Thursday 22 October 2020

Bit Of A Mega! - 18.10.20

 Having spoken to my dad the previous afternoon and saying I'd come up and see him on the Sunday he told me not to bother due to Covid worries he'd prefer not to have anyone round which was fair enough. So with that news I gratefully accepted a lift up to Stiffkey with Matt, George and Kai. We arrived in the dark and rain along with a few other birders and realised the tide was still coming in and wouldn't be out far enough to walk out onto the saltmarsh to look for where the Scrub Robin roosted for over an hour so we decided to head into the campsite woods to try and see the Pallas's Warbler

We'd got almost to the end and hadn't see any warblers and so feeling demoralized we contemplated heading over to Holme until the tide was out. Just then news broke that the robin had just been seen to fly in off the Saltmarsh and land near the car park. With this we broke into a run which in wellies wasn't easy but after 2 minutes I reverted to power walking! I reached the car park to find no one there but thankfully I could see everyone in the stubble field above the car park. I walked in and joined the others and after a minute or so I picked up the bird feeding in a game strip on the edge of the field. It then perched up in full view for just over a minute and RUFOUS BUSH CHAT was on my list. (I don't like the new name!)


Rufous Bush Chat

We watched it for about 20 minutes before we headed off to Holme NOA in the hope for another lifer for the other guys.

From memory I've only visited Holme twice so when we arrived I wasn't entirely sure where to go so we just followed the crowd up to the edge of the golf course. 8 Little Egret were out on the marsh and flocks of winter thrushes passed overhead along with the odd lingering Swallow. 3 Brambling were seen and heard and surprisingly were a year tick but the star of the show took some finding but then did eventually show well. My 6th Red-flanked Bluetail perched up nicely and long enough for me to get some reasonable photos. This was a new bird for the other 3 so a 2 tick day for them.


Red-flanked Bluetail

After our fill of the bluetail we headed back home and just as we were approaching Kings Lynn Matt picked up a Great White Egret as it was flying over the local Sainsbury's! We then found out it'd been reported the evening before just across the A149.

A great morning out with a proper mega seen.

A Migraine, A Mega and an Ibis - 17.10.20

Glossy Ibis

Saturday morning I awoke with one of my migraines which was very frustrating as I was due to head to Norfolk to see my dad for his 70th birthday so that had to be cancelled. A short while later the UK's twitching fraternity went into meltdown as the first Rufous Bush Chat now called Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin for 40 years had just been found at Stiffkey in North Norfolk! A double blow with my head the way it was.

Around lunchtime I was feeling slightly more human and my wife was about to take the kids out to the park when news broke of a Glossy Ibis at College Lake. I was going to go for 40 winks but thought some fresh air would do me better! 25 minutes later and I was on site and watching just the 3rd or 4th Glossy Ibis for Buckinghamshire up on the small island at the far side of the main lake. I walked up for closer views and to try and get a half decent photo (which I'm not sure if I managed or not!).

I then popped to Wilstone for a quick scan. Here I found a Goldeneye and 11 Little Grebe.

Cornwall + Scilly - 2-10.10.20

 After last years successful trip George and Matt again joined me for a week on Scilly.


Chough (taken by George)
                                                               
2nd October - A 4am start and before we knew it we were in Cornwall. Unfortunately this year the weather was pretty awful with very strong winds and heavy showers. We started at Godrevy NT just north of Hayle. My only previous visit to this site was back in December 2003 for my first ever American Robin. This year it was for another American bird a Semipalmated Sandpiper but it wasn't to be seen possibly moved on by the weather? 2 Chough were the highlight on the field car park.

We then moved onto the Hayle Estuary where I finally year ticked Mediterranean Gull with 8 adult winters present and I managed to pick out the Spotted Redshank.

A Great White Egret had been present at Stithian's Reservoir for a few days so we headed over to have a look. As we arrived the heavens opened again and the bird had vanished. I only noted 2 Little Grebe!

At 3pm the weather had made it un-birdable so we headed to our hotel and promptly fell asleep for just over an hour.


Merlin (taken by Matt)

3rd October - We were up before dawn and back at Godrevy for another try of the Sandpiper. The wind had died down but was still a bit blowy. Upon reaching the cliff edge I peered over and flushed a dark bird of prey. It pitched down on the beach so I moved round for a better look and saw it was a female Merlin. I called to the other two and they started walking towards me. Next thing I know they are on their knees grabbing at lots of bits of paper like they were in the Crystal Maze to stop it blowing off the cliff! It turned out George's wallet had fallen out his pocket and the wind had blown out all his spending money! All of it on the grass was collected and then George slid down the cliff past the watching Merlin and with our help picked up all the notes on the beach. Amazingly he didn't lose any of them. All the luck had obviously been used up as there was again no sing of the Semi-p.

At Marazion Marsh the only thing of note was a Little Egret as the reedbeds have virtually taken over all the water.

It was then time for our flight and this year we'd splashed out and booked onto the helicopter. A smooth if noisy flight saw us on the islands in no time. Due to Covid-19 precautions we couldn't get into our flat until 3pm so we took what we needed out of our bags and headed straight to the dump. Here we bumped into some familiar faces and had a quick catch up but our talking was interupted when a bird flicked out onto a bush, paused briefly then onto another bush before heading into the allotments. The bird in question was a Scilly tick Nightingale which my first anywhere for at least 7 years! Some who'd been coming to Scilly for 30+ years said that's only their 2nd bird in autumn on the islands.

Pied Flycatcher

We walked through the dump clump and at the school we stumbled across a nice Pied Flycatcher that was joined by a female Blackcap.

At the Standing Stones field 5 Siskin flew over and a pair of Blackcap were in the brambles.

Porthloo Beach saw another Merlin high overhead and 3 Sandwich Tern were fishing out at sea. On scanning the waders I found a Bar-tailed Godwit as it flew in and landed. Only my second on Scilly.

Barred Warbler (taken by George)

News of a Barred Warbler up by Porthloo Lane/Telegraph Road area saw us heading that way. As we passed Sunnyside I had a quick look into one of the fields and picked out the group of 5 Pink-footed Geese that had been around for a few days and then we joined the small group of birders and saw the Barred Warbler showing very well which is unusual for the usually skulking species.


4th October - Another quiet day due to strong winds coming in from the NW. Porthcressa saw 3 Sandwich Tern and 4 Mediterranean Gull on the rocks and the unusual sight of Greenfinches feeding in the seaweed.

Greenfinch

Up at Peninnis we were treated to great views of a Lapland Bunting before it flew off out of view.

Lapland Bunting

In Old Town bay I year ticked Greenshank with 2 birds present.

Greenshank

At the airport turning circle George picked out a Golden Plover on the runway itself and my first Wheatear of the year!

The final notable bird of the day was another Pied Flycatcher that George picked out as it hunted out of a Pine tree.

Pied Flycatcher


5th October - Yet another quiet day but at least with some noteworthy birds seen. Down near Higher Moors I saw my first Whinchat of the year in the same field we had 3 in last year. While walking in Higher Moors 6 Crossbill took off from nearby trees. It was only when we got back to the flat that evening that I realised these were a Scilly tick!

Walking through Porth Hellick we picked up a calling Yellow-browed Warbler and 2 different Cetti'sWarbler. On the pool a sleeping Jack Snipe made the year list.

Our second juvenile Red-backed Shrike of the Autumn was seen just north of Longstones cafe. Shame we were up by Maypole and even through our scopes it was not a lot more than a dot given the distance!


6th October - The wind had finally died down enough for us to venture off St.Mary's so we headed over to Tresco to build up the trip list but despite the lower wind speeds the sea was still choppy as Matt found to his cost when his waterproof trousers failed! Castle Down was our first stop and we quickly joined half a dozen birders in watching 2 Golden Plovers and a juvenile American Golden Plover. This was a lifer for the other two so they were happy. On the Great Pool the highlight if you can call it that was finally catching up with the 3 Black Swans that had appeared last year! A Pectoral Sandpiper had turned up at Porth Hellick so the other two went back for that but I stayed on Tresco in the hope of seeing the Great Spotted Woodpecker along Pool Road. I walked up and down 7 times but only heard it call twice. I then got soaked on the boat back!

American Golden Plover (right hand bird) 

7th October - We started the day with a quick look in Standing Stones field. A Raven flew over calling and doing its rolling display flight and on one of the small pools 4 Wigeon were seen before they flew off. In the SW corner I had a look into the weedy field across the channel but didn't see anything. 

Up by the turning circle 3 Wheatear were seen along with a group of 10 Great Tit which flew across into some bushes adjacent to the runway. A female Blackcap and a Chiffchaff were also in the same bushes.

On the way to Porth Hellick Pool I heard a Yellow Wagtail go over and then caught up with the juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at the far end of the pool. Another 7 Crossbill went over Carn Friars. 

Pectoral Sandpiper (taken by George)

We then headed for the Garrison for a reported Siberian Lesser Whitethroat but on the way we stopped for a pastie and drink by Town Beach. I was half way through my food when Ellis Lucas walked up to us and said his dad was in Standing Stones field and has found this but isn't sure what it is. He showed us a blurry back of camera shot on his phone and there in front of me was a photo of a Swainson's Thrush!! We grabbed our stuff and power walked through the dump clump and round into the field. To my horror it had been seen perched in a tree in the weedy field I'd looked in just a couple of hours before! A bird took off from the field just before I got into position which was probably it but it wasn't seen again. So close and yet so far!

With time pushing on I decided to go and have a look at the Siberian Lesser Whitethroat by the Garrison Pottery. I arrived to find nobody else around and after a few minutes the bird flew into its favoured Sycamore tree and showed well for a few minutes before flying off again.

'Siberian' Lesser Whitethroat

8th October - We started the day off looking for the Swainson's Thrush but again failing. It was seen by 5 people in the morning and a few more in the afternoon then never seen again. On the walk back I found a Yellow-browed Warbler calling from trees at Carn Gwaval just above the school. The other two headed back over to Tresco for an Arctic Warbler that had been found the previous day by fellow Herts birder Barry Reed as they both needed it as a lifer. I decided to stay on St.Mary's (which could've been a huge mistake). I was on my way for another view of the Lesser Whitethroat when the radio burst into life with news of a Scilly Mega that was flying over St.Mary's towards St. Agnes. I bumped into Dave Hall so we both walked up towards Star Castle but frustratingly our view was obscured so we walked through the campsite to get a view of St.Agnes. The bird had last been reported past Peninnis but lost to view. A nervous few minutes was soon forgotten as Dave said he'd got a dark blob over Gugh. I got my scope onto the blob to find 2 geese circling the island and one of them was the Mega. It was a Greylag Goose!! 2 had been on the island until a couple of days before we arrived so to get a chance at seeing another so soon was most welcome. Dave had told me he'd had the original 2 as a Scilly tick the week before and he'd been visiting for 31 years! The second bird turned out to be another Pink-footed Goose.

We parted ways and I carried on around the Garrison. I was just about to sit down for a quick seawatch at Morning Point when news of the Swainson's broke. Another power walk ensued down to the dump clump but as I passed Lower Broome another Yellow-browed Warbler was heard calling. I arrived at the clump to find a large gathering of birders and no chance of getting near the field it'd been seen in let alone being able to look into it so I turned round and headed to Porthloo Beach.

Here I sat on a bench and picked up two adult Mediterranean Gulls just offshore followed by a lovely smart male Black Redstart hopping about on some boulders.

Black Redstart

I then headed towards Lower Moors and as I'd just passed the ISBG hide I had a check of my phone to see what had been reported on the Whatsapp group. I scrolled passed a message that didn't sink in then I put my phone back in my pocket. I then got it back out and looked at the message again to see the words black and white warbler tresco along pool road. FUCK! A boat was leaving at 2pm which gave me 20 minutes to do a 22 minute walk back to the quay. I called George to see if he knew about the Warbler and he told me they'd just been watching it point blank for 3 minutes as they had been about 200yds away when it was found! I asked them to stay on it till I arrived. My second power walk of the day saw me arrive at the quay with 6 minutes and 4 seats on the boat to spare! I sat next to another Ian who'd I'd got to know via Twitter and who'd been laid up in bed most of the morning with a bad back but had suddenly made a recovery! 

People who follow me on Twitter know that my most wanted bird on the UK list had just been found and were sending me messages of good luck which was nice of them so when we arrived at Carn Near quay my third power walk of the day saw me trying to keep up with the front runners but failing miserably! We turned the corner onto Pool Road and saw a group of birders staring into the trees near one of the hides. Here I bumped into George and Matt looking nicely relaxed about it all! A large gap in the trees is where I positioned myself and waited for it to come to me. George tried to show me a photo of it on his camera but I said i'm not looking at it until I've seen the bird! A couple of minutes later and I suddenly laid eyes on the stripy humbug as it flicked around in the lichen covered branches and even better it was a stonking male. At last I'd finally seen a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER in the UK! I had further views by the track to the hide before it headed back down through the woods. Once everyone had seen it the happiness of the crowd was amazing and I found out that it was the most wanted of quite a few other people too including Kit Britten who had missed 5 previously so his cancelled trip to Shetland was all forgotten! A Yellow-browed Warbler was also noted but pretty much forgotten. 



3 images of the Black-and-white Warbler. Many thanks to Marc Read, Alison Allen and Ellis Lucs (again!) for use of their great photos.

Most people then headed back to the quay with a spring in their step but even before we got back there another black and white bird finally made my Scilly list (my 3rd tick of the day) when the Great Spotted Woodpecker decided to sit atop a tree calling! 4 Pink -footed Geese were in a nearby field and 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were out near Samson.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Pink-footed Geese

Once back on St.Mary's we again tried for the Swainson's down at Old Town but we failed again (I'd have seen it had I not gone to Tresco as I'd have been down there for its two showings around 3pm but I know what one I'd rather see!). We did however have the Greylag and Pink-foot fly over. What a day that was, I managed to walk 30,000 steps which is the most I've ever done before!

9th October - The day after the main event and we were still not quite believing we'd all got B+W Warbler on our lists! A few birders from the mainland had come over to see it but it wasn't seen again after we'd seen it. In fact I think it'd only been on show for a little over 3 hours.

Another try for the Swainson's again proved to be a waste of time but the 5th heard only Yellow-browed Warbler of the week called briefly. 

The first Peregrine of the week was seen hovering Kestrel like in the strong wind along Porthloo lane.

The final bird noted in my notebook was my 6th and final Scilly tick of the trip when I re found the elusive Water Pipit on the football pitch on the Garrison with a small group of  Meadow Pipits. Annoyingly it took off after a couple of minutes and wasn't seen again.


So another trip over and while it for the most part was a fairly quiet week birdwise compared to last year the certain stripy bird from across the pond made the whole week. the total for the trip was 109 species (2 less than last year) and personally had 1 lifer, 5 further Scilly ticks and 16 year ticks. Thanks to Matt and George for their company (though I wouldn't have been saying that had I dipped the warbler!) and of course it was good to see old friends and make a fair few new ones. Also thanks to those who've allowed me to use their photos.

10th October  - Last year we'd just got back to the van to head home when a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was found on St.Martin's. This year we were just queuing up for some Philp's Pasties at Hayle when a Swainson's Thrush was found on Bryher and decided to show itself off for a few days!! Can't see em all eh :/ 

Monday 28 September 2020

Home - 21.9.20

 As my two young kids were on a screaming meltdown I went and sat outside for a brief bit of peace and I was very glad I did as just before 7pm a Rock Pipit flew SW right over my house calling! A most unexpected garden tick and amazingly my 3rd pipit specie of the month!

North Norfolk - 20.9.20

Red-breasted Flycatcher (thanks to James Hanlon for his pic)


Brown Shrike

A few decent birds had been blown over the North Sea into Norfolk the best being only the second county record of Brown Shrike. George asked if I fancied joining him, Matt and Kai for a quick trip and so at 5am we were off. 

We arrived around 7.30am and grabbed a parking spot along Garden Drove in Warham Greens and walked up to join a small crowd looking at the bird. This was a lifer for the other three but it was my second after the Staines Moor bird back in 2009. It showed well if a tad distant and after our fill we walked back to the car and about half way back I picked up some movement in the neighbouring field and once in my bins I identified it as a Redstart which was my first of the year. A juvenile Spoonbill made the year list soon after as it flew over.

Next stop was Wells Woods were quite quickly we had very close views of the Red-breasted Flycatcher followed shortly followed by the one eyed juvenile Red-backed Shrike. As we had to be back around lunchtime and we'd seen all our target birds by 9.30am we headed home after a very enjoyable and successful morning.

 

Home - 13.9.20

 After the success of the Hertfordshire garden list challenge the club have decided to do it again for September and October. A Chiffchaff seen and heard on 4 occasions was a good record for the garden but on the 13th I had 2 Tree Pipits fly south over the house. My 3rd and 4th record in 6 years!

LAMMERGEIER!! - 31.8.20

     Lammergeier 
 

A few years back a young Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture) was filmed by a man out for a walk on the welsh side of the Bristol Channel and was then relocated in Devon where it hung around albeit elusively for a few days. Unfortunately it was rejected and not submitted onto the British list as it was most likely from a re-introduction scheme in the Alps. It seems this bird is also from the same scheme so we will just have to wait and see what happens to it.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and another young bird was seen just across the channel in Belgium and France the seen flying over Alderney on the Channel Islands. It was then seen again passing over the midlands and was amazingly and expertly found roosting in the Peak District by Dan Pointon. It  stuck around at various sites for a few days at a time and at one such site at Crowden it seemed settled so Matt Moreton called me on the Saturday (my birthday!) to see if I wanted to go and see it. 

An early start saw us heading up the M1 and just as we were about to turn off one of Matt's friends Dave Woodhouse rang to see if we could pick him up. This was handy as he'd been the previous day so there was no chance of us getting lost! As we drove through past the village of Hazelhead we spotted a handful of Red Grouse perched up at the side of the road which was a nice year tick. We eventually reached Crowden and parked up. The walk up only took about 25 minutes but showed me how unfit I am as I struggled to catch my breath! We socially distanced ourselves with a few others and got straight on the big one as she perched on a rock about 1/2 mile away. There I was watching an impressive LAMMERGEIER in England!Frustratingly on the few occasions it took flight it never came close enough to give us the proper scale and size of the bird but you could see some small bird (Pipits?) mobbing it an looking like specks of dust next to it!

Other noteworthy birds were 4 Bullfinch, 9+ Mistle Thrush, an untickable view of a Marsh/Willow Tit but best of the rest was a flock of 20 Ring Ouzel flitting between the Rowan trees on the walk back. This was almost as many as I've ever seen!

Friday 28 August 2020

College Lake + Tring Res - 16.8.20

Wood Sandpiper

Garganey

With 3 potential year ticks up for grabs I headed to the patch. First stop was College Lake where from the Octagon hide I connected with the smart Wood Sandpiper and an added bonus of a juvenile Garganey which I was hoping to see at Wilstone!

Black-necked Grebe

Wilstone did provide me with year tick number two with a juvenile Black-necked Grebe viewed from the hide. A Little Egret and Hobby were also noted.

Tringford was my final port of call for the morning and here on the muddy edges I noted 7 Green Sandpiper for year tick number 3 along with 4 Common Sandpiper and 3 Little Egret.

Saturday 25 July 2020

Home - 25.7.20

I'd just got in from putting the washing out and when I was closing the back door a Hobby zoomed over the garden in hot pursuit of a Swift.

More Crossbills - 24.7.20

At 8.20 am a single Crossbill flew North over Cassiobury Park followed 15 minutes later with 4 flying SW over Knutsford Rec.

Halsey Fields - 17.7.20

During a local moth event I briefly heard a Tawny Owl calling. This was species 167 for the year.

Another Mega Dip - 4.7.20

Long-eared Owl

Gannet

Razorbill

Puffin

The Cliffs!

After the Desert Warbler dip it would've been nice for the next twitch to be successful but unfortunately it wasn't to be. A Black-browed Albatross had been seen hanging around Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve in East Yorkshire and some amazingly gripping photos appeared online as it flew over the cliffs at eye level so myself and the Moreton brothers headed up. It'd disappeared the day before around 11am and hadn't been seen again so we weren't feeling too optimistic and so it proved with no sign all day. There were however some year ticks to be had.

The first was the strange sight of a Tree Sparrow feeding on seed heads on the cliff itself! Kittiwake, Puffin and Fulmar were noted and I finally ticked a lone Sand Martin for 2020. The best bird of the day was a Long-eared Owl which sat on a fence post for over 5 minutes affording decent views.

Fingers crossed for actually connecting on the next twitch!

Monday 29 June 2020

Watford Fields - 26.6.20

Another Crossbill was seen and heard as it flew over me this morning but no Siskin as yet.

Cassiobury - 24.6.20

The last few days had seen huge numbers of Crossbill and Siskin coming in off the sea up north so I'd been keeping an ear out for any flying over. A 6am start to try and miss the worst of the heat meant that I was in the right place to hear a single Crossbill calling as it flew over heading west.

Mega Dip - 20.6.20




Blyth's Reed Warbler

News broke late on Monday of the first twitchable Asian Desert Warbler up on Holy Island in Northumberland. It continued to show well all week even breaking into song but on Friday afternoon it was reported at 4.30pm but not again. Despite this news myself, George, Matt and Kai headed up and arrived just after 7am to the news that it had been searched for since dawn but the poor weather had changed around 4pm the previous and the bird had obviously used the better weather to move on. I did year tick Eider, Razorbill, Guillemot, Sandwich Tern, Shag and Gannet though!

As it was still early we then headed into Lincolnshire where at Far Ings NR we had better luck with the very showy Blyth's Reed Warbler. A new bird for the others but my second after one on Shetland in 2015.


Tringford - 29.5.20

Garganey

My third visit to patch in just under two weeks was a quick one but thankfully the main bird played ball and showed immediately albeit distantly. A drake Garganey was in with the Gadwall flock but I was looking onto the sun and it was either feeding or sleeping! 2 Lapwing were on the mud and on the way back to the car my first Hobby of the year was hunting overhead.

Herts Mega - 24.5.20


Red-necked Phalarope

It was back to Wilstone where mid morning a male Red-necked Phalarope had been found just off the jetty. The last record was almost in the same spot back in 2002 when a stunning female had been relocated from College Lake. A gap of 18 years since the last county record. Strangely the previous bird to that one at Wilstone was 18 years before that so going on those records the next one there should be in 2038!

Tring Reservoirs - 16.5.20

A 5.30am start up on the patch for my first visit in months along with Matt + George saw us trying for a few year ticks. We started at Marsworth where a Cuckoo was singing as soon as I opened my car door. A Sedge Warbler was singing from the reedbed along with a Reed Warbler. Out over the water the tail-less 1st Summer Little Gull was still present but soon vanished. 4 Common Sandpiper were flushed by a fisherman and a pair of Mandarin were noted.

Startops had 2 male Yellow Wagtail on the bank and a flyover Oystercatcher.

On Tringford the lower water level had attracted a pair of Little Ringed Plover but there was no sign of the previous days Bar-tailed Godwit or Greenshank.

Wilstone was quiet with just a Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail of note.

Halsey Fields - 4.5.20

As I was up early and had time to kill as the roads were so quiet I headed up to Halsey Fields to try and tick Willow Warbler for the year. I was successful straight away with 2 singing males.

Cassiobury + Whippendell Woods - 29.4.20

A day in the park proved fruitful even before i'd left the yard as a Firecrest started singing from the adjacent gardens. This was a park tick for me and only the 2nd ever record for the park. Down by the meadow a pair of Peregrine flew over and the drake Gadwall was on the river with his drake Mandarin friend!

Just before lunch I headed up to the woods and half way I stopped and was amazed to hear another singing Firecrest!! None in 20 years then 2 in a morning!

Watford - 27.4.20

The only benefits of having to go to work during the pandemic were the lack of traffic and that I was able to add new birds for the year list while working! While doing the bin round at the Hertsmere Nature Reserve I came across 2 singing Reed Warbler and then at Riverside Rec a Whitethroat and Garden Warbler.

24 Hour Garden Challenge

Another thing the bird club organised pre Coronavirus was a 24 hour Herts day list challenge but because we were stuck at home it was changed to the garden. I was in the garden about 4.30am and the early start was rewarded with a distant singing Cuckoo. In total I saw 40 species and finished 6th on the day. Other highlights were garden ticks of Common Tern and Treecreeper and a flyover Yellow Wagtail.

Gaddesdon Row - 23.4.20

I had to borrow a tool to replace a bathroom tap from George so after work I popped up to get it and on the way I heard a singing Lesser Whitethroat which George then got a few minutes later.

Garden Mega - 19.4.20

I decided to sit out from silly o'clock to try to add some extra species to the garden competition list and i'm glad I did as I added House Martin and Swift to the list but the best bird went to the Osprey that flew north at one point having a scrap with a Red Kite. A hoped for garden tick since I moved in back in 2014.

Home - 7.4.20

Always a good sight is the first Swallow of spring so 1 zooming north over the garden was welcomed.

Hunton Bridge + Garden NOCMIG - 2.4.20

Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic meaning we couldn't leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary the Herts Bird Club had come up with an April long garden bird competition to see who could see the most species in or from their garden.

On the way into work I was just going round the Hunton Bridge roundabout onto Hempstead Road when I noticed an Osprey heading low towards me presumably following the river or canal.

Once home I read on Twitter reports of Common Scoter being heard flying over peoples gardens from around the Bristol Channel heading NE. With this NOCMIG (NOCturnal MIGration) news I headed out into my garden and at just past 9.30pm I heard the nocturnal call of at least 2 Common Scoter! Another small group flew over about 10 minutes later then after that I heard both Wigeon and Teal. I tweeted this news out and a further 3 birders added it to their lockdown lists.

Wednesday 12 February 2020

Spring Already! - 8.2.20

Ring Ouzel

I popped over to drop some money off to George Moreton at his new house and to have a quick nose round and on the way I flushed up 2 Yellowhammer from the roadside into the hedges along the lane which were an unexpected year tick.

Ring Ouzel

After I headed over to Pitstone Hill where quite quickly I connected with the male Ring Ouzel that had over wintered. It's not a species I see every year but usually in a year I do see them I see them more than once. This one was my 26th in the UK.

2002 - 2
2004 - 3
2011 - 2
2014 - 3
2016 - 5
2018 - 2

So I wonder if this will be a multiple year? Time will tell!

Wednesday 29 January 2020

Home - 29.1.20

I was just about to pull the living room curtains when I noticed a large looking crow approaching at tree top height from the north. As it was just about to pass over the house I realised it was my first Raven of the year!

Monday 27 January 2020

Cassiobury Park - 27.1.20

A day spent litter picking the park produced 5 Mandarin and Little Owl for the year list taking me to 129 species drawing me level with this time last year. Other notables were Kingfisher and 30 Siskin.

Norfolk pt 2 - 26.1.20

Caspian Gull

We stayed the night in Sheringham and before breakfast we went to try and see the long staying 1st winter Caspian Gull. As luck would have it the first bird I laid eyes on was it! My second Norfolk tick of the weekend with the wagtail. 4 Red-throated Diver flew past off shore but we failed to see the Purple Sandpiper.
Waxwing

We made our way back west along the coast road stopping off at various places first of which was Salthouse. We parked by the duck pond and upon exiting the car a Chiffchaff gave a brief burst of song! Not something I'd heard before in January. But our main target took a few minutes of searching before it flew in over our heads and showed well before flying off into the distance. My favourite bird the Waxwing.

At Cley a quick walk down the east bank got us the hoped for Bearded Tits.

Wells didn't give us the Rough-legged Buzzard we wanted to see (my 2nd dip of the year for this species!) but Bullfinch was penned into our notebooks.

Our penultimate stop of the day was at the far end of Holkham Freshmarsh where we saw 2 Great White Egret and 3 White-fronted Geese.

Cockley Cley was our last stop but the weather had changed from sunny and calm to cloudy and windy and so that put paid to any hope of seeing Goshawk.

We finished on 115 species which equalled last years total and pushed my year list up to 127.

Norfolk - 25.1.20

George Moreton invited me along on a Norfolk weekender and so at 6am we were on our way North. First stop was Lynford Arboretum where we saw 3-4 Hawfinch in the paddocks with a similar number of Marsh Tit and a lone Reed Bunting. Crossbill were heard distantly but the biggest surprise was a singing Woodlark by the lake!

ABHEY Wagtail!

70+ Golden Plover flew over Ickburgh after leaving Lynford and then it was a 40 minute drive to our next stop at Sedgeford where straight away we connected with the (Alaskan) Blue-headed Eastern Yellow Wagtail on its favoured manure pile!  A couple of Red Kite were also noted.

At Old Hunstanton we dipped a Black Redstart but did add Brent Goose to the list.

Thornham delivered with 10 Twite, a couple of Linnet and Pink-footed Goose.

Bittern

Titchwell saw the list boosted with the following year ticks. Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, 2 Spotted Redshank, Water Rail, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, 3 Long-tailed Duck and a Bittern.

2 of the 8 Cattle Egret

We had a quick visit to Burnham Overy Staithe to try to see the 7 Cattle Egret on the marsh only to find there were 8! This equalled the largest flock I'd seen of the species and that was the then record breaking flock of 8 at Maple Cross back in 1992! 30+ Ruff was a good sight.

Some of the Grey Partridge

Holkham also produced a good list of year ticks with 30 White-fronted Geese, 10 Grey Partridge, 30+ Snow Bunting, 2000+ Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Egyptian Goose and a handful of Rock Pipit.


We finished the day off at Stiffkey for the harrier roost. It was a very poor roost with just 2 Hen Harrier being seen and no Marsh Harrier or Barn Owl seen.

More Odds and Sods

A Sparrowhawk flew over Knutsford Rec on the 13th Jan

Lesser Redpoll and Mistle Thrush were added from Cassiobury Park on 15th Jan

A Treecreeper was seen on the 22nd Jan also at Cassiobury Park.

Saturday 11 January 2020

Odds and Sods

More year ticks trickled in through the week at work with Grey Wagtail over my old patch of the Mundens Estate on the 6th, Nuthatch at Garston on the 8th and a fly past Peregrine in Watford on the 9th Jan.

Suffolk - 5.1.20

I joined Brendon Fagan and Terry Smith for a dawn to dusk days birding to Suffolk to try and boost the year list.

First stop was Freston in the shadow of the Orwell Bridge hoping to see a Long-tailed Duck. In the hour or so we were there we failed to see it but did connect with 2 Great Northern Diver, 13 Goldeneye, 6 Knot and a handful of Red-breasted Merganser.

We then headed to Bawdsey to try to see the wintering Rough-legged Buzzard. Again despite looking around its favoured area we failed to see it but I did add Common Buzzard to the list and when I popped to the loo in the picnic car park I heard Goldcrest and when walking back to join the others I accidently flushed a Woodcock that was hidden in the roadside scrub.

As we were 2 minutes away from East Lane pits we went to have a look for the female Scaup that had been reported. Here we completed the hat-trick of dips for the day as there was no sign! But I did note 3 Red-throated Diver offshore.

Siberian Stonechat

Our penultimate destination was Hollesley Marshes RSPB where we were hoping to see a bird that once DNA results come back could become a new species for all 3 of us despite 2 of us having already seen one before! On the walk up I saw a Kingfisher which quickly vanished but once on site we were told its still here and within 5 minutes we all laid eyes on the 1st winter male Siberian Stonechat. Brendon had seen at least 3 and I'd seen one in Kent but since the species had been split into Siberian and Stejneger's Stonechat none of these were tickable so hopefully the DNA will say this is a Siberian and we can finally add it to our respective lists! A male Common Stonechat, female Marsh Harrier and a singing Cetti's Warbler were also added. Just before we got back to the car we scanned over the fields behind Shingle Street and saw the 3 Whooper Swan and I found a nice male Merlin sat in the field which was a bonus.

Whooper Swan and Merlin (dark blob on the right hand side!)

Green-winged Teal

Our last stop of the day was to my favourite reserve Minsmere RSPB. Without checking this could well be my first ever winter visit and it was nice and quiet with no Black-headed Gulls screaming their heads off on the scrapes! After a scan of the Teal we finally saw the male Green-winged Teal fast asleep and 2 more Whooper Swan did a fly-by. On the sea were over 20 Red-throated Diver.

A good day out and I ended the day on 84 species for the year.