Pushing the envelope

My new 'Most-favouritist-shot-of-a-twitch-that-I've-taken-EVER!'

It took ages to find a close Narky Tern with its head at exactly the right angle but, if you squint, you can make out, reflected in this birds eye, a line of olive-clad, socially dubious funksters soaking up the Bridled Tern (you may have to click on the picture for the full-size version).  Unfortunately, the time and Herculean effort necessary to conceive and realise this artistic masterpiece meant I missed out when the Bridled performed its most adjacent flypast; stuck with a lens at its closest focusing distance, I totally missed the shot so efficiently bagged by TC (see yesterday's post). 

PS. Up until this point my 'Most-favouritist-shot-of-a-twitch-that-I've-taken-EVER!' was that seen here.

To the open arms of the sea

Popped up to Northumberland, pootled out to the Farnes and, after an interminable wait, lasting something approaching a whole 15 British minutes, slipped Bridled onto my 'Birds I have seen' list. And there it will reside, rattling about between Sooty and Little until Grey-backed/Spectacled and Aleutian can be wedged alongside.

Bridled beauty (image courtesy of Thomas Chinnick Photography Ltd), I missed this shot buggering about with narky terns (more of which tomorrow). 

The bird hung around for the next two and a half hours, mostly loafing on the foreshore with its Roseate, Common, Sandwich and Arctic cousins.  Given the surroundings and avian company, it seemed rude to cut and run after a Rock Thrush and flog ourselves silly up to Aberdeenshire and back,... so we didn't.  And, as so often happens, the Moirai rewarded restraint in the face of temptation with a little gift,... the sighting of the day, if not year,...

IT'S THAT BLOKE OFF THE TELLY!!! YOU KNOW, THE ONE WHO DID THAT THING AND THEN DID THAT SONG AND NOW TICKLES FISH FOR A LIVING,... YEAH!!! HIM!!! 

Robson Green, presumably ecstatic having successfully bagged the Bridled Tern (once again, image courtesy of Thomas Chinnick Photography Ltd). Did you know that Robson & Jerome's 1995 version of 'Unchained Melody' sold 1.86 million copies and is the 9th biggest selling UK single of all time. It sold more records than John Lennon's 'Imagine'. Chicken. Oriental. 

  Unbridled Guillemot, a bit like a northern penguin but more likely to be covered in polyisobutene than chocolate.

Illegal trapping of birds (part 3)

Have been waiting for the information to be uploaded to the Gwent Police website to blog about this,...

On Monday another instance of illegal bird trapping was discovered at the Newport Wetlands.  A number of dead birds were found in a net erected at the eastern end of the Uskmouth reedbeds near the end of Farmfield Lane (from which the fetid little souls who did this probably gained access). This is an almost identical location to the illegally erected net found in November 2009 (as mentioned here) and surely suggests the same self-interested, ignorant turds are involved.

The following is taken verbatim from the Gwent Police website on which there are also a number of photographs (see here), if anyone has seen anything suspicious, please take the time to report it.

Appeal for information - illegal trapping of wild birds

We are appealing for information following the discovery of illegally erected ‘mist nets’ at Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve. The nets are used to catch birds such as Finches, which are then sold on. Other birds which become trapped in the nets are sometimes left to die.

Tom Dalrymple of Natural Resources Wales, who own and manage the reserve in partnership with Newport City Council and RSPB Cymru said: "It's very sad that these illegal trappers, not only attempt to take birds from the wild, but appear to have left some birds to die slowly in the net".

Anyone with any information about the nets, or who may have seen anything suspicious at Newport Wetlands in the last week is asked to ring Gwent Police by calling 101 quoting Log 272 08/07/13.

NB. The Goldcliff Ringing Group operate on the Newport Wetlands Reserve as part of the BTO Ringing Scheme but are friendly, approachable chaps (well mostly) and, should you see their nets set, will always be close by and happy to explain what is going on. However, there are stolen or otherwise nefariously obtained mist-nets in circulation (e.g. see here for a semi-local case of net theft) so keep 'em peeled and, if you see anything suspicious, please report it ASAP.

Splllllllendid

The shiny shiny Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splllllllendens

"Beyond this all had been chaos"

Another week of nightly ramblings,... all the usual birds plus Glow-worms and, during daylight hours, Silver-studded Blues, Keeled Skimmers, Water Vole, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Pre-dawn, dew and, where moments before there had been nothing but whirling whirring blackness, the renowned heath. In the middle distance prime nuggle habitat.

A member of the many tribes of roaming therianthropes.

GRASS!

There you go, who said I never buy you flowers.

Took advantage of the gardener's laissez-faire mowing schedule today, donned the pith helmet and went off in search of a few species for the garden flora.  It was incredible!  RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!  They were coming from all angles, BOOM!  An unremitting tsunami of megas.  Red Fescue Festuca rubra, KAPOW!  Sheep's Fescue F. ovina, OOOSH!  Perennial Rye-grass Lolium perenne, KER-CHING!  Crested Dog's-tail Cynosurus cristatus, PIZZ-ZAZZ!  Annual Meadow Grass Poa annua, BLAM!  Smooth Meadow-grass P. pratensis, DA-DA-DA-DA-DA!  Wood Meadow-grass P. nemoralis, OOOF!  Cock's-foot Dactylis glomerata, PEEE-OW!  Yorkshire-fog Holcus lanatus, KER-BOOM!  Sweet Vernal-grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, POP!  Timothy Phleum pratense, FIZZ!  Smaller Cat's-tail Ph. bertolonii, PFFFT!  Soft Brome Bromus hordeaceus PARP!  And Bearded Couch Elymus caninus SQUIT!

Off to lie down in a darkened room now.

PS. One or two of the more elusive and/or mobile species might be missing from the photo. 

PPS. I am pretty sure I had at least two subspecies of Red Fescue,... I know,... where will this mad, white knuckle, roller coaster of botanical exploration end?!

PPPS. I might be very bored,... and have almost certainly consumed more than my usual intake of caffeine today.

Quiet becoming moist

Another morning Cetti's wrangling at Uskmouth.  A little bit quiet on both the bird (boo!) and punter (yay!) fronts.  In lieu of anything ornithological worth mentioning, some bird food for your delectation,...

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet, Zygaena lonicerae, nice and easy to photograph when they are practically comatose thanks to the fine summer we're having; did briefly chase after a Small China-mark, Cataclysta lemnata, but the wee fella proved a touch evasive. 

A few 'jars and a side order of chips

Another few nights on the heath this week; Nightjars on the dry bits, various avian nuggles in the wet,... a darkness full of churrs, chips, whistles, hums, squeaks and grunts,...

... and the birds were making some noises too,...

BOOM! BOOM!

[From our Guest Editor Fouad: Oh-ho-ho! Yes! It's funny because you thought the noises were made by the birds whilst being observed but then the opposite was implied, the noises might have been made by the human observer. Oh-ho-ho! It's funny! You try it. Oh-ho-ho! Now you're funny too!]

A few nights on Egdon

Spent this week 'jarring in deepest Wessex.

"The heaven being spread with this pallid screen and the earth with the darkest vegetation, their meeting-line at the horizon was clearly marked. In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky. [...] The face of the heath by its mere complexion added half an hour to evening; it could in like manner retard the dawn,... "

"... precisely at this transitional point of its nightly roll into darkness the great and particular glory of the Egdon waste began [...]. It could best be felt when it could not clearly be seen, its complete effect and explanation lying in this and the succeeding hours before the next dawn; then, and only then, did it tell its true tale. The spot was, indeed, a near relation of night, and when night showed itself an apparent tendency to gravitate together could be perceived in its shades and the scene. The sombre stretch of rounds and hollows seemed to rise and meet the evening gloom in pure sympathy, the heath exhaling darkness as rapidly as the heavens precipitated it. And so the obscurity in the air and the obscurity in the land closed together in a black fraternization towards which each advanced halfway." ~ The Return of the Native, Robert [D'oh!] Thomas Hardy.

What he said.

Grinding to summer's halt

Six Black-tailed Godwit, four Dunlin and 70 Swift were the only nailed-on migrants at Goldcliff over high tide.  I suppose we may yet get a late spring monster but, locally at least, you're probably better off chasing dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers, bumblebees, etc., for the next six weeks. 

On the other hand, there is always aestivation.