Hoody Insurance

Hooded Merganser has a rather uncertain status in UK listing. It is of course the age old problem with water fowl of determining their provenance - so many collections have them that there are the inevitable escapes and just how do you tell the genuine vagrant from the escapee? It is now generally considered that the following points need to be looked for

1. It appears at the right time of year when wild birds might well be on the move, perhaps in the company of other wild duck that have moved in
2. It is unringed and the feathers aren't clipped or damaged
3. It is wild and wary of people
4. It departs in good time to continue it's migration

As far as Hooded Merganser is concerned, I saw the then first winter drake at Radipole which has decided to take up residence there and has subsequently been declared an escapee by a committee of wise birders. Now I think that this decision may be a little harsh. After all it was first seen to fly in off the sea and collapse exhausted in a storm drain before relocating to Radipole. There it soon learnt to copy the behaviour of all the Tufted Duck there and ignore the many passers by and even take a bit of bread now and then. I must admit that I've always thought that the so-called bread test was a bit of a joke. Does this mean that all the Mallards on my local canal are all escapees because they come to bread. Of course not! Birds, tend to take their cues from others around them and it's quite understandable that a completely lost young bird who's navigation system is clearly up the spout (since it got lost in the first place) might decide to stay and enjoy what's clearly a rather easy life for a duck there. So, as far as I was concerned, Hooded Merganser was on my list. Now, I understand that if you want to start comparing lists with other people then you need some kind of committee to decide what's countable but as I list purely for my own pleasure I'm free to make up my own mind and I was happy enough with it. Or was I?

The acid test is of course if another bird turns up nearby and is easily twitchable - if I were completely at ease with my tick then I wouldn't feel the need to go and see any other birds of this species. Yet when a female Hooded Merganser turned up not a million miles away in Wiltshire I was indeed tempted. It seemed to pass the first three points on the list above and as it was a quiet time of year with not much to see I hadn't been on a Gnome outing for some time now. Why not pay it a visit as a bit of an insurance tick? I decided to give it a go.

I was working on Thursday morning but would be free of commitments by around 2 p.m. and as the bird was just over an hour away I should be able to get there in good time to see it. Reports on RBA were remarkably thin on the ground and with only one "still there" first thing that morning I put out an RFI and was soon rewarded with good news. So at 2 p.m. I set off in the Gnome mobile along the familiar A420 that I usually use when heading to the South West. The traffic rather ground to crawl towards the end and it turned out to be a minor prang which took time to get past and rather added to my journey time so it wasn't until around 3:30 p.m. that I arrived at the car park opposite the park entrance and tooled up. The car park was remarkably empty and there was just one returning birder as I got ready who reported that the bird was showing well albeit rather distantly. I yomped off into the park where I could see the lake ahead of me and just two people standing on the bank with a scope.

The lake - apparently the park was designed by Capability Brown, hence it's rather boring
vast areas of grass and lack of good natural habitat for wildlife

I headed over to these two and enquired about the bird as it was not obviously in sight. They informed me that it had climbed out onto the bank "by the green plastic bag" and had just a minute ago ducked out of sight. Of course all twitchers know all to well the old "just gone out of sight" syndrome where it never appears again so I started to feel a bit worried about the whole situation - I'd assumed that this was going to be "a walk up to the lake and tick it" situation. Whilst I set up my scope to take a look the other two decided to leave and I could hear them muttering something about "going to roost now" as they departed. Whilst it seemed rather early for roosting the fact was it was rather grey and cloudy, in fact distinctly gloomy and if the bird had enjoyed a full day's feeding it might well be starting to considered settling down for the night. Mentally I was kicking myself for having decided to visit so late.

I got out my scope and tried to scope the "green bag" area on the far bank. There was a clear area by the bag under some trees but no obvious sign of the bird at all. I looked all around the lake, there were a few Goosander dotted about the place, the odd Mallard and Moorhen and a modest roost of Black-headed Gulls out in the centre but that was about it. The trouble was that the area on the far bank was at a bit of an angle so I walked along the bank looking for a break in the trees and reeds where I could get a better view. I found a spot and set the scope zoom to the maximum. "Was that the bird tucked up on the ground there with its head under its wing?". I couldn't really make it out - I thought that I saw it move for a moment but in the poor light I wasn't sure.  It was all very frustrating. What to do? There was no one else here apart from a few dog walkers and a heavy despondency started to settle over me.

A dog walker came by and asked if there was anything interesting about so I explained about the bird. As she seemed to be local I then asked whether it was possible to get around the other side of the lake. She explained that there was a gate there and a footpath which headed off into the woods but one wasn't really supposed to head over to the lake. She then said that she sometimes walks that area and as there were no sheep in the field at present it would probably be OK. Hmm, I decided to risk it. I walked as best I could over the rather muddy and slippery grass, through the gate and along the north side of the lake. However, despite having a good look around in the general area for quite some time I couldn't see any sign of the bird. Dejected at having dipped by all of one minute I once again berated myself for having been so stupid in visiting so late in the day and started to trudge with a heavy heart back the way I came. As I was walking back I cast an idle eye over the birds still on the water. "What was that unfamiliar shape and colour next to that Mallard there?" I raised my bins and Bingo there it was! I couldn't quite believe it but it was swimming around some thirty yards away. Relieved I started taking photos with my new super zoom though the light was terrible and the bird clearly had roosting on its mind as it kept tucking its head up. It was quite a striking thing though with it's large hood and bright red eye giving it a somewhat alien reptilian appearance.

As I'd spent so long not seeing the bird I didn't have a great deal of time so once it tucked its head down again I decided that I needed to head back. After all I'd promised my VLW that I'd be back for dinner and there'd be rush hour traffic to contend with. I therefore yomped back to the car and fired up the Gnome mobile. There was indeed a fair amount of traffic but fortunately it seemed mostly to be going the other way and it didn't take any longer that usual for the return journey. Not that I minded as I had somehow snatched success from the jaws of horrendous dippage. With an insurance tick under my belt I could now hold my head high and claim to have Hooded Merganser on my list without suffering the scorn that the Radipole bird tends to attract from some birders.

Cornwall February 2016

Yet another amalgamation from my Pendeen Birding blog of my recent trip to Cornwall. Be warned it's mostly DIY and not seeing much!

Saturday 13th February - Back Down

Astute readers will have noticed that despite my last post saying that I was coming back a week later at the end of October there has been a suspicious lack of any posts here. The reason was that I had back problems and also my VLW wasn't well so we decided to forego our traditional October half term trip down here. We were also thinking about coming down to see the New Year in but once again illness thwarted our plans so it's not until now during the February half term that finally I am back in my beloved Cornwall. Traditionally we come down at this time to see how well the cottage is coping with the winter storms so far and to start to put things right in preparation for the coming letting season and this was out plan this time as well. As well as myself and my VLW, our nine year old son L was to accompany us on this trip down though our two grown-up daughters had other plans.

We set off at the reasonably leisurely time of 11:30 a.m and stopped en route just for fuel and sandwiches and in the end the journey was uneventful and the traffic wasn't too bad. When we arrived at Hayle we stopped off at M&S so that I could make yet another attempt at finding a hat in which I didn't look quite so ridiculous. I'm the first to admit that I'm really not a hat person. I tend to look terrible in all hats that I wear but I do find them useful in that they keep my head warm and dry so I soldier on regardless and just have to accept looking like an idiot. A few years ago I found a nice winter hat with ear flaps (see my profile photo) which I was told I didn't look too bad in and which was nice and warm though sadly I lost this when I twitched the Greater Yellowlegs at Titchfield Haven last year so I wanted to find a replacement. It turned out that they no longer made this model and their new ear flap hat looked depressingly terrible on me so in the end I opted for a sort of waterproof flat cap type of thing which my VLW tells me makes me look like a farmer. For me, that's actually quite a compliment as far as hat wearing goes!

Anyway, we arrived at Penzance at around 4 p.m. and headed to Sainsbury's café for some tea. As I stared out over Mounts Bay I reflected that somewhere out there were at least three Glaucous Gulls, a Ring-billed Gull (which seems to spend the day near Trennack Farm near Sancreed), the usual over-wintering Pacific Diver, and best of all, a juvenile American Herring Gull, the latter being the bird that I'd most like to see whilst I'm down here. Realistically though, it's probably the one I'm least likely to catch up with as it had only been seen three times to my knowledge (twice at roost) and had no pattern to it at all. Still the other birds would be nice to see. Also on my target list was the over-wintering Hudsonian Whimbrel over on the other side of the Bay. Indeed up until last year this would have been a lifer about which I would be salivating profously though the Pagham bird last year had relegated this now to just a prospective Cornish tick. Still all these birds at least gave me something to work on whilst I was down here. In fact the list was none too shabby at all, given that it was February.

After our tea, we did a shop and then headed over to the cottage to boot things up. We spent some time surveying the damp patches and deciding what needed painting before having something to eat and then settling down to watch an episode of Poldark on DVD (playing "name that location" at each new scene). At just after 10 p.m. we all decided to crash out and hit out beds for an early night.

Don't expect too many Moth du Jour posts on this trip. However I found this Agonopterix heracliana over-wintering in the cottage.

Sunday 14th February - Pendeen

Today was a very quiet and low key day. After exchanging Valentine's Cards this morning whilst having our morning cups of tea in bed, my VLW and I were in full DIY mode for almost all the day. First off was an inventory of all that needed doing to the cottage both inside and out. There was nothing too terrible though the plumber had been over-zealous when he installed the new pressure reduction valves and we couldn't coax out much more than a trickle, far too little to have a proper shower. Our usual two inexplicable damp patches were their usual damp selves and the plaster needed hacking off so that it could all dry out. There was some mould in the bathroom that needed sorting out and lots of touching up of the paintwork inside and out.

Mid morning I did take a fifteen minute break to have a stroll down to the lighthouse and this did coincide with a nice patch of sunshine to brighten up what was otherwise a rather dull and chilly day. A pair of Raven were hanging about on the wall of one of the neighbouring fields and seemed to enjoy this vantage point, returning to it several times during the day. A Kestrel was hunting over the same fields and a few Herring Gulls were loafing around in the distance. As I headed back towards the cottage I heard the familiar call of a Chough and looked up to see a lovely flock of fourteen of them all circling around over the cottage itself before heading off along the coast.

The two Ravens

Whilst I worked I would periodically stop to stare out at the sea with my bins. There seemed to be a fair bit of movement today with a steady stream of Auks all heading west and lots of Kittiwakes and Gannets all feeding away just offshore. At just after midday I happened to look out and spotted a Bonxie really close in near the cliffs just to the west of the lighthouse - that was nice to see. On another occasion I spotted a Diver heading west (probably a Red-throated though it was too far to be sure). I made a mental note to try and fit in a sea watch or two if I have a moment later in the week.

Late afternoon we went for a quick yomp back down to the lighthouse to clear out heads though by now it was getting rather chilly. After a bit more DIY we decided to head up to Pendeen for a pub meal and this time tried the North Inn as a change from the Radjel. Here I had a really good Monkfish curry which I can thoroughly recommend. Then it was back to the cottage to veg out for the evening before hitting our beds at an early hour again. Tomorrow, I'm hoping that I'll actually find some time to head out for a bit of proper birding.

Monday 15th February: Pendeen & Newlyn Harbour

After a good night's sleep and our traditional cup of tea in bed, it was time to get things started. As the weather forecast wasn't too bad, our plan for today was to crack on with some DIY to start with and then to go out for a bit at around lunch time. Part of the reason for this plan is because very often we work away all day and then don't get out until it's too late in the day to do much. I'd suggested a walk along the coast at Perranuthnoe in order to look for the Hudsonian Whimbrel and the others were happy enough with this idea so we set about our various DIY tasks intending to head out at around midday. Like yesterday, I snatched chances to look out of the window whilst I worked: the two Raven were still about and today I saw a flock of just six Chough. The Kestrel was also around, hunting for worms in the horse paddock next to our cottage. On the sea there were still plenty of Gannets and Kittiwakes feeding off shore and a steady passage of Auks heading past. No Bonxie today though.

Local birds

Mid morning an RBA text came through saying that there was no sign of the Whimbrel by Perran Sands. Whilst there were plenty of other place it could be it did cause me to question our plan so that when the time came to head outI suggested an alternate plan of heading over to Newlyn harbour instead to look for the Glaucous Gull there. The other two said that they would prefer to wander around Penzance instead so I dropped them off and then headed over to the harbour for a spot of gullage. I parked up at the Tolcarne Inn and had a quick check of the rocks there. Not only was the splendid male Black Redstart still there but there was also a female type present as well. Also about were at least half a dozen Rock Pipits and a couple of Grey Wagtails. I checked through the gulls that were loafing on the rocks by the mouth of the river mouth but there was nothing out of the ordinary there at all.

The female-type BlackRedstart

Next I headed over to the harbour to look for the Glauc. There I met a lady photographer who was also looking for it but who hadn't as yet seen it. I had a good scour around through all the gulls but there was no sign of it. A local birder from Truro turned up who said that it usually hung out by the first pontoon next to the central quay. I'd already looked there but we all had another good scour around to no avail. The Truro birder did spot the Great Northern Diver in the harbour and I waited patiently to try and grab a photo though it did that vanishing act that divers are so good at and I never saw it again. Eventually we all got bored and I wandered back to the car to see if I could take any more phtos of the Black Redstart though one was shooting into the light and I soon gave up. I got my packed lunch out of the car and decided to eat it back at the quay in case the Glauc should decide to turn up. I had just got to the central quay when I spotted the bird flying away from me along the quay. It headed off to the far side of the harbour where it settled on the pebble beach there, about as far away as it could possibly be! Still, with my new Canon SX60 bridge camera with me (a present from Santa last Christmas) I was able to take a passable record shot of it despite the distance.

Distant Glaucous Gull

Having at least seen my gull I checked in with the others to see how they were getting on. It turned out that they were more or less finished so I headed off the pick them up. Then it was off to the supermarket for a quick shop and back to the cottage to crack on with some more chores. We worked until dark and then settled down for a quiet night in. The Hudbrel later came on the pager (and the Truro birder had told me that he's seen it anyway) so I'll probably have a crack at that tomorrow.

Tuesday 16th February: Perranuthnoe & Marazion

Today was a mixed day which started well but ended up being somewhat frustrating. We awoke at around 8 a.m. today to nice calm conditions though it was rather overcast. As before we planned to crack on with some DIY first thing before heading out later morning for our main outing of the day. We made excellent progress as far as the DIY was concerned and so it was in a buoyant mood that we finished off at around 11:30 a.m. and got ready to head out. The plan today was to head over to Perranuthnoe to walk the coastal path a bit and with any luck catch up with the over-wintering Hudsonian Whimbrel at last. We'd got as far as Penzance when I realised that I'd forgotten to put in the car our rucksack that had our packed lunches. Doh! Rather than go all the way back we decided to do the walk first and then nip back to Marazion to pick up some lunch. So this is what we did.

I'd never actually been to Perranuthnoe before and it was a pretty enough place as well as seeming to be very popular with walkers, judging by the number of cars in the car park. As we were getting ready I spotted some returning birders and hurried over to quiz them. It turned out that they'd not seen the Whimbrel in several hours though they'd met some birders who had seen it that morning. That wasn't very encouraging! Nevertheless we were there now so at the least this would be a reconnaisance of the area for a return visit. We headed off along the path enjoying the views of Mounts Bay from this different perspective though the stiff south westerly rather spoilt things. The cliffs were rather low and crumbly here and one could peer down onto the rocks where the Whimbrel was supposed to hang out though as we walked along there were actually no birds to be seen at all. After a while we got around as far as Trenow Cove where we met another birder who'd not seen the Whimbrel either. At this point my VLW and our son decided that they were getting hungry and with no sign nor news of the bird at all we turned around and headed back to the car. On the way back I finally spotted some waders. There were a total of four Curlew, about 10 or more Turnstones, a couple of Oystercatchers and a single Redshank. Sadly though, there were no Whimbrel of any description to be seen.

Boat Cove at Perranuthnoe

We headed back to the car and back towards Penzance. There we nipped into Sainsburys to pick up some lunch and drove to Marazion to eat it in the car whilst staring at the sea. En route I got a text from Dave Parker saying that the Marsh Harrier that had been seen at Marazion yesterday had been reported again. So whilst the other two munched on their lunch, I took mine with me and wandered over to the railway line which offered a good vantage point over the whole of the marsh. I stood there braving the cold for about half an hour in total though there was no sign of the bird and I met a local who had been parked up there for the last half hour without seeing it either.

After that it was time to head back to the cottage to crack on with the DIY. This turned out not to be as fruitful as the morning's session as it emerged that we'd run out of Stain Stop (a staple requirement given our exposed location!). What's more we'd discovered earlier in the week that our trusty B&Q at Eastern Green had closed and the nearest store was now in Cambourne. I spent some time trawling the internet trying to source some. Tesco's Direct would deliver some the next day for me at a good price but by the time I came to place the order it was after 5 p.m. and suddenly the earliest delivery date was a day later. Grrrr! In the end I gave up and did some other tasks, resigned to a trip further afield tomorrow to pick up our DIY essentials.

I was just starting to wind down my DIY tasks when I got a text from Dave Parker saying that the juvenile American Herring Gull had come into roost on St. Clements Island at Mousehole again. To the incredulity of my VLW, I scrambled the Gnome Mobile in a wild panic and sped off down the road though by the time I got to Newbridge, I realised that it was already far too dark and I was never going to make it so I turned around and returned to base with my tail between my legs. So all in all a rather frustrating day without really seeing any of my target birds. One of these years I'll finally connect with a Cornish smithsonianus!

Perranuthnoe flowering Winter Heliotrope

Wednesday 17th February: Marazion & Mousehole

It was another day of rather slim picking on the birding front sadly.The day dawned to torrential rain and strong winds as forecast and with a BT engineer due to come some time between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. to try and fix our internet and phone services we had to stay at the cottage anyway. Accordingly we decided to crack on with our DIY all morning and then to spend the afternoon out and about. We made good progress on the DIY front and the engineer came and fixed a few things that were rather old and worn in our set-up though he did say that given how far we were from the exchange we were never going to get a good internet service where we were but at least the phone was working again now. In the dismal weather I saw precious little on the bird front while working with just the Kestrel and a large flock of Jackdaws being noteworthy.

In the afternoon we first headed out to Marazion where I blagged a brief stop off at the flooded field behind Longrock pool. The reason for this was that the Glossy Ibis had been reported again there this morning but there was no sign of it when I looked. I did see a Red-legged Partridge, a couple of dozen Curlew and 6 Canada Geese but that was about it. We headed on and parked up by the Jordans car park and had a little wander along the beach towards the Red River mouth and back again. Apart from a few Rock Pipits and the usual commoner gull species there was little of note.

Marazion Rok Pipit

Gulls loafing at the Red River mouth

To round off our outing we next headed over to Mousehole as, fired up by the re-appearance of the Yank Herring Gull yesterday,  I wanted to have a crack at the evening gull roost on St. Clements Island. We first had a bit of a wander around the village and then I left the rest of the family to it whilst I headed back up the hill to the Rock Pool Café which was the traditional viewing point. There I met up with a few of the locals and we all grilled the rock together. I picked out a much darker looking 1st winter Herring Gull though Mush (the resident gull guru) didn't rate it. Between us we found a few more darker birds though nothing good enough to pass muster. The highlight of the watch was a pod of Common Dolphins which passed by behind the rock. After that it was back home, via our daily stop-off at Sainsburys of course, to pick up a bit of shopping. 

St. Clements

Thursday 18th February: Perranuthnoe

Today we were due to have a new sofa delivered. We've had an on-going struggle to find a sofa that's small enough to fit into the upstairs "tower room" and this was the latest in a long line of attempts to find something that worked and we were very much hoping finally to have a working solution. With this due to be delivered early afternoon we decided in the end to work all morning on our chores and then once we'd got the sofa installed, to take the rest of the day off and do something nice. We duly worked away at our painting and touching up and between tasks I managed to spot the usual two Ravens and the Kestrel as well as two Chough which flew past the cliffs. In due course the sofa delivery came though we hit a snag when it was too large to fit up the staircase. Eventually we managed to un-stick the upstairs window (which we'd not been able to open for a couple of years)  and were able to get it in through this way - hurrah! Relieved at having avoided the ignominy of having to send the sofa back, we then contemplated the rest of afternoon. I was keen on a return visit to Perranuthnoe to have another crack at the Hudsonian Whimbrel but the other two weren't that interested so they decided to stay local and to go for a walk down to Portheras Beach. So this is what we did.

I arrived at Perranuthnoe to find the car park heaving with visitors. Eventually I managed to park up and set of along the now-familiar path to where the bird was supposed to hang out. There I met up with M.E. who was there with his parents looking for the Whimbrel. Whilst he worked his way slowly along the cliffs checking every nook and cranny I searched a little faster though we soon caught up with each other at the start of Trenow Cove. There were a few divers on the sea with one Great Northern, 1 Red-throated and a couple of Black-throated to be seen as well as a few Oystercatchers, Redshank and a distant flock of Sanderling but no sign of the Whimbrel or any of the Curlew that it was supposed to be hanging out with. Eventually I spotted a flock of Curlew right on the far side of Trenow Cove as they flew into land on the rocks there. I told the other party and we all decided to head over there to take a look, a walk of a good ten minutes though we took longer as we kept stopping to have a scan of the birds to see if we could spot anything yet. 

It was nice to see the Mount from the other side of the bay for a change

Eventually we'd got as close as possible and then M's father spotted a Whimbrel in amongst the 12 Curlew and the two accompanying Grey Plover that we could see. In contrast to photos that I'd seen of the target bird, this one had rather muted head markings and both M and I were not overly excited, with our caution being found to be justified when it had a preen, revealing it's white rump. Defeated and by now somewhat deflated we were contemplating what to do when the whole flock took off. All the birds went south except for one Whimbrel-type bird which flew off to the north towards Marazion. I called it out and tried to get on it. M found it eventually and said that it didn't look like it had a white rump but it was by now too far to be sure. To add to this, M's father swore that he'd seen all 14 other birds head off south so it looked like there'd been a hidden 15th bird, probably without a white rump and therefore probably (but not certainly) out bird. Gah! Close but no cigar! 

One of the two Grey Plover with a roosting Curlew on the rocks

By now it was getting late so we headed back to the car park, stopping to enjoy a Chiffchaff that was flycatching down on the beach. I was running behind schedule so had to hurry off, stopping off at Tescos to pick up some more Stain Stop (which we'd ordered from Tescos Direct in the end) as well as a few other birds and pieces. Then it was back to the cottage to catch up with the others who'd had a lovely time watching the giant waves down on the beach. We had a nice meal and settled in for another quiet evening.

The Alexanders is now coming into flower all along the path at Perranuthnoe

Friday 19th February - Back Home

We'd decided that we'd all had enough intensive DIY for a while and that today we would head back home. So we were up early and rushing around doing a few final chores before packing up ready to depart. It always takes a remarkably long time to get everything packed up in the car but eventually by late morning we were all set and heading off. The only birds that I'd seen during this process had been the usual two Ravens. We stopped off to pick up some sandwiches and then it was off on the familiar route home. Our journey was uneventful and we arrived back home late afternoon for a most welcome cup of tea and a chance to relax.

Reflecting on my time down here, in February one is never going to get very much bird action but I had at least hoped to see the Hudsonian Whimbrel so I was disappointed to have failed on that front. I did manage to see the Newlyn Glaucous Gull, a couple of Black Redstarts and the usual divers and coastal birds but I'd also not seen the (highly elusive) American Herring Gull nor the Glossy Ibis nor the Marsh Harrier. By way of some compensation however, I got an e-mail from the chaps who run the excellent CBWPS web-site saying that my sighting of the Red-legged Partridge at Marazion was actually something of a rarity down in West Penwith and was the first one for two years. This certainly made it rarer that the Glossy Ibis that I'd been trying for and at least partially made up for what otherwise was a somewhat disappointing birding visit. Still, one can't be too upset - it's always so great to visit this part of the country. We're due back down in a few weeks time to get on with the exterior work should the weather permit. Personally, I can't wait!

Durham January 2016

It seemed like only yesterday that I was fetching Daughter 1 down from Durham and yet it was time to take her back up again - the time just seems to be flying by. Still at least this trip would give me an opportunity to explore the North East some more. As usual, in the week leading up to our departure I kept a keen eye on what was about up in the region. The Long-billed Dowitcher that I'd somehow managed to dip last time was still about up at Cresswell and over in Hartlepool there was a Glaucous Gull and three over-wintering Shorelarks. With a smattering of other notable birds there was going to be something of interest to see but sadly there were no stonkers to get me really salivating. Still, that was only to be expected at this time of year.

On the Sunday morning of our departure we managed to leave surprisingly early at around 8:20 a.m. We had to stop off in Islip to pick up a a friend of a friend who was heading back up to Durham as well and who wanted a lift but after that we were on our way. With it being a Sunday morning there was little traffic on the roads and we made good time as we sped northward, admiring the snow-dusted countryside which gave what was normally rather dull scenery a more magical look to it. We made good time and in the usual four hours or so we were turning off the motorway along the now-familiar road into Durham itself. My daughter lives on the east side of the city so it's easy to get to but our guest traveller lived right on the other side so we had to endure the traffic jams all the way across the city in order to drop him off first. That done, we nipped back to unload my daughter's bags and to admire her new kitchen that the landlord had installed over the Christmas period. Given that it had taken longer than expected to drop off our guest and with daylight still an issue at this time of year I eschewed the proffered cup of tea and was soon back on the motorway heading north again. 

For this afternoon's birding I'd decided to have another crack at the Dowitcher up at Cresswell. It had already been reported as still present this morning on RBA on the way up so I was more confident of actually seeing it this time. What's more, despite dipping last time, I'd really enjoyed the location and scenery so if the worst should happen again I knew that it would still be pleasant enough up there. I sped along the familiar route and about three quarters of an hour after leaving Durham I was pulling up in the layby near the pond. Unlike last time, there were quite a few cars parked up and some birders were walking back just as I was getting kitted out in all my many layers of clothing to combat the freezing temperatures. They reported that the Dowitcher had been showing well until about ten minutes ago when it had flown off. Gah - not again! Somewhat dejected, I finished tooling up and hurried along the track leading to the hide, mainly just to generate some warmth in my body. As I went along the track up to the hide I stopped to admire the birds on the feeders: several Tree Sparrows and various assorted finches including a nice Siskin. 

Sadly, inside the hide the occupants confirmed the lack of Dowitcher. I settled down to see what else was about and was just getting my scope set up when someone called out a Barn Owl on the far side of the pond and indeed there it was looking nicely lit-up in the watery winter sunlight. I watched it for a while as it hunted along the far bank before it dropped out of sight. I then finished assembling my scope and gave all the assembled birds a thorough grilling but sadly I soon confirmed the distinct lack of any Dowitchers. I munched philosophically on my packed lunch and admired the scenery. Shortly afterwards all the Wigeon that were grazing next to the pond went up and crashed back down on the small unfrozen area of water in a panic. The reason soon became apparent when a Marsh Harrier came over, being hassled by a couple of Crows. Along the right-hand side of the pond at the base of the reeds in amongst the copious numbers of Snipe I picked out a Water Rail working its way along the edge of the pond. All in all I was seeing quite a few nice birds even if the main attraction wasn't present. I busied myself with digiscoping a nearby Redshank and a Curlew.

Passing the time digiscoping the local waders

After a little while I decided to have another scan through the birds (mostly Wigeon, Teal and some Shoveler) on the far shore. Almost immediately I picked out what was clearly the Dowitcher in amongst the Teal. Elated, I called it out to the other people in the hide and then spent a good five minutes trying to get everyone else onto it as there were no obvious land marks and in the end I resorted to using sheep as markers. Eventually everyone got on it and I was finally able to have a go at digiscoping it though the distance, and the fact that it was moving about rapidly and it was in the shade meant that it was never going to be more than a record shot.

At last! the Long-billed Dowitcher

After a while it moved right into the left-hand corner where it was obscured by the reeds in front of us. Pleased at having seen my target bird after all, I contemplated what to do next as there was still a bit of daylight left now that the days are growing longer again. In the end I decided to head just up the road to take a look at the geese flock where in the last few days some White-fronts and some Bean Geese had been reported in amongst the Pink-foots. I soon found the flock which was conveniently positioned fairly close to the road and carefully parked up, using the car as a hide to view them. I got out my recent Christmas present, the Canon SX60 super-zoom, an upgrade to my old SX30 - this one had twice the optical zoom of my old one at an amazing 60 times! I put it through its paces in the fading light and I must say I was very pleased with it. It has an incredible reach though at 60 times it's hard to keep it steady even with the image stabilisation.

Getting in amongst the Pink-foots with the Superzoom

Hunting through the flock I eventually managed to find the three White-fronted Geese though they were a bit further away and the photos weren't that great. There was no sign of the Bean Geese though some of the birds were in the next field and too far away to be scrutinised.

Two of the three White-fronted Geese

With the light now fading fast I decided to head back down the road to the Drift café which I'd visited last time. After parking up, on whim I decided on a quick walk along the sea shore to stretch my legs a little after what had been a long days driving. It was very cold and I yomped along at a pace in order to generate some warmth. There was a nice flock of mixed gulls along the shore line and I headed over towards them: Black-headed, Commons and a few Herring Gulls. There were also some Sanderling along shore and I took a few more snaps with the new superzoom though the light by now was fading fast.

Common Gull and a rather strangely-shaped Sanderling

Eventually the cold got the better of me and I hurried off to the café which, unlike last time, was full of visitors. I ordered a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake and sat down to enjoy my reward for a long day's driving and some good birding. The locals were very friendly and I was soon engaged in conversation with several of them about why I was up there and what I had seen. I met a couple who were originally from Stanton Harcourt though they'd relocated up here a long time ago. They'd not picked up the accent at all - a shame as I really like the north eastern accent. 

Whilst I had the benefit of the café Wifi I decided that I'd better sort out some accommodation for the evening. My daughter had said that she was very tired (she'd just come back from her Uni skiing trip the previous day - which seemed to have involved a lot of "aprés" from what I could tell) and wanted an early night. This meant that I had to find a convenient hotel somewhere local instead but fortunately, having already checked the day before, I knew that there were plenty available so I'd not been in too much of a hurry to book anything. Whipping out my trusty Trivago app on my phone I soon found one in South Shields that I'd been keeping an eye on and my holding off booking it had resulted in a 10% late booking discount though to be honest it was already ridiculously cheap anyway. I reserved my room and then wandered back to the car, listening to the calling Pink-foots in the half light of dusk. I could seen why people liked Northumberland - it was really lovely along the coast here. 

I fired up the Gnome mobile, set the Sat Nav co-ordinates for the hotel and I sped off back south. Thanks to a one-way system the hotel took a bit of getting to and then it turned out that the parking was around the back and so I had to battle with the system again before eventually getting settled in. The room was small but reasonably comfortable and I whiled away the time watching telly before grabbing something to eat downstairs in the hotel itself which wasn't that great to be honest but I washed it down with a pint of John Smiths and in any event I was too tired to care. I tried watching more telly but by now after my long day I was too tired and by 9:30 I was fast asleep.

The reason why I'd chosen South Shields for my hotel was because for the Monday morning birding session I'd decided to start off with some sea watching. Why go sea-watching in January you might ask? Well the reason was Little Auk - one of my bogey birds that I've yet to see. Whilst the prime November season was now behind us, one or two birds were still being reported along the north east coast occasionally including at the Whitburn Bird Observatory. I'd been following the blog there, penned by local birder Paul Hindess, and a couple of days ago I had got in touch via Twitter to ask about access to the hide. He'd told me that whilst it is locked and a key is required, he would be there from first light so I arranged to join him for a watch. I knew that my chances of actually seeing a Little Auk were pretty slim and Paul confirmed this but I wasn't going to see one by loafing around at home in Oxford. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and at the very least I'd be able to rack up some sea bird year ticks.

I set my alarm for 7 a.m. but in the end I woke up far too early (as I usually seem to do when I'm away on my trips). I dozed fitfully and then got up, dressed and went downstairs for my hotel breakfast. Then it was time to check out and hit the road. It wasn't yet light as I followed the Sat Nav's instructions along the back roads of South Shields and down to the coast where some ten minutes later I pulled up in Whitburn in a housing estate- Paul had told me this was the best place to park since the coastal park was currently closed for the winter. It was still dark and decidedly cold as I fumbled into multiple layers and got my birding gear together. I could just see the observatory across the fields from where I parked and some five minutes later I met up with Paul in what was one of the nicest and well-equipped sea-watching sites I've ever seen.

Paul Hindess in the Whitburn sea-watching hide

The hide was of a solid stone construction with the slats made of sturdy industrial-strength metal to keep out the elements. There was a nice bench, sited well back from the window so one could comfortably get ones scope set up. There were plentiful cushions and blankets stored behind the seating, both most welcome. Soon I was settled in and chatting away to Paul. Normally at the weekend there are half a dozen or so very keen local birders who do the watch but as it was a weekday there was just Paul to start with though another birder came along later. They are pretty serious about their sea-watching here and every bird is noted down as it passes. I was very appreciative of being in the comparative warmth of the hide and of being able to hear what's being said as things are called out: when on the cliffs at Pendeen I find that I often struggle to hear what's being called which can lead to a very frustrating time. With the shelter of the hide and the good view out the window I was usually (though not always) able to get on any birds that were called.

The Whitburn hide from the outside

It seemed to be a slow start initially though we soon had a Great Northern Diver going past which seems to be a good bird here with Red-throats the more common species. We had plenty of the latter go by including one flock of 10 plus a single Black-throated so we managed the complete set this morning. Common Scoter and Eider went past regularly and I managed to pick up a very distant Bonxie flopping its way south. Apart from that it was the usual Fulmars and Gulls and the occasional Auk. After a while Paul called out "Little Auk heading south reasonably close in" - panic stations! I tried to get on it as he gave a running commentary but you know what it can be like trying to pick out such a small bird as it whizzes by. It was coming south and had just about got to the "straight-out" position when it went down on the sea - usually the kiss of death when trying to pick out a sea bird. Fortunately Paul still had it in his scope and kindly leant out of the way whilst I precariously leaned over and peered through his lens. At first I couldn't see anything and then bingo! - there it was bobbing up and down in the waves, my first ever Little Auk. I tried to find it in my own scope in the waves but Paul lost it in his scope and none of us could re-find it. A good twenty minutes later Paul spotted it flying off again though it had gone out of sight before either he or I could get on it again. Still I'd managed against all odds to plan for and then actually see a Little Auk (what turned out to be the only one seen in the North East that day). It just goes to show that it's always worth trying.

After that it went a bit quiet for a while but then picked up again and what with the very pleasant company and the birds it was a very nice way to pass the time. Around mid  morning I started to flag, with the cold now starting to get to me and also aware of my long journey home still ahead. So I said my goodbye's to Paul, thanking him for getting me my Little Auk, and then headed back to the warmth of the car where I cranked the heating up to 11 in order to thaw out a little. 

I'd mentally pencilled in a trip down to Hartlepool to try for the Shorelarks and Glaucous Gull before heading home so I set the Sat Nav for the first location and headed southwards, stopping off for fuel and to buy lunch en route. Some half an hour later I arrived on Old Cemetery road on the Hartlepool Headland, and area that I was familiar when I'd seen an overwintering Shorelark here a year or so ago. The trouble was that these three were being reported "on the rough ground south of the cemetery" which seemed confusing to me. The access road was to the south and there was rough ground to the west (where it was last time) and to the east but just a bit of scrubby bushes to the south. Perhaps they meant the west? No, they were now building houses there. I tried the east area and had a quick scan but they could have been anywhere and there was no one else about. In the end I decided not to waste any time on these birds and elected instead to head over for the Glaucous Gull, via the a quick scan of the sea by the Headland on Marine Drive. The reason for this was that a Little Auk or two had been reported over the last few days on the sea late morning so it was just worth a go on the off chance of a second helping. A few minutes later I parked up on Marine Drive and had a scan over the relatively flat and sheltered sea here. There were quite a few roosting waders on the shore beneath me with perhaps 50 Knot, a Redshank, a few Turnstone and a Ringed Plover all on the shore. They were close enough for me to run back to the car for the new Superzoom where I took a few snaps.

Knot

On the sea itself there were a couple of (normal-sized) Auks and several Red-throated Divers but nothing else of note. I got back into the car and headed over to the marina area where the Glauc was supposed to be hanging out, noting the famous bowling green as I went past - the scene of many a historic rarity that I recognised from photos.

I soon arrived at Jacksons Landing where I found the various landmarks that had been mentioned in the various RBA reports that I'd seen over the previous week. The bird was often reported on the roof of the Premier Inn or the local museum but despite scanning all the gulls on all the roof tops I couldn't find it at all. I did spot a flock of Red-breasted Mergansers on the far side of the harbour and once again the Superzoom was able to take a record shot.

Distant Red-breasted Mergansers

I munched on my lunch as I watched the gulls coming and going. Then it was time for a final scan (still no joy) and then time to hit the road. Fortunately my journey back was uneventful and with some interesting programmes on Radio 4 to keep me company the four hours passed quickly enough. Late afternoon I was back in the bosom of my family for my usual celebratory cup of tea. It had been a most productive trip to the North East with some great birds seen and my first Tick of 2016 already under my belt. I'm already looking forward to my next trip up to the area.

So That Was 2015

Another year has come to end and it's time to reflect back on it all in a rather self-indulgent manner. My overall feeling is that it's been a good year birding-wise for me - I've certainly enjoyed it and seen some good things. As usual I'm going to split things up into various categories and award "bird of the year" prizes in each.

Starting off with Port Meadow, my local patch, I've done a detailed review on my Port Meadow patch blog so I'll be reasonably brief here. It was a rather poor year on the Meadow with a meagre total of just 123 on the year list, at least 7 below what I would normally hope for. This is chiefly down to the state of the floods which sadly dried up too soon in the spring and re-emerged too late in the autumn. In terms of rarities we did just manage to scrape by on that front with a 5 minute single-observer (sadly not me) Wryneck on Burgess Field but that was it. In terms of the Patch Bird of the Year award I'm somewhat loathe to award it to a bird that I didn't see myself (i.e. the Wryneck) though it should of course get some recognition so I'll jointly give it to the Wrneck and a 1w drake Goldeneye that turned up right at the end of the year. This was almost certainly a Patch first and certainly brightened up a dull winter's day.

The surprise Goldeneye

Next we have county birding. As regular readers will know I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with county birding. I find it immensely frustrating that one can go so long without anything happening on the listing front and the cost of being out of county when something good comes along can be really harsh. I managed to miss out on the first twitchable Dartford Warbler since I've been birding the county which turned up at Otmoor this year whilst I was down in Cornwall - that will take

some time to get back. Still I managed to get three Oxon ticks this year which I can't really complain about. First off was a remarkable flock of four Ring-necked Ducks that turned up at Standlake at Pit 60 in April. This was an almost unprecedented count of this rare American duck, especially for an inland location so it was great that our humble county was graced with these birds. I went the morning that they were found and was rewarded with a shiny new Oxon tick for my troubles.

Two of the four Ring-necked Ducks

Next was a blitzkrieg twitch on my VLW's birthday to see a Red-necked Phalarope that had popped in at the Bicester Wetlands reserve. Normally I would never have been able to twitch something on such an important date but unfortunately she'd been ill so wanted to take a birthday nap whilst I took the children. They tolerated a 10 minute stop-off at the reserve whilst I ticked the delightful Phalarope before we went off for some more family-friendly activities instead.

The third county tick was a real Black Ops affair. A group of the county's finest rendezvoused at a nondescript car park in Abingdon during the summer months. We were bundled into a van with blackened windows before being taken to an unknown destination on the Downs where we were made to walk for half an hour before our blindfolds were removed. There we were rewarded with some great views of a pair of Nightjars on territory - a great county tick and very welcome news to have this enigmatic species breeding once more in the county.

Apart from these three county ticks there were a few local trips including to Farmoor to see the Grey Phalarope and to Otmoor for the Great Grey Shrike. As far as my personal county bird of the year award, it goes to the Red-necked Phalarope because it was such a close shave as far as getting to see it was concerned and also because I really like Phalaropes!

Of course these days I also indulge in Cornish county listing. There were two main trips down there of note: a trip in February gave me no less than four Cornish ticks (Little Bunting, King Eider, Ring-billed Gull and Mandarin Duck) and my usual October trip where I managed five ticks (Alpine Swift, Pallas's Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Ring Ouzel and Crossbill). So nine ticks this year, a pretty good haul! Cornish bird of the year has to be the jointly self-found Pallas's Warbler.

Cornish Little Bunting

Cornish Ring-billed Gull

Moving on to national birding now, my main aim with this is to further my modest national life list. I say modest but I am now actually getting reasonably close (two more years should do it) to the 400 level at which point I suppose that I can no longer consider myself to be a low-lister. I've certainly already got the point where I can no longer expect heaps of lifers to turn up all the time - I managed 14 new birds this year which I'm pretty pleased with. It all kicked off in February when I ventured northwards to see the long-staying Laughing Gull in New Brighton.

The Laughing Gull

There was also a trip (or more accurately two trips as I dipped first time) over to Shoeburyness in Essex to catch up with the Serins there.

Serin

The best trip of the year in terms of lifers was when I went over the border to Scotland in April after dropping my daughter off at Durham University. I managed to catch up with the female Harlequin Duck at Brora, the White-billed Diver at Portsoy and finally mopped up the two Scottish specialities that I was still missing, namely Capercaillie and Scottish Crossbill.

Brora Harlequin Duck

May and June provided a great trio of rare American waders with the Hudsonian Godwit at Meare Heath, the Greater Yellowlegs at Titchfield Haven and the Hudsonian Whimbrel at Church Norton. All good stuff!

Titchfield Haven Greater Yellowlegs

The autumn provided a fine trio of trips, starting off with a mini fall of rarities at Spurn coinciding with my trip to take our daughter back to University. There I managed to see my first Citrine Wagtail as well as a Pied Wheatear, Great White Egret and countless Yellow-browed Warblers.

Spurn Citrine Wagtail

Spurn Pied Wheatear

Next off was a mad race over to Slimbridge where I managed to get five minutes of Little Crake views before it disappeared never to be seen again. Finally I had the great autumn trip down to my beloved Cornwall that I've already mentioned where the Alpine Swift was a new bird for me.

Cornish Alpine Swift

In November I made a trip north to Chesterfield where sadly I managed all of thirty seconds of Crag Martin views. The next month was better with a trip to Norfolk to see the Pallid Harrier which performed beautifully for me.

Norfolk Pallid Harrier

Apart from the blatant and filthy twitches listed above, there were of course also my twice-termly trips up to the North East for my daughter's university runs. There's always something to see up there and I've continued to enjoy getting to know this part of the country. Highlights have included Iceland and Viking Gulls, a summer trip for Northern Brown Argus, and a flock of Twite and a Surf Scoter.

In terms of my national bird of the year, it's rather a tricky call as there are so many good birds to choose from. I think in the end it's going to go to the lovely female Harlequin duck, partly because it was such a wonderfully remote location and such a long way from home.

There have also of course been insects to occupy me during the summer months and I've managed to add a few more butterflies and odonata to my british life list. In May I managed to catch up with a local speciality, Club-tailed Dragonfly for the first time. June brought me my first Glanville Fritillary, White-faced Darters (and Large Heaths) at Whixall Moss, Northern Brown Argus up near Durham, as well as some local Damselflies (Variable and White-legged). Insect of the year award goes to Club-tailed Dragonfly as I was so lucky to find one emerging when I did.

Goring Club-tailed Dragonfly

So all in all it's been a full and productive year for me which I've enjoyed greatly. I've no particular plans for 2016 as yet: I'll be going back and forth to Durham still, there will be regular trips down to Cornwall no doubt, I've got more insects that I want to see in the summer and apart from that it will just be waiting to see what turns up.

Finally, it only remains for me to wish my readers a very Happy and Birdy New Year! I'll leave you with my traditional end of year round-up of Oxon county birds, as usual set to somewhat inappropriate hard rock music.