Back Garden Mega - 17.2.16

Due to many boring reasons I won't mention on here I've not been out birding for a couple of weeks so to get my fix I've had to look out to my garden. So far this month I've added Cormorant and Mistle Thrush to the garden list thanks to single fly overs but today around 9am I was stood by my patio doors looking out when every bird suddenly took off. Thinking a Sparrowhawk was about to come through I was amazed to see a small but chunky falcon appear from the SE heading at just below tree top height passing over the end of my garden before disappearing behind the houses opposite. It was obviously just passing through rather than hunting as it never broke from its direct and fast wingbeats and in the morning sun it's slaty grey/blue upperparts, thin black terminal band on the tail and orangey brown underparts were pretty obvious. It was only a male Merlin!! It became number 55 on the garden list and by far the best bird so far! Its only the 4th I've ever seen in Hertfordshire too. Just got to hope I see a Hobby in the summer now!

Cassiobury Park Or The Amazon?! - 12.2.16

Blue and Gold Macaw

 

Amazon Parrot

 

I had a couple of spare hours so I decided to have a walk around the park. It was its usual quiet self with a couple of Coal Tit on the feeders from the hide and a pair of Pheasant under the feeders picking up scraps. But just as I was walking back to the car I came across a couple of rather interesting birds. The most noticeable was a Blue and Gold Macaw and with it an Amazon Parrot! I'd seen the Macaw last year flying around but this was the best view I'd got of it. Apparently from what I've heard the owner comes in in the morning and lets them go and then comes back to collect them! Not sure I'd want to let a few thousand pounds worth of exotic birds loose with Peregrine and Sparrowhawk around!

Amwell NR - 1.2.16

Even without holding much hope that yesterdays Franklin's Gull would reappear myself and a few of Herts keenest listers ventured over to Amwell just in case! Standing at the viewpoint I quickly heard the familiar pinging of a Bearded Tit. After a couple of minutes the female bird that had been present for a while flew from one small clump of reeds to the next. Only my 3rd in Herts! Other birds to keep us interested were a flyby Kingfisher and fly over Peregrine. The next good bird was a 2nd winter Yellow-Legged Gull which again was only my 3rd in Herts. This was followed by a smart 1st Winter Caspian Gull but no sooner as I went to get a photo it flew off and landed too far away to be worth bothering with! This was only my 2nd for Herts! As dark fell and all hopes of the Franklin's being found had diminished I picked out a pair of Mandarin coming off the island just as the locals said they would. These were soon followed by a further 5 pairs! So 12 Mandarin together represented my biggest ever flock in Herts beating 11 seen a few years ago at Wilstone! On the walk back to the car I joined a few people looking out into the gloom and quite quickly a Woodcock flew past us. All in all a good couple of hours even if I did suffer my first Herts dip in a couple of years.

Watford + Frustration! - 31.1.16

During the morning I popped over to my mums to have a shower as mine had packed up even before having a new one fitted and once showered I had a spot of lunch while looking out into her garden. Bingo up popped the male Blackcap that had been visiting for the last few days. In the afternoon Myself and Carey headed over to her parents for dinner at a nearby pub in Chesham. The day before a Franklin's Gull pitched up at Fen Drayton lagoons in Cambridgeshire and for some reason when leaving the pub I checked my pager only to find that it had appeared briefly to a lucky dozen or so birders at Amwell! The second 1st for Herts in 3 weeks! It was only when I started receiving phone signal again I had a barrage of missed calls and texts telling me such. Thankfully in a way it only staying for 20 minutes meant that I wouldn't have got there in time to see it before it flew anyway.

Wilstone Reservoir - 28.1.16

I headed up to the patch for the evening gull roost and found most of the gull present were congregated on the remaining bits of dry land. But before paying attention to them I headed over to the jetty to see if I could find the 2 Egyptian Geese in amongst the Greylags. With no sign of those so I walked back towards the overflows but as I reached the NE corner I noticed a large gull heading my way and on getting it in the bins I identified it as a 2nd winter Herring Gull. Not amazing in bird terms but not overly common at the reservoirs and so was a nice patch year tick. It got even better as I reached the top of the steps as I picked out another large gull flying over the reedbed. I got it in the scope and was delighted to see it was an adult GBB Gull. This species is even more uncommon here and I think I was lucky last year seeing 3! I spent over an hour scanning the gulls but didn't pick out the hoped for Mediterranean Gull before I was too cold and headed home at 4.30. Dave Bilcock then tweeted that the Med had been seen at 5pm! Typical. One other bird of note was a white colour ringed BH Gull TJCY which was a returning bird from Poland!

Cley - 24.1.16

A trip to the north Norfolk coast with the Watford RSPB group saw us head to Cley NWT. The day before there had been a good selection of birds with Grey Phalarope, Red-Necked Grebe and Smew all being seen. But typically as we arrived we found out that all 3 had gone! Myself and Bob Harris walked up to the new Babcock hide in the vain hope the phalarope had reappeared but it hadn't. During the muddy walk to the hide I added my first year tick of the trip with a nice male Stonechat sat on top of a clump of reeds. From the hide were 2 Water Pipit and 5 Knot. Walking back towards the reserve I scanned over the floods and picked out 7 Ruff for the year including one with a very white head and neck and around 40 Dunlin. Walking up the East bank I heard the pinging the call of some Bearded Tit but only caught very brief glimpses of them in flight. A scan of the sea didn't produce a great deal as the wind direction was all wrong blowing off the land. 5 Common Scoter,7 Red-Throated Diver and singles of Guillemot and Kittiwake were the only things written down. As I reached the beach car park I had a scan of the 200+ Brent Geese in the hope of seeing the Black Brant which had been present at the start of the year but again failed. I then spent the rest of the day sat in the hide looking over Pat's Pool hoping the adult Caspian Gull would put in an appearance. 25 Avocet brightened the day up as did a pair of Marsh Harrier but suddenly all the ducks grazing to the right of the hide took off and in swooped a female Hen Harrier. As it turned out the Caspian Gull failed to show!

Wilstone Reservoir - 23.1.16

Marsh Tit

 

Shelduck

 

Another few hours walking around the reservoir failed to produce anything of note other than the female Shelduck until I reached cemetery corner. I noticed a small flock of Chaffinch so was busy looking in hope for a Brambling when I noticed someone had seeded the path and they were dropping to the floor to feed. I lifted my bins to have a scan through but the first bird I laid eyes on was a Marsh Tit! I'd tried in vain last year to spot one without any luck so to jam in on this ringed bird was a spot of luck and was also my first for the reservoirs. After managing to get a decent photo I carried on round to the jetty. I had a scan for the Bonaparte's Gull but that seems to have disappeared but I did pick out a Little Egret and my first Red-Crested Pochard of the year albeit the female I saw in December.

College Lake + Tring Reservoirs - 21.1.16

Teal On Ice!

 

I made the most of the nice weather and headed north again with my first stop being College Lake to see if anything had dropped in. It hadn't but a male Bullfinch flew past the view point and onto the list so I was soon off to Wilstone with the aim of clearing up a few missing patch year ticks. The wind was very cold at the top of the steps but this soon died down. Before reaching the new overflow a Skylark flew over quickly followed by a Sparrowhawk that dived into the bushes after something. As I entered the trees on the West side I picked out a movement and was delighted to see it was a Treecreeper. It took me until April to see one last year! From the hide I picked out a Chiffchaff feeding on the stones along Drayton Bank in the company of a Grey Wagtail! Up by the dry canal a Greenfinch flew over and as I reached the wooden gate for the Waddesden Estate I picked up a Peregrine as it flew over the reservoir as it poked through the trees. More Bullfinch were seen with a total of 9 around the reservoir (5 male).

A quick stop at Tringford returned a roosting Little Egret and my 11th Bullfinch of the day!

A walk around Startops saw me finally add House Sparrow around the farm buildings and then from the hide looking over Marsworth I saw a Kingfisher, 2 Bittern, Green Woodpecker and 2 Corn Bunting dropping into the reeds before the cold got the better of me and I headed home.

Another Herts Mega! - 10.1.16

Slavonian Grebe

 

After the excitement of the day before I woke up fairly late to the news that a Slavonian Grebe had been found at Wilstone Reservoir! Ok its not as rare as the gull but it was only my second in the county with my first being the last record in Herts also at Wilstone back in 2012. In fact I can only remember 1 other in Herts since I took up county listing. This bird showed well if infrequently off the new overflow but I had to get back to painting doors!

Herts Mega! - 9.1.16

 

Bonaparte's Gull

 

With the news that the Bonaparte's Gull had been seen at the end of the previous day I decided to get to Wilstone for first light. Expecting the car park to be full I pulled in to find numerous spaces! I walked around to the jetty where I joined Ian Williams, Mike Illet and Lawrence Drummond. As the light improved the gulls piled in from their roost but no sign of our target. Just then Ian got a call from Dave Bilcock that he had it by the new overflow but it was flying our way. Nervous scanning of the flock of gulls saw nothing until all of a sudden I found it and shouted I've got it! I got everyone else on it and then for an hour or so the bird showed to the growing crowd. The who's who of Herts birding were on site enjoying this mega but just after 10 it took off towards the fields north of Miswell Farm. It did come back much to the relief of the new comers. This was only my 2nd in the UK after an adult at Pagham Lagoon in 2002.

After filling my boots with the gull I walked back to car with the intention of walking all the way round but a looming rain shower made me change my mind and so I headed to Startops. From the hide I spied my first Snipe of the year but then walked in my mate Bob Harris who had been watching the Scaup which was a county tick for him. His face was a picture when I mentioned the Bonaparte's Gull as what I hadn't realised was that he'd sent his pager off to be refurbished! We walked around Tringford but I left him to wander over to Wilstone as I took my time at Tringford. Once I'd finished there I walked back around Startops and bumped back into Bob who said he'd caught up with the gull which was good. I decided to head home for a cuppa. A great day.