Last few days of the year round-up.

Adult Mediterranean Gull, Weld Road 31 December 2012.

 29 December

A dreadful day for birding but there was some respite from the rain during my walk along the seawall from Old Hollow to Crossens. 

12+ Little Egret, Merlin, Peregrine, Hen Harrier (ringtail over Crossens Outer), Barn Owl (a really bright buff bird hunting Crossens seawall early afternoon), 120+ Grey Plover, Ruff, 150+ Golden Plover, 1344 Pink-footed Geese behind the seawall in fields at Crossens, 2 Barnacle Geese and a huge on the saltmarsh. A dozen Twites with Linnets by the seawall.

On the way home I called in at Hundred End at dusk where there were at least 392 Whooper Swans.

30 December

Awful conditions for estuary birding so I headed for the SW Lancs mosses. I saw about 5000 Pink-footed Geese on Plex, but they were very distant and I failed to pick anything unusual out. Three Whooper Swans on Halsall Moss were the only other birds of note.

31 December

Last chance for some 2012 Ribble birding today. As usual it was a last minute decision to drive down to the Southport area and I chucked the gear in the truck at lunchtime for the short trip to the coast. The heavens opened as I pulled up just outside Birkdale at Weld Road and with the very windy conditions it wasn't very inviting.

I had a look through the large gulls from the vehicle during the storm but no rewards there. Once the rain stopped I ventured out and found this nice adult Med' Gull near the car park. Unfortunately I couldn't read the ring. The gulls began to disperse as the tide dropped so I looked for something else to do.

"El Plastico", the leucistic Red-crested Pochard was on the lake in Hesketh Park but my main aim here was to check the diving ducks for anything scarce. I sifted through the four Tufted Ducks carefully and once I was convinced that none of them were Lesser Scaups or Ring-necked Ducks I thought it was time to move on. Going to look pretty silly if one of those females turns out to be a goodie when they wake up and raise their heads! Still I'll live with that.

I suppose it should be "La Plastica". Just a thought.

El Plastico in its natural habitat.

Last stop, Marshside. Quick look near Sandgrounders: Spoonbill, Little Egrets; thousands of Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwits and Golden Plovers, a carpet of Teal and Wigeon and smaller numbers of Gadwall and Pintail. A few hundred Pink-footed Geese on Crossens, but no surprises with them.

Couldn't find the Green-winged Teal; must be losing my touch.

Definitely worthy of a full day in the New Year, Marshside. Never seen so many birds on there - and there's always lots in the winter months.

All the best for 2013 and may the New Year bring you lots of birds.

Best day of 2012.

Jaguar with Pied Plover, Rio Cuiaba at Porto Jofre in Brazil, 23 September 2012. 

Brazilian Tapir, Rio Pixaim 23 September 2012.

The weather is awful at the moment and the forecast to the end of the year is pretty dreadful. So I reckon I'm pretty safe to post this now - a few photos from my best day of 2012. In September I was fortunate enough to lead an Ornitholiday's tour to Brazil; three in fact. I spent nearly three weeks in the Atlantic Forests at REGUA, finishing the month in Mato Grosso. 

Black Howler Monkey in roadside trees along the Transpantaneira, September 2012.

 I've been to the Pantanal many times before, always leading tours. It's one of my very favourite destinations - a great mix of birding habitats (wetland, dry forest, gallery forest and savanna) and birds and the group members always have a great time. I've covered a lot of the birds we saw in previous posts but this year we were able to do something a little different with a day visit further south along the Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre.

Great Potoo.

 The day got off to a good start when Rob spotted a Tapir swimming across the Pixaim. Heading sout we stopped for Black Howler Monkey and a roosting Great Potoo before birding the grasslands at Campo Jofre. 

We arrived at Porto Jofre in time for a bite to eat before boarding the boats to search for Jaguars on the banks of the Cuiaba River. Black Skimmers and American Golden Plovers on sand bars just off the dock and Hyacinth Macaws in the trees overhead - all was going well. Other groups staying at the lodges had been fortunate with multiple Jaguar sightings; would we be?

A couple of hours passed, we had checked all the banks where cats had been seen that morning without luck. Then the message came across the radio: Jaguar on a beach - but fifteen minutes away!

Giant Otters.

After what was undoubtedly the longest fifteen minutes of my life we neared the bend in the river where the Jaguar was sighted. A family of Giant Otters (our first of the tour) scurried around on the bank and we slowed down to watch them, hoping the cat would still be around the bend (I could see the front end of boats packed with photographers, snapping away at the beast!).

Rounding the bend we were greeted with this magnificent sight ....

I've seen several of these superb cats before (including two on a recent Pantanal trip), but this huge male has to be the most impressive. It performed beautifully, rolling around on the sand and strolling to the water's edge. A real poser.

 September 23rd was indeed a fabulous day. There were still some great birds to come but I could see that everyone was thrilled with their day out to Porto Jofre. The trip report can be seen on the Ornitholiday's website here.

I do believe it's brightening up a bit and forty-two Pink-footed Geese have just gone over the house. Perhaps I should go out?

Local birding circuit.

Whooper Swans near Bescar, Lancs 27 December 2012.

Took a tour of the local sites today. There really isn't enough daylight at the moment and the dull and drizzly conditions until lunchtime didn't help at all. I kept dry in the car checking the fields near Martin Mere for geese and swans at first, but failed to find any until I was starting the southern loop of my circuit and found 750 Whooper Swans near Bescar. No Bewick's as far as I could see so maybe the estuary is the best bet for this species at the moment. 

Rimmer's Marsh from Hesketh Road, Marshside RSPB today.

 No geese on the ground at least on the mosses so I headed towards Marshside seeing 59 Corn Buntings on the telegraph wires as I crossed Churchtown Moss. 

Sutton's Marsh, Marshside RSPB 27 December 2012.

Marshside was good: 10+ Little Egrets, Spoonbill (Banks Marsh west), Hen Harrier (male on Marshside saltmarsh), 2 Peregrine, thousands of Teal and Wigeon, hundreds of Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwits and several hundred Golden Plover coming into roost at dusk.
Pink-footed Geese were coming and going; many feeding on the saltmarsh (where a Barnacle Goose joined them) or loafing on Sutton's Marsh (where neck-banded bird PVJ was with them.).

Festive festering.

Pink-footed Geese.

Not much in the way of festive birding frolics for me this year, mainly due to the dire weather up here in the north-west. Whooper Swans featuring so far with a good herd of 256 just south of WWT Martin Mere wetland Centre on Christmas Eve and 3-400 wild swans (presumably mostly, if not all Whoopers) after I had a look along the reed bed trail at the WWT grounds today. At least a thousand Pink-footed Geese put up by shotgun noise in the same area and still thousands of Woodpigeons on the mosses so the chance of a local Goshawk must be at its best now?
Eleven Corn Buntings on wires as I drove home across the mosses - I'll give this area a more thorough look before the New Year I hope.

Final days in Colombia.

Russet-throated Puffbird.

White-whiskered Spinetail.

 Last post from Colombia for Christmas this year. Our final couple of days of the Ornitholiday's trip this month consisited of some desert birding in the Guajira Peninsula, watching Vermilion Cardinals, Orinocan Saltators, Chestnut Piculets, Glaucous Tanagers, White-whiskered Spinetails (above), Buffy Hummingbird and Red-billed Emeralds (below).

Red-billed Emerald.

Camarones, Los Flamencos NP.

 Away from the arid scrub there were plenty of birds in the wetlands including Double-striped Thick-knees, Black Skimmers, Reddish Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (below).

Roseate Spoonbill and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

Trinidad Euphonia.

 After a final morning in the Guajira we jetted back to Bogota for the night and the last day of the tour was spent at Laguna Tabacal and Jardin Encantando for hummingbirds. Tabacal added quite a few new birds to the trip list (Jet, Dusky and White-bellied Antbirds, Slaty Spinetail and Stripe-breasted Spinetail) but our main reason for the visit was Grey-throated Warbler which we saw very well indeed. I managed to get a recording of their twittering song too .....

Grey-throated Warbler, Laguna Tabacal, Colombia 8 December 2012.

Black-throated Mango.

 We spent the rest of the morning at the Hummingbird garden, Jardin Encantando. The feeders attract Black-throated Mangos (above), Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Andean Emeralds (below), White-vented Plumeleteers and Sparkling Violetears.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird.

Andean Emerald.

Gorgeted Woodstar.

Indigo-capped Hummingbird.

White-bellied and Gorgeted Woodstars also appear from time-to-time but the star attraction is the endemic Indigo-capped Hummingbird (above). A fine way to end any tour!

Rosy Thrush-Tanager

Male Rosy Thrush Tanager, Minca 6 December 2012. 

The Rosy Thrush-Tanager Rhodinocichla rosea is a rather retiring species of Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia. It can be quite difficult to see in the dense tangles of the arid or semi-arid forest (as we have found in Mexico in particular), but in my experience tends to show a little better in the more humid forests in Panama and Colombia.
The Rosy Thrush-Tanager is a fantastic songster and we were fortunate enough ti watch this splendid male during the early morning at Minca in the foothills of the Santa Marta Mountains this month.

The start of the film is a little blurry but the camera gets it right after a short while. Stay with it - the song is worth the wait.

Whooping Motmot, Minca 6 December 2012.

 We had a very good morning around Minca on our way down the Santa Marta Mountains towards the Caribbean coast of Colombia in a morning littered in quality Neotropical species like Scaled Piculet, Coppery Emerald and one of the best shows ever by a Scaly-breasted Wren - I've never noticed just how "leggy" they can be as it walked along a log, tail-pumping in a waterthrush-like fashion. I was so mesmerised that I forgot to reach for the camera!

This Rufous-and-White Wren put on a fantastic show too. Have a listen to it's song ......

Rufous-and-White Wren, Minca 6 December 2012.

Rufous-and-White Wren, Minca 6 December 2012.

Collared Aracari, Minca 6 December 2012.

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck with Pochard, Fairhaven Lake, Lancs 21 December 2012.

Pink-footed Geese heading out onto the Ribble Estuary from Lytham Moss, 21 December 2012.

 I diverted from a quick trip into Preston towards the Fylde side of the estuary this morning after hearing of a Long-tailed Duck at Fairhaven Lake. Another addition to a nice list of winter birds seen on this lake since I've moved to Lancs (including Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, Red-throated Diver, Scaup and Ferruginous Duck), the LTD floated around in the company of a few Pochards and Tufties when I arrived, feeding late in my stay at the lake.

Several thousand Pink-footed Geese flew over Fairhaven, presumably from Lytham Moss and landed on the mud exposed by the low tide. Most could be seen roosting near the NNR at Banks Marsh but a few stopped just short of the Ribble channel.

I stopped at Newton Marsh (hundreds of Wigeon, many Teal and Shoveler and 2 Little Egrets) and Preston Docks before crossing the Ribble on the way home. Nothing unusual in the gulls at the docks but a few Darvic ringed BHG's were on show. I noted 2F64, 2F10, 2F02, 2F13 and 2F04 there (all blue rings).

Nice sausage and bacon barm too.

Meanwhile back in Colombia

Black-and-White Owl, Minca 5 December 2012.

Just a few posts left from the Colombia tour starting with our descent from El Dorado to Minca in the Santa Marta foothills.
Golden-breasted Fruiteaters, Groove-billed Toucanets, Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Black-and-Chestnut Eagle and White-lored Warblers were seen in the forests with Blossomcrown and this smart Santa Marta Woodstar feeding at flowers outside one of the small roadside shops on the mountain road. I've seen a few Santa Marta Woodstars around El Dorado and below the lodge but this is the only male I've seen.

Groove-billed Toucanet, Santa Marta Mountains 5 December 2012.

Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Sendero Los Moras, Santa Marta Mountains 5 December 2012.

We had a quick look at the Black-and-White Owl in the bamboo roost above Minca (same spot as last year), before some birding in the dry forest around town where the beautiful Golden-winged Sparrows are easily found and these Keel-billed Toucans gave a great display.

Streaked Flycatcher, Minca 5 December 2012.

We had another opportunity to bird the Minca area early the next morning and I'll cover that in another post.