Cream-coloured Courser at Radnor Hill, Herefs

 The stuff dreams are made of! I read the account that describes the events surrounding the finding of this bird and although envy might describe the dominant emotion that I was feeling, it also brought great hope that one day... Anyway this bird is what legends are made of and coming away having watched it perform in front of me, sometimes at close range, left me top of the world. These pics are still frames taken from the video I took, found on the link below.

Cream-coloured Courser video - click here

Ring-billed Gull at Cardigan, Pembs

 This long staying Ring-billed Gull, now in its 3rd calendar year, was found by Richard Dobbins when it first turned up as a 1st winter bird over a year ago. The returning bird announced itself to me almost immediately, on my arrival, when it flew overhead with a decent size fish being pursued by a Herring Gull. The Herring Gull never looked close to catching it, and soon gave up with the Ring-billed Gull consuming its prize midair. All in all it was quite impressive. It's snack was to my advantage because it remained fairly stationary, and approachable, allowing me some video opportunity. The video can be found on the link at the bottom of the post.

Ring-billed Gull video - click here

Common Yellowthroat at Rhiwderin, Gwent

 A stunning Common Yellowthroat was an amazing local patch find in Gwent. I visited a couple of days after the dust had settled and the bird performed to a delighted and respectable crowd. Some video of this bird can be found following the link at the bottom of the post.

Common Yellowthroat video - click here

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at Chew Valley Lake, Avon

During an incredible autumn for waders at Chew Valley Lake it turned up this true gem, and a very nice find by whomever... My should I, shouldn't I, patience finally ran out after a few days and I made the trip. The day was very good, and would have been better if I'd bothered to go to Blagdon Lake on the way back home! Even so, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers and an adult Spotted Sandpiper (still showing some remnants of spots) along with the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper made for a most memorable day. I took some video which can be found on the link below. Lets just say the bird was distant and the video is fairly reflective of the views taken from the day!

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper video - click here

Isabelline Shrike at Porth Clais, Pembs

 John, Marion & Jon Best continued their 'year of the shrike' with another cracking find. This Isabelline Shrike proved very popular especially towards the end of it's stay when birders were also able to pick up Isabelline Wheatear (in Glamorgan) along the way! On the day I visited it seemed to have some foreign body attached under its right eye, like a tick or something similar? Later photos showed it had seemed to have dropped off. It was a stunning bird and some video of it feeding and sitting up in it's favourite hedge can be found following the link at the bottom of this post.

Isabelline Shrike video - click here

Long-billed Dowitcher at Kidwelly Quay, Carms

 Dominic Davison found this Long-billed Dowitcher at the end of September 2011; it went on to winter in the area and was seen regularly between the railway bridge and the road bridge into April 2012. I finally got round to videoing it by that stage and the footage can be seen by following the link at the bottom of this post.

Long-billed Dowitcher video - click here

Common Rosefinch on Skokholm, Pembs

This Common Rosefinch was trapped and ringed by Ron (?), Bob & Annie Haycock and released to the courtyard. It spent a week or so, around the buildings, making appearances during the tea breaks and providing timely boosts by also popping up during work time.