Possible Nordic Jackdaw at Betws-y-coed

This Jackdaw was at Betws-y-coed showing characteristics of Nordic Jackdaw

   Last week we went to see the falls at Betws-y-coed. As soon as I got out of the car, perched on top of a bin on the main road, was a Jackdaw with an obvious silvery collar on the side of the neck looking good for a Nordic Jackdaw. It flew off and I rushed to the car and got bread and me camera out. With in seconds of throwing the bread in the park, some 20 Jackdaw took interest and included the one I was after. It came down for a few seconds and I never saw it again. While were in Newgale last week, I also observed another Jackdaw showing the same markings as this one.

In the breif seconds it was down, I managed to get these 3 pics. It's probably a 'Western' Jackdaw with Nordic genes.

 

  The following day we were back in Shropshire watching my third Great Northern Diver in the county at Ellesmere that was found at the end of December last year. Just up the road, at the Wyre Forest, there were 3 TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL that were discovered on the 30th November '13. With in minutes of being in the area where they hang out, I could hear one and managed to see the female breifly with 15 crossbill before they all flew off and that was that. Not as rare as the Two-bars, but still a mega for Shropshire, was a female VELVET SCOTER at Prisorlee Lake that was found mid-month hanging out with 3 Scaup. There was no sign of the Scaup (not suprising really as 8 were up road at Belvide that day) but asleep on the lake was the scoter. As the weather was crap, I returned to the scoter the next day and found that it had been joined by the 1st winter male Scaup. Thinking that it was one of the 8 returning from Belvide, I didn't think much of it until I dicovered later that there were now 9 on the reservoir! The scoter was not as close as I would of liked, so, I was back the following moring and all 3 Scaup were present and there were still 9 at Belvide. They hadn't been on the flash nearby when missing, so where had they been? The scoter had been commuting with Aqualate and Belvide in Staffs before it turned up at Prisorlee and like the diver, was my third for Shropshire.

The 1st winter female VELVET SCOTER at Prisorlee Lake could easily be overlooked when asleep with Tufted Duck. The last one for the county was also a female in April some twenty years ago that I found on Newtonmere and before that was another female that wintered on the sailing lake, Venus Pool '91.

 

A stunning evening on top of the Long Mynd

The great Tom waits