Ptarmigan on Cairngorm.

On Sunday 26th February the weather was particularly good for the time of year, so we hiked up Cairngorm. This cracking Ptarmigan showed rather well at 2,700ft (at least that's what my GPS made it). Actually you could even 'scope this bird from the cafe near the car park (a Heatherlea guide did just that to show me whereabouts he'd just seen one), but we had to get closer. A nice Mountain Hare was seen nearby too with Crested Tits near Loch Garten in the late afternoon.

Tundra Bean Goose.

Geese in the Nith Valley south of Dumfries.

 After a fine morning's birding on 24th Feb at RSPB Mersehead I headed back to the Nith to check the goose flock I noticed feeding near Islesteps the previous day. Around 650 Pink-feet and 50 Barnacles were grazing distantly, often behind hedges, but some ventured into the open for closer scrutiny.

 A few "sweeps" with the 'scope revealed nothing but Pinks and Barnies but then I noticed some orange legs under a fence line. With a few orange-legged Pink-feet around I needed better views but it wasn't too long before this smart Tundra Bean Goose started to feed in the open. Unfortunately it remained at the back of the field so just enough time for some poor quality record shots before it disappeared behind hedgerows once again.

Tundra Bean Goose, Islesteps (Dumfries & Galloway) 24 February 2012.

A great grey bird on a great grey day.

Great Grey Shrike, Mitchelslacks (Dumfries & Galloway) 23 February 2012.

Redhead Smew with Goosanders, Castle Loch (near Lochmaben, D&G) 23 February 2012.

 We ventured away from the shores of the Solway last Thursday, heading inland to the Forest of Ae, north of Dumfries. Our goal was to see the Great Grey Shrike, a bird returning for perhaps its second or maybe even third winter. With the exact whereabouts of this bird seeping out for the first time over the last few months via the bird information services we seized the opportunity to see a bird I hadn't seen in D&G since the Caerlaverock NNR individual in the 90's.
We located the bird in no time at all in the Podivan Bridge clear fell area, watching it from the road as it perched high over its territory. It conveniently perched very close to us as we were about to leave, allowing great views at close proximity. There were plenty of Crossbills in the forest as well as flocks of up to 50 Fieldfares in the lower fields.

Barnacle Geese near Caerlaverock WWT.

 Onwards to Lochmaben where we checked Castle Loch, finding a redhead Smew with Goosanders, Goldeneyes, Tufted Ducks and a single Pochard before calling in at the nearby Kirk Loch where the drake American Wigeon was still in residence.

Ross's Goose with Barnacles on the approach road to Caerlaverock WWT, 23 February 2012.

 We had enough time for a quick dash to Caerlaverock where the Ross's Goose could immediately be seen in a flock of 2000+ Barnacles from Shearington. Not enough time to check the WWT grounds but Whooper Swans could be heard as headed back towards Dumfries.
A nice flock of grey geese could be seen from the road south of Dumfries as we headed through Islesteps on the way back to Mersehead. I decided against a late scan owing to the murky conditions, but noted their whereabouts for another day.

Great Grey Shrike in the Forest of Ae, 23 February 2012.

A week on the Solway.

Barnacle Geese at RSPB Mersehead, February 2012.

There's always a drake Green-winged Teal (and always "over the back").

 We've just finished a wonderful week based on the Solway at RSPB Mersehead. We managed to walk the reserve just about everyday despite the rather poor weather for the middle part of our stay. We had a few excursions of course but Mersehead was very kind with several thousand Barnacle Geese on view (many from our kitchen window), drake Green-winged Teal from the hides, singing Yellowhammers and good numbers of winter wildfowl daily.

Watching Barnies (with help) at the eastern end of the reserve.

Less frequent visitors to Mersehead seen during our stay include a pair of Scaup (in the channels from the coastal walk), 22 Twite, Ringtail Hen Harrier (over our cottage as I packed the car yesterday morning), Peregrine, female Merlin, a Ruff, Green Sandpiper, 25 Golden Plover and up to 100 Curlews, 90 Lapwings, several Snipe and 50 Starlings coming to roost on the wetlands / reed beds in the late afternoon.

Loch Ken Greenland Whitefronts

 We had a day in the Loch Ken area (Dumfries & Galloway) last week. After a fruitless hour or so trying to get another look at the Blue-winged Teal at Threave we headed along the Dee in search of some of the Greenland Whitefronted Geese that winter there.

V6A

 We found 110 (at least) on the east side of the loch including these neck-collar birds. As usual most of the flock was very difficult to observe, preferring undulating "modified" grazing close to the loch. 

VIF

V5D (corrected from my "V5O" thanks to Anthony Fox and John Nadin).

Apart from the geese it was rather uneventful, although the number of Red Kites seen along the route kept our spirits up (including one over the Tesco's car park in Castle Douglas).

A damn good goose-ing!

It's in there somewhere.

 February is my favourite winter birding month. I do however have mixed feelings: the longer days are here but the winter birds start to leave. These will include some of our geese; OK a few will linger into April (some even into May), but the clock is ticking.
This week I'm swapping the Ribble Pinks for the Solway Barnies. The Red-breasted Goose first seen in Cumbria last month and later at Caerlaverock, has relocated to the west side of the Nith, frequenting the Carsethorn / Southerness area at the moment. I had a free morning today so I headed down there pretty early, but it was still a bit dark when I arrived with geese still leaving the merse.
First stop Carsethorn where I saw the redhead Smew with a pair of Goldeneye on the small fishing lake along the Kirkbean Road and a small ringtail Hen Harrier (definitely an immature male - it had some grey in the wing) before most of the Barnacle Geese arrived and started feeding in the fields. No Red-breast here though.

 Next stop north of Southerness where a thousand strong flock of Barnacles could be seen near Loaningfoot. The Red-breasted Goose had been seen here yesterday so I settled in for some "serious sifting". I located the target bird after a little over quarter of an hour searching the flock from the comfort of the car. It had been in dead ground and as it approached the front of the field it became hard to see again (see top photo). This tiny goose was easily hidden behind the accompanying Barnies, completely disappearing below the level of plants in the field in the foreground at one point. Then the whole flock took to to the air and although many headed to Preston Merse, the Red-breasted Goose dropped back in the field and right at the front of the flock (above).
Apologies for the poor quality shots but it was very windy indeed!
Two Ravens and 15 Twite were other noteworthy species here.

 I headed in the direction of Powillimount next, hopefully for some grey goose action but was stopped in my tracks by a flock of Barnacles near the road near Newmains. A brown-backed bird was obvious at the back of the flock - a "Small Canada Goose", obviously.

I guess this is the bird ID'd as a Taverner's yesterday but it dipped into dead ground at the back of the field pretty quickly, only to reappear as it flew off with Barnacles a while later. No time to pursue it unfortunately. I'll have more time at the weekend and there's lots of Pinks in the area to look through too.

D&G Blue-winged Teal and local birding.

Drake Blue-winged Teal.

Couple of good sessions after work in Dumfries & Galloway in the Dee Valley produced a fine drake Blue-winged Teal. It's back for its second successive winter; I missed it last year (although I only made one attempt) and my first half-hearted go (I've just seen dozens in Mexico) resulted in failure on Thursday but I did see Ringtail Hen Harrier, Willow Tit and 240 Pink-footed Geese so I wasn't too downhearted.

Conditions were better after work yesterday (10th), with better visibility and I scored on the cracking drake Blue-winged Teal in a flock of 50 or so Teal. Beautiful bird to say the least, but the flock's quite skittish and just as I had it in the scope they headed upriver! 

I counted 580 Pinks on Lamb Island at Threave and there were lots of Goosander, Goldeneye and Wigeon around as well as Bullfinch and Tree Sparrows along the abandoned railway track.

Back home and out on the Ribble today with a late morning visit to Hesketh Out Marsh. Very cold in a biting ESE wind and a bit hazy, so hard to go through the Pinks but I did get a couple of European Whitefronts and a Barnacle in the 2500 or so Pinks there. No Bewick's today but still 57 Whoopers out there and poor for raptors with just Peregrine, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk seen as the 9.5m tide covered the saltmarsh. Apart from 250 Golden Plover, 4 Grey Partridges, 6 Gadwall and 8 Greylags that was about it.

Oh, the BWT above was in Mexico back in 2008. Here it is with the rest of its gang ....

Goose watching on the Lancs mosses.

Pink-footed Geese, Downholland Moss (W Lancs) 8 February 2012.

 Spent a few hours goose-watching on the W Lancs mosses this morning. It took me quite sometime to find any grounded birds though. Not that I minded as there were plenty of other birds took look at including countless Buzzards (not that many, I just didn't count them!), Red-legged and Grey Partridges, Sparrowhawk and 26 Golden Plover with Lapwings.

Mediterranean Gull, Barton Moss (W Lancs) 8 February 2012.

Mediterranean Gull on Barton Moss this morning.

 One nice flock of about 300 Common Gulls between Plex and Barton Mosses looked worthy of inspection and a black hood immediately grabbed my attention. A quick check revealed white wing-tips and the it woke up.

 Cracking birds Mediterranean Gulls; I expect to see a few more as February progresses and they appear around the south Ribble marshes.

 But it was the geese I was mainly there for and I found about 5000 or so on Downholland Moss, very flighty at first but once they settled I spent a couple of hours with them.

Pink-footed Geese on Downholland Moss today.

Spot the Bean!

 I soon picked out a nice Tundra Bean Goose (centre) and then three neck-banded Pink-feet (PZL, TJS and PBH).

The flock would hop fields from time to time and I reckon I picked out the same Tundra Bean Goose on at least two more occasions before I found another pair, making at least three Tundras present today. Lots more geese scattered around in dead ground and against the light, so could be other goodies there?

Bittern plus.

 Apart from a worrying twelve hours or so wondering if the return from Mexico would be delayed because of snow or freezing fog, I was really pleased that the cold snap continued. Presumably the bird that was present even before I headed off to Mexico, this Bittern showed well out on the ice in front of the Rufford Hide at Mere Sands Wood this afternoon.

 Nice place with singing Nuthatches, some Tree Sparrows and Long-tailed Tits in the woods and Teal, Gadwall and Wigeon on the ponds. I didn't hang around once the hide began to fill and my phobia got the better of me and I thought better of looking in another one for Water Rail.

I started the day at Hesketh Out Marsh with 3 Bewick's Swans in a herd of 75 Whoopers, point blank range views of Merlins, a Peregrine, pair of Grey Partridges and at least 100 Golden Plovers. The frozen saltmarsh was pretty quiet until the tide filled the creeks with 3 Little Egrets and a few hundred Teal and Wigeon appearing.
Marshside was frozen over so I moved on to the Marine Lake (15 Pochard, 10 Tufties, 12 Pintail and some Dabchicks, but little else) before the customary bacon and sausage barm at TC's. Then it was a cruise by Martin Mere WWT (where there has also been a Bittern today) checking for geese (no luck but 4 Corn Buntings made it worthwhile), before Mere Sands Wood. A quick check of some rough ground on nearby mosses, waiting just long enough for the first Short-eared Owl to appear (thanks Graham) and then home.

San Blas (Nayarit), W. Mexico.

Golden-cheeked Woodpecker.

 Coming to the end of the Ornitholiday's W. Mexico tour now so it was refreshing to visit a new site for me at Tecuitata today. Some nice forest on the hillsides above the mango and coffee in the Nayarit foothills with plenty of birds including Sinaloa Wren, San Blas Jays and a handsome male Grey-collared Becard.

Black-throated Magpie-Jays, Tecuitata 3 February 2012.

Golden-cheeked Woodpecker.

Yellow Grosbeak.

Black-throated Magpie-Jays.

 Final day in the field here in Mexico tomorrow ......

Hola amigos!

White-eared Hummingbird, Cerro de San Juan (MEXICO) 1 February 2012.

 Leading Ornitholiday's first tour to Western Mexico, based at San Blas at the moment. It's my fourth time here, although I've never stayed exclusively at San Blas during a trip before. 
With over 220 species recorded in the first five days there can be few complaints, all sites within an hour's travel (most twenty minutes or less) of the Hotel Garza Canela in San Blas.

Female Ring-necked Duck, San Blas.

 A marvellous variety of birds already recorded - Crested Guans, Rufous-bellied Chachalacas, White-fronted Parrots, Mexican Parrotlets, Collared Forest-Falcon (is there anywhere better than Mexico to see this beast?), Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Northern Potoos, Russet-crowned Motmots, Citreoline and Elegant Trogons, Grey-collared Becard, Golden Vireo, red-breasted Chats, Rosy Thrush-Tanagers and a host of migrant Nearctic warblers, waders and wildfowl.

American Avocet, San Blas.