Cornwall in February

The rest of the family had gone off elsewhere for a couple of weeks leaving just me and the cat alone to our own devices. After a few days of rattling around in the house on my own I decided that a change of scenery for a few days would do me good as well so decided to head down to Cornwall. This choice of destination was strongly influenced by the fact that my brother and his wife had recently moved down to Penzance from London. Regular readers will recall that I used to own a holiday cottage down in Pendeen but eventually the burden of constant maintenance and an illegal campsite next door proved too much and it was sold. However, the promise of free accommodation that didn't require any DIY was too strong to resist and I arranged everything hastily before setting off on Friday morning at around 9am. 

In terms of what I was planning for my trip down to Cornwall, there were a few decent birds around. These included a pair of Lesser Scaup at Helston on the boating lake, the (presumably returning) Ring-billed Gull at Hayle that I'd seen last year, a Bonaparte's Gull along the promenade in Penzance and the Pacific Diver near Mousehole. Nothing too urgent but all nice birds to see. With the promise of a supporting case of some Divers, a couple of Black Redstart and an Iceland Gull or two it should be a nice weekend away. In addition, I was keen to do some walking and to explore bits of the area I'd not visited much before. In particular I was keen to visit some of the many ancient stone circles that are sited in this area. With some friends also to catch up with as well as my brother and his wife to see, it promised to be a good weekend away. 

There was one additional reason for going down: as I have discussed in previous posts (see e.g. The Zitting Cisticola twitch) that my binoculars have outlived their usefulness and were in sore need of replacement. I'd been meaning to visit an optics shop for some time to try various things out but each time something had come up to thwart me. I had more or less decided on getting the Swarovski 8 x 32 NL Pures, having read rave reviews about them and having tried out a birding friend's pair. Howver, I wanted to compare them to the 10 x 32's just in case I could be tempted to the higher magnification. I had my reservations about the higher magnification: being of slight stature a small, a lightweight pair would suit me better and I was wary of handshake counteracting any magnification benefit but it would be nice to at least test them out. So I made arrangements to stop off at South West Optics in Torquay. This would more or less be en route, entailing just a thirty minute detour from my route down to Cornwall. 

The journey to Torquay was uneventful and I arrived at just after midday at an industrial estate not too far off the main road into the town. The previous proprietor had been a Cornish birder whom I knew though he had retired and someone new had taken over. On the phone he had been trying to tempt me to the 10 x 32's saying how great they were but when I arrived he was all about the 8 x 32's. I was puzzled at this sudden change of advice until he confessed he'd just sold the last pair of 10 x 32's. Anyway, I tried the 8's and they were really good. I did notice that as I was a bit tired from driving I did have a bit of hand shake even with these so decided that these would be fine. Whenever I've used 10's in the past I've always found them too much in this respect. So I bought the 8's before heading back to the car and back on to Cornwall.

I finally arrived sometime around 3pm. With just a couple of hours of daylight left, and having spent most of the day in the car, I decided to head inland to go for a walk on the moors. There was a stone circle up behind Tregeseal that I wanted to visit so I headed up there. It was rather muddy on the track up but the beautiful ancient scenery and the lovely babbling stream that accompanies the track soon combined to work their magic and to soothe away the travails of the journey. Up on the moors themselves I revelled in the vast emptiness and the timelessness of the landscape. I'd forgotten just how beautiful it all was. I paid my respects to the stone circle and then wandered over to the rocky outcrop known as the Ancestors where I sat atop, taking it all in.

Tregeseal stone circle

The view from the Ancestors looking over towards St Just

 

In terms of birds (I supposed I ought to mention them since this is a birding blog) it was the usual stuff: a Stonechat, a Raven, a Kestrel and a Wren. As it started to get dark I headed back down, spotting a hunting Barn Owl as it quartered over the field next to me. This is actually a species that is not so easy to see in this area. Back in St Just (where I'd parked) I scored a quick cup of tea before heading back to Penzance to where my brother's house was. This turned out to be a wonderfully large victorian house on one of the leafy roads that leads down to the promenade at Penzance. It was far enough from the sea to be sheltered from direct storm damage and sea corrosion (something I knew of only too well from having to maintain my old holiday cottage) but close enough so you could walk there in a few minutes. There I passed a very pleasant evening catching up with the two of them and eating a very nice meal prepared by my brother, who is no mean chef. Then I turned in and slept soundly.

My plan for Saturday was for it to be my main birding day while I was down here. I started off with a walk down to the promenade and then along to Tolcarne beach - always one of my favourite locations in PZ. In past days the Bonaparte's Gull had been frequenting this area though it had not been seen for several days and I had more or less dropped it from my target list. Still I found one of the two Black Redstarts easily enough, hopping about on the wall and perching on the surrounding rooftops. There were plenty of Rock Pipits walking around under the parked cars - I'd forgotten how unphased they could be by people down here. 

The female type Black Redstart on the sea wall

One of the many Rock Pipits peeking out from behind a pub table

Next it was into Newlyn Harbour itself, looking for the juvenile Iceland Gull which has recently been seen on the traditional fish quay roof. There was no sign of it but a Great Norther Diver in the harbour was nice to see. I wandered down to the end of the harbour outer wall, enjoying the morning sunshine. It was all very pleasant.

Gig rowers in the harbour

The Great Northern Diver in the harbour

 

There are always plenty of Turnstone in the harbour at this time of year

Next I decided to walk to the other end of the promenade to year tick Purple Sandpiper off Battery Rocks. I enjoyed the walk but was disappointed to find no Sandpipers at all roosting there even though it was high tide. Disappointed I headed back to the house to grab some elevenses with my hosts before heading out again, this time in the car. 

First stop was to Helston to catch up with the long-staying pair of Lesser Scaup. They had made the boating lake their home for the winter and seemed from reports to be a sure thing. True to form, after a bit of searching I found them tucked up asleep. I took some photos though they never really got too close nor raised their heads for long.

The Helston boating lake has hosted quite a few rare duck over the years

The two Lesser Scaup, tucked up with a wary eye open

The female actually lifted her head briefly

Next, it was off to Hayle estuary to try for the Ring-billed Gull. I opted for Lelant Station as a viewing platform where I'd had success last year on the Booted Eagle trip. There I met with a fellow birder and we scanned together. We got chatting and he turned out to be a local who had moved down from the Teeside area. Despite our combined efforts we could neither find the Ring-billed Gull nor the adult Iceland Gull that had occasionally been reported. There were several Med Gulls, the usual Common Gull flock that the Ring-billed liked to associated with. A Bar-tailed Godwit was a year tick and there were a few Goosander in the channel as well. All good stuff and I wasn't too bothered about missing my target. 

News had broken that the Bonaparte's Gull was back along the promenade at Wherrytown. I'd arranged to meet a friend for a walk at Marazion beach at 3pm but just had time to nip back into PZ to see if I could connect. I parked by the tennis courts and started walking towards Newlyn. In the end the flock of loafing gulls were right by the river outflow at Tolcarne so I had to walk the entire distance. There was a birder down on the beach but I decided to stay on the promenade. After a bit of scanning I found the Bonaparte's on the rocks. I yelled down to the other birder and put him on it. I was just about to do some digiscoping when it flew off. Looking at the time I decided not to linger any longer but hurried back to the car for my rendezvous at Marazion. 

As I didn't manage a photo myself, here is fabulous shot, borrowed from the CBWPS website, taken by Adrian Langdon ©

 

At Marazion I had an enjoyable walk along the beach with my friend, admiring St Michael's Mount (though we didn't go over) and then walking along St. Michael's Way a bit, following the Red River along the edge of the marsh. Very enjoyable! Then we parted company and I headed back to my brother's place. That evening we went out for a very enjoyable meal in the town. I was quite tired after my day out in the fresh air and soon retired to bed for the evening.

St. Michael's Mount as yet another band of rain approaches

 

Marazion Marsh from St Michael's Way

The next day I decided on a more leisurely start. After breakfast I first walked down to Tolcarne and Newlyn again. Once again I came across the female type Black Redstart and the Great Northern Diver was still in the harbour but once again there was no sign of the juvenile Iceland Gull.

The female type Black Redstart. I am guessing a 1w male as it appeared to be singing

The Great Norther Diver was showing better today

 

I went back to my brother's for elevenses and a catch-up with them before heading up the road to the Penzance Quaker meeting. I attend in Oxford and thought it would be interesting to see what it would be like attending another meeting. They had an excellent on site shop where after the meeting I had a nice bit of cake and a chat. Then it was back to base for lunch. 

For the afternoon I planned to explore the area near St. Buryan where there were a couple of stone circles I wanted to visit. The first was at Boscowen-un which involved a five minute slither down a muddy track to a lovely little circle. Set in amongst the surrounding Bracken and Blackthorn, it was gorgeous! 

The beautiful Boscowen-un stone circle

Then on to the Merry Maidens. This was just sited in a grass field so not quite as beautiful surrounding but was still very nice. Then it was back to base via St Just for another quick cup of tea. The evening was spent quietly at my brother's chatting with my hosts before turning in early once again.

The Merry Maidens stone circle

Monday dawned to torrential rain and strong winds. I was due to go back today but as I was in no hurry I thought I would do a bit more birding. I did have to nip into town to buy a gift for the neighbour who was looking after the cat while I was away. So I thought I would walk along the promenade and go via Battery Rocks just in case the Purple Sandpipers were back. This turned out to be quite an experience! The tide was in and despite walking on the landward side of the road I managed to get splooshed by a breaking wave and got soaked. Miraculously there were some Purple Sanpipers hunkered down on the rocks so it was worth the soaking after all.

Purple Sandpipers trying not to be blown away in the wind

After my errand I returned to the house and said my farewells to my host before heading of in the rain back home. Before hitting the A30, I decided to nip into Hayle for one last try for the Ring-billed Gull on the way. As the tide was high I first went to Ryan's Field though something had flushed all the birds and there were only a few Lapwing and Redshank about. Next a trip across the road to the causeway where there were some loafing Gulls as well as the Dunlin flock but no Ring-billed. Not to worry, I soaked up the sights and sounds of the estuary for a bit before reluctantly heading off on the A30 for the long slog home.

Hayle Estuary Gulls waiting out the high tide

I broke up the journey by rendezvousing with a friend who lives in Devon at one of the service stations on the A30. We had a lovely chat while the weather raged outside. Then it was back on the road, negotiating the rain which had reached biblical proportions. It was hard work that required extra concentration but eventually I arrived back at Casa Gnome late afternoon tired but very pleased with my long weekend away down in Cornwall. Now that my brother has a place down there, I can't help but think that this will be the first of many return trips to the far South West.

 

 

 

 

Ripley Killdeer

January is usually a quiet time of the year for national twitching. Looking back through the past few years of my blog posts there was only one national twitch in this month (for the Northern Waterthrush) so I wasn't expecting anything this year. So when on Wednesday news broke of a Killdeer it was most unusual. What's more it was not on a distant Scottish island like they usually are but rather down in Hampshire, an eminently twitchable distance for me. What was not to like? It was found on Wednesday morning and I did contemplate cancelling all my meetings and rushing off but in the end decided against it. Instead I planned to go the next day after a morning meeting. I messaged a couple of birding friends who were both happy to tag along for the ride and the plan was set. All that was needed now was for the bird to be still present the next morning.

The bird duly obliged by staying put overnight so late morning I picked up PL and EU at a convenient rendezvous point and we set off on the drive down the A34 to Hampshire. The weather was decidely inclement and we regularly drove through heavy rain showers on the way down. As we headed along the familiar route there was the usual banter about past twitches and what we'd all seen and missed over the years. All classic stuff and thoroughly enjoyable. After what has been a rather stressful few weeks for me it felt really good to be out and about on a days birding with a couple of birding pals. We realised that the last time the three of us had been out on a national twitch together had been the Aquatic Warbler at Upper Beeding back in 2023 - good times! As we drove I mooted the idea of stopping off for the now-resident Great-tailed Grackle in Holbury on the way back. Having seen it myself when it was first discovered in Calshot, it would be nice to revist it in its new urban setting. PL had not yet seen it at all and was very keen. EU had already seen it in both settings but was happy to pay it another visit. 

Finally we turned off the A31 onto a very minor B road that lead south through the windy back roads of deepest darkest Hampshire towards our destination. The bird news services had warned about difficult parking and had suggested some parking sites quite some distance away from the bird. However, looking at the map I could see quite a few suitable locations pretty close by so had set the Sat Nav accordingly on a hunch that we would be OK. In the event, my hunch proved correct and we found a nice place in a layby no more than 100 yards from the path towards the bird. Given the showery weather I put all my waterproofs on before heading off towards the path. Then it was a walk of about 600 metres past a pig field on the right and a hedgerow on the left that was bordering a small farm reservoir. At the far end was a group of about 30 or so birders with scopes all pointed to the far side of the reservoir to a boggy field. This was the moment of truth! 

There was no need to worry, the bird was still there and several people offered views through their scopes of the target. Tick - and relax! It was hunkered down facing away from us, partially obscured by a small ridge with just its head and upper body visible. There it was, looking a bit cold in the dank conditions. I set up my scope and was just sorting out my digiscoping gear when a shout went up that a White-tailed Eagle was flying behind us along the boundary of the field. We all swivelled to look behind us and sure enough there was the unmistakable flying barn door. What a bonus! I'd certainly not been expecting that! It had been a few years since I'd last seen one so this was very nice to see. 

After the excitment of the eagle interlude it was back to the star bird. Eventually it got up and started to wander about so I was able to appreciate it in all its plovery glory. There were the classic twin breast bands and the long tailed, long necked look. All very nice! I set about taking some video and then trying to phone scope it. The persistent rain wasn't helping and my results were no more than record shots but still nice to get.

Some digiscoped footage of the star bird

 

Three phonescoped record shots

 

Looking across the corner of the reservoir to the boggy field beyond, where the Killdeer was located

The obligatory twitch shot of the crowd admiring the bird

After about an hour I checked in with the other two who were both happy to head off so we retraced our steps to the car, stopping for a celebratory selfie in the rain on the way.

"We've just seen a Killdeer!" - three wet but happy birders

Back at the car I set the Sat Nav for Holbury where the Grackle was located, some 45 minutes away. The bird had relocated here after first making landfall at Calshot where it had been found. On the way we stopped at a small village for much appreciated lunch and some hot drinks. Then it was back on the road through the familiar expanse of the New Forest and then back onto more major roads before finally arriving at Holbury. Then it was down a couple of side roads to a corner where EU assured us the bird was always located. We pulled up and before we even got out of the car I spotted the unmistakable silhouette of the Grackle, sitting on top of a metal pole in its favoured garden. We got out and took some photos but with its high perch, it was rather back-lit and harder to photograph properly. It then proceeded to have a little fly around, perching on several telegraph poles for extended periods of time, making it even less photographable I tried to tempt it down with some crumbled up flapjack on the grass but it was clearly too well fed as it wasn't interested. 

The Grackle turning its nose up at my flapjack offering

So it was time for another celebratory selfie before we got back in the car.

The three of us and the "Hand of God" pointing out the Grackle on the pole behind us

 

With it now being rush hour the Sat Nav was saying longer to get back but we didn't mind. We stopped off on the A34 at a service station for hot drinks where a lovely roost of 100+ Pied Wagtails were all gathered on the roof and then in the neighbouring trees. Finally we were back at the rendezvous point where the other two disembarked and we all headed home. It had been a lovely day out with a couple of very nice target birds seen and a lovely Eagle bonus. Top craic!

2025 End of Year Review

I thought I would make a concerted effort this year to get my end of year done in reasonable time rather than leaving it until mid January. In traditional fashion for me, it's broken down into Patch, County and National birding with an interlude for non-birds. Each section will have a much coveted Bird of the Year Award which I know my readers will be dying to find out about! So, all in all, it's been a very good year with two of the three sections having a very solid year. So, without further ado, let's kick things off.

Port Meadow Birding

This was the one section which has a poor year. The unseasonal weather meant that the flood waters, that are so vital to the patch birding, dried up in mid April, thereby depriving us of many vital wader ticks that we could usually rely on. Also there were no stand-out rarities at all, just a suite of "good patch birds". So things like Marsh Harrier, Crossbill, Siberian Chiffchaff, Woodcock, both Partridges (sadly both untwitchable) and multiple Tree Pipits were all seen. These are all great "padder" birds and good birds to have on the patch but sadly, that one star bird that would have made the year, was never seen. This combined with a certain phasing on my part as far as the patch is concerned has left the Patch birding scene a bit in the doldrums this year. To reflect that, the Patch Bird of the Year award is going to be left unawarded this year, a sad testament to a more humdrum year.

 

County Birding

Constrast this with the Oxfordshire birding year which has been stellar. This was due in no small part to the phenominal bird finding efforts of Jeremy Dexter who single handedly found the vast majorty of the top county birds this year.

It all kicked off in late May when a visiting birder claimed a Savi's Warbler in the Otmoor reedbed. Initial scepticism was soon quashed when early county birders confirmed the ID. This was a county tick for everyone and a mass twitch ensued.  

Savi's Warbler courtesy of Ian Lewington

 

The next county gem was a Marsh Sandpiper, found by JD at Pit 60 in Standlake. News didn't break until after dark so it was a dawn twitch for many county birders who had missed the only other one back in the day in Abingdon.

Marsh Sandpiper courtesy of Thomas Miller

The JD finding machine stepped up another gear with an amazing Bluethroat at the second screen at Otmoor at the start of October. Yet another county first for everyone, this was totally left field. Fortunately it hung around for a while so many people connected.

 

Bluethroat courtesy of Richard Stevens

There was one more county tick for me this year when JD found a pair of Twite at Farmoor one blustery and rainy afternoon. Pandemonium ensued as people tried to get to the birds. I managed it and finally got back a county blocker of many years.

Farmoor Twite courtesy of Jeremy Dexter

 

There was also a lovely supporting case of good birds with Slavonian Grebe, Scaup, Temminck's Stint, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Bean Goose and Common Scoter. Combined with some other county birds that I didn't see such as Red-footed Falcon, Pectoral Sandpiper, Honey Buzzard and Manx Shearwater it was by any measure a great birding year in the county.

My personal Oxon Bird of the Year is a tricky one because I am rather spoilt for choice. Any of my four county ticks could legitimately claim the prize. The Marsh Sandpiper and Twite had prior county history and I guess a Savi's Warbler at Otmoor isn't altogether left field. However, a Bluethroat at Otmoor would never have been on my bingo card so it has to go to that.

Finally for the county section, here is the traditional Gnome Oxon Birding Review for 2025. Expect the usual frenetic sound track and high octanse bird photos! 

 

Other Stuff Interlude

These days, other stuff consists of the two O's: Orchids and Odonata so very much confined to the summer months. On the Orchid front I finally managed a genuine Pugsley's Marsh Orchid as part of the summer Uni Run.  

Pugsley's Marsh Orchid on Anglesey

There was also a trip to deepest, darkest Suffolk to see a Greek Plowshare Tongue Orchid that had turned up in a wildflower meadow at a vineyard.

Greek Plowshare Tongue Orchid

The only Odonata action this year was to twitch a Norfolk Hawker that had been found at Blenheim. This species is normally confined to East Anglia but I guess it must be expanding its range as one was seen at Otmoor last year and this as well.

 

National Birding

My national birding trips are an important part of my enjoyment of this hobby and this year was a good year. With five BOU approved ticks and 3 Gnome Ticks it was certainly better than my usual efforts.

It all started back in February with a weekend away to see the Marazion Booted Eagle. After giving me the runaround for a couple of days, I finally connected on the morning of my departure.  

In the end I got great views of the Booted Eagle

Next was a Uni Run up to York where, at the second attempt, I saw the Bourne Dark-breasted Barn Owl. A lovely looking varition on our usual Barn Owl, it was well worth making an effort for. 

 

In the spring was a trip to Slimbridge, finally to see the regular summer visiting Bluethroat. This was a "White-spotted" subspecies tick for me as hitherto I'd only seen a first winter "Bluethroat species".

Then followed, the first of two birding trips to Suffolk, firstly for the immature Black Stork which showed ridiculously well.

Then it was back to Suffolk for the Zitting Cisticola which I struggled fully to appreciate due to hearing and binocular difficulties.

The discovery of a Grackle down in Hants made for a nice easy twitch. The ID kept changing but DNA analysis has now confirmed it as Great-tailed Grackle. 

December punched above its weight with two trips. Firstly I had a fun weekend chasing the Lesser Crested Tern around the Exe Estuary in a howling gale. With a Cirl Bunting bonus it made for a great weekend away.

Secondly, an early evening twitch to a Swansea Park gave me a lovely Scop's Owl sighting and sweet revenge for dipping one back in 2017. Talking of owls, this year I set myself the "Five Owl Challenge" to see all five UK owl species in the year. Not a difficult challenge I know and it could even be done in one day. I managed not only the core five easily enough fairly early on in the year but with the Dark-breasted Barn Owl and the Scop's Owl in total I managed seven. Not too shabby!

The Swansea Scop's Owl

So all in all a great year from a national birding perspective. As far as the the National Bird of the Year is concerned, there are a few to choose from as it's been a fruitful and enjoyable national year. In terms of being the hardest work and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat the Booted Eagle has to have it though an honourable mention should be made of the Scop's Owl revenge tick.

 

There you have it. It only remains for me to wish all my readers a very Happy and Bird-filled New Year! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter County Birding Round-up

There are a few local county birding trips I've done recently that I thought I would round-up into a single post. They all involved seeing rarer county water fowl as you would expect at this time of year.

The first was a trip to Blenheim a few weeks ago to see the smart adult drake Ring-necked Duck. It was associating with a large flock of Pochard though would go missing when the flock was flushed by fishermen in boats on the the lake so there was an element of jeopardy to twitching it. Fortunately I picked a good day where it had already been reported and was able to enjoy what used to be quite a county rarity back in the day. In recent years there have been quite a few of them so their county status is not what it used to be. There was also a nice flock of 20 or so Crossbills in a nearby plantation that I picked up on the way back to the car. All in all a very nice afternoon out!

The Ring-necked Duck with some Pochard companions courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

The Blenheim Crossbills courtesy of Kyle Smith

I was away over Christmas so wasn't able to get in on the hot goose action until a couple of days ago. A trip on Sunday afternoon down to Otmoor for the Bean Geese proved rewarding in the end though to start with it looked like I was going to dip. Viewing from the Noke end. there were 50+ White-fronted Geese on Ashgrave which were lovely to see but the Beans were no where to be seen. Suddenly at just before 3pm all 19 of them flew in and landed on the pond in the middle of the field. There they sat, preened and squabbled happily for about 40 minutes before flying off again.

 

Some superb video footage courtesy of Jason Coppock 

 

..and photo courtesy of Jeremy Dexter

The last trip was on New Year's Eve itself when I popped over to Farmoor to enjoy the winter sunshine on a cold, crisp day. The target was a a female-type Common Scoter which had turned up a couple of days ago. I found it hunting actively in the middle of F1. I couldn't turn up the Greater Scaup that was also supposed to be about but as I'd seen one at the start of the year, I wasn't so bothered.

The Common Scoter, courtesy of Ben Sheldon

 

 

 

 

 

Swansea Scops Owl

I would not have expected to be making yet another national bird sortie so soon after the last one but something as tantalising as a Scops Owl was too good to pass up. Regular readers will remember that in my last post on the Lesser Crested Tern, a Scops Owl had been discovered the evening that I went down to Devon and that I had hoped to snaffle the owl on the way back though in the end it was not to be. Still the Scops had developed a regular pattern of being first seen between 5pm and 6pm each evening and seemed to be about as predictable as these things can be. Contrast this with the one last year at Broadstairs in Kent which, by all accounts, was very random and unpredictable in its appearances and lead to a lot of dippage. Indeed it had been too unpredictable for me to contemplate twitching it but this one had been very reliable so I decided to give it a go. I should say that I have some history with Scops Owl having dipped one at Ryhope in County Durham back in October 2017 when doing a Uni Run for Daughter 1.

With a combination of work and feeling a bit under the weather constraining me, it wasn't until Thursday that I was free to try for it. So it was on Thursday afternoon after lunch at around 1pm I sallied forth on the three hour trip to a suburb on the west side of Swansea called Killay. Once into Wales, the M4 was annoyingly busy - driving this way brought back memories of doing Uni runs for Daughter 2 from when she did her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Swansea. I made it to junction 47 of the M4 and commenced my descent through various parts of the environs of Swansea until at around 4pm I arrived at Dunvant Road where I found somewhere to park. Then I got tooled up, including my full waterproof gear given the regular showers that I'd been driving through and then headed off to the entrance to the park.

I arrived to find a dozen other birders already assembled including JH, formerly from Oxon though now living in Worcestershire so we had a bit of a catch up. At around 4:30pm a local arrived who had kindly agreed to act in the role of marshal for the twitch to ensure that the various people looking with thermal cameras were coordinated and that the wellfare of the bird was taken into consideration when "lamping" it. The basic plan was that we all waited in a fairly central area of the park which would be within thermal view of the main locations it liked to frequent. Once located we would coordinate some controlled lighting so people could take photos. It all sounded like a very sensible plan - all we needed now was the owl itself. The marshal said that we'd be very unlucky not to see it tonight. I fervently hoped that he was right. 

After that it was a matter of standing around and waiting for it to be found. I had arranged with PL to meet him at the twitch but due to some navigation difficulties he didn't arrive until some time before 5pm (see his account here). I nibbled some snacks and waited. It's at times like these that you realise how essential a thermal imager is becoming these days for many aspects of birding. Being without one, I was left standing around in the dark waiting for someone else to find it.

Waiting in the dark for the owl to show

The same scene but with a much longer exposure. It's amazing how much detail you can get from your phone even in the dark

 

Time passed, we reached 5pm, then 5:30pm. The marshal said that if it got to 6pm and it still hadn't been seen then we'd have to change our plans. 5:45pm came and went and I started to think dark thoughts of dipping. Given how reliable the bird had been up until now, this hadn't really crossed my mind but here I was, standing in the showery dark starting to feel a bit cold and despondent and still no owl. It got to 6pm and the marshal suggested that those with thermals split up and start a wider search of the park away from its main hot spot. Non-thermal people could either wait at the main area or accompany the thermal bearers. I chose to accompany the marshal himself who seemed to know what he was doing whereas PL decided to stay on the main path as he had less suitable footware in the boggy conditions. 

We'd been walking for no more than a couple of minutes when we realised that we were being flashed at with a torch from back where we'd been assembled. That was the agreed signal that the bird had been found and we all hurried back. It turned out that it was sensible tucked away in the more wooded area out of the rain showers, feeding on a small patch of grass by some railings. Quickly we all assembled around this area and the torch was applied so we could get our first view of the bird. And there it was in all its owly glory: a small grey blob sitting on a branch. Those with big lenses (about a third of the party) went into overdrive trying to take some shots. With my superzoom camera I just tried to take some video though it was hard. By the time the bird had been located in the view finder, the torch was off again. In the end I did manage a few frames of the bird from which I was able to take a videograb.

My best effort for the Scops Owl

 

A superb photo taken at the same time by Jim Hutchins
See his blog post

The Eurasian Scops Owl had a breeding range extending from southern Europe eastwards to southern Siberia and the western Himalayas. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, so this bird was pretty far off course. It's a little bit smaller than our own Little Owl with little ear tufts. It's a lovely soft grey colour with a slimmer and more upright jizz than Little Owl. It likes to frequent open woodland, parks and gardens so the habitat was on point.

The bird spent about 5 minutes in the original area with us standing around trying to track it in the dark or with thermals while occasionallly being illuminated by a torch. After that it moved northwards along the hedge line and out into the main park to feed. We followed it as best we could, sometimes seeing it in silhouette perched on top of a post or following its progress from listening to those with thermals. PL decided to leave fairly soon after whereas I decided to stick around some more. Now that everyone had seen the bird well, the lamping becamse less frequent to give the bird time to feed. I stayed for a couple more illuminations before deciding that I too had had my fill. 

As I walked back to the car in the dark I reflected on how much fun it had been. The lows of the bird not showing for ages, then the excitment when seeing the torch signal. Then elation of the first sighting of the bird itself, followed by the relaxed enjoyment of trying to track its movements in the dark. All great fun and another shiny new tick under my belt. 

Back at the car, I poured myself some tea and finished off my sandwich that I had started eating while waiting for the bird to show. The Sat Nav was now saying to head through Swansea for the return leg as the traffic had died down by now. Some of this route brought back memories of navigating around the city for Daughter 2 during her time there. Soon I was back on the motorway and heading east in the darkness. With the traffic much lighter now and Radio 4 for company I headed onwards towards home, stopping once en route for a tea and a snack in order to revive me as I started to feel tired. Finally at around 10:30pm I arrived back at Casa Gnome, tired but very pleased with my outing and my revenge tick of a Scops Owl.

 

 

 

 

Exe Estuary Lesser Crested Tern

With it now being well into December, I had been thinking that that was it for the year as far as national birding was concerned. So when news of a "yellow-billed" Tern dropped on Wednesday at around midday my ears certainly pricked up. Could there be one last hurrah for the year? Now, the trouble with yellow-billed Terns is that they are very hard to identify (see my handy guide at the end of this post). This bird was intially being reported as a Royal or West African Crested Tern and it was only a few hours later that the ID was firmed up to Lesser Crested Tern. Anyway, it didn't really matter to me - any one of these yellow-billed Terns apart from Elegant (see here for an account of seeing the one at Pagham Harbour) would be a lifer for me. So, the next question was "what to do about it?". Now, my youger daughter was wanting to have the house to herself on Saturday to host a "Friends Giving" party for all her friends and she wanted me and my wife out of the house. This would be the perfect opportunity for me to head down to the Exe Estuary and to stay over somewhere on Saturday night. I hatched a plan accordingly and watched developments in Devon that week with keen interest, hoping that the bird would stay. The Tern did indeed do the decent thing and decided that the Exe was to its liking. It seemed to like Dawlish Warren the most and was pretty much a dead cert first thing in the morning where it would loaf around on a buoy for long periods. "If the bird stays then this is going to be fairly easy" I was thinking to myself as I tracked the news each day leading up to Saturday. Had I learned nothing about jinxing from all my years of birding? It would turn out to be far harder than I was expecting.

Come Saturday and I have a few errands first thing so it wasn't until about 9:30am that I set off on the three hour slog down to Devon. Unusually the bird had been seen first thing but then had disappeared. That was a break from its usual pattern and started me fretting somewhat. News dropped from Bird Guides about the Lesser Crested Tern. "Surely that will be confirmation that it's still there" I thought. But no, it was "no sign since 7:30am" - not what I wanted to hear. I followed the route down towards the South West that was so familiar from my Cornwall days, trying to recalibrate my expectations for this trip and to come to terms with the fact that I might actually dip. For much of the journey down there was just stoney silence from Bird Guides. Finally on the M5 towards Devon news came that it was on a pontoon at the Turf Hotel, a Tern location that I'd not hitherto heard of. However, it didn't stay there long and soon disappeared again. Next it was distantly viewable from some beach I'd never heard of that was on the east side of the estuary rather than the usual west side. Hmmn, the bird was certainly not sticking to the script at all and I was not sure what to do. As I got closer to the junction 30 turn off, the news was now "no further sign". So in the end I decided to go to the Exeter Services, that being equidistant between the east and west sides of the estuary, to eat my packed lunch and to await developments. 

I was just finishing my lunch when more welcome news dropped: "showing distantly from Starcross railway platform". I needed no further prompting, set the Sat Nav accordingly and raced off.  At this point Google Maps in its infinite wisdom saw fit to take me on a really tortuous route down the A38, and then on some single track road through somewhere called Kenn before rejoining the main road south. While I'm sure I probably saved a minute or so, the anxiety it caused from fretting about where on earth I was being taken probably cost me at least a minute off my lifespan! Anyway, about 20 minutes later I rocked up at the Starcross car park. I grabbed just my bins and scope and hurried along the path. I was expecting to go to the railway platform itself some 200 yards away but almost immediately I came across some birders on the other side of a path across the railway track, entered via a kissing gate. They seemed to be scoping something intently so I hurried across to be given some instructions:

"See the blue buoy?" (thankfully there was only one)

"From that drop down to the nearby red buoy at around 8 o'clock" (got that)

"and it's immediately behind that on the far sand bank"

I had been thinking he was going to say on the nearer sandbank but no, it was the incredibly distant one. However, the sun was shining behind us and I could make out some distant Oystercatchers and a single small white bird. It then turned its head and I could make out its yellow bill and black rear half of its head. Bingo - it was in the bag! All the tension from this morning evaporated and I could relax, safe in the knowledge that this was to be a successful trip. After a few minutes I decided to head back to get my coat and walking boots so I could go down the steps onto the beach, thereby being out of the really strong wind that was making viewing at such a distance even more difficult. So I went back, got the rest of my stuff and returned. However, duing those few minutes the Tern had decided to move on and was now in flight. I tracked it along with the others as it flew relatively close over some nearby fishing boats before heading south down the estuary. Wow - that had been a close thing! I had really only just made it by a few minutes.

I didn't manage any photos from my initial view so here is one courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

"It's probably going back to its old haunts from the previous days at the south end of the estuary" I thought. I headed back to the car and decided that I would probably go to Dawlish Warren to set up camp there. I reprogrammed the Sat Nav and set off south, passing through some pretty villages and a lovely small harbour with a picturesque thatched pub. News dropped that the bird was on show distantly from the Cockwood Steps. This had been a location that had featured regularly in previous days as an alternative viewing location. In previous days, it had always been more distant from Cockwood than the Warren so I decided to stick to my plan. I duly arrived at the Dawlish Warren car park, paid a (rather hefty) fee for parking and set off along with a few other birders with the same idea. We weren't entirely sure where to go but soon met a young local birder who, along with his father, guided us on our way.

It turned out that the bird hide, from which sightings had generally been reported was now closed. While it was possible to walk along the north border of the Warren to view from near the hide, our guide suggested going out to the Point instead where it would be a bit more sheltered. The walk was through some pleasant scrub area (known as Greenland Lake for some reason) and I kept my eyes out for Cirl Buntings though without any luck. It turned out to be a good half an hour all the way to the Point and when we got there it was still blowing a gale. We found shelter as best we could and scoped the estuary. One of the others soon picked out the bird, very distantly all the way across the estuary, rather close to the Cockwood side. We tracked it as it flew around occasionally or loafed on the sand though views were so distant that I couldn't even see the yellow bill from this range so I had to rely on younger eyes to tell me which bird it was. I realised that I had made a tactical blunder in coming round to this side and I should have gone to Cockwood steps where not only would the bird have been much closer but it would also be completely sheltered down on the beach under the sea wall. Oh well!

The view from Dawlish Warren Point across the estuary to Cockwood in the distance

Dawlish Warren landscape

We all eventually decided to give it up as a bad job and headed back on the half hour slog to the car park. It was getting late but I decided to head over to Cockwood to see if the bird was still on show there. After all, it was on the way to my AirBnB for the night anyway so there was nothing to lose by doing this. I parked up in the layby which was suspiciously empty and reviewed my Bird Guides messages. Gah! The Tern had apparently flown off 15 minutes ago. On well, I thought I would go and take a look at this site anyway. After all it might come back and at least I would complete the set of viewing sites! Down the steps on the beach it was wonderfully sheltered. With just a few birders left and it getting late, it was very peaceful and I really enjoyed a chance to relax finally after a day of rushing around. There was a party of four Red-breasted Mergansers hunting close in on the water and distant flocks of Brent Geese spread around the bay over towards Dawlish. Greenshank, Oystercatchers and Redshank were dotted about the place and I looked through the loafing gulls to see if I could turn up a Caspian (I couldn't). Gradually more and more people left until I was the last one there. I reflected on my day: it had been successful for sure though the views could have been better. I'd seen some gripping photos on WhatsApp from the Cockwood side where the bird had at times been very close indeed. Still, I had my shiny tick under the belt and I had tomorrow morning to try to get better views before heading back home. All in all, not too bad.

The view from the beach by Cockwood steps

I returned to the car and set the coordinates for my AirBnb which was located on the south side of Exeter only 20 minutes away. It turned out to be a simple but comfortable affair though on a rather noisy main road. I headed over to a nearby supermarket for provisions before settling in for the evening in the B&B. Soon after, news broke of a Scops Owl that had been found in a park in Swansea. This did get me thinking that, should be it found roosting tomorrow, it would make the perfect on-the-way-home bonus bird. However, the weather forecast for tomorrow for the whole of Wales and indeed also the South West where I was, was horrendous with strong winds and driving rain so any self respecting owl would probably want to be tucked well out of sight. I would have to just see how tomorrow would play out and settled down for the night, enjoying the restful sleep of someone who had already connected with their target bird. 

I awoke the next morning after a reasonable sleep to find the weather forecast had proven accurate. This would make hunting for the Tern rather problematic and I didn't really fancy braving the elements in all that. So instead I decided to head over to Broadsands at first light to see if I could catch up with some Cirl Buntings after my failure at the start of the year when coming back from the Booted Eagle. As I drove through the half light of dawn the weather was as atrocious as predicted with strong winds and driving rain. I was starting to wonder if the entire morning was going to be a write off at this rate.

I headed down to the usual lower car park and, after some on-line guidance from a friendly birding WhatsApp group, I settled down to try to winkle out some Cirls. Such was the weather that I decided to set up the scope in the back seat of the car and to watch from there as otherwise it would have been hopeless. This way I could at least scope the hedges and the ground in front of them, though with the car window open I was getting lots of rain coming in and onto my scope lens. Given the strong winds the only birds that were around were some Wood Pigeons and Carrion Crows. After a while I did notice a flock of smaller birds flying around near the seeded area though the wind was making them very skittish. Eventually I managed to see them well enough to identify them as Chaffinches. They soon gave it up as a bad job and disappeared.

After a while I decided to move further away so that rather than viewing along the hedge line I was viewing more perpendicular to it. This way I could stand a better chance of actually peering into the hedge a little. I eventually spotted a small streaky brown bird in the hedge which turned out to be a female House Sparrow. A flock of them soon descended and rapidly worked their way over the seeded area but they too were very skittish and kept retreating. A Sparrowhawk shot over the area, no doubt used to finding lots of prey around that area but this morning there were no birds to be had. 

The more distant view across the car park from my car window, trying to peer into the hedges on the far side

 

I poured myself a cup of tea from the flask and started thinking about when to give up. It had been about an hour now and I was starting to think that the weather had defeated me. Was I destined not to see a Cirl Bunting once again? Just then I noticed a bit of movement at the bottom of the hedge and shifted my scope to view that area. Bingo! There was the stripy headed beauty that is a male Cirl Bunting. There were four birds in total, two males and two females and I watched them for several minutes as they worked their way over the seeds before they too fled back to the protection of the hedges at the next big gust of wind. 

Pleased with my success I packed away my gear and pondered what to do next. There was no news on the Tern still and the Owl had come back as "no sign" that morning. So I started to think about maybe just heading home and set the Sat Nav accordingly. Some 10 minutes into this journey back towards the Exe estuary area, news broke that the Tern was back at the Turf Hotel pontoon at the end of the Exeter Canal where it meets the River Exe. It had been seen at this location yesterday morning briefly while I'd been driving down but was a site that I'd hitherto not visited. It was right on the route back home anyway so it seemed like a no brainer to try for it before heading home and I adjusted the Sat Nav accordingly. 

Some 20 minutes later I was following a couple of other birders' cars down a narrow single track road towards the parking area. At one point we all had to manoeuvre to let someone through coming the other way and in doing so one of my front wheels went into a ditch. Thank heavens for the all wheel drive of the Gnome-mobile to get me out again. Phew! That wasn't the end of it: towards the end of the road, we had to drive through some deep flood water for about 30 yards before finally arriving at the small car park, which thankfully wasn't too full yet. I found a parking space, tooled up with all my waterproofs and followed my fellow birders off on the path.

It turned out to be about a 20 minute walk along a tarmacked path that ran parallel to but below the canal. In the fields next to us were Exeminster Marshes with plenty of Geese (mostly Brents) and some calling Redshank. I hurried on, all too aware that the Tern had a tendancy to suddenly fly off and could do so at any moment. I was just rounding the final bend when some birders started coming back the other way and news broke on WhatsApp that the bird had indeed flown off! Gah - so close! 

The pontoon - providing a good roosting spot at high tide

Given I had walked all that way I thought I would at least go and see the now ternless pontoon and made my way over to the group of other birders who were still there. They were mostly standing around aimlessly though a few were actively scanning the water. It was pretty much high tide presently and there were not really any sand banks on which the bird could rest and nor were there many buoys in sight - it was all just water. Suddenly someone picked up the Tern flying back towards us before it landed back down on the pontoon again. What joy! There it was in all its terny glory and only about 150 yards away, so not the distant speck of yesterday afternoon. I set about trying to take some digiscoped video though the wind was still very strong and shook the scope mercilessly.

A phone-scoped image of the Lesser Crested Tern in all its glory

 
...and some rather shaky disgiscoped video footage

The bird did have another little fly around briefly before resettling on the pontoon. There were also some Oystercatchers, a few Black-headed Gulls and some Dunlin around. I watched it for quite a while - this very much felt like a fitting climax to the weekend's birding proceeding with the most prolonged and settled views of the trip so I spent a while taking it all in. Eventually I felt it was time to head back so retraced my steps in a much more relaxed frame of mind than when I'd been hurrying anxiously towards the bird. 

Birders enjoying great views of the Tern in the pouring rain

The end of the Exeter canal

Back at the car park it was carnage! Birders were still trying to get in while others were trying to leave and for a while the whole car park was literally grid locked. Someone managed to reverse into another parked car and leave a mark which the owner wasn't too happy about. Eventually with a bit of orchestrated shuffling around of cars, those who wanted to could leave and the newcomers could park. I headed back down the single track road and back to the main road. 

I made a quick pit stop at the Exeter services to buy some lunch and then it was back on the M5 for the long slog home. I kept an eye on the bird news in case the Scops Owl should be found but there was no sign of it as I journied north so I committed to heading home and back to Casa Gnome, arriving back mid afternoon for a most welcome celebratory cup of tea. It had been a very successful trip with multiple sightings of the rare Lesser Crested Tern and some lovely bonus Cirl Buntings to boot. What a grand weekend adventure!

 

A fabulous photo of the Lesser Crested Tern, taken by Ewan Urquhart from a boat. 
See his great blog here

The Gnome Cut-out-and-Keep Guide to Yellow-billed Terns

There are five yellow-billed Tern species which are all confusingly similar. Royal, Elegant, West African Crested, Greater Crester and Lesser Crested. It is a testament to how confusing they are that even this bird, arguably the easiest to identify, was misidentified for several hours. LCT has a grey rump which distinguishes it from the others. Royal, GCT and WACT are all larger. Apart from that it is down to nuances of bill structure and wing colour.

Royal Tern

This is a larger Tern with a chunky bill - think yellow-billed Caspian Tern. It is found on both coasts of Central and South America as well as the the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico of the USA

Elegant Tern

A medium sized yellow-billed Tern. It is found on the west coast of the USA and Mexico in the summer and migrates south to the west coast of South America in the winter. Some vagrant birds have made it over to Europe where they have bred with the locals to produce hybrid off-spring. The Pagham Harbour bird I saw was a (pure) European Elegant Tern that had hopped over from a colony in France.

Greater Crested Tern

A larger yellow-billed Tern. It is widely spread from the east coast of Africa though the Middle East and Asia all the way to Australasia. There are five subspecies 

West African Crested Tern
The third of the three larger yellow-billed Terns, formerly thought to be conspecific with Royal until DNA evidence revealed it was actually closer to Lesser Crested. As the name suggests, it is found along the west coast of Africa

Lesser Crested Tern

Breeds in subtropical coastal parts of the world mainly from the Red Sea across the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, and Australia, with a significant population on the southern coast of the Mediterranean on two islands off the Libyan coast.