CETTI'S WARBLER at Prisorlee Lake A Salop tick!

As it was showing well, I was hopping to get a pic of my first CETTI'S WARBLER for Shropshire. However, that didn't happen and it's another pic of a different cracking adult Yellow-legged Gull at Trench Pool instead

  From a crap day yesterday at the meres to a Shropshire tick today! This morning I arrived at Prisorlee Lake to see all the gulls at the far end. So I walked all the way along the west end of the lake and scanned from the NW platform. I had only been there for a few minutes when a CETTI'S WARBLER gave itself away with a call just to my left. This was a Salop tick for me and I ain't going nowhere until I see it. A few meters later, below me, there was some movement and the waebler started to perform really well, but there was always vegetation in front of me to focus on the bird with the camera. It flew across the path I was standing on and dived into the cover. While putting the news out, it called once more and I didn't hear it again for another hour when it gave a burst of song. In that hour I also had Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, 2 vocal Water Rail, one showing well and a single Kingfisher. On the water there were 3 Great-black backed Gull and there were now 12 Gadwall.
  I discovered while talking to Ashley on Birdnet that he had a Cetti's on the Shropshire side of Whixall Moss three weeks ago and a local birder I bumped into, told me that the Prisorlee Cett's has been heard, but never seen, for the last two weeks. I was lucky enough to observe it briefly at close range and my aim now is to try and get a pic of it next time I see it.

There were 2 Jay at Prisorlee and a small flock of Long-tailed Tit moved through

Yesterday, in a rather large gull roost including, 200+Common Gull were a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull with 5 Yellow-legged Gull (1st and 3rd winter and 3 adult)

  

Two adult Yellow-legged Gull at Trench Pool on the 14th, included a different bird from the two adults I had here on the 11th

 I've had 2 argentatus Herring Gull at Trench Pool

Over 2000 Black-headed Gulls are roosting at the latter site and so far I've had three different adult Common Gull. However, the large gulls don't stay and move on somewhere else to roost. 

 

  

This cracking male Kingfisher showed superbly at Venus Pool a few days ago. Later on I saw singles at both Trench Pool, Prisorlee Lake and Flash. Also at Venus Pool of note were 23 shoveler, 2 Lesser Redpoll and 1 male and 4 female Pintail.  

Large numbers of Fieldfare around at the moment including over 600 at Baggy Moor

 

4 of the 6 Brambling that were with a 150+Chaffinch at Isombridge.

Smoke Fairies is a British dream pop duo comprising Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies. In 2007, Smoke Fairies toured the UK in support of Bryan Ferry and the following year they released their debut single, "Living with Ghosts", on Music for Heroes. Richard Hawley, who I've played on my blog a few times, was an early supporter of the act, saying they were "frankly the best thing I have heard in years". They supported Hawley on his True Love’s Gutter Tour of the UK in October 2009.