The Standlake Birder -

     A combination of post Costa Rica adventure hangover and the feeling that I’m going to get wet rot every time I leave the house in this truly vile weather has made UK birding feel like a real slog so far this year. A sodden trip to the New Forest on Wednesday did nothing to lift my spirits. I did see my main target species, Firecrest, but they were wisely keeping as dry as they possibly could within their favoured Holly habitat making views less satisfactory than on previous visits. The rest of the day was pretty much a sodden write off with most birds hiding from the cold downpours.   There has been a rare American Bufflehead hanging around the Welsh coast for a few weeks which I had toyed with going to see. My experience of twitching rare ducks somewhere on a vast blank sea canvas is, to say the least, a depressing one so I had decided this one was not for me. When presumably the same bird relocated to a small lake on Anglesey the prospect of twitching it becam...

Resplendent Quetzal I had originally intended this to be my last blog on the Costa Rica trip but when I checked my photos I discovered that I had 6,000 to go through taken over the last three days of the adventure.   I hence decided to split it into more manageable two blogs. The reason for so many photos from our last lodge, Savegre, was the almost overwhelming abundance and variety of photogenic birds in the area.   Our big target bird for the 16 th   November was one of Costa Rica’s most iconic and highly sought after species, the very aptly named Resplendent Quetzal. So pre-breakfast we drove to a good local site  for them where there were many purpose-built perches photogenically covered in lichen. We got there early as Paco said it could be quite busy there and sure enough there were already other parties present creating the nearest atmosphere to a twitch that we had on the whole trip.   The Quezal twitch Within minutes of our arrival ...

Brambling I recently discovered a site where Bramblings and Corn Buntings could be seen feeding on seed kindly provided by a local farmer.Wednesday this week seemed a good bet for a visit as at least some sun was forecast in between the seemingly everlasting progression of winter storms . An easy if boring drive had me on site by 9 am.  A weak mid-winter sun was struggling to clear an early morning mist which painted the whole landscape in a serene soft beauty, there is something very special, almost ethereal, about these misty winter mornings. It was soon obvious that I was in the right spot as numerous Bramblings and Chaffinches  were decorating the lane side tree giving it the impression of some mad addicted bird spotters Christmas tree.   There was ample corn on the grassy track and, using my car as a hide in the tried and tested fashion, grateful birds soon fluttered to the ground to feast on the free bounty. First in were 3 Red-legged Partridges quickly fo...

       Sunbittern After breakfast on the morning of the 14 th   of November we left the wonderful Laguna Lodge and caught a boat back to     the dock where our coach was parked. Today we were     heading to Rancho Naturalista our next home for just one night.   Along our way we drove back through the banana plantations and stopped  by some rather rustic looking cattle sheds where we hoped to see Great Cowbirds, a large iridescent black bird somewhat like a cross between a European Blackbird and a Rook. Paco soon spotted one and got everyone on it in amongst the many Great-tailed Grackles. As an aside there are currently two Great-tailed Grackles of debatable origin in England. Why debatable? Well because they are almost certainly boat assisted as they are non-migratory. This means that they will probably end up in category E, which somewhat oddly is for escaped birds,  when assessed by the relevant committees. Th...