Satellite tagged Welsh Cuckoos!

The Cuckoo is now on the 'red list' and is one of the fastest declining migrant birds along with the Turtle Dove that Britain still holds on to. In 2011, the BTO radio satellite tagged 4 Cuckoos in Norfolk and followed their migration journey all the way down to their wintering grounds in West Africa and back up again producing some interesting results.

Cuckoo taken at Lakenheath, Suffolk (May 2012)

This year, the project is back, bigger and better with a total of 13 Cuckoos around the UK having this tiny back pack of a transmitter attatched to them. The project is to hopefully discover whether their movements and timings differ around the country.

Wales has 4 famous Cuckoos which were caught in the Ceredigion area and tagged at the end of May, and from the word 'Go', the Cuckoos didn't waste much time staying in the area as they had already started their migration journey by the latter end of June.

At this moment in time, we have all four Cuckoos in different countries. Please take a look and follow the journey of these fabulous birds from the link below:

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/wales

Little Swift at New Brighton

Having had an interview this morning and a relatively quiet start to the afternoon, I debated whether to go out or not. I decided not to, so I decided to check birdguides; not even 20 reports around the UK! Soon after I recieved a text off Alan Davies to say there was a report of a Little Swift at New Brighton... the temptation swinged and then after recieving one from Rob S, I made a mad dash for the car keys and hit the A55, no sooner had I gone, I was approaching New Brighton desperately searching for a crowd of birders and checking every Swift in sight. I finally caught up with a small crowd near Tower Grounds park. I parked the car outrageously leaving a scope, phone and sat nav in the car... and shot out in search of this southern delight. I quickly locked onto the bird gving absolutely superb views.

Little Swift - taken by Fabian

I met a few friendly and relieved faces there and caught up with Stephen Menzie and Fabian (Stephen's friend that's come down for a few days from the Netherlands to enjoy some British weather and of course birds) - and what a bird to get on his British list this was! Fabian took some brilliant images considering the bird was darting around (as Swifts do!)

Little Swift - taken by Fabian

Little Swift - taken by Fabian

I didn't expect when I woke up this morning that I'd have this super bird on my British list today! The thrill and excitement of birding for you!

Take a look at Fabian's blog here: http://fabianmeijer.blogspot.co.uk/



Rose-Coloured Starling, Rhos-On-Sea

News of this superb adult Rose-coloured Starling came on Birdguides yesterday and I didn't really think too much about it til I saw the pictures and how well it was showing last night. With it being only 15 miles down the A55, I really couldn't miss out on this bird.

I arrived and the bird showed superbly flying to and from the the gardens of 69 and 85 where both had feeders. It was a very photogenic bird providing many opportunities for pictures.

There was quite a decent turn out to see this very colourful bird and a couple of people I knew had come to see it from the Wirral and Liverpool.

Let's hope the bird stays for a little longer for more people to enjoy this wonderful sight. If so, we may have to contribute a donation for more fat balls as it was certainly demolishing a fair few!!

Woodchat Shrike, Great Orme

Before I recieved a text that there was a Woodchat Shrike on the Great Orme, Llandudno, my day was going to be relaxed, a little birding here and there and I wanted to check the Marine Lake for anything that may have been blown in off the sea from the previous strong winds... That all came to a hault when the text came through, I turned the car around and headed straight for the Orme. The bird was found by Pete Alderson late this morning on the limestones and luckily the bird hadn't ventured too far by the time I reached it. It looked to be a first summer female and was covering quite a big area, darting across the heather and landing upon the gorse and on the rocks.

It's a third record for the Great Orme, but my first for Wales. So far this year, Marc Hughes has recorded a Woodchat Shrike, Bee-eater, Quail, 6 White Storks, Dotterel, Little Ringed Plover and a large pipit sp. recorded up there this Spring so not too bad going for a 'quiet' spring!!

Red Footed Falcon in Derbys

Falcons are a favourite species of birds that I enjoy watching and studying. When I had a text from Phil Owen early on Tuesday morning, I weighed up the options and decided to make the effort and go and see this cracking bird. I have seen one previously but views were distant and I wanted to hopefully improve upon them.

 

The Red Footed Falcon was at Willington Gravel Pits, and after a 2 mile walk, we quickly found ourselves indulged with spectactular close views of a first summer male bird. The bird favoured a bend on the River Trent, where it darted and chased dragonflies and damselflies over the river. With it being a 1st summer male bird, it hadn't quite gained its full adult plumage. It still showed baring under the wings and still showed evidence of a chestnut colour on its nape. Luckily for me, the bird did land a couple of times, providing opportunities for a record shot. Dispite the wind and the distance, I was happy to get these:

 

I met a couple of familiar faces I'd recognised from previous recent twitches, and an old guy who'd left his missus in the car reading a book - I think he under estimated the 2 mile walk as apparently she was expecting him back within the hour. Nevertheless, a superb and educational bird and one I hope to find in North Wales one day. Other birds of note, were a Hobby (nice to compare these two birds), and a Kingfisher which shot over the nearest gravel pit. Thanks to Phil for the company!

Site location

 

Roller, Aldbrough, East Yorkshire

A couple of short videos of the Roller in East Yorkshire, a simply spectacular bird, please take a look!

Image of the Roller

Roller Coaster!

A superb Roller has been present on the East coast, 20 miles north of Spurn in a small village called Aldbrough for the past 3 days. With it being such a fantastic bird to see and not one to miss, myself and Phil Owen started very early indeed in order to get to the site for dawn. After the three hour journey from North Wales, we arrived to see a sihouette of a bird high up on a telegraph pole. The Roller! Ticked at 4.30am! Now, he just needed to wait for sunrise to appreciate the bird in colour!

Soon after, we were blessed with brilliant and close views of the Roller, whereby it was favouring a nearby post. It seemed to be feeding up well on invertibrates and spent quite a bit of time on the ground. Rollers are day migrants which was why we wanted to make the journey so early, but we needn't have worried as the bird was present for the whole day. We also were given great views of Barn Owl as it gracefully flew past and over the Roller.

Once more than satisfied with the views and photo opportunities, we moved on for the Icterine warbler present at Flambrough Head. Dispite a good search, we wern't able to catch up with the bird but managed amazing close views of Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots (including a briddled race), Razorbills, Fulmars and Kittiwakes as they darted and sat on the sea beneath us.

Puffins on the water

Next stop, was Blacktoft sands where a Marsh Warbler was making its stay. The bird has been present a few days and was ringed. It gave a frequent few blasts, deep within the reed bed and finally showed on and off within the small trees at the back. It was another British tick for me! At the ste, we also managed Peregrine Falcon, Short Eared Owl, Cuckoo, Reed Bunting, Sedge and Reed Warbler.

Blacktoft Sands

On our way back, we thought we'd try out luck with the long-staying Red Necked Grebe on a lake at Hatfield Moors. Well, the less said about this little blighter, the better. We understood that the bird was on '10 acre lake'... yeah, we should have paid more attention to the name of this lake and what stood before. After an extremely long walk past a few lakes, our patience was starting to run out, a 50 minute walk had found us at the lake. We scanned across the lake but then noticed that the lake kept going around a blind corner, of which this was inevitably where the grebe was (well over a mile in distance). We gave up and tried to enjoy our long walk back!

On the whole, an enjoyable day with two super birds! Thanks to Phil, for the great company and here's to more sucessful twitches!