Northern Mockingbird

 After a long stay in Exmouth during the last lockdown, and a very brief appearance in Sussex, we had assumed that the Mockingbird had gone, and those of us that didn't want to, or couldn't travel at the time had missed a biggie. Of the four previous records, only two were accepted and they were a long time ago.

News came out at the end of last week that it had appeared again, this time in a back garden in Newbiggin Northumberland. A bit further to travel than Devon, but at least there was another opportunity, so we set of early yesterday and arrived on site just after 10am. Interestingly, parking was rather straightforward and it was only a few yards to the observing spot where we joined the small crowd. The Mockingbird was initially seen in a tangle of clematis on a fence top, largely hidden, and seemed to be feeding but after a short while it popped up onto a tree branch and gave stunning views, and seemed unperturbed ny the continuous machine gun of the DSLR shutters. It eventually dropped down again for a bit and then flew up to a TV arial. Having had our fill we returned to the car and then moved to the church point car park.

Offshore there was a constant stream of Arctic and Sandwich terns, some Kittiwakes and Eider ducks. One or two nice Greenland Wheatears were perched up on the rocks and chalets, and there were also some flocks of Sanderling and Oystercatchers on the rocks. Unfortunately I couldn't confidently pick out any Roseate Terns in the heat haze and the local Iceland Gull eluded us as well.

looking at what to do on the way back, we rejected a few sites in the north Pennines and thought about calling it at Bempton Cliffs but decided it was a bit of a detour, but there had been a report of a red Necked Phalarope on some old gravel pits in the Idle valley near Doncaster just off the A1. This proved to be an interesting area and seemed good for waders with lots of breeding Lapwing and Redshank, some Dunlins, three Greenshank and a Whimbrel. The one missing one was the Phalarope. Otherwise it was standard gravel pit fare of a mix of ducks, including some lingering Wigeon, a Black Headed Gull colony, Common Terns, plus two Arctic Terns on the deck and a variety of reed-bed species. 

Little Paxton and fen Drayton

 I met up with Colin again yesterday. Being a Bank Holiday we had no intention of travelling all that far so confined ourselves to some of the sites around Cambridge.

We started at Little Paxton and spent around 90 minutes doing the usual circuit around Heron Lake. A couple of nice Garden Warblers near the car park was a good start, with one or two more seen elsewhere. My first Lesser Whitethroat and Cuckoo were heard shortly after but then it got a bit disappointing as it appears most of the Nightingales are no longer  present. The lake was rather quiet, apart from the Common tern and Black Headed Gull colony-the cold northerlies keeping hirundines away, and apart from Blackcaps, other warblers were only around in ones or twos. 

The norther section-Diddington Pits was much more interesting. There were no passage Black terns or Little Gulls unfortunately but one of the Grasshopper Warblers was very showy, as were the Nightingales-at least five were seen. The habitat here is much more suitable at the moment. 

The early afternoon was spent at Fen Drayton. It was very busy with plenty of dog walkers and picnickers, and only a handful of birders. Still rather cold and windy, it was hard going to find the smaller birds, especially when the heavy showers arrived but it did brighten up a bit by the time we got to Moore Lake which was the only one with any muddy islands. The hoards of Common Terns and Black Headed Gulls covered much of them but I did locate a single Common Sandpiper and Redshank. The resident Cattle Egret was a bit elusive and it was a good job we had a scope with us. Eventually by the time we got back to the car park the sun was out and a few Swifts were seen feeding over the adjacent lake.

On the way home we called in at the Ashwell dung heaps for a few minutes where there were three Yellow Wagtails (more were seen later in the evening by Tom Spellar). One was rather photogenic, farmed nicely by the fragrant piles.

An Impromptu Holiday-With Pictures!

 I had some time off last week, which was totally unplanned, but turned out quite well.

It actually started on Friday 16th, when I spent the morning at Amwell, only my third visit of the year. I quickly added a few year ticks, with several singing Reed and Sedge Warblers, the usual Oystercatcher pair and three Little Ringed Plovers. There was also a large Sand Martin flock feeding over the south end which gradually dispersed along with small parties of Swallows among them. One female Goldeneye remains, but otherwise only the normal summer wildfowl were present. Snipe were rather more conspicuous than usual with several birds flitting around, one Raven was seen briefly and at the end of my visit a Common Tern appeared.

The Saturday afternoon walk around Aston End wasn't really productive, though my first Whitethroat of the year was seen, but otherwise summer visitors were scarce-having weeks of cold northerlies has really had an impact this year.

Sunday 18th was split into two parts. I did a quick circuit of Norton Green in the hope of picking up Ring Ouzel and Wheatear but it was largely empty. I then went round Dyes and Kitching Lane which again was a bit on the quiet side, there were a a few Chiffchaff and Blackcap around, and the usual Marsh Tits. All of the winter thrushes appear to have finally departed. I was hoping the. ponds and stream would remain through the summer but they are getting rather dry now. A few Hares are in the area-these were snapped last month.

An early walk around Fairlands Valley on Monday was a bit bracing with the northerly winds, but maybe have been beneficial as several Willow warblers were singing, along with a few Chiffchaff and Blackcaps. Willows have been declining locally and the south over the last few decades and last year despite daily walks only recorded a handful of singing birds yet they are certainly more common this year. Two Pairs of Tufted Ducks were noteworthy as well.

Another early walk on the 20th around Aston End was another cool one though it did warm up a bit eventually. Three Willow Warblers was good news, and there were now a lot of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs singing, but there were no other summer warblers. Last year I had already located a number of Common and Lesser Whitethroat territories.As for cuckoos and hirundines well they were non existent. I did get to see a pair of Yellow Wagtails presumably on passage and there seem to be a few Linnets, Chaffinch and Greenfinches nesting this year.

Wednesday 21st was a red letter day-a trip to Norfolk and meeting up with Colin for the first time in six months. I just wish I had taken my winter jacket.

A quick stop at Chosely and then onto a nice quiet and almost empty Titchwell. Naturally year ticks in abundance with Avocets, Godwits and so on, Brent Geese, Bearded Tits, Marsh Harriers plus a few rather smart Med Gulls in the Black Headed colony. The sea, despite the northerly was a bit disappointing with a few Gannets and Sandwich Terns passing and a rather pitiful flock of three Common Scoter.

After warming up a bit we went to Morston Quay and having walked along the sea wall to the eastern paddock realised that the long staying Ring Ouzel was back where we started near the car park. A couple of Wheatear and a Greenshank in the harbour was useful.

The final part of the trip was an early afternoon walk around Lakenheath Fen. Lots of hirundines over the mere-though without House Martins which I have yet to see. After a bit of a search, a pair of Garganey were found, and a Stonechat then it was a bit of a quiet walk along the river to the Joist fen viewpoint where a rather loud booming Bittern kept us entertained while we failed to see any Cranes though a pair of displaying Hobby in the distance was nice.

Gluttons for punishment we were out again the next day this time to Pembrokeshire. Star of the show was the long staying young Walrus which had taken a liking to the Tenby lifeboat station ramp. It was an exhausting long journey but worth it as it isn't a species I was expecting to see in the UK. While there have been couple of  records the last couple of decades in the northern isles they have tended to be short stayers and mobile,  and I have known people spend days trying to track one down. This one was in Ireland last month and then made it's way to Tenby where there appears to be a plentiful supply of clams for it to feed on.

This is what it was doing while we were there-would have been nice to see it hauled up on the ramp, but watching it bobbing around offshore was an amazing sight. Naturally, despite it's presence for several weeks there was still a bit of a crowd, though I don't think many took an interest in the Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers feeding on the rocks.

In the afternoon we had a walk around St Annes Head overlooking Skomer and Skockholm islands. I had hoped to pick a headland with a plentiful supply of auks and sea birds but there was a distinct lack of them. Maybe the wind direction was keeping them well offshore and perhaps one of the other places I had found would have been better. However we should see some eventually this year and having a pair of Chough low overhead is always worthwhile particularly when there are Greenland Wheatears flitting around and three Whimbrel feeding in the cattle field.

Naturally the next two days were a bit of an anticlimax. A short walk around Fairlands on the Friday produced a Garden Warbler-apparently the first there for several years and the bluebells are staring to look quite nice now. The Tufted Duck appear to have finally departed. One Willow Warbler still remains, and the first Moorhen brood has appeared. The afternoon around Aston End on Saturday was primarily for butterflies and while numbers are still low, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, and Green Veined Whites were frequently seen, along with a couple of Speckled Woods and Orange Tips. The Muntjac wasn't expected and seemed to be very curious staying for some time despite the noise from the nearby pub.

Easter and Recent Weeks

 I have still been sticking to the Stevenage area over the last month or so, but since we were allowed officially to get out and about a bit more from early April I have travelled a bit more.

Fairlands has not been visited as much as in the past year. On a couple of occasions I went down in on Saturday afternoons but found it to be far too busy with large crowds, dogs everywhere and quite a bit of disturbance. I did pop down very early on Good Friday and it was nice and quiet. My first singing Blackcaps were heard-five males and a silent female, and there were three singing Chiffchaffs. My first Swallows were also in, mainly sitting on wires by the climbing frame with a few feeding over the lakes. There had been a House Martin earlier as well. Unfortunately a week before a Redshank and an Oystercatcher were around early one morning as I drove past on the way to work, but news arrived too late, and the same week a few Sand martins had gone through.

I've only been around Aston End once since I last wrote, on March 20th. The river level has dropped considerably and the ground was rather dry. About the only things of note were what was presumed to be a build up of pre migration flocks. Starlings numbered around 200, Redwing 125 and Fieldfare 260, largely between Lords Farm and the south end of Walkern. In all likelihood these numbers were rather conservative.

I have missed a large number of spring migrants. Two visits to the Ashwell dungheaps hasn't produced much, most of the good stuff has been seen while at work. The weather wasn't good for me either, cold and windy so no Wheatear, or Yellow and White Wagtails. A nice flock of around 175 Golden Plover in breeding plumage was nice to see though. Never mind as I had a long weekend prior to Easter with a view to finding migrants-it was during the late March warm spell with good southerly winds bringing in lots of stuff. Unfortunately a swollen ankle and tendon put paid to that-shame as that morning was supposed to be spent at Norton and Langley where 6 Wheatear were showing well. Places like Coopers Green pits were also pulling in lots of waders hirundines and Wagtails as well. 

Easter Sunday morning was spent at Tyttenhanger, my first visit in nearly a year. It was bitterly cold with occasional sleety snow so not very pleasant and I only lasted an hour. There has been a lot of work on improving the Tree Sparrow population with several new feeding stations erected. Very popular with the tits and Robins, but I did get to see a pair of Sparrows. The main pit was rather empty, water levels high and only a mixed gull flock and a few Tufted Duck,Teal and Shoveller. Some rather frozen hirundines were trying to feed over the water, I counted two Swallows and eight House Martins.

Earlier this week Ring Ouzels have started to appear. One has been present at Damask Green just outside of Weston for a while, first reported on the 7th along with a male Redstart, and still there today 10th April. I paid a visit after work on the 8th, but it was rather windy and there was some uncertainty of where it was. In the end I covered several fields and hedges around the various grid references with another hopeful birder but without success. A visit this morning was also unsuccessful. Mike Illett had reported it earlier along with a Wheatear and I covered the same area as before. This time it was cold windy with heavy drizzle. Fortunately Bill Last appeared with better information-basically we had been searching the right hedge all along, but the Ouzel spends a lot of time in the bushes and I think the weather has been against us. Luckily Bill refound the male Redstart and while flighty showed fairly well at times in the now pouring rain.

New Fields

 As mentioned last time, I've considered the area west of Stevenage as an area to visit. While I do go to Norton Green now and again for the migrants, and make occasional excursions to Watery Grove, it has been a long time, over 30 years since I last went over to the Langley area.

The first visit on the 21st basically followed the directions I had been given, which was to leave the Meadway car park, go under the motorway and then turn left and follow the track west and then north to Almshoe Farm. There is a nice dung heap being constructed near Potters Spring copse which looks potentially good for wheatears and wagtails. The copse held a lot of Fieldfare and Redwing plus a few nice clumps of snowdrops. Heading north, and despite the fresh cool breeze the constant song of the skylarks was really pleasant-over 40 birds which is far better than the Beane valley. There were also a lot of Linnets and Yellowhammers around and while the numbers were a lot lower than over the new year, the cover crops around the farm held 54 and 22 seen respectively though with many small flocks scattered in the hedges and cover I suspect my counts were a severe underestimate. There were a few Chaffinches, Goldfinches and a Brambling among them but I never found the Stonechat that has been wintering.

The following weekend I went on the 28th, and decided to head south along Kitching and Dyes Lane. I was hoping that the Langley brook would be worth checking out, and maybe I could get into parts of the Knebworth Wood complex, though as it turned out I ran out of time. The big problem was that while it was fairly warm the valley was full of mist and visibility was down to a few hundred yards. No soaring raptors this day unfortunately. There is a nice sedgy pool near Letchmore Farm that looks promising for snipe or maybe a Green Sandpiper but I couldn't see anything on it. However the damp wooded lane was very productive with a lot of thushes, tits and rather nice views of both Nuthatch and Treecreeper. Heading down Dyes Lane I encountered more thrushes, tried and failed to kick up a Woodcock in the damp ditches and having reached the junction I then walked up Kitching Lane and found at least one Marsh Tit-always a reliable spot for them.

I had Friday 5th off so decided on a rerun along the Langley brook and allowed more time which enabled me to reach Watery Grove via Pigeonswick Cottage. At least it was sunny this time, albeit cooler. The 'snipe' pool had a nice male Grey Wagtail, but there were fewer birds in the woods along the brook. There is a large pond a bit down stream surrounded by damp wooded hollows which I was hoping would be worth checking. I was so intent on the water, which only had two Mallards, that I failed to notice the 15 or so Fallow deer on the waters edge. They seemed ok with my presence for a bit but eventually ran off.

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful. Thrush numbers seemed about the same, there were a lot more tits around, and I managed to find a couple of Red Legged and Grey Partridge in a couple of fields. Watery Grove was rather quiet as was the wood around Pigeonswick. I returned via Kitching Lane again, and with a bit of spare time headed up to Potters Spring and then headed northeast towards the motorway. I had met a local earlier who had mentioned a flooded field that had pulled in a couple of Dunlin earlier. I guess that with the drier weather the flood had subsided and while there were a few wet spots I didn't see a great deal. There were still decent numbers of Linnet and Yellowhammer in the area though.

More Local Stuff

 I've been a good boy and have stayed within the Stevenage area over the last month or so. Apart from a couple of incidental observations, I have when the weather allowed covered Fairlands Valley and the Area around Aston End.

Generally speaking, the birds at Fairlands have remained pretty much the same all winter. Despite four major visits, I have yet to see any of the Grey wagtails, and the female Kingfisher which is still around but rather elusive. A Siskin flock has remained in the area, but I have only managed to see a couple on one occasion so far. Cormorant numbers seem to have peaked at 13, but the other fish eater, Great Crested Grebe seemed to vanish over Christmas and has only returned in the last couple of weeks.

Last weekend, the mini beast from the east had resulted in most of the water freezing. I went down on the 13th after shopping as I'd heard that the White Fronted Goose had been present early on along with a Barnacle Goose. Unfortunately, as expected both had departed by the time I arrived. It was bitterly cold despite the sunshine with a strong southerly wind, so rather unpleasant, and I only did a circuit of the main lake. There were a huge number of gulls present as expected. Black headed Gulls numbered 300+, and with birds constantly flying around I never tried a proper count. On the other hand Common Gulls had increased to at least 12 and there were a substantial number of Lesser Black Backs, with 17 present. Most unusually were the Herring Gulls-there are often one or two in winter but I counted 27 and I believe more were seen later.

On my circuit I came across a large mid grey mantled gull with no rings, but the light was bad. Despite this I was sure it was an adult Yellow Legged Gull and put the message out. I moved further around to get a better view and my heart fell when I found our usual Caspian Herring hybrid X307 standing on the ice in the same spot. I was sure my bird was unringed, and fortunately I eventually found the Yellow Legged sitting on the ice nearby. Relieved, I was told by Alan Ford that it was only the second for the lakes.

Monday 15th, the White Front was seen again early on, with the Canada flock so I called in on the way back from work, but there weren't many geese present. However it was reported later that afternoon so I decided to stop off on the way to work this morning (16th). The geese were grazing by the car park and there was no sign of the white Front-but the Barnacle was with them until flushed by some dogs. Not sure if I've seen one locally before, and no doubt this is one of the many feral birds. 

Aston End has been a bit hard at times. In the colder periods, run off from the fields result in large sections of the lanes turning into a skating rink, while the footpaths generally remain a quagmire. It was really cold on the 14th, but luckily the paths had frozen solid, and my route was primarily dictated by keeping out of the wind. Numbers of birds like finches larks and buntings fluctuate and unless I bump into one of the flocks I can miss them completely. Thrushes are the same, though they tend to be a bit more territorial. There are at least 60 Fieldfare along the one mile stretch of river Beane that I cover, but I only found a few on the 14th, but numbers of Redwings have actually increased somewhat with a flock of 27 in one of the sheep fields. Nearby 26 Meadow Pipits were a very high count for the area and two flyby Lesser Redpolls and a Greater Black Backed Gull heading south were other highlights (I don't see either species all that often locally).

During the milder spells, the build up to spring is noticeable by the increase in singing Robins, Tits and Song Thrushes, and  displaying Buzzards and Kites. One or two Greenfinches are singing as well, but I'm having a hard time finding Chaffinches-numbers seemed to have plummeted in the last few years and I have only found one or two recently. One wintering Chiffchaff was present two weeks ago near Chells Manor, hopefully it is still around. I had hoped to pick up one or two unusual species, Woodcock, Stonechat and Raven  have been seen locally, and I thought that the beast would have produced some cold weather wader movements, but even Lapwings have avoided the area so it would seem.

The region west of Stevenage around Almshoe has been productive with large Linnet flocks, some Brambling and Stonechat. Andy Day has given me pointers on where to park and I'm hoping to get over there soon, along with watery Grove and Knebworth Woods for Marsh Tit. 

A New Year

 The post Christmas birding was confined to the Stevenage area, and for the first time in many years, I stayed up to see the new year in with a glass or two. Normally I'm out early with Colin on the 1st of course, but with tiers and lockdowns it wasn't possible this time. 

We have had a cold spell for a while now with frosts some nights so I decided to go around Aston End, hoping that the ground would be a bit firmer than it has been (the Beane footpaths have been very boggy recently and the horses have churned up some of the fields). Perhaps because of the cold, numbers were lower than recent, and I had a hard time locating finches and buntings. Thrush numbers have been pretty good, though flocks have been scattered and mobile, and it has been tricky counting Fieldfare and Redwing in particular when they have been feeding in the fields and set aside areas. I believe there have been several hundred in the area though peak counts of any species hasn't got above 80 yet. Song and Mistle thrush however have been rather scarce, with only a few birds seemingly on territory and singing. There  doesn't seem to to be any continental visitors this year.

On the 2nd I went out in the afternoon for supposedly an hour or so hoping to see the Short Eared Owl that Mike Illet had seen in the morning. I decided to start at Royston and work westwards in the hope oif picking up a few other species. I have never seen the  Therfield road so busy-the car park was full, there were cars parked on the verges all along the stretch up to the lay-by at Fox Covert and there were hoards of walkers everywhere. I had no chance stopping in the Grays area to scan the fields and carried on the Coombe Road. No birds, but lots of Fallow deer as expected. 

Dead Mans Hill was good at the green gate. There is a game feeder set up in the hedge, and the large area of cover held a huge flock of Yellowhammer, Linnet and Corn Buntings. There are around 200 Corn Buntings here at the moment, and I saw at least 20 in the short time I was present, with at leat 150 Yellowhammer and 100 Linnet. Two Grey Partridge were at the top of the ridge, no doubt there were many more in the area. 

I drove slowly slowly through Sandon and Roe Green with the occasional Fieldfare in the hedges, the odd Kite or Buzzard but nothing to cause me to stop. I reached Wallington with the expectation of stopping now and again at the lay-bys to scan, but found it rather busy and as I headed to the usual gates I noticed Mike Illet with his scope in. one of them. He yelled Merlin, then flying and I just caught it in flight as I got out. It returned to a hawthorn and perched for a bit and was then flushed as a ring tail Hen Harrier flew over. Unfortunately both were never seen again as news filtered out to the many local birders in the area. I hung on to sunset, but the Short Eared Owl never put in an appearance.

On Sunday 3rd I went to Amwell before the expected lockdown came into force. For once one of the Red Crested Pochards was present-rather atypically on Hardmead Lake. There wasn't anything unusual among the gull flocks, and with the lack of grazing edges there were only a few Teal and Wigeon present. A couple of Cetti's warblers were singing as I headed down to the Bittern Pool-no sign but there was a nice Siskin flock in the birches and a variety of tits to work through. I got as far as the Hollycross gate and checked the feeders with Phil, picking up more tits, a few Greenfinches but unfortunately no Blackcap which had been seen recently. We also checked the ivy by the level crossing as this has also been a good spot for them-it was full of Redwing and not much else.

This weekend, apart from  the usual shopping trip and Mum's second Covid jab, the heavy frost and mist meant I chickened out and have decided to stay indoors and stay warm and keep the feeders and water topped up.