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.