Somewhere in a land of snow and ice

Last knockings at Bryn Bach CP last night, in the gathering gloom a radiant being provides a point of light in an otherwise dark landscape in a blasted country banished from the brighter reaches of existence.

Lesser Scaup mit Tufty.

 Lesser Scaup ohne Tufty. That darker 'water' in front of the bird is in fact catty ice,... in late March. Why don't we all agree to turn our backs and whoever stole spring can put it back and we can all turn round and carry on as though nothing happened.

PS. Nice work TC.

PPS. Let's all agree to find county megas on nice, warm, sunny days in the lowlands in future.

Morocco part three: coast

A couple of days on the coast near Agadir completed the sit-back-and-lap-it-up tour, after dropping people in Marrakech we headed back coastwards in search of a few more specials. Highlights included: an unflushed Marsh Owl, Northern Bald Ibis, Brown-throated Martin, more Moussier's Redstarts, Black-crowned Tchagra, White-headed Duck, Red-knobbed Coot, Purple Gallinule, Audouin's and Slender-billed Gull and one or two others.

 Black-crowned Tchagra, not exactly skulky, just bastards to get a clear shot of close-up.

A very rare bird in the rain. Our birding along the coast, both at the end of the tour and during a sneaky little extra few days, was interspersed with the wet stuff, some of it bloody heavy and persistant.

A fresh juvenile Brown-throated Martin a species which breeds during our winter. Strange things start to happen when you head far enough south.

 Gonzo.

 Bedraggled Brown-throated Martin.

The local subpersonata White Wagtail. Give 'em time, they'll split it. Or is Collar's piece in this month's British Birds the first rumblings of a rebellion of lumpers? 

Morocco part two (again): more deserts

My new most favouritist sandgrouse.

Use this cute fizzog on the posters for desert conservation and the entire Sahara would be a nature reserve within a week.

The ever-so-slightly more subdued lady Crowned Sandgrouse.

Bird of the trip for me, I've been wanting to see these since forever. Well, at least since reading Densley, M. (1990). Desert Sparrows in Morocco. British Birds 83: 195-201 if not before.

Love a good spuggie.

African Desert Warbler on Aristida pungens an awn grass which grows out of the dunes looking for all the world like Marram Grass.

Nice song on these too, high, lilting, instantly ear-grabbing.

Some pebbles and a thorny bush,... wait a minute.

Had five encounters with these little beauties, three by day, two by night.

Saw good numbers of Spotted Sandgrouse a two different locations.

Second calendar-year White-crowned Black Wheatear with camel tick(?) of which it seemed inordinately proud.

Jubbly.

Morocco part two: deserts

After a day of travel we had five days of desert in, around and between Ouarzazate, Boumalne and Merzouga. Amongst amazing landscapes we chalked up a haul of all the usual suspects (plus a few), most of which showed down to doughnut distance. Larks included Desert, Bar-tailed, Thick-billed, Temminck's and Hoopoe (overall we ended with 12 species on the trip though we didn't try for Dupont's and somehow missed Woodlark); and wheatears included 'Western Mourning/Maghreb', Red-rumped, White-crowned Black and Desert plus migrant Isabelline and Seebohm's in a total bag of eight/nine species (depending on how you treat Seebohm's). Other goodies included: Scrub Warbler, Crowned Sandgrouse, Egyptian Nightjar, Spotted Sandgrouse, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Desert Warbler, Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Cream-coloured Courser, Tristram's Warbler and, bird of the trip, Desert Sparrow.

A dinky ickle Bar-tailed Lark.

Only saw a handful of coursers but this was one of three which pottered about within yards of our vehicle.

Some rocks,... wait a minute.

An awful photo of a mouse in birds clothing.

Would you look at the size of that bill.

Head-on the bill isn't actually that thick, it should probably be called Deep-billed Lark.

Morocco part one: mountains

Everyone should have a mate who runs a natural history tour company, it is pure errant madness to do otherwise. It is all the better if said mate's company ensures that for every holiday, a guaranteed percentage of the price goes to help conservation efforts in the country you are touring. Not only did I get to put my feet up for ten days, as some other poor bugger drove around Morocco, but I also gained a nice warm feeling inside whilst watching the Northern Bald Ibis (more of which later) smug in the knowledge that the SEO/Birdlife conservation program gets a donation as a direct result of me ticking the fugly bugger. For more information click here.

First stop was Oukaimeden in the High Atlas (although it didn't feel that high, no wheezing or gasping [note to self: write to the Moroccan high commission, suggest renaming the High Atlas the Reasonably High Atlas]). Highlights included 4+ Levaillant's Woodpecker along the route, then 30+ 'African Crimson-winged Finch', a Brambling (a good one for the Moroccan list[?]) and our first taste of the local moped-mounted fossil vendors and obligatory tajine.

 Yay! Another page of the Collins Guide done and done,...

... and now, to sit back and await another craishy Dutch inspired armchair tick.

Zombies don't blog

Will blog more fully when everything is less fuzzy, in the meantime,...

In addition to the duck and other wildfowl we saw GEagle, WEagle and a couple of nice seagull.

Not random at all

 

Roger meets famous people in history. 

Fit the first. 

That fat bloke.

I don't normally do adverts but,...

You can bird well for less than you thought at Sainsbury's.

And now when you bird at a store, Sainsbury's Bird Match is another way to help you Bird Well For Less than you thought at Sainsbury's.  Bird Match: the birds you get at Tesco and Asda, without going to Tesco and Asda.*

*Disclaimer
Minimum visit 20 minutes. Online reports compared. Bird at least one comparable Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus (e.g. same sex, age, sexual orientation). If the same bird could have been seen in less time at ASDA or Tesco on the same day you will get a coupon for the difference. Maximum coupon value 10 minutes. Maximum bird quantity of if not advertised is 10. Deals will be matched if you bird the same quantity. Multi-birds on alcohol are not available in Scotland. Excludes Cedar Waxwing B. cedrorum, Japanese Waxwing B. japonica and 18 Sainsbury’s supermarkets. Patent pending - GB1714915.89. You can bird well for less than you thought at Sainsbury’s. Based on waxwing perception data, February 2013. For terms, conditions and all exclusions click here. No waxwing at Sainsbury's has so far been shown to contain horsemeat.

The phoney spring

Sunny weekends in February, they look like spring, they feel like spring, but they is not spring.  Two mornings on the patch produced singing, displaying, drumming and even a little nest building but only the faintest, quite possibly deceptive, whiff of movement. 

Spotted Redshank and two Greenshank at Goldcliff plus Water Pipit at Boat Lane on Friday; and Chiffchaff at Uskmouth today,... 

Urgh! It's still bloody winter.

Free BBS training in Wales

In stark contrast to the usual trickle of inconsequential drivel found herein, and in a spirit of public service broadcasting, there follows an advertisement from the lovely people at the British Trust for Ornithology:


BTO offers free BBS training in Wales

Would you like to participate in the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) in Wales but just need that extra boost to your confidence or skills? If so the BTO can help!
 
Following the success of last year’s initiative, coverage of BBS squares was increased substantially. Thanks to the generous support of the Countryside Council for Wales the BTO are again employing a small team of professional ornithologists to provide courses and one-to-one training of potential BBS volunteers on unallocated BBS squares around Wales.
 
There are a number of courses planned for March, which can be followed up by BTO trainers visiting a BBS square with you and walking you through your first visit, explaining how to record habitat data, how to record birds in different distance bands, recording mammals and how to enter your data online. These sessions are completely free and are available to BTO members and non-members alike.
 
Courses are currently planned for:
 
9th March at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran, Cardigan; and
16th March at Plas Dolerw, Newtown, Powys.

If you've got good identification skills for common birds and would like further details of the BBS or want to express an interest in these training sessions contact BTO Cymru on 01248 383285 or visit www.bto.org/bbs-training


Whilst I'm sure any additional surveyors in Gwent would be warmly welcomed, the BTO would be particularly interested to hear from anyone, perhaps residing up-county, that would fancy hopping over the border to Breconshire where they have a number of uncovered squares. Background information on the BBS can be found at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/bbs