Back to Brandon Marsh

Robin

It feels like months since I have been to Brandon Marsh, so, this morning we decided to go there for brunch and then a gentle stroll to have a look around.

Brunch for me was a full english breakfast, which was not too bad although a bit greasy for me and my birder's wife had poached eggs on toast which was served with a side salad and coleslaw (a bit odd but there you go).

We decided to only head out to the main hide on

Great Tit

the reserve which looks over the east marsh and fortunately had the hide to ourselves for a change (as that hide is usually full to the brim of photographers).  The colder weather had certainly brought in the gulls, as there were a lot loafing around on the pool, including several Herring, Lesser Black Backed and Common Gulls and one Yellow Legged Gull.  The remainder were Black Headed and despite a good search I could not find a Mediterranean Gull lurking in with the crowd.  Other birds of note that we saw from the hide were a Dunlin, Lapwings and one female Goldeneye.

We then ambled back to the visitor centre and enroute I took a couple snaps before a browse round the shop and back home.

Gloucestershire yet again

Jack Snipe

I decided to take the day off today and pop down to Slimbridge in a bid to see the two juvenile Glossy Ibis that have been roosting there each night for the past fortnight.

Wigeon

As it is a fair drive, I decided to make a day of it and arrived at the site at 11:30am.  My first destination was the shop where I bought a few small Christmas presents for my birder's wife.  I then strolled over to the Holden Tower where I ate my lunch while watching gulls loafing on the Estuary and Canada, Barnacle, Greylag and White Fronted Geese munching on the lush grass.  I then made way slowly back towards the Visitor Centre stopping off for the longest duration at Martin Smith Hide which was a great vantage point to watch Lapwing, Golden Plover, Curlews, Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwits and Wigeon all being harassed now and again by a Peregrine.  Highlight was a Jack Snipe creeping around the reeds at the back of the nearest pool.  A quick stroll round the rest of the reserve and hides and a stop off for a coffee made it near 4:00pm and time to head for the South Lake where the Glossy Ibis roost.

True to the form and at 4:25pm the Glossy Ibis glided down onto the Causeway of the South Lake. A great end to a great days birding.

Glossy Ibis gliding down onto South Lake

Glossy Ibis

Visit to Gloucestershire again

After my jaunt down to the Forest of Dean yesterday, I had to make almost exactly the same journey today but this time just to Cheltenham.  Myself and my birder's wife were meeting some friends for Sunday lunch and a catch up with them as we now won't see them till after Christmas.  En route, we popped into Evans Cycles and I finally purchased some winter clobber to enable me to continue cycling in the colder weather.

I had in mind a quick detour down to Slimbridge on the way home but it was too late for that so I managed instead to get us to leave in time for us to go via Hawling arriving at dusk to look for Short Eared Owls.  I seem to recall, that it was about this time last year that I did the same thing and as per last year, we stopped off in the same layby and spotted an Owl perched on the same wall before taking off and floating out of view (exactly what happened last year).

Great Grey Shrike at last (oh,,,and Two Barred Crossbills)

As my birder's wife was busy today meeting friends and going shopping, I thought I would take the opportunity to head south and either go for the Glossy Ibis (that fly into Slimbridge to roost) or to look for Two Barred Crossbills and Great Grey Shrike that have both been seen on and off near Woorgreens Lake in the Forest of Dean.  Birdguides broke the news that both the Shrike and the Crossbills were around by the time I left at 11:00am.

Two Barred Crossbill

By the time I arrived at Woorgreens Lake, after another horrendous journey, the news services were reporting that at least 15 Two Barred Crossbills had been seen, so I was extremely hopeful.  However, the directions to the area they were being seen from were not that clear and I, being a bit of a numb-skull managed to walk round the lake twice and get extremely muddy before eventually working out where I should be going.  When I got my bearings I walked up Crabtree Hill in completely the wrong direction which did actually have its advantages as I spotted the Great Grey Shrike in a middle of the heath perched on a dead tree.  After asking a walker for directions, I eventually found the area where the Crossbills had been seen and joined about 20 other birders (including one who had a voice like a fog horn but fortunately left after a couple of minutes) to wait and see if they would fly into the Hemlocks.  As the minutes passed, many birders gave up waiting and then after about an hours wait, the two remaining birders and myself were rewarded with our patience of the briefest of glimpses of about two or three perched on the top of a nearby tree (with one calling away constantly).  I did have time to get some record shots, the above of which is the best and shows off the white bars nicely.

Quick visit to Farmoor

A quick visit to Farmoor this morning gave me a Common Sandpiper, lots of Pied Wagtails, a Mipit and the Red Necked Grebe.  Couldn't find the Slavonian Grebe but I did not walk round or have my scope.

A twitch 20 minutes away

It is very unusual for a real rarity to occur in the Midlands, probably due to the location as we are about as far from the coast that you can get in the UK.

On Friday, a Dusky Warbler was reported from Marsh Lane NR about a 20 minute drive from me.  Unfortunately, I could not get to go and see it then but dragged myself out of bed at dawn yesterday and drove the 'long' distance to the reserve.  As I turned into the reserve a message appeared on Twitter that confirmed that the bird was still there and after a 5 minute walk and a donation to the West Midland Bird Club (who own this excellent reserve) I was fortunate to view the bird pretty much straightaway.  During the hour that I was there, the bird showed and called on a number of occasions and I managed brief views of the bird in typical phylloscopus poses.  I also took the opportunity to catch up with Dennis who I seem to only bump into in Norfolk or Scotland, so it was unusual to seem him on home turf.  I then decided to scarper as more birders were starting to arrive with probably a total of about 30 to 40 being there by the time I left.

In the afternoon I had a prearranged appointment with Mike-PCC for us to go birding.  As the wind had picked up we thought we would not travel that far and made our way to Balscote Quarry to see if we could spot a Great Grey Shrike that has been there the past week.  The Shrike was being sensible and was keeping its head down so we gave after an hour wait and headed home.  Great Grey Shrike is becoming a bit of a bogey bird for me this year with me dipping on two in the past two weekends.