Off to a Flier at the Pallas! Thursday 21st February 2019

I've always hated Palace and all things to do with Palace's. When I was a regular football goer I never liked going to Palace (Crystal Palace that is), I mean it's a pain in the backside to get to, south of the river for one, it's in the middle of nowhere for another, seems to take for ages to get to and when you finally reach one of the local stations the ground is still over a mile away. Then when you get to the ground it's rubbish, all dilapidated and it has a supermarket at one end for Gawd's sake! I could never get away quick enough. I also hate buildings called Palace's seeing them as the epitome of everything that's wrong with this world, money wasted on luxury and ostentation when it could have been used for so many far better things.

I do however love Pallas's! And particularly a mere waif of a bird, namely the Pallas's Warbler. One of the few things that I think look and sound good with such a grand moniker. Except that the bird was named after a chap called Peter Simon Pallas (other birds also carry his name; Pallas's Sea Eagle, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler for example) who for all I know could have lived in a Palace and supported the Eagles (that nickname is their only saving grace)! There is a nice little book devoted to the Pallas's Warbler called Siberia's Sprite written by Andy Stoddart. Look for it in the nature aisle of your local library and not in the big buildings or crap football clubs section.

We were heading up to Scotland for another week in the Cairngorm's but first had a couple of days and nights booked to stay in Durham and Northumberland. It was only the day before that, because I had finished a job early, I arranged for Mrs Caley and I to get away on Thursday morning and our target bird for the day would be the aforementioned Pallas's Warbler which was settled next to a Sewage Plant near to the small village of Fishburn in County Durham. The bird had been present for over three weeks but could be elusive, as they often are. The drive north took us a little over three hours and we were parked up and walking through a fairly new plantation of fir trees towards our quarry by 13:00. We followed the track around to the south-east (Palace again?) corner of the works and found the likely looking spot for the Pallas's. Here there was scrubby vegetation of brambles and trees growing next to a stream and bordering the treatment works fence. Small birds such as Warblers love places like this since there is always a lot of insect food buzzing around. Good birds are quite often found in and around the less than glamorous surroundings of human waste plants. There may not be much truth in the saying "Where there's muck (shit) there's brass (money)" but it's certainly true that "Where there's shit there's good birds"!

Anyway, after five minutes of surveying the scene and seeing little bar a couple of Treecreepers we scaled the bank down to the fence and studied the tangle of bushes more closely. Almost immediately I heard the nasal and drawn out "taah, taah" call of a Willow Tit and caught a brief glimpse of a small plump buffy coloured bird with a black head and very pale underparts as it flew up into a tree above us. Despite searching I couldn't relocate the bird but had seen and heard enough to be confident that I could add the Willow Tit to the Old Caley year list which now stood at 112. A few more common Tit species were seen along with some Goldcrests and a serenading Robin before we had our first surprise of the trip in the form of a Firecrest. Firecrest's are even smaller and more dainty than Pallas's Warblers and move very quickly through the bushes in pursuit of food. This bird was also new to our list for the year but played very hard to get with the camera although I did manage a couple of useable shots. As is quite often the case with birds of this type, once you've "got your eye in" they are reasonably easy to track through the trees, just difficult to get really good views since they are always on the move.

Firecrest, Fishburn County Durham, 21/02/2019

It had been almost an hour since we'd arrived and I was beginning to get a little bit twitchy since they'd been no sign of the Pallas's. We were alone too, which although pleasant and how I like it, meant that we had had to trust ourselves to find the bird or for the bird to find us. Luckily I have a lot of patience for this game and, besides, what else was there to do? The last Pallas's Warbler that we'd seen in Dorset in 2016, another long staying bird and in a similar situation, also had to be found by ourselves since nobody else was around. That one took us around two hours to locate, the one in Lowestoft fifteen years ago took five! Plenty of time yet then.

Pallas's Warbler, Portesham Dorset, 09/04/2019

In the event a few minutes later I noticed a small group off birds moving along the fence line and studied them, more Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, several Goldcrests and.....the Pallas's Warbler! Not so hard then after all. I managed to get Mrs Caley on to the bird and then set about trying to get a photo or two. If the Firecrest was tricky to pin down then the Pallas's was a nightmare. Always near the top of the trees and always obscured by branches, I just couldn't get a decent shot! Eventually though the Pallas's paused for a brief preen and I took some record shots at last, it had taken over fifteen frustrating minutes. The bird was still near the top of a tree so "up the bum shots" only but nice to appreciate the beauty of the bird.

Pallas's Warbler, Fishburn County Durham, 21/02/2019

As previously stated Pallas's warblers are very small birds, only slightly bigger than the diminutive Crest species. They are well known for possessing just about every field mark that a Warbler could have, a broad lemon yellow eye stripe, a lemon central crown stripe, two creamy yellow wing bars and most strikingly of all when seen a pale lemon rump patch. All encompassed in olive green upper parts and gleaming white underparts.

The main aim now, other than try to capture a better image was to capture that rump patch. This would mean getting the bird as it hovered or hopped between branches. Now our eyes were well tuned in, we both followed the bird easily and it showed extremely well for over half an hour. Getting those photos though, for a cameraman of my modest ability, was frustrating to say the least. I was supposed to be relaxing on holiday! I did at least capture that rump patch albeit amidst the tangle of twigs.

Mrs Caley saw the Pallas's Warbler fly out and towards the stream and we had nothing to look at so gazed around to see what else was around. A lovely Coal Tit posed perfectly at the top of a bush, if only the star bird could do that, and the Robin sang away still. 

Female Bullfinch

Coal Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

We realised that in all the time the Pallas's had been showing that the Firecrest had not which we thought was a bit strange since they often associate with each other. Even stranger then when the Firecrest now reappeared in the Pallas's absence. 

We were blessed with warm sunshine, more like May than February, but that had been shining right in our faces when viewing the Warbler so hadn't helped with the photos at all. Stream side of our position was illuminated beautifully and I was hopeful that the Pallas's Warbler would reemerge into those bushes. Unbelievably it did, right in front of us, and how fabulous it looked! I pointed the camera at the bird but to my dismay the damn thing wouldn't focus. We were too close and the 400mm lens just wouldn't lock onto the bird. My back was already up against the fence and I couldn't get more distance between myself and the subject. The chance was gone and the Pallas's warbler had crossed over the path once more and was back in its favoured trees. Ah well, someday I'll get another chance but I did at least get a sharper image as the Pallas's fed lower down in one of the trees.

We left elated at seeing the beautiful little Pallas's warbler but I was tinged with frustration at my own failings with the camera. I had booked us into an Inn near Middleton-in-Teesdale an area that we'd only visited once before and that over fifteen years ago. There is a well known Black Grouse lekking site at a place called Langdon Beck a few miles west of the town and we headed there to add the Grouse to the year list. I spotted a Barn Owl quartering a rough field next to the almost deserted road. It seems easy for me to see Barn Owls this year, this bird being my seventh already, some years I struggle to see them.

We arrived at the fields where the male Black Grouse hang out but there was no sign of them. Last time we were here there were both a male and female stood on one of the dry stone walls that border the road. I was of course hopeful that they'd be posing again but to no avail. We followed the minor road into the moorland and found the males semi-lekking on a patch of heather. We counted seventeen in total and the year list nudged up to 115.

A section of the Black Grouse lek

It was getting dark so we headed off to the Moorcock Inn at Eggleston. Chosen obviously because it was named after a bird. Google reckoned that the Moorcock is a local name given to the male Red Grouse but the Landlady was adamant that it referred to the male Black Grouse and it was that bird that adorned the pub signage. Further research into Birds Britannica by Mark Stocker and Richard Mabey confirmed that there are/were thirteen pubs in England called the Moorcock and all had adopted the Black Grouse rather than the Red (can't blame them for that) despite there being little documented evidence of the male Black Grouse being called the Moorcock, it's usual moniker is the Blackcock. Perversely the website for this Moorcock Inn clearly shows the silhouette of the Capercaillie on the "letterhead". I'm pretty sure that the "Horse of the Woods" has never frequented these parts!

Anyway as great as the signs were, sadly the establishment itself was not and won't be visited by the Old Caley's again. As we walked into the fairly busy bar, a hush settled and all eyes followed us, I was reminded somewhat of that Dartmoor pub in the film "American Werewolf in London"! Still, we slept and nothing foul befell us during the night!

Apparently the Pallas's warbler and the Firecrest were not subsequently seen, proving that my spur of the moment decision to go a day early paid off handsomely! Somethings are just meant to be.