Another Priorslee visit.

Having worked a split shift yesterday & feeling pretty crap with a sore throat I really didn't feel up to doing much today. I was awake just after midday, having had around 5hrs kip, a quick clean up around the house & I decided to have a look at Priorslee.
On arrival there was already one bloke there scanning an impressive gull flock, plus Jim was setting his camera up... so I thought, 'Aaaah, Jimbo's got something!!'...
But sadly he hadn't.
In fact with an impressive 500+ gulls on the lake, there were no white-wingers! After a while we'd picked up 2 ad. Yellow-legged Gull's, but nothing else of note.
However, we did both score a year tick with a female Ruddy Duck sleeping on the far side of the lake.
Takes me to 105 species for the county yearlist, with still some easy birds to hit yet!... More no doubt soon...

A Patch Tick!!

Having spent a large amount of time around the county birding I aint put in much time at VP this year, so I decided to stop off there en route home from work.
The pool was pretty abysmal in all fairness, just 1 female Goosander & 11 Pochard of note.
I'd noticed a few Snipe moving around in the short grass to the left of the main hide & it was whilst watching these I noticed another snipe join them, but it was notably brighter marked on the back, then it turned slightly & I saw the shorter, pale based bill - a Jack Snipe!! A patch tick no less!!....
So, just goes to show, even on a horrible, miserable day like today, it's always worth having a quick look around...

Another Salop Trawl!!...

Well, a day off & no commitments, plus the fact that I also now have a car, a day of birding around the county was the obvious choice! But where to go?
I decided to do Priorslee first, the reason was two fold, I still need the Glaucous, and even though it wasn't reported yesterday (bear in mind the infamous 'Sunday effect' when looking for gulls!!), I wasn't too worried as a juv. Glaucous roosted just over the border at Cop Mere. Had the bird been seen yesterday at Priorslee it would've only pissed me off anyway!
Plus! it meant I could have a lie-in today as I am still feeling groggy from way too much Guinness on Saturday night at the ball I went to at Albrighton Hussey!
So, I arrived at Priorslee around 10:30am, and the place was gull-less!! Just 1 LLB Gull... so, 'sod this!' I thought & went off in search of Grey Partridge.

I drove around all the back lanes around Walcott, Berwick Wharf, Roddington, Roden, etc etc.... to all the Grey Partridge 'hot spots' I know of & places I've scored in the past. Not a glimpse of a partride. However, on the Roden 'side road' east of Mire I did count 72 Corn Bunting perched in one tree, with easily 30+ more in the surrounding fields! So, not bad.
I checked out Mire quickly and counted 34 Snipe, 6 Redshank, 150+ Lapwing & 5 Golden Plover.

En route to the Long Mynd I stopped to check out the fields just outside of Bayston Hill along the A49, c.550 Lapwing & c.50 Golden Plover were counted here.
I then spent 3+ hrs on the Long Mynd!! I finally nailed Red Grouse with 1 male showing well near Shooting Box! Then at 17:00hrs (as I was just about to give in!) a ringtail Hen Harrier flew in, hunting low over the heather, and at one point she flew straight over me!!
A good end to a longish day... 2 year ticks takes my county yearlist to 104 species, so it's getting there slowly, pissed off to discover I left the Mynd too soon to get onto a Short-eared Owl!!!
Oh well... look's like I'll be going back then?....

Back on the Road again!!!

Yeah!!! Got me new car yesterday & it's a beaut!!!... Had a quick check of the twitchability of it... trust me, it shifts!!! ;~)
Decided to check Priorslee today as I need to grip this Glauc back on all these jammy sods who already have it!! Plus, as I have a ball to go to later, only a small amout of time to bird today...
Got to Priorslee around 10:30am, only a few BH Gull present, but within minutes LBB's & Herrings began dropping in, with just one juv. GBB Gull.
I was joined by ze Guru around 11:30am-ish, & as there was nowt on Priorslee, Andy decided to check Granville.
He'd been gone maybe 10minutes when I picked up on a white-winger dropping in, a stunning 1st w. Iceland Gull!!... My 2nd Iceland Gull for Priorslee this year & 3rd ever for Shrops!! A quick call to Andy, Damo & a few others... Andy ticked his 98th species for Shrops. on arrival, sadly, not a year tick for me, but still a great find! Certainly a different bird from the one myself & Jim saw earlier in the month, & it looks different to the juv. Iceland Paul photographed!... So, a 3rd Iceland for Priorslee already this year!!!
Bit miffed at not getting the Glauc, but still worth the effort for such a great gull!!
County year list still at 102 species!!! But now with a motor, there's no stopping me!!...
...Erm, except work, family commitments. the girlfriend... errr... well, lets just see how it pans out eh?... ;~)

No Wheels!!!...

Aaargh! It's so frustrating not being able to get out & about, still being without a car! However, I paid off the remaining balance today & my new (well, not brand new!), car should be delivered on Thursday or Friday! (Woohoo!)...
So, the unveiling of The Argo mk.2# should be soon...

So, had to make do with a walk around the fields to the west of Bayston Hill yesterday. Not a great deal of note, however there was a large group of gull's feeding in a recently turned field, mostly LBB Gull, but a few Herring & an ad. Yellow-legged!!
Had a few Goldfinch in the field, with at least 1 Siskin present with them.
The main field was very muddy! As a bird hopped up out of a gully near a large area of water images of a large pipit raced through my mind... Sadly, not a Richard's Pipit... but just a good 'ol Song Thrush.

Cant wait to get out & about again... Need to track that Glaucous Gull down... still need Hen Harrier & SE Owl! Need to search for a Grey Partridge, still no Barn Owl...
However, a Peregrine in Shrewsbury on Saturday became species 102 on my county year list, so going pretty well & a potential 110 by end of January well & truly on now!
Roll on end of week & new wheels!!

A Good Ol' Salop Floggin'!!

Aaah man, I was hoping for such a result!! But the Gods of birding fought against us!! Basically me & Andy had a crap day!!
We set off from Andy's house around 08:30, and went for a squint at Priorslee.... Absoloutley sweet F.A. on the pool.... which was very disapointing!
So, we set off for Brown Clee as Andy needed Hawfinch as a much wanted year tick! It didn't look good, & in all fairness the fact that Big V dipped Hawfinch a few days prior, I really wasn't that hopeful either!! No sign of our bird & thick fog made a trip up to Abdon Burf pointless!!

Nevermind, forwards n' onwards... to Ludlow, where we soon scored 15 Waxwing!!! Always an A1 bird anyway.... plus we met Chris Bateman... who found them!! (Nice to meet you at last... so next time, a cuppa eh, Chris?)

Then was Bury Ditches & Clunton Coppice, which to save a lot of time was utter crap also!!! Not a single Crossbill!! But 5 Red Kite was okay (& my 100th bird!!!).... But frozen from the piercing wind, we moved on....

To the totally birdless Long Mynd!!! Not even a sodding Red Grouse!!! Let alone a SEO, or a Hen Harrier.... VP was no better....
However, c.50 Corn Bunting at ASF was a minor saviour to a really crap day!!

**Sadly, I couldn't go birding with Andy & Dave the next day, which was a huge shame as at 10:00am they had a Glaucous Gull at Candles Tip!! Plus, after much searching on Brown Clee, Andy got his Hawfinch!!

Swan Invasion!...

After finishing my damn-awful split shift, I left work this morning & arrived at VP at 07:00am. I had a quick kip whilst waiting for some light to strain through the grey cloud overhead. There were certainly plenty of geese on the pool, I estimate in the region of 600+, the majority being Greylag. Despite straining through the darkness I simply couldn't make out a Pink-foot! I needed more light!
Then the geese began lifting off, I checked every leaving bird as best I could, but there was no way a positive ID could be made.
I took time out to count the Mute Swan's present ~ there was at least 56!! I have had more at VP, one year I counted 74!
I was amazed that there wasn't a single roosting Curlew?

There was now enough light to scan properly, but with only 100 max. Greylag left I wasn't hopeful of a Pink-foot... & indeed, there wasn't one! But the 2 Barnacle Goose were present, but flew out with a group of Canada's.
No sign of the Barn Owl which usually is present in the twilight hours either... so, quite a frustrating visit really as I'm curently sat on 99 species for my 2009 county year list & I really expected to nail no.100 this morning! Now, without a car for 48hrs my hope of doing the ton in the first 2 weeks of Jan. are very slim! I can only hope for a Barn Owl en route to work (my shift mate is picking me up later) or a fly-over Peregrine... or maybe a Curlew in the fields west of where I live.
But I have an almost full day birding on Friday, so I really expect to hit the 100+ mark then!
You'll have to tune in then to find out if I do!?...

The VP Bittern!.

As I'm working a double shift today (finished at 13:30pm, back at 21:30pm!!), I decided with this sudden big switch in weather that maybe a quick visit to VP en route home was worth a check!
I headed straight to the main hide where Jim & another chap were already present. Jim & myself actually had a chat about wether the Bittern was in fact still here, with only one confirmed sighting all year! Jim had to leave to get back to work, so I scanned the pool, I counted 6 female Goosander & a pretty impressive 30 Pochard!
It was then that I looked up onto the reeds at the back of the pool & to my total shock there, sat on top of a clump of reeds in full view, was the Bittern!!!
It took a few seconds to actually sink in, then I called to the other birder that I'd got it! Then the bird flew a short distance right, I called to the other bloke there to use his bins, as even though the Bittern had now landed in the reeds & sunk a little, it was still visable due to the fact it was still flapping it wings!... But sadly, the other bloke didn't get to see it (although he wasn't too bothered as he informed me he'd 'seen it last year'!) ~ obviously not a year lister then?... ;~)
Totally chuffed with my great luck, I moved onwards to Mire for a quick look before heading home...
An impressive 14+ Green Sandpiper were busy feeding, I counted 6 odd Redshank & around 10 Snipe...

**Plus this morning en route to work, in all that rain, I had not one, but two Tawny Owl's!!**

So, even though I'm working a double shift today, I've still managed 3 year ticks, & one was the one I really thought I wasn't gonna get! If it was 'Lucky Jim' last year, looks like it may be 'Lucky Ja' this year?...
(Very sorry that you missed the Bittern today Jim, you left just a few minutes before it showed!)

County Border Birding...

It was a shame yesterday, I left work and headed to the water tower at Shelton, parked up & eventually found the river!! (I know it sounds daft, but it did take me a few minutes to get my bearings!!)... I then walked all the way to the Doctors Field, & beyond... all the way to Frankwell. No Black-necked Grebe!! No rare winter ducks (I was really hoping for an Eider!!)... in fact, very little at all!!.. By the time I got back to the car, it was getting dark, I was disappointed & I was knackered!!

So, with today being a Sunday, with only really 2hrs of light left (I worked 'til 2pm), & with the weather turning from clear, bright & cold, to cloudy, grey & wet! I decided to play safe & nail an all but gauranteed year tick & headed off to Melverley.
I arrived at 'the field' around 2:15pm. I must admit at first I was slightly concerned as there were no obvious white blobs in the field! As I reached the bridge relief swept over me as at the far side of the field, just in view above a ditch, was my quarry, Whooper Swan's. Eight of them in fact, (& 2 of those bloody awful Black Swans!!)... I imagine there could easily have been more, but they were out of view. But 6 adults & 2 juv's were enough to secure species no.96 on my 2009 county year list! So looking good for reaching the 100 mark before the end of January... although, I still have no car as I'm waiting for my dosh to arrive, & now that Mand's car has broke down there are 3 adults, all who have full time jobs, scrabbling to share 2 cars!! So, next week I may not get out & about as much as I'd hoped? (my bloody week off, too!!)

Another county tick!!!... Already!!!...

Yeah, I know! It's quite unbelievable aint it!! Dropped into VP after work for a chance of adding Bittern to my county year list!... Thoughts of the reported pos. Kumlien's Gull at Chelmarsh were whizzing through my head, & for saying that VP was 95% frozen over, plus virtually no birds there, the hide was still full!!! I managed to get everyone present onto 2 Water Rail that were showing brilliantly out by the left willow, walking on the ice, when I bloke I know who I think is called Bob (??), informed of firstly a Black-necked Grebe on the Severn by the 'Doctors Field' (?? I dont know where this is - can someone please tell me where!!!), secondly of 2 White-fronts at Polemere!!! What??!!!...

Sod the Bittern, White-fronted Goose is a county tick for me!!! I shot out of the hide (sorry to all present, didn't mean to seem rude, but hey, a county tick is a county tick!!), & headed straight to Polemere!!
There was a decent goose flock at Polemere feeding on the fields, around 400+ Greylags with around 100+ Canada (plus 1 Barnacle Goose!!)... Of course, I had no scope, so scanning with bins was awkward.. I decided the best bet was to sit in the hide & scan the birds I could see from there!! And, within moments I picked up a lone White-fronted Goose!!! Slightly smaller than Greylag, with dark flanks, striped mantle & of course, a massive white flash above the bill!!! My second county tick in as many days!!! What kindda brilliance is this!!?... This is sure... no, I aint gonna tempt fate... this is looking to be another amazing year for Shropshire!!!

Still need a few good birds that are 'out there' (Hen Harrier, Whooper's, the now very annoying VP Bittern & now also a Black-necked Grebe!!), not to mention the 'others'!!... 100+ before end of Jan. now well truly on!!...
I'd like to thank 'Bob' (??) for his info. today which netted me this great county tick, but also a slight critisism.... You really DO have to report these birds Bob (??), it aint right to 'sit' on good ticks you find & let us other unlucky sods who aint found something good miss out & only find out later!! A text will do!!
Anyway... Shropshire is proving to be quite the county at the mo!! Let's hope it continues!!...
(Ze Guru has some sort of catching up to do when he returns from Goa!! ~ although I'm certain he'll not only catch up, but plough ahead!!)... ;~)

Great Grey Shrike & Hawfinch ~ what a day!!!

A nice, calm scenic picture from Brown Clee Hill today, where I had possibly my best 2hrs county birding so far!!...

It's incredible, as Martyn Owen pointed out to me at VP the other day, I guy new to birding Shropshire posts a question on the Yahoo group asking where the best place to see Hawfinch in Shropshire is!!... I replied that Wycliffe Common in Ludlow was the place, but Hawfich now seem's an extinct species in Shrops with no excepted records since 2001!!!... (Indeed, I was told a few times by county listers who had Hawfinch on their lists that it was a bird I'd most likely never see now in the county!)
However, after my reply to that perfectly innocent question it all seemed to kick off!! Firstly, David Farncombe had a Hawfinch briefly in Ellesmere, then Yvonne found a second on Brown Clee!!! Now, not only did this make me look like a bit of a pleb who knows bugger all about the county he birds in, but more importantly it also showed there was clearly a few Hawfinches knocking about the county!!
With no further sightings or news of either bird, I felt the Ellesmere bird was almost certainly a fly-through, with little or no chance of being relocated, whereas Yvonne's bird was worth a shot, albeit a very, very long one ('a needle in a very big haystack' I think Yvonne refered to it)... but worth a try none-the-less as at least I could score Crossbill here & maybe something else?
(although I was slightly concerned by the fact that Yvonne had said that Brown Clee was almost 'birdless'!!)...

So, this morning with a day off I set off from home at a leisurley pace, even though I had to be back for 3:15pm to collect my daughter from school!! I stopped for fuel first & I whacked £20 in the tank & looked at the pump number... it was (seriously!!) number 13!!! Uh-oh!!
I set off regardless, along the A49, blue skies, sun shining, it looked great... until I turned off for Burwarton & into a wall of mist and fog!!! Oh great stuff!!! I honestly almost turned round there & then to come home! Luckily I pressed on for Brown Clee!!...

When I arrived & made my way up to the main track, it was slightly misty, but not too bad. I'd already had a year tick with Jay (there were 2 by the parking area when I arrived). I then bumped into Tim Warrick who'd been there about an hour with no luck! But we weren't too certain of the exact location? As I was fairly certain it was over to the right, as Yvonne had said in her post, although her grid ref. seemed to point to the other 'junction' to the left! A quick call to Yvonne it was as I'd thought... off to the right (through the gate!). We got to the junction with the tarmac road, but after a good 30 minute wait we'd failed to see anything!!!
I decided to head up to Abdon Burf for a look round & Tim joined me... Not a dickie bird (literally!), on the walk up except just 1 Raven.
We checked around the stone ruin building for a pos. Black Redstart, nothing! Then moved up & we stopped to scan the frozen pool (where some brave soul had rode his mountain bike around the surface!)... when I turned to see a bird get up from a nearby hill & fly directly away from us, a bouncy flight... 'Shrike!!!' I yelled to Tim, as the bird perched perfectly on top of a bush, a stunning Great Grey Shrike!!! What a brilliant find & a bird I dipped twice last year in Shrops!! (one just outside Bridgnorth & the Whixall bird)
I frantically texted people to let them know, as the shrike then flew off left & out of view, we thought best to leave it alone & not push it away further & go back, as we felt our luck now well & truly in, & have another search for the Hawfinch!

We soon got back to the junction, and at least now the mist had cleared & there were at least a few birds knocking around. But again, no sign of a Hawfinch & with time now pressing we both decided to spend our last half hour to search for Crossbill... but just as we were about to leave I decided to check a couple of berry bushes just down the track that 2 Blackbirds were busily feeding on... I then noticed in a gap a huge face staring at me with a huge bill with black plumage surrounding it... 'F**k me, I've got it!!!!' I yelled to Tim... After a brief wait Tim was on it!!!
Hawfinch!!! This now mythical county birdon my Shropshire list & my first county tick for 2009!!!
The bird soon hopped out onto a branch in full view of us & there it stayed for at least 15 minutes, where we then moved away as not to disturb it!! A stunning bird, down to just 20ft!! Without a doubt the best views I've ever had of Hawfinch!!...

**Incidently, the bird looked to be a female to me?... Someone may be able to confirm this fully at a later date?...**

A fantastic couple of hours birding, 2 awesome birds seen, taking me to 93 species on my Shropshire year list, & only a week of 2009 gone!!! It is already looking like a great county year... I hope they keep on coming!!!
Still a few birds to nail this month, Bittern & Pink-foot at VP, Whooper Swans, Hen Harrier on the Mynd... plus birds like Crossbill, Grey Partridge, Red Grouse, still aint had an owl... etc, etc..
Good luck to any who go!! My advice is dont leave it too long & miss out on this fantastic county bird!!!.

Priorslee Iceland Gull on Ice!!...

Jim picked me up this morning around 10:30am, as we felt it worth while giving Priorslee a check today! And thank gawd we did. We arrived to find Paul already there and we were instantly onto a brilliantly showy 2nd w. Iceland Gull!!!
The bird kindly remained at the front of the 200 or so gulls roosting on the frozed lake (there were easily a 100 more on the only piece of open water just behind this group), for the most part the bird seemed to rest, occaisionally preening & wing stretching. It did occaisionally have a small wander round, but never moving far, which was great for Dave Western & the Dodwells, who all arrived in time to get great views of the bird.
Then, around 13:45pm, the bird had vanished!! I managed to locate the bird swimming on the small open patch of water, but it soon disappeared from here also!!...
Sadly, this was when Mike & Rob arrived & none of us could relocate the bird.
Easily 500 gulls present at the 'highest count', with the vast majority being BH Gull, LBB Gull & Herring, Jim & myself counted a minimum of 15 GBB Gull, but no sign of any Yellow-legged Gull nor the Caspian Gull, but you cant have everything!! ;~)
My 87th bird for Shropshire so far this year, so ticking along nicely so far, with a handful of great ticks already!!
I bottled joining Jim for a jaunt round the mere's as I'm just a bit too nesh & was totally froze, so home to a nice warm fire for me!!
Cheers to Jim for the lift & watch this space for what is possibly my best piccie yet!!! ;~) (again, thanks to Jim!!)...

....& here it is!! Todays 2nd w. Iceland Gull at Priorslee!!! Oh, dont get too excited, I haven't all of a sudden gained incredible digital photographic skills... Jim lined this one up for me... I simply pressed the button!!! (& to be honest, I think this pic is def. 'one of Jim's!')...

(It was facing to the left when I took a few pics Jim!! ~ but a huge thanks anyway matey!!)

Goodbye 2008, What a Year!!!...

Indeed, what a year for Shropshire 2008 was!! I was hoping for 9 county ticks to reach 190 on my county life list, & despite a very reduced amount of time birding for varying reasons I shant continue to bore you with, I managed an incredible 12 county ticks!!! (Plus, I dipped on 4!!). Which shows what an incredible year it was!! I hit my highest ever county year list, a nice round 160 species, whilst I was busying myself with this a new county year list record was set!!... By Andy Latham... who incidently set the original county year list record, a mere 175 species!!... However, he beat that by adding one more to it, reaching 176 speices, a truly awesome total!! And, from one birding bud to another, good 'ol 'lucky' Jim, the digi-genius, didn't do too bad either, hitting 173 species!!!
2008 was a year I approached with a new life ahead, as I'd separated from my wife a few months earlier, although I knew things would be awkward in the coming months. The first quater of the year I'd already had some great birds, with Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull & Cetti's Warbler all county ticks!! I'd hit 140 mark by the end of March!!.. But great birds still kept coming, Temminck's Stint at VP (not forgetting VP's first Avocet!!), an astounding grip back with 2 Common Crane, a female Marsh Harrier on Whixall... it was indeed quite incredible!! As was a very ellusive Grasshopper Warbler at Ellesmere, which was largely thanks to Jim who had been informed about a bird that sang like 'an insect'!!...
For reason's I have no idea why, I didn't bother to go & see a Little Gull at Mire Lake (I'd only had one previously in the county!!), a Little Stint was also here which I didn't know about until after the event, so to speak... Then I around June my divorce was coming to an end & I decided to take a few weeks out of birding.
Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Turtle Dove were all bird's I failed to get in this time, which would prove a big shame later in the year... Added to this were Nightjar & Honey Buzzard... both county ticks for me!! But both equally possible to be gripped back in 2009!! (I hope!!)
A fantastic Great White Egret at The Mere brought me back to life, this was soon followed by a Cattle Egret, just down the road, only a matter of weeks later!!
During this time period VP would add 2 more species to my county life list, a stunning drake Common Scoter on the trout pool, & I was just in time to get a Grey Phalarope!!..
I arrived back from Florida just in time to get news of a Yellow-browed Warbler, in ze Guru's garden no less... sheer tiredness prevented me going around mid-day (the time I got home), which was a huge shame, as the bird was last seen around 12:15pm!! So, I may have added this county first!!!
My last tick was in December, just a couple of days before Christmas Day, a pale morph Short-eared Owl, again on Whixall Moss... Sadly, I didn't see the Great Grey Shrike, but did eventually add Waxwing to my county year list on my 3rd attempt!!!
Without a doubt, the best year I've known for Shropshire, some seriously brilliant birds, I think everyone added at least 2 or 3 county ticks to their list this year?!!..

I hope that 2009 is just as good!!...

A Poor Morning...

Seeing as how Mand was up early today for work I decided to drag my weary carcass out of bed & get myself back to VP for a vigil for the now seemingly non-existant Bittern!! (Has it indeed gone?... No sign in the am or, even more surprisingly, the pm!!!)... It would be a real gutting blow had the bird finally decided to leave on New Year Eve!!!...
Any how, I arrived to find the reserve was empty. I positioned myself as comfy as one can get in a cold, drafty hide & began scanning the far reedbed. Several 'squeals' alerted me to the fact that there were certainly Water Rails busy moving around somewhere over there & sure enough after 10 minutes or so I picked up on a lone Water Rail skulking through the reeds!! (a second would appear later actually standing on the frozed surface of VP!!)...
At 09:55am I had to leave, no Bittern sighted, to go collect my daughter...

So, with Erin in tow, I convinced her she'd enjoy a short drive to Stokesay to see 2 very attractive birds that Dad was watching yesterday (& like a total tit forgot to take his camera, missing out on a great photo opportunity!!).
I drove slowly along the A49 as I left Bayston Hill, scanning for Golden Plover, no sign... Arrived at Stokesay church & after 30 minutes or so, not only was Erin now bored & cold, but I'd had no sight or sound of a Waxwing!! Not too disapointing as I had great views yesterday, but I did want Erin to see them & I'd hoped to get a piccie of them ~ oh well, nevermind.
(I have been reliably assured by Jim that the Waxwing's are still there today, though!!)

En route home I pulled into a layby & had a quick scan of the nearby stubble field but I couldn't locate a Golden Plover!!.. Just one of those days I guess?... One decent tick though takes me to 85 on my county year list!!...

____________________________

New Years Day Birding!!... 2009.

Another jaunt around the home county for me today, again the other boyo's were off twitching, this time a lengthy 5hr drive to go see a Snowy Owl in Cornwall, this was backed up with Ring-billed Gull, Firecrest, Sibe Chiffy & Cirl Bunting!! So, they had a pretty good day... but what about us?.... Read on my friend...
Dave Western picked me up around 07:40am & we set off for VP where we were to meet up with Chris Webb.
Sadly, after over an hours wait (we had now been joined by Jim), the Bittern failed to put in a show! Typical New Years Day luck!!... However, the 2 Barnacle Goose were present, plus 2 Gadwall were 'new in'!!... The Shelduck was still present and a Dunlin was quite a surprise tick!! No Water Rail here either, which was also a tad disapointing...
The feeding station proved to be a gold mine of year ticks, with a Marsh Tit & 4 Brambling (incl. a cracking male!!) being the stand-out birds.

The top field added a flock of c.100 Linnet, Redpoll, another Brambling, Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow plus Pochard & Tufted Duck on the trout pool... (& the female Bullfinch was still showing in the car park)...
A quick visit to Mire Lake turned up 30 odd Snipe, a Redshank & best off all a Jack Snipe!!!

En route to Stokesay church we pulled in at Longnor bridge, and we scored with Kingfisher and 2 very showy Dipper's!! (I love these tubby little birds)...
After a brief loss of direction we eventually found Stokesay church, and sure enough the 2 Waxwing were still present & showing absoloutely fab, down to literally just a few feet!!!
Next was the mere's, a fair drive across the county before arriving at Crosemere where a Sparrowhawk was kind enough to flush a Woodcock for us, a Golden Plover was in the nearby fields and we scored our first of many Pintail, Goldeneye & Wigeon of the day. (We had our highest count of Wigeon here, with around 50 birds present.)
Next was Whitemere where Chris picked out a 1st w. Scaup!!! A great county bird & to tick it on New Years Day was brilliant (remember last year, when there was 6 Scaup present at Colemere?)...
And Colemere was to be our next port of call, the car park was chocker & we actually had to wait for a parking space!!! Only Goosander was a new bird added here, with 4 present on the pool... more Pintail & Goldeneye here, with a few Wigeon, Teal & Shoveler... (our highest count of Shoveler was probably 20 odd at ASF!, whilst Teal were present pretty much everywhere in relatively small numbers....)
The Mere was very disapointing, with not a great deal present there, very few gulls, so we moved back to Whitemere where quite an impressive gull roost had begun. Chris was the first to locate a Yellow-legged Gull (an adult bird), I soon found a second one (another adult), then Chris found a 3rd winer bird. Our final tick was to fly in around 16:15pm... a lone ad. Great Black-backed Gull!!!... Our 84th species for the day, all in Shropshire!!...
So, all in all a cold & quite tiring day, but some great birds seen, a fabbo day total and still stuff to add (the VP Bittern, the Melverley Whoopers...).
Thanks to Chris for driving & to Dave for picking me up, & cheers to both for a great days birding!!! We'll be down to the Scillies to see you soon Chris!!! ;~)