It's birding Jim, but not as we know it!!...

So, there I am sat at my girlfriends brothers wedding yesterday, happily getting arse 'oled (as I'm want to do at these occaisions), when my mobile goes off!... It's Mark, me birding bud from Cheshire, who informs me there is an adult Ring-billed Gull at The Mere & 7 Scaup at Colemere!!!....
WHAT!!??... Well, no chance of me getting out there, besides it's dark!! Fellow wedding guests were treated to the physical effect of what 'twitching' actually can do, as I leapt up frantically phoning every sod in my birding section on my mobile, swearing loudly in the process... Eventually I get the confirmation!!..

So, this morning with a full size 10 hangover in full effect I shoot off to Colemere to join Jim whose been there for a while already... I arrive and Jim joins me as we watch the now 6 Scaup out in the middle of Colemere, every Common Gull checked in the process for the yanky Ring-billed t*at that has clearly 'done one'!!.... Male Goosander & Goldeneye also with the Scaup were very nice too.... Not a year tick, but hey, how often do you see 6 Scaup on an inland water!!?.. Where the 7th one was I dunno?... But you cant beat birding with a hangover... I was surprised that only Jim was there watching them though?.. C'mon Shropshire, the decent birds aint gonna land in your bloody garden are they?....

(You watch now, on the pager - Yellow-rumped Warbler; in private garden/Shrops.)



3 of the 6 Scaup at Colemere today, totally out of focus, totally shite!!!....




Here I managed to nudge the camera just enough to obtain a James Bond opening theme effect to the already crap photo!!!....


Here I captured distant male Goldeneye & adult male Scaup!!... It's still a shite photo tho!!...


Erm, this one of a drake Goosander is er.... well, actually quite good for me... dunno what happened!!?...

Well... it's a post...

Having been working solidly up to Christmas (plus I'm working throughout Christmas!!)... I've been having to cram all my spare time in around family, my daughter, my sexy gal, Xmas shopping (yuk!!) & all the other holiday season b******s!!!... So, hardly any birding time at all!!

I did pop into VP a couple of times, but other than the finch/bunting flock in the top field becoming gradually more impressive, there was nothing worth blogging!!
I did try to capture another digital photographic masterpiece of a group of 27 Goosander on the Severn at Atcham the other day, but as I got within 100 odd yards of them they spotted me & began to slip into the water, so I did the responsible behaviour when approaching wild birds & backed away!!!... So, no piccie....
So whilst Jim is getting stunning pictures of a Jack Snipe at Chelmarsh (excellent pics those Jim by the way, in my opinion, not only your personal best but the best pictures I've ever seen of this bird!! - well done mate!!!)...

I have been regularly checking out the large gull flock at Leighton bank, on the gravel shore of the Severn. Up to c.300 gulls usually, my only decent find here was an adult Yellow-legged Gull around a month ago... But with Iceland & Glaucous Gulls knocking about the west mids, plus an adult Caspian Gull regularly roosting at Belvide, I felt it more than worth while to keep checking this feeding area.
Today there was around c.150 Lesser Black-backs, 2 Common Gull, 4 Herring Gull & c.30 Black-headed!!... Also 4 Goosander, but 3 of the little buggers flew off just as I got my N95 up to the scope lens!!!...
So, not a very interesting blog entry I know, but felt it worth while as you may now pull over on Leighton bank in the future & check out the gulls (you'll need a scope though!!)... & if you find a decent gull there... You're a jammy sod!!!... ;~p


Just a few of the LBB Gulls at Leighton bank today.... hmmm, y'right, not very interesting at all!!...

Male Goosander also at Leighton bank today, the other 3 little shite's flew off just before I took this awful photo!!...

**HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY BIRDING BUDS & BLOG READERS!!... Get me a Guinness, no brown p#ss water for me thank you very much!!**

Ring-necked Grip-back!!!...

Who would've thought it eh?... The female Ring-necked Duck that we all dipped a couple of weeks ago was refound at VP this morning!!... I had just dropped my daughter off at the ex's, popped round to my girlfriends for a cuppa & a chat before work when I recieved a text from Helen that the Ring-neck was at VP!!!... I rocketed off like.... er, well a rocket actually... swearing at all the slow-arsed Sunday drivers en route before screeching into the car park at VP!!! (En route I was very naughty as I was trying to ring Mike - who had gone to Cannock Chase; & Jim - who was at Blithfield; to see if they knew the latest news!!)... I did manage to contact Dave Western, who as luck would have it was already on his way to VP anyway!!!...

Once in the hide I was soon onto the bird, although it slept constantly I did manage a few shots with the owd N95!!....

Female Ring-necked Duck at VP this morning.... only raised it's head twice!!...

......this is how the bird looked for 99.9% of the time I was there, lazy git!!... ;~)

But this was 152 for the county year list, which is pretty good as I didn't do any birding for around 12 weeks... I was sat on 148 for what seemed ages!!!... So, proving to be a final month of grip backs for me!!!... :~D

A Golden Shower!!!....

As I was called into work late yesterday afternoon to work a night shift, my plans to go into work to look for the Black Redstart this morning were somewhat thwarted as I desperately needed some kip!!...

So, after a few hours sleep I decided to head up to Condover to check the Golden Plover flock out!!... It was pretty damn cold when I arrived and initially there didn't seem to be many plovers about! But then they began to appear... Certainly not in the numbers they were the other day, probably around c.200 in the field directly ahead of me with maybe another c.100 feeding in the stubble field to the right....

The birds actually approached quite close allowing for some better shots!!... Despite the flock taking flight at one point (Paul had appeared from nowhere in the stubble field where he's no doubt got some pretty good pics!), they soon flew back in & settled back to feeding. With the arrival of Jim, there was now 3 of us now staring into an apparently empty field, passing cars occaisionally stopped to see what all the fuss was about.... Nowt mate, just some Golden Plovers....

Anyway, a selection of my efforts.... Check Jim & Pauls for quality, mine are sheer grit & dumb luck!!... ;~p.... (& slightly better than the 'usual shite'!!)...

Just a few of the c.200 Golden Plovers at Condover today, do we notice an improvement here in my digital capacity??....

This one I felt truly captured the grace of this bird in flight, I may put this forward for the Surfbirds Photographer of the year,? Notice how I manage to intergrade crap timing with just enough camera shake to totally f*** the picture up!! Sheer genius!!

Anyway, it was getting a tad nippy, so I decided to have a quick VP visit via Atcham to check the Severn! Just 4 very camera shy Goosanders (3f & 1m), and little else... onto VP then...Jim was already there & told me there was bugger all on the pool but there were large parties of finches moving around. So I set the owd scope up in the top field & began to scan... There was a good number of Yellowhammers present, easily over 20, with large numbers of Chaffinch, several Linnet, Reed Buntings & 2 Lesser Redpoll.... plus a slightly odd looking LBJ, which I decided in the end was simply a slightly odd female Linnet.... But y'never know?... Too cold now to hang about so I left VP and came home for a hot cuppa, a sausage caserole and then a change & off down the pub, where I intend to get rather arsed!!... Cheers all!!!... :~D

Black Wednesday.

....Well, not black in bad... in fact very good... for me at least!! Despite working my day off, which I'm now glad I did!!... Confused?... Yeah, I'm gettin' a tad confused too & I know what I'm on about!!... ;~)
I work at Ironbridge Power Station, for those of you who didn't know this, and today I was working a 'day' shift on overtime... Anyway, around 9am the mulsifier system kicked off, usually a sign of a 'fixed instalation' fire system activating... but more often than not a failure somewhere on the system.... So, I was checking the installations & made my way up to the Aux. Boiler house, as I approached the entrance I noticed a small bird feeding on the ground outside the entrance to the Aux. Boiler house, I assumed it was a Robin or something similar, I can clearly remember thinking to myself 'wish this was a Black Red!!'... Spooky!!
'Cos as I neared the bird it flew up onto a low railing & I could see this was no Robin, the bird was far too dark in colour & the general shape & jizz was wrong!!... Then the bird turned to face me & I could see clearly a jet black face mask!!!... Then the bird turned & flew a short distance to a nearby scaffold... a bright blast of red from the rump & tail!!!... A male Black Redstart!!!..
I couldn't believe it... awesome!!!... It soon flew over the ducting & out of sight. Despite a good search later in my shift I couldn't locate it...
I shall however, go and search again. No. 151 on my county year list & a great grip back on Andy & Jim!! ;~)
What's next I wonder???....

From Mynd to Iceland!!....

The mist clears across the Long Mynd.... still revealed no birds tho!!...

Well, as you know, it p***ed it down last night & this morning I was intent on doing some birding regardless!!... I really didn't want another VP visit, so decided to try the Mynd & Stiperstones... I left home around 10am, the skies were clearing & despite it being bitterly cold, looked good otherwise...As I approached Ratlinghope the mist decended... excellent!!... I sacked the Stiperstones & headed straight for Pole Cot. on ze Mynd!!!... Initially it didn't look too promising, with thick mist, hikers, moutain bikers & every sod & his dog out and about!!!... But I soon located a flock of finches & sure enough I was onto a few Bramblings... mostly males but then the odd female... Easily 20 odd Brambling present... Also a female Stonechat nearby. Apart from 7 Raven, 10+ Buzzard & 2 (flushed) Red Grouse, little else of interest....

Pole Cottage... can be good for birds, y'know?....

Female Brambling feeding with a Chaffie at Pole Cot.

The best I could get of male Brambling, also at Pole Cot. today!....

Then Mike (my fellow TSB pie-fuelled, beer monster mate), called to say that the Iceland Gull at Gresford Flash had been reported!!!... A quick decision & I was bombing back to town to pick Mike up.... & we were soon on the A5 and on our way!!!....

We arrived at Gresford Flash to find huge numbers of large gulls present, but the Iceland hadn't been seen since reported late morning!! Excellent!!... (I've dipped this species 5 times in the past!!)... We had been (freezing our tits off!!!), there for maybe half an hour or so, and I was about to call it a day, when the Pie-boy yelled out "I got it!!!".... And there it was, the Iceland Gull, the lil' stunner!!!... We watched the bird feeding in the far field, landing on the flash & generaly flying about for maybe 20 minutes or so.... Indeed, in flight, with exception to the white primaries, this bird seriously stands out due to its exceptionally long wings.... Great bird to see... My 1st twitch since the Pacific Diver & 1st lifer in 6 months... plus another major bogey bird buried!!!...

A selection of equally crap photo's of the Iceland Gull at Gresford today.... pity you cant see it that well, it was a very nice bird.... so, ya just gonna have to go & see for y'self, aint ya!!?... ;~p

We celebrated with a couple of pints in 'The Romping Cat' (now a nice gay pink!!) en route home. A great days birding, a huge thanks to Mike for sticking a rocket up my arse & getting me to go for the gull!!!... ;~)

Celebrating true TSB style, with a pint or two!!... Well done on 238 Mike!!! ;~)

Another bleak day at VP!!...PII.

Well, with my girlfriend away for the weekend christmas shopping, not seeing my daughter this weekend, I thought maybe a bit of birding around the county today.... Then I saw the weather!!!... Not only slinging it down with rain, but strong biting winds and it's also particually cold!!!... So, I wasn't going to bother with either the Mynd or Stiperstones....

To cut a long story short I did what I normally do.... I buggered off to my patch for a couple of hours.... ;~)

The pool level is high & therefore wildfowl were the call of the day... 32 Shoveler, 32+ Tufted Duck, c.20 Teal, 5 Pochard & 2f Goldeneye were the call of the day, with 1 Little Grebe & 2 GC Grebe also... Nothing much moving around the fields or hedgerows nor passing overhead... Hmmmm, okay that'll do for today... So, off I went, home for my dinner!! (steak & kidney pie, mash & peas.... yummy!!!)... ;~)

A couple of surprisingly good pictures from myself here, Tufted's in the upper & the 2 female Goldeneye in the lower picture.... Cant think of sod all funny to put unfortunately!!!...

Golden wonder!!...

Hmmm, okay let's see after my previous post I can write something that doesn't recieve a rather harsh bashing of your ultra-chilled author here.... Tut tut, some people just dont have a sense of humour, do they?... ;~p .....Nevermind eh?... :~D

A quick stop off at VP en route home I bumped into Tony Frankham who informed me of a large flock of Golden Plover in the fields outside Condover!!... So off I shot!!...

I took the second left off the A49 upon leaving Bayston Hill & parked by the large field to the left just after the railway bridge!!...

The flock was distant, but huge!! Easily 600+ Golden Plover, c.400 Lapwing, c.200 Starling & 4 Buzzard all in the field...

But the Golden Plover's were my 150th species for the county this year... Phew Jim, I just made it!!... ;~)

At one point the Golden Plover's took to the air which was an awesome spectacle!!...

Well worth going to see... Oh yeah, if you find a Leica bins rain cover, it's mine & I'd be sooo chuffed if you returned it to me as I'm rather narked I've lost it!!... :~(

Another couple of 'world-beaters' in photographic genius by yours truly here of the large flock of Golden Plovers at Condover today...

Clear up the confusion of TSB!!!...

I recieved an email asking what TSB means the other day... Did we all work in a bank?.. Was it part of The Dyslexia Society?.. Well, it began in the dark murky past at the end of 2004. I was twitching a Sora at Attingborough NR with ze Big V & the Pie Boy.... Anyway, as the Biggun was working, he was dressed in a suit, trousers tucked into his socks, suit jacket, posh shoes.... the works, flanked by The Pie Boy, who at best looks like he shops at Tramps R Us, and myself (eye-candy, E17, Chav-birder!!)... And I said as a joke, "Everyone will look at us and say, oh here are 'The Shropshire Birders!!....

Anyway, it stuck!! We became know as The Shropshire Birders!! Originally, myself, Big V (Richard Vernon), Mike & Rob Stokes & Damon Howells... But now we have expanded... just like Mike's waist size... Young Will, Jim, Andy, plus others.... And we simply became known as the TSB!!... Geddit?... Okay then, I'll bugger off!!....

Dipping at Fort Knox!!!...

A phone call at work yesterday evening from Andy informing me of a juv/female Ring-necked Duck at Monkmoor Pool was something to raise interest. Not a county tick for me, but it would've been a year tick (also no.150 for the county for this year!!)... So, being as Monkmoor Pool has a security defence to rival most US air bases, I agreed to meet Andy at VP this morning where we would be able to obtain a key... A spare key to Monkmoor Pool is probably less likely to be obtained in Shropshire than finding a Siberian Rubythroat in the county!!!

So, I arrived at VP just after 8am to find my mate Dave Western already in the hide. There was no real change on the pool, so I aint going to go on about that...Soon enough Andy arrived & within an hour myself, Helen & Dave were in Andy's car heading off to Monkmoor Pool, with Rob & Mike Stokes already there & Jim Almond winging his way there also....

We parked up at Monkmoor Pool and after a few hours of unlocking bolts, deadlocks, triple locks, avoinding trip wires, land mines, laser-guided auto gun turrets & CIA endorsed satellite tracking systems we eventually got into the bloody hide!!!...

We all began scanning in earnest!!... But only Mallards, Little Grebe's, Cormorants & the odd Heron was visible... Not a single diving duck!... Then one appeared... & disappeared as it dived!! It soon resurfaced.... a female Tufted Duck!!!... Oh crap! The RN Duck was reported as 'being alone' & of the female type... Not good!! Apart from a Merlin flying over... Nothing else!!!So, was this Tuftie mis-ID'd or had the little yanky git flown!!?... Either way, we all buggered off not very happy at all!!... But that's birding for ya!!...Good laugh in Andy's car back to VP made it a kindda fun morning out even though it was a shite morning for birds!!!... ;~)

Some of the TSB hardcore, from L-R; Mike 'where's my pie?' Stokes, Dave 'The Artist' Western, Andy 'The Guru' Latham, Rob 'Obi-Wan' Stokes, Helen 'Where's my boys?' Griffiths & just outta view at the end... Jim ' Digital Genius' Almond!!... Twitching a Tuftie at 'The Rock' Monkmoor!!!

.....Ah, there he is, hiya Jim!!!... ;~)