason, leaving me very glad that I purchased it when I did.

Anyway, Portland was very quiet again today, highlight being this water-spout type thing off The Bill. With a bit (a very big bit) of imagination, you can just about make out the disturbance in the water, pointed out by the wopping great big yellow arrow, in case you hadn't guessed.

Also this smart Flying Piecatcher, the first of the year

A Meadow Pipit on a lovely natural looking perch

Praying for wind

2008-04-10T16:50:00.006+01:00

Having blown a silly amount of money on a new scope a couple of weeks ago, i've been waiting for an opportunity to try it out properly. Unfortunately, ever since I bought it, Portland has been uncharacteristically calm, and there hasn't even been a hint of a good seawatch on the cards. Almost every evening, BBC weather is forecasting moderate SSW winds for the next morning, and every morning, its calmer than a gnats fart, so, apart from yesterdays Little Crake twitch, i've always left the scope gathering dust in the corner.
Being the supersticious lot that they are, the Portlanders have been blaming the scope for the calm weather. I'm half expecting to come back one day and find "Kowa" scrawled out and "Jonah" written in its place.
Yet again, theres a bit of onshore wind apparently coming tomorrow, so i'm hoping that this will finally be the time to christen the scope (Little Crake doesn't count according to certain seabird obsessives)

If there is no wind tomorrow, then i'm going to start advertising my self as a 'Storm suprresant', so the next time the Caribbean, or somewhere else warm and birdy is facing a Hurricane threat, they can hire me to fly out with my scope to set up on some random headland, and hey-presto, the storm will abate, could be quite a lucrative business that, though it may result in me never seeing a decent seabird again for the rest of my life.
On second thoughts, I might just have to ditch the scope, or get it exorcised or something, my one goal in life is to see a Fea's Petrel from an English headland, and if something doesn't change soon, I may go disappointed.

Rock Pipit on the East Cliffs this afternoon. Amazingly, we haven't had a single littoralis here yet this spring.

One of the many foxes roaming the Top Fields. This was one of the few occasions where I regretted swapping my gun for a camera!!

Little Craker

2008-04-09T16:28:00.003+01:00

With Portland being pretty quiet this morning we decided to go down to Exminster Marshes for a look at the Little Crake, which would be an actual real whole wide world tick for me.
On arrival, a bloke was just telling us that it had disappeared and that they thought it might have moved onto a different stream when I interuppted him to point out that was in fact right in front of us, having just crept out of the reeds, impeccable timing as ever. It showed well on the edge of the ditch but was always obscured by a wall of reeds right in front of us.
It did move further down where we had a clear view but it was a bit further away, allowing only some iffy record shots:

Safety goggles are recommended, that primary projection could have someones eye out!!

It then legged it over the road, flew over another couple of ditches and disappeared. Happy with the views we had got, we headed home, dipping the Falcated Duck at Countess Wear on the way, its a crappy escapee anyway.

More Sibe Chiffs

2008-04-08T17:20:00.003+01:00

I spent far too much of today trying to photograph the Siberian Chiffchaff around the obs. I couldnt quite get the perfect shot, but these give a good impression of the bird.

It's starting to look a bit less scruffy than it did a few weeks ago.

The buffy ear coverts show well in most of these shots

Highlight of the day though, was a male Ring Ouzel that showed for a few seconds this morning from my kitchen window while I was washing up after breakfast. A quality garden tick and the first one on Portland this year.
Otherwise, masses of Willow Warblers around the bill first thing this morning, and a good arrival og Wheatears mid-morning.

Nepal Trip Report

2008-04-07T16:40:00.000+01:00

A trip report from our time in Nepal us now online at:

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=1355

Tame stuff

2008-04-05T16:31:00.003+01:00

Some very tame birds on Portland today

This female Common Kestrel was very confiding down near the Bird Observatory

And on returning home after a mornings birding, we found the lawn covered in feeding Willow Warblers, including this very approachable individual

Isn't Portland Great

2008-04-03T16:05:00.010+01:00

Today, I was accused by a reader of this blog of constantly whingeing about how shit Portland is, so in an effort to reverse such negativity, heres a load of fantastic photographs of some crippling rarities on the Island today

Marsh Harrier

Meadow Pipit: Anyone who refers to a bird like this as a 'Little Brown Job' seriously needs to open their minds

One of the many local Peregrines

Skylark: such beautiful songsters aren't they. And doing rather well on Portland thanks to the derelict state of the farmland

There, can't you just feel the happiness oozing out of every pixel, I love this place.

But a few rares wouldn't go amiss

Grot

2008-04-01T16:06:00.002+01:00

Some rubbish shots of the meagre pickings on Portland this last week

Black Redsart

Firecrest

Willow Warbler

Sand Martin

Siberian Chiffchaff
Having been thinking about trying to photograph this bird since it turned up in November, I finally got around to walking around the hut fields with my camer a few days ago, and it duly popped out for a record shot.
Note how scruffy it looks thanks to undergoing full body moult at the moment. A useful i.d feature perhaps, as I guess most collybitta would have finished moulting ages ago

Rajahstan Part 2

2008-03-30T17:09:00.009+01:00

Photos from our 2 day camel trek through the desert around Jaisalmer

Desert Lark

Me and my camel, for some reason I appear to be holding an imaginary pint!!

Trumpeter Finch

JP failing to look as comfortable as Lawrence of Arabia

Look Mum, no hands!!

Desert Wheater that was feeding around our camp

Southern Grey Shrike, perched on a rolled up blanket in the camp

Me posing on the dunes

Brown-necked Raven

Chinkara (Indian Gazelle)

Extreme pale phase Laggar Falcon

What its all about; having a beer around a camp fire.

Any comments about my pasty white legs will be deleted straight away! And anway, they only look like that cos the rest of me is so perfectly tanned

Rahjahstan part1

2008-03-25T12:18:00.010Z

Photos from the first few days of our week in Rajahstan

White-eared Bulbul

Jodhpur fort and the blue city

JP looking very studious during the audio tour around Jodhpur Fort

And me being very cultured

And then I go and ruin the illusion that i may have grown up

Jodhpur fort from the south

And from the North, what a building eh!

JP givng away food!!! Not something you see very often

The floating palace of Udaipur, as seen in Bond film Octopussy

Variable Wheatear

Tawny Pipit

Rock Eagle Owl

White-tailed Plover

Common Babbler

Gujarat

2008-03-18T12:39:00.006Z

Photos from our lightning-paced tour of Gujarat- 5 days for an entire state, no wonder we missed practically everything!!

Ring-necked Parakeet

Red-wattled Lapwing

Greater Flamingo

Hoopoe

Holy Man

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Mottled Wood Owl

Little Cormorant

Black Ibis

Citrine Wagtail

Crab Plover

Photographing the Crab Plovers. Note use of the latest 'realtree' camoflauge material.

JP demonstating the wonder that is a 'Sleeper Bus'

Goa pix

2008-03-15T14:21:00.010Z

A selection of pictures from our week in Goa. Most of these shots were taken from the balcony of the Beira Mar hotel, thats how easy the birding was.

Rose-coloured Starling

Marsh Harrier

Painted Snipe

Purple Ron

Pintail Snipe. I found these much easier to i.d in flight than from views like this

See what I mean

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Blue-tailed Bee Eater

Cinammon Bittern

Forest Wagtail at Molem

Little Green Bee Eater

Blue-capped Rock Thrush at Bondla

Brown Wood Owl at Saligao spring

Drinking fresh coconut milk, infinitely better than the stuff you can get out of 'fresh' coconut from Asda.

How we spent the vast majority of the week, drinking Kingfisher on the beach!!!

Bombay Mix

2008-03-13T12:05:00.004Z

From Ranthabhore we got yet another train down to the metropolis of Mumbai, where we had to wait for a day until our next train. We spent most of it bumming around the city doing touristy things.

JP sampling the local cuisine

Me blending in with the locals at the famous "Gateway of India"

JP getting blessed by some bloke claiming to be a holy man

The same bloke then blessed me (how kind of him).
Needless to say, that dot thing that he put on my forehead (I think they call them tikkas over there) got rubbed off straight away, i'm all for embracing the culture and all that, but walking round with that thing on would just have been taking the piss.

And then we headed down to the beaches of Goa, reeeaaayyy!!

The long haul South

2008-03-12T10:37:00.004Z

From Corbett we begun the long journey South to Goa. Starting with an afternoon in the transport hub town for Corbett- Ramnagar, then an overnight train down to Delhi, a quick train down to Agra to tick off the Taj Mahal, then another train on to Ranthmabhore NP, all in the same day.

Plumbeous Water Redstart female

Small Minivet

JP showing a total lack of respect at one of the seven wonders of the world. Note: we didnt have the time (or the money) to take a tour inside the Taj complex, so we opted for a quick look and some record shots from the opposite bank of the river

Nilgai Antelope. When this thing bolted out of the scrub in front of us we didnt have a clue what it was. Some wierd combination of horse/deer/giraffe! A true "what the fuck is that!!!" moment

Black-shouldered Kite

alboides White Wagtail

Greater Coucal

Crested Serpent Eagle

Indian Pond Heron

Long-billed Pipit

Yesterdays Storm

2008-03-11T15:23:00.003Z

Although it was nowhere near as savage as the media had told us it would be, the storm that struck Southern England yestarday was still pretty impressive. These shots were taken down at Portand Bill, the camera in one hand and clinging onto any available post or building with the other.
And yes, I did get totally drenched in the process.

Corbett part 2

2008-03-09T10:15:00.012Z

The last set of pictures from Corbett National Park;

Scaly-bellied Woodpecker

Wild Boar, taken from a moving elephant, not as easy as it sounds.

Irreverant, moi?
A bust of the legendary Jim Corbett, who set up the park way back when.

Lineated Barbet

Golden Mahaveer, and Black Mahaveer. If they did fish and chips in india, I would want one of them!!! with mushy peas of course

Pallas's Fish Eagle

River Lapwing, again taken from a moving elephant
Sunrise over the grassland banks of the Ramganga River

The other elephant that was with us on our morning safari

Gharial Crocodile ,showing its amazing long snout, ideal for catching those Mahaveer

Nature truly is raw in tooth and claw! This Spotted Deer fawn was still struggling as the Golden Jackal hauled it into the elephant grass

Elvis isn't dead!!!
Himalayan Bulbuls surely have the funkiest hairstyles of any bird.

Siberian Chiffchaff

2008-03-08T13:57:00.005Z

While I was doing the usual early morning walk on Portland today, Graham and Duncan Walbridge went down to Radipole to get a look at yesterdays Siberian chiffchaff. The bird wasn't showing as well as it was yesterday and the weather was pretty grotty but Duncan managed to get a few photos of it, which he's kindly allowed me to use here;

This shot shows the 'buffy' supercillium fairly well, and also the buffy-white underparts.

You can just about see the 'greyish-buff' tone to the crown, nape and ear coverts here. The bright green fringes to the flight feathers are just visible. these are more obvious than on most tristis but well within expected variation.

Of course, the main thing that I can't show here is the call. Graham and Duncan heard the bird calling frequently this morning and agreed that it was bang on for tristis.

You may have noticed that the brief description I wrote on here last night was pretty shit. On seeing the bird I just thought 'oh, thats a Siberian Chiffchaff, how nice' and didnt really think about taking notes. Then, this morning I flicked through this months BB down the Obs and saw the articles about how important it is to take good notes on this species, particularly with regards to colour tone, oops.
Anyway, i'm going into Weymouth later this afternoon to see if the Caspian Gull shows up at Radipole before going off to roost (it was seen in Weymouth Bay this morning). So i'll have another look for the chiffchaff and try and take a few more photos.

Corbett NP

2008-03-07T20:44:00.007Z

From Nainital we descended to Corbett National Park, where we spent a few days. As expected, the park was teeming with all sorts of fantastic wildlife. Heres a few shots to start with

Slaty-headed Parakeet

Jungle Cat, not the big cat we were hoping for, but still a fine looking creature

Marsh Mugger Crocodile, one of two species of crocodile in the park

Plum-headed Parakeet

Pied Kingfisher

Alpine Swift

Black Stork

Changeable Hawk-eagle

Grey-capped Pygmy-woodpecker

The theiving little git of a Macacque that tried to pinch our crisps

Highlight of the days birding in South Dorset today for me was a Siberian Chiffchaff that I found at Radipole Lake RSPB. I had been doing a bit of shopping in Weymouth and decided to nip in and try to re-locate last weeks Caspian Gull (no joy on that front unfortunately)
The bird showed very well in willows on the buddeia loop near the viewing pagoda/hide thingy. A typical tristis, greyish upperparts, whitish underneath, with narrow green edges to the primaries and the inner tail feathers. A bit of gentle pishing coaxed it into calling a few times, a short, flat 'heet', identical to the birds i've been listening to in India for the last 2 months, as well as the birds that hung around for ages near Portland Bird Obs last Autumn and Winter.
The bird was showing so well that I rushed back home to grab the camera, but on return it was no-where to be seen, only a colybitta on the other side of the loop. Apparently though, some of the reserve staff managed to see it while I was away.
Not quite a rarity, but still a nice find.

First India pictures

2008-03-06T12:10:00.005Z

From Chitwan we took what we now refer to as "the bus journey from hell" to Mahendranagr on the Indian border, after a surprisingly smooth crossover we took a share-jeep taxi up to Nainital, back up in the moutains.
The weather was pleasantly clear and warm when we arrived. Afte checking in at a hotel we popped into an internet cafe, came out an hour later to find the town in chaos and under a foot of snow, and it was till falling, very heavily. It just goes to show how quickly the weather can change up there. The snow was very welcome from a birding point of view, as it forced a lot of good birds down into the parks and gardens of the town.

Streaked
Laughing-
thrush

Spot-winged Tit

White-tailed Nuthatch

Buff-barred Warbler

Black-hooded Oriole

Black-throated Tit

Grey-hooded Warbler

Us in the snow at Nainital

Highlight of the mornings birding at Portland today was a Balearic Shearwater west past The Bill, the first island record for March, meaning that they have been recorded in every month of the year on the island. Surely there cant be many other sites in the country who can boast that!!
In other news, i've been offered the job from Birdwatch Ireland that I mentioned a few posts back. So i'll be helping to warden Ireland's largest Little Tern colony, down at Kilcoole in Co. Wicklow for the summer. Should be good!

Pix from Royal Chitwan NP

2008-03-05T15:15:00.004Z

Chitwan National Park was pretty poor photographically speaking. For the duration of our stay (a whopping 2 nights) the place was shrouded in a horrible haze/fog. Typically, it started to clear up just as we were leaving

Pair of Ruddy Shelducks, there were masses of these along the Rapti River, and probably the fist 'genuine' ones i've ever seen. (The pair over the plains near Madrid last summer were a bit iffy if i'm honest with myself)

Awww, how cute is that

Golden Jackal slinking through the grasslands

The best bird in the park, Ibisbill. Probably the worst shot ever taken of one of these legendary birds

The Inidian Rhino wot charged us. This photo was taken with the 18-55mm lens. We had emerged out of the jungle onto the track where the Rhino is here, then ran back to the armed guards, to take this photo in relative safety. Apparently Rhino's have crappy eyesight so it probably couldnt see us there anyway, but it was certainly following us well enough as we crashed through the undergrowth with it in hot pursuit. A weird funny/scary experience and a somewhat dubious highlight of the trip

A monstrous pachyderm, and an elephant