An early evening visit to the Gravel Pits produced the usual fare on the East Lake. Around a dozen Canada Geese were grazing on the slopes when I arrived.The recent heavy rainfall had really done it's work and the water levels were as high as I've seen them this year. Also on the lake were 2 Mute Swans,2 Little Grebes and 6 Tufted Duck.
A look over the reserve revealed many Sand Martins flying low over the water, the first I've seen here this year, with a smaller number of Swallows mixed in.

Sand Martin

There were a pair of Reed Bunting's on either side of the track and a pair of Bullfinches. I also 'flushed' a Green Woodpecker which flew to nearby tree. There were only 2 Herring Gulls on the Quarry Lake.
As I walked around the reserve I could hear Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap all singing at once. It wasn't long before the weather changed again and the rain started so I cut short my visit and headed for home.

A Nightingale sang in.....

A early start this morning to [CENSORED] just south of Taunton for my annual Nightingale visit. This morning I was joined by my friends Paul and Aiden and I was pleased to hear a singing male almost as soon we arrived.
We made our way out to the scrub area that they favour and met another birder who was doing the BTO survey. The BTO last did a Nightingale population survey around 1999 and then I was one of the survey volunteers.
We learned from him that there were at least four singing birds in the area and it wasn't long before we had tracked one down and even managed a brief view(thanks to Aiden) as it belted out its song from the top of bush.
As we were listening its powerful song, we heard a Cuckoo calling.
After around an hour we decided to leave them in peace and made our way home.

Passport to Pitney

Last night myself and the usual Ale crowd went out for our April get together. This time it was Andy G's turn to drive, and of course to sample the delights of J2O's and Coke.
We started at the Canal Inn at Wrantage with Sharp's Cornish Coaster, a very smooth and drinkable beer at 3.6%. This month and next Somerset CAMRA are running their 10th Pub Trail Passport with 43 Pubs to be visited and stamped in your passport. If you visit 15 pubs you get a T Shirt and for 25 pubs a T Shirt and book token.

With the Canal duly stamped we headed for the Royal Oak at Stoke St Gregory, which although wasn't one of the passport pubs did serve a very good pint of St. Austell's Proper Job at 4.5%.
We now made our way to The King Alfred at Burrowbridge, which nestles under the shadow of Burrow Mump, a natural 24m hill with an 18th century church tower on the top.

Burrow Mump

This pub has just been named Somerset CAMRA pub of the season and is due to receive its award tonight (28th April). Tonight though the pub was very busy and had a good selection of ales on. I started here with Glastonbury Ales Spring Loaded at 4.2% ,a clean and crisp ale with hints of citrus. We decided to stay for another here and this time chose an old favourite in Yeovil Ales Ruby also at 4.2%.
After a brief discussion on where to go next we plumped for the George Inn at Middlezoy and here I had a Teignworthy 'Beachcomber' , a refreshing grapefruit tasting hoppy ale at 4.5%.
Time was now getting on and we were keen to get another pub before closing time. The Pound Inn at Aller was the destination but upon arrival we were dismayed to see it was shut. We then made a dash for everybody's favourite the Halfway House at Pitney, and were relieved to see them still open.
This pub has in the past been the Somerset CAMRA pub of the year and with good reason too. There were 10 ales on and 6 ciders. I was pleased to see that they had a stout on and I went for Hopback's Entire Stout at 4.5% , a beer I had tried last week at Newton Abbot. I then finished the evening with another Hopback beer in G.F.B ( Gilberts First Brew) which is a great session beer at 3.9%.
So that was Aprils outing with Five Pubs visited , seven beers tried and four stamps in my passport, Roll on next month.

Three in a Row

Last night the Hustlers clinched the Perry Street Club Skittle League title by beating the Jibbers in our re-arranged back match.
We have now won the league for three seasons in a row and when you add the Knockout Cup and the Pairs its been a pretty good year for us.
We were on first but didn't get off to a very good start, only hitting 70 and being 18 pins behind with both points lost. We needed to win and get at least 10 points to win the title.
In the second 'hand' we hit a few more with 78 pins and our opponents now came in with 69 so we were pulling back the deficit. The third hand finished with us hitting 82 and we were pleased when the others came back with 68 so we  were now 5 up and well on our way to our target with 4 points secured.
In our last hand we hit 77 and left our opponents 83 to win but they could only manage 72 and we won by 10 pins and by 14 points to 2.
Ale on tonight started with the Worthington Red Shield that was on on Monday, but changed during the evening to Titanic Brewery's Centenary at 4.5%. This was a new beer for me and because I have a liking for the Stoke on Trent brewery's ales, coupled with a fascination for all things to do with the Titanic its a win/win combination.
The beer is brewed to commemorate the Titanic's sailing in 1912 and its website says its a heavyweight beer(like the ship) brewed as it would have been in 1912 but using US hops which give it a bitter/citrus taste.

Pairs

This evening I was taking part in the Three Counties Skittle League Pairs competition. This is always held at the Perry Street Club number one alley and is in honour of one our past members John Hodder who played on this alley. The cup is always presented in his name by his son  Ian, who is now Chairman of the League.
I was joined by my team mate Tony and we had high hopes as we had been successful in this competition before. We started well and were in contention with 30 pins after the first round and in second place.We were still in second place after the next round.Our last 'hand' saw us needing at least one spare to win as we needed 40 pins to overtake the Bell Aftershocks who had hit a combined total of 99. Tony hit a spare but followed it up with a 5, so I needed 22 to win !. I started with a 9 but couldn't get the required spare and we fell short by 7 pins.
We had done enough to secure second place though and will have a trophy to collect at the presentation dinner on the 11th May,

Rain Nearly Stopped Play

A day off work today to go birding. Mondays are a good day for me to have off as my wife goes to the St Margarets Hospice Day Centre in Yeovil and I can relax for a bit.
I decided to go to Yarner Wood in Devon on probably the wettest day so far this year !
I arrived at the car park around 9am and was surprised to see a new hide overlooking the pond by the car park. As it was raining hard I decided to take advantage of its facilities for a while.
It wasn't long before I spied the local residents !

Wood Duck & Mandarin Duck

Mandarin Duck

Wood Duck

 The Mandarins are classed as category C birds which means that although they have been introduced to Britain they now have a self sustaining population. The Wood Duck however is somewhat dubious as it is kept in wildfowl collections and is known as an escape ! Nice to see all the same.
The feeders were busy with a variety of drenched Finches and Tit's.

Coal Tit

Nuthatch

Siskins

A walk around the woods produced many singing Wood Warblers and Pied Flycatchers although it took me two hours to actually see one. I did venture up to Trendlebeare Down in the hope of seeing Tree Pipit but the weather was making sure everything was under cover. As I was making my way back to the car park though I did catch the briefest Common Redstart song.
I now (after checking the BBC weather website) decided to head up to the Somerset Levels where it was not raining quite so hard.
I arrived at Ashcott Corner around 1.30pm and walked out to Meare Heath. I was hoping to catch up with the two Long Billed Dowitchers that had been there for several weeks. I was not disappointed as they were feeding with a large group of Black Tailed Godwits.

Long Billed Dowitchers

I walked on out to Noah's Lake hide and settled down, glad to be out of the rain for a while. There were many Hirundines flying over the lake, mostly Swallows and Sand Martin's but with a few House Martin's as well. Also there were a few Common Terns.

House Martin

Common Tern

Whilst I was in the hide this Great Crested Grebe was fishing just below me.

Great Crested Grebe

I now decided I'd had enough and headed for home but did managed to add a singing Reed Warbler to my list as I walked back to the car.

One Hundred & Thirty

A lunchtime visit to the Gravel Pits had me unsuccessfully dodging the showers. A Swallow was skimming the east lake which held the usual three Mute Swans and also two Canada Geese,two Tufted Ducks and a Little Grebe. A Blackcap was singing from the top of a tree near the gate.
Because of the rain I headed for the hide and here on the lake were two more Tufted Ducks, two Mallards and another Little Grebe.
When the shower had passed I walked over to the lake by the main track in the Quarry site. Here were ninety four Herring Gulls and two Lesser Black Back Gulls but to my delight was my first Common Sandpiper of the year. My 130th tick of the year.

Common Sandpiper

Tucker's Maltings 2012

Yesterday myself and most of the usual ale crowd made our way to Newton Abbot for the 20th Tucker's Maltings Beer Festival. We caught the 9:03 train from Axminster and after a change at Exeter St Davids we arrived in the east Devon town of Newton Abbot around 10:20am.
As usual we made straight for The Richard Hopkins, a Wetherspoons pub in the town for our breakfast.
I've been a vegetarian of over thirty years so I had the veggie option washed down with a pint of Great Newsome Brewery 'Sleck Dust' at 3.8%. This was a straw coloured session beer and was quite refreshing.
I followed this up with a pint of the Lincolnshire brewery, Tom Woods 'Bomber County' at 4.8%. This is a dark ale with a mix of hops,caramel,coffee and apple and was really good !.
We then made our way to the Festival, arriving around 11:30am. I had already made a list of the beers I was hoping to try so I walked along the 'bar' to see what was still available. I was quite disappointed that many of the beers I was particularly hoping to find were already sold out.
I started with South Hams from Kingsbridge 'Knickerdroppa Glory' at 5.2%. an autumn and winter seasonal ale.This was a strong ale with floral aromas but I wasn't overly fond of it.

Next up was the Hopback Brewery from Wiltshire and their 'Entire Stout' at 4.5%. This was much more to my liking and was a rich dark stout with strong malty flavours.
I next tried what was to be my favourite of the festival and a new brewery as well. Devilfish was set up in 2011 at Hemmington in Somerset.The ale I chose was Stingray at 5.5% a strong beer with malty,fruity flavours.
Next it was back to the stout's with Cheddar Ale's  Tolly Pot Porter at 4.5% a dark malty porter. For my fifth choice I stayed in Somerset and Tried Blindman's from Frome's 'Icarus' at 4.5% a fruity, rich, dark ruby ale.
Now I made what were to be a couple of 'visits' to Cornish breweries, starting with the Castle Brewery at Lostwithiel and their Moat Mild at 4.0% , this is a tasty dark mild and quite enjoyable. Next up was Launceston's Penport Brewery and St Nonna's , another mild beer at 3.7% with flavours of malt and apple fruitiness.
Last up was the Red Rock Brewery from Bishopsteignton and 'Capstan' at 5.8% a strong malty bitter.

It was now nearing 4.30pm and we decided that as we had tried most of the beers we wanted to we would head back to the town and get a meal in Wetherspoons before catching the train home at 6.30pm.
It was just as busy as it had been in the morning but we managed to get a table for seven and ordered our food. There were three different ales on offer from this morning and I plumped for Bays from Paignton and their 'Springtime at 4.5% , a seasonal beer that I've not tried before.
It was now time to make our way home. It had been a good but not a great day and I left with the feeling that we should maybe come on the Friday session next year so as not to miss out on the winning beers.
I was quite disappointed that the organisers, not just here but at most festivals, never keep back any of the winning beers for each day and just let them sell out as soon as possible. Rant over and roll on next year.

Everything in the Garden is...

This evening whilst I was preparing our evening meal I noticed that two old friends had returned.

Bullfinches

These Bullfinches were regular visitors to the bird feeders during the winter months but this was the first time I'd seen them for a while.
It's good to know that they still about and doing OK !
They bring a real splash of colour to the bird table.

Last night saw me officiating at the Three Counties Skittle League Individual Skittler final. This is the competition where each team in the league's best player takes on everyone else in a nomination format.
The Jockey's player of the season was our captain Peter and he had the worst possible start with two single pins on the first hand. He recovered to finally hit 28.
The winner was the Chard Nomads representative Mark who scored a very good 42 including a 'spare' 15 with his last three balls and just piping the Magpies Darren by one pin.
Ale on tonight was another new one, Robinson's Enigma at 4.3% a hoppy tasting ale with a crisp dry finish.

A quick lunchtime visit to Chard Reservoir today failed again to produce the much wanted year tick of Sand Martins. So I settled for some shameless 'blog filling' photos instead.

Lesser-Black Backed Gulls

Moorhen

Continuing with the filling theme on checking my diary I noted that on the 16th of April last year (which was a Saturday) I was at Tucker's Malting's Beer Festival in Newton Abbot and happily this Saturday coming I'll be there again.

Football First

An early afternoon visit to the Gravel Pits today as I wanted to see 'my' team Chelsea play Spurs in the FA Cup Semi-Final.
There was no sign of Friday's Common Sandpiper on the East Lake, there was however 20 Canada Geese, 4 Mallards,2 Tufted Duck, 3 Mute Swans, 3 Coot and 1 Little Grebe.
2 Swallows were flying over the water.
A look over the West Lake revealed an impressive 90 Herring Gulls.
A walk around the reserve produced 2 singing Willow Warblers,2 Chiffchaff, a pair of Bullfinches and a Green Woodpecker. It was nice to see an Orange Tip butterfly on the wing also.

Why do we do this ?

So after fretting all day about the Black Winged Stilt at Abbotsbury I made a 'snap' decision and drove down there after dinner.
I left home at 6pm and arrived at the swannery car park at 6.40pm. I scoped the wet meadow from the car park and could see a distant dot that was moving in a stilt like fashion. As I was the only one there I drove along the lane and parked up a bit closer.

It's that small dot, Honest !

It was too far away for a decent photo so I contented myself with distant views. This was my first Black-Winged Stilt in the UK since the famous 'Sammy' at Titchwell disappeared back in 2005 and was also a Dorset tick for me.
As I was due to be out later I couldn't stay long so I packed up and left at 7pm. I had driven for 1.1/2 hours for a 10 minute distant view of a bird I had seen many times before. Must be MAD !
As soon as I was home I was out of the door again and on my way to the Perry Street Club for the Pairs and Individual competition. I was not taking part but was there to support my team mates, Steve in the Individual and Rob and Pete in the pairs.
Steve was an also ran but Rob and Pete played very well and won the competition by 2 pins.
Ale on tonight was first Worthington Red Shield but by the end of night had changed to Fullers 'Chiswick' at 3.5% and a very 'hoppy' tasting beer

Frustration !

A frustrating day all round today as news of 'rare' birds in our area kept me from concentrating and fretting because I know I'll have little opportunity of catching up with them.
There was a Purple Heron at Otterton earlier in the week and news was it had moved east towards us. That would have been a nice Devon 'tick' for me. Then there was the Black Winged Stilt at first Chew,then Radipole  and currently residing at Abbotsbury, that would have been a Dorset 'tick'. Then late yesterday news that a Blue Winged Teal (albeit of dubious origin) was at Ham Wall, which could have been a 'Lifer'.
The frustration carried on into in evening as we played skittles against our rivals for the title, the Outlaws and lost. I managed to save my worst performance of the season for tonight and hit a measly 39 !
The only 'silver cloud' is that we now have a date for our back match against the Jibbers, so on the 25th April we have another chance to clinch the title if we beat them and take at least 10 points.

At Last !

Last night I popped down to the Gravel Pits and at last saw some Hirundines. 2 Swallows were flying over the East Lake and taking on water as they skimmed the surface. They didn't hang about for long though and were soon heading north.
Also on the lake, the numbers of Tufted Duck had risen to 13 and the Mute Swans now numbered 6. There were 5 Canada Geese as well but they soon made a noisy departure.
The west lake was almost devoid of birds apart from a single Herring Gull flying over the water.
Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers were still singing all over the reserve and there was also 2 Song Thrushes and a pair of Bullfinches.

Lamberts Castle

Yesterday I made what has become the first of an annual set of visits to Lamberts Castle Hill. This Iron Age hill fort is managed by the National Trust and has over last few years become very popular with dog walkers.

The Trust seem to have embarked on a clearance scheme and every year there are fewer trees and more open spaces. This and the general disturbance from large numbers of visitors seems to have driven most of the breeding species away.
Up to just a few years ago the woods and clearings held breeding populations of Wood Warbler, Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher. I last saw a Wood Warbler around six years ago and Redstart about four years ago. It is still possible to find the Spotted Flycatcher but whether they breed now I'm not sure.
So every year from April to June I still make a few visits to see if any of these species are in evidence and now sadly most years I leave disappointed.
Yesterday there were a few singing Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs and around 20-30 Meadow Pipits were feeding near the car park.

Willow Warbler

On the way home I called into my 'patch' The Gravel Pits at Chard Junction. Still no sign of any 'Hirundines' but the East Lake held 3 Mute Swans,4 Tufted Duck,7 Mallards,2 Coots and oddly only 2 Canada Geese.
The West Lake in the Quarry held 28 Herring Gulls and 1 Lesser Black Back Gull.
The numbers of singing Willow Warblers had risen from Fridays total of one to three today.

Chard Junction Gravel Pits

A lunchtime visit to my local 'patch' at the Chard Junction Gravel Pits reserve. There was a Gadwall on the east lake along with the usual Mallards,Coots,Tufted Ducks and Canada Geese.

A pair of Buzzards were soaring overhead.
There was also a Willow Warbler calling although I couldn't locate it in the foliage, I'm always amazed how these birds can remain hidden when they are only just 'under your nose' - Maybe its time to get my eyes tested again !
There are still no Sand Martins yet and checking my diary for last year I see that I recorded them on the 30th March, so although they are being recorded at other local sites they are quite late here.
A quick look at the 'extension' produced only the resident pair of Ravens.

All to Play For !

Last night the Hustlers took on Ted's Tornados in the Perry St Club league. When we arrived at the club we learned that the Outlaws who are top of the league had lost again the prevoius night and thier lead over us was now 17 points. We beat Ted's 14 points to 2 to set up an all to play for match against the Outlaws next thursday. We are only 3 points behind now and we still have our back match against the Jibbers to try and fit in before the end of the season. I started poorly with a 5 and a 3 but reedemed myself to finish on 53 and just hang onto 3rd place in averages and a place in the pairs competition.
Ale on tonight was Worthington's Red Shield at 4.2%, a light blond ale with a refreshing and slightly bitter taste.

Last Game

Last night we played our last game of the season at the Cotley Inn against the 'soon to be crowned' league champions Chard Nomads.
We started pretty well, winning both points and taking an eight pin lead into the second hand. The second hand was though a different story and we turned an eight pin lead into a seven pin deficit. Because we were first on we left them 90 to win and they just crept over the line winning by 5 pins and 9 to 3 on points.
The ale started off at Otter Bitter (3.6%) but I had the last drinkable pint out of the barrel and it changed to St Austell Dartmoor Best at 3.5%. Neither were very inspiring and I came home feeling like hadn't had a drink at all !

April Fool

This morning I met up with some of the usual suspects for a trip to Wyke Regis and Portland Bill. I arrived at Wyke Regis around 7.50am to meet Steve and John and then walk out past the Bridging Camp checking all the while for the long staying Richard's Pipit that has been there. We saw no sign and so we continued on out to the back of the Littlesea holiday camp and to try and find the other rarity that has wintered in the area, a rare Hume's Leaf Warbler.

The area of scrub that the Hume's has been favouring

We worked the area for about 40 Min's before giving up and walking back to the cars, again checking for the Richard's Pipit.
We then moved on to meet up with Tim at Portland Bill. Yesterday at the Portland Bird Observatory they ringed 615 birds - an all time record ! Today because of the good weather most of the birds had already moved on. There were a few Northern Wheatears about though.

Another Northern Wheatear

One Northern Wheatear

Also seen was a Rock Pipit of the Scandinavian Race Littoralis - A really smart bird.

Scandinavian Rock Pipit

 We then tried for the Puffins that Tim had seen earlier in the morning, but apart from a few Auks, mostly Razorbills there was little else passing, We did have a flyby Swallow though.
We then tried for the Ring Ouzels that were at Barleycrates Lane, There had been six seen there yesterday and Tim had seen two earlier in the morning, but we were unlucky again !
We then decided to go back to Wyke to try for the Warbler and Pipit again. There was still no sign of the Richard's Pipit at the Camp again so we went on for the Warbler which we heard from returning birders had been seen sporadically. We hung about for about another 45 minutes then Tim and I said we had to go as we both have commitments at home. We walked back past the camp again and were trying one more time for the Pipit when I got a call from Steve that the Hume's was showing. Tim decided to carry on home as he had already seen it so I set off back to the Holiday camp arriving just too late again. I waited for another half hour before realising that I had already overstayed my time and set off for home saying my goodbyes to Steve and John.
A disappointing day for me !