No Masked Shrike for Me

News broke last Saturday of a Masked Shrike at Spurn-first I realised was when I got a tweet from Jay saying he was almost there. I was out with Sarah for the day at the RHS Hyde Hall gardens at the time. No chance for me to get up there, Colin is still pretty much out of action and its a bit much for me on my own. Not too sure about the car either, even though it's been repaired I still think there is something not quite right with it.
The Shrike is still there this weekend. I missed the Fife bird thanks to flu, but it stayed nearly three weeks so maybe we will get a chance next week.
Lots of migrants were strung along the east coast last weekend as well, but things have gradually quietened down and there is not much happening now. Decided to go down to Amwell yesterday which seemed like a mistake as there was no-one else there when I arrived, apart from Barry doing his regular circuit.
Did not see a great deal from the viewpoint and I went down to check the gulls at the south end, though the visibility through the hedge made it rather difficult. Heard a few Skylarks going through, and Meadow Pipits were frequently heading down the valley.
Back at the viewpoint Dave from Stevenage had arrived and Phil turned up soon after. He picked up a very late Sedge Warbler in the mint by the waters edge. A long way off and it stayed very low and hidden. The female type Stonechat that has been present a while now eventually appeared, posing distantly on the reeds and sallows, and a bit later a male also appeared. We have not had any wintering since 2011 so it would be nice if they stayed.

Still good numbers of Swallows moving south, with the occasional House Martin among them. Every now and then I was hearing Ring Necked Parakeets, and they were eventually seen on the far side, frequenting the Horse Chestnuts the other side of the road. Barry eventually arrived having counted about 15 and there is a good possibility that they have found a few holes there to nest.
Something like 8 Buzzards were in the air above the wood, along with 2-3 Red Kites. There were also a few Mistle Thrushes above the woods, and a big surprise was a lone Redwing that flew over us.
All in all a pretty good morning.

Amwell Two Days in a Row

Colin is still out of action so I am still sticking to local birding.
Saturday morning's weather forecast suggested that the only sunny spells would be mid day Saturday so I thought I'd best try for the Willow Emeralds at Amwell again.
It was quite pleasant when i arrived, cloudy, warm with some brighter spells, but with a northerly breeze. This seemed to be rather productive and there was a constant movement of birds along the valley. Predominantly hirundines-Phil recorded two hundred plus Swallows and fifty House Martins through the morning. Meadow Pipits were frequent, and there were plenty of Goldfinches and Jays flying around as well.
One Common Sandpiper was the only wader of note. At least two Hobby were present, and a very nice bonus was the peregrine that swept through the Lapwing flock before flying over to the woods-which upset one of the Hobbies that was perched at the top of one of the trees.
Eventually I went over to Hollycross with Phil and Dave, and searched the ditch at the start of the boardwalk. Unfortunately it was rather dull cool and breezy and despite a thorough search we failed to find any Emeralds.
Rather annoyingly, in the afternoon  it brightened up and three were seen ovipositing in the willows at the end of the boardwalk.

Today was supposed to be cloudy but there was hardly a cloud in the sky when I got up. So I went to Amwell again. There was far less in the way of movement, with only a few hirundines and Meadow Pipits. There was little to see from the viewpoint so I got down to Hollycross just after ten. Along with a number of other hopefuls I spent an hour and a half staking out the willows where ovipositing was seen, but without success. The conditions were not too bad, a bit too much cloud but it was a lot warmer than yesterday. We also tried to locate one of the Common Emeralds seen yesterday-Mick Cotton has been seeing one frequently. At his spot we did see something being chased off by one of the many Migrant Hawkers but it was all too brief.
A few Common Darters and Common Blues are still around.

Norton Green

Decided to have a quick look round Norton Green before work today. Have not been down since late Spring, and though news has been quiet recently I thought that it would be worthwhile bearing in mind the number of common migrants passing through the region.
It was a bit dull and murky when I arrived and the bushes and hedges seemed rather quiet. In fact apart from a single Chiffchaff I failed to locate any warblers. Six Jays flying over was notable-they seem to be more noticeable and less shy these days. Scanning I picked up a Red Kite, and soon after a Raven-my first in the Stevenage area. Not exactly unexpected considering the resident birds are not all that far away, and perhaps the only surprise is that I had to wait so long for one to appear. Saw it again later, mobbing a female Kestrel.
Flushed a Red Legged Partridge and a young Green Woodpecker, three Meadow Pipits flew around for a bit and a large flock of maybe 30 Linnets toured the site. No sign of Skylark {!} Whinchat, Wheatear or other migrants, but plenty of Blackbirds, Dunnocks and Robins.

More Amwell Images

A few images I never got round to posting-taken over the last few weeks.

Quiet Weekend

Big news this week was the discovery of a Willow Emerald at Hollycross by Darren Bast, Hertfordshire's first record. Not exactly unexpected, and a species I and others have been looking for for a couple of years now. Darren's been down almost every evening, concentrating on the dragonflies this year, so a great reward for the time he's put in. Unfortunately subsequent searches failed to locate it.
With Colin currently out of action, it was natural that I would end up at Amwell on Saturday to try and fine one of my own. Weather was not exactly ideal-grey and murky all day but reasonably warm. Surprised ti see the huge amount of green algae on the main lake, but not surprised when Tony said there was not a great deal happening.
The Hobby is still around, often perching on a dead tree by the White hide, as it was when I arrived so I went round in ther hope of getting some images. Naturally it flew off before I got there. Sat in the hide for a while, but the only bird of note was a Water Rail in the far reed bed. Would have been better if it was a Crake.
I eventually got to Hollycross, joining Tony. As expected, we did not find a Willow Emerald, though there were plenty of Migrant Hawkers, Common Blues and a few darters flying in the dull conditions, along with a rather late Brown Hawker. I examined a number of trees in the hope of finding scarring from Willow Emerald eggs without success, suggesting it might have been a newly arrived migrant, though the habitat is ideal so they may have been in the area and gone un-noticed {rather unlikely given the amount of coverage}.
While searching, a Cetti's Warbler performed fairly well, as did a juvenile Reed Warbler.

The Migrant Hawkers proved too difficult sensing every camera movement, and nothing else was happening so I made my way back to the viewpoint, had another scan and left, bumping into Phil Ball by the Konik Pony field. He had just come back from two weeks in Mexico seeing some good birds and mammals. I told him that it was pretty quiet, discussed the Wryneck, the  Emerald and a few other things. Annoyed to see a tweet when i got home that he had found a Black Tail Godwit feeding in front of the viewpoint. No idea where that had been hiding, so I guess it had just dropped in.

Sunday started off rather dull and murky again, though by late morning the sun was out. With Whinchats, Wheatears and so on appearing all over the place I thought I'd go round Aston End and up the river. Not ideal for either species {i have only seen one Whinchat in the area, and Wheatear is more likely in spring} but Redstart does turn up now and again.
Distinctly autumnal in feel with Robins ticking in every bush, they turned out to be the only chats encountered. In fact early on it seemed as if there were no birds around at all, with very little seen. Things picked up just past the Aston End water tower when i heard a Little Owl calling. Not long after, a Hobby was seen flying around the tower-there were large  numbers of Swallows and House Martins here and over High Wood. Further down scanning the valley I picked up two Kestrels, two Sparrowhawks and several Buzzards.
Apart from a few Chiffchaffs the only other warbler was a nice juvenile Willow-unlike the last walk when sylvias seemed to be moving through. Another Little Owl was seen in the usual tree by the stable block and a very big noisy flock of Linnets was found in the large hedges near Gresley Way.
Few butterflies flying-just a few Small Whites and Speckled Woods.

Deja Vu all over again

Yesterday Barry Reed located a Wryneck at the old landfill site at Stapleford-almost a year to the day since he found one there last year. Unfortunately with the car in for a service, I could not get down there, and apparently it was not seen after his initial sighting.
With the car back, and no news I decided to go down to Amwell, and just as I arrived, I got a tweet from William-he had seen the Wryneck but it was very elusive. When I got there, only 15 minutes later, there was no sign of William, or for that matter anyone else.
Thinking I was in for a long lonely wait, I settled down to scan the area. I saw another birder drive up the lane, and not long after, the Wryneck flew out from the bushes that William had seen it-the same bushes last year's one preferred and drop down in scrub to the east. With the other guy now on site, we scanned the area but could not locate the bird-a Yellow Wagtail flying over being the only bird of note. After about twenty minutes we decided to concentrate on the more favoured bushes, and with other birders arriving it was not long before it was relocated. Unfortunately it proved very elusive and over the course of an hour I only managed a glimpse and a second flight view.
Around 1100 the land manager arrived to advise those of us parked off road in the lane that large farm machinery was on its way, so I left. On the way back, a Swift was seen north of Stapleford-probably my latest ever Herts record.

River Beane

Probably going to be a quiet weekend-not much happening, the weather is rather cool for the time of year and the car is acting up, so I am reluctant to go anywhere until it gets seen to later next week.
Thought I'd take a walk around Aston End and along the river as it's been a while since i last did it.
Not a lot to see in the plantation, one or two parties of tits and a Jay-certainly a lot more visible now than they used to be. Another one is Nuthatch, one of which was heard as I approached Aston End. Always used to be a hard species locally, with only one or two woods where they were reliable, but they seem to be cropping up in all sorts of unexpected places now.
Most of the fields have been harvested, and though there were lots of corvids and pigeons feeding in the stubble there were no larks, and no sign of the Corn Buntings i found earlier in the year. Did see a few Linnets, Yellowhammers and Chaffinches though.
Not much over High Wood as I crossed the ford {still got a flowing river!} apart from one Buzzard and one Sparrowhawk. Expected a few more raptors considering the conditions.
All along the walk i had been hearing Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps calling from every large hedge and wooded area, and while I was hoping for a migrant Whinchat or Wheatear I got the feeling I would not find much. However, one small tatty bit of  hedge crossing one of the fields seemed to be full of sylvia warblers. I first heard the characteristic hard tak of Blackcap-and eventually a male and female appeared, along with a brief juvenile Whitethroat which then flew out. Several other birds were more difficult. I could hear a softer tak and suspected  Lesser Whitethroat but it took ten minutes of fleeting glimpses to confirm the identity. Eventually two were seen well, with a third suspected. Always enjoy seeing Lesser Whitethroat, not the easiest of warblers to see well and very smart looking birds.
Things then went a bit wrong. I had been walking the hedge along the Walkern to Watton road and was intending to cross the river as usual on the footbridge east of Lords Farm, only to discover it was severely damaged and closed for safety reasons. My dilemma was wether to return to the ford, retracing my steps or continue towards  Walkern where hopefully the bridge near The Croft was ok. Luckily it was and I was able to get back to the right side of the river and check the usual trees for the Little Owls-not today. I did get to see a few butterflies in this spot, a couple of Large and Small Whites. Speckled Woods were the only other species noted on the walk almost everywhere., being more suited to cool conditions and could be found almost everywhere.