Spring's in the air ............

First Spring migrants seen yesterday with Sand Martin and Wheatear at Marshside. The female Scaup was still on the Sandgrounder's lagoon and Green-winged Teal right outside the hide again. Finally caught up with the Little Stint at Marshside as well.

Birds are definitely on the move. We had a 200+ flock of Fieldfares along Curlew Lane near Martin Mere WWT on Saturday. Single Bewick's in the 400+ Whoopers on the mere too.

Spent a morning in search of the reported Rough-legged Buzzard out on Crossens Marsh last Monday. No joy, but the big white rump / tail and broad black terminal tail band of an escaped Bay-winged Hawk had the heart pumping for a second. A nice walk out there with plenty of birds: 3 Med' Gulls (2 x 2nd smrs + ad' smr, all with black hoods), Raven, Spotted Redshank, Green Sand' Chiffchaff and 4 Little Egrets.

Ribble Estuary

A good week on the patch so far with the long-staying Glossy Ibis at Warton Bank today. Marsh Harrier, Merlin 5+ Little Egrets, 90 Whooper Swans, 30+ Blackwits and Tree Sparrow there too. Raven at Clifton Marsh landfill site on the way back to Preston was a nice bonus.

It's still there....... 21 March 2007.

Another visit to the Ribble Estuary this afternoon. With a big 10+ metre tide pushing the birds off the saltmarsh at Marshside I logged Short-eared Owl, a couple of Merlins, 4 Little Egrets and hordes of waders. The drake Green-winged Teal was still on view from Sandgrounder's along with loads of Avocets and 500+ Pink-footed Geese were still way out on Crossen's Marsh.

A nice afternoon at Marshside RSPB, Lancs 14 March 2007.

Never knowingly undersold!

Green-winged Teals, Lancashire 14 March 2007.

Despite "negative news" on the Green-winged Teal this morning, I decided to take the short drive out to the Ribble Estuary to check RSPB Marshside because of the delightful weather. Female Scaup still present on the pool along with a couple of Pochard and Avocets - not much change since my last visit a couple of days previously. On arrival at the Sandgrounders Hide I immediately spotted the drake Green-winged Teal swimming towards me in the channel. Easy! Relaxed, I spent some time in the hide watching the teal, Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets before strolling out in the afternoon sunshine to Polly's Creek. Couple of Little Egrets on the saltmarsh so I decided to head for Nel's hide after a quick look around the Sandplant. On entering Nel's a birder told me that the Green-winged Teal was at the back of the marsh! Different bird and more typical - distant (see bottom image)!

Lesser Snow Goose, Lancashire 2 March 2007.

It was a long way off, out on Pilling Marsh ('scoped from Pilling Lane Ends car park), but pretty easy to pick out in amongst the 3,000 or so Pink-feet. I also saw 4 Barnacles but no sign of the Beans reported earlier. Couple of Little Egrets and a Peregrine were the other things of note during a nice Friday afternoon's birding on a glorious late winter afternoon.

Bare-shanked Screech-Owl and Black & White Owl, Costa Rica February 2007.

Nice to end with a couple of owls. The Bare-shanked Screech-Owl was roosting in the Santa Elaena Reserve near Monteverde. Thanks to Tony Pym and his Ornitholiday's party for helping us with this bird. We saw some great birds on the last couple of days of the trip in the Monteverde area. Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Black Guan, Sooty-faced Finch, Orange-bellied Trogon, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Lineated Foliage-Gleaner, red-faced Spinetail, Azure-hooded Jay, Ornate Hawk-Eagle and Yellow-throated Brush-Finch all being noteworthy.
Black & White Owls have featured on this blog previously in last year's Costa Rica tour. We stopped in Orotina again and there they were in the Plaza once again. A nice one to end on - next trip Panama in May.

Birding the Guacimo Road, Costa Rica 14 February 2007.

Today we had the pleasure of Kevin Easley's company as we went in search of some of those "Guanacaste Birds". Kevin knew just about every spot to stop on this road and highlights included Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, Double-striped Thick-knee, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Yellow-naped Parrot, Long-tailed Manakin, Olive Sparrow, Black-headed Trogon, Plain-capped Starthroat, Cinnamon Hummingbird, Banded Wren, White-lored Gnatcatcher, Canivet's Emerald and the two birds featured here: Stripe-headed Sparrow and Turquoise-browed Motmot.
We spent the afternoon in the mangroves near Tarcoles. We failed to find any Mangrove Hummingbirds but had great views of American Pygmy-Kingfisher.

Black-hooded Antshrike, Carara National Park 13 February 2007.

Down to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica for a new set of birds. Carara NP is always a good day out and Black-hooded Antshrikes are always easy to see near the entrance. This female came in nicely to a recording followed by a male that was a little more difficult to see. Other highlights from a morning in Carara included a pair of nesting Royal Flycatchers, Orange-crowned Manakins, Northern Bentbill, Dot-winged Antwren and Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher. We found a small ant swarm where Dusky and Chestnut-backed Antbirds and Barred Antshrike performed well.

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, Savegre Mountain Lodge, 11 February 2007.

This afternoon our local guide Melvin Hernandez took us into the semi-deciduous forest above the lodge. We stopped in a clearing on Los Robles trail that Melvin recommended for Costa Rican-Pygmy-Owl. After just a couple of plays of the recording we got a response and soon after we were watching this small owl in the canopy through our 'scopes. With this "under the belt" we headed up the trail in search of Silvery-throated Jay, only to get brief views of one dropping out of a bromeliad after tracking some calling birds for some time. Other highlights of the sfternoon included Large-footed Finch and Golden-browed Chlorophonia before we descended to the Quebrada trail where we saw Silvery-throated Tapaculo, Buffy Tuftedcheek and Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush. Zeledonias unfortunately remained hidden, despite calling nearby. Our afternoon ended back on the road above the lodge where Dusky Nightjars and Mottled Owls were calling. Savegre is a great birding locality and I look forward to returning again soon.

Resplendent Quetzal, Costa Rica 11 February 2007.

This is probably THE bird most birders go to Costa Rica for. Savegre Lodge is one of the best places I've been to to see this species. In the eraly mornings we found a pair frquenting the forest patches near the restuarant where we had just taken breakfast. But Savegre isn't just about quetzals: We saw some classy birds in the forest patches near the river including Black-faced Solitaire, Ruddy Treerunner, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, Ochraceous Wren, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, Spangle-cheeked Tanager and Collared Trogon.