Art class at Hereford Museum Resource & Learning Centre

Things are settling down into a new routine now after we moved house and I started a new job at the end of June. We now live in Malvern and it's marvellous, we're 15 minutes' walk from the hills and I'd added Raven and Peregrine to my garden bird list within a week or two of being here! I'm hoping to post some more paintings soon; here is the first one in a while.

Yesterday morning I went to an art class at Hereford Museum Resource & Learning Centre, which I really enjoyed! We were drawing and painting bird specimens from the museum's collection and I was looking forward to being able to closely observe the birds in (relatively) lifelike poses. I've blogged previously about drawing and painting from a dead bird which I didn't enjoy so much, mainly due to its lifeless pose and closed eyes. This time was much more enjoyable, in part because the birds were posed, and also because it was a refreshing change from how I usually paint. We only had 2 hours, and would be working at a large scale on A2-sized paper. First of all we had to choose a bird from the many on offer - here are a couple!

Cuckoo.

Green Woodpecker.

I chose a handsome male Black Grouse; I've enjoyed drawing one previously, especially the blue iridescence of its plumage, and thought I should be able to produce something passable within 2 hours. I used my preferred medium of watercolours.

My chosen specimen!

I didn't quite finish in the allotted time, but was pleased with what I had done. I was able to complete it at home later!

Nearly there...

The finished painting.

Woolston Eyes & RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands

On Sunday I was off out with the West Midland Bird Club for their monthly coach trip, this time to two destinations towards the northwest - Woolston Eyes and RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands. It's been a while since I blogged about a trip with WMBC, as I missed the March one, and got ill just after the February one so never got around to writing a blog post!

Our first stop was Woolston Eyes in Warrington where we were looking forward to seeing the reserve's speciality of Black-necked Grebes, a very rare breeding bird in the UK. Woolston Eyes has at times held up to a third of the UK's breeding population! Although the weather was rather on the manky side, we were soon keeping cosy in the various hides around the site and enjoying smashing views of the grebes.

Woolston Eyes.

Black-necked Grebe record shot (with a bonus whizz-by Swallow).

As well as the snazzily-plumaged Black-necked Grebes, we also saw two Mediterranean Gulls in tip top breeding plumage, Common Gull, plenty of Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins whizzing about and quite a few ducks including Teal, Pochard, Shelduck, Gadwall and Shoveler. There were a few Reed Buntings around and I had a brief but satisfying view of a Reed Warbler - my first of the year. Elsewhere on the site we'd been hoping for a Grasshopper Warbler and maybe a Lesser Whitethroat but there was a marked lack of warbler action, possibly due to the cold, wet and windy weather. We did see some lovely patches of Ground-ivy along the path leading into the reserve:

Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea).

Luckily by the time we got to Burton Mere the weather had improved considerably. We enjoyed the walk down to the main reserve through some stunning Bluebell woods!

I couldn't decide which photo to use so I've used nearly all of them. Ha!

Bluebells!

Bluebells!

Bluebells!

Bluebells!

Bluebells!

I hadn't visited this reserve before and it turned out to be a good'un. On the wetlands we enjoyed a smorgasbord of waders, including Oystercatcher, Avocet, Lapwing, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Spotted and Common Redshank. The Dunlin and Spotted Redshank were in their full summer plumage, and many of the Godwits were pretty much there too.

Black-tailed Godwits busily feeding; some in full summer plumage, some in winter, and some inbetween!

In one of the fields a lone Barnacle Goose was loitering, and we spotted whatever you call a Little Egret breeding colony (an egretry?) in some of the trees. We heard but didn't see a Cetti's Warbler, and walked through a lovely field of sheep and lambs to the viewpoint to spot a couple of Wheatears! I also spotted a new plant to try and identify:

I think this is Three-cornered Garlic (Allium triquetrum).

The view from the viewpoint.

Another great day with the bird club, with lots of lovely year ticks :o)

Sandwell Valley April 2016

On Sunday I was back volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley once again. The hide was well-staffed by volunteers in the morning so Alf and I went for a ramble around the reserve, our first in a while! Before we set off though we had a few nice sightings from the centre, mainly of birds on and around the feeders. The place is teeming with Lesser Redpolls, even more than last time, I don't think there have ever been this many here before - usually sightings are restricted to the occasional small flock around the Alders in the reedbed. Some of the males are by now looking very nice in their breeding plumage - like they've been eating raspberries rather messily! The other usual friends were also around, including Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Coal Tit and Chaffinch. I also saw a Rook fly over which was unusual - they are normally found more around the farmland in the wider Sandwell Valley. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly also landed briefly on the Marsh Marigold growing in front of the window.

On our walk Alf and I heard our first Blackcap of the year near Kingfisher Corner. We also saw many of the usual suspects on Forge Mill Lake and the marsh including Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Grey Heron, Gadwall and Teal. Our best sighting of the day came when we were walking along the bank overlooking Forge Mill Lake; I spotted a Yellow Wagtail busily striding around one of the islands in the lake! This was a reserve tick for me as Yellow Wagtails never stick around here for long and I've always missed them in previous years. Hurrah! I also took some photos of a few plants that we saw during our walk.

Not quite sure what this is - going to wait for it to flower.....

I love the sun shining on willow catkins!

Not 100% sure but I think this might be Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor).

At lunchtime we headed down to the hide, enjoying some more nice sightings on the way down:

A Willow Warbler singing over our heads.

First Orange Tip of the year.

Down in the hide the fun continued! The Common Scoter which had been around since Wednesday was still present so we enjoyed watching him, constantly diving, staying under for several minutes, and only resurfacing for a few seconds before the next dive. As well as that, there were also three Greylag Geese present - slightly unusual visitors to the reserve, usually the Canada Geese have the monopoly. Still a few wintery ducks around - some Shovelers and Goosanders. There were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, and loads of hirundines - I had my first Swallows and Sand Martins of the year (having had a pair of early House Martins in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago). Overhead we had a few Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk. A Fox casually walking along the opposite bank also entertained us and flushed a couple of Snipe!

Distant Fox.

Sandwell Valley March 2016

On Sunday I was back volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley, for the first time in a while due to being ill last month. It was nice to be back! In the morning Alf and I mooched in the visitor centre, chatting to visitors and regulars and enjoying the birds through the giant windows looking out onto the feeders, and the marsh and Forge Mill Lake beyond. Several Lesser Redpolls had been visiting the feeders lately and we enjoyed them particularly, as well as the usual suspects including a Willow Tit which put in a brief appearance, a Coal Tit, a few Long-tailed Tits, a Song Thrush down on the ground and a smart male Reed Bunting.

Mr Reed Bunting.

We also spotted a few Wigeon join a Shoveler down in the marsh, and a pair of Stock Doves flying around. At lunchtime Alf and I headed down to the hide, where we were joined a little later by Ian. After the previous very chilly day we hadn't exactly been relishing the prospect of sitting in the hide for several hours, but luckily the weather was considerably perkier than forecast and in fact we enjoyed a pleasantly cosy afternoon! Before we'd even reached the hide we startled a Snipe out from the edge of the marshy pool next to the path leading down to the hide; the first of a few we saw that afternoon, winter hasn't quite left us yet. In a similar vein there were still 17 Goosander on Forge Mill Lake and a scattering of Teal; and I STILL haven't found my first Chiffchaff of the year! Conversely, the Little Ringed Plover which has already been present on and off for around a month was bobbling around on the islands bringing cheer to us all, the Great Crested Grebes were busting some moves out on the water, and a pair of Coots were trying their hardest to build a nest in their usual spot in front of the hide. We also heard the noisy resident Rose-ringed Parakeets squawking away, saw several Buzzards hunting over the golf course, and enjoyed a Kingfisher whizzing past.

We were quite busy with visitors most of the afternoon, but I managed to grab a few minutes for some sketching too, as well as a bit of messing around with my zoom lens!

Great Crested Grebe dramatically silhouetted - that's my excuse for the terrible lighting anyway!

Lapwing.

Sketches of Canada Geese.

Sketches of Canada Geese and Little Ringed Plover.

Sandwell Valley January 2016

On Sunday I was back for the first time this year for my monthly volunteering day at RSPB Sandwell Valley. We started the morning with an enjoyable half an hour watching the feeders from the warmth of the visitor centre, where alongside the usual suspects the highlights were the occasional Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Reed Bunting and Song Thrush; it was also good to see such high numbers of Greenfinch, which seem to have well and truly bounced back after their populations here were decimated by trichomonosis a few years ago.

It was then time for my stint down in the hide and I had wrapped up well in preparation. It was rather chilly! We were on the lookout for a female Smew which had briefly spent some time on Forge Mill Lake the previous day, but sadly she didn't show up again. No Goldeneyes either despite the freezing temperatures! We made do with a couple of Wigeon, some Shoveler, Pochard, Goosander, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Lapwing, as well as the ever-present Black-headed Gulls. There was also a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail around, and a nice group of Snipe sheltering by a large willow stump at the end of one of the islands, which I attempted to draw:

Snipe sketch.

The female Oystercatcher also put in an appearance, having first returned to the reserve in December, a couple of days before New Year - around a month earlier than her usual return date! We know it's the same one every year as she only has one foot. We did see one more unusual visitor to the reserve - a Great Black-backed Gull.

The female Oystercatcher.

Great Black-backed Gull.

I went back up to the visitor centre to eat my lunch and warm up; luckily there were enough volunteers in the hide that afternoon for me to stay in the warm for the rest of the day! We continued to watch the feeders and there was quite a bit of excitement when a Fox appeared underneath them and swiftly dispatched a Rat that had been eating fallen birdseed! This Fox has been seen taking out Rats in this fashion a few times - it seems he has become quite skilled at it. We saw him again, although he didn't catch a Rat the second time. It was amazing how he just seemed to be able to appear out of nowhere!

Fox with his tasty Rat prize.

Fox.

Winter marvels at Rutland Water

On Sunday it was the first West Midland Bird Club trip of the new year, to our usual January destination of Rutland Water. As always we were on the lookout for Red Kites from the coach in the vicinity of Kettering and Corby, and we saw good numbers of them patrolling the roads and surrounding fields! A nice surprise also was two groups of Grey Partridge in the fields from the coach.

Our first stop was at the dam end of the reservoir to look for anything that might be out on the water. There had been reports of a Great Skua, Great Northern Diver, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes recently but we didn't have much luck with those, perhaps because there were quite a few small fishing boats out on the water. We did see plenty of Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebes, Wigeons, Cormorants and a Little Grebe but that was about it!

View near the dam (HDR).

Then it was off to the main nature reserve at Egleton. We started with a look out over the lagoons from the viewing gallery in the visitor centre, finding plenty including Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Stonechat, Linnet and Stock Dove. More excitingly there was a Great White Egret, the first of a few we would see that day (or maybe just one very mobile individual?!) sneaking along at the back of one of the lagoons. 

Great White Egret.

There was also a gull provoking much discussion; as it resembled a Herring Gull but with mucky yellow legs some had suggested it might be a Yellow-legged Gull. I'm not a gull fan particularly but its small dark eye and very white head dredged up something about Caspian Gulls from the depths of my brain. I couldn't remember what colour their legs were but with the help of Andy H's ID app we ascertained that it was indeed a Caspian Gull, hurrah.  

View from the visitor centre (HDR).

We then headed off around the reserve, and from the various hides (the names of which I can never remember!) we added to our lists Greylag and Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Snipe, Curlew, Redshank, Little Egret, and Goosander. There were also gulls aplenty - Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed, and Common. In the woods and bushes around the lagoon and field edges we found Siskin, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldfinch and Long-tailed Tit among others. Another of the day's highlights was two lovely redhead Smew in the corner of one of the lagoons; they were perfectly lit by the low sun, which illuminated their deep crimson crowns in a most pleasing manner.

View of the reserve (HDR).

View of the reserve (HDR).

We ended the day as we normally do, looking out for Barn Owl hunting over the marsh as the sun set. Sadly there was no sign of one this time - in the past we've often seen one, but perhaps it's not around any more. We did enjoy watching the various waterfowl, waders and gulls coming into roost though, and one birder (not from our group) helpfully pointed out a first-winter Mediterranean Gull to us. We also had two more Great White Egret sightings - the same bird as earlier, or a different one/s? And it was as always lovely to watch the changing light and cloud patterns as the sun set. All in all we'd had a good day and my year list is looking fairly respectable already, with a few species I don't always get every year :o)

Great White Egret again.

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood & RSPB Marshside

Bit tardy posting this - I went a bit HDR-crazy on this trip and it's taken me a while to find time to process all the photos!

Last Sunday I was off with the West Midland Bird Club again for our monthly trip. This time we were heading to Lancashire to visit two places new to the Club - Mere Sands Wood and RSPB Marshside.

Mere Sands Wood was first up but before we'd even got there the day was off to a great start with a hunting Barn Owl spotted from the coach en route, hurrah! Upon arrival we first inspected the feeders outside the visitor centre where we found a fairly standard line-up of the usual suspects; this included a nice Nuthatch. We then set off around the reserve which consists of woodland of varying ages surrounding a few lakes; from the hides overlooking the lakes we found various waterfowl including Goosander, Shoveler, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and plenty of Teal, as well as a Kingfisher nice and close! In the woodland we found quite a few mixed feeding flocks of Goldcrests, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits; myself and a few others also saw a shy Treecreeper. There were also other woodland birds aplenty including Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Mistle Thrush and Redwing. Towards the end of the route as we approached the visitor centre again we also found Bullfinch and Siskin in the treetops, and back at the feeders the cast had expanded to include Coal Tit and three lovely Tree Sparrows. I was well pleased with these as it was a year tick....nice to still have my year list expanding at this late stage!

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Mere Sands Wood (HDR).

Next we trundled over to RSPB Marshside; before we'd even got off the coach I'd already spotted a couple of Snipe flying over! The reserve looked very promising with its expanses of marshland peppered with waders and waterfowl; we decided to walk a clockwise circuit down Marshside Road, past the golf course then back towards the saltmarsh and along Marine Drive. We were soon enjoying hundreds of Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit, Pink-footed Goose, Lapwing, along with smaller numbers of Grey Plover, Redshank, Golden Plover, Curlew and Snipe. We also saw Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls helpfully in close proximity to aid comparison, and a couple of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails. The most exciting moment came when we bumped into some other members of our group who had seen a Ross's Goose from the visitor centre.....I tried to dredge up what I could remember about Ross's Goose (North American, white, small and cute like a Barnacle Goose!). We hot-footed it over there and were soon enjoying the goose for ourselves. The RSPB volunteer working in the visitor centre told us it had visited the previous winter too, and that although it was most likely to be an escapee from a collection rather than the genuine article, they couldn't say for sure. It mainly associated with Mallards which suggested an originally more domesticated setting, but didn't have a ring or any other identifying marker to indicate a captive origin. Anyway it was indeed a cute little chap regardless of its origin.

Distant Ross's Goose.

Flock of Black-tailed Godwits.

RSPB Marshside (HDR).

RSPB Marshside (HDR).

RSPB Marshside (HDR).

We ended our day as the sun set watching over the saltmarsh for any signs of hunting owls or raptors; unfortunately we didn't see any but didn't mind too much having already had a fairly splendid day.

Saltmarsh (HDR).

Sunset over the marsh (HDR).

Sunset over the marsh (HDR).