ELEONORA’S FALCON! - 28.5.22

Eleonora’s Falcon (thanks to Ashley Howe for the use of his photo)

A photo taken at Sandwich in Kent of a Hobby was posted on Twitter only for it to be re identified as an Eleonora’s Falcon. Question is would it do what all the recent sightings had done and vanish without a trace having only been seen by the finder? Thankfully no and the following morning it was seen at Worth Marshes and showed well all day. 

Saturday dawned and at 4am George and Matt joined me on he trip down. We arrived in good time and joined the throng of birders around 6am. A birder told us that the female Red-footed Falcon was on show distantly in a bush which we got onto and was my first since the male at Wilstone back in 2010. He also told us about a falcon sat in a bush by the railway also at a distance. We got on it and it looked promising. After a couple of hours a Magpie annoyed it enough to make it move and sure enough it was the 2nd year female ELEONORA’S FALCON the first ever twitchable bird to the masses. Unfortunately after 4.5 hours of watching it do nothing apart from fly from one bush to the adjacent one when a crow flushed it we had to leave and so we never saw it properly in flight. It decided to do that about 25 minutes after we left! So along with a couple of Hobby it was a 3 falcon day and Avocet was also added to the year list. 

Hemel - 8.5.22

 Sitting out in the garden hoping for my first Swift of the year was successful when 3 flew in from the west.

Apsley - 28.4.22

 I was walking to pick up my boy when something caught my eye above me. I looked up and was amazed to see not 1 but 5 Hobby flying NW in a tight group. I’ve never seen Hobby on active migration before so it was certainly unexpected. As soon as they’d passed a Peregrine zoomed through. 

Herts Patch Challenge

The weekend of the 23-24th April saw the Herts bird club organise a local patch challenge competition. Teams of between 1-4 people had 48 hours to see as many species of bird on their patch as possible with a points system in place for how scarce/rare the bird is and for seeing a certain amount of different species i.e waders or warblers.

My team consisted of myself with some help from Ben Miller. I was awake around 5am and upon checking my phone he’d messaged me about a Whimbrel and Greenshank he’d already noted! As it was I missed these two over the weekend.

I started at Marsworth reservoir where a Cuckoo was cuckooing by the reed bed. A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from behind the reservoir, Sedge and Reed Warblers were heard and a drake Mandarin was tucked away almost from view. I then nipped over the road to Tringford where I immediately saw a Barn Owl at the far end of the dam. I was just about to get a photo when a jogger appeared from the woods and flushed it! A Green Sandpiper was also flushed by him. 

Over at Wilstone 4 Yellow Wagtail flew over, 3 Cattle Egret sat on one of the old shooting butts, a Dunlin flew towards the other water bodies and from the hide I found 3 Little Gulls and 2 Arctic Terns the latter of which didn’t hang around. A handful of other year ticks were seen dotted around and over at Pitstone Quarry 2 Little Ringed Plover and a Redshank were seen.

I then nipped into College Lake where a Ruff had been found earlier in the day but only for a year tick seeing as it’s just over the border in Bucks!

After 11 hours on site and having walked 21,000 steps I went home for a well deserved cuppa.

Sunday dawned and an unwell child meant that I couldn’t get on site until 2pm. News of a Garden Warbler saw me start off in the woods at Startops where I immediately heard it singing but it was typically elusive. A further 8 species were added over the next 5 or so hours including a nice Yellowhammer and a drake Garganey.

I finished the weekend having seen 90 species (1less than the St.Albans team) but I’d totalled 140 points which was 4 more than the Ver Valley team meaning that I finished as the winner! A tiring but enjoyable 2 days and with a tea mug and notebook as a prize!

 

Cassiobury - 14.4.22

 An early start produced a calling Tawny Owl near the yard. 

Wilstone + College Lake - 10.4.22

 My first visit to the reservoirs for a while was very productive. 2 Cattle Egret were on the bank and were my first in Herts since the then record breaking flock of 8 at Maple across back in 1992. Common Tern, Swallow and Willow Warbler were also noted for the first time this year. While I was stood on the jetty talking to Steve Rodwell the local gulls started calling and spiralling upwards. It was then I picked out an Osprey heading NW! According to Steve I’m the Osprey magnet!

Fterwards I popped into College Lake where from the main viewpoint I located the 2 drake Garganey asleep in front of the Octagon hide.

Garganey

Cattle Egret

Oxhey Park - 31.3.22

 Doing some work in the park for the upcoming green flag judging I heard a Blackcap singing near Bushey Arches. 

Watford - 21.3.22

 I was weeding the annual bedding beds at Langley Way when I heard a familiar call overhead. Sure enough I laid eyes on it and it was a lovely male Yellow Wagtail.

Watford - 17.3.22

 Whilst working at KGV allaying fields I heard a commotion above. I looked up to find 5 Herring Gulls and 2 Red Kites mobbing an Osprey! A Chiffchaff was singing nearby too. 

Hemel - 13.3.22

 A Chiffchaff was heard singing from the garden from somewhere down the road. 

Cassiobury - 10.3.22

 A Treecreeper was seen by the tennis courts