Cricket 1 Birding 0

        Blue-winged Teal or Blue-winged Teal x Northern Shoveler ??

 

 Slimbridge Ruff

 Green and Common Sandpipers at Slimbridge

 Evening at Morton Bagot

 Swallows at Frampton

 Slimbridge

Frampton

August brings the peak of the cricket season so opportunities to get out and about are very limited. I'm afraid my family is number 1 ! Locally it was business as usual and no sitings to get the heart racing. 

When I did get a free day the weather was appalling so much so I never ventured out until late Sunday evening when Brian Stretch had located a Blue-winged Teal on his patch at Grimley. With the weather subsiding a little I headed over to see duck. The bird was easily located but it was hardly a stunner as it was in Eclipse plumage. I returned home happy that a new bird had been seen only to see the bird was then accused of being a hybrid. With no DNA possible we will have to let the various committees decide. A great find by Brian either way !

I had a mid-week evening at the delightful Morton Bagot where I was more than happy to find 2 Green Sandpipers, Yellowhammers, Teal, Lapwings, Buzzard, Tawny Owl, Grey Heron and a large flock of 120 Greylag. 

Unfortunately when a Marsh Sandpiper had been found in Frampton in Gloucestershire I was tied up on cricket duties and as expected it duly departed by the time I could head down on the Sunday morning. It was nice to see 15 Ruff and 5 Greenshanks taking advantage of the nice flash riverside. There were plenty of Swallows, House and Sand Martins and they put on a real show feeding above the canal. A Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher also kept the disappointed twitchers happy.

It would have been rude not to call in a Slimbridge and a slow walk around the reserve produced Black-Tailed Godwits, Redshank, Shelduck, Lapwing, Ruff among the highlights. To be honest it was very quiet. No doubt next time I return the wildfowl would be returned in bigger number and the first of the Bewick Swans could well have arrived.