A certified Sibe!

Today a bird from Siberia ended up at Uskmouth. That is about all you need to know really. I should point out the photo below was supplied by Mr. Richard Clarke Esq., by far the healthiest member of GRG. Good birds only jump in nets when I leave my camera at home. Anyhoo, I'm off to have a nice cup of Horlicks whilst listening to the dulcet tones of Mimsy Carpenter in Mrs. Bradshaw's Hat on Radio 4.

In lieu of a proper rare

Despite the north and east of the UK sinking under the weight of rares, the best we (that is GRG, not the royal 'we') could muster at Uskmouth was an abietinus Chiffchaff. If you're an international quality squinter, the photo below should enable you to make out a Chiff with pale greyish-green upperparts and what appears to be (as compared to collybita) a greater distance between the tips of P4 and P10 (and indeed between P4 and S1). All terribly interesting and, according to the next edition of Svensson (in prep.), reasonable indicators of abietinus over collybita. Of course had it been a mite greyer, some numpty would have claimed it as a tristis, largely due to the fact that a good proportion of people don't know what tristis looks like. Personally, I feel sorry for messers Dean and Svensson, they write a perfectly good paper and no muppet can be arsed to read it.

Pygmy Shrew car-jacking

If I hadn't got photos, I wouldn't have believed it myself. Here is the scene I was confronted with on returning to my motor,...



... and here's the heart-stopping expression on the evil-doer's fizzog.

It's raining (well drizzling) Chiffchaffs

Blundered onto a mini fall of Chiffs at Uskmouth this morning; 50-100 were knocking around within 150m of scrub and reedbed. Visible migration during the morning included a good passage of Swallow and Mipits plus smaller numbers of Skylark, House Martin, Grey Wag, Siskin and Redpoll. On the deck 1 Snipe, 1 Stonechat, 2 Sedge Warbler, 6 Reed Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 4 Goldcrest and 1 Clouded Yellow provided the interest. It might not be gob-smackingly good, but it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

A day in the field!

Almost a whole day birding in Gwent! Whatever next? Not a whole lot to show for it though, migrants at Uskmouth included: 20+ Blackcaps, 20+ Reed Warblers, 5 Sedgies, 1 Whitethroat, 6+ Tree Pipits, 5 Grey Wags, 5 House Martins, 1 Siskin and a constant trickle of Swallows and Mipits. Also had my first Clouded Yellow in the county this year and only my second ever Water Shrew (unfortunately, as with most of my shrew sightings, it was as dead as a dodo riding a dormouse in the derby). In the afternoon St. Brides produced 4 Wheatears, 1 Sand Martin, 3 Snipe and one nice pint.

A flutterby

Painted Lady in the front garden for most of the afternoon, alternating between the verbena and the buddleia.

Escape to Tbilisi

Another trip to the Caucasus,... nothing outrageous on the birding front just the usual raptor migration plus a supporting cast ranging from brevirostris Twite, via Bee-eater, to Booted Eagle and many other species not beginning with the letter 'b'. More easily photographed subjects included: flowers and snakes,...



... a 6th/7th century church at which Short-toed Eagle showed well and a 6th/11th century cathedral where flying saucers showed well (dipped on both Jesus and God, but then mythical beings are notoriously skulky, I've missed both the tooth fairy and Santa Claus in the past too),...



... and bugs (possibly Hesperia comma, Pyrrhocoris apterus and Rivetina baetica, drop me a 'comment' if you know better).

Just out of county

A four day weekend, just over the border in Powys, produced Kingfisher, Tawny Owl and White-letter Hairstreak. Pretty poor really, did bag a few photos of the locals though,...

The Gentle Good was a little flighty and evaded the camera (though was heard to sing in Welsh, English and Spanish! And the Dawel Disgyn EP rocks,... well 'folks'); Indigo Moss and Tunng showed very well.



The school disco was very red, then blue, then green, then back to red, etc., etc. I particularly enjoyed the gaps between the records being played. Next day came the late (due to technical difficulties) great Emmy the Great.



What is a 'vetiver'? This is a Vetiver,... and a muddy tent.



Pete Molinari, one man, one guitar and six strings. Seasick Steve, one man, three guitars and between nine and fifteen strings,... It's all good.



Herman Dune minus Andre, but really really good nonetheless; and Stephen Malkmus mit The Jicks, Kasabian slayers one and all.

More phone pics

Hold on,.. that's not a bird,... and neither is that! Er,... giant (and piggin' expensive) puppy strikes a blow for the get freight off the road campaign.

Relocation, relocation, relocation?

Same bird as the invisible individual at Usk Reservoir? Who knows? Note to self: next time remember camera, phone-scoping is fun but ultimately rather disappointing, you can see what it is though!