At least five Northern Wheatears present, looking very fresh and smart .
Sunday 9 September 2012
Black Redstart and 'Glip' Crossbill - Great Orme today
After a fairly quiet week on the Orme a few bits and pieces this morning. Highlights were an imm/ fem Black Redstart on by the limestone carpark, a Common Crossbill (see below for sonogram), 2 Snipe (+ another 2 different birds seen by Pete Alderson), 4 Blackcaps, an influx of 10+ Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Overhead were 5 'alba' Wagtails and 4 Grey Wagtails, while 50-60 Meadow Pipits were present. A nice flock of 10 Chough were also present with another 3 seen at the opposite end of the headland. Offshore, 45 Common Scoter flew east while 2 Grey Heron flew west.
Sonogram of a Common Crossbill over the Great Orme this morning. Referring to the Sound Approach book, this is a classic 'Glip' Crossbill due to the V shape in the graph.Click on the image for a clearer picture. There are a number of different Crossbill vocals and possibly indicate different sub-species or even species! A good introduction here - http://birdingfrontiers.com/2010/11/28/glip-parakeet-and-british-crossbills/
Best bird of the morning and one of the last I saw as I arrived back at the car. A good case of keep going. After being out for over four hours and seeing very little to be honest this was a welcome find - a fine imm / female type Black Redstart. It was immediately mobbed by the Meadow Pipits and disappeared down towards the Rest and be Thankful cafe.
There is a large flock of Goldfinches near the churchyard at present with some 200 birds present. Fingers crossed it pulls in a goodie ove rthe next few months.
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I much preferred the unedited title to this entry.
ReplyDeletePS My Birdforum page says I have no friends. How did they know?
Eddie, my wife read it and said I was never going up
ReplyDeletethere again if that was what I was seeing each morning! p s I'll be your friend :-)
What was going on up there? Was Alan involved?
ReplyDeleteDon't worry rob- the title ensured hell of a lot of hits through google search! Thought it might get the site closed down though so changed it. Hope Ireland rocked....
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