Eastern Black Restart on Tewkesbury Abbey

Views to the highest point

A real stonker of a bird

Tewkesbury Abbey - a stunning twitch location

Creeping closer

Closest view but light made photography difficult

A growing audience

Final shot before departure

Saturdays patch visit was once again ruined by the local shoot flushing everything making birding very difficult. Huge numbers of Redwings & Fieldfare were seen so might have a focused session in the orchards next week as you never know what might be in there.

Whilst I was on sports taxi duty in Bromsgrove on Sunday morning I had a call to make me aware that the Black Redstart on Tewksbury Abbey had been re-identified by Gavin Peplow as a Eastern Black Redstart. Once the match had finished (a 11-1 win) I was on way to pick the Squire up to make the 30 minute drive to Tewksbury.

A group of around thirty birders were already watching the bird so we vey quickly managed to see it. Next job was a real scope view to identify the bird before trying to get a few record shots.

The bird was presumed to the be the same bird that was present at Ripple Pits on the afternoon on the 6th December.

All the regular faces were among the increasing groups watching the bird which swelled to around 60 with additional people coming and going. The bird appeared to undertake some large circles starting at the highest point before working its way down to the windows & slate roof before heading towards us when I took distant record shots. Twice the bird entered the grounds of the Abbey and fed in the tree around 25 metres in front of us. It even landed on the fence at one stage.

I found this interesting article about Eastern Black Redstarts however my photo doesn't really support a close analysis as required. The bird was not able to be located the following day at Tewkesbury however the weather was very poor all day. 

http://birdingfrontiers.com/2011/11/21/eastern-black-redstart/

Around Gloucester birding

Hawfinch

Yew Tree Brake

Dipper

Forest of Dean

Tack Piece

Scaup

Pintail

Two birding friends kindly offered me a couple hours round Gloucestershire as the one was trying to see 150 species in January. With nothing very far from the car and plenty of painkillers inside me it was nice to get out. 

Hawfinch was the first bird in the notebook as one sat up nicely at Parkend. We didn't have any luck up at the church for Crossbills so we headed to Wenchford Picnic Area where a Dipper was feeding just beneath us. At Cannop Ponds we saw a dozen Manadrin and three Goosander before heading to Yew Tree Brake where we finally saw a Crossbill. Whilst we did stop at New Fancy the weather wasn't very kind so chances to see a Goshawk were unlikely.

Our final stop was Slimbridge as the weather moved in. Our sightings from along the Holden pathway included large flocks of Dunlin, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Barnacle Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon whilst other birds of note including a few year ticks three Avocet, 50 Pochard, 40 Redshank, 15 Curlew, 300 Pintail, 110 White-fronted Geese, 118 Bewick Swans and a Greater Scaup.

Many thanks to Pete Walkden for his fantastic images of Hawfinch & Dipper.

Penduline Tits - Horsbere Brook

View to the naked eye

Destination to look out for

 Fantastic views with a bit of patience

 Feeding time

 Stunning plumage

Happy audience

Both birds in this image

I couldn't resist a small drive down the M5 to see my second ever pair of Penduline Tits at Hosbere Brook on the edge of Gloucester. Horsbere Reserve was developed by the Environment Agency as part of the flood management scheme. It is now owned and managed by Gloucester City Council. The reserve is made up of a large wetland that diverts flood water away from properties and into the storage area at times of a flood, as well as being an important wildlife habitat.

A large lay-by was perfect for parking close to the lake. On arrival the birders on site informed me the birds had not been seen for over an hour however with 30 minutes of searching I found both birds low in the reeds in front of me.

The stunning birds showed very well for about 40 minutes and didn't seem at all bothered by the audience they were thrilled with their spectaular hanging on the bulrushes before flying to the other side of the small reserve. 

All directions weekend

Great Northern Diver

                                                   Great Northern Diver

Great Northern Diver

Golden Plover 

The weekend visit to Salford Priors was once again hampered by driving rain and gales. After checking out Pophills (two Green Sandpipers still present) I opted to walk the plantation for a change. The only birds I found were Goldcrests, Coal / Blue/ Great Tits, and Redwings. My wait for our first winter Goldeneye will have to wait another week as the wildfowl are still restricted to Tufties, Teal, Gadwell and Mute Swans. 24 Lapwing (Chris Lane reported 138 on Friday) flew in late morning whilst the geese had moved behind the main pit and included 152 Canada & 202 Greylag.  It looks like the old workings is the next part of the site to be returned to agricultural land. The work has got very close to the main pit which may explain why the wildfowl are very unsettled.

I opted for a bit of variation on Sunday and headed six miles in the opposite direction to see the Great Northern Diver at Upper Bittell. It was great to see the bird showing close to the dam and in decent light. On the path to the car we found three Goosander, female Goldeneye and a flock of Siskins at Lower Bittell.

After a coffee and sandwich I then headed to Hawling where I was hoping for an Owlfest like last winter. Sadly it seems that only 2-3 Short-eared Owls have returned this winter and the lack of competition means they don’t need to hunt in the daylight. I got some nice views of one Shortie as the light faded but it wasn’t the same experience as last winter. Other sightings included two Red Kites, Barn Owl, Kestrel, 30 Lapwing and 25 Golden Plover.

Sharpness Black Redstart

It you are visiting Slimbridge then it would be rude not to call in to Sharpness Docks to see the stunning male Black Redstart. The bird showed very well in it's usual place. Despite the terrible light I managed to get a few images for the blog. A cracking bird………...