Not again!!!!!!!

Hey up folks you'll never guess who I bumped into at Utch on Friday, none other than "Fast" Eddie Fox finder of both The Shrike and Dipper! Despite it being to say the least a bit damp old Edward still had his trusty trainers on but with his socks tucked in to keep the damp out!!!! While Eddie was gripping me off about the shrike he also slipped in the fact that he'd had a LITTLE OWL in the same area as the shrike!!! Bloody hell talk about rubbin' it in! Little Owl is still an Utch Mega and a definite blocker. In fact if it's true that Buzzards are scoffin' Little Owls on sight it could turn out to be the first and last record!

Yesterday was a complete blank on the birdin' front with a spot of the dreaded DIY early on with the help of Jans old man "Our Graham". How any one can enjoy DIY is beyond me I absolutely detest it and can not for the life of me understand how anyone can waste their precious spare time trawlin' around the likes of Wickes! I'd rather have me cream crackers removed with a hot blunt knife! As if that wasn't enough I then ended up goin' xmas shoppin' with our jan followed by an evening of ####### X Factor! Thankfully there was enough amber nectar on hand to dull both my senses and the pain of this #####.

Two visits to Utch today produced one or two bits and bobs but nothin' new for the Utch yearlist. One surprise this evening was several flocks of Starlings goin' overhead some of which ended up roosting in the tiny strips of phraggy that run along the edge of the quarry works.

0745-1020

Dipper 1, Golden Plover 61, Green Sand' 1, Snipe 4, Dunlin 2, Teal 12, Goosander 3, Cormorant 32, Raven 2.

1430-1645

Dipper 1, Kingfisher 1, Barn Owl 1, Curlew 4, Dunlin 2, Golden Plover 19, Goosander 14,

That's all folks.

U.T.C.H 400 Club

Hey up folks, big day today! Today I became the founder member of the U.T.C.H 400 Club. This afternoons visit to Utch was my 400th in the two and a half years since RP first showed me what I was missin' while I plodded round Croxden. Four hundred visits and the best I've managed to muster is a poxey Purple Sand' in September this year! Yes I know Purp' is a good bird inland but I won't settle 'til I set up The Beast and find meself gawpin' at a crippler!!!!!

Nothin' of any real note today with highlights being 3 Ravens, a pesky male Peregrine and a sun tanned RP lookin' like he'd been tangoed after sunnin' himself on Scilly.

Goosander 22, Teal 40, Goldeneye 2, Golden Plover 3, Dunlin 1, Snipe 2, Raven 3, Peregrine 1.

While I was scopin' the main lagoon I heard several loud bangs comin' from the quarry works so I texted old "Hey Presto" the quarry manager to let him know there might be summat goin' on and perhaps gain a few brownie points for the future. BINGO! Six local numpties nabbed on site by the bobbies!!! After this I may well get "full" access.

That's all folks.

Clean kegs almost needed on A17!!!!!

After the excitement of the Dipper on Friday at Utch it was a back to basics on Saturday with very little of note apart from a single Dunlin, Green Sand' and Willow Tit so the chance of a day out in Norfolk with my aging muckers Mad Malc' and Norbert sounded worth missin' a Sunday visit to Utch for.

So off we set yesterday mornin' around 0500 arrivin' at Warham Greens just after eight. How we got there in one piece I'll never know, Malc was drivin' the old Mystery Machine as if it was a formula one car and at one point on the A17 I almost shat meself as we missed an head on collision with a forty foot artic by literally a few feet as Malc pushed himself to the limit in his quest to be the first man down his road to join the 300 club!!!! Luckily pour moi I'd been for a tom tit before I left home otherwise it could have been a tad messy owd duck!

Two and a half hours at Warham produced zip! No sign of either the Pallas's or Yellow-browed Warblers only a single Chiff'. Good views of the dark-bellied brent's could prove useful later in the year if old David the Brent turns up again in Cheadle.

With a Little Auk up for grabs off Cley coastguards we hit the road again and after almost skittlin' several wellie wearin' toffs in Cley as they took their mornin' constitutional we arrived to find the auk had flown off! The only birds of note here were a single bonxie, around fifty Common Scooters and a Red-throated Diver preening close in shore. Despite drawin' another blank we decided to hit nearby Stiffkey Fen in hope of jammin' on to the Little Bunt' that was seen briefly on Saturday.

No sign of the bunta but plenty of birds on the scrape with two Bearded Tits showin' quite well close to the dyke. Lookin' at that scrape just emphasised pour moi how fortunate coastal birders are in comparison to inland birders. There must have been at least thirty Pintail on what is little more than a large puddle. Bloody hell last weekend I was chuffed with just one Pintail at Croxden which is one of the largest holes in Europe!!

News of a Yellow-browed at Muckleburgh had Malc's nostrils flarin' so off set at warp factor three in the old Scooby Doo Van. What followed next left both me and old Norbert completely shell shocked . Spying a blonde photographer the normally very reserved Malc' started chattin' and displaying to the young lady as if he were a Ruff at a lek!!! I've never seen the old chap seem so lively and animated. At one point he threw his coat down on the ground and beckoned her to join him despite other birders bein' present!!! Anyway it did the trick and she offered to show us all where the Yellow-browed had last been seen. The YBW was feedin' in a Sycamore and so when news of an RB Flicker at Holkham broke our blonde friend bade Malc' a fond farewell and strode off like a moden Lady Godiva minus the horse, well that's how the mad lad sees her.

Anyway back to birds and despite lookin' through tear stained bins our Malc' connected with the little swine almost immediately as it chased two or three Chiff's around but then gave directions to the wrong "tree"! The tree was a bush! Just then another lady birder turned up and fortunately for her Malc' only noticed her when she read out a pager message that said" RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL AT HOLME". That's when I stepped in and said "right lads no more ######' about let's go see a real bird!"

Three quarters of an hour later we were strikin' out across the dunes at Holme towards The Firs where the bluetail was bein' ogled by around fifty other birders. After around forty minutes we finally had a brief view as the bluetailed gem fed on the ground under the Sea Buckthorn. Luckily for us it then flew in our direction and dived into the scrub right infront of us. At this point I was right at the front of the assembled throng sittin' on the ground when my Fawlty Towers ring tone suddenly went off amid the silence of the crowd as we waited for the bluetail to reappear!!! Luckily pour moi I managed to locate me 'phone pretty quickly and switched it off but knew full well I could be facin' the wrath of our Jan later after ignorin' her call. Over the next twenty minutes the bluetail showed again briefly twice within' ten yards of us and just long enough to unleash The Beast on TARSIGER CYANRUS!

Amid all this one thing struck me and that was that a pal of mine has now seen three bluetails in a year and only just ticked Yellow-browed Warbler!!!!! How mad is that? It doesn't seem five minutes since I was moping around at home unable to get time off work to see the Winspit bird in '93, now bluetails have been relegated to nothin' more than almost typical late autumn migrants.

That's all folks.

DIPPER UTB!!

It always astounds me how a little bundle of feathers can lift ya spirits and this afternoons visit to Utch proved the point perfectly. I've got to admit I haven't been meself just lately with one thing and another and missin' Utch Megas like Great Grey Shrike and Dipper hasn't helped one bit! But just hang on there owd duck because I'm now back on form and firin' on all cylinders after firmly connectin' with said Dipper along the River Tean this afternoon.

After checkin' the main pit which unsurprisingly held the juv' fem' Scaup that was at Brookers on Sunday( birds regularly commute between these sites) I strode off along the tean in search of our water lovin friend. Within five minutes I was punchin' the air as if i'd found a Black-throated Blue Warbler on Scilly as the Dipper zipped off low over the water towards the confluence with the River Dove, brilliant! Thirty yards further along I relocated it sitting quietly on the waters edge and with no further ado unleashed the full power of The Beast. Still can't get used to this Swaro' it's superb. Crackin' views of a locally scarce bird which was sadly not of the continental black-bellied race. But then again if it had been I'd have ben spoilin' me reputation for never findin' owt good.

Time for a few celebratory swift ones me thinks, that's all folks.

Gripped Again!!!!

Plenty of good birds around over the last few days but apart from a juv' Scaup at Brookers and ringtail Hen Harrier at Swallow Moss I haven't seen any of 'em!!!!! So imagine my dismay when a text about another Utch Mega from the lover of knitted jumpers read "DIPPER @ UTCH ON THE RIVER TEAN" Oh for ####'s sake not again and unbelievably found again by my aging nemesis Farmer Fox!!! Only last week Fast Eddie came up trumps with a Great Grey Shrike which sadly didn't stick around long enough pour moi to connect.

Ten Golden Pullovers flying over Utch on Sunday afternoon put me on 127 for the year so if I'd connected with the Dipper, shrike and the Brambling that Fair Isle had on Sunday morning I'd have hit me target for the year of 130 with around ten weeks still left!

Wouldn't it be nice though if the Dipper was still around at the weekend and it turned out to be a Black-bellied Dipper from the continent! Oooooh 'errrr!

That's all folks.

Rare,rare,rare,rare,rare,rare........................

On days like today I feel like lobbin' me pager in the bin. Rares everywhere and no chance of fillin' the car full of eager compadres to accompany moi on a trip to the east coast today or tomorrow. To make matters worse it's duck hunt w'end and being a man of my word I'm forced to do me rounds. Hopefully a decent dabbler or diver will brighten tomorrows proceedings.

That's got that off me chest so back to to days visit to Utch in search of the shrike found in midweek. The plan was to give Utch a thorough goin' over and perhaps cover a couple of Webs sites today to give me a bit more time tomorrow if something pops up within shrikin' distance! Guess what though, I'd only been there an hour when our Jan' was on the blower uttering the words every birder dreads " what time will you be back because I've got to do some shoppin'?" "Bloody hell I've only just got here!!!!!" I said. "Well you've got no yoghurts for ya snappin" said a mildly put out Jan "#### the yoghurts!!!!!!" said I before makin' a sharp U-turn realising full well that I'd be goin' to bed early without any supper tonight after my outburst over the yog's.

Utch 1150-1320

Teal 23, Pintail 1, Redwing 20 heading s/e, Chiffchaff 1.

That's all folks.

Gripped!!!!!

Oh the joy of dark nights!!!! No chance of gettin' out after work now so you can imagine my burst of expletives when a text from "Fair Isle" informed me that a bloody Great Grey Shrike as been turned up at Utch today and I haven't got a cat in hells chance of getting anywhere near until Saturday morning at the earliest. How I'd gladly have given up all those Iberian Grey's I saw last week in Portugal for a shrike at Utch. For a patch worker like moi it would mean far more than missing the Woodchat at Whitemoor which would have been a county tick for all but the lucky three! Hopefully it will stick around 'til the weekend and be viewable from the footpath.

Top marks to the finder, former farmer Eddie fox! I bet he was well chuffed especially after gettin' caught out of bounds a few weeks ago. TOP MAN.

That's all folks.

Elvis Alive!!!!

Hey up folks long time no blog eh? A bout of Bloggers Blues brought on by a lack of quality birds at Utch apart from a Purple Sand' and juv' Spot'shank found by lover of jumpers Steve "Fair Isle" Turner when he was unsuccessfully twitchin' the Purp' as been cured with a trip to Portugal with the family. Despite it being a "beach" holiday I still saw plenty of good birds with crippling views of Rock Buntings in freezing conditions at the top of Foia being the highlight as well as good numbers of Short-toed Eagles, Booted Eagles, Egyptian Vultures, , Black and White Storks plus all the other usual suspects you'd expect at this time of year in the Algarve.

The real highlight of the trip though came in the car park at Beliche close to Cabo de San Vicente where I bumped into none other than The King Of The Quiff himself ELVIS AARON PRESLEY as he took in the breathtaking coastal scenery before disappearing quicker than the Purp' at Utch!!!

The other main highlight of the last month has been me finally getting a new 'scope after ten years excellent service I finally traded in my trusty Kowa for a Swaro' ATM 8O HD with a 25x50 wa eyepiece. What a monster!!!! It's that good I've christened it THE BEAST. This seems to have put our Jan on edge though because every time I say it's time to unleash THE BEAST she quickly runs up stairs and bolts the bedroom door behind her!!!!!!

Off to Utch now in the Pouring Rain!!!

That's all folks.