Bomb through France, Le Teiche, Cap Ferret and the Navarre Pyrenees ... stunningly beautiful Autumn colurs and Cranes a plenty!

Ok so here's the first of several updates during my road trip to Spain.

Thought my first bird on the trip was bound to be some kind of gull at Le Havre but no .... 6.00 am and by the lights of the ferry I spotted a flock of about 15 Meadow Pipits gainfully following the boat in the wind and the rain ... they looked buoyant enough so good look to em, and good luck to me too as I point Southwards for a spell!

Feels great to be on the road again and with 5 weeks of travelling, birding and photography to come. I expect these 'bulletins' from Spain to be brief due to limited internet access ....no way am I gonna get stung with using my iphone!

So, Le Havre and the usual beat down through France - nothing much to report apart from biggish flocks of Lapwing. I drove on all day, determined to get somewhere half decent and arrived in the Gironde area by 9.00pm. Next day I explored Cap Ferret and the Le Teiche reserve and had a good day. Plenty of waders about, including c450 Black Tailed Godwits, c330 Avocet, 12 Spotted Redshank, 6 Greenshank, 3 Spoonbill & 3 Glossy Ibis, plus good numbers of Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Grey Plover and Curlew.

Unexpected birds here included a single Audouins and Little Gull and a Great Skua harrying gulls across the sand dunes at Cap Ferret.

Good selection of wildfowl at Le Teiche too ...including Pintail (unexpected), Wigeon and 1 Black Necked Grebe.


Pintail, Le Teiche

Black Necked Grebe, Le Teiche

Black Tailed Godwits, Le Teiche

I should have expected Common Cranes of course but wasn't ready for maybe 2000 overhead in the day!

Common Cranes over Le Teiche.

Wee birds in short supply but 1 Chiff Chaff at Cap Ferret and several others at Le Teiche were welcome, as were 5 Marsh Harriers at the same place.

Drove all evening on the 13th, across the border and into Spain, arriving somewhere in the Navarre Pyrenees by 10.00pm .... knackered by then!

Spent all next day (14th) exploring the Navarre Pyrenees around the Selva d'Irati area. Not the best of weather or light to be honest but I made the best of it and witnessed some super Common Crane migration ... maybe 3000 overhead during the day. Good to hear their evocative calls in the air again, often above the clouds and more often than not accompanied by equally humungus flocks of Wood Pigeons.

Stunningly beautiful part of the Pyrenees this and with the abundance of Beech trees around here the Autumn colours are absolutely gorgeous!


One less attractive aspect is the sound of many guns going off in the woods and the presence of more khaki clad huntsman than I'm comfortable with! At one point, as I was driving up a forested mountain slope, every time I stopped to admire the scenery and marvel at the almost continuous Common Crane passage, I was descended upon by the same group of gun touting, cigar smokin 'Elma Fuds' in their beat up vans! .... its to be hoped they were after the many thousands of Wood Pigeons that also pass through here every Oct / Nov but they did seem to have eyes for the Cranes and Red Kites too!









Griffon Vulture, Navarre

Raptors in the air were indeed mainly Red Kites with maybe 50 seen in total, also a few Griffon Vultures (20 ish) but no sign of no 1 target bird Lammergeir today!

I've seen many groups of dark thrushes flying over too but can't identify in the poor light .... ? Blackbirds ? Mistle Thrushes ? Ring Ouzel? ... a mystery but as ever, its always fun when there's stuff about you can't identify!

















Star birds for me today were a small flock of Crested Tits in amongst Coal, Great & Blue's Tits and my first Crag Martins for ages just across the border early this morning. Stacks of Robins about and lots of Black Redstarts too, in fact there are plenty of birds about and I've already got past 80 species for the trip!

Another post soon .... it snowed the day after the above post so got some mega snow shots!

Road trip to Spain ... adventuring in the Pyrenees, Extramadura, Andalucia and so much more!

More than a bit of a jolly this and in truth a tad daunting but this is what I bought the Campervan for and I had to do something with 6 weeks annual leave!

So from Nov 11th till Dec 18th I'm driving the van through France, across the Pyrenees and into Spain. Its nature and photography break, its what I retired early for, and for me this is a real adventure because although I've been to Spain many times before, never have I seen what goes on here bird / nature wise in the late Autumn / Winter months.


So here's my plan in brief (you've gotta have a plan!) - whizz through France as far as Bordeaux, stop off for a day or so around Arcachon, cross the border at St Martin and explore the Navarre bit of the Pyrenees and the mountain ranges of Guarra, head Southeast towards Murcia & Almeria taking in the many inland sites around Valencia, then do Andalusia (including the Sierra d'Andujar), head up towards Extramadura with its many sites of interest, then head back up North crossing the Pyrenees somewhere different and up for 2 or 3 days with my sister & partner Mark before heading back to the UK for Christmas ..... hectic? not a bit of it .... it'll be the chill out of the century!



Some likely Spanish hotspots!

Not quite sure how useful this is but having spent too many fruitless hours trying to plot, save and depict a journey plan I settled for Google's classic map router. You can get more detail here - , but here is a snapshot of my likely wanderings














My journey is saved in more detail here on Google maps - Road trip to Spain, something I can constantly update and modify as I go - even in response to comments / suggestions by my little band of followers .... your good selves in other words, so I'll keep the link live whenever I post from Spain ... which will be often, so please do comment ... I'll respond to all as I go and love any feedback.

Gut feeling photo opps? ..... none of these are my pics but this is what I'm after!

Lammegeir



Pyrenean Gorge

Spanish Lynx

Wallcreeper

Spanish Imperial Eagle

White backed Woodpecker

br />

Autumn fungi at Askham Bog, planning trips, a Mali Harp and a bit of John Mayer to make up for my lack of birds!

Been keeping my head down and not been out much for the past couple of weeks ... busy planning and making preparations for a big road trip - I'm setting off on Nov 11th and driving the camper down to Spain. Coming back just before Xmas so its a proper tour and a well earned rest from all this bumming around on nature reserves in Yorkshire!

More info later this week on what I'm aiming to do and some opportunities for you guys to interact if you want.

I reckon a fair chunk of Winter migrants have arrived on my patch lately unseen by me, I even heard there were Waxwings again in the middle of York last week, but all I've had is a few Fieldfares over my house and an increase of Siskins, Goldcrests and Thrushes at Askham Bog.... so not many photo opps recently, but a stroll around said Bog last weekend and during a bit of 'down time' revealed some great fungi in the evening sun and along with some great looking Guelder Rose berries, a few turning Oak leaves and the odd Robin this makes a nice enough little Autumn gallery ....

Fungi, Askham Bog

Fungi2, Askham Bog

Guelder Rose berries

Fungi3, Askham Bog

Turning Oak leaves

 

Robin, Askham Bog

Fungi3, Askham Bog

Guelder Rose berries2, Askham Bog

John Mayer

No way can I come up with a link between Fungi and John Mayer, and he's certainly not in the Autumn of his years just yet, unlike Mr Jools Holland upon who's show 'Later' one of my favourite guitarists was performing the other night ... check this out if you can access the BBC Iplayer - Call me the Breeze - John Mayer







Mali Harp

The whole show is worth a watch  ....  highlights were Graham Parker & The Rumour reformed (wow, never saw that coming!), Lissie (another fave act of mine) and an amazing Mali Harp player called Ballaké Sissoko ...what an instrument!!

Here's the link for the whole show .........'Later' with Jools Holland

 

 

Incredible falls of migrant birds on the East Coast ... Pallas's Warbler, Isabelline Shrike, Dusky & Raddes Warbler, Firecrest and more!!

What a stroke of luck I had last week ..... I'd arranged a house sitting engagement a few months back in the village of Flamborough and only hit on the best week for falls of migrant birds the East Coast has seen for many a year. Rarities everywhere and me cosily placed in a lovely little cottage with 3 adorable cats to watch over .... thank god one of them didn't bring in Yellow Browed Warbler as a little gift!

Thank you Antoinette ... I had a super 5 days and was sad to leave.

Met tons of other birders from all over the country ... a few who even read my blog. Most gratifying and humbling to be read by some of these birders, nearly all I met taught me a thing or two so cheers guys!

On to the birdies then and where to start! Well I didn't see everything that was about and for sure dipped out on a few photo opportunities but how's this for starters ... a stunning Pallas's Warbler .....


Pallas's Leaf Warbler, Flamborough, Oct 2013

I stayed around from the 14th - 18th and this little beauty was flitting around in a secluded gully near South Landing for ages along with countless Goldcrests, Willow Warblers and Chiff Chaffs. A 'lifer' for me and although I was aware of it's general location, even better to seek it out and see it on my own in such lovely conditions. Not quite as good pics but here's another 2 of the same bird....

Pallas's Warbler, Flamborough, Oct 2013

Pallas's Warbler, Flamborough, Oct 2013



Redwing & Blackbird freshly in off the sea, Buckton, Oct 2013

The day before I'd tramped around Buckton, land of the Buckton Birder, just a bit to the North of Flamborough and got my eye in with some visible migration. Stacks of Redwings, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Skylarks and assorted finches all streaming in from Northern Europe and beyond after prolonged North & Easterly winds.















Here's a terrific and very confiding male Brambling, one of 20 or so buzzing about in the late afternoon sunshine .......asking to be snapped!

Brambling, Bucton, Oct 2013

Brambling, Buckton, Oct 2013



Chiff Chaff, Flamborough, Oct 2013

Same day and thanks to a fellow birder, I had the briefest of glimpses of a Raddes Warbler in the same location, a couple of Redstarts and a Black Redstart, several Blackcaps, many Goldcrests (at least 80) and smaller numbers of Willow / Chaffs. There were birds flying in off the sea almost constantly early in the week ...  bloody marvellous!!

 

Goldcrest (cheeky shot!), Flamborough, Oct 2013



Goldcrest, Flamborough, Oct 2013

Robin, Flamborough, Oct 2013

Even if you don't see a rarity at such times just the obvious increase in the number common birds like Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks, Skylarks, Redpolls, Blackbirds and Chaffinches is always good to witness. They all come in about this time and to see them descending on our shores from further North never fails to engage me.






Lesser (Common) Redpoll, Flamborough, Oct 2013

 







Mealy Redpolls, Buckton, Oct 2013

In amongst there are always different races and subspecies that all birders love to differentiate between and debate. I'm pretty hopeless most of the time when it comes to splitting feathers (usually end up spitting feathers!) and happy to be corrected, but pretty sure these are Mealy Redpolls (the Northern race of our 'Lessers'



And so it went on.... 4 days of some of the best migrant birding the UK has to offer, ever looking skyward for stuff flying in and constantly checking bushes and hedgerows for warblers and other wee birds already in and 'skulking'. Hit and miss as far as the photographs went but I did ok. As well as the above I watched with others my 3rd ever Dusky Warbler at South Landing but failed to get a single shot at it. I stood for hours waiting for a Rustic Bunting to show but was disappointed along with the crowd .... turned up next morning and got all excited with this pic but on later inspection its just a Reed Bunting!

Not the Rustic Bunting!

 

This is the real thing (pic courtesy of AW Birder) ... see how how easy it is for a simple minded fool to get over-excited!

Rustic Bunting, Flamborough, Oct 2013

 

I gazed into someone's back garden (again I wasn't alone in this curious pursuit), and managed some ok pics given the appalling light of this star bird ... an Isabelline Shrike (Daurian race most reckon!)

Isabelline Shrike, Flamborough, Oct 2013

Isabelline Shrike, Flamborough, Oct 2013

 



Olive Backed Pipit? Surely not!!

 

I took a distant 'record' pic of a pipit that was in the general vicinity of a recently sighted Olive Backed Pipit and it is without doubt the worst picture I've ever posted ... it's probably just a Meadow Pipit but maybe, just maybe?


Closer, much more familiar and thankfully in focus was a Wheatear, one of just 2 seen all week, in the same field.

Northern Wheatear, Flamborough, Oct 2013

One day I forgot to eat till tea time and found myself salivating whilst I was taking a picture of a squirrel eating an apple!

Grey Squirrel ... very scary eyes but very tasty looking apple!

On my last day but one and with sandwiches in tow, I finally got to grips with a Firecrest that was harbouring in Old Fall Wood but alas too flitty and too dark to snap, and away from the throngs of birding enthusiasts and general hubbub there was always the North Sea itself, and being not a stone's throw from Bempton cliffs Gannets always loom large around here and I guess they've seen it all before!

Gannet, Buckton, Oct 2013

Gannet, Buckton, Oct 2013

As have the Peregrines around here ..... this one was very interested in the Thrushes at Buckton ....

Peregrine Falcon, Buckton, Oct 2013

Somewhat disappointedly I didn't see a single Yellow Browed Warbler and dipped out on a Bluethroat but you can't have it all ... I saw close on 80 bird species including what surely must be my last Swallows and House Martins and even saw a fair few butterflies that also seemed to be coing in off the sea, mainly Red Admirals and Tortoiseshells but at least a couple of Commas too.

 

It wasn't all birds, birds and more birds ..... I ate, slept and fed cats too, entertained my best mate for a day or so and strummed my guitar regularly; my only regret was that my kids couldn't make it up for a few hours  ... I guess for the young, in reality, the bright lights of Driffield are in fact more appealing than this! The weather was great for mid October and if I get another chance I'll be back on the east coast for more migrant hunting before the Winter sets in .... you simply can't beat this neck of the woods at this time of year for birdin!

Autumn sunshine at South Landing, Flamborough, East Yorks.