Effort [B+], attainment [D-]

Ringing then birding on Saturday, birding then ringing on Sunday. Very little to show for it other than a few Brambling, a field devoid of Glossy Ibis and a cold.

Phew!

Having resisted manfully yesterday, one's self-control deserted me today and, as if by magic, at dawn I found myself stood on a path over-looking habo not unlike bits of Magor Marsh. For the first couple of hours there was a distinct lack of Sibe megas, again not unlike Magor Marsh, but then this little fella crept out,...



Luckily there were loads of people around with bottom of the range DSLRs and cheapo zoom lenses to get heaps of terrible pics. Unfortunately for them, I had my trusty point and shoot with me and outshone them all. Please form an orderly queue for prints, available at £100.00 each (plus P&P) from iamabirdernotaphotographer@andsoareyou.com

Nuffin' to do?

If the weather is keeping you from birding today why not read this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7099720.stm and then do something constructive about it. Here are a few options:

1. write a letter outlining what you think of whaling to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914, Japan;
2. write a similar letter to His Excellency Mr Yoshiji Nogami, 101-104 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7JT or email info@jpembassy.org.uk;
3. check out the WDCS (www.wdcs.org) for further info, petitions, etc.; or
4. when you next find a stranded porpoise, dolphin or whale, chuck it in the back of your car, drive up to the Japanese Embassy (address above) and leave it on the doorstep.

I should point out that none of the above are likely to do much good, but they will give you a satisfying feeling of moral well-being and provide a use for an, otherwise wasted, porpoise carcass.

Back to the patch

A half decent flock of finches continues to inhabit the game crop. Ten Brambling were knocking around amongst the hordes of Chaffinch and Greenfinch, with smaller numbers of Linnet, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting and House Sparrow also tucking into the sunflowers, etc. At the other end of the reserve, three Bewick's were still sitting on Lagoon 3 when I bowled up at lunchtime, but flew off low NE at 14:40. Depending on where you come from, the photo below is entitled either zwergschwan mit schafe or schafe mit zwergschwan, take your pick.

The great crossbill hunt

A couple of days in Wentwood resulted in getting a series of type 1 flight calls on 'tape' (see below); just need to bag the excitement calls now. Also managed to get top quality recordings of wheezing middle-aged blokes on mountain bikes, the banging tunes emanating from a poxy little red Corsa and the shuffling around of two members of the local constabulary wondering where a nice new pile of fly-tipped car parts had come from.

Back in blighty

Back home and the last week has produced such gripping highlights as: a couple of pairs of Willow Tits, 800+ Woodpigeon west in ten minutes, and a few Siskins and Lesser Redpolls. South Wales - the ornithological slough of despond.