Report time

Got the new Gwentcestershire Bird Report through the other day, and a most beautifully laid out and wonderfully shiny publication it is too (click here if you wanna buy a copy). A few items have caught the eye thus far:

1. I loved the final sentence of the Pink-footed Goose entry; someone has gone to great lengths in an attempt to find the merest shred of a thread of hope to cling to regarding the possibility that this escape once flew unfettered with his wild brethren (A+ for effort on that one).

2. Apparently, there were no Yellow-legged Gulls in Gwent last year, is that strictly true?

3. Equally apparently, there were no Great Northern Divers in Gwent last year, now I know that is not strictly true. In fact I know that's not true at all.

4. And even more apparently, there was a Corn Bunting recorded at Dingestow in 2006. I remember dipping it but I don't remember seeing it in last year's the report.

5. Finally, I noticed that an aythya hybrid I sent in as "Tufted x Ring-necked Duck?" became "Tufted x Ring-necked Duck". All it takes is an errant eroteme or invisible interrogation point and all doubt over the little critter's unholy parentage is whisked away. Shame really, I quite like the uncertainty a hybrid brings to the party.

Points 2-4, and the fact that at least four Arctic Skuas were missing from the report, illustrate the various, probably inevitable, failings in the current records collation process. Some people don't appear to send in records at all, others send in some of what they've seen, some forget to take notes as a county rare flies past (oops, thought they might have gone in as skua sp. at least) and then every now and again something falls through the cracks at the committee stage. All I can say is, we must all try harder.

PS. There appear to be a number of photographers taking photos of Schedule 1 species in suitable breeding habitat during the breeding season. Presumably they weren't causing any disturbance, or have the requisite paperwork. The adult Peregrine looks particularly pissed off.

Spot the vireo

Bosse has updated his PBase gallery with a few Azores snaps. If you would like to play 'spot the vireo' and see a pic of my second second for the WP, click here. For those who want more, I would guess there will be more shots in the next editions of Dutch Birding, Norfolk Birder's Monthly and Birdwatch.

No title could prepare you for what you are about to receive

The mighty Folly Bog, part of my ex-patch, good mix of heathland breeders, hard work on the migrant front.

I was going to write about a morning's birding in God's county (that's Surrey to those of you unfortunate enough to have been born elsewhere) and how the only proven way to protect lowland heathland from the great unwashed, multitudinous proletariat and developers of this world involves razor wire and unexploded ordnance but then,... as if handed down from on high, on a gilded comedy platter,... I stumbled onto a video lovingly cast of the finest comedy gold, probably the most hilarious ever to grace the interweb in the history of ever.

It really doesn't need an introduction but when a clip is subtitled "Scenes of chaos as the church brawl breaks out" you know you are just about to experience the most side-splitting 2 mins and 2 secs of your life. And so I implore you to watch the video residing here.

If anyone needs me, I am lying in a crumpled mess under my desk, tears rolling down my cheeks, attempting to regain control over my breathing. Can you laugh yourself to death? Monty Python never came close to this.

[Edit - it gets even better, see more, under the genius title "Bless me father for I have chinned" here. Keep a particular eye out for the flying red monk.]

It only went and worked

A tour of a few sites on the eastern levels produced the hoped for Firecrest (yay!) but not the Pallas' (boo). Unfortunately, I only heard the blighter and got the briefest of flight views after Richard found it just east of the 'red cliffs' at Blackrock. It seemed to be loosely associating with the small tit flock which was doing a circuit of the hedgerows and the disused railway line. Other semi-good birds included: Water Rail, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Redpoll and Siskin at Newhouse; plus Blackcap and Coal Tit at Redwick.

Ooooooo, how arty!

Found a nice method for converting to black and white in Photoshop this evening, I think I'd stumbled over it before but forgotten all about it. Anyhoo, two hue/saturation adjustment layers, some judicious smart sharpening and ten minutes later...


Of course Blogger bollocks it up by automatically sharpening it to hell and back, but you get a hint of my masterly use of light and texture (ahem). I might even try it on a decent pic one day.

I might actually go birding tomorrow; there must be a Pallas' or Firecrest or something mildly interesting out there somewhere.

Tseeeeep

A few Redwings seemed to be going down valley this evening, so accompanying muttley on his nightly ramble wasn't a complete waste of time.


Should you ever feel the need to slow traffic on a busy road, stand on a bridge and point a camera at the passing cars, seems to work wonders.

Fireworks

The Aberqwimcumcarn valley has been resonating to the sound of fireworks ever since my return from sunnier climes. I guess tonight's are in celebration of a bungling, 400 year old, religion-inspired terrorist cell; and perhaps yesterday's were marking the arrival of America's new messiah. But what were the grubby little oiks celebrating with all the other evenings' whizzes, fizzes and pops?

On the Obama front, it's nice to know it is possible for the Republicans to lose a race for the presidency. Surely, if the Democrats had engineered a defeat this time there would have been civil war. I'd have thought the definition of a political 'shoe-in' probably involves fighting an election against a party presiding over economic armageddon and an unpopular war (or two), and against a rival who chooses a running mate best described as an ill-educated borderline nutter - but the gap was still only 6.1% of votes cast. In excess of 56 million Americans wanted 'more of the same',... eeep!


Downtown Aberqwimcumcarn, a pretty sight,... if you drive through at 80 mph.

PS. With regard to yesterday's postscript - I lied.

Groan

This evening the girlfriend admitted to not knowing who Alfred Russel Wallace was,... I should sack her. Poor old Alfred, a collosus of evolutionary thought, local hero and a notably nifty nibbler of Nobby's nuts, cast into the fetid slurry pit of historical also-rans; the collected works of Craig Revel Horwood are more popular with some people in this house.

And now, the first in a gripping new regular feature, 'interesting facts about forgotten giants of science'...

Interesting facts about forgotten giants of science number one - despite being born at Llanbradoc, near Usk, Wallace was English (albeit with some Scottish paternal ancestry) as Monmouthshire resided on the less rainy side of the border in those days.

And now, the first in another gripping new regular feature, 'red herrings about forgotten giants of science'...

Red herrings about forgotten giants of science number one - the assertion that Alfred Russel Wallace was a "notably nifty nibbler of Nobby's nuts" may well be based on less than firm foundations, it might be 'a fact' but probably not a true one.

PS. I promise to get back to birds in the next post.

Too cold to go out...

The body and mind are yet to acclimatize to being back in shitesville. So I'll stay in, listen to some tunes, read a few books and muck about on the Mac. Here's another pic from Corvo to keep you going...


I await correction on my French usage and abusage.

Roll on 2009?

Left Terceira this morning and, after a brief stop in Lisbon, ended up standing at a freezing Heathrow waiting for my ride. Another successful Azorean jaunt completed, let's hope the tour groups sniffing around don't balls-up future years by filling Corvo's limited accommodation with useless tossers expecting to saunter round ticking yanks at every turn. During my stay, the team put in something like 1,500 birding hours producing two new megas (White-eyed Vireo and Black-throated Green) and it took us 10 days to nail down the sapsucker, despite birding its chosen valley every day. If the island gets booked out by numpties expecting Fair Isle-esque conditions and nicely manicured paths (as opposed to sub-tropical secondary growth woodland on ankle-mangling slopes) it may well result in half the parulidae going unfound. Let us hope the Corvo phenomenon isn't buggered by those looking to cash-in on Mr Alfrey's discovery.


Just the sort of image that would attract bird-spotting twats to Corvo.