Monday, 31 December 2018
Friday, 28 December 2018
I'm Still Here
It's been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Since late September, the car has been a bit temperamental and I have been reluctant to drive all that far. I've had the thing, a Seat Leon for nearly 15 years now and problems have been building up, which have been tolerable, but recently the steering rack started to leak and at over a grand to fix wasn't worth doing. I eventually solved it by trading it in and getting a new Mazda 2.
Other things have also got in the way of getting out of course, with the build up to Christmas, things like family visits, taking Mum shopping and the usual health issues.
However today I was determined to get down to Amwell as my last visit was way back on the 9th September. The weather wasn't ideal as it remained a bit misty and murky all morning, and so felt a bit colder than the 10 degrees suggested.
I arrived about the same time a Ron Cousins, and Jane Free was there as well. We missed a family party of White Fronted Geese-seen first thing by Phil and there hasn't been a great deal else of interest but at least I was out seeing things and having a nice chat at the same time. Had the sun been out, I would have expected the Bittern to appear but it remained tucked away out of sight. Ron thought he saw a small bird feeding on reed mace in the general area but nothing was seen in his scope, so we can forget the possibility of a Penduline Tit.
After about an hour, the Greylags flew in, but without any rarer geese, which we assumed were feeding on fields somewhere. Two Egyptians did come in after the others left and while I did a quick circuit around the picnic area. One flock of Siskins and a few Redwings were all I could find though.
Other things have also got in the way of getting out of course, with the build up to Christmas, things like family visits, taking Mum shopping and the usual health issues.
However today I was determined to get down to Amwell as my last visit was way back on the 9th September. The weather wasn't ideal as it remained a bit misty and murky all morning, and so felt a bit colder than the 10 degrees suggested.
I arrived about the same time a Ron Cousins, and Jane Free was there as well. We missed a family party of White Fronted Geese-seen first thing by Phil and there hasn't been a great deal else of interest but at least I was out seeing things and having a nice chat at the same time. Had the sun been out, I would have expected the Bittern to appear but it remained tucked away out of sight. Ron thought he saw a small bird feeding on reed mace in the general area but nothing was seen in his scope, so we can forget the possibility of a Penduline Tit.
After about an hour, the Greylags flew in, but without any rarer geese, which we assumed were feeding on fields somewhere. Two Egyptians did come in after the others left and while I did a quick circuit around the picnic area. One flock of Siskins and a few Redwings were all I could find though.
Friday, 23 November 2018
Red Necked Grebe
Colin and I had a fairly short day out last Sunday, and ended up visiting a couple of sites new to us.
The intention was to go to Holme Fen and see the regular Rough legged Buzzard (we saw one here a few years ago) plus the Short Eared Owls. However, with thick fog at home and further north, we decided to try a couple of other long staying birds.
Ferry meadows in Peterborough is a well known spot and regularly featured in one of the birding magazines back in the 80's and 90's, but I have never been there before. However since we were in the area and there was a now rather scarce Red Necked Grebe present we headed there first. We eventually left the fog behind, and arrived to bright sunshine and a rather heavy frost. Needless to say it was rather cold as well.
The grebe had been seen regularly near the site of the Roman barn not far from the car park so we went straight there. Unfortunately, while there were a few Great Crested Grebes here, plus a few Mallards and Tufted Ducks, most of the birds seemed to be on the far side so we gradually made our way there with the occasional detour to the other bodies of water on the way.
M most of the dabbling ducks were on one of the smaller reedy lakes and some looked really stunning in the cold sunshine, so i had to get a few snaps of the nearby drake Wigeon.
We eventually reached the far side of the main lake where the ducks were and started scanning, but failed to find the Red Necked. However, in a short space of time Colin found one of two treecreepers which proved hard to track in the camera and while we were trying to follow on of them two very loud Kingfishers flew past. I managed to get a few Treecreeper images.
Continuing on to the car park I stopped off to get some shots of the autumn colour by the river.
Checking over the lake form a new vantage point I spotted two Grebes near the distant island, heads tucked in but swimming purposefully. One looked a bit small and dark but unfortunately remained a long way off. Shame really as the nearby bay would have been a better location. It must have read my mind as it gradually made it's way towards us and ended up feeding in the bay very close to us. Probably the closets we have ever got to this now rather rare grebe.
After a cup of coffee we went through a few options and chose Stanwick gravel pits, another new site. Expecting a typical mature pit complex we discovered it was more of a country park using the disused railway line, so proved to be an easy stroll. We were after egrets, though reports suggested they were at the far northern end a mile away.
There were a lot of Redwings on the way up, and a rather nice bonus of a very loud low flying Raven.
We reached the last pit, found the herd of cattle and noted two egrets in the water though a long way off. The larger one was obviously a Great White and the smaller appeared to be a Little-confirmed when I was able to access the field edge. Not what we wanted though. I spent quite some time checking the cattle and a flock of sheep in a field further north, but it seemed like our target Cattle Egrets weren't present. Disappointed we started to return bumping into a birder and letting him know we were unsuccessful.
About ten minutes later I was some way back to the car and had found a small Goldcrest flock containing a single Chiffchaff when we heard someone call us. A jogger had appeared and she asked us if it we were looking for Cattle Egrets. Having confirmed that we were, we found out the birder we had chatted to had found them and asked her to pass the message on. Very gratefully we made our way north again.
As it turned out we were only a few hundred yards short of a second field with cattle in, and there were three Cattle Egrets with them. Thanks to the obscuring bushes and their mobility it was hard to get decent images but, I ended up with some decent shots.
After lunch we finally drove over to Holme Fen, meeting up with a group of regulars parked by what barely passes for a road and spent some time scanning the area. They told me that the Buzzard had been seen on and off to the north, and had on previous days been quite close to the road, but the one report earlier in the day had it perched in a tree around a mile to the north east. The regulars were waiting for the Short Eared Owls, of which up to six are wintering here, but they hadn't shown by 2pm. As I needed to get home before dark to get some of the more tender plants into shelter, we left them to it. The camera lens I had wasn't ideal for low light flight images anyway, so if we get another opportunity I hope to be better prepared.
The intention was to go to Holme Fen and see the regular Rough legged Buzzard (we saw one here a few years ago) plus the Short Eared Owls. However, with thick fog at home and further north, we decided to try a couple of other long staying birds.
Ferry meadows in Peterborough is a well known spot and regularly featured in one of the birding magazines back in the 80's and 90's, but I have never been there before. However since we were in the area and there was a now rather scarce Red Necked Grebe present we headed there first. We eventually left the fog behind, and arrived to bright sunshine and a rather heavy frost. Needless to say it was rather cold as well.
The grebe had been seen regularly near the site of the Roman barn not far from the car park so we went straight there. Unfortunately, while there were a few Great Crested Grebes here, plus a few Mallards and Tufted Ducks, most of the birds seemed to be on the far side so we gradually made our way there with the occasional detour to the other bodies of water on the way.
M most of the dabbling ducks were on one of the smaller reedy lakes and some looked really stunning in the cold sunshine, so i had to get a few snaps of the nearby drake Wigeon.
We eventually reached the far side of the main lake where the ducks were and started scanning, but failed to find the Red Necked. However, in a short space of time Colin found one of two treecreepers which proved hard to track in the camera and while we were trying to follow on of them two very loud Kingfishers flew past. I managed to get a few Treecreeper images.
Continuing on to the car park I stopped off to get some shots of the autumn colour by the river.
Checking over the lake form a new vantage point I spotted two Grebes near the distant island, heads tucked in but swimming purposefully. One looked a bit small and dark but unfortunately remained a long way off. Shame really as the nearby bay would have been a better location. It must have read my mind as it gradually made it's way towards us and ended up feeding in the bay very close to us. Probably the closets we have ever got to this now rather rare grebe.
After a cup of coffee we went through a few options and chose Stanwick gravel pits, another new site. Expecting a typical mature pit complex we discovered it was more of a country park using the disused railway line, so proved to be an easy stroll. We were after egrets, though reports suggested they were at the far northern end a mile away.
There were a lot of Redwings on the way up, and a rather nice bonus of a very loud low flying Raven.
We reached the last pit, found the herd of cattle and noted two egrets in the water though a long way off. The larger one was obviously a Great White and the smaller appeared to be a Little-confirmed when I was able to access the field edge. Not what we wanted though. I spent quite some time checking the cattle and a flock of sheep in a field further north, but it seemed like our target Cattle Egrets weren't present. Disappointed we started to return bumping into a birder and letting him know we were unsuccessful.
About ten minutes later I was some way back to the car and had found a small Goldcrest flock containing a single Chiffchaff when we heard someone call us. A jogger had appeared and she asked us if it we were looking for Cattle Egrets. Having confirmed that we were, we found out the birder we had chatted to had found them and asked her to pass the message on. Very gratefully we made our way north again.
As it turned out we were only a few hundred yards short of a second field with cattle in, and there were three Cattle Egrets with them. Thanks to the obscuring bushes and their mobility it was hard to get decent images but, I ended up with some decent shots.
After lunch we finally drove over to Holme Fen, meeting up with a group of regulars parked by what barely passes for a road and spent some time scanning the area. They told me that the Buzzard had been seen on and off to the north, and had on previous days been quite close to the road, but the one report earlier in the day had it perched in a tree around a mile to the north east. The regulars were waiting for the Short Eared Owls, of which up to six are wintering here, but they hadn't shown by 2pm. As I needed to get home before dark to get some of the more tender plants into shelter, we left them to it. The camera lens I had wasn't ideal for low light flight images anyway, so if we get another opportunity I hope to be better prepared.
Saturday, 10 November 2018
Autumn Colours, Aston End and the Garden
Last Sunday I went for a walk around Aston End again, with the intention of capturing the autumnal scenery. Unlike my last visit, two weeks previously, it was rather dull and overcast and I wasn't expecting much. However the leaf colour had improved, and the spindles in particular had changed from a dull pink to a rather nice red.
Birds were a little hard to find, and it seemed to be a lot quieter than last time. There were a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits flying around the fields, but eight Yellowhammers was a big improvement. It took a bit of time but I eventually located some thrushes. 18 Fieldfare, 9 Redwings and two Mistle Thrush were found around the horse field along with a few Blackbirds. Birds were mobile so I might have missed some-no Song Thrushes for example which was a bit odd.
This morning while pottering in the garden I took a few photos. Although a lot of the plants are now well past their best, there is still some colour, and the few bees and insects enjoying the warm sunshine still have a lot of flowers, mainly bulbs, sages and fuchsias to feed on.
Birds were a little hard to find, and it seemed to be a lot quieter than last time. There were a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits flying around the fields, but eight Yellowhammers was a big improvement. It took a bit of time but I eventually located some thrushes. 18 Fieldfare, 9 Redwings and two Mistle Thrush were found around the horse field along with a few Blackbirds. Birds were mobile so I might have missed some-no Song Thrushes for example which was a bit odd.
This morning while pottering in the garden I took a few photos. Although a lot of the plants are now well past their best, there is still some colour, and the few bees and insects enjoying the warm sunshine still have a lot of flowers, mainly bulbs, sages and fuchsias to feed on.
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Autumn Colours and Landscape
Back at work after my two weeks off, so I am going through recent images and working on a few.
After the long trek to Cornwall on Friday, I spent the next couple of days recuperating.
I carried on working in the garden ,but rather less strenuous than of late. This meant getting the last of the autumn planting in-a nice Hydrangea aspera which has replaced a rather large but tatty and not very manageable purple leaved Elder. I had misgivings about taking the Elder out, as the birds like it, but it is a martyr to greenfly, and because it is by the steps to the gate, the honeydew is a problem, and the unruly leggy growth gets in the way. The hydrangea seems to be a very good late summer bee plant and the cover provided should be useful. Ive also put in a climbing rose beside it, to grow over the shed and up the Rowan-not sure what it is as Sarah found it growing wild by the river Lee some years ago. Its rather larger than anticipated and had to move it from the path side fence as it was getting in the way. Other than that, its been a gradual preparation for the colder weather, which from the forecast is likely to be next weekend. Not looking forward to it with the huge quantity of tender and half hardy plants I have to deal with.
In the meantime it has still been warm and sunny during the daytime. I had Skylarks going over the garden every day, and also had a couple of Fieldfares and Redwings as well, so despite the fairly still conditions, birds are moving.
On Sunday I had a stroll round Aston End with the intention of getting some scenic photos. Luckily I left fairly early and there was still a bit of mist in the air which produced one or two worthwhile images.
By the time I hit Aston End, it had cleared though remained damp underfoot and the dew remained in places all morning. The dogwoods, maples and viburnums were colouring up nicely and it seems to be a good berry year as well, though a lot of the spindles are a rather pale pink rather than the more appealing red.
The fields are largely planted now-brassicas are popular this year. There are a lot more Meadow Pipits and Skylarks than last month, but I had a hard time finding much else. Two Chiffchaffs and a few Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Greenfinch seemed to be the best that I could manage. A couple of gull flocks went through, one consisting of about a dozen Lesser Black Backs went north, and a small flock of Black Headed and Common Gulls were wheeling around over the ford before drifting west. Best birds were probably the 22 Fieldfares along the river near Lords Farm. Could be the first of the usual wintering birds, but they might just be passing through.
I tried to get a few scenic shots while in Cornwall, but the lighting wasn't great. This shot of the tin mine at Ballowal Down worked best as a B&W image with some grain and contrast, a bit reminiscent of the old Tri X film. Might need to tinker with it a bit more.
After the long trek to Cornwall on Friday, I spent the next couple of days recuperating.
I carried on working in the garden ,but rather less strenuous than of late. This meant getting the last of the autumn planting in-a nice Hydrangea aspera which has replaced a rather large but tatty and not very manageable purple leaved Elder. I had misgivings about taking the Elder out, as the birds like it, but it is a martyr to greenfly, and because it is by the steps to the gate, the honeydew is a problem, and the unruly leggy growth gets in the way. The hydrangea seems to be a very good late summer bee plant and the cover provided should be useful. Ive also put in a climbing rose beside it, to grow over the shed and up the Rowan-not sure what it is as Sarah found it growing wild by the river Lee some years ago. Its rather larger than anticipated and had to move it from the path side fence as it was getting in the way. Other than that, its been a gradual preparation for the colder weather, which from the forecast is likely to be next weekend. Not looking forward to it with the huge quantity of tender and half hardy plants I have to deal with.
In the meantime it has still been warm and sunny during the daytime. I had Skylarks going over the garden every day, and also had a couple of Fieldfares and Redwings as well, so despite the fairly still conditions, birds are moving.
On Sunday I had a stroll round Aston End with the intention of getting some scenic photos. Luckily I left fairly early and there was still a bit of mist in the air which produced one or two worthwhile images.
By the time I hit Aston End, it had cleared though remained damp underfoot and the dew remained in places all morning. The dogwoods, maples and viburnums were colouring up nicely and it seems to be a good berry year as well, though a lot of the spindles are a rather pale pink rather than the more appealing red.
The fields are largely planted now-brassicas are popular this year. There are a lot more Meadow Pipits and Skylarks than last month, but I had a hard time finding much else. Two Chiffchaffs and a few Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Greenfinch seemed to be the best that I could manage. A couple of gull flocks went through, one consisting of about a dozen Lesser Black Backs went north, and a small flock of Black Headed and Common Gulls were wheeling around over the ford before drifting west. Best birds were probably the 22 Fieldfares along the river near Lords Farm. Could be the first of the usual wintering birds, but they might just be passing through.
I tried to get a few scenic shots while in Cornwall, but the lighting wasn't great. This shot of the tin mine at Ballowal Down worked best as a B&W image with some grain and contrast, a bit reminiscent of the old Tri X film. Might need to tinker with it a bit more.
Saturday, 20 October 2018
Gray Catbird
Since the trip to Norfolk, most of my two weeks off has been rather quiet. What didn't really help, was a bad day last Friday followed by a couple of days of very high winds and heavy rain. This apparently didn't bring in the birds, but is caused some problems in the garden.
A lot of the plants have got rather battered, though there was no long term damage. However the plastic greenhouse that I have had on the patio for a couple of years was found on Monday to be leaning at a bad angle, and a couple of the shelves had dropped down, though thankfully nothing was damaged. I temporarily tied it all together, got it straightened but it was clear it wouldn't last much longer-the plastic cover was in pretty poor condition with a broken zip and large holes where the plastic had suffered from the sunlight. I was thinking about getting a new cover, but had a look on line for lean too greenhouses. Even the smallest aluminium ones seemed to be too large, but `I found a wooden self assembly model that looked ok, and arranged delivery for Wednesday.
Big problem turned up on Tuesday, in the form of a Grey Catbird in Cornwall. The first UK record (apart from one each on the Channel Islands and Eire) was on Anglesey in 2001. Weather conditions as I remember weer appalling and not everyone saw it. It was according to some (but vociferously denied by others) seen by a few next day, and became rather controversial as a result. I never went-the weather put me off, but I remember seeing Lee Evans a couple of days later at Prawle while twitching a Bobolink and had a chat about it.
Anyway I wasn't expecting it to stay. A few friends went down on the Wednesday while I started to assemble my new Greenhouse. This took much longer than expected and its was clear that I would still be working on it the next day so I called Colin. Unfortunately he was going to be busy on Friday so it looked like it would be a Saturday trip-and it was doubtful if the Catbird would still be around. However Colin called on Thursday and said he had rearranged work, so Friday was possible. It was tense as there had been no sighting since lunchtime bit when it was seen to go into roost that evening we made arrangements.
Seven hours later, at 2am we were on the road, and made good time, arriving at the parking field at Treeve Moor half a mile from Lands End at 745 am. There was a small crowd in the field, but no sign of the Catbird, though I heard it call a couple of times. The other side of the house had a larger crowd and not long after we set up seemed to be interested in something so most of us went round to join them. A quick peek through someone's scope revealed a dim Catbird in the hedge (ironically not far from where we were originally) and over the next hour it put in several appearances as the light improved. My best views were in a bramble by the pond, not more than 30 yards away. Good job I had the 500mm lens with a 2x converter as I got pretty good close ups, thought he light levels weren't ideal.
There were a lot of thrushes around. Mainly Blackbirds, with several Song Thrushes and a couple of Redwings over. Ring Ouzels were being reported all around the coast though and one was later seen here. Also one or two Richards Pipits seemed to be lingering in the area, but the only other good birds I saw were two Chough over the hill east of us. Though calling loudly only a couple of us noticed them. These were the first i'd seen in England-all previous birds had bee on Anglesey and it has been a long time since were were last there.
Had a chat with Mike Illet in the car park while trying to decide where to go next. Colin and I decided on Ballowal Barrows near Cape Cornwall where three Vagrant emperors and several red Veined Daters had been seen previously. While the landscape was very nice-superb coastlines, old tin mine chimneys and the barrows we couldn't find any dragonflies in the cool breezy conditions-a few were seen later in the day some way away from where we were.
Mike had gone to Drift reservoir and reported the three Ring Necked Ducks so we went there as well. Unfortunately a car load was packing up saying they were no longer there so they started to drive off. Meanwhile the couple scoping the water called me over to question the three ducks he was looking at-Ring Necks! Despite waving them back the car load ignored us and drove off. The duck were a long way off, but clearly female/juvenile birds. A scan of the gulls and ducks failed to find anything else of interest.
We were now approaching noon and made the decision to return home. It would have been good to search one of the valleys or head to Porthgwarra-a lot of very hard work in every case with maybe nothing to show, and had we been down for a couple of days we would have tried Cot or Nanqidno. On the way back Colin indulged me and we stopped off at Hardy Exotics Nursery outside Penzance. Bit like a kid in a sweetshop unfortunately. However I was very restrained and kept my purchases to a couple of foliage Begonias (including a replacement for one I had lost in spring) and ignored a lot of very tempting plants.
The journey home was pretty good. There were the usual slow sections on the M4, needing diversions and also around the St Albans stretch of the M25, but the slowest bit by far was the last three miles as Stevenage was well and truly stuffed and my bit seemed to bear the brunt of the traffic problems.
A lot of the plants have got rather battered, though there was no long term damage. However the plastic greenhouse that I have had on the patio for a couple of years was found on Monday to be leaning at a bad angle, and a couple of the shelves had dropped down, though thankfully nothing was damaged. I temporarily tied it all together, got it straightened but it was clear it wouldn't last much longer-the plastic cover was in pretty poor condition with a broken zip and large holes where the plastic had suffered from the sunlight. I was thinking about getting a new cover, but had a look on line for lean too greenhouses. Even the smallest aluminium ones seemed to be too large, but `I found a wooden self assembly model that looked ok, and arranged delivery for Wednesday.
Big problem turned up on Tuesday, in the form of a Grey Catbird in Cornwall. The first UK record (apart from one each on the Channel Islands and Eire) was on Anglesey in 2001. Weather conditions as I remember weer appalling and not everyone saw it. It was according to some (but vociferously denied by others) seen by a few next day, and became rather controversial as a result. I never went-the weather put me off, but I remember seeing Lee Evans a couple of days later at Prawle while twitching a Bobolink and had a chat about it.
Anyway I wasn't expecting it to stay. A few friends went down on the Wednesday while I started to assemble my new Greenhouse. This took much longer than expected and its was clear that I would still be working on it the next day so I called Colin. Unfortunately he was going to be busy on Friday so it looked like it would be a Saturday trip-and it was doubtful if the Catbird would still be around. However Colin called on Thursday and said he had rearranged work, so Friday was possible. It was tense as there had been no sighting since lunchtime bit when it was seen to go into roost that evening we made arrangements.
Seven hours later, at 2am we were on the road, and made good time, arriving at the parking field at Treeve Moor half a mile from Lands End at 745 am. There was a small crowd in the field, but no sign of the Catbird, though I heard it call a couple of times. The other side of the house had a larger crowd and not long after we set up seemed to be interested in something so most of us went round to join them. A quick peek through someone's scope revealed a dim Catbird in the hedge (ironically not far from where we were originally) and over the next hour it put in several appearances as the light improved. My best views were in a bramble by the pond, not more than 30 yards away. Good job I had the 500mm lens with a 2x converter as I got pretty good close ups, thought he light levels weren't ideal.
There were a lot of thrushes around. Mainly Blackbirds, with several Song Thrushes and a couple of Redwings over. Ring Ouzels were being reported all around the coast though and one was later seen here. Also one or two Richards Pipits seemed to be lingering in the area, but the only other good birds I saw were two Chough over the hill east of us. Though calling loudly only a couple of us noticed them. These were the first i'd seen in England-all previous birds had bee on Anglesey and it has been a long time since were were last there.
Had a chat with Mike Illet in the car park while trying to decide where to go next. Colin and I decided on Ballowal Barrows near Cape Cornwall where three Vagrant emperors and several red Veined Daters had been seen previously. While the landscape was very nice-superb coastlines, old tin mine chimneys and the barrows we couldn't find any dragonflies in the cool breezy conditions-a few were seen later in the day some way away from where we were.
Mike had gone to Drift reservoir and reported the three Ring Necked Ducks so we went there as well. Unfortunately a car load was packing up saying they were no longer there so they started to drive off. Meanwhile the couple scoping the water called me over to question the three ducks he was looking at-Ring Necks! Despite waving them back the car load ignored us and drove off. The duck were a long way off, but clearly female/juvenile birds. A scan of the gulls and ducks failed to find anything else of interest.
We were now approaching noon and made the decision to return home. It would have been good to search one of the valleys or head to Porthgwarra-a lot of very hard work in every case with maybe nothing to show, and had we been down for a couple of days we would have tried Cot or Nanqidno. On the way back Colin indulged me and we stopped off at Hardy Exotics Nursery outside Penzance. Bit like a kid in a sweetshop unfortunately. However I was very restrained and kept my purchases to a couple of foliage Begonias (including a replacement for one I had lost in spring) and ignored a lot of very tempting plants.
The journey home was pretty good. There were the usual slow sections on the M4, needing diversions and also around the St Albans stretch of the M25, but the slowest bit by far was the last three miles as Stevenage was well and truly stuffed and my bit seemed to bear the brunt of the traffic problems.
Tuesday, 9 October 2018
October Holiday Starts with a Barred warbler
I have started my annual October fortnight off. While there is still a lot of garden work to be done e.g. I painted the shed yesterday and took some stuff down to the tip (not the most thrilling holiday hi light) it means I can keep an eye on garden wildlife. Had a Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell today, plus a few bees and there has been a few Skylarks going over.
On Sunday I went to Norfolk with Colin. The cold and rather wet northerly winds on Saturday promised a bit of interest, considering the rather poor east coast autumn so far. The reports in the evening suggested a few were Yellow Browed Warblers scattered along the coast so it seemed worthwhile to go up and try and get a few things.
The generally clear skies and warm sunshine wasn't ideal when we reached the coast, but the northerly breeze was still continuing. There didn't seem to be a great deal along the lanes between Ringstead and Chosely apart from hoards of Red Legged Partridge and a couple of Pink Footed Geese going over and the barns at Chosely didn't seem to have much either so we continued on to Titchwell, which proved to be rather busy.
As the tide was dropping we headed to the sea, with only the occasional halt. A male Wheatear on Thornham Pool was nice as was a flyover Rock Pipit. The Fresh Marsh was full of duck-mainly Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and Gadwall with some Shovellers, Pintail and Tufted. There were lots of Ruff on the muddy patches, with Golden Plover, Lapwing, Godwits and Knot, but only as couple of Avocet. The muddy channels of the now tidal brackish marsh and a few Curlew, Grey Plovers and Redshanks, but most of the waders were on the shore, feeding among the remains of the forest. There were lots of bearded Tits pinging away in the reeds, but a scan of the muddy edges for rails cakes and Jack Snipe didn't deliver.
Offshore there was a constant movement of gulls westwards, including Kittiwake and Little Gulls, and Brent Geese and Wigeon were also heading west. Several Common Scoter flocks were movie around, and a couple of Gannets flew east, but there was little else of note unfortunately. Other had reported Skuas and a Red Necked Grebe and elsewhere a few Manx Shearwater and Leaches Petrels were seen.
Back at the car park we spent a while going through the tit flocks hoping to pick up the Yellow Browed Warbler with them, but with no success.
In the afternoon we spent a couple of hours at Burnham Overy Dunes. Half way up, by the sluice a small crowd had gathered. I noticed a large pale warbler pop out of a small hawthorn and realised they had been looking at a Barred Warbler. The interesting thing is we had hoped to see one here, but it was supposed to be on the boardwalk. Turned out there were two here, and several more on Blakeny and elsewhere.
I managed to get a couple of not very good images-a camera problem meant I had two clean the sd card contacts before I could take photos so missed the best views.
This was our first Barred Warbler since one at Kelling around 2004.
We were told that there were a few Yellow Brows in the west end of Wells Woods and a possible blythi Lesser Whitethroat in the dunes which I was most interested in seeing. I think I found the right patch of scrub but the only birds around were Dunnocks and Stonechats. We didn't get as far as the wood, but I did spend some time scanning the sallows along the north side of Holkham Marsh but didn't find any birds-I suspect that any that had dropped in overnight had moved on.
One annoying thing is I did see a brownish bird fly out of the reeds and along a ditch while we were walking up to the boardwalk. Could have been a Reed Bunting but it looked like a warbler in the brief glimpse I had. Blakeny had a Blythes Reed Warbler that day.
On Sunday I went to Norfolk with Colin. The cold and rather wet northerly winds on Saturday promised a bit of interest, considering the rather poor east coast autumn so far. The reports in the evening suggested a few were Yellow Browed Warblers scattered along the coast so it seemed worthwhile to go up and try and get a few things.
The generally clear skies and warm sunshine wasn't ideal when we reached the coast, but the northerly breeze was still continuing. There didn't seem to be a great deal along the lanes between Ringstead and Chosely apart from hoards of Red Legged Partridge and a couple of Pink Footed Geese going over and the barns at Chosely didn't seem to have much either so we continued on to Titchwell, which proved to be rather busy.
As the tide was dropping we headed to the sea, with only the occasional halt. A male Wheatear on Thornham Pool was nice as was a flyover Rock Pipit. The Fresh Marsh was full of duck-mainly Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and Gadwall with some Shovellers, Pintail and Tufted. There were lots of Ruff on the muddy patches, with Golden Plover, Lapwing, Godwits and Knot, but only as couple of Avocet. The muddy channels of the now tidal brackish marsh and a few Curlew, Grey Plovers and Redshanks, but most of the waders were on the shore, feeding among the remains of the forest. There were lots of bearded Tits pinging away in the reeds, but a scan of the muddy edges for rails cakes and Jack Snipe didn't deliver.
Offshore there was a constant movement of gulls westwards, including Kittiwake and Little Gulls, and Brent Geese and Wigeon were also heading west. Several Common Scoter flocks were movie around, and a couple of Gannets flew east, but there was little else of note unfortunately. Other had reported Skuas and a Red Necked Grebe and elsewhere a few Manx Shearwater and Leaches Petrels were seen.
Back at the car park we spent a while going through the tit flocks hoping to pick up the Yellow Browed Warbler with them, but with no success.
In the afternoon we spent a couple of hours at Burnham Overy Dunes. Half way up, by the sluice a small crowd had gathered. I noticed a large pale warbler pop out of a small hawthorn and realised they had been looking at a Barred Warbler. The interesting thing is we had hoped to see one here, but it was supposed to be on the boardwalk. Turned out there were two here, and several more on Blakeny and elsewhere.
I managed to get a couple of not very good images-a camera problem meant I had two clean the sd card contacts before I could take photos so missed the best views.
This was our first Barred Warbler since one at Kelling around 2004.
We were told that there were a few Yellow Brows in the west end of Wells Woods and a possible blythi Lesser Whitethroat in the dunes which I was most interested in seeing. I think I found the right patch of scrub but the only birds around were Dunnocks and Stonechats. We didn't get as far as the wood, but I did spend some time scanning the sallows along the north side of Holkham Marsh but didn't find any birds-I suspect that any that had dropped in overnight had moved on.
One annoying thing is I did see a brownish bird fly out of the reeds and along a ditch while we were walking up to the boardwalk. Could have been a Reed Bunting but it looked like a warbler in the brief glimpse I had. Blakeny had a Blythes Reed Warbler that day.
Monday, 24 September 2018
Pallid Harrier at Therfield
I was idly going through tweets on Tuesday night when I found a report of a Pallid Harrier at Therfield that evening. Despite a few people getting there before dark there was no further sign. I wasn't able to go next morning, though Barry Reed posted some nice images early on but became more elusive Deteriorating conditions-with very high winds over the next few days didn't seem to deter observers and the bird was reported daily, though often it would go missing for hours at a time.
This put me off going before work, and again afterwards as I was very time limited, and decided to wait until Saturday.
I had to have a flu jab first thing, and helped Mum with her shopping, but I was able to get there shortly after ten, to discover that it hadn't been seen since nine, and at very long range. I found Tony Hukin and Jay Ward, and had a chat not having seen either for a long time. Tony naturally had been up earlier in the week and had already had good views. After about twenty minutes someone found the bird a long way off to the north. W were observing on the high ground east of Park Farm and the Icknield Way, and the Harrier was actually over the ridge to the north east of Greys Farm, some 2km away. Despite the distance, the scope views were pretty good and the underwing pattern could be seen, though the neck collar was hard to see.
After a few minutes we lost it-about the time Ray Hooper turned up. He had a small flock of Golden Plover fly past as he approached us-missed by most, but only had to wait ten minutes before the Harrier reappeared. Eventually some decided to head up the Icknield Way to get closer views, but as rain was arriving Tony and I decided to leave. The bird was seen on and off all day, and seems to be favouring the high ground around Greys-There are several photos from the weekend of the Harrier sat on one of the bird tables, which is a bit unusual.
Naturally because of the distance I never got any photos myself.
With the general increase in Pallid Harriers in recent years-mainly juvenile birds like this one (and one or two probable Hen/Pallid hybrids), it was only a matter of time before one would turn up in Hertfordshire, and the Therfield-Bladock stretch was always likely to be the place one would be found, and complete the Harrier set, with regular Marsh and Hen here, plus the Montagues some ten years ago. With a bit of luck it will stick around for the winter.
This put me off going before work, and again afterwards as I was very time limited, and decided to wait until Saturday.
I had to have a flu jab first thing, and helped Mum with her shopping, but I was able to get there shortly after ten, to discover that it hadn't been seen since nine, and at very long range. I found Tony Hukin and Jay Ward, and had a chat not having seen either for a long time. Tony naturally had been up earlier in the week and had already had good views. After about twenty minutes someone found the bird a long way off to the north. W were observing on the high ground east of Park Farm and the Icknield Way, and the Harrier was actually over the ridge to the north east of Greys Farm, some 2km away. Despite the distance, the scope views were pretty good and the underwing pattern could be seen, though the neck collar was hard to see.
After a few minutes we lost it-about the time Ray Hooper turned up. He had a small flock of Golden Plover fly past as he approached us-missed by most, but only had to wait ten minutes before the Harrier reappeared. Eventually some decided to head up the Icknield Way to get closer views, but as rain was arriving Tony and I decided to leave. The bird was seen on and off all day, and seems to be favouring the high ground around Greys-There are several photos from the weekend of the Harrier sat on one of the bird tables, which is a bit unusual.
Naturally because of the distance I never got any photos myself.
With the general increase in Pallid Harriers in recent years-mainly juvenile birds like this one (and one or two probable Hen/Pallid hybrids), it was only a matter of time before one would turn up in Hertfordshire, and the Therfield-Bladock stretch was always likely to be the place one would be found, and complete the Harrier set, with regular Marsh and Hen here, plus the Montagues some ten years ago. With a bit of luck it will stick around for the winter.
Friday, 21 September 2018
Last Weekend
The week off work ended up on a fairly quiet note.
Having spent Monday to Friday clearing the garage, taking a boot full of stuff down to the tip, digging bits of the garden every day, incorporating 400 litres of (wet and heavy) composted bark, several bags of sand and gravel then replanting it was good to have a rest. So I went for a 5 mile walk on Saturday.
Being mid September I tend to think its a good time to find a migrant Redstart locally as they tend to pass through now. Some places seem to be regular spots for them and the paddocks on the Beane at Aston End seem to be one of them. I've had several over the years, and I suspect that they occur every year, but being unable to visit daily I cannot prove that.
As it turned out it was a very dull day from a birding point of view with very little activity. The only definite migrant was a single Swallow heading south near the ford. Three flyover Skylarks here were presumably local birds, and the same could be said of the three Chiffchaffs I heard. Jays were frequently seen, with around ten birds encountered. Generally though, the fields and hedges were quiet, and despite the rather warm conditions insects were in short supply. The ploughed fields didn't seem to attract anything either.
I did get a few butterflies though. In Aston End itself, my only local Painted Lady of the year flew past. One patch of brambles in a sheltered sunny spot had a couple of Commas and a Speckled Wood (with a few of the latter seen elsewhere).
I was a bit undecided about Sunday. I did consider the Osprey at Panshanger, but it often only showed in the afternoons, so I went to Rye Meads. With water levels dropping I had hoped that a wader or two might be present. Well there were two Green Sandpipers. Maintenance work on some of the scrapes had presumably let to some disturbance.
It was a bit breezy and I wasn't expecting to see a great deal, but a few Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers were flying.
Lots of duck were on the north lagoon, including a few Wigeon, but the recent Pintail eluded me. The nearest bird did pose though.
Bumped into Maureen again on the way back. I was talking about the difficulty of trying to find Willow Emeralds in the conditions when one decided to fly out of the sallow beside us and then a second individual appeared. I had pretty much given up on trying to see any this year. Very tricky to photograph, as the 100-400mm lens struggled to focus but I nailed it in the end. The 60mm macro was a lot easier but the short working distance caused me to flush it (though that was the only reason we saw the second individual).
Having spent Monday to Friday clearing the garage, taking a boot full of stuff down to the tip, digging bits of the garden every day, incorporating 400 litres of (wet and heavy) composted bark, several bags of sand and gravel then replanting it was good to have a rest. So I went for a 5 mile walk on Saturday.
Being mid September I tend to think its a good time to find a migrant Redstart locally as they tend to pass through now. Some places seem to be regular spots for them and the paddocks on the Beane at Aston End seem to be one of them. I've had several over the years, and I suspect that they occur every year, but being unable to visit daily I cannot prove that.
As it turned out it was a very dull day from a birding point of view with very little activity. The only definite migrant was a single Swallow heading south near the ford. Three flyover Skylarks here were presumably local birds, and the same could be said of the three Chiffchaffs I heard. Jays were frequently seen, with around ten birds encountered. Generally though, the fields and hedges were quiet, and despite the rather warm conditions insects were in short supply. The ploughed fields didn't seem to attract anything either.
I did get a few butterflies though. In Aston End itself, my only local Painted Lady of the year flew past. One patch of brambles in a sheltered sunny spot had a couple of Commas and a Speckled Wood (with a few of the latter seen elsewhere).
I was a bit undecided about Sunday. I did consider the Osprey at Panshanger, but it often only showed in the afternoons, so I went to Rye Meads. With water levels dropping I had hoped that a wader or two might be present. Well there were two Green Sandpipers. Maintenance work on some of the scrapes had presumably let to some disturbance.
It was a bit breezy and I wasn't expecting to see a great deal, but a few Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers were flying.
Lots of duck were on the north lagoon, including a few Wigeon, but the recent Pintail eluded me. The nearest bird did pose though.
Bumped into Maureen again on the way back. I was talking about the difficulty of trying to find Willow Emeralds in the conditions when one decided to fly out of the sallow beside us and then a second individual appeared. I had pretty much given up on trying to see any this year. Very tricky to photograph, as the 100-400mm lens struggled to focus but I nailed it in the end. The 60mm macro was a lot easier but the short working distance caused me to flush it (though that was the only reason we saw the second individual).
Friday, 14 September 2018
Ravens at Amwell
I have had a week off, mainly to work in the garden. Despite the many hours outside, I didn't get many birds, though the three local Robins took a great deal of interest whenever I did any digging. The only notable birds were two Buzzards over on Thursday, and a Coal Tit in the Rowan on Monday-they are best described as a scarce visitor to the garden.
On Sunday, I did go out for an hour or two. Work at Amwell has cleared much of the area in front of the view point and some deeper pools had been created, so I thought I'd pay a visit just in case the new exposed mud would bring in flocks of waders (never going to happen but we live in hope). William Bill and Barry were there so it was good to catch up as I haven't been down for several months, though I haven't really missed much (apart from the much needed Sandwich Terns the previous Sunday).
The first birds I saw were two Ravens over the woods, seemingly playing with up to four Red Kites. Now and again one would come a bit closer and they were very vocal-easily heard despite the distance. A couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and two regular Hobbies added to the interest. For most of the regulars the 'highlight' was the feral Barnacle Goose, which may have been the first of the year, and a Redshank briefly.
Also Ring Necked Parakeets were around much of the time with about a dozen flying low over us, and then later in the trees opposite.
As far as waders were concerned, there were only Lapwings on the islands until I picked up a Common Sandpiper. Apparently there are two around and a second bird appeared on the new scrape.
There weren't many ducks around, apart from a few Tufted, Pochard, Mallards and Gadwall. Apparently there have been a few Pintail around and lots of Shoveller. Presumably the work has disturbed them. Eventually two Teal did appear.
Hirundines were often flying through. I saw a few Sand Martins early on, and there were a few Swallows, but the majority were House Martins, with maybe 50-60 birds in the 2.5 hours I was there. Not a massive count by normal autumns, but they have been really scarce for me this year.
Pretty rubbish shot of one of the Ravens. A long way off and badly underexposed unfortunately.
On Sunday, I did go out for an hour or two. Work at Amwell has cleared much of the area in front of the view point and some deeper pools had been created, so I thought I'd pay a visit just in case the new exposed mud would bring in flocks of waders (never going to happen but we live in hope). William Bill and Barry were there so it was good to catch up as I haven't been down for several months, though I haven't really missed much (apart from the much needed Sandwich Terns the previous Sunday).
The first birds I saw were two Ravens over the woods, seemingly playing with up to four Red Kites. Now and again one would come a bit closer and they were very vocal-easily heard despite the distance. A couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and two regular Hobbies added to the interest. For most of the regulars the 'highlight' was the feral Barnacle Goose, which may have been the first of the year, and a Redshank briefly.
Also Ring Necked Parakeets were around much of the time with about a dozen flying low over us, and then later in the trees opposite.
As far as waders were concerned, there were only Lapwings on the islands until I picked up a Common Sandpiper. Apparently there are two around and a second bird appeared on the new scrape.
There weren't many ducks around, apart from a few Tufted, Pochard, Mallards and Gadwall. Apparently there have been a few Pintail around and lots of Shoveller. Presumably the work has disturbed them. Eventually two Teal did appear.
Hirundines were often flying through. I saw a few Sand Martins early on, and there were a few Swallows, but the majority were House Martins, with maybe 50-60 birds in the 2.5 hours I was there. Not a massive count by normal autumns, but they have been really scarce for me this year.
Pretty rubbish shot of one of the Ravens. A long way off and badly underexposed unfortunately.
Tuesday, 4 September 2018
A Wader Weekend
After a long Bank Holiday weekend which due to family commitments meant I didn't go birding, it was good to get out with Colin on Saturday.
I was somewhat uncertain about the trip though, as I had severe back and neck pains and very stiff achy joints. I was also getting over a bit of a stomach bug-the usual problems with my adrenal condition had flared up again. However with a fairly gentle drive up the A1 we eventually arrived at RSPB Framton Marsh just before 9am. It was a nice warm day, a bit of a breeze and the pleasant conditions helped me considerably and we had a good three hours here.
Getting out of the car, I slowly made my way to a small crowd near the closed visitors centre and was immediately struck by the huge numbers of Black Tailed Godwits and Knot on the lagoon-there were thousands of them. I was scanning the flocks when I heard a "hello Phil" beside me, turned round and found Ian Bennell returning heading back to the car after a successful visit. He suggested we go round to the small crowd near the hide where viewing conditions were better and then he headed off to Norfolk.
The viewing conditions were a lot better regarding the lighting but I had a bit of an issue with the reeds, but eventually I was able to get up onto the viewing mound albeit with some difficulty. Along with the words of Godwits and Knot, we saw many tens of Ringed Plover everywhere, Dunlin flocks wheeling around, with maybe six or so Curlew Sandpipers (I found one or two more elsewhere on the reserve later). Rather outnumbered were the few Golden Plovers, Redshanks and Avocets. The first target species proved easier than expected-a sleeping Long Billed Dowitcher on the nearest island. it did eventually wake up and flew further out. A moulting adult, it made a change from the more frequent juveniles and winter plumaged birds we tend to see.
The second target species was incredibly mobile and I had missed it several times when scanning the flocks. The moulting adult Stilt Sandpiper is presumably the one we had seen in February at Stanpit on the south coast, and while easy to pick up in the bins was a lot harder in the camera hooked up to the scope. By now I had realised that I had a bit of a problem digiscoping as I could tell that despite using higher than usual shutter speeds I was getting soft images. Obviously the distance and the heat wasn't helping but I am suspecting that the gimbal mount was introducing a bit of shake. My aches and pains didn't help either.
All the waders went up several times-the first when the visitors centre opened up the shuttered windows and the second when the Peregrine drifted over before returning and failing to take a Dunlin out of the flocks.
Colin and I eventually (rather slowly) left the crowd and did a circuit of the scrapes. To some extent it was very disappointing, with very little water present, so we didn't see a great deal. However there were a lot of Reed Warblers including several confiding juveniles.
On the salt marsh bank we had a flyby Whimbrel, ten Spotted Redshanks on one of the pools (we were told that there were 24 until the Peregrine put them up) and then reached a small herd of cows with a few Yellow Wagtails and Starlings . Out on the grazing marsh more cows had more wagtails-I counted 27 around three of them and with cattle all over the place, many with birds with them, we reckoned that there could be a hundred or more Yellow Wagtails on the reserve. Also of note were the large numbers of Sand Martins and Swallows, but strangely no House Martins.
After lunch and feeling a bit tired we headed home, calling in at Graffham. There were seven Black Terns from the marina car park, unfortunately a long way off, along with a few Common Terns. Two Ospreys had been present on Friday and had been reported in the morning, so we spent about an hour checking out the western side where we presumed they would be but we weren't successful. There were a few Kites and Buzzards now and again, plus a calling Tawny Owl and a few Bullfinches.
I wanted to get out again on Sunday-a rather warm morning. I was intending to get to Amwell but messages from Tyttenhanger meant I went there instead. Parking up by the model railway, a flock of Parakeets flew over as I got out of the car, and there were lots of tits and Chiffchaffs in the trees and bushes. Getting to the container by the gate I was told that I had just missed the two Spotted Flycatchers, which were very mobile. I was left to scan the main lake on my own, picking up two of the Common Sandpipers an then decided to check the riverside bushes for the flycatchers. However I got a call and managed to hobble back to one of the big oaks where the flock had been refound and I got decent views of one of the Spotted Flycatchers.
I then carried on around the pit, with not a lot to show. Willow Emeralds have recently been found but I couldn't see any, though Migrant and Brown Hawkers and Common Darters were everywhere.
Up at the farm, another Spotted Flycatcher had been reported but all i saw there were Chaffinches around the feeders so I carried on to the high point meeting up with everyone. Apparently they had a Whinchat in the scopes-a long way off in the sedges and reeds half way out. I couldn't even see a bird at all. One more Common Sandpiper a Snipe and three Green Sandpipers, were present, with several Common Terns and a few Swallows over.
There was nothing in the big hedge but had heard hat the Greenshank was on the fishing pit. A bit of a slog but I eventually found it a long way off on the far bank.
I made another attempt at finding the Willow Emeralds, again without seeing any and eventually left, about an hour later than I had intended.
Had I got to Amwell (having left home about 20 minutes earlier than usual) I would have had a nice county tick with the seven Sandwich Terns that were present until 0930......
I was somewhat uncertain about the trip though, as I had severe back and neck pains and very stiff achy joints. I was also getting over a bit of a stomach bug-the usual problems with my adrenal condition had flared up again. However with a fairly gentle drive up the A1 we eventually arrived at RSPB Framton Marsh just before 9am. It was a nice warm day, a bit of a breeze and the pleasant conditions helped me considerably and we had a good three hours here.
Getting out of the car, I slowly made my way to a small crowd near the closed visitors centre and was immediately struck by the huge numbers of Black Tailed Godwits and Knot on the lagoon-there were thousands of them. I was scanning the flocks when I heard a "hello Phil" beside me, turned round and found Ian Bennell returning heading back to the car after a successful visit. He suggested we go round to the small crowd near the hide where viewing conditions were better and then he headed off to Norfolk.
The viewing conditions were a lot better regarding the lighting but I had a bit of an issue with the reeds, but eventually I was able to get up onto the viewing mound albeit with some difficulty. Along with the words of Godwits and Knot, we saw many tens of Ringed Plover everywhere, Dunlin flocks wheeling around, with maybe six or so Curlew Sandpipers (I found one or two more elsewhere on the reserve later). Rather outnumbered were the few Golden Plovers, Redshanks and Avocets. The first target species proved easier than expected-a sleeping Long Billed Dowitcher on the nearest island. it did eventually wake up and flew further out. A moulting adult, it made a change from the more frequent juveniles and winter plumaged birds we tend to see.
The second target species was incredibly mobile and I had missed it several times when scanning the flocks. The moulting adult Stilt Sandpiper is presumably the one we had seen in February at Stanpit on the south coast, and while easy to pick up in the bins was a lot harder in the camera hooked up to the scope. By now I had realised that I had a bit of a problem digiscoping as I could tell that despite using higher than usual shutter speeds I was getting soft images. Obviously the distance and the heat wasn't helping but I am suspecting that the gimbal mount was introducing a bit of shake. My aches and pains didn't help either.
All the waders went up several times-the first when the visitors centre opened up the shuttered windows and the second when the Peregrine drifted over before returning and failing to take a Dunlin out of the flocks.
Colin and I eventually (rather slowly) left the crowd and did a circuit of the scrapes. To some extent it was very disappointing, with very little water present, so we didn't see a great deal. However there were a lot of Reed Warblers including several confiding juveniles.
On the salt marsh bank we had a flyby Whimbrel, ten Spotted Redshanks on one of the pools (we were told that there were 24 until the Peregrine put them up) and then reached a small herd of cows with a few Yellow Wagtails and Starlings . Out on the grazing marsh more cows had more wagtails-I counted 27 around three of them and with cattle all over the place, many with birds with them, we reckoned that there could be a hundred or more Yellow Wagtails on the reserve. Also of note were the large numbers of Sand Martins and Swallows, but strangely no House Martins.
After lunch and feeling a bit tired we headed home, calling in at Graffham. There were seven Black Terns from the marina car park, unfortunately a long way off, along with a few Common Terns. Two Ospreys had been present on Friday and had been reported in the morning, so we spent about an hour checking out the western side where we presumed they would be but we weren't successful. There were a few Kites and Buzzards now and again, plus a calling Tawny Owl and a few Bullfinches.
I wanted to get out again on Sunday-a rather warm morning. I was intending to get to Amwell but messages from Tyttenhanger meant I went there instead. Parking up by the model railway, a flock of Parakeets flew over as I got out of the car, and there were lots of tits and Chiffchaffs in the trees and bushes. Getting to the container by the gate I was told that I had just missed the two Spotted Flycatchers, which were very mobile. I was left to scan the main lake on my own, picking up two of the Common Sandpipers an then decided to check the riverside bushes for the flycatchers. However I got a call and managed to hobble back to one of the big oaks where the flock had been refound and I got decent views of one of the Spotted Flycatchers.
I then carried on around the pit, with not a lot to show. Willow Emeralds have recently been found but I couldn't see any, though Migrant and Brown Hawkers and Common Darters were everywhere.
Up at the farm, another Spotted Flycatcher had been reported but all i saw there were Chaffinches around the feeders so I carried on to the high point meeting up with everyone. Apparently they had a Whinchat in the scopes-a long way off in the sedges and reeds half way out. I couldn't even see a bird at all. One more Common Sandpiper a Snipe and three Green Sandpipers, were present, with several Common Terns and a few Swallows over.
There was nothing in the big hedge but had heard hat the Greenshank was on the fishing pit. A bit of a slog but I eventually found it a long way off on the far bank.
I made another attempt at finding the Willow Emeralds, again without seeing any and eventually left, about an hour later than I had intended.
Had I got to Amwell (having left home about 20 minutes earlier than usual) I would have had a nice county tick with the seven Sandwich Terns that were present until 0930......
Monday, 20 August 2018
Rye Meads and Aston End
On Saturday I spent a few hours in the morning at Rye Meads. It was a toss up between here and Amwell, and while I haven't been to the latter for a couple of months, most of the recent passage waders etc have been seen at Rye so that made my mind up.
The weather was pretty dull and breezy at times but nothing much really happened and there were few migrant birds noted.
The Draper scrape held to only passage wader-a Common Sandpiper that had been present for a few days. There were supposed to be a few Green Sandpipers around as well, but they weren't present while I was there. One juvenile Lesser Black Backed Gull was being fed by one of it's parents-at least when the Heron, little Egret and crows allowed it. Other than that it was pretty much lots of Teal, Gadwall and Mallards gradually moulting out of eclipse.
On to the lagoons without hearing or seeing much at all. Unlike last weekend, there seemed to be very few warblers around, and there weren't any finches or thrushes either. A quick look at the tern rafts on the southern lagoon didn't produce much variety as the water seemed to be covered in Mute Swans, there must have been 30 or more (with a lot more on the other stretches of water).
The water levels are a lot lower on the Gadwall Hide lagoon than on my previous visit, with the islands starting to appear. Lots of ducks, a few gulls and the occasional flyover Snipe were present-along with two eclipsed Garganey. Initially asleep they soon woke up, preened a bit (proving via the pale wing that one at least was a drake bird) before swimming purposefully over to the back of one of the islands.
I had a quick look for the recently found Wasp Spider but was misled by the trampled vegetation and ended up searching the wrong spot, so I carried on to the Warbler hide overlooking the Meads. A very early returning Bittern had been seen briefly a couple of times over previous days. The departing photographer had not seen it all morning and though I spent a bit of time there didn't see much at all apart from the usual Wood Pigeons, a distant Buzzard and a few Swallows heading south. Bumped into Maureen on the way back who told me where the Spider was. Very cunningly it was right by the sign that had been put up (and hidden from me when I passed earlier).
I have seen a few Wasp Spiders a few times on the East Anglian coast and while they have slowly moved inland and have been in Hertfordshire for a year or two, they are new for the reserve. This one was a hell of a lot bigger than I remember.
I returned to the Gadwall hide, finding Colin Wills who I haven't seen for over a year, so we had a bit of catching up to do, and then Maureen popped in for a bit. The Garganey had not been seen since I last saw them so presumably they were hauled up on the back of one of the islands.
With time pressing I eventually left, picking up a few Small Whites, a Speckled Wood and a couple of Blue Tailed and Common Blue damsels.
Sunday morning was again overcast, dull and rather breezy. I decided to have a long walk around Aston End, and though I hauled the camera gear around, it stayed in the bag as there was a distinct lack of action, and the landscape wasn't all that inspiring either.
The nearly five mile walk produced two calling Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. The usual migrant trap hedge along the Walkern road was scanned for some time but only produced a single Chaffinch and a juvenile Whitethroat.
The fields have been harvested, and the one by the phone mast was being harrowed while I was there and this had attracted around 25 Lesser Black Backed and 40 Black Headed Gulls, while there was a flock of 15 or so Swallows picking up the disturbed insects.
The weather was pretty dull and breezy at times but nothing much really happened and there were few migrant birds noted.
The Draper scrape held to only passage wader-a Common Sandpiper that had been present for a few days. There were supposed to be a few Green Sandpipers around as well, but they weren't present while I was there. One juvenile Lesser Black Backed Gull was being fed by one of it's parents-at least when the Heron, little Egret and crows allowed it. Other than that it was pretty much lots of Teal, Gadwall and Mallards gradually moulting out of eclipse.
On to the lagoons without hearing or seeing much at all. Unlike last weekend, there seemed to be very few warblers around, and there weren't any finches or thrushes either. A quick look at the tern rafts on the southern lagoon didn't produce much variety as the water seemed to be covered in Mute Swans, there must have been 30 or more (with a lot more on the other stretches of water).
The water levels are a lot lower on the Gadwall Hide lagoon than on my previous visit, with the islands starting to appear. Lots of ducks, a few gulls and the occasional flyover Snipe were present-along with two eclipsed Garganey. Initially asleep they soon woke up, preened a bit (proving via the pale wing that one at least was a drake bird) before swimming purposefully over to the back of one of the islands.
I had a quick look for the recently found Wasp Spider but was misled by the trampled vegetation and ended up searching the wrong spot, so I carried on to the Warbler hide overlooking the Meads. A very early returning Bittern had been seen briefly a couple of times over previous days. The departing photographer had not seen it all morning and though I spent a bit of time there didn't see much at all apart from the usual Wood Pigeons, a distant Buzzard and a few Swallows heading south. Bumped into Maureen on the way back who told me where the Spider was. Very cunningly it was right by the sign that had been put up (and hidden from me when I passed earlier).
I have seen a few Wasp Spiders a few times on the East Anglian coast and while they have slowly moved inland and have been in Hertfordshire for a year or two, they are new for the reserve. This one was a hell of a lot bigger than I remember.
I returned to the Gadwall hide, finding Colin Wills who I haven't seen for over a year, so we had a bit of catching up to do, and then Maureen popped in for a bit. The Garganey had not been seen since I last saw them so presumably they were hauled up on the back of one of the islands.
With time pressing I eventually left, picking up a few Small Whites, a Speckled Wood and a couple of Blue Tailed and Common Blue damsels.
Sunday morning was again overcast, dull and rather breezy. I decided to have a long walk around Aston End, and though I hauled the camera gear around, it stayed in the bag as there was a distinct lack of action, and the landscape wasn't all that inspiring either.
The nearly five mile walk produced two calling Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. The usual migrant trap hedge along the Walkern road was scanned for some time but only produced a single Chaffinch and a juvenile Whitethroat.
The fields have been harvested, and the one by the phone mast was being harrowed while I was there and this had attracted around 25 Lesser Black Backed and 40 Black Headed Gulls, while there was a flock of 15 or so Swallows picking up the disturbed insects.
Thursday, 16 August 2018
Turtle Dove
Bit out of practice with this blogging lark-Colin and I had a trip out last Saturday and I've only just got round to sorting out the photos.
We did the usual post mid summer lull and went up to Norfolk just to see what happens. There have been a few early migrants like Red Backed Shrikes, and waders are starting to move so we thought we'd visit Titchwell. As it turned out we didn't see many migrants and the highlight was rather unexpected.
Leaving the car park, which was a bit cool and breezy, it quickly warmed up and the path beyond the centre had lots of dragonflies-Common and Ruddy Darters, Southern and Migrant Hawkers and a few damselflies. White butterflies, were seen frequently, a s well as a Painted Lady, a few Common Blues and several Grayling, one of which posed quite well for me.
The wildfowl on the lagoons were largely in eclipse and consisted of the usual suspects-Teal, Shoveller, Mallard and Shelduck in the main, with some diving ducks. Big flock of Avocets of course with a couple of Spoonbill failing to hide among them, but otherwise waders were Ruff and a few Godwits. The tide was well out so most of the waders were either on Thornham, in the deep muddy channels or on the beach. We failed to locate the Greenshank which were around, but found several Spotted Redshanks among the Redshank, Curlew and Grey Plovers on the brackish lagoon. Lots of Godwits, Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Sanderling and Dunlin on the remains of the old beach forest.
Sea watching was very poor. while a few people had seen terns and skuas, all I managed to find was a single drake Common Scoter, so we headed back. Didn't pick up anything else though I heard a few Whimbrel. Rather oddly we never saw a raptor all morning.
The reeds by the path held one or two Reed and Sedge Warblers and we got decent views now and again of juvenile Bearded Tits, though they wouldn't stay still long enough for the camera. There were also a few Wagtails around-mostly families of Pied but we did also see a couple of Yellows.
The Fen Trail wasn't all that great. Apart from the dragonflies mentioned earlier there were a couple of Emperors, Black Tailed Skimmers and Common and Blue Tailed Damselflies.
Went to Patties Pool which had a couple of Red Crested Pochard, but the big bonus was in the paddocks nearby-a Turtle Dove. We watched it for some time a long way down the track before it flew onto the marsh and then back again. Did this several times, and I managed to get a few images through the scope but it eventually came a lot closer and I got some decent shots with the 100-400 lens. Can't remember the last time I had such good views of this now rare summer visitor, and to be perfectly honest in the last 20 years there have been many years with ought a sighting at all, or at best very distant views in tree tops. Also, I didn't have a camera all that often when they were still fairly common (and when I did, why bother wasting precious film with common pigeons back then!).
After this we had a check of what was being reported and with not much on the coast, decided to head home.
We called in at Fowlmere for an hour or so. Unfortunately it had clouded over and got rather breezy (scotching plans for butterflies on Therfield Heath afterwards). This also affected the insects, and only a few Southern and Brown Hawkers were flying.
The woods were alive with warblers-Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, a few Willows, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats. The main lake was rather dry and full of Greylags and Mallards. Overhead and around the stables a large flock of Swallows Swifts and House Martins failed to produce a Hobby-though the ten or so House Martins pretty much doubled the number I'd seen this year.
We did the usual post mid summer lull and went up to Norfolk just to see what happens. There have been a few early migrants like Red Backed Shrikes, and waders are starting to move so we thought we'd visit Titchwell. As it turned out we didn't see many migrants and the highlight was rather unexpected.
Leaving the car park, which was a bit cool and breezy, it quickly warmed up and the path beyond the centre had lots of dragonflies-Common and Ruddy Darters, Southern and Migrant Hawkers and a few damselflies. White butterflies, were seen frequently, a s well as a Painted Lady, a few Common Blues and several Grayling, one of which posed quite well for me.
The wildfowl on the lagoons were largely in eclipse and consisted of the usual suspects-Teal, Shoveller, Mallard and Shelduck in the main, with some diving ducks. Big flock of Avocets of course with a couple of Spoonbill failing to hide among them, but otherwise waders were Ruff and a few Godwits. The tide was well out so most of the waders were either on Thornham, in the deep muddy channels or on the beach. We failed to locate the Greenshank which were around, but found several Spotted Redshanks among the Redshank, Curlew and Grey Plovers on the brackish lagoon. Lots of Godwits, Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Sanderling and Dunlin on the remains of the old beach forest.
Sea watching was very poor. while a few people had seen terns and skuas, all I managed to find was a single drake Common Scoter, so we headed back. Didn't pick up anything else though I heard a few Whimbrel. Rather oddly we never saw a raptor all morning.
The reeds by the path held one or two Reed and Sedge Warblers and we got decent views now and again of juvenile Bearded Tits, though they wouldn't stay still long enough for the camera. There were also a few Wagtails around-mostly families of Pied but we did also see a couple of Yellows.
The Fen Trail wasn't all that great. Apart from the dragonflies mentioned earlier there were a couple of Emperors, Black Tailed Skimmers and Common and Blue Tailed Damselflies.
Went to Patties Pool which had a couple of Red Crested Pochard, but the big bonus was in the paddocks nearby-a Turtle Dove. We watched it for some time a long way down the track before it flew onto the marsh and then back again. Did this several times, and I managed to get a few images through the scope but it eventually came a lot closer and I got some decent shots with the 100-400 lens. Can't remember the last time I had such good views of this now rare summer visitor, and to be perfectly honest in the last 20 years there have been many years with ought a sighting at all, or at best very distant views in tree tops. Also, I didn't have a camera all that often when they were still fairly common (and when I did, why bother wasting precious film with common pigeons back then!).
After this we had a check of what was being reported and with not much on the coast, decided to head home.
We called in at Fowlmere for an hour or so. Unfortunately it had clouded over and got rather breezy (scotching plans for butterflies on Therfield Heath afterwards). This also affected the insects, and only a few Southern and Brown Hawkers were flying.
The woods were alive with warblers-Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, a few Willows, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats. The main lake was rather dry and full of Greylags and Mallards. Overhead and around the stables a large flock of Swallows Swifts and House Martins failed to produce a Hobby-though the ten or so House Martins pretty much doubled the number I'd seen this year.
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