Time Off in October

 Off work for a while. I've had a bit of time to sort through more recant photos.

A few years ago we spent a lovely day on the Lizard hoping to see the Brown Booby that had been present in the area for a few days. Great crowd, decent selection of seabirds, Chough and so on, but no Booby.

This year there were more coastal sightings in various places, generally flybys on sea watches, but fortunately one of the birds settled for some time in Redcar, usually seen from the South Gare, so off we went to enjoy the early morning views of Middlesborough and the Tees estuary. The Booby had flown off by the time we arrived but was relocated on one of the many buoys at the mouth of the river. Distant, and the heat haze didnt help with the photography, but a relief to finally get to see one.

The estuary itself was full of razorbills and guillemots, guess the adults and young find it a safe place post breeding, plus many terns, a few skuas and waders.

We headed off to RSPB Saltholme where the Buff Breasted Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint showed after a bit of effort, but rather distant. Seal Sands/Greenabella Marsh had plenty of common waders, seals but no Pectoral Sandpiper.

We returned via Tophill Low where we finally got a Pec Sand and also on of the Blue Winged Teals that seem to be resident at the moment.

After one of my regular strolls around Fairlands, I took the opportunity to go down to Amwell, where the long staying, but often hard to find Osprey had settled. Been some time since my last visit so it was good to meet up with Phil and Ron again.

Last Sunday we paid yet another visit to RSPB Frampton. A bit easier to get to than Norfolk, plenty of waders always around  and no dog walkers or day trippers getting in the way.

This time there were several long staying American waders around, and an intriguing post on social media of an odd bird that had suggestions of a Least Sandpiper (later found to be one of the many Little Stints). Bumped into Ritchie Gannon in the car park and we all headed off to the crowded 360 Hide and found a space. Looking into the rising hazy sun was a problem where I was and after sorting through the mobile stints settled on a dumpy individual a long way off on one of the islands and hearing others on the bird came to the conclusion it was the Semi-palmated Sandpiper. Several poor phone scoped images were taken which showed the salient plumage features. Ritchie and a few others on the other side of the hide had flight views of the Lesser Yellowlegs and White-Rumped Sandpiper, so Colin and I headed off to the east hide for better light and hopefully closer views.

                                        

Crowded again and difficult to get clear vies past shoulders and heads. I found the White-Rumped, a long way off and managed to get a couple of phone scoped images. The Yellowlegs was a lot more obliging when it got close to the hide and I managed to get some great images.

Heading south along the sea wall was novel as our default in most visits is an anti-clockwise circuit.

The most notable thing was the steady stream of Red Admirals heading south.

Enjoyed watching a Peregrine put all the waders and ducks up and later found it perched in the pasture south of the seawall road. No sign of any Lapland Buntings, but just as we were leaving the Buff Breasted Sandpiper flew in and allowed close views. 

 

                            

New Photos.

 Ive had a few trips out over the last couple of months, but photographic opportunities have been a bit limited. It has taken a while to sort things out and get the photos onto the computer so here are a few of the better ones.

RSPB Frampton has been visited a couple of times. July had two pairs of breeding Black Winged Stilts with five or six chicks. I also managed to locate the eclipse American Wigeon.

The last visit to Frampton was in August over the bank holiday. Wader numbers were starting to build up, with several Curlew sandpipers, a nice Wood Sandpiper and a few Little Stints. The Convolvulus Haw Moth had been trapped earlier and had been left on one of the car park posts. We were hoping to locate the long staying Black Stork, but just like the one here a few years ago it didn't show.

Also on August Bank Holiday we visited Titchwell. Six hours failed to produce any migrant passerines apart from a car park full of warblers early on-nothing out of the ordinary. Bird of the day was the American Golden Plover, the first for quite a long time, though the Turtle Dove at Chosely Barns on the way home was notable too. Shame I never got a photo of it. 

Elsewhere I have been plugging away at Fairlands Valley with Tony Hukin, and sometimes Tom and Andy. We are rapidly approaching 100 for the year though last weeks flyover Linnet was surprisingly rare being the first for 12 years. The Spotted Flycatchers found over the Bank Holiday lingered for over a week and eventually proved fairly photogenic. The previous week I had a very long walk down to Frogmore as Alan Ford had reported several Spotted Flycatchers there and at the time I hadn't seen any in 2023, so i was a bit shocked while finishing the coffee and getting ready for the walk when I noticed one in my palm tree! Of course by the time the camera was out it had departed.

Aston end has been hard with few scarce migrants and it has only been in the last week or so when things started to pick up and I could record decent numbers. Lots of Chiffchaffs, a few Willow Warblers and large tit flocks were notable. A briek flyover Kingfisher near the flying club was the first here for many years-mind you its the first summer with water flowing along the Beane for a long long time. A bit further on two Whinchats played hard to get in the hedge up to Lords Farm. Three Lesser Whitethroat were also notable here.

A few Recent Bits and Pieces.

 Locally at least, the butterflies have been a bit hard to come by, numbers are well down, and some species have been very late to appear-I only saw my first Comma a few days ago! However things seem to be picking up a bit in the last few weeks despite the often strong winds and rain.

At the end of June I popped over to see Sarah and Ed. On the way I called in at a location near Buckland where a friend of mine had found a Lizard Orchid. Unfortunately the local farmer had strimmed the field edge and took the top off so I had to get in close with the phone camera.

A stroll around Shaftenhoe in the afternoon was fairly productive with decent numbers of Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and skippers. Unfortunately the bee orchids had pretty much gone over, but pyramidals were abundant.

A few days later I took the opportunity of the warm weather and went for an evening walk around Aston End. It had been a few weeks since I had been there and the grass had really shot up because of the rain, and it was fun walking past and watching seeing large numbers of roosting butterflies explode around me. I had been put onto a small patch of Bee Orchids which were hard well hidden in the grass but looked really good. BTW the soft focus was down to fingerprints on the phone lens but it seems to have worked.

A few Dark green Fritillaries have been around here, in similar numbers to recent years.

It was getting a bit late and the light was dropping when I came across the Little Owl actively searching for food so I guess there were some chicks. A young fox cub in the same area was also entertaining.

 

Some New Images

 The last two weekends have involved a couple of day trips and a bit of local walking, and I managed to get a few nice photos in the process.

The 4th was a long day out to Martin Down and Bentley Wood around Salisbury. Rather warm and sunny all day, we did quite well for the butterflies but missed out on the Turtle Doves that still turn up in summer at Martin. 

The usual walk around the down took us south west to the south end of the dyke, and then north to the Burnt Orchids and returning along Sillen Lane. Probably because of the wet winter, the down was very lush and there were plenty of orchids out, with chalk fragrant being the commonest, at least until we reached the dyke which seemed full of Greater Butterflies along with a few Common Spotted. There didnt seem to be any other species out yet. Butterflies were a bit odd. Huge numbers of Small and Adonis Blues as expected, and a lot of Brimstones and Small Heaths, but hardly any skippers, whites or browns. 

At the end of Sillen Lane the damp spot was well vegetated but a search of the buttercups eventually produced one rather lively Marsh Fritillary. Birds were as expected, withe several photogenic Corn Buntings being very obliging.

The usual stop at Bentley Wood on the way home produced a few Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries which were rather tricky to pin down but I was able to get a nice underwing shot after a while.

 Being a rather warm June afternoon, birds were rather quiet but one Tree Pipit was still singing with its parachute display flight.

Saturday 10th was a rather quiet day out with Colin visiting a local plant nursery, and as Hertford heath was just down the road we called in there and did a circuit of the heath and Balls Wood. For once, the ponds had plenty of water but I suspect we were a bit too early for the Emerald Damselflies. Borad Bodied and Four Spotted Chasers were abundant, as were Azure and Large Red damsels, and my first Emperors of the year. Highlight was the Norfolk Hawker perched in a small birch only a few feet away.

 

Very few butterflies, indeed very few insects at all despite the heat and humidity.

A very early start on Sunday for a three hour stroll around Aston End before the heat built up  really paid off. 

Right at the start a young Jay being fed by an adult was a good start. Of course the camera battery was flat so I missed the best poses.

On to the building site that used to be a nice bit of farmland I finally found a Bullfinch in one of the usual copses, the first here for a good six months. Its doubtful if they will survive much longer unfortunately. 

The next bonus was the adult Little Owl flying around the sheep fields. They were rather tricky in the past few years, normally needing an evening visit but I guess it was feeding young.

The hedges have been devastated again by Spindle Ermine moths, but hopefully that will mean lots of caterpillars and moths for the birds. There were a lot of singing Yellowhammers, Blackcaps and Whitethroats, a flyover Raven, several Nuthatches and Mistle Thrushes and I managed to locate a Willow Warbler  where I had found a nest a few years ago. I had 44 species of bird, yet still managed to miss a few expected regulars like Kestrel and Linnet. Potentially 50 is doable.

It turned out to be a bit early for Marbled Whites and Dark Green Fritillaries-I checked the usual spots with no success. I will have to try again in a few days, but there are few flowering thistles etc at the moment to provide nectar. 

May Bank Holiday

 Another bank holiday trip on Sunday, out to the Brecks again. I had had a bad fall and cracked some ribs the previous week so travelled as light as possible and tried not to overdo things but had a very enjoyable day out.

We started quite early at Cavenham Heath. It was rather chilly but gradually warmed up and we actually ended up doing all three trails over 3 1/2 hours. One obliging Stone Curlew wandering around not far from the car was nice, and a bit further down the track a Woodlark sat on top of a bush allowing some decent images. Down the river and along the Fen trail we encountered large numbers of Azure damselflies, a few 4 Spotted Chasers and a couple of other larger species that were too quick. A flyby Kingfisher was nice as well. 

Along the Heath trail more Woodlark, some Stonechats and a singing Tree Pipit in the now warm sunshine, plus a few butterflies made a decision to head into the woods to the north a no-brainer where we added a couple of Marsh Tits and a Treecreeper.

We then went to Lakenheath, had a bit of lunch and a gentle stroll along the river with a long stop at the Joist fen viewpoint. There were a few distant Hobbys, and one or two Bitterns were flying around getting food for their young.

We pretty much cleaned up on dragonflies here-Broad Bodied and Scarce Chasers, Hairy dragonflies, more 4 Spots, Azure and Red Eyes Damsleflies and a lot of butterflies as well, including Green Hairstreak and Brown Argus.

Thursday highlights-

With the cool cloudy mornings with a bit of drizzle I thought we might get a Black Tern at Fairlands. I was a bit surprised not long after getting into work to hear that Andy Day had found a Sanderling-not on the radar and a first for the park. I held out til lunchtime and had a quick dash where it showed quite well. i could have hung on as it lingered into the evening. Not an easy bird to see in Herts, as they are usually short stayers so a county first for me.

Three Tick Bank Holiday

Thanks to the Coronation we got two Bank Holiday Mondays in a row. Although I had some family commitments, the 8th was free and Colin and I arranged a big trip to Fife, my first visit to Scotland for quite a while.

A few years ago, Colin had a very bad night, decided to drive up in the early hours  to Mussleburgh on the Forth and managed to see the drake American White Winged Scoter that had been wintering there in recent years, and was, presumably the bird that was first found in Aberdeenshire off Murcar 11 years ago. Since then every time it has been reported he has raised the possibility of me seeing it, but have been reluctant to commit to the long day needed. This year I had the time but little enthusiasm in the early part of the year. A complication arose when someone accidentally photographed a Stejnegers  Scoter (the Asian version of the American White Winged ) at Mussleburgh which was then rediscovered at Largo Bay in early May along with two or more American White Winged Scoters! We really had to go, and so headed up the A1 in the early hours of last Monday.

We arrived quite early at 0730, it was cold, windy overcast and wet but headed east along the beach for around a mile to reach the pillboxes that were the main viewpoint. I picked up a few year ticks on the way-Arctic Tern, Kittiwake and many hundreds of Common and Velvet Scoters (Largo being the scoter capital of the Uk in winter). When I arrived, the few present in the lee of the pillbox had not found anything unusual, but two guys the other side had seen two drake White Winged earlier. My bins were soaked, as were my glasses and the scope so I was not finding it easy to work through the huge flock of scoters. Early on I found an interesting duck with a large white spot behind the eye and a thicker bill which had pale edges with no obvious yellow-the drake Velvets yellow bills were impossible to miss at any distance as did  the immature males except those far out. I was reasonably confident that this was one of the White Winged, but lost it after a few minutes. I was then distracted by the drake Surf Scoter, the first for many years, and while studying it a slightly smaller preening 'Velvet" caught my eye and the two guys announced that they had the Stejnegers near the Surf at which point I realised it was the preening bird. I could see the distinctive prominent bump above the nasal opening, but needed Colin's larger (and drier) scope to see the pinkish bill. We watched it for a while until it drifted off and I continued searching the bay for more birds. We had a few Mergansers, Shag, Long tailed Duck one or more Red Throated and one Black Throated Divers, a few Gannets offshore and the occasional Sandwich Tern, so a decent bump up of the year list. The Red Necked Grebe that had been present on previous days was never found.

Over the course of three hours I had a few decent White Winged candidates, encountered the Surf Scoter a few times (there were three drakes present but I never saw more than one at any time) but eventually had to head back to the car. I stopped off a couple of times as there were a lot more scoters now, and the visibility had improved. I was hoping to find Purple Sandpipers on the rocks, but Sanderling and Oystercatchers were the only waders of note. A large flock of mainly female Velvet and Common Scoter had a very interesting bird-a scoter with a chunky thick bill and a significantly large pale patch behind the eye, and very different to the accompanying Velvets. This I took to be a female American White Winged Scoter which others had reported earlier in the week.

So five Scoter species in a day, all we needed to complete the set would have been a Black Scoter, but unfortunately one wintering earlier in the year off Northumberland had long since departed.

To add to the fun of the day, and a third lifer for the day, we stopped off on the way home to see the Grey Headed Lapwing that had appeared in a farm field near Beadnell in Northumberland. This is perhaps a bit suspect, but one or two have appeared in Europe over the last few years and there does seem to be an increase in vagrancy records so it stands a fair chance of being accepted. It was always distant, and like Largo there was no chance of any photographs. 

A White Stork for Easter

 I had a five day break this easter. It started in a really big way on Good Friday.

I got up early and headed off to Fairlands Valley, arriving just after eight. Being bright and sunny (but a bit chilly) there were decent numbers of singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. On the way up, I had had a chat with a dog walker about camera gear and thought I'd seen a Raven go over west, and was relieved to see one drift west over the balancing pond. I thought it would be the highlight of the day, being my first for the  park, and the first local bird this year.

Approaching nine, I had covered Environmental and Millennium Lakes when I bumped into Tony Hukin, so we swapped notes-he had seen the Raven too. Peter Clarke approached us and asked if we had seen the large bird on the marina lamp post which he thought was a young Heron. We walked round to get a view and were stunned to see the unmistakable silhouette of a White Stork! 

I took a few snaps and moved to get a better view, and it just sat there not more than 15 yards away unconcerned by the passing dog walkers runners and so on. Having got very good views we were able to establish that it was not bearing any ring we put the news out and it wasn't long before the first locals arrived. The Stork stayed for nearly an hour with wing stretching and the occasional bill clatter until it suddenly took of, and after circling a bit drifted south where, over the Glaxo site the local Buzzard and gulls took offence and then it slowly moved west and appeared to turn north before we finally lost it behind Monks Wood. I had a nice bottle to celebrate with my lunch!

On Saturday Colin came over and we headed off to the Brecks. It was misty locally but cleared to a nice but rather cold sunrise. Unfortunately as the day progressed it gradually got cloudier and duller but we had a pretty good day out.

First stop was Santon Downham where we headed west along the river to try and locate the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We met someone who had seen one at first light but nothing over the next two hours. Undaunted we continued on. There were several drumming Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, singing Nuthatches and Marsh Tits (sadly the Willow Tits were lost years ago). To my delight I found an otter that gave us fantastic views so I spent a while trying to get good images-not easy as it spent most of the time underwater but came out onto a log for a bit. A bit further on we stood on the bank and watched another which then climbed up the bank towards us, but unfortunately far too close for the camera!

We spent around an hour hoping to get the Woodpecker without success and returned to the road, finding several Mandarins, and a nice flock of Redpolls.

After this we drove up to the Cockley Cley watchpoint stopping off a bit to the south first. Here we could hear several Woodlarks singing in the pines above our heads but couldn't see any, but fortunately one showed really well at the watchpoint.

While there were a few birds of prey up-Kites and Buzzards, the conditions were not ideal for Goshawks. A bit late for displaying birds obviously, but we are often successful in seeing one.

A brief stop at Weeting failed to locate Stone Curlews and then we finished the day at Lakenheath. By now the wind had picked up and it had got rather cloudy. The drake Garganey showed well but distantly, several Stonechat were along the river and after a bit of a wait at the viewpoint I thought I could hear a Bittern booming behind me but dismissed it as the wind until dropping down to the shelter of the reeds when it was obvious there was a bird in front of us. Invisible of course, but the pings and brief views of Bearded Tits were a nice compensation.

All in all a great start to the holiday.

Spring Solstice

 My last post started with a resolution to post a bit more frequently. It barely lasted a week.

Unfortunately we lost Mum at the end of January-I had been caring for her for many years but in the new year there was a sudden decline and I had to take a few weeks off work. Luckily both my sisters were here and we looked after her as best we could, and I cannot thank the doctors paramedics and nurses who were in and out on a daily (and sometimes nightly basis) enough. Obviously there has been a lot to do and it will be some time before some sort of normality resumes.

Colin's been a great help too and has got me out of Stevenage on a few occasions to relax, chill and do a bit of birding. This will be a bit of a brief synopsis of our trips with a few pictures.

The first trip was February 4th and the Norfolk coast. While we saw a lot of the expected stuff, it was a bit quiet. The sea in particular-Hunstanton had most, with Fulmar, Mergansers and a few auks, and Colin had a Skua. Titchwell was nice to visit, but apart from a nice flock of Brambling and a Slavonian Grebe on the sea, there wasn't much for our efforts. Rather than head along the coast to the jam packed Holkham area we decided to head inland.

Just south of Brancaster we found the small crowd looking at the distant flock of Pinkfeet, and eventually we were able to get onto the Cackling Goose (basically a smaller Canada), the first we had seen since the mid nineties. We then moved south east to the Nene Washes at Eldernell, which I had been hoping to visit for several weeks. The roosting Short Eared Owl was visible of sorts, but the two Long Eared Owls were a bit more obliging, as was the Tawny Owl.

The following week, the 11th we did Essex. Abberton had five Smew (the largest number I had seen for years, a nice Black Necked Grebe and the usual Long Tailed duck. No sign of any Scaup which was a bit odd. The Great Northern Diver showed very well for us.

A visit to Copt Hall marshes was very disappointing, some of the footpaths seemed to have vanished and there werent many birds. I did get a longed for lifer with the MV Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline on the distant Blackwater estuary.

We ended at Fingringhoe Wick. My only visit was some 30 years ago and it had changed quite a bit, so much so that I couldn't reconcile my memories with what was there. It proved to be a very nice place for a relaxed wander and I hope to get back there soon.

My last trip out on the 19th was down to North Kent. Oare Marshes was cold and breezy and we decided to walk west along the sea wall, as we hadn't really been that way before. Lots of Stonechats and Meadow and Rock Pipits, plus wildfowl. The hoped for Hen Harriers did not appear.

More pirate radio at our next destination, the old towers of Reculver. This is now a country park, but when I used to visit relatives at nearby Birchington back in the 70's there weren't as I recall any paved paths, and not much in the way of facilities. There weren't any offshore wind-farms either, but the WW2 sea-forts and pirate homes of Red Sands and Shivering Sands were still visible among them. Unfortunately the distinct pyramid on stilts of Tongue Sands collapsed some years ago. Fortunately the Snow Buntings were still present but it was a bit of a slog, not quite half way to Minnis Bay.

The final stop was Stodmarsh, long a favourite place to visit in summer, but by far the earliest in the year. Lots of Cetti's warblers, squealing Water rails and plenty of woodland birds, but surprisingly no Redpoll or Siskin. A new sight for us were the gnawed and felled  trees courtesy of beavers, which of course we didn't see. We did find our target in the shape of the female Ring Necked Duck.

Since then I haven't been far, the weather has not been ideal but I have tried to get over to Fairlands on a regular basis. I did get to Bramfield where three Hawfinch showed well.

A New Year

 New year resolution (sort of) is to try and keep a bit more up to date here. Will see how it goes.

After a longish break I got to see Colin in the early hours of the New Year. As on previous occasions, we decided on a modest start and tour the fens rather than hit the very busy coast. This would hopefully make a nice stress free day with a reasonable chance of getting home at a sensible time.

The first stop at Pyemore viaduct was a bit of an eye opener. Despite the mild forecast, the wind was rather chilly and I regretted leaving my big coat at home. However it was quite a pleasant half hour or so. There were two Barn Owls hunting the bank just south of us, and despite being completely unprepared and with the wrong camera settings managed to get a couple of decent images.

The usual selection of wildfowl were on the washes, with a few Whooper Swans near the village. There were huge numbers of Lapwings flying around and a few thrushes but hardly any small farmland birds-this has been a feature of recent weeks and now doubt is the consequence of the big freeze in early December.

A stop off at the A1101 bridge failed to produce the large number of egrets that we saw last year. The water levels were too high. Again, large numbers of Lapwing in the air, more wildfowl and a few thrushes and tits in the trees. Facing north, we didn't see a Short Eared Owl approaching behind us at not much more than head hight. I completely fumbled the camera due to the shock as it flew over and away towards the bank. Thinking that was it we drove off and up to Welney. We were incredibly lucky though, as we refound it on a roadside post, stopped in time and I wound the window down and fired a frame filling sequence from around ten feet.

Welney was a bit quiet. While there were a few swans in front of the main hide, there was little else and we wondered how the midday feed would fare. Apart from the vast numbers of Lapwing, the only waders were around 80 Black Tailed Godwits on one of the islands. A walk around Lady Fen produced a large flock of Golden Plovers and 2-3 Short Eared Owls though they stayed distant. One each of Little and Great White Egrets added some interest, but apart from a couple of Linnets and a distant Snipe the best birds remained around the car park with decent numbers of House and Tree Sparrows.

After a bite and plenty of coffee we stopped off near Wissington Beet Factory where a small herd of Whooper Swans contained for Tundra Bean Geese. Too far for photos.

The final stop was near Thorney Toll on the Nene Washes. The beet fields held an enormous herd of Whoopers, with estimates that day of around 1600 which i felt to be an under estimate. I have since learned that the farmer reckons on around 4000 birds. In among them were a few Bewicks, but trying to find them was a nightmare as all the swans had muddy beaks. Fortunately a couple flew over calling which was handy. There were a few Pink Feet as well which were a bit easier to see.

I ended the day with a decent count of 60 species. The following day, a stroll around Fairlands Valley with Tony Hukin added  another 13 species to the year list, though I missed several that were seen by others.