November 2010 - Belfast Lough.

Tuesday 2nd: Yesterday I caught a lunchtime flight to Belfast to fulfill a lecture engagement for Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society (NIASS). So today, while waiting for my return flight from Belfast City Airport, Steve, the Chairman of NIASS showed me around some of the sights and just to complete the trip he took me to Belfast Lough. Well, imagine my delight when he left me to have 20 minutes or so of bird-watching before we had to return to the airport! This is a sea lough and as a consequence, open to the Atlantic! Although reasonably mild, there was a terrific, almost gale-force wind which was so strong that I had to push against it just to keep my feet!

In front of me on the shore was a Curlew, wading in the shallows while sifting the water for food. The wader was so close and didn't seem to mind about all the ramblers close by. A FIRST for me was the close appearance of 3 Turnstones. They looked much smaller than I'd imagined and were constantly on the move.

An Oystercatcher too was close by, along with three different types of Gulls; a Common Gull and Black-headed Gull and a First Winter Black-backed Gull. But another FIRST really grabbed my attention; near two Jackdaws were three adult Hooded Crows. These are a particular rarity as they mostly confine themselves to Ireland and Scotland and only very occasionally turn-upon the English mainland! So in 20 minutes, I twitched 2 types of bird that I never seen before and one of those, the Hooded Crow which in all probability would never see in England!

Half an hour after I arrived home from Belfast, Melanie and I were pleasantly surprised to see this male Sparrowhawk perched in our garden. Is this the same male that Sandra saw in her garden last Sunday? Quite possibly, the chances of two male Sparrowhawks hunting in gardens located 200 yards apart, would be very unusual! The bird didn't catch anything and after an hour, Mel shooed it away as our pet canary was looking decidedly nervous as his cage hangs outside the back door during the day. It was a blustery afternoon and as can be seen below, the wind has ruffled the Sparrowhawks' feathers somewhat!

October 2010 - Spurn Point YWT

Sunday 10th: The morning started overcast but as the Sun got up, the cloud was quickly burnt-off by the Sun. It looked like Sandra and I were going to have a very good outing to Spurn Point. The autumn migration is underway and Spurn is a good place to see birds coming into these islands.

A 2-hour drive soon passed and we were greeted by the sight of an army of Birders marching along the narrow country lanes. As I slowed to pass some Birders, I looked down to the roadside on my right and saw what was to be the first of many Siskins at close quarters. There were so many birds about that we didn't know which way to look! We went on through to the Reserve and immediately saw large numbers of Redwings criss-crossing the fields.

A lone female Chaffinch seemed to be interested in us when we ate our sandwiches and hung around the parked car. We wandered over to a hide on the Humber estuary coast where we saw Robins on the beach, Little Plover in another Birders scope, 3 Redshanks, a couple of Oystercatchers and other Waders not identified, some Great Black-backed Gulls and even a Meadow Pipit or two also on the shore. Through my scope 11 Brent Geese waded in the shallows. It seemed that the shoreline attracted a great many birds, presumably as they arrive exhausted and drop down on the beach to feed!

We decided to move on and drive down to the Point. I volunteered us to walk around the Point not knowing that it was going to be a bit of a hike. Down on the Humber-side of the beach I lost count of the number of Northern Wheatears patrolling in and around the clumps of seaweed and shingle. We saw at least two males but many more females. Also there, large numbers of warblers; Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Siskins were abundant as elsewhere. At the Point I managed to see and photograph a Common Redstart (another first)!

Climbing up to the Nature Reserve, I saw vast numbers of Redwings together with numbers of other unidentified birds! In fact Sandra did well in getting up a steep incline from the shore on the North Sea side to the roadside! There were so many Wheatears and Siskins that I lost count but we both got some good photos! Most of these birds would be making ready to migrate back to Africa while yet more; Robins, Redwings etc would be just coming-in for the autumn/winter. A truly amazing spectacle! I've not seen so many different species of bird in such a small area before - no wonder Spurn Point is a mecca for birdwatchers!

To round off the day, we drove back to Kilnsea and after some refreshments, a fellow birder lined-up a Lapland Bunting in my scope. We were treated to some first-class views of this rarity. It's just a shame that the photo I took through the scope was a crock... A flock of 9 Curlews flew over the car towards the north and as I watched them through my binoculars, I neglected to call Sandra to which I got a stern rebuke! Sorry Sandra!

A great day out and one of the most spectacular places that I've been too for watching birds. So I can count Northern Wheatear, Common Redstart and Lapland Bunting as new species for my Life-List. Another visit is definitely on the cards next Spring!

Above: The Kilnsea Sunset.

September 2009: Newport Wetlands Centre RSPB

Friday 11th: Having driven back to South Wales from Cornwall last night, a few hours at another RSPB Reserve was on the itinerary. So this morning I drove over to the RSPB Wetlands Reserve situated outside Newport and on the Severn Estuary. A fine warm day in which I saw plenty of birds and wild fowl. What I liked about this Reserve was the paths that actually went through the reed bed. So giving an opportunity to catch a glimpse of reed Warblers, Bearded Tits etc. In fact a couple of weeks previously several Bearded Tits were spotted. But as is my luck, I saw none. What I did see was 4 Curlews on the mud-flats in the estuary, 92 Shelducks! Yes 92, I counted them! There were good numbers of Goldfinch and other small passerines. Newport Wetlands Center is a very smart reserve and next time I visit the area will go birding here again.