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.

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).

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.

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......

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.

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.

A Long Very Hot Weekend in the Garden

I booked a couple of days off to make a long weekend, mainly because we had family visit for a few days. However it also coincided with the RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, which due to its popularity had been extended, and ran from Wednesday to Sunday. I have been going to this (or the later Autumn Plant Fair) for several years now and was really looking forward to this year.
I decided to go on Thursday, assuming it would be a bit quieter than the weekend, and as usual went with Sarah. I picked her up as planned and we made good progress on the roads, but actually arrived  bit later than expected, shortly before 11am. The car park filed was already half full (it opens at 10) and it was already incredibly hot and humid. I was pretty well exhausted by the time we reached the entrance, how I made it over the next four hours (and four miles walking) I don't know. I took extra fluids, a cool box and so on but regrettably I should have brought more along, as I felt really rough the next couple of days.
I always take a shopping list-essentially things that have caught my eye in books magazines or blogs that might be worth trying in the garden for ornamental or wildlife interest (or often plants that I find interesting for some reason). I never get anything on the list of course as I always end up with a bag or two of impulse buys and then have to wonder what to do with them once I get home. Sarah is at least a bit more restrained and managed to find some things she wanted.
The one stand I always make a bee-line for is Plantbase, which is a really interesting nursery near Bewl Water that always has fun and out of the ordinary plants. They always have the tomato relative Solanum atropurpureum which I have grown for a few years now from seed. Its rather nasty-highly toxic yellow fruit, thick purple stems covered in dense downward curving spines and very fast growing. Last year mine hit 5 feet with stems a couple of inches thick. This image was taken last July.

Rather surprisingly, (to me and to Graham who owns Plantbase) it survived my heavy cold clay overwinter in the ground-I only found this out in May when I was clearing the area to replant (with one I had overwintered under cover!). Unfortunately because of the late start to everything neither are going to grow all that big. Sarah's are however flowering at 3-4 feet high.
This year I was rather restrained and Graham sold me a couple of hardy cacti to go with the Opuntia hummus that I have had for years, and Puya mirablis that should survive for me and is a very good bee plant to boot. Its also good for Hummingbirds but I don't think I will be getting any of those in the garden.
Elsewhere I picked up a Grevilla victoriae, an Iochroma australis (both useful nectar and pollen sources) and a dwarf pomegranate because Ive always wanted one, plus a nice sundew. . I had hoped to replace many of my bulbs and aroids as I have lost a large number this year. A lot are grown in pots primarily to provide the right amount of drainage, ph etc. Some failed to get past spring which was very cold and wet, leading to some rotting. Some survived but have ended up being cooked by the excessive heat over the last few months. Unfortunately I couldn't find any I wanted and my current plan is to get the shady part of the garden revamped with lots of compost and bark and replant new arums and arisaemas in spring.
We didn't spend a great deal of time exploring the gardens unfortunately, simply because of the heat. I had pretty much forgotten that I had brought my camera with me and ended up with a handful of snaps.

A Grevillia hedge.

A greenhouse I wouldn't mind having with a suitable lottery win.

The dry garden and a bit of the new hill top building.

Butterflies were abundant in the gardens, with lots of Holly Blues, a few Common Blue and Brown Argus. Lots of whites, Meadow Browns and one Red Admiral. And my first Painted Lady of the yearwhich was hard to relocate and eluded the camera. The wildlife lake had a family of Tufted Ducks, one Dabchick with a chick, a few Mallards. The water level was very low making it hard to get to the dragonflies. Black Tailed Skimmers and two Emperors were the most obvious with (maybe) one Broad Bodied Chaser. Azure and Common Blue Damselflies could be found all over the garden with a few Common and (probably) Ruddy Darters, and the Brown Hawkers seemed to prefer the ornamental wooded ponds.
Didn't see much on th e way there or back, and didn't see much while I was in Sarah's garden though she has still got a few Swallows around.

Ive had one or two Swallows over my garden, presumably early returning birds but I guess any Swifts we might have had locally have long gone. The Goldfinches, Blackbirds and Blue Tits are still coming in and there are a couple of juvenile Dunnocks knocking around as well.
Ive had a few Azure Damselflies around the pond and hopefully they will colonise again. I have also had one or two Blue Tails (new to the garden) but strangely none of the larger dragonflies.
Butterflies are surviving reasonably well in the garden, with regular Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers, Large and Small Whites of course and my first Common Blue for several years. Unfortunately a lot of the plants that they would normally visit-Rudbeckias, Dahlias and so on are not flowering much if at all. A few verbenas and sea lavender plants seem to be the most popular at the moment. Bees and Hoverflies are attracted mainly to a large Persicaria, a few Zinnias, salvias and my large patch of Bronze Fennel. With a bit of luck, the heat is gradually going to drop, and if we get a decent spell of rain (last weekend's 5mm, the first since late May didn't do anything) I should get a few more things flowering and maybe a few more visitors like this-Rye Meads a couple of weeks ago.