A Day out at Slimbridge WWT 7th January 2022

A sunny morning heralded a pre-arranged visit to Slimbridge WWT with Mark (P). Both of us are members so we planned to take advantage of the fact we were allowed in before the normal 9.30am opening time to the general public.

However, our first stop was on the approach road to the WWT visitor centre, stopping on the verge immediately after crossing the bridge over The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Our reason was to view a Glossy Ibis that has been a virtually constant presence for some days now in 'Shepherds Patch', a field immediately on the right after the bridge. 

Stopping by the side of the road we left the car on the muddy verge and crossed over the road to view the field.The ibis was, as usual, close to the road, feeding avidly with a small flock of Greylag Geese. It stalked around the muddy wet field, probing its long curved bill into the grass and mud seeking, presumably worms and other invertebrates.

They look such outlandish birds, this one seeming so very out of place in the pastoral surrounds it had chosen. Generally they are becoming increasingly frequent in Britain, doubtless due to the warming climate. Like Little, Cattle and Great White Egrets they are moving northwards from their traditional southern European haunts and are now able to tolerate our milder winters and may soon be joining the list of southern European birds that are colonising and breeding in Britain.

Even in  my home county of Oxfordshire they are a regular, albeit scarce visitor, often remaining for extended periods. I can recall going to see a single individual at Otmoor RSPB that remained from the 2nd of May until the 20th of June 2004 and then again three at Radley Gravel Pits that stayed for over a week in May 2021. They are now also to be encountered the length and breadth of Britain, with one on Shetland, in the far north of Scotland, that arrived in December 2021 and is still there, while at the other end of Britain in Cornwall, ten were counted coming into roost at a reservoir in late December 2021.

This bird at Slimbridge has naturally become extremely popular, being just a few hundred metres from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's headquarters that welcomes thousands of visitors every year. Many birders and photographers have already paid homage to the ibis, stopping off to admire it before moving on to visit the grounds and hides of Slimbridge WWT, that lie at the end of the road.

My initial impression of the ibis was of a dark brown, medium sized, hunch backed bird with a noticeably long, grey downcurved bill and long grey legs. However, when it moved into the sunshine one could see how it got its name, as the brown feathering of its upperparts took on a dull gloss of green, chestnut and purple.The only other variation from its overall brown plumage was the feathering on its head and neck which was closely streaked with white. 

Having had our fill of the ibis we drove the few hundred metres to the  WWT car park and getting our gear together went in though the member's gate and commenced visiting the various hides.

We had two other birds that we particularly wanted to see: Bewick's Swans, which are annual winter visitors to Slimbridge, though sadly in decreasing numbers and a juvenile Spoonbill that had been discovered here earlier this month but was erratic in its appearances, spending much of its time on the nearby River Severn. We felt we would be lucky to see it.

Of course there is much else to see, and we concentrated some of our time on the ducks and particularly three of my favourites, Northern Pintail,  Eurasian Wigeon and the diminutive Eurasian Teal. The drakes of all three species are in their finest plumage and thus particularly attractive, at this time of year

Here are some of the images I took during what was a very enjoyable five hours wandering the grounds in the company of Mark.

Bewick's Swans

Eurasian Spoonbill

We were really lucky to see this bird as whatever hide we visited we seemed to have just missed seeing it. Almost ready to leave, we visited the Rushy Hide for one last time and there was the Spoonbill feeding quite close to the hide. It was obviously very wary and within the space of a few minutes it flew off. I got the impression it was visiting the various areas of water in the grounds while the tide was full on the River Severn, which reportedly was where it preferred to feed.

Northern Pintail

Eurasian Teal

Eurasian Wigeon

Common Crane

Naturally one cannot ignore the Common Cranes which are now such a feature at Slimbridge WWT. Slimbridge is probably the easiest place to see wild cranes in Britain as birds that have been bred in Somerset as part of the Great Crane Project often fly up the Severn Estuary and some have now made Slimbridge their permanent home where they are to be seen flying over the grounds or feeding and socialising on the wide open spaces of The Dumbles that lie beside the River Severn.

Perishing for a Pallas's 6th January 2022

Yesterday, Gareth, who normally spends much of his birding time at the appropriately named Grimsbury Reservoir in Banbury decided to give himself a treat and visit sites in Oxfordshire with a larger selection of birds. Maybe that is a little unfair as 'Grimbo' has on a number of occasions produced some very nice birds.

One of the sites Gareth chose to visit on his away day was Abingdon Sewage Treatment Works where he found two Siberian Chiffchaffs amongst the twenty plus Common Chiffchaffs, that eke out a winter existence by taking advantage of the plentiful supply of insects found around the work's filter beds. Normally the find of the Siberian Chiffchaffs would be considered a good enough result but it was eclipsed and how, by his truly sensational find of a Pallas's Leaf Warbler in the hedgerow bordering the northern side of the works. A county mega, it was the first ever for Oxfordshire no less.

Pallas's Leaf Warblers breed in southern Siberia, northern Mongolia, northeast and central China, southeast Tibet and northeast India. In winter some only descend to lower elevations within their breeding range whilst others migrate to winter in southeastern China, Burma, northern Thailand and northern Indochina. It is a rare but annual vagrant to western Europe including Great Britain but wintering birds in Britain are very unusual.

News and photos duly appeared on the Oxon Birding Forum WhatsApp Group in mid afternoon. As was to be expected much comment followed, as the rest of us envied Gareth his find and made frantic plans to get to the sewage works first thing in the morning.

The big question was whether the warbler was just a passing vagrant or was it toughing out the winter in the trees and bushes that surround the sewage works. There was only one way to find out and that was to go and see.

Mark (P) called me that evening and we arranged to meet at my house at 7am next morning and drive to Abingdon in tandem, as both of us had other commitments in different directions later in the morning. Overnight there was a hard frost, and in the still dark morning the frost had turned everything to a glittering white glaze in the street lights and was to make driving on the rural roads around where we live decidedly dodgy. It was bitterly cold too - minus 4.5 degrees and I was never more glad of the efficiency of my car's heater.

An hour's drive found us parking by the rugby club playing field and taking Peep-o-Day Lane that skirts the playing field and leads to the track that forms the northern boundary of the sewage works. This track borders a fence that guards a somewhat ragged hedgeline of bushes and trees and the filter beds beyond.

Turning the corner from the lane and onto the track we found we were not the first, as many of Oxonbirds finest were already lined along the track, intently scrutinising the hedge, even as the sun had yet to rise and any birds in the low light of a dawn not long risen, were just silhouettes against the lightening sky.

More and more of my fellow Oxonbirders arrived. It was a veritable roll call of familiar faces, every one of us keen to add this new species to our county list.

Many Common Chiffchaffs were passing through the skeletal branches and twigs of the hedge and as the light improved so plumage detail could be seen but there was no sign of any pale Siberian Chiffchaffs,  only the olive buff tones of Common Chiffchaffs. Behind us were taller trees, conifers and bare deciduous trees and these also had a lesser complement of Common Chiffchaffs and the odd Goldcrest too.

For almost two hours I stood getting progressively colder, not so much demoralised, more a little downhearted. My toes had begun to feel very numb and so too my finger tips despite thick gloves and socks.I had only another hour before I needed to leave and I was resigned to failure or maybe coming back tomorrow if the bird was seen after I had left. Some had already departed, having work commitments to go to while others gave in to the cold. 

As often happens at twitches if a bird does not show, after a certain time the intensity of observation gives way to chatting and other diversions and if you are not careful there comes a time when hardly anyone is looking for the bird in question.There are after all, only so many chiffchaffs you can watch before the will to live grows faint! 

A small group near me thought they saw 'something' in the conifers and went in further to scan the trees. Then came the moment everyone was secretly hoping for. It came from the far end of the track. Pete, with exemplary dedication  had continued searching for the warbler and had been rewarded with a sighting of the elusive and tiny Siberian gem.

A concerted surge of Oxfordshire's birding humanity headed for the far end of the track. A phalanx of anxiety racked birders rounded the corner expectantly and found Pete, who described where he had seen the warbler but inevitably, with such a constantly restless bird, it had already gone. After a few minutes others  went further along to a copse of mature trees, many of them alders, and the alert went up again as the hyperactive warbler was discovered in the tops of the trees there.

Gathered in a throng we watched enthralled as the tiny bird zipped around the top of an alder, searching the tiny twigs for sustenance, having a brief dispute with a Blue Tit and causing me some confusion as to which  bird was which until they separated.

It all happened so fast but I can recall seeing an amalgam of moss green upperparts, yellow wing bars and stripes on its head which left no dispute as to its identity.Tiny, like a cross between a Goldcrest and a Yellow browed Warbler it flew at speed across and above us to flick around the top of another alder. I thought it impossible to get it in the camera as it was so frenziedly active, rarely still for a moment. I preferred to concentrate on watching it, as wherever one sees a Pallas's Warbler it is always a notable event. However there came a time when it looked like I might get an image.Why not? I raised the camera. Focus and - it was gone. Another try and for  a brief two seconds I could see it relatively unobscured and fired a ten frame burst from my camera. Hit or miss. But by chance I got two images.Not great but they would do.

The warbler flew once more, further into the trees but despite the many eyes searching it remained undiscovered but at least almost everyone present had seen it.

I walked back to my car with Paul. It has been a long time since I saw him. It was pleasing to be in the company of and share this unique experience with so many people I knew and liked.

PS I went back on Sunday and after a long wait saw the PLW very well and for extended periods in the afternoon. There was quite a big crowd and the bright sun shining directly into the lens made photography difficult

Ringing in the New Year in Glasgow 4th January 2022

On New Year's Day I commenced my annual birdlist. Normally this gets off to a lethargic start as inland Oxfordshire, where I currently live, is not blessed with the variety of birds you can find in coastal counties. This year however was different as I was in Lower Largo on the Fife coast of Scotland, literally metres from the huge Largo Bay and all the fabulous seaducks and waders that spend the winter there.

On January 1st, at just after 10am, I stood on Leven Beach promenade, scoped the sea and enjoyed the sight of a flock of ten Long tailed Ducks, the drakes ultra smart in their chocolate brown, grey and white winter plumage. The various other dark blobs visible on the sea materialised, via my scope, into Velvet and Common Scoters, while rafts of Eider swam offshore too.

Sweeping back along the sea with my scope I saw a small, black and white duck with fast beating wings approaching. Seconds later it passed me, not very far offshore, heading west. Predominantly white with black and grey markings and a black bandit mask it was a drake Smew. A definite good find and a great addition to day one of my year list.

Despite the numbers of dog walkers on the beach it is still extensive enough to accommodate  them and allow waders to settle and rest. Sanderlings and the numerous groups of Oystercatchers seemed not to be bothered at all by the disturbance but Turnstones, Ringed Plovers and two Bar tailed Godwits were more circumspect. Later, back at Lower Largo,where we had rented our cottage, at high tide I checked the stone jetty yards from our house and was delighted to discover eleven roosting Purple Sandpipers and double that number of Common Redshanks.

 

After our two week break in Lower Largo we spent a night in Glasgow, as we always do. Tradition dictates that we stay at The Ambassador which suits us just fine as it is in Kelvinside, a nice part of the city and as its name would suggest, right by the River Kelvin.

The broad river flows through the west end of the city in a deep gorge, the banks on either side wooded and with a pathway on either side, down by the river, to walk along. It is a favoured haunt of joggers, dog walkers, tourists and residents who wish to enjoy its pleasant surrounds which provide a welcome alternative to the busy city and its buildings crowding in above the wooded banks of the river.

I took a stroll upriver after we checked in to the hotel, the mid afternoon already beginning to darken as dusk comes earlier in these northern parts and the river, being in a deep wooded gorge, adds to the gloom when you descend to the riverside.

I was looking for a Kingfisher or Dipper to add to my list, both of which can be found on the river but this afternoon all I could see were seven Goosanders, a mixture of drakes and females, whiling away their time under the arching and attractive pedestrian bridge that connects the pathways on either side of the river. They were very tame, doubtless having become used to all the passing human traffic that uses this popular recreational facility. I stopped in the middle of the bridge to muse awhile, looking down at the river, endlessly flowing, fast and strong, a sinuous, opaque mass of olive brown water below me, my thoughts freewheeling and savouring these last few hours in Scotland. 

A small white mark, just visible amongst some snagged broken branches in mid river caught my eye.

Inevitably a river in the middle of a city tends to accumulate random pieces of flotsam from the human population Was it a piece of paper or something else? I looked closer and the white was moving as if being tugged at by the river's current but there was something not quite right and on closer inspection I could see the white was surrounded by a dumpy dark brown body, almost invisible in the gloomy surrounds.

It was a Dipper and as I watched it threw itself, fearlessly into the swirling current and then resurfaced to perch once more on the dead branches, bouncing on flexed legs. It was now almost too dark to see and so I returned to our hotel.

Overnight the weather changed from rain and damp, to a frosty cold and bright sunny morning. My wife joined me and we walked downriver this time for half an hour.Nothing much revealed itself apart from a Grey Wagtail and some amorous Stock Doves but walking back, my wife quietly motioned to me that there was a bird perched on the stems of a bush poking out over the river. A Kingfisher!

It flew to the far side of the river and then flew back to settle on a dead  branch overhanging the water. For a minute it did not see us standing motionless on the path but then noticing us flew upriver.A shining jewel of electric blue, flying fast and low above the river.

It was time to collect our things and check out of the hotel but with Mrs U's indulgence there was one more stop to make after leaving the hotel and heading south. A drake Ringed necked Duck was on show just fifteen minutes drive from our hotel, on a lake at Victoria Park in Jordanhill, a suburb of Glasgow. It would not be too much of a diversion to go and add this to my year list before the long drive to Oxfordshire and so this is what we did.

The park was teeming with life, human life in all its myriad forms, this being a public holiday in Scotland. A positive congregation of mums with toddlers and prams had commandeered the play area but I had eyes only for the adjacent small lake, occupied almost exclusively by Tufted Ducks and Black headed Gulls. Somewhere amongst the tufties was the Ring necked Duck but where?

I wandered around the lake on a paved path to a far corner by a small bridge and encountered two local gentlemen with cameras. 

Any sign of the duck? I enquired

To be told........ 

'Aye. It was here but some kids started throwing sticks in the water and it disappeared''. 

This was not the news I was expecting or hoping for.

With Mrs U electing to remain in the car I needed to be quick about finding the duck as we had a long drive in store to get to Oxfordshire. 

I scanned the Tufted Ducks in this corner of the lake with my bins and about the fourth duck I looked at was the Ring necked Duck, fast asleep in the company of some Tufted Ducks. 

'There it is!'

I pointed it out  and we moved closer to get our photos. The duck remained frustratingly fast asleep but eventually woke up, preened some and then went for a lazy swim, posing nicely in the sun.

A nice finale to our stay in Scotland

Having a Whale of a Time in Fife 22nd December 2021

As has become our custom Mrs U and myself took ourselves back to Scotland for  Christmas and New Year. By way of a change we decided to forgo our traditional stay on The Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland and rented a cottage at a place called Lower Largo, which is on the east coast, overlooking Largo Bay which forms part of the mighty Firth of Forth.

At the beginning of December, well before we were due to head for Scotland I had become aware of reports of one or more Humpback Whales being sighted in the firth and usually favouring the Fife coast side of the firth, between Kinghorn and Burntisland, both of which are quite close to where we would be staying.Humpback Whales have become increasingly frequent around Britain with at least seventy five being seen to date, although mainly in the southwest it has to be said.

I kept a casual eye on the continuing reports of sightings and noted they were consistently coming from the Kinghorn area, right up to when we left for Scotland. Apparently the whale (currently there is only one) could be seen from land at Kinghorn which juts out into the firth. I thought it would be nice if at some time during our stay I could try and see the whale from Kinghorn but it remained low on my list of priorities, what with all the looming fuss and preparations for Christmas.

However, in the company of my daughter we found a spare hour or two to go to Kinghorn and try our luck first thing in the morning of 22nd December. The weather was typically dreary, cold, grey and misty, dreich as they say in these parts. The drive to Kinghorn was also less than inspiring as in the slowly emerging dawn we passed through the depressing surrounds of Kirkcaldy, famed for linoleum but not much else apart from its name which confusingly is pronounced 'kircoddy'.

We found a car park in Kinghorn that gave a panoramic view over the firth and I set up my scope.It was bitingly cold, positively hostile with a bitter wind blowing in off the sea and apart from a couple of dog walkers we were on our own.Needless to say there was no sign of a whale, just lines of auks and eiders flying with unknown purpose to various parts of the firth. We withstood the elements for forty or so minutes but it was a lost cause.The visibility was far from good but more to the point my fingers had lost all feeling and my body, even though wrapped in warm clothing, was numb to the core. We called it a day and returned to the welcome warmth of the car and a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast when we got home.

Sat round the table, out of casual interest I consulted my RBA (Rare Bird Alert) app and was astounded to see the whale had been seen from Kinghorn just about the time we were there but from a different location further to the east and obviously not where we had been!

These things happen and we remained philosophical.My daughter found a Facebook page  that was devoted to sightings of whales in the Firth of Forth.Simultaneously I put out a request on Twitter for any precise information as to the best place at Kinghorn to look for the whale.

I got a reply from JH telling me that there were two charter boats taking people out to see the whale each day but they were probably fully booked.Nothing ventured nothing gained I sent an email to Calypso Marine, the charter boat nearest to us, asking if by any chance they had a space available.

Almost immediately  I received an email back from Leanne saying they had a place available at 10am tomorrow 23rd December. I booked it immediately and was now getting very enthusiastic as from a boat I would be getting far better views of the whale than I could ever hope for from land.To add to my excitement Leanne told me they had found the whale every day apart from one Saturday when it was foggy.

The next morning I was early, I always am, a product of my anxious personality and I sat in my car cocooned from the depressing surrounds of a harbour devoid of life, parked amidst craters of water in the potholed hardstanding of the harbour. A guddle of abandoned yachts were haphazardly left for the winter on a patch of withered grass and rusting machinery, while the dull and rainlashed concrete arms of the harbour were populated by nothing more than an occasional grey and white Herring Gull.

Stewart and Leanne, skipper and crew of 'Pathfinder' their Calypso Marine vessel, arrived fifteen minutes before our scheduled departure at 10am, opened the gate giving access to Pathfinder and without further ado we were checked in by Leanne and boarded the boat via a somewhat treacherous metal gangplank.

Pathfinder with Sadie the Seal in attendance

All twelve of us boarded without mishap and there was just time for Leanne to give  us instructions about safety at sea and to become acquainted with  'Sadie' a confiding but nevertheless wild Grey Seal and some amorous Eiders, before we moved slowly out of the harbour.

Once clear of the harbour Stewart opened up the throttle and we powered out and east into a grey expanse of sea. The occasional Guillemot and Razorbill rocketed across our bows but there was surprisingly little other birdlife to be seen apart from the obligatory gull or two.

Outward bound!

Stewart already had information as to the whale's whereabouts as land based observers earlier that morning had located the feeding whale. Unfortunately their task was made easier by the fact a RIB was already far too close to the whale and all Stewart had to do was aim for the RIB once it came into view.

On arriving in the vicinity of the RIB I got my first view of the whale as a plume of water vapour rose from the sea and dispersed on the wind.

Seconds later a short, stubby dorsal fin appeared and then more of the whale materialised above the surface in the form of a black line of upperbody running from the protective ridge of its blowhole to beyond the dorsal fin.The beast was clearly enormous and disappeared below the surface only to quickly re-appear two more times. 

Then on the fourth surfacing a  huge black expanse of body arched  up and over the waves, showing a noticeable white scar around the vestigial dorsal fin.With infinite grace the massive bulk of the whale's body curved downwards and slowly sank into the sea whilst simultaneously the tail flukes rose high and almost vertically out of the water as the whale made a head first dive into the depths.

The tail flukes dripped water, the outer edges of the flukes encrusted with what looked very like acorn barnacles, before they too slowly slid below the sea.

Impressive was hardly adequate to describe this first and unforgettable view of this huge mammal. Leanne informed us that when the whale surfaced it would always do so in a consecutive sequence of four, the first three were after shallow dives, seconds apart, where the whale would exhale spent oxygen in a cloud of vapour when it surfaced.Then would come the fouth surfacing when the whale would arch its huge body and dive vertically to feed and would remain underwater for some minutes

The routine would then be repeated after it surfaced from its deep dive.

As we came to a stop at some distance from the RIB Leanne hailed them, informing them they were too close and should move away as they were contravening both the law and the accepted guidelines for whale watching, as well as disturbing the whale's feeding by persistently circling it with their engine running. One would have hoped the occupants of the RIB would have accepted they were in  the wrong but they were not prepared to admit they were at fault and chose to argue. A short altercation ensued but the RIB finally moved away and headed for wherever they had come from. Leanne told us they were possibly in for a surprise when they reached shore as they had already been reported to the police by landbased observers that morning.

The cetaceans that now visit the Firth of Forth have created much interest and the residents on both sides of the firth feel very protective of them and do not take kindly to people who abuse the privilege.There is now a dedicated Facebook page to record observations of cetaceans in the firth.This means that unfortunate occurrences such as the one we encountered are not likely to go unnoticed or ignored which augurs well for the future.

Humpback Whales have been coming to the Firth of Forth in the winter months for a couple of years and are thought to be taking advantage of a good feeding opportunity before they migrate further north.The Humpback Whale currently in the firth is thought to be a male. Humpbacks are found in all oceans and seas around the world and typically migrate 25,000 kilometres (16,000 miles) from feeding to breeding grounds. As with all whales the human race has much to answer for as they were once hunted to the verge of extinction, their population falling by 90%. In 1966 a moratorium on whale hunting has enabled a partial recovery to around 84,000 individuals but they now have to contend with other hazards courtesy of the human race such as entanglement with fishing gear, collision with ships and noise pollution which can affect them badly and has been proved to have killed them on at least one occasion. Humpback Whales are a large whale with adults ranging in size from 12-16 metres (39-52 feet) and weigh between 28-33 tons. They have distinctively long pectoral fins and a knobbly head and each individual whale can be identified by the varying pattern of white on the underside of their tail flukes.

Once the offending RIB had departed Stewart cut the engines and we drifted silently at a respectable distance from the whale.As referred to above it is the vibration of propellers and engine noise that disturbs the whale but once the engine is silenced and the boat just drifts there is not an issue.

The whale continued to surface around us and on one occasion it surfaced close to us, so close you could hear it exhale, a hollow singing sound like someone blowing air through a pipe, which I would guess was just what it was.

Leanne informed us that our current position and that of the whale was over a trench 35 metres deep which was about the deepest part of the firth and the whales come here to feed on the sardines that are abundant here at this time of year. 

We were joined by another boat which, like us remained at a respectful distance from the whale which continued to surface, sometimes fairly close and at other times more distantly. Leanne offered us coffee or tea as we stood on the afterdeck, getting quite wet, and watched the whale as it surfaced and dived for an hour or more.

Everyone was happy with their experience and just before noon we headed back to Burntisland  and one more close encounter with  Sadie who Leanne fed with slices of fish, much to the delight of the children on board.

Despite the less than ideal weather and quite a soaking from the rain it was a heartlifting experience and for me a memorable and exciting encounter with a species of whale I had not seen before.