Slimbridge WWT: 2 Little Gull, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Crane, 4 Swift, Marsh Harrier, 2 Reed Warbler, Wheatear, Kingfisher.
Plus many other 'common' species like Sand Martin, Swallow, Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler....
Cheers
Chris Harper said
Mon Apr 12 9:16 PM, 2021
Had excellent views of the first winter Bonaparte's Gull at 11.30 this morning near Frampton on Severn. Flying directly in front of me catching flies from the sailing lake. Attached a couple of record shots.
Also Common Sandpiper, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Common Buzzard.
Just for info for everyone news has broken of a Little Bustard at Slimbridge WWT today. Guided walks to the part of the reserve that it is on have enabled lots of folk to connect today.
Paul Beachcroft said
Sun Jun 23 7:20 PM, 2019
We left Liverpool early on Friday morning and travelled down to Gloucester/Hereford arriving mid morning. Out until midnight on both Friday and Saturday and only just back home in the last hour or so. Visited Daneswell Banks, Crabtree Hill, Symonds Yat, Nagshead, New Fancy, Cannop Ponds, Cleve Hill and Prestbury Hill nature reserves, recording the following; Birds: blackbird, robin, buzzard, nightjars, carrion crow, colllared dove, dunnock, goldfinch, hobby, linnet, house martin, swallow, swift, tawny owl, meadow pipit, tree pipit, house sparrow, tree sparrow, stonechat, garden warbler, woodcock, goshawk, peregrine falcon, chaffinch, song thrush, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, blackcap, cole tit, blue tit, great tit, treecreeper, jay, greenfinch, magpie, mandarin duck, skylark, wood pigeon, rook, pied flycatcher, nightingale, redstart....
Paul Samuels said
Mon Apr 22 12:47 PM, 2019
Interested to see several people are venturing to areas around the FOD/Gloucestershire, as a regular here an image of a Mandarin from taken yesterday morning at Cannop which is a regular location for this species.
You can also see images of the many of the birds mentioned below on the blog.
-- Edited by Paul Samuels on Monday 22nd of April 2019 12:52:15 PM
-- Edited by Paul Samuels on Monday 22nd of April 2019 12:54:45 PM
I'm lucky that my job takes me to varied places and I had heard and seen pictures of Crossbills at St Pauls church, Parkend, so I took a visit. Parked in the car park around five pools of water and waited......didn't take long before they came and what a pleasure to see it was. A fist for me (see pictures) Before they arrived I saw Siskins, Nuthatch, Willow tit, Song Thrush, Buzzards displaying, Peregrine flew over a few times......what a place. Well worth a visit.
-- Edited by Carl Fletcher-Poole on Tuesday 29th of January 2019 02:00:24 PM
Peregrine (probably female, going on size, though only seen with the naked eye) on the tower of Gloucester cathedral today.
Chris Harper said
Tue Feb 20 7:32 AM, 2018
Excellent mini break staying in the Forest of Dean from Saturday until Monday. Day in the forest on Sunday produced 12 Hawfinch around Crown Lane in Parkend. From New Fancy a displaying Goshawk, a Peregrine Falcon,Raven, 6 Common Crossbill and Green Woodpecker. Missed out on the Great Grey Shrike on Crabtree Hill but compensated by close up views of Wild Boar from Speech House car park.
Also caught up with the long staying Penduline Tit at Plock Court near Gloucester on Monday morning after a 5 hour fruitless wait on Saturday .
The Penduline Tit was also showing well today at Plock Court Wetlands, between circa 1150 and 1245, a very smart little bird and an easy twitch.
Slightly more challenging was the Richard's Pipit near Arlingham. A very muddy walk to the Severn Way Footpath ended with good views of the bird intermittently between 1405 and 1511 (precise details as per the Gloucester Birders website).
The Gloucestershire County Recorder has confirmed the Penduline Tit was ringed in Alderley and is a first winter female.
Record pic attached.
-- Edited by Nick Hilton on Tuesday 23rd of January 2018 03:42:01 PM
A Penduline Tit had taken up residence on a very small nature area called Plock Court Wetland Area, Longford near Gloucester. It has been present for about a month and seems to be very settled with a couple of shallow pools and bulrushes to feed upon. Bob, Kevin & myself hatched a plan to have a go for the bird, but as the weather forecast for Gloucester was not very good in the morning we would depart at 9-30am, with myself driving. We left Castleton and were soon heading for the Highway to Hell that the M6 has become to be known as. The weather all the way down was horrible with snow, sleet and rain pelting the car. Roadworks, variable speed limits and a whole host of other conditions still didnt put us off though. We all looked at one another a couple of times as if to say, We must be mad but the adventure has to go on we all said!
Once we got past Worcester on the M5 the snow stopped and light rain (only) fell. News reached us that the Penduline Tit was still present, Kevin was very happy about that! We soon found the small nature area, parked up and put on our wellies and waded across the wetland. Bob soon located the smart little Penduline Tit and we all watched the bird down to about 5 metres as it happily fed on the bulrushes. It all became apparent why we do these crazy things to watch our avian friends. After about an hour the rain began to fall again, but news of a Great Grey Shrike in the area had us heading for the car.
The Great Grey Shrike had been seen at Ashelworth Ham nature reserve at 8-30am this morning, the reserve was around 6 miles away. It was hard to find the reserve on flooded, narrow roads with little help from Satnav`s etc. We eventually found it though, the pools have been formed by being a flood plain for the River Severn, very similar to the Somerset levels we all remarked. Alas the shrike was not seen but Gadwall, Pintail, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Greylag Goose & Canada Geese were there in good numbers. The elevated hide seemed to be the home of a cat that refused to leave the hide as we were leaving, even though we left the door open for it. We had visited two new nature areas in Gloucestershire and were quite impressed. At around 3-00pm we headed home, with only rain all the way and the obligatory hold ups on the M6 to slow us down. Quite an adventure that was!
Dave O.
Mark Jarrett said
Sun Dec 31 12:25 AM, 2017
Took a ten minute detour off the M5 this afternoon whilst en route to Paignton. The Longford Penduline Tit was showing nicely on arrival. Wellingtons essential to cross the saturated field from the car park. Seen this species a couple of times in Europe but a good UK tick today.
Chris Harper said
Mon Feb 20 6:12 PM, 2017
Successful visit to see the Blue Rock Thrush at Stow on the Wold this morning. Arrived at 08.30 and bird finally showed very well at 09.30 on roof witj solar panels on Maugasley Road..pic attached.
Later in the day had a 4 second view of the Richard's Pipit near Arlingham by the River Severn and 3 Cattle Egret near Frampton.
Weekend trip (11/12th Feb) to both sides of the Severn Estuary to hoover up a few year-ticks. The lousy weather didn't help much
Sat 11th Feb I drove over from London via Oxford (M40) and then along the A40 into Cheltenham, spotting a few Red Kites across the county border but not much else in the grey/snowy conditions.
On the way to Slimbridge, I went driving around the Saul/Frampton area looking for the reported Cattle Egret. I found a Little Egret, some Redwings and the usual countryside birds, but not my target bird.
Moving on to Slimbridge, I found a Scaup in amongst the Tufted duck and Mute Swans outside the main building, but also outside the wildfowl collection area, before heading for the Holden Tower and the Tack Piece. Managed to tick my targets Pintail on the Tack Piece and then from the Holden Tower, a good number of Barnacle Geese, Berwick's Swans and 8 Common Crane (Great Crane Project birds). While I was there a flock of c70 European White-fronted Geese flew in. In the same area a flock of Meadow Pipit were seen briefly but although a Lapland Bunting has been reported associating with them, I did not have the time or energy (or visibility to be honest) to search through them. It was however reported again, the following day
Sun 12th Feb As the Cattle Egrets had been reported at Frampton Pools on the 11th, I drove there first thing. It wasn't as easy to park close by as I had hoped and though I could see some parts of the Larger lakes, I didn't see either of the Cattle Egrets or Great White Egrets that were reported on Birguides.
Giving up, I headed over to the Forest of Dean, with a first stop in Parkend, for the reported Hawfinches. Having failed to see them a few years ago at Parkend Church, it was nice to see them in such an open and accessible area between the cricket pitch and the Whitemead holiday camp. The area under the Yew trees had been seeded by some of the photographers (who were of course, hogging all the prime spots), but I got decent views nevertheless. They were there on and off all morning. I saw around 4 birds, but up to 12 have been reported during the last week.
From there I drove to New Fancy View. The lousy weather was never going to be Goshawk-friendly and I managed only a pair of singing Coal Tit and a calling Bullfinch.
My next target species was Great Grey Shrike at Cinderford Hill, but the bird was a good hike from the nearest parking, so with the weather appearing to turn a little nasty, I decided to head to Cannop Ponds instead. The ponds were largely empty and I did not see the Mandarin Duck reported by other. I then spent a short time at Nagshead RSPB, but that seemed fairly devoid of birds too.
All in all a weekend of 8 year ticks (including a Goldeneye seen at Staines Reservoirs), despite the poor weather.
Rob Creek said
Tue Jan 3 9:15 AM, 2017
Monday 2nd Jan Stow-on-the-Wold with Simon Gough and Chris Chandler.
- Blue Rock Thrush (Lifer) We didn't have to wait long for it to show and it showed really well too, on the roof then the chimney of a house on Fisher Close, then back over to a garden on the other side of the houses. It kept doing that circuit and we were all happy with the views but then it decided it wanted a closer look at us and suddenly flew onto the edge of a roof within 10-15 feet away and just sat there infront of the crowd, brilliant. What a strange hue of blue this bird was I might add, looked quite blue in one light then looked a charcoal colour in another, the sun was bright though so it could've played tricks.
The 3 of us donated to Kate's Home-Nursing charity and they told us the visiting birders had behaved impeccably!
I finally succumbed to the lure of the male Blue Rock Thrush in Stow on the Wold, having read pages & pages of evidence for and against it being an escape (more pro-escape to be honest, but probably by those who haven't seen it!).
I waited until Carys & I could make a day out out of it and finally headed down, setting off at 9am today. On arrival the designated car park was choc-a-block, with folk queuing waiting for a space, so despite not wanting to, I had to find on street parking. I tried to get as far away from the Fisher Street area as possible as requested though. On arriving at the crowd staring up into a tree in a garden I was informed that it had dropped down only a minute before we had arrived, typical It was foggy and not the best conditions for the bird to be active and to be honest the folk there were all waiting for second views due to their first ones being through the murk.
A full hour and a half later the bird finally appeared to our great relief This time there was no fog, the bird was only 15m away and showed far better than earlier (so I was told!). I managed lots of digiscoped shots, the bird full frame, but still in semi-murky light, first of which I have pulled off the camera below! I let lots of folk who only had binoculars look through my scope to see the subtle striations of the birds plumage, really beautiful for a bird which on the face it looked uniformly one colour. Once everyone had had a look I retired to give others a chance to get in my position (I was front of the crowd having been there so long ). The bird was still showing very well as we left and birders were still arrriving.
Good to see lots of NW birders there today including Austin Morley, Holly Page & John Rayner, who are on here . Like Dave, once the target had been achieved we headed back north to get home in good time for New Years celebrations (with birding mates obviously) down the pub tonight. A Happy New Year to all on here and hope that everyone is blessed with fantastic birds in 2017
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 31st of December 2016 06:41:47 PM
Blue Rock Thrush, Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire. 28/12/2016
When people tell you about an unusual bird that they have seen near where they live, what do you do? Get a description from them and then show them some pictures or better still go and have a look at it. It usually ends up as being a fairly common bird but, on this occasion, the bird turned out to be a Blue Rock Thrush! It took around two weeks for the news of the birds presence to leak out Now, I will not get into the why`s and wherefores about where the bird came from but certainly it is worth going to see.
With most people having gone back to work it was left to Bob K, Steve K and myself to try for this normally southern European cracker. We left Newhey at 5-45am in Steve K`s Vauxhall Insignia (recently acquired) and all sat very comfortably. The weather men had promised us freezing fog etc for the journey down, but we only saw fog for around the last 15 miles. We reached the beautiful town of Stow in the Wold around 9am and parked up to the news from our grapevine friends that the bird was still present.
The morning frost made walking a little precarious and when you are in a rush things can go wrong. A small group told us the bird was sat on top of a roof around the corner, off we went again and found a large group of birders admiring the thrush. We managed to join the crush and had good views of the bird. We stayed in the area for around two hours and had some good and some distant sightings of the Blue Rock Thrush. I even managed to fall to the ground whilst trying to negotiating a fence, now I know how racehorses feel. I even managed to take a few pictures of the bird but it was mainly backlit as it sat on roofs, chimney pots, aerials etc. We met lots of birders as we joined different little groups watching the bird and had a good chat with them, especially Kevin Hughes and little Marie from Macclesfield. We returned to the car, had some food and decided to head for home having achieved our target. The notorious M6 did not let us down as we crawled for quite a few miles in the roadworks. We reached home by 3-45pm after a good days twitching.
Stow-on-the-Wold. Fisher Close ..... parking on public car-park near Bell Inn then 5 minute walk.
With Ian Lyth and Paul Greenall.
Great views of the Blue Rock Thrush perching for up to 20 minutes on roof tops and satellite dishes.
Roger.
Steve Judge said
Thu Jun 16 10:33 PM, 2016
Wednesday, 15th June 2016
Walk in Wye valley - through villages - King's Caple - Sellack - along River Wye - Hoarwithy and return
Female Adult Goosander with 9 well developed juveniles on River Wye Corn Bunting x 1 Cuckoo x 1 Greenfinch x 1 Willow Warbler x 1 Buzzard x 7 Kestrel x 1 Common Whitethroat x 1 Pied Wagtail x 2 Chiffchaff x 5 Wren x 3 Swallow x 10 Swift x 20 House Martin x 5 Mistle Thrush x 3 Song Thrush x 1 Blackbird x 7 Robin x 8 Great Tit x 3 Blue Tit x 1 Nuthatch x 1 House Sparrow x 15 Mute Swan x 4 Carrion Crow x 5
Adam Jones said
Mon Feb 29 12:19 PM, 2016
A couple of long distance record shots of the Penduline Tits at Horsbere Pool yesterday.
Quick stop off for the 2 male Penduline Tits which initially were seen in flight before alighting on the reedmace giving great views through the scope. My only others were at Darts Farm last year but these males were stunners in comparison.
I headed back to the Midlands happy after dipping the Hooded Merganser early doors as an Insurance tick.
Never mind, the Penduline Tits and City's win at Wembley more than made up!
Great to catch up with you too Phil!!!
Mike Chorley said
Sun Feb 28 9:05 PM, 2016
Great day out with Riggers, Mike A., Karen & Holly.
As Phil Hampson said the Penduline Tits at Horsbere Pool showed very well this morning. Good views of two smart-looking birds providing a range of ticks from year to life , in the company of several Reed Bunting and Long-tailed Tits
From here we headed into The Forest of Dean. The initial Goshawk sighting at New Fancy viewpoint was distant as a bird spiralled up and away to the left of the viewing platform but, after a fairly short wait watching up to 8 Ravens and a couple of Common Buzzards, a second bird provided good views with an obliging right to left flypast with several circles back to make sure we'd all seen it.
From here we headed to Crabtree Hill, where the rather elusive Great Grey Shrike was summoned using arcane rituals involving pork and tomato sandwiches and cups of tea, but the main ingredient was Holly's sharp eyesight as the bird perched on a bare tree further along the path, to the delight of the dozen birders scattered around the clear-fell - and the disappointment of many more who'd given up.
We had two flyover Hawfinch at Parkend church, possibly disturbed by an incoming flock of Siskin, but a trip to the Cricket Pitch eventually produced good views of a single bird feeding on seed laid down by a couple of photographers. Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Coal Tit, Robin, Blackbird and several Song Thrush were also present around the circle of Yews.
Six Wild Boar provided a bonus for some of the party as we headed home
Phil Hampson said
Sun Feb 28 3:32 PM, 2016
The 2 Penduline Tits performed well today at Horsbere Pool. Good to meet Phil Owen there, 2nd time in a day! Smart birds and well worth a visit.
Phil
Phil Owen said
Sat Feb 20 9:52 PM, 2016
Morning visit to the Forest of Dean produced a Goshawk over Mallard's Pike. On the lake were several Mandarin and Goosander. Highlight though was my first ever sightings of Wild Boar as they crossed a stream closeby. A quick visit to Parkend Cricket pitch Yews produced lots of common species but unfortunately the weather had really set in by then and therefore no sign of any Hawfinches.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Feb 15 10:33 PM, 2016
Interesting to see that on the BirdLife International site the overall population of Penduline Tits is increasing and the species is evaluated as Least Concern on the Red Data listing, good news indeed. Hopefully that means that records in the UK should be on the increase. Sid is correct in that these are unusually north of most other UK long-staying records, although Leighton Moss had a 36 day stayer in 2012. There have also been multiple records in Yorkshire, Co Durham, Cleveland (inc a long stayer at Saltholme RSPB this winter). Looking at the BirdLife International website we maybe could expect more northern records too given the breeding range indicated on the map which over much of the species range is on the same latitude as parts of Scotland! Cheshire had a one-day bird at Moreton, Wirral in 1986, so why not a GM bird or two? Let's get looking
sid ashton said
Mon Feb 15 5:39 PM, 2016
Simon Gough wrote:
I saw 2 Penduline Tits in Topsham, Devon in March last year, that had been present since before Xmas. If they pitch up at a suitable site they often spend the winter I believe.
-- Edited by Simon Gough on Monday 15th of February 2016 12:54:35 PM
Yes Simon I recall the reports of those birds but the Gloucester birds are quite a bit further North which makes them unusual I believe.
Simon Gough said
Mon Feb 15 12:53 PM, 2016
I saw 2 Penduline Tits in Topsham, Devon in March last year, that had been present since before Xmas. If they pitch up at a suitable site they often spend the winter I believe.
-- Edited by Simon Gough on Monday 15th of February 2016 12:54:35 PM
sid ashton said
Mon Feb 15 11:42 AM, 2016
The two Penduline Tits are still being reported as present at Horsbere Pool this morning. That's more than four weeks they have been present.
Rob Creek said
Sun Jan 24 10:52 PM, 2016
Early morning visit to Horsebere Brook pools with Simon Gough and Chris Chandler.
- Penduline Tits 2, a Lifer for me. Literally parked the car at the side of the road, and walked no more than 25-30yds and the birds were showing. They spent a lot of time in the shrubbery at the roadside with other birds but then flew over to the rushes to give excellent close views. Amazed at how small they were and how they could suddenly seemingly disappear. Everyone kept losing them and we had to wait for movement to try and pick them up again.
Other birds of note... - Long-tailed Tit, family group flying around - Blue Tit, few around - Great Tit 1 - Robin 2 - Dunnock 2, at one point squabbling with the Penduline's - Wren 2 - Chiffchaff 1, quite a bright olivey yellow one I thought
...and a Little Owl that flew across the road infront of the car and under the road bridge not far from the Penduline Tits location.
steven burke said
Sat Jan 23 10:29 PM, 2016
horsbere brook, pool.
arrived here at 8.40am & within ten minutes was watching the 2 penduline tits feeding in the reeds giving good views & eventually giving fantastic views as they both just sat near the top of the reeds for at least 5 minutes, cracking little birds & well worth the trip at 9.40am they decided to fly off high over the road & over the premier inn.
also... 2 chiffchaff, 1 stonechat & then off to slimbridge wwt
Patrick Earith said
Thu Jan 21 8:20 PM, 2016
Good to see you too Sid. As you say, cracking birds, worth the hypothermia! Got some good video of them too. After I left you, I thought I'd try to re-find the Great Grey Shrike in Parkend, in the Forest of Dean. No luck, so, I then thought I'd try for Hawfinch here too. I'd been told they were fairly reliable under a set of Hawthorns along Crown Lane and would come quite close if you stayed in your car. Sure enough, on arrival, I immediately saw 3 on the ground in amongst a large mixed flock of Chaffinch and tits. Sadly though, they never came close enough again for a decent photo, mainly due to some numpty walking straight up to them with his camera to get a 'close up'
-- Edited by Patrick Earith on Thursday 21st of January 2016 08:20:53 PM
sid ashton said
Thu Jan 21 4:20 PM, 2016
Finally managed to get down to Horsbere Reserve this morning where it was good to see Patrick Earith again. We didn't have to wait too long to get really good views of the two Penduline Tits in the reed bed close to the path. As Roger said beautiful little birds.
Also present in the reeds:- Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Reed Bunting. Well worth the trip, anyone going in the near future would be advised to take wellies as the path is really very muddy.
Roger Baker 3 said
Sat Jan 16 9:02 PM, 2016
Sat 16th Jan.
Good day in Gloucestershire with Ian Lyth.
Two male Penduline Tits at Horsbere Brook, Gloucester.
After a two hour wait they flew into the reedmace at 11.30 hrs. Gave great views for an hour at about 25 yds. Beautiful little birds .. like tiny burglars with their black masks.
Also good views of a Green Woodpecker.
WWT Slimbridge.
Bewick's Swan. Greater Scaup. (F) Little Stint. Common Crane. 2 fly over.
Roger.
Phil Owen said
Sun Oct 11 7:23 PM, 2015
Juvenile Rose coloured Starling showed well on the rooftops of the houses in Margaret Street, Tewkesbury this afternoon during a quick visit from Birmingham. Good views of a Peregrine sat on the side of Tewkesbury Abbey afterwards was nice.
Steve Judge said
Mon Aug 31 2:29 PM, 2015
Bank Holiday Weekend 27th - 30th August 2015. Walking holiday around Forest of Dean area.
Major highlight - two hawfinches at Nagshead RSPB Spotted Flycatcher x 2 Goldcrest x 2 (1 adult and 1 juvenile) Great Spotted Woodpecker Buzzard x 10 Siskin Blackcap (male) Bullfinch x 2 (both male) House Sparrow x 50 (including 20 having bird bath in puddle in middle of Ross Road!!!) Raven (1 seen and 1 heard) Treecreeper x 3 Nuthatch x 7 Grey Wagtail x 3 Blackbird x 10 Coal Tits x 10 Robin x 5 Blue Tit x 15 Great Tit x 12 Dunnock x 1 Long Tailed Tits x 20 Cormorant x 3 Moorhen x 5 Goldfinch x 7 Little Grebe x 3 Mute Swans x 7 Wren x 4 Willow Warbler (heard) Great Crested Grebe Mallards x 50 plus Woodpigeon x 40 Carrion Crows Swallows House Martin
No sightings of Goshawk unfortunately
Good numbers of Wild Boar within Forest of Dean
-- Edited by Steve Judge on Monday 31st of August 2015 04:45:01 PM
Chris Harper said
Thu May 28 9:13 AM, 2015
Late post from a visit to Coombe Hill Meadows on Monday morning : Beautiful reserve easily accessible from junction 10 of the M5. Highlight were 3 Temmincks Stint from the hide, but adding to the spectacle were 3 Cuckoo, calling regularly and a calling but elusive Quail. Add to this 5 Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and all in all a great hour or s so 's birding.
A brief but enjoyable visit to WWT Slimbridge just down the M5 gave great views of 4 Common Crane in 2 separate locations, together with20+ Barnacle Goose and a very vocal and at times showy Cettis Warbler. Add to this many Avocet, some with young and all in all an enjoyable and productive bank holiday birding few hours.
sid ashton said
Fri Feb 7 9:54 PM, 2014
Arriving in South Gloucestershire in glorious sunshine this morning at 08.30 John Barber and I were soon having excellent, close up views of the Red-flanked Bluetail.
The bird is in the Shire Valley which is about 2 miles north of Marshfield and about 100yds beyond the houses at Shirehill Farm. Instructions are to please park carefully on the side road north of the valley (SN14 7AU) and don't block access. Walk down the valley and then east along the river for about third of a mile on the path past farm to the area the bird appears to favour. Don't forget to take wellies.
Also present in the surrounding fields:- Red-legged Partridge (we saw 20 or so) as well as Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting heard.
On the way home we stopped in Warwickshire and had a look at the Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler - see separate thread for details.
Highlights of a weekend away with High Peak RSPB group:
Highnam Woods RSPB: One Nightingale singing and seen on 2 occasions, Garden Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler.
Nagshead RSPB: 5 Redstart, 3 Pied Flycatcher, Hobby heard.
New Fancy: 3 Crossbill.
Slimbridge WWT: 2 Little Gull, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Crane, 4 Swift, Marsh Harrier, 2 Reed Warbler, Wheatear, Kingfisher.
Plus many other 'common' species like Sand Martin, Swallow, Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler....
Cheers
Had excellent views of the first winter Bonaparte's Gull at 11.30 this morning near Frampton on Severn. Flying directly in front of me catching flies from the sailing lake. Attached a couple of record shots.
Also Common Sandpiper, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Common Buzzard.
Just for info for everyone news has broken of a Little Bustard at Slimbridge WWT today. Guided walks to the part of the reserve that it is on have enabled lots of folk to connect today.
We left Liverpool early on Friday morning and travelled down to Gloucester/Hereford arriving mid morning. Out until midnight on both Friday and Saturday and only just back home in the last hour or so. Visited Daneswell Banks, Crabtree Hill, Symonds Yat, Nagshead, New Fancy, Cannop Ponds, Cleve Hill and Prestbury Hill nature reserves, recording the following; Birds: blackbird, robin, buzzard, nightjars, carrion crow, colllared dove, dunnock, goldfinch, hobby, linnet, house martin, swallow, swift, tawny owl, meadow pipit, tree pipit, house sparrow, tree sparrow, stonechat, garden warbler, woodcock, goshawk, peregrine falcon, chaffinch, song thrush, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, blackcap, cole tit, blue tit, great tit, treecreeper, jay, greenfinch, magpie, mandarin duck, skylark, wood pigeon, rook, pied flycatcher, nightingale, redstart....
Interested to see several people are venturing to areas around the FOD/Gloucestershire, as a regular here an image of a Mandarin from taken yesterday morning at Cannop which is a regular location for this species.
You can also see images of the many of the birds mentioned below on the blog.
-- Edited by Paul Samuels on Monday 22nd of April 2019 12:52:15 PM
-- Edited by Paul Samuels on Monday 22nd of April 2019 12:54:45 PM
-- Edited by Carl Fletcher-Poole on Tuesday 29th of January 2019 02:00:24 PM
Excellent mini break staying in the Forest of Dean from Saturday until Monday. Day in the forest on Sunday produced 12 Hawfinch around Crown Lane in Parkend. From New Fancy a displaying Goshawk, a Peregrine Falcon,Raven, 6 Common Crossbill and Green Woodpecker. Missed out on the Great Grey Shrike on Crabtree Hill but compensated by close up views of Wild Boar from Speech House car park.
Also caught up with the long staying Penduline Tit at Plock Court near Gloucester on Monday morning after a 5 hour fruitless wait on Saturday .
A few images of the trip included
Slightly more challenging was the Richard's Pipit near Arlingham. A very muddy walk to the Severn Way Footpath ended with good views of the bird intermittently between 1405 and 1511 (precise details as per the Gloucester Birders website). The Gloucestershire County Recorder has confirmed the Penduline Tit was ringed in Alderley and is a first winter female. Record pic attached.
-- Edited by Nick Hilton on Tuesday 23rd of January 2018 03:42:01 PM
Twitching in Gloucestershire. 21/1/2018
A Penduline Tit had taken up residence on a very small nature area called Plock Court Wetland Area, Longford near Gloucester. It has been present for about a month and seems to be very settled with a couple of shallow pools and bulrushes to feed upon. Bob, Kevin & myself hatched a plan to have a go for the bird, but as the weather forecast for Gloucester was not very good in the morning we would depart at 9-30am, with myself driving. We left Castleton and were soon heading for the Highway to Hell that the M6 has become to be known as. The weather all the way down was horrible with snow, sleet and rain pelting the car. Roadworks, variable speed limits and a whole host of other conditions still didnt put us off though. We all looked at one another a couple of times as if to say, We must be mad but the adventure has to go on we all said!
Once we got past Worcester on the M5 the snow stopped and light rain (only) fell. News reached us that the Penduline Tit was still present, Kevin was very happy about that! We soon found the small nature area, parked up and put on our wellies and waded across the wetland. Bob soon located the smart little Penduline Tit and we all watched the bird down to about 5 metres as it happily fed on the bulrushes. It all became apparent why we do these crazy things to watch our avian friends. After about an hour the rain began to fall again, but news of a Great Grey Shrike in the area had us heading for the car.
The Great Grey Shrike had been seen at Ashelworth Ham nature reserve at 8-30am this morning, the reserve was around 6 miles away. It was hard to find the reserve on flooded, narrow roads with little help from Satnav`s etc. We eventually found it though, the pools have been formed by being a flood plain for the River Severn, very similar to the Somerset levels we all remarked. Alas the shrike was not seen but Gadwall, Pintail, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Greylag Goose & Canada Geese were there in good numbers. The elevated hide seemed to be the home of a cat that refused to leave the hide as we were leaving, even though we left the door open for it. We had visited two new nature areas in Gloucestershire and were quite impressed. At around 3-00pm we headed home, with only rain all the way and the obligatory hold ups on the M6 to slow us down. Quite an adventure that was!
Dave O.
Successful visit to see the Blue Rock Thrush at Stow on the Wold this morning. Arrived at 08.30 and bird finally showed very well at 09.30 on roof witj solar panels on Maugasley Road..pic attached.
Later in the day had a 4 second view of the Richard's Pipit near Arlingham by the River Severn and 3 Cattle Egret near Frampton.
Sat 11th Feb
I drove over from London via Oxford (M40) and then along the A40 into Cheltenham, spotting a few Red Kites across the county border but not much else in the grey/snowy conditions.
On the way to Slimbridge, I went driving around the Saul/Frampton area looking for the reported Cattle Egret. I found a Little Egret, some Redwings and the usual countryside birds, but not my target bird.
Moving on to Slimbridge, I found a Scaup in amongst the Tufted duck and Mute Swans outside the main building, but also outside the wildfowl collection area, before heading for the Holden Tower and the Tack Piece. Managed to tick my targets Pintail on the Tack Piece and then from the Holden Tower, a good number of Barnacle Geese, Berwick's Swans and 8 Common Crane (Great Crane Project birds). While I was there a flock of c70 European White-fronted Geese flew in. In the same area a flock of Meadow Pipit were seen briefly but although a Lapland Bunting has been reported associating with them, I did not have the time or energy (or visibility to be honest) to search through them. It was however reported again, the following day
Sun 12th Feb
As the Cattle Egrets had been reported at Frampton Pools on the 11th, I drove there first thing. It wasn't as easy to park close by as I had hoped and though I could see some parts of the Larger lakes, I didn't see either of the Cattle Egrets or Great White Egrets that were reported on Birguides.
Giving up, I headed over to the Forest of Dean, with a first stop in Parkend, for the reported Hawfinches. Having failed to see them a few years ago at Parkend Church, it was nice to see them in such an open and accessible area between the cricket pitch and the Whitemead holiday camp. The area under the Yew trees had been seeded by some of the photographers (who were of course, hogging all the prime spots), but I got decent views nevertheless. They were there on and off all morning. I saw around 4 birds, but up to 12 have been reported during the last week.
From there I drove to New Fancy View. The lousy weather was never going to be Goshawk-friendly and I managed only a pair of singing Coal Tit and a calling Bullfinch.
My next target species was Great Grey Shrike at Cinderford Hill, but the bird was a good hike from the nearest parking, so with the weather appearing to turn a little nasty, I decided to head to Cannop Ponds instead. The ponds were largely empty and I did not see the Mandarin Duck reported by other. I then spent a short time at Nagshead RSPB, but that seemed fairly devoid of birds too.
All in all a weekend of 8 year ticks (including a Goldeneye seen at Staines Reservoirs), despite the poor weather.
Stow-on-the-Wold with Simon Gough and Chris Chandler.
- Blue Rock Thrush (Lifer)
We didn't have to wait long for it to show and it showed really well too, on the roof then the chimney of a house on Fisher Close, then back over to a garden on the other side of the houses. It kept doing that circuit and we were all happy with the views but then it decided it wanted a closer look at us and suddenly flew onto the edge of a roof within 10-15 feet away and just sat there infront of the crowd, brilliant. What a strange hue of blue this bird was I might add, looked quite blue in one light then looked a charcoal colour in another, the sun was bright though so it could've played tricks.
The 3 of us donated to Kate's Home-Nursing charity and they told us the visiting birders had behaved impeccably!
I finally succumbed to the lure of the male Blue Rock Thrush in Stow on the Wold, having read pages & pages of evidence for and against it being an escape (more pro-escape to be honest, but probably by those who haven't seen it!).
I waited until Carys & I could make a day out out of it and finally headed down, setting off at 9am today. On arrival the designated car park was choc-a-block, with folk queuing waiting for a space, so despite not wanting to, I had to find on street parking. I tried to get as far away from the Fisher Street area as possible as requested though. On arriving at the crowd staring up into a tree in a garden I was informed that it had dropped down only a minute before we had arrived, typical
It was foggy and not the best conditions for the bird to be active and to be honest the folk there were all waiting for second views due to their first ones being through the murk.
A full hour and a half later the bird finally appeared to our great relief
This time there was no fog, the bird was only 15m away and showed far better than earlier (so I was told!). I managed lots of digiscoped shots, the bird full frame, but still in semi-murky light, first of which I have pulled off the camera below! I let lots of folk who only had binoculars look through my scope to see the subtle striations of the birds plumage, really beautiful for a bird which on the face it looked uniformly one colour. Once everyone had had a look I retired to give others a chance to get in my position (I was front of the crowd having been there so long 
). The bird was still showing very well as we left and birders were still arrriving.
Good to see lots of NW birders there today including Austin Morley, Holly Page & John Rayner, who are on here
. Like Dave, once the target had been achieved we headed back north to get home in good time for New Years celebrations 
(with birding mates obviously) down the pub tonight. A Happy New Year to all on here and hope that everyone is blessed with fantastic birds in 2017 
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 31st of December 2016 06:41:47 PM
Blue Rock Thrush, Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire. 28/12/2016
When people tell you about an unusual bird that they have seen near where they live, what do you do? Get a description from them and then show them some pictures or better still go and have a look at it. It usually ends up as being a fairly common bird but, on this occasion, the bird turned out to be a Blue Rock Thrush! It took around two weeks for the news of the birds presence to leak out Now, I will not get into the why`s and wherefores about where the bird came from but certainly it is worth going to see.
With most people having gone back to work it was left to Bob K, Steve K and myself to try for this normally southern European cracker. We left Newhey at 5-45am in Steve K`s Vauxhall Insignia (recently acquired) and all sat very comfortably. The weather men had promised us freezing fog etc for the journey down, but we only saw fog for around the last 15 miles. We reached the beautiful town of Stow in the Wold around 9am and parked up to the news from our grapevine friends that the bird was still present.
The morning frost made walking a little precarious and when you are in a rush things can go wrong. A small group told us the bird was sat on top of a roof around the corner, off we went again and found a large group of birders admiring the thrush. We managed to join the crush and had good views of the bird. We stayed in the area for around two hours and had some good and some distant sightings of the Blue Rock Thrush. I even managed to fall to the ground whilst trying to negotiating a fence, now I know how racehorses feel. I even managed to take a few pictures of the bird but it was mainly backlit as it sat on roofs, chimney pots, aerials etc. We met lots of birders as we joined different little groups watching the bird and had a good chat with them, especially Kevin Hughes and little Marie from Macclesfield. We returned to the car, had some food and decided to head for home having achieved our target. The notorious M6 did not let us down as we crawled for quite a few miles in the roadworks. We reached home by 3-45pm after a good days twitching.
Dave O.
Stow-on-the-Wold. Fisher Close ..... parking on public car-park near Bell Inn then 5 minute walk.
With Ian Lyth and Paul Greenall.
Great views of the Blue Rock Thrush perching for up to 20 minutes on roof tops and satellite dishes.
Roger.
Walk in Wye valley - through villages - King's Caple - Sellack - along River Wye - Hoarwithy and return
Female Adult Goosander with 9 well developed juveniles on River Wye
Corn Bunting x 1
Cuckoo x 1
Greenfinch x 1
Willow Warbler x 1
Buzzard x 7
Kestrel x 1
Common Whitethroat x 1
Pied Wagtail x 2
Chiffchaff x 5
Wren x 3
Swallow x 10
Swift x 20
House Martin x 5
Mistle Thrush x 3
Song Thrush x 1
Blackbird x 7
Robin x 8
Great Tit x 3
Blue Tit x 1
Nuthatch x 1
House Sparrow x 15
Mute Swan x 4
Carrion Crow x 5
As Phil Hampson said the Penduline Tits at Horsbere Pool showed very well this morning. Good views of two smart-looking birds providing a range of ticks from year to life
From here we headed into The Forest of Dean. The initial Goshawk sighting at New Fancy viewpoint was distant as a bird spiralled up and away to the left of the viewing platform but, after a fairly short wait watching up to 8 Ravens and a couple of Common Buzzards, a second bird provided good views with an obliging right to left flypast with several circles back to make sure we'd all seen it.
From here we headed to Crabtree Hill, where the rather elusive Great Grey Shrike was summoned using arcane rituals involving pork and tomato sandwiches and cups of tea, but the main ingredient was Holly's sharp eyesight as the bird perched on a bare tree further along the path, to the delight of the dozen birders scattered around the clear-fell - and the disappointment of many more who'd given up.
We had two flyover Hawfinch at Parkend church, possibly disturbed by an incoming flock of Siskin, but a trip to the Cricket Pitch eventually produced good views of a single bird feeding on seed laid down by a couple of photographers. Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Coal Tit, Robin, Blackbird and several Song Thrush were also present around the circle of Yews.
Six Wild Boar provided a bonus for some of the party as we headed home
The 2 Penduline Tits performed well today at Horsbere Pool. Good to meet Phil Owen there, 2nd time in a day! Smart birds and well worth a visit.
Phil
Interesting to see that on the BirdLife International site the overall population of Penduline Tits is increasing and the species is evaluated as Least Concern on the Red Data listing, good news indeed. Hopefully that means that records in the UK should be on the increase. Sid is correct in that these are unusually north of most other UK long-staying records, although Leighton Moss had a 36 day stayer in 2012. There have also been multiple records in Yorkshire, Co Durham, Cleveland (inc a long stayer at Saltholme RSPB this winter). Looking at the BirdLife International website we maybe could expect more northern records too given the breeding range indicated on the map which over much of the species range is on the same latitude as parts of Scotland! Cheshire had a one-day bird at Moreton, Wirral in 1986, so why not a GM bird or two? Let's get looking
Yes Simon I recall the reports of those birds but the Gloucester birds are quite a bit further North which makes them unusual I believe.
-- Edited by Simon Gough on Monday 15th of February 2016 12:54:35 PM
The two Penduline Tits are still being reported as present at Horsbere Pool this morning. That's more than four weeks they have been present.
- Penduline Tits 2, a Lifer for me.
Literally parked the car at the side of the road, and walked no more than 25-30yds and the birds were showing. They spent a lot of time in the shrubbery at the roadside with other birds but then flew over to the rushes to give excellent close views. Amazed at how small they were and how they could suddenly seemingly disappear. Everyone kept losing them and we had to wait for movement to try and pick them up again.
Other birds of note...
- Long-tailed Tit, family group flying around
- Blue Tit, few around
- Great Tit 1
- Robin 2
- Dunnock 2, at one point squabbling with the Penduline's
- Wren 2
- Chiffchaff 1, quite a bright olivey yellow one I thought
...and a Little Owl that flew across the road infront of the car and under the road bridge not far from the Penduline Tits location.
horsbere brook, pool.
arrived here at 8.40am & within ten minutes was watching the 2 penduline tits feeding in the reeds giving good views & eventually giving fantastic views as they both just sat near the top of the reeds for at least 5 minutes, cracking little birds & well worth the trip
at 9.40am they decided to fly off high over the road & over the premier inn.
also... 2 chiffchaff, 1 stonechat & then off to slimbridge wwt
Good to see you too Sid. As you say, cracking birds, worth the hypothermia! Got some good video of them too. After I left you, I thought I'd try to re-find the Great Grey Shrike in Parkend, in the Forest of Dean. No luck, so, I then thought I'd try for Hawfinch here too. I'd been told they were fairly reliable under a set of Hawthorns along Crown Lane and would come quite close if you stayed in your car. Sure enough, on arrival, I immediately saw 3 on the ground in amongst a large mixed flock of Chaffinch and tits. Sadly though, they never came close enough again for a decent photo, mainly due to some numpty walking straight up to them with his camera to get a 'close up'
-- Edited by Patrick Earith on Thursday 21st of January 2016 08:20:53 PM
Finally managed to get down to Horsbere Reserve this morning where it was good to see Patrick Earith again. We didn't have to wait too long to get really good views of the two Penduline Tits in the reed bed close to the path. As Roger said beautiful little birds.
Also present in the reeds:- Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Reed Bunting. Well worth the trip, anyone going in the near future would be advised to take wellies as the path is really very muddy.
Good day in Gloucestershire with Ian Lyth.
Two male Penduline Tits at Horsbere Brook, Gloucester.
After a two hour wait they flew into the reedmace at 11.30 hrs.
Gave great views for an hour at about 25 yds.
Beautiful little birds .. like tiny burglars with their black masks.
Also good views of a Green Woodpecker.
WWT Slimbridge.
Bewick's Swan.
Greater Scaup. (F)
Little Stint.
Common Crane. 2 fly over.
Roger.
Major highlight - two hawfinches at Nagshead RSPB
Spotted Flycatcher x 2
Goldcrest x 2 (1 adult and 1 juvenile)
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Buzzard x 10
Siskin
Blackcap (male)
Bullfinch x 2 (both male)
House Sparrow x 50 (including 20 having bird bath in puddle in middle of Ross Road!!!)
Raven (1 seen and 1 heard)
Treecreeper x 3
Nuthatch x 7
Grey Wagtail x 3
Blackbird x 10
Coal Tits x 10
Robin x 5
Blue Tit x 15
Great Tit x 12
Dunnock x 1
Long Tailed Tits x 20
Cormorant x 3
Moorhen x 5
Goldfinch x 7
Little Grebe x 3
Mute Swans x 7
Wren x 4
Willow Warbler (heard)
Great Crested Grebe
Mallards x 50 plus
Woodpigeon x 40
Carrion Crows
Swallows
House Martin
No sightings of Goshawk unfortunately
Good numbers of Wild Boar within Forest of Dean
-- Edited by Steve Judge on Monday 31st of August 2015 04:45:01 PM
Beautiful reserve easily accessible from junction 10 of the M5.
Highlight were 3 Temmincks Stint from the hide, but adding to the spectacle were 3 Cuckoo, calling regularly and a calling but elusive Quail.
Add to this 5 Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and all in all a great hour or s so 's birding.
A brief but enjoyable visit to WWT Slimbridge just down the M5 gave great views of 4 Common Crane in 2 separate locations, together with20+ Barnacle Goose and a very vocal and at times showy Cettis Warbler.
Add to this many Avocet, some with young and all in all an enjoyable and productive bank holiday birding few hours.
The bird is in the Shire Valley which is about 2 miles north of Marshfield and about 100yds beyond the houses at Shirehill Farm. Instructions are to please park carefully on the side road north of the valley (SN14 7AU) and don't block access. Walk down the valley and then east along the river for about third of a mile on the path past farm to the area the bird appears to favour. Don't forget to take wellies.
Also present in the surrounding fields:- Red-legged Partridge (we saw 20 or so) as well as Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting heard.
On the way home we stopped in Warwickshire and had a look at the Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler - see separate thread for details.