LANCS: North Ribble Marshes 30 December 2007.

The view over the saltmarsh from Warton Bank.

It was nice to get out for a few hours today after the miserable weather of late. We drove out to the Ribble Estuary calling in at Newton Marsh where there were plenty of Wigeon and Teal but little else of note. Clifton Marsh had a Stonechat but no sign of any Corn Buntings today.

Glossy Ibis & Little Egret, Warton Marsh 30 December 2007.

Heading west we stopped off at the end of Bank Lane in Warton and spent a little time overlooking the saltmarsh there. Lots of Pink-feet in the air but as usual none settled on this side of the Ribble. A huge Raven "croaked" as it flew by and 7 Bewick's Swans headed north.

At least 6 Little Egrets out on the marsh and it wasn't long before we located the Glossy Ibis in the distance. Couple of Whoopers on a distant pool could be heard calling every now and then and a Peregrine made the odd fly-by from its perch but no sign of any harriers while we were there.

Granny's Bay from Fairhaven Lake.

As the sky darkened we headed towards Lytham and pulled in at Fairhaven Lake which was heaving with people out walking off their surplus Xmas pounds. A small raft of duck on the lake included a pair of Mergs, 21 Pochard, 5 Tufties and 4 Goldeneye. A single Dabchick was also present but no sign of any Scaup unfortunately. With plenty of people on the beach we resisted a walk there and headed back to the car.

Our return to Preston took us back through Lytham Moss where large herd of wild swans included 30 Bewick's and 82 Whoopers.

LANCS: Martin Mere WWT Boxing Day 2007.

After a late start Mrs. B. and I decided to pop down to the Mere for a bit of easy birding after the Chrismas festivities. The weather forecast was pretty bad, but it turned out OK after a dull start and there were plenty of birds about too.


Plenty of Whooper Swans as uua on the mere, with stacks of Wigeon, a small gathering of Pochard and a couple of Ruddy Ducks. Waders were pretty thin on the ground apart from hundreds of Lapwings, a few Ruff and 3 Redshanks.

Shelduck at Martin Mere 26 December 2007.

Mrs. B. tries picking out a "crippler" on the mere.

We made our way down to the Harrier Hide next but there was very little there and the United Utilities Hide was no better with just 3 Stonechats on offer. Soup was calling at the Pinkfoot Pantry before we headed down to the Ron Barker Hide where things started to pick-up. It was quiet at first with just a few Teal to sift through but a perched Kingisher was the start of good things to come. Suddenly a female Hen Harrier appeard in the distance and then gracefully made its way towards us, banking a couple of times before heading past us and over the footpath. Fantastic - any day with a Hen Harrier is a good one.

Mrs. B. and I met up at the centre before heading back to the mere where the swans were gathering. Loads of Whoopers scrapping right outside the hide and a few Pink-feet coming into roost on the reserve as well.

SOLWAY: Cattle Egret at Gatehouse of Fleet, Christmas Eve 2007.

Cattle Egret at Gatehouse of Fleet, Dufmries & Galloway 24 December 2007.

Yesterday evening I was feeling quite content with a full belly (gettng in practise for Christmas) when a text message came through: "Red-breasted Goose, Cummertrees, Dumfries & Galloway". Now I've seen a couple of these before in the UK but they are pretty smart and the thought of RBG on Christmas Eve on the Solway just had a nice ring about it so I set off up the M6 again this morning feeling quite optimistic. I took in the usual stop south of the border for the bacon butty and the dismal conditions meant that it was still pretty dark when I arrived at Cummertrees. The details had been pretty scant on the RBG - just "on the edge of town", or something like that, so I drove around a bit in search of geese. I wasn't until about 10 AM that a stack of Barnies started to arrive off the merse, presumably from the roost. I spent all morning sifting through them noting a few Pink-feet (20+) amongst them. A few Golden Plover, Pintail, Curlew and Oycs came into feed and Yellowhamers, a Bullfinch and a couple of Sparrowhawks were noted on the rounds.


Nearly midday and no sign of the RBG in the Cummertrees area so I started to search elsewhere. Whoopers around Ruthwell (80+) and 120+ Pink-feet near Bankend when the mobile bleeps again. Hot news! Cattle Egret near Gatehouse of Fleet! An hour later I'm teamed up with Pete & Ingrid Berry from Manchester (nice to meet you both) and watching the egret. I managed to get a few record shots in the poor light and the bird was a devil for hugging the vegetation-choked bank as well. A good D&G tick indeed.

Merry Xmas everyone!

Cattle Egret, Gatehouse of Fleet 24 December 2007.

SOLWAY: 20 - 22 December 2007.

The road into the hills just outside Laurieston, 21 December 2007.

Mrs. B. and I headed north to Dumfries & Galloway to enjoy a day (or maybe two) in the crisp winter weather. The scenery was definitely festive with a thin sprinkling of snow and some icy roads.

Seafield near Annan, looking west from the old viaduct.

After a quick "Early Starter" at the Little Chef south of the border we headed to Annan and parked at Seafield Bay. With a chilly nip in the easterly air we began walking towards the old viaduct noting a Peregrine causing havoc with the local ducks and waders on the mudflats. There were roughly 100 Teal roostng at the water's edge and I barely had time to finish the sentence "I'll just check through this lot for a Green-winged ......." when I found a Green-winged Teal!

Adult drake Green-winged Teal, Seafield Bay 20 December 2007.

The GWT waddled around a bit amongst its commoner cousins and even flew around. It spent most of its time on the edge of the mudflats but did venture near the seawall briefly. Birds were being "spooked" frequently though, probably by the marauding Peregrine.

After capturing a few record shots we headed along the seawall seeing little apart from Stoenchat, winter thrushes and Buzzards, before completing a circular walk at Seafield via Annan. On returning the tide was well out and there were very few birds indeed. The Teal flock was nowhere to be seen.

We ended our afternoon at Castle Loch which was mostly frozen over but did hold good numbers of Goldeneye and Wigeon, a couple of Whooper Swans and a dozen or so Goosander.

Our intended early departure into the Galloway Forest on 21st was delayed thanks to a flat tyre. We finally reached Laurieston after stopping at Auchenreoch Loch (30+ Goosander) and for a Red Kite and headed into the hills. A super male Hen Harrier was the highlight of our drive but a pair of Red Grouse sitting on the wall at point blank ange was noteworthy too. We called in at Water of Fleet for a cuppa near the estuary before heading back towards Annan, checking some lochs en route (both fozen).

A change in the weather (milder with drizzle) on 22nd saw us birding from the car for most of the morning near Southerness. Our mobile hide worked well for us at the point though producing 15 Purple Sandpipers on the rocks at high tide, 6 Mergs and an imm' male Eider. A drive to Arbigland produced 4,000+ Barnacle Geese and several hundred Pink-feet. Very spectacular indeed. At least 34 Whooper Swans fed in the fields nearby.

With the weather worsening we headed along the Nith noting 35 Greylags before heading south along the east bank to Caerlaverock. Very few geese on the WWT grounds here so we headed towards Annan again noting 209 Whoopers near Ruthwell. With the vsibility fading we called in at Seafield once more (very few Teal and no sign of GWT), before our last stop at Browhouses where ther was very little apart from 60+ Dunlin and a few Teal and Wigeon.

BACK IN THE UK.

Barnacle Geese from the Avenue Tower Hide, Caerlaverock WWT.

Back in the UK again at the end of a long guiding season. A couple of months back in the office but not before a bit of winter birding locally and even a bit further afield. I arrived back on Sunday 9th December so the next day Mrs. B. and I popped out to Martin Mere WWT for the day. The reserve was heaving with people (unusual on a Monday outside the school hols), probably because the weather had been so rubbish recently and we had a fine crisp winter's day. The day was a bit flat in truth with nothing special seen, but we enjoyed our day out nevertheless.

Caerlaverock WWT from the Farmhouse Tower.

On 12th I drove up to the Solway, spending the day in the Caerlaverock area. I started birding at dawn n the Nith Estuary watching stacks of Barnacle Geese leaving the roost on the merse and feeding in the fields next to the road. A couple of Crossbills overhead were the most noteworthy birds however.

I walked into Castle Wood on the National Nature Reserve where a nice bird flock included Nuthatches, Treecreepers and best of all a couple of Willow Tits. I spent some time scanning the gorse scrub as I had a Great Grey Shrike here a few years ago and there's been a few about this winter, but no luck. A couple of Ravens were out on the marsh.
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve had the usual large numbers of Barnacle Geese, but no sign of the Red-breasted Goose unfortunately. It seems that this bird has now moved south into Cumbria anyway. Plent of Lapwings and Golden Plovers near the Avenue Tower hide in the afternoon but no Pec' Sand' with them so maybe that's moved on too.

The Nith Estuary at Glencaple looking west towards Criffel.

The news of a Cattle Egret at Martin Mere at dusk on Friday raised hopes of a good start to the weekend. However my poor record for connecting with local rarities didn't fill me with optimism. I arrived in the Mere area early and started to scan nearby fields in case the bird left the reserve early. A pair of Marsh Hariers, a Merlin, Sparrowhawk and some Pink-feet were nice but a text from Andy Bunting (the finder of the egret) gave me the news I was half expecting - "no sign so far". Despite this I spent a very pleasant morning in the grounds watching a couple of Peregrines, a single Bewick's Swan in the hordes of Whoopers and some great views of Kingfisher too. A smart (but of dubious origin) adult Red-breasted Goose in with the feral Barnacles reminded me just how nice the one on the Solway must've been!

Martin Mere WWT.

Saturday afternoon was spent on the North Ribble Marshes at Newton Marsh (Corn Buntings) and Warton Bank where the Glossy Ibis was seen with 9 Little Egrets and 4 Whooper Swans. The Freckleton Naze Pool Little Eget roost was disappointing with just 6 birds seen.

Hopefully the winter's birding will improve.

VENEZUELA: Bearded Bellbird, La Escalera.

Our best birding on the Escalera was undoutedly around the checkpost (Alcabala) where we saw the most endemics. Higher elevations produced some nice birds though like this handsome male Bearded Bellbird. Our final day in the field started well with some lekking Capuchinbirds right near a logging track just outside Las Claritas before moving up on to the Escalera for the last time to pick off our last few regional endemics of the tour. Special thanks to our local assistants Alejandro and Franky - can't wait to go back!
Next trip: Mexico February 2008. Time for some UK birding!

VENEZUELA: Heading South to KM88.

We headed south from El Palmar towards the famous "KM88" at the foot of one of the best birding roads in South America. The Sierra de Lema hosts many "Tepui Endemics" and La Escalera (the road that climbs to the savannas of the Gran Sabana) is a wonderful place to search for them. Guianan Cock-of the Rock, Olive Manakin, Tepui Manakin, Scarlet-horned Manakin, White Bellbird, Ruddy Tody-Flycatcher, Rose-collared Piha, Red-banded Fruiteater, Streak-backed Antshrike, Tepui Foliage-Gleaner, Roraiman Warbler, Peacock Coquette, Velvet-browed Brilliant plus many others were seen in our five day stay in the area.

The lowlands near Las Claritas are also worthy of inspection but no-one could have predicted the sightings of Black-throated Antshrike and Red & Black Grosbeak on the Guianan Trail near San Miguel. Photos above show one of the biggest Tarantulas I've ever see plus the superb Crimson Topaz on the feeders at Barqilla de Fresa on the edge of Las Claritas.

VENEZUELA: Paradise Jacamar.

The forests of Imataca near Rio Grande were very "birdy" indeed. Three species of jacamar - Yellow-billed, a stunning male Great and plenty of Paradise - kept us happy as well as a host of good eastern Amazonian / Guianan Shield birds (Red-fan Parrot, Ash-winged Antwren, Green Aracari, Pied Puffbird and Tiny Tyrant-Manakin).

VENEZUELA: Harpy Eagle.

I first visited Venezuela in 1992 with a couple of birding mates. Harpy Eagle was our main quarry then and we stayed at the Pirador Taguapire and to this day it's still the place to stay. We checked in at the "hotel" after a lengthy drive and met Francisco our local guide to make arrangements for the following day.

Early the following morning we headed out to the forests of the Imataca Reserve in our high-clearance vehicles to a c;earing where we stopped by a large tree. There in the lower section sat this magnificentyear-old Harpy Eagle. Plenty of other stuff around too - Violaceous Trogons, Black Nunbirds, Golden-collared Woodpeckers and White-bellied Antbirds. After this we headed out to the forests of the Rio Grande area where we saw the splendid Ferruginous-backed Antbird amongst other things.

VENEUELA: Double-banded Puffbird.

One of our first birds of the trip was Double-banded Puffbird. Most easily seen in Venezuela and present in forest borders as well (this bird - one of a pair - was in semi-deciduous woodland) these attractive puffbirds can even be seen in hotel grounds. This bird displays the double chest bands and the whitish throat typical of birds east of the Andes (birds of the arid NW of Venezuela now considered a sperate species - Russet-throated Puffbird).

VENEZUELA: Oilbirds.

A visit to the Oilbird cave near Caripe was a nice break from the cloud forest trails. We were in place well before dusk watching White-tipped Swifts before the first Oilbirds started to leave their day-roost in the depths of the caves. It was spectacular indeed as these nocturnal frugivores trickled out into the night sky. Apparently Oilbirds travel many miles at night, sometimes breaking their journey by roosting at sites other than the traditional cave site.

We spent some time birding in semi-deciduous and flooded forests nearby seeing a nice variety of birds including Crimson-hooded Manakins, Horned Screamers, Long-winged Harriers and the endemic Black-dotted Piculet.

VENEZUELA: The Northeastern Mountains.

We started this Venezuelan tour in the north-east of the country after an overnight near Caracas. The firts afternoon saw us in the dry cactus desert of the Araya Peninsula settling into our first Venezuelan birds, including Vermilion Cardinal, Yellow-shouldered Parrots, Northern White-fringed Antwrens and a host of wetland birds on the lagoons like Black Skimmers and Caribbeain Flamingo.
The next few days were a real contrast as we travelled to the mountains, firstly Cerro Humo. This mountain hosts a fine selection of range restricted birds but unfortunately the weather played a big part in the day's proceedings. We were greeted at the refuge (the highest point that you can drive to) by strong winds and rain and the omens were not good to say the least. Venezuelan Parakeets showed immediately but our hike up Cerro Humo was uncomfortbale to say the least with little seen due to the poor weather.
Despite better weather the other endemic hotspot of Cerro Negro was hardly better. The morning started well with Groove-billed Toucanet, Scarlet-fronted Parakeets, Rufous-shafted Woodstar, Green-tailed Emerald and best of all a couple of Handsome Fruiteaters. Not a sniff from the threatened Grey-headed Warbler and White-throated Barbtail and Venezuelan Sylph were heard only.

SOLWAY: Bad day at the office.

Not a lot of time for birding between tours this week. Just back from Ecuador and only a few days until my next trip to Venezuela. However the lure of Red-breasted Goose in the Solway was just too much, even if it hadn't been seen for a week or so. Last sghting was at Caerlaerock WWT so it must be elsewhere, right? Wrong! I searched the Southerness and Meresehead area today (21st Nov) without success only to find out that the RBG plus a Pec' Sand' had been seen at Caerlaverock. The day wasn't a complete flop though - nice party of 8 Purple Sand's at Southerness and of course loads of Barnacles. Only trouble is at this time of year is that it's dark so early and with the inclement weather today it was "lights out" just after lunch! Just have to hope for better luck after the Venezuela tour.