Egret schmegret

Spent the morning down Saltmarsh Lane, overhead vis mig included much the same species as yesterday although in notably smaller numbers; bizarrely I shunned the Great White Egret in favour of finding my own Whinchat and Hobby, that'll be madness setting in then.

Any rare would do

A morning at Uskmouth was followed by brief stops at Saltmarsh and Goldcliff. A trickle of flyover migrants consisted of a few Skylark, Yellow Wag, Grey Wag, Tree Pipit and Siskin accompanied by a stream of hirundines (mostly Swallow and House Martin). On the deck Chiffs were dotted about all over the shop but the only 'quality' was a single Spotted Fly and a couple of Wheatear.

Got home and realised there was a decent number of Honey Buzzard filtering down the east coast; ever the optimist I 'sky-watched' for an hour but, apart from a Hobby (garden-tick) and an impressive number of hirundines, there was little to stop me from falling asleep,... so I did.

PS. Wrynecks still appear to be doing the decent thing and avoiding Gwent like the plague, clever little beasties.
PPS. For the really significant news of the day (and a hilarious facial expression courtesy of Robbie 'yet to convince' Keane) click here.

And now for something completely different

One of the above is an intelligent, well-travelled, award winning author and co-creator of one of the 20th century's greatest satires. He also has a degree in modern history from Oxford and would probably accept the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. The other opposes both abortion and teaching sex education but supports capital punishment, teaching creationism and the right to carry handguns. She also promotes oil and gas extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, opposes listing polar bears as an endangered species (due to the fact it would adversely affect energy development) but does support aerial hunting of wolves. Finally, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004 and believes the world is approximately 6,000 years old.

How could siblings come to be so different?

Jinxed not jynxed

As Wrynecks continue to rain down on every other county in the UK, Gwent remains stubbornly at two with Scandinavian sub-rares. A brief, post-work, visit to the storm-tossed inland seas of Llareggub also failed to conjure up a Grey Phalarope. Actually, it failed to produce anything of real note.


The tumultuous scene at the hurricane-lashed reservoir (it's a pity I don't live in Alaska or I could have snuck in 'williwaw-whipped' at this point. Note to self: must move to Lipstick-pig Land to further my use of blog-based aeolian alliteration).


The slightly contrasting, limpid waters of Green Pool, so called because it is a pool and it is green, can you see what they did there?

Quiet but dry

A morning at Uskmouth and and quick stop at Saltmarsh Lane proved to be a pretty quiet affair. A few migrants were passing over (most going west) but nothing to rival yesterday. The highlights were probably 35 Siskin, 2 Tree Pipits and 10 Yellow Wags, if you think that was dull there was even less in the scrub, reeds and hedgerows.

Found this pic of Wales Atlantis to post (I meant to stick it up a couple of days ago), it gives you some idea as to why I got saturated whilst taking the dog down the canal on Friday evening. Did get a Kingfisher and a possible Otter kill though (an unidentified dead mammal, turned inside out, floating mid-stream).

It's kicking off Pru!

Despite not getting out till 09:30, due to another woefully inaccurate weather forecast, I ended up having one of my better mornings birding in Gwentcestershire today. High-tide at Goldcliff was, due to the high water levels, predictably slow until a 1st-year Osprey flopped in from the NW and out to the NE. The only other semi-notables were one Barwit, three Yellow Wag and a Swift.

Then came the news that a Long-tailed Skua had flown down channel off Slimbridge - to the point! Get to the point! Well, two Ringed Plovers, one Knot, one torrential downpour and half an hour later and we were ready to leave. Indeed, we had just started clambering back along the sea-wall when,... more news, the skua had just passed New Passage. Back the sodden sods shuffled to slump expectantly on the sea-wall.

A minute passed, mostly filled with an attempt to remove water from optics,... another minute passed, water/eye-piece battle raged on,... another minute came and went only to be followed,... by another, then quite unexpectedly a minute passed, then another and, hot on the heels of the last, another almost identical to the one before. Then, whilst a few large gulls fannied about on the water, another minute came and, at exactly the same pace, went, only to be followed by two more at a slightly faster rate (which was odd because, by now, my mind was wandering to the moistness of my jeans, the increasing difficulty of finding a dry section of T-shirt with which to dry my scope, and the increasingly pressing need to take a pee). Then, out of the murk to our left, flew a vision of elegance and lithe-loveliness in the form of a juvenile Long-tailed Skua - Gwent-tick! Kerr-ching!

PS. Also had juv Arctic and Common Tern at Goldcliff on the way back but I didn't want to undercut the dramatic ending penned above,... oops.

Brittle bins syndrome

Are today's hyper-lightweight, magnesium alloy bins getting easier to knock out of alignment or am I treating 'em too rough? The view through mine at the mo is squiffy to say the least, good timing though, thank little baby Jeebus it didn't happen at the start of the rarity season,... wait a minute!

Adolescent dog

Seemingly Jack is passing through an adolescent phase; he shows off all the time, can't stay put for longer than five minutes, rollercoaster emotions, etc., etc. Today he was seeking attention by means of a series of impressions; first he did the postman, then his agility/obedience tutor, then several comedians/satirists culminating in a sequence incorporating all the regular members (past and present) of the 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' team. I tried to ignore him but it was rather good.

A sight for sore eyes

It would appear that, after a hard day worrying about crucified frogs and the son of God’s stiffy, Pope Benedict XVI likes to relax with a spot of eye-ball juggling.

Mockingbird at Uskmouth

Thanks to the guys working on the pylons, today's birding was accompanied by Eminem/Marshall Mathers. Tree Pipits and Yellow Wags trickled westwards to the tune of 'My name is'; a small mixed hirundine flock appeared as 'Sing for the moment' took to the air; and the odd sylvia 'tacked' along to 'Like toy soldiers'. The highlight, however, was 'Mockingbird'; unfortunately, it only heralded the appearance of a Redstart.

If I may put in a request, should you ever feel the need to inflict planet Gwent with your music, please have the good sense to play an original album as opposed to a record label cashing-in compilation; and, if it absolutely positively has to be Eminem, try The Slim Shady LP, at least it possesses momentary flashes of wit (and lacks any intervention by Dido).


This is the face a Reed Warbler makes when pondering the possibility that Marshall Mathers is second only to Elvis in the Top 10 of opportunist white boys who have successfully plundered black music traditions.