With a couple of hours to spare after dropping Tobias at school I had a wander around Pennington Marsh taking in Jetty, Butts, Fishtail and Keyhaven Lagoons. It was a bright spring like day but with a strong NW wind it was deceptively cold. Numbers of wader and wildfowl had shown a noticeable and decrease […]
Tag: wheatear
Summer time birding – Tanoumah
Last summer I visited Tanoumah, and have just sorted out my photos from the trip. Below are a few species I managed to see and photograph including Abyssinian White-eye, Brown-necked Raven, Common Kestrel, Crested Lark, Little Rock Thrush, Tristrams Starling and Violet-backed Starling. I also saw a few Arabian endemics including Arabian Serin, Arabian Wheatear, […]
Winter visitors – Jubail
Whilst birding Jubail recently I have come across a number of winter visitors to the region. Common Kestrel is an uncommon passage migrant but numbers build up in the winter months when they can be seen in various locations. Isabelline Wheatear numbers also increase as winter wears on and they can be seen along the […]
Rock Thrush at Pwll du Quarry, Abergavenny, Gwent
News of a male Rock Thrush found at Pwll du Quarry, Gwent (SO244119) on 12th October gave me twitching pangs. I had long wanted to see this species in the UK but previous records have either been too far away, fleeting stayers or I have just not had the time to go see them. But […]
Pennington Marsh – 5th October
It was a beautiful October day and after dropping Tobias at school I was going to spent the day at Pennington Marsh until it was time to pick him up at 15:30. After a coffee at the corner of Lower Pennington Lane I walked along the fun length of the Ancient Highway. It took me […]
Pennington Marsh – 29th October
I had a few hours to spare after dropping Tobias at school and so had a quick wander around the marshes. Wandering along the Ancient Highway past Efford Lagoon there were now 42 Tufted Duck, my highest count yet, while 25 Swallow and three Sand Martin foraged overhead. I spent some time grilling a Common […]
Pennington Marsh and Woodchat Shrike at Chipping Sodbury
Another beautiful sunny morning at Pennington Marsh and I decided to walk my normal circuit in reverse, first out past Fishtail and to Keyhaven and back past Butts and Jetty Lagoon and finally past Pennington Lagoon and Shoveler Pools. I had much of the morning to spare after dropping Tobias off so my birding was […]
Plenty of Arabian Wheatears – Tanoumah
Whilst birding the Tanoumah area I saw plenty of Arabian Wheatears at many different sites. The Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, bushy sites. It is widespread on the Jebal Souda plateau, Raydah Escarpment, Wadi Talea’a […]