Pushing back the boundaries - Bean Geese and Crimson Topaz.

Male Crimson Topaz near Las Claritas, Venezuela February 2010.

Seen some good birds today but no photo op's so I've padded out this post with some of one of the best hummers we saw in Venezuela. More of that later.

Hesketh Out Marsh was a little quiet this morning despite the big tide. Plenty of birds of course - thousands of Wigeon and Lapwing, hundreds of Golden Plovers and some nice gatherings of Oystercatchers, Dunlins, Black-tailed Godwit and a single Turstone. We enjoyed some Hare boxing as Buzzards dodged Carrion Crows and Pink-footed Geese passed over. Great place, the Ribble.
After a quick brew a few of us ventured south of our comfort zone to Plex Moss where the two Tundra Bean Geese were showing really well. Graham Clarkson picked these out in the Pinks before I'd even got my tripod up - it's surprising how many birders you can squeeze into a Suzuki Jimny you know.


After all that it was back for a quick look at Marshside where the female Red-crested Pochard was still in residence viewed from the Hesketh Road Platform along with 10 Gadwall. A Sparrowhawk piled into the willows near the ditch and we picked up a Merlin on Crossens Outer as well as 4 Barnacle Geese in with the Pinks on the reserve.

Oh yeah; Crimson Topaz is a stunning hummingbird (at least the male is) and regular at the feeders of the Barqilla de Fresa Lodge near Las Claritas in Venezuela. Like a lot of the hummers I see it's tricky to see away from the feeders though. Cheating? A little, maybe, but needs must.

Heading south of the Orinoco (and Ribble).

White-throated Toucan at Las Claritas, Venezuela February 2010.

Not too much report today bird wise but I did have a very enjoyable time at a RSPB Ribble Reserves volunteer's meeting this morning in Southport. Graham Clarkson and I had a quick look at Marshside afterwards. Diving duck featured once again with the high water levels with counts of 62 Tufted Ducks and 61 Pochards. Plenty of dabblers around of course (thousands of Wigeon and Teal) including Pintail and a few pairs of Gadwall. A few hundred Black-tailed Godwits gathered on the islands and there was plenty of early "seasonal activity" with tumbling Lapwings and singing Little Grebes. We managed to see a pair of Peregrines, Merlin, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk in the short time we were there but no sign of any harriers or owls reported earlier in the morning.

Looking back to the entrance to Cueva de los Guacharos from the inside, Caripe February 2010.

This time last week I was on my way home from Venezuela. Those steamy temperatures seem like a long time ago right now. The photo above was taken from the Oilbird cave near Caripe in northern Venezuela. Oilbirds are the only nocturnal frugivore in birds and often travel many kilometres in search of their food. At times they travel so far that they do not make it back to their traditional roost site. It is thought that this accounts for many of the Oilbird records at unusual sites not usually frequented by this strange bird. Caripe is the type locality of the Oilbird, hence the scientific name Steatornis caripensis and we watched hundreds leaving the cave at dusk one evening. During the day the cave is an eerie place with the sounds of Oilbirds echoing throughout the cave (they use echo-location to navigate) and it's estimated that some 10,000 Oilbirds use this cave near Caripe.

Canaima National Park, Venezuela February 2010.

Long-billed Starthroat, Las Claritas, Venezuela February 2010.

The second part of our tour to Venezuela was spent in the state of Bolivar. We made our way south on the road to Brazil to Las Claritas. From our base we were able to explore La Escalera as the road climbs this broad, flat Tepui before levelling out on La Gran Sabana.

White-necked Jacobin, Las Claritas, Venezuela February 2010.

This is always my favourite part of any tour of Eastern Venezuela as we search for endemic species on the forested slopes of the Tepuis. More of that later, but for now here's a couple of the hummingbirds that came to the garden at our lodge.

A barbed tale.

Short-eared Owl at Crossens, Lancashire 5 February 2010.

February is closing with a whimper. A quick look at Hesketh Out Marsh just before dark yesterday produced little of interest apart from a pair of Gadwall and gazing across the Ribble I watched a Barn Owl quartering the marshes near Warton in the brief spells of sunshine. It's gone a bit quiet on the estuary though no doubt this weekend's big tides will produce a good bird or two. It's been office work for me mostly this week and gazing out the window at the moment, a trip out later today looks unlikely in these damp, grey conditions. All a far cry from that crisp afternoon at Marshside prior to my last trip to Venezuela when Short-eared Owls patrolled the salt marsh and Pink-footed Geese made their way onto the reserve at dusk accompanied by a couple of Brents.

Cerro Negro near Caripe, Venezuela February 2010.

Back to Venezuela for a while then. Last time I visited the mountains of the north-east it was a bit disastrous. Foul weather put pay to any chance we had of finding most of the endemic bird species on Cerro Humo ("Smoke Mountain") - strong blustery winds and horizontal rain is generally not the best recipe for cloud forest birding. It was therefore a bit of a relief this year when we ascended in near perfect conditions. Stripe-breasted Spinetails and Groove-billed Toucanets kept us busy on the lower section of the trail before we located this fine White-tailed Sabrewing.

White-tailed Sabrewing, Cerro Humo, Venezuela February 2010.

This spectacular hummer can be readily found in the coffee plantations on the lower slopes of the coastal mountains. Almost an endemic too (if there is such a thing), it occurs on Tobago too. A super pair of Handsome Fruiteaters kept us entertained before turning back along this side trail. In fact frugivores such as cotingas, manakins and tanagers were very easy to find this year on the mountain and we benefited from good views of the near-endemic White-tipped Quetzal as I scurried around on the slope trying to find a suitable site to place the tripod.
It was different in the understory though. Where were those those understory flocks this year? Spinetails, foliage-gleaners and other low-level foragers were just not around on the mountain during our visits. Once again the endemic White-throated Barbtail kept itself at a safe distance from stumbling onto my life list that I don't keep. The tennis ball-like Slate-crowned Antpitta made up for that though as it "pinged" around the small saplings and perched on a stump nearby for all to see.

Birding Cerro Humo, Venezuela February 2010.

There was still plenty to see on Cerro Humo this year, despite the lack of insect-foraging bird parties. Displaying Ornate Hawk-Eagles, the distinctive local race of Blue-capped Tanager (with a pale malar stripe) and perhaps best of all, this Scissor-tailed Hummingbird. According to the "Birds of Venezuela" almost the entire population of this endemic hummingbird exists in the poorly protected Paria National Park of north-east Venezuela.

Scissor-tailed Hummingbird, Cerro Humo, Venezuela February 2010.

Reunited.

Avocet, Marshside 24 February 2010.

Early start at Hesketh Out Marsh this morning but little to report. At least 4 Little Egrets on the reserve and the Whooper Swans were still near the reserve, maybe 40 or so, but tucked in behind the hedge and hard to 'scope. Plenty of Lapwings out towards the Douglas (1200+) with 180 Golden Plover sprinkled here and there. A dozen Stock Doves and three singing male Skylarks were the best of the rest in the fields and spring is on the way with Coot and Moorhen back in the channels ready to nest hopefully. Eight Brown Hares was the best I'd had here for some time and good to see Raven again at long last.

I had intended to check Banks Marsh but the grey, cloudy weather with bad visibility made me think otherwise and I opted for Marshside. A nice raft of 40 Pochard on Rainford's Lagoon and 82 Tufted Ducks scattered between there, Junction Pool and the Hesketh Road end was the best gathering of Aythyas so far here this winter for me. Single Avocet and Ruff on Rimmer's Marsh with a Merlin dashing across Sutton's Marsh too. I found the female Red-crested Pochard on Fairclough's Pool (it was on Rimmer's yesterday) in with Wigeon, Pintail and Teal at the end of the morning. Water Rail squealing here too and plenty of Black-tailed Godwits (160+) on the reserve.

Cano Aijes, Venezuela February 2010.

All a bit different from my "wetland experience" in Venezuela where Muscovy Ducks, Rufous Crab-Hawks, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Green-and-Rufous Kingfishers were around! This nice male Crimson-hooded Manakin was one of the star birds of the area. Looks a bit like the Band-tailed Manakin in this post from last year doesn't it? Same genus (Pipra), but Crimson-hooded occurs north of the Amazon with a more easterly distribution in South America than Band-tailed.

The sublime to the ....... sublime.

Still a bit jet-lagged I stumbled out for a look on the Ribble Estuary yesterday in the afternoon. It was only meant to be a ten minute jaunt, but you know how things change in birding .....
On arrival at Hesketh Out Marsh I was greeted by the usual "Not much about" from birders making their way back to the car.

HOM though is one of those sites where the rewards come with increased time and effort. Why go for ten minutes then? Good question: ten minutes soon turned to three hours as I walked out to the River Douglas watching this Merlin chasing a Lapwing. A first for me after many hours of watching this fierce little falcon on the estuary for many hours on the estuary. Its usual prey, the Skylarks were about with 56 in the stubble but it must've fancied something more substantial I suppose.

The fields were pretty lively with 179 Golden Plovers scattered among the 500 or so Lapwings and a Little Egret flying along the seawall. At least 55 Stock Doves in with the Woodpigeons but best of all there were 3 Corn Buntings in with 15 Linnets. There was just a bit of mud left uncoveredc by the tide when I reached the river and 4 Grey Plovers were on the Douglas with 20 Dunlins and 4 Bar-tailed Godwits. I made it back to the HOM viewpoint before dusk and could just make out some swans behind the hedges in the fields so a count of 97 Whooper Swans was a nice end to the day.

The weather couldn't have been more contrasting to the hot and dry Venezuelan conditions over the past couple of weeks. It's the dry season in Venezuela at the moment, the only trouble is the wet season virtually failed. With very little rain recently the reservoirs are low and power supply cuts are imminent out there.

We didn't experience any problems though (or any rain) and managed a trouble-free tour. Starting in the north-east we paid a quick visit to the desert of the Araya Peninsula en route to Vuelta Larga where I was able to capture this Black-dotted Piculet (a Venezuelan endemic) with some grubs in its beak. It probably had a nest nearby as it never wandered far from this area during the whole period of observation and was very territorial.

Russet-throated Puffbird, Vuelta Larga 8 February 2010.

Anyone who's travelled to the Neotropics with me will know of my fondness of puffbirds and jacamars. So seeing these two Russet-throated Puffbirds on our first full day in the field was a real treat. This is the double-banded, buff-throated form Hypnelus ruficollis bicinctus occuring in the north-east of Venezuela (the single-banded, russet-throated coloratus is present in the arid north-west).

Anything about?

1st year Harpy Eagle (my sixth) near El Palmar, Venezuela 18 February 2010.

Just back from the latest tour to Venezuela. Very good indeed visiting the mountains of the north-east, the Paria Peninsula, Imataca Forest Reserve and the Tepui mountains of the Guianan Shield.

HOM and away.

Short-eared Owl at Crossens Outer Marsh, 5 February 2010.

Bit short of time at the moment so just managed a couple of hours on the estuary this week. On Tuesday 2nd I spent a fair bit of time getting wet at Hesketh Out Marsh. It was definitely worth it though as the 10m tide covered the reserve. A good count of 350 Shelduck from the viewoint; Turnstone, Grey Plover, 10 Black-tailed Godwits and 110 Oystercatchers out on the Ribble and Merlin spraying the 100+ Skylarks all over the shop. The usual Peregrine was sitting out on its log on the saltmarsh (what was left of it) and I could see one Short-eared Owl and the 2 Black Swans over on the Fylde at Warton Marsh. Ten Pintail flying over is a good record here despite their large flocks on the outer parts of the estuary. Once the weather closed in I wandered back to the seawall picking up a cracking Short-eared Owl that was mobbed overhead by a Carrion Crow. Put on quite a show before it headed off along the seawall and out of sight. I followed it seeing a couple of Little Egrets and finding another dead one (no rings), before disturbing the shortie again in the long grass on the bank. Some 70 swans in the sleet-ridden distance were mostly Whoopers but I could see at least 4 Bewick's as they took off for Hundred End. A Jack Snipe flushed from the path as I watched a party of Long-tailed Tits was a real bonus.

"White-out" at Crossens and Banks Marshes 3 February 2010.

Wednesday lunchtime saw the return of the snow as I waited for the tide at Crossens. I didn't get long before the visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards but 2 Short-eared Owls and a Dark-bellied Brent Goose made it all worthwhile. I suppose the flock of waders in the floods was the most spectacular sight though: 2000+ Dunlin, 200 Redshank, 50+ Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Grey Plovers and 500+ Lapwings was an incredible spectacle as the whole scene began to "white-out"


This afternoon I had the pleasure of Brian Rafferty's company at Marshside where 6 Short-eared Owls were performing beautifully over Crossens Outer Marsh. The Bittern was still strutting around too but more distant than previously. Two Merlins and a couple of Kestrels were hunting over the saltmarsh as we watched the owls putting up 8 Grey Partridges. Plenty to see on the RSPB reserve too with hundreds of Pink-footed Geese on the marsh pulling in 17 Barnacle Geese and the Dark-bellied Brent Goose. A raft of 37 Pochard were on the Sand Plant Lagoon with 40 Tufted Ducks on Junction Pool. Another Short-eared Owl flew over while I was counting the Pochard, putting up 40 Black-tailed Godwits and as dusk approached (I was still birding gone 5 PM) a Pale-bellied Brent Goose flew in with the Pinks.

Brilliant stuff!



Best to check out Brian's blog for some decent Short-eared Owl photos!