Nightingales and Sparrows

Spent the morning walking around Little Paxton Nature Reserve, a series of old gravel pits that have become one of the places to hear and usually see Nightingale.

There were at least a dozen birds singing and I managed to glimpse a few of them, but getting photos were a different story. One spot where I have had success in he past had been staked out by the well known photographer Nigel Blake and there were a number of others with him. Unfortunately it did not look as if the bird would perform as it stayed in dense cover. 

I carried on and heard my first Cuckoo of the year.

In the early afternoon I payed a visit to the RSPB reserve at Welches Dam on the Ouse Washes. In the winter it is a prime site for wildfowl, but in spring and summer, the breeding and passage birds tend to be rather distant. There were small parties of Icelandic Black tailed Godwits, small numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Pintail still, plus two distant drake Garganey. 

Much easier to see and photograph were the colony of Tree Sparrows by the reserve centre.

Sunshine at Last

A couple of days ago, news broke of a White Throated Sparrow at an Iron Age Fort at Old Winchester Hill. Apparently it had been present since early November. With not much else happening bird wise it seemed like a good opportunity to see it, and hope to pick up a few migrants on the south coast.

We left a dull and gloomy Stevenage,and started to see indications of sunshine as we got to Hampshire.

The Sparrow has been frequenting the car park to the hill fort, and was getting rather busy as we arrived. Luckily the Sparrow showed quite well in some honeysuckle quite quickly. Getting photos were rather more difficult though, as there was limited viewing in the scrubby woodland, and the bird did not stay still. I managed a few decent images with the 500mm lens.

Pagham Harbour is a place I have not visited for some years now, and I had hoped to find a few migrants, such as Yellow Wagtail, or perhaps a few waders. Turned out to be very quiet, with little wind to bring things in.

We ended up on the Surrey Heaths at Frensham Little Pond, though with it being a holiday, it was very busy. One Dartford Warbler was seen a long way off, and there were a few snatches of Woodlark song, but we got very good views of a very active male Redstart singing in some trees. 

Dreary Easter

So far, the Easter holiday has been dull and damp, not exactly the conditions I like for photography. Also, there has not been much in the way of bird reports to justify traveling any distance, so I have stayed local

Yesterday I spent the entire day in the upper Lea valley, starting with a visit to RSPB Rye Marsh. As I arrived, the volunteer warden Christine was watching two Cuckoos fly away, but I never got on to them. The main scrape in front of Draper Hide had a lot of the commoner duck, including several pairs of Teal, and I am wondering if some will over summer in the valley. I also saw my first Green Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover of the year. Plenty of warblers in now, with singing Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and a lot of Sedge Warbler.

The afternoon was spent at Amwell, where only one of the regulars was present (the others off twitching a White Throated Sparrow in Winchester). My first Common Tern was showing well, and for once there were large flocks of hirundines present. There have been up to eight Redshank, but we only saw four of them, there were also the pair of Ringed Plover and a single little Ringed. A few Reed Warblers were singing alongside the Sedge Warblers, and a single Whitethroat was present.

More Minsmere Images

Couple of extra images from Saturday's Minsmere visit.

Minsmere and the Brecks

Yesterday Colin and I spent the day in Suffolk, starting off at Minsmere for several hours and re-visiting some of the Breckland sites we had been to last month.

Minsmere really started off well, with a Bittern booming as soon as we got out of the car-at least two appeared to be calling from the vast reed  beds. Things got better moments later in the woods as I was distracted by a high pitched song and found a superb Firecrest. Associating with it were a pair of Marsh tit and several Treecreepers.

On the way down to the sluice, we stopped off at the west hide to scan for gull,s, waders etc. A first winter Glaucous Gull had been present for a long time, and had been seen earlier in the morning, but we could not find it. I did locate what I think was a very good candidate fro a Caspian Gull, and that seemed to be the consensus in the hide.

A long walk up the public footpath along the southern levels produced a large flock of feral Barnacle Geese, as well as our first Willow warbler and Greenshank of the year,a and a very nice Spotted Redshank moulting into breeding plumage. The Spoonbill we were looking for was eventually found from the sluice bushes but was very distant.

Our next stop was rather brief, at Cavenham Heath where a Great Grey Shrike was lingering. It did not take long to show on a distant fence. 

Into Thetford Forest itself, we first heard a calling Golden Pheasant, and got  a few rather brief views of Goshawk. I saw my first butterflies here today-several Brimstone, a Green Veined White and a Peacock.  A calling Buzzard in a stand of pines proved rather puzzling when it flew off-a rather pale bird, very lightly marked underneath and with a rufous tail. The suspicion is of a Red Tailed Hawk escapee/feral bird.

Despite the conditions, we failed again to hear or see any Woodlark, and we also failed to see any Hawfinch at our final destination of Lyndford Arboretum. With the trees coming into bud, we will have to wait until the end of the year to search here again.

Today, my regular visit to Amwell failed to live up to the expectations generated by the lovely spring weather.

There were up to five Buzzard in the air, five Redshank and a pair of Ringed Plover. Plenty of Chiffchaff singing, along with a one Blackcap and two or three Willow Warbler.

Another new butterfly for the year were two Commas.

Old Haunts

As my sister was down from Inverness, I took her to Amwell this morning, as she used to live nearby. The weather was not ideal-northerly, cold and showers but she had a good time seeing a lot of species that are very uncommon for her these days-things like Wood Pigeon, Mute Swan and Magpie for example.

We saw a few Sand Martin go through battling the wind, with my first Swallow of the year shortly after. Plenty of Water rail squealing, and Cetti's Warblers calling from the reed beds. The Cormorants are nesting, as are the Grey Heron-did not see Little Egret unfortunately, and with several Chiffchaff's singing, and displaying Lapwing and Redshank, it almost felt like spring. 

We missed the big one though-twenty Waxwing had flown through while we were in one of the hides, and the site's first Little Ring Plover of the year had been seen as well.  

Travelling again

After the hiatus last month, I finally got a chance to get out again.
The plan was to get over to Colin, and visit sites in Breckland/Thetford forest for some of the wintering and early spring birds that can be seen in early March.
First stop was RSPB Lakenheath where the wintering Great Grey Shrike had been showing from near the car park. Early signs were good and it had been seen an hour before we arrived. We spent an hour in the cold wind checking the young birch wood and scrub, plus adjacent areas to no avail. A party of Lesser Redpolls was nice to see.
Lyndford Arboretum is a good spot for Hawfinch in winter and three had been seen early morning, but by the time we got there they had gone from the paddocks where they roost. A search of the arboretum failed to find them. Apart from flocks of Siskin it was pretty quiet. Ther has been a lot of work done over the last year to improve the quality of the trees and shrubs (which had been in a pretty poor state for some time) and it was nice to wander round for a bit and just enjoy the woodland.
Next stop was Grimes Graves, a large open space in Thetford Forest which ought to be good for displaying raptors, and Goshawk had been seen earlier in the week. Though it was sunny, the wind was getting stronger and all we had for our efforts were a couple of Buzzards and Kestrels, and Skylarks everywhere. Finally, Olley's Farm just west of Theford itself has a recent track record of reliable Goshak sightings, but by early afternoon, the wind and increasing cloud meant that few raptors ventured up-one Buzzard and one Sparrowhawk. The Woodlarks were silent, but we were treated to a small party of Crossbills, two of which lingered long enough to get a few images.
Just as we got back to the car, and moments before the rain arrived we were finally treated to a spectacular bird of prey-a totally unexpected Red Kite.