The travels continue....
DIARY PAGES
2005
April 2005
Well I debated about going for it and I'm so glad I did...., Belted Kingfisher @ Milford, Staffordshire,on the 1st. Cracking bird, Well Found Roger Broadbent!! A nice quiet, relaxing day on the 2nd took me to the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The sun was out & so were Hawfinch, Waxwings, Brambling, Goshawk & Siskin, what a lovely day!! On the 6th I finally managed to see a bird I've been after for years, Great Spotted Cuckoo, and what a Bird. I was on my hol's when the last one arrived @ Spurn. This one showed really well on the golf course, pity about the wind though! The Purple Heron @ Wareham, Dorset has to be the best I've ever seen, it sat out in the open for a good twenty minutes before skulking back into the long grass. My last trip out, before going back to work, took me to Breydon Water RSPB, Norfolk for the Kentish Plover. The views were distant, made worse by the heavy rain, but it was still a nice bird to see. An extended lunch-hour from work on the 16th made it possible for me to see the Blue-headed Wagtail @ Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire, as well as White, Yellow & Pied Wagtail. I also saw the 30 + Waxwings which were 100 yd's away from the Reservoir. I finished the month with a trip to Norfolk/Suffolk, obtaining great views of both the Snow Goose & Spoonbill.
March 2005
March started off well, even after another attempt to see the Little Bunting @ Caunsall, Worcestershire on the 1st ended in failure. I spent the final two hours of the day traveling to see the female Lesser Scaup @ Farnborough. The Scaup was a real cracker, it showed superbly in the brief time I was able to spend there. A week later, and yet another attempt to see the Little Bunting finally rewarded me with fairly reasonable views, which I managed to catch on film. It seemed to show for longer periods at site "2" late afternoon. March the 15th will be another day to remember for me, I managed to see four species of grebe, the only one I couldn't find was the Little Grebe, I heard one but just couldn't see it. The day after took me to Farnborough for another look at the superb female Lesser Scaup, on the way home a visit to Shustoke Reservoir rewarded me with Pale-bellied Brent...., a first for me! My annual early morning trip to Teeside for Black Grouse gave me some of the best views I've ever had, and a good number of Grey partridge showed well. A detour on the way home via Lincolnshire for the juvenile Great Northern Diver @ Culverthorpe was well worth the effort. The bird gave incredibly close views. A morning drive to Suffolk was a worthy trip for two male Bluethroats the warden kindly showed me one that he'd caught prior to releasing it. A trip to South Wales finished off a great month with a Hoopoe. I watched it feed in front of me for almost an hour, it came as close as 10 ft, incredible.
February 2005
It took a few attempts but I finally managed to see the Richard's Pipit @ Conwy, It would of helped if I'd been looking in the right field......., ever happened to you? It gave great views for several minutes and I was able to catch it all on film, a Short-eared Owl also performed well in the same area early morning. I also managed to catch up with the incredibly distant Black Scoter @ Llanfairfechan, a few miles west of Conwy. The bill was very distinctive when the sun came out, even at a huge distance away. Mid-month I decided to make a huge one-day journey to Aberdeen in the hope of catching up with some of the winter gull's reported there. I missed the Bonaparte's (which would have been a lifer for me) but I managed to catch up with Kumliens, Glaucous and Ross's Gull which all showed incredibly well, especially the Ross's Gull. How I managed to get up for work and do a ten hour shift the next day beat's me. A week later I managed to obtain reasonable views of the Cattle Egret @ Kingston Seymour, Somerset, and a superb summer-plumaged Red-necked Grebe showed very well @ Stanwick G.P's , Northant's. Finally a trip to Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean, produced cracking shots of Mandarin Duck, a nice end to the month.
January 2005
Well what a great start to the year thanks mainly to work commitments being kept to a minimum for a change, this has allowed me to get out a little more than usual. I've also managed to see two lifer's, the White-tailed Eagle & Pine Bunting, I was particularly impressed with the White-tailed Eagle, it was such a huge bird!! Sadly the view I got of the Pine Bunting was both distant & brief, but i'm sure there will be another chance to get a better view. I also caught up with several Black Redstart's, mainly seen in Staffordshire, Black Brant & Snow Goose @ Holkham, the ever popular Lesser Yellowlegs @ Stiffkey, Ferruginous Duck @ Staffordshire, Great Grey Shrike @ Worcestershire and many, many Waxwing's.
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