Tuesday 26 June 2012

Grass Snake


Yesterday I went fishing with my friend to the River chelmer (As all my exams are finished). Well I didn't really go fishing I was birding and reptiling But I really enjoyed watching my friend fish.
From a birding perspective the day was pretty poor, only a few whitethroats, song thrush and warblers were of note. However reptiling was much better as I caught my first Grass snake (0.50cm). The snake was a stunning creature and was very docile, makes me want to catch more. We released the snake after holding it.
Fishing was also good as I saw 2 new species of fish, Rudd and Chub.
In total my friend caught
4 Chub
2 Rudd
2 Perch
1 Dace
1 Roach.
So a really good day, this evening I am off to photograph some Whitethroats.


I will write up the rest of my Wales trip soon.








The Stunning Grass Snake

My friends perch
My Friend Holding the Grass snake, I held the snake too, what an amazing experience!


Saturday 9 June 2012

Borth Sunday

The day started off very wet and I stupidly went birding in the morning, which was pretty pointless as I only saw a few birds of note; Wheatear, Rock pipit, A few more Manx shearwater and a solitary Razorbill. I came back to the Caravan soggy, wet and cold. Not a good start. However the afternoon was much better. I got my best ever views of a stunning Red Kite being mobbed by a Jackdaw and I had a great rock pooling session. Although I only caught a few crabs I saw lots of fish and anemones in the pools which was great.( Which I will identify later)
So the day ended well, and I had Skomer to look forward to the next day...
Birds seen today of note
Red Kite
Rock Pipit x2
Northern Wheatear x2
Great Black-backed Gull
Gannet x4
Manx Shearwater x20
Commonn Tern
Jackdaw x100
Oystercatcher
Razorbill
Common Whitethroat.

No pictures today because of the horrendous rain.

Friday 8 June 2012

Wales Trip Saturday 2nd June

On the 2nd June, my long awaited Wales trip finally began. My family would be based near Borth, Wales, and this gave me some great Sea-watching opportunities that I rarely get down in Essex. The only problem was that this trip wasn't a Birding focused trip so every minute I could spend Birding was precious.
After a long drive up to Brynowen , I finally was able to go birding. I stationed my self at the Borth headland on a conveniently placed bench and began a long evening sea watch. The sea bird life here was fantastic and an hour long sea-watch yielded some impressive birds. The first birds I saw were some diving gannets, I had never seen a gannet dive before so that was very special. The most numerous sea bird though was Manx shearwaters. These fantastic birds performed very well for me and I saw in excess of 100 in this small bay. The highlight of the evening was though my first lifer of the trip, A stunning Balearic Shearwater close to the headland. The Balearic Shearwater is listed by the IUCN as critically endangered which is a shame but at least I have now seen and appreciated it.

One of the Gannets seen and some Herring Gulls
A poor record shot
A full List of birds seen Day 1
Balearic Shearwater 1
Manx Shearwater 100+
Gannet 2
Cormorant 2
Swallow 10
Razorbill 1
Herring Gull 20+
Marsh Harrier 1
Kestrel 1
Carrion Crow 2
Common Tern 2
Rook 10
Jackdaw 100+
Oystercatcher 2
Blackbird 2
House Sparrow 20+