I arrived at Budds Farm Sewage Works at around mid day where there were a couple of other birders and negative news on the duck. Had a bit of a scan before looking over at Langstone Harbour and mopping up 7 year ticks in the form of a reasonable variety of common waders, plus Red-breasted Merganser (of which there were 39). The highlight was a flock of 16 Black-necked Grebes which were on the water off the Hayling Island oysterbeds which I could see quite clearly from my perch. I got a message on the pager saying the bird was still present on the right hand lagoon in the early morning, my spirits lifted slightly and I headed over again to have a look. It didn't take too long to get onto the drake Green-winged Teal, at last. My 265th British bird and my 2nd lifer/British tick of the year. Arguably a comparatively boring bird but I found it quite interesting, noting (other than the lack of the horizontal stripe across the body and the presence of a vertical stripe on either side of the breast) its slightly greater bulk than its European cousin, although I am not sure whether this was just a trick of the eye individual to this bird. It joined up with a small group of Eurasian Teal and flew with them to a sedimentation tank where it showed reasonably for a while before disappearing behind to rotor, just before I disappeared to Southsea. The above bird was one of 11 Purple Sandpipers that showed well for me along the shoreline with a single Turnstone just infront of Southsea Castle, the last year tick of the day, bumping me up to 113.
From the 23rd to 24th I was up in Manchester and took the opportunity to add a few birds to the year list that would be tricky in the south east.Martin Mere; with skeins of Pink-feet flying in while Whoopers rest up On Saturday I made my way to Martin Mere for the wildfowl there including Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese.Whooper Swans flying in
Even on driving up to the reserve I added Pink-foot to the year list as streams of birds landed on a nearby field. Whooper Swans were more than easy to see and were an impressive sight especially in the grand numbers in which they occur at the site. Other year ticks at Martin Mere were Pintail, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit and Barnacle Goose.A Tree Sparrow at the main feeding station was nice to see as were the large numbers of commoner wildfowl, and a Common Buzzard.Whooper Swan Skein of Pink-footed Geese
Sunday was spent closer to the hotel, at my northern patch Pennington Flash, a brilliant place. I got two nice year ticks here, Willow Tit and Goosander which both afforded excellent views. 2 of the former were at the feeding station and I counted a total of 22 Goosanders. 8 Goldeneyes including 5 drakes was a treat and 103 Lapwings were startled by something.Willow TitGoosander Goosander
I haven't posted much lately because I haven't really been anywhere exciting lately and don't want to bore you even more than usual.
I do have two legitimate excuses for my lack of wider birding activities: the snow, and a terrible attack of sinusitus.
I've managed only to pop out to my two local patches; Canon's Farm and Banstead Woods, and Banstead Downs. Canon's Farm and Banstead Woods has provided the odd minimally interesting year tick, including Little Owl and Woodcock.
Anyway, on to the main subject of the post. On Sunday 10th January, I decided to have a look for any displaced birds, due to the extreme weather, along the River Wandle from Carshalton Ponds to Wilderness Island.
What I found wasn't overwhelming but I did find 3 Common Snipe, which are not common there, and a Little Egret, which is not one of the most ubiquitous species there either. Also an exceptionally showy Egyptian Goose which took up some of my time as I photographed it. Between 2 and 4 Kingfishers brightened up the day as they zoomed up and down the river, flashing their wonderful electric blue rumps. Also a Little Grebe and 2 or 3 Grey Wagtails amongst others. Little Egret Common Snipe Egyptian Goose Egyptian Goose Grey Heron Robin Little GrebeGrey Wagtail
Arrived at Staines Moor at about 9.20am this morning, confident that I would be able to add the long staying 1st winter Brown Shrike to my year list, but completely and utterly failed.
Did however locate a single Water Pipit, a Kingfisher and a Cetti's Warbler which were all nice year ticks. The Kingfisher gave pretty good views. Shame about the Shrike.
Moving on to Staines Reservoirs, I enjoyed the wintering female/immature Scaup on the north basin and a Black-necked Grebe on the south basin, a couple of useful year ticks out of the way. A Common Sandpiper was a pleasant surprise, Goldeneyes, as always, were lovely and I got a series of other year ticks too.Driving home through Sutton I saw one of the resident Peregrines on their favourite corner of the Reed Building.
2010 started better than I expected, yesterday, I went up with Kev to Rainham Marshes RSPB first off.
It was a beautiful day, and high tide. Thing's were good. As we were walking along the seawall we came across the reserve warden Howard Vaughan and he instantly put us on the Bonxie (aka Great Skua) and we got distant views as it sat on the Thames, before it flew east (although we saw it back at the same spot on the walk back). This is an excellent bird for the LNHS area and it was even a tick for some high listing London birders. Also a potentially tricky year tick out the way.Bonxie
We walked up to the special viewing mound where we also instantly got onto a female/1st winter Serin, another useful year tick and my best views yet. I would have got a decent pic but unfortunately a twig was covering much of its front. At least one Rock Pipit was present on the foreshore of the Thames.SerinRock Pipit
A long overdue London tick came in the form of good numbers of Golden Plovers.Golden Plovers
Having got the two main target species out of the way, we decided it was best to head up to Westcliffe-on-Sea to get Rossi the Ring-billed Gull and the Black-throated Diver, both seemed to be more or less guaranteed.
After a bit of scanning from the yacht club Kevin spotted the Black-throated Diver and we enjoyed fairly distant views, although all of the key features could be noted. Another tarty lifer out of the way. Common Gull
With Gulls scattered all along the sea front we didn't know where to start with scanning for our quarry but thankfully it was perched up on a post right in front of us! The Ring-billed Gull showed well, I got my best views of it yet, and Rossi is a very fine specimen.Ring-billed Gull
Other Gulls present included one or two adult Mediterranean Gulls, the lowering sun shone right through their white primaries at some angles.Mediterranean Gull
As the tide was starting to go out, revealing a small amount of rocky shore, there was a small group of Turnstones that showed down to a couple of feet, way closer than the Leysdown birds! The evening sunlight had a beautiful effect on them.Turnstones
As we were driving away we spotted 3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the edge of the increasingly exposed beach.
A very good day, the year list having a relatively healthy beginning of 53 species (I think that's more than the 1st day of 2009!) and I was still missing very common things like Woodpeckers, all Tits but Blue, Wren etc.
Today (2nd) I popped down to Canon's Farm and Banstead Woods where the highlights included 2 or 3 Woodcocks which I flushed in Banstead Woods, 6 or so Yellowhammers, 2 Common Buzzards (the resident bird plus a distant individual over the Chipstead Valley), 17+ Skylarks, a Treecreeper, 5+ Nuthatches, 3+ Coal Tits, c.3 Lesser Redpolls, 2+ Bullfinches and a handful of Rose-ringed Parakeets.
The year list is now on 71, with some very common species still avoiding me e.g. Song Thrush. Very early days yet anyway.
See the right hand side of the blog for my chronological 2010 year list.
I went to Sheppey twice this bank holiday weekend. Firstly on the Sunday with my parents then on Monday with Phil Wallace.
The Sunday was a bit of a failure, after a couple of hours around the Swale NNR I failed to locate any Eurasian White-fronted Geese and was only rewarded with a single Bewick's Swan and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers for my efforts along with an assortment of common shorebirds, a Little Egret and a Marsh Harrier here and there. There were also large numbers of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Curlew and Golden Plover. A trip late in the day to Capel Fleet was spiced up by a single ringtail Hen Harrier which afforded good views as it flew in front of and by the car. There was little else there other than large numbers of GoldenPlover.A Capel Fleet sunset
The Monday was a lot better. At Leysdown-on-Sea Phil and I enjoyed excellent views of Grey Plovers, Sanderlings and Turnstones on the beach as well as a handful of Redshanks.
Grey PloverTurnstones
Sanderlings
We moved on to see if the Eurasian White-fronted Geese were back near the Swale NNR. We immediately got onto good numbers of Dark-bellied Brents, Golden Plovers, Curlews, Lapwings etc. I got onto some small grey geese in the distance. The scope kept going in and out of focus because of the distance but they didn't have much grey in the wing and I was fairly confident that they were White-fronts. We drove further up and onto a high point where we scanned the area that the Geese went down and sure enough there were 54 Eurasian White-fronted Geese along with many Dark-bellied Brents and a handful of Greylags! It was great to finally get this species, it's been a major tart for me for ages, so much so that, ironically, it didn't seem like a lifer. This was my 263rd British bird and 243rd British bird this year (and, I'm sure, the last).
We went back to the seafront at Leysdown-on-Sea where we located c.5 Red-throated Divers, 2 Eiders and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and enjoyed the shorebirds gathering in large numbers on the mud exposed by the ebbing tide.
There was very little else that the south east had to offer for us so we were stumped as to what to do next. In the end we plumped for a trip to Capel Fleet, for the outside chance of Short-eared Owl. Here we met Corinna Smart who was working hard on her new BTO tetrads on Sheppey which surprisingly no-one had snatched up before.
male Marsh Harrier
Here we enjoyed good views of a stunning male and 2 ringtail Hen Harriers as well as plenty of Marsh Harriers. Hen Harrier (with a Marsh Harrier on the right in the upper photo)
A glorious sight and sound was a flock of c.36 Bewick's Swans which flew east over the road! Their calls were magical.
Bewick's Swans
In the big flooded field there were 15 Ruff along with a handful of Dunlin and lots of Golden Plovers and Lapwings. 2 Green Sandpipers flushed from the ditches and a Little Egret was also present. In addition we enjoyed good views of a Peregrine having it's dinner and then harassing a Marsh Harrier and saw a Sparrowhawk perched up on the bank. Red-legged Partridges were calling and flying around. A single Kestrel added to the raptor list.
Peregrine
It was nice to see a Barn Owl hunting and as we were driving back home along Harty Ferry road it flew right by the car and perched up on a roadside post at dusk.Barn Owl; a fitting end to the day
This year has just flown by! It's certainly been the best year yet and it is at and end, here's a brief summary of some of the highlights . . .
The birds. . .
There have been countless stunning birds this year. Those that stand out the most . . .
In January I was treated to crippling views of a Long-eared Owl, just feet away from me in wonderful light on a beautiful winter's day . . . at my local patch. If I had to choose, this would be the top moment of the year, I walked away reluctantly and short of breath. Firecrests stand out. I've had my fair share of them this year with birds wintering just a few streets away and brightening up many a dull day. I had a thrilling encounter with a breeding bird in the New Forest this year (see photo) and enjoyed them on Scilly and at Dungeness. I can't get enough of these wonderful birds.Paying for the train to Staines Reservoirs was well worth it for a crippling sub-adult White-winged Black Tern that danced over the sparkly waters on that beautiful morning, not too far from home, the day after seeing the Kent Black-winged Pratincole and the Banstead Downs Wood Warbler! The latter and the Tern made a wonderful duo of good county lifers, with the Tern being a full lifer.Of course, the Staines Moor Brown Shrike was a highlight, being a showy and interesting mega in my county and not terribly far from home.
The Rutland Ospreys were brilliant and it was also exciting seeing a passage bird at Beddington. On Scilly, the bird that stood out the most and was one of the year's highlights was the Pallas's Warbler on St. Agnes. It showed wonderfully and was undoubtedly the most entertaining, interestingly-plumaged and exciting Warblers that I have ever seen and I doubt I ever will see a more exciting Old-world Warbler!
All rarities this year were captivating and very interesting, each and every one was a highlight along with countless other good birds seen this year, from thousands of Whooper Swans at Martin Mere to displaying Goshawks in Surrey.
Listing wise . . .
I have had 45 British lifers this year (rising from 217 to 262), the vast majority being lifers full stop. Despite my list being bigger than previous years, this is more than 2008 and maybe even 2007! My British year list absolutely zoomed way ahead of target; I was hoping for 200 but this was reached in July and I am now on 242 (though I'm hoping to try to fit in White-fronted Goose before the year's end). I finished 2008 on about 197.
Local patch lists rose. Beddington rose to 128 by the year's end but I have given that place up now so it doesn't matter. Banstead Downs rose from 60 to 73. At the end of the year, I replaced Beddington with Canon's Farm and Banstead Wood and my patch list for Canon's Farm and Banstead Wood was 57 straight away.
With nothing particularly to go for, and ice limiting travel anyway, I made a casual trip up to the London Wetland Centre today with my parents, on Sunday.
I was hoping for some winter birds, especially Bittern but got none of my targets!
The most interesting sighting was one that got the adrenaline running for a moment when I thought I was onto a drake Ring-necked Duck! Upon closer inspection, it had a bit of a tuft and the bill pattern was not right. Also the flanks weren't as well defined as would be expected of a pure Ring-necked Duck. It was the returning drake Ring-necked x Tufted Duck. An educational and interesting bird, anyway. This (presumably the same) bird has been seen at the Wetland Centre a winter or two ago as well.
Drake Ring-necked Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid
Common Snipe
I really didn't see much else at all. A flock of 46 Wigeon added a bit of colour and 2 Green Woodpeckers showed well. A Lapwing and a Common Snipe posed for photographs and I came across 2 Lesser Redpolls, failing to locate the Mealies. Both Great Crested and Little Grebes were seen and 1 or 2 Water Rails called over at 'Wildside'.Wigeon
Lapwing
Green Woodpecker
As well as the hybrid aythya and the Wigeon, there was the usual selection of other common wildfowl; Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Mallard although don't specifically remember seeing Teal . . .
ShovelerLittle Grebe
Even though it was quiet, and I somehow managed to miss all the winter goodies up there, it was a nice winter's day and an enjoyable walk.
Very cold weather has struck the south east, and we have all felt (including, it seems, the Staines Brown Shrike). Magpie
Couldn't really be bothered to go to Canon's Farm today, in the cold weather, and wanted photos of the Firecrests in the snow so I worked Banstead Downs for the late morning and early afternoon.
At Banstead Downs Golf Course I located 2 Firecrests, 1 of which showed well and I managed a handful of record shots, though nothing spectacular.
The highlight was a very pleasant surprise in the form of 6 Lapwings flying over. A Banstead Downs tick for me (72, and 69 for the site for 2009).
At the eastern part of the golf course I came across 4 Blackcaps, which was a nice surprise. This was 1 male on his own and a pair with another which was unsexed.
male Blackcap
Thrushes were much in evidence with roughly 30-40 Redwings, 2 Fieldfares and 10-20 Blackbirds. A Meadow Pipit called. Fieldfare
Redwing Blackbird (1st winter male)
Both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen and 2 Bullfinches showed for once.Bullfinch
Other bits and pieces included 2 Jays, 1 Coal Tit nearby, 1 Pied Wagtail over and a Common Gull over.Long-tailed Tit
Went back on Sunday 13th December. Not as good as the previous day but still enjoyable with good numbers of Fieldfares, Redwings and Chaffinches. 5+ Yellowhammers and the Common Buzzard in the same field as the previous day were the highlights as well as a Little Owl which called briefly. 6 Mistle Thrushes were with the other thrushes, a Nuthatch called, 2 Redpolls and at least one Skylark flew over. 10-15 Meadow Pipits flew into the field that the Yellowhammers were in the other week. Just a few other bits and bobs around, it was quiet compared to Saturday.
Very, very delayed. I only just was reminded about these and thought I'd sort them out and put them up here. From Elmley Marshes RSPB on the 9th May 2009. 1-2 Yellow Wagtail 3 Avocet 4 Whinchat 5 female House Sparrow 6 male House Sparrow 7 Mediterranean Gull 8 Hobby 9 Whimbrel 10 male Marsh Harrier
Got the metro with Kevin down the my new patch again today & enjoyed some productive winter birding.
Roughly 450 Chaffinches were around (difficult to count, mixed with other finches). c.200 of which were in one of the larger fields to the east, near Banstead Wood. Also with them were c.100 Linnet and a handful of Greenfinches. It was wonderful to spot a pair of Bramblings amongst them and this made our day.
Other than the Bramblings, 36 Yellowhammers, of which many showed well, was a highlight as was a Common Buzzard feeding on earthworms in the main 'Big Field', which was a bit of a surprise!
Also in the field with the Common Buzzard were 158 Fieldfares and 50 or so Redwings along with some Starlings and Chaffinches etc.
The field that the Yellowhammers and a flock of Linnets were in last time has now grown too much and was empty. Over the field next door, 15 Skylarks were flying around. This added to the other 10 we saw makes a count of 25.
A Lesser Redpoll flew over and in the wooded areas 3+ Goldcrests, c.5 Nuthatches, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 2 Coal Tits were logged. c.10 House Sparrows were knocking around.
I had a surprisingly dull day at the normally interesting Epsom Common, with pretty much nothing of note at all (best was 2 Redpolls, presumably Lesser). It was a nice day weather-wise though which is a bit of a treat in the recent times here in Britain.
It was so dead that I ended up spending a lot of time with Phil, photographing this Cormorant which posed beautifully.
The first image is with the Nokia N95 handheld to the scope and the others are Nikon D50 +sigma 50-500mm lens.
I did some (fairly) local birding with Phil Wallace today. Positive news on the pager of the Papercourt Black-throated Diver's continued presence coming up to 08:15 was encouraging and I was getting pretty excited about this showy Surrey mega.
We arrived at Papercourt GP's, a pleasant site, at about 09:40 after leaving at about 09:10. Teaming up with another birder, we walked the whole of the sailing pit where a handful of other birders that we bumped into it were having as little luck as we were. Failing on seeing the Diver, which was a huge disappointment, the only birds of any note were singles of Kingfisher, Egyptian Goose and Lesser Redpoll as well as large numbers of Great Crested Grebes and the odd Little Grebe here and there. An immature Cormorant flew over. We checked the small lake just south of the sailing pit but there was nothing other than Tufted Ducks, Shoveler, Pochard, Little Grebe and Mallard.
We chatted to some birders before we got into the car and headed over to Staines to have another look at the Shrike.
The path was an awful lot muddier than it was when I first went, probably due to being trampled by the boots of thousands of birders in the last two or so months! I now understand why Londonbirders keeps saying 'Wellies essential' in bold!
Just short of ten birders were present (with about ten encountered walking back on our way up) and we were soon on the BROWN SHRIKE. After a few minutes the bird showed really very well as it came to some of the closer bushes. Then, remarkably, it was feeding in the the reedmace on the river and perching atop stems, almost Penduline style! We also saw it feeding and hopping around on the ground! It then flew across the river and showed well in the bushes here. A birder walked past there and it didn't budge! The five of us left decided to give it a go to try and get closer views. I got within 30 or 40 metres and Phil walked up until he was about 20 metres away . . . then he took one step too far and it again fed in the reedmace patch before a noisy motorbiker roared straight past it, flushing it back over the river. We enjoyed views of it and pointed it out to a couple of newcomers for another half hour before heading back to the car and home. Also noted at Staines Moor: Water Pipit (heard), Cetti's Warbler (heard), 2 Little Egrets and 3 Egyptian Geese (a Cormorant flew over and a Rose-ringed Parakeet or two were at Hithermoor Road). Also large numbers of Fieldfares, Redwings, Linnets, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches were present as was a single Kestrel.
I had all of the day off school today but the 5 minute period between 14:50 and 14:55 and so, reluctantly, got the train up to Beddington. It's a fair while since I've been.
I walked through Mitcham Common and enjoyed excellent views of a pair of Lesser Redpolls feeding in a birch while I heard a Siskin fly over. I was soon joined by Kevin McManus. Lesser Redpoll
After quickly checking the partially frozen 'Jim's Pit' where there was little else other than large numbers of Teal. We worked the Bikers' field and the Shrike field, then the Irrigation Bridge. Just as we crossed this bridge we came across a flock of about 20 Lesser Redpolls. Peter Alfrey was just around the corner and, to our surprise, said 'You had the Mealy?' (I wouldn't have known about it otherwise, simply because I associate with Kevin). We must have been searching for the next 2 frustrating hours looking for the elusive bugger, to no avail. This is potentially the first record for the farm. A female Bullfinch was seen and called. I gave up and had to go to school for my appointment, time was tight. Walking back to Mitcham Junction station I heard a Redpoll call to my left then spotted several others. This was just where Nick Gardner had seen the Mealy last. I scanned through them quickly and one caught my eye, it was noticeably bigger and colder and the undertail coverts were pretty much plain white. I only had it for a couple of seconds next to a Lesser Redpoll where it was noticeably larger. It was the Mealy Redpoll. Before I knew it and could watch it properly, it flew, showing it's streaked white rump. Other birds had got me going before but I seriously knew this was it. I hurried back to Kevin and Roy Weller and told them I'd just seen it and I went to the train station. Postscript: commiserations to Roy and Kevin for dipping it.This Kestrel caught a mouse in the Shrike field
Before going to the appointment, I decided I'd try to get some photos of the Reed Building Peregrines. The female was present on the said building and the male was nicely on top of the glass one next door. The female was at a very awkward angle for any photographs so I just had a go at the male, with reasonable record shots as a result. The day then went down with a bang when my mobile mysteriously disappeared, then some guy somehow found it at the same time I was frantically searching for it (late for school as a result) in the same spot and called my dad. A crazy day, lucky that the day a Mealy turned up at the farm was a day I had off eh?
Common/Mealy Redpoll (of which Mealy is the nominate race) was a lifer and hence also a British, British year, London, Sutton area and Beddington tick. I am now on 262, 242, 166, 139 and 128 respectively.
A nice duo of year ticks down at Dungeness today with PENDULINE TIT and GREAT WHITE EGRET; I haven't seen the former for near enough 4 years now and my first, and last, Great White in Britain was great because it was on one of patches but was all too brief, staying only 4 minutes after I arrived, so it was nice to get more prolonged views.
I arrived at the ARC pit at around mid-day and walked straight towards the Hanson Hide, pausing at the path-side reedmaces and reeded pools. I saw a small bird fly and drop down where the bushes met the reeds but couldn't locate it in the windy conditions. I moved on to the hide where a Cetti's Warbler was singing. There was little of note from the hide, and I was losing hope in the Penduline as it hadn't been seen since fairly early in the morning (but then again the weather was improving . . . ). The only birds of interest were a handful of Wigeon a couple of showy Shelduck and 2 or 3 Goldeneye amongst the commoner wildfowl and a 1st winter Black-tailed Godwit. At 12:38 I heard the PENDULINE TIT give its high pitched, drawn out call, I knew that was what it was but for some reason it took a few seconds and the excited voices of the other birders in the hide for my brain to get into gear. The others in the hide had it in their view but I couldn't get onto it, I took my bins down from my eyes and I saw it fly, catching the reddish, rich wings and mantle.drake Wigeon
I waited for nearly 20 minutes before heading back to the car (intending to bag the Egret, then come back and stake it out for the Tit). On the trail back, there were 3 birders waiting by some reedmace, they'd just had it. After 15 minutes or so of waiting and scanning, some new arrivals located the bird atop a large reedmace head. I enjoyed good views in the scope but it was a bit windy and sway for a good picture and just as I was about to video it, it mysteriously disappeared. Happy, I got back to the car and made my way straight to Denge Marsh on the RSPB side. bad record shot of the Penduline Tit
As I was walking up to the hide, I immediately saw the diagonal white-guitar (for want of a better metaphor) shape of the GREAT WHITE EGRET. I got in the hide and another birder was in there, I assumed he'd seen the bird and casually pointed out that it had just flown into a patch of reeds, it turned out the poor man had been keeping his eyes locked on the wrong side of the marsh all that time and hadn't seen the bird! We waited and after a few minutes we both glimpsed it fly up briefly. We stepped outside of the hide to try to pin it down but failed.
A Peregrine was hunting over the marsh, setting up all the ducks and a large number of Lapwings. The gentleman made the choice of going back to his car and driving along the road by Dengemarsh to get a different angle. I went back into the hide and, as murphy's law goes it flew right in front of me, landing in perfect view and stayed like that on and off for all of the time I was there (flying slowly at fairly close range past the hide at one point). 2 drakes and a female Ruddy Duck were present, these are always a treat for me now that their numbers are much lower. An immature Marsh Harrier hunted the marsh and showed well on a clump of reeds for a few minutes. Great White Egret Peregrine Marsh Harrier (immature)Ruddy Ducks
It was starting to rain, I packed up and started going back for fear of it getting worse, stopping at the Christmas Dell hide (dead -1 female Pochard, that's it) and the Scott Hide (also dead, but not quite as bad, having an average selection of common wildfowl).
I enjoyed a nice hot chocolate in the visitor centre before checking the small Gull roost out at dusk. I failed to turn up any Caspians (frustratingly one was at ARC I later learned . . .) but I did find 2 or 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls before giving in and heading for home.
Once again Kevin and I decided to go to Canon's Farm this Saturday in the hope of locating at least one out of Yellowhammer, Brambling, Marsh Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. The weather was much better than on my last couple of visits and as a result more birds were seen. We finally pinned down c.15 Yellowhammers, which definitely brightened the day up no end.
Without knowing, and without any intention, we somehow achieved a record site count of c.300 Linnets, (flocks of c.70, c.130 and c.100). Also seen were 3 Redpolls overhead, presumably Lesser. A Bullfinch was heard and c.40 and 20+ Fieldfares and Redwings respectively were seen. 20-30 Stock Doves were amongst the regular flock of Feral Pigeons. In the more wooded areas we noted 2 Coal Tits and 2 Nuthatches which are always a bit of a treat; also a Great Spotted Woodpecker here.
2 Kestrels were hunting and one found herself with 50 or so Linnets on her back when she flew across one of the fields that they were feeding in. c.15 Skylark chased each other around and 10+ of both Chaffinch and House Sparrow were around.
We bumped into Steve Gale, it was a pleasant surprise to meet him for the first time after being in contact with him on and off for a year or so.
I am really getting into Canon's Farm now and have now just about gained a reasonable overall, broad idea of the site and its birds. It was interesting to learn from Steve that the woods where the farmers go to hide and shoot can hold c.20 Woodcocks at times!
A handful of photos from this year; 1-4: Mandarin, Epsom Common, June 5: Egyptian Goose, London Wetland Centre 6+7: Knot, Beddington Farm, April 8: Reed Bunting, Rainham Marshes RSPB, March 9+10: Yellowhammer, Epsom Common, June 11: Black-necked Grebe, Staines Reservoirs, October
Yesterday I had a brief wander around Canon's Farm (note how I'm getting sick of Beddington Farm and it's unfortunate social situation; nice one, birders . . . ) with 'KJM200' . . . there was relatively little of note but I always get a bit of a kick out of seeing Stonechats. 2 Lesser Redpolls flew over. Fieldfare and Kestrel also seen.Stonechat (1st winter)FieldfareKestrel
Phil Wallace took me out to Abberton Reservoir today to have a go for the Spotted Sandpiper that had been present for a week, or possibly up to a month ago.
We left just after 0700, at sunrise, and headed straight for the reservoir, arriving at 0830, before the visitor centre was open so we had to start making our way around, permit or no permit. At Wigborough Bay, the surprisingly low water level produced surprising numbers of waders; honestly, you would be forgiven for thinking it was an estuary. Over 20 Avocet were present with 30 or 40 Black-tailed Godwits, about the same number of Ruff, 50-100 Dunlin, a Ringed Plover, a handful of Redshank and about 1500 Golden Plover at one point. 3 Goldeneye were noted here. Raptor wise, 1 Kestrel, 1 Common Buzzard and a frustrating possible Hen Harrier were seen.
We walked for about four miles, unnecessarily, before deciding it would be better if we went back to the car, went to the visitor centre, got a permit and drove around to the other side, so we did. Along these four miles we saw several Meadow Pipits, c.20 Ringed Plover and several more Goldeneye bringing it up to around 10 in total however there was little else new of note.
We signed in at the visitor centre and drove around to the other side, walking about a kilometre to where the bird was meant to have been frequenting. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, considering the rip-off access to a restricted number of people at a time and the huge and confusing site), there were only two other birders there, on the opposite side of a mini-bay, but we could tell where the bird was from where they were looking. At 2 minutes before mid-day we connected with the SPOTTED SANDPIPER, a lifer for both of us (British tick 261 for me (239 for the year)).
After watching it for a few minutes, we attempted to walk closer and around the other side of it in order to get closer views in better light. I heard the bird give the characteristic Common Sandpiper-like (but more drawn out) call and knew it had flown, but when I looked it was still there. I looked again shortly afterwards and it wasn't. We got to the other birders and they said it had flown around the corner. We waited for its return which would happen sooner or later, seeing that where we originally saw it was the only big patch of mud in the area. Another birder appeared and he soon found it just along the shore from us, it must have walked back around and was working it's way back to its favoured feeding spot.
We enjoyed prolonged, good views of it as it fed, occasionally pausing for two or three minutes allowing for a shot before preening, bathing or resuming feeding activities. Then it flew, calling as it went and I managed some reasonable flight shots. It was back where we saw it originally, further away for where we now were. Then a birder came and flushed it. It flew, I got some more shots in flight while it circled before landing near where Phil was stalking and he obtained some brilliant images. It took off abruptly and returned further up the shore again. Once more it flew back to it's original spot, disappointingly for me, who was waiting for a shot like Phil's, it at the first spot. Then three birders appeared, disappointingly it didn't fly but worked its way slowly towards me, before it actually did come as close as it did to Phil (showing, better than ever the key features for a 1st winter bird: plain terials, barred coverts, yellow legs and shorter tail) and I got some shots before it flew back further up the shore. Score! I was so thrilled after all that waiting and walking!
Also seen briefly (too much so for me to judge it's size and structure) was a Bewick's/Whooper Swan. It had the bill pattern of Whooper but 3 Bewick's were reported there that day. . . a Rock Pipit called and a Black Swan added a splash of the exotic.
We headed back to the car and at c.1440 we headed off to Westcliff-on-Sea to get Phil the Ring-billed Gull. We arrived and parked outside the famous ice-cream parlour and within ten minutes the RING-BILLED GULL and a Mediterranean Gull were among the swarms of Black-headed and Common Gulls which came to bread that a gentleman was throwing to them. Excellent views were had of the Ring-billed as it flew feet above our heads and landed on the sea not too far away before flying off (too dark, really, for pics though). A quick ice-cream then it was time to head home after another brilliant day.
By the way, the Firecrests are still at Banstead Downs Golf Course with a recent count of three. Two showed well on Friday. See nuttypatch.
Today I had a thoroughly enjoyable day out birding with Kevin McManus in Kent.
Our main target was the Zitting Cisticola/Fan-tailed Warbler at Pegwell Bay. After leaving, negative news streamed through on the pager. I had heard the weather would clear up early/mid afternoon so the bird may show then. To kill the time, we made the minor detour of going to see the Shorelark at Swalecliffe.
This bird was a lot easier than I thought. I imagined this being the sort of twitch where you couldn't find the place at all, but driving through a nearby town, along the coastal path, I spotted a small group of birders on a shingle beach. We parked up and got out, soon reaching the other birders and enjoying good views of the Shorelark (year tick 237). It flew. The bird was relocated and we enjoyed even better views for perhaps a half hour or so until a couple of walkers and their dog flushed the bird. It flew up and round and landed pretty close to us, staying still for a few minutes with a great pose, allowing for some good phone-scoped shots. After just less than an hour with the bird, we headed back to the car just after 13:00 and made our way to Pegwell Bay, not expecting much.On the way, some positive news came out, as I was semi expecting considering the slightly improved weather. We arrived at Pegwell Bay Country Park at roughly 13:30 and joined the waiting birders behind the hide. Kevin walked slightly further on to get a better angle. Two minutes later . . . 'It's showing!'; we all raced over there and Kevin directed us to the bird which was surprisingly near. I couldn't really get onto it but did see it drop down. This was at roughly 14:00.
We waited again for a while, watching thousands of Golden Plovers fly over-head until I eventually got onto the bird in flight, and everybody else did too. It landed, showing reasonably well, for ten seconds at the most, some of which I had it in the scope, before it dropped down into the grass. Yes! Zitting Cisticolafirmly in the bag now and after all this time of trying to go for it! We walked back to the car, very happy and warmed ourselves up after waiting there for over an hour (though it seemed a lot longer).
Sorry but the Cisticola was too brief for pics. There's plenty others on the web though.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable day with 100% success rate.
A trip today up to Banstead Downs Golf Course was rewarded with the presence of a male and a female Firecrest which showed well near post 678 along the wooded footpath there.
I kept careful track of these birds, their local movements and their numbers last winter and was horrified to watch their numbers rapidly dwindle after habitat destruction at the golf course. I got the support of some local birders and we were approached by a local newspaper on the issue, we ended up getting the front page!
It was a true delight to re-discover these fantastic little birds a short walk from my front door and I hope they have a successful winter at the golf course.
I am now back from my half term trip to Scilly, which actually materialised this year.
A day by day summary follows:
Friday 23rd October
Boarded the Scillonian III at around 0900. I spent all of the time in the fresh air scanning for seabirds. Little of note was seen but my efforts were rewarded with 2 overdue year ticks; Manx Shearwater (brief glimpse) and Great Skua. Also flocks of Razorbills here and there (with one flock containing two Guillemots), c.5 Kittiwakes and countless Shags and Gannets. Of note I spotted an Ocean Sunfish. Razorbills +Guillemots (latter being at far left and fourth from right) Kittiwake Gannet Gannet
Great Skua Great Skua
We arrived at the quay at St. Mary's around mid day in terrible weather. Didn't really do much proper birding; saw a female type Black Redstart, a Northern Wheatear, many Shags, Gannets, Rock Pipits, Turnstones and Oystercatchers (these were all pretty much ubiquitous and I shan't keep mentioning these). 1 Sparrowhawk over Porthcressa. 11 Swallows flew over Buzza Tower and one flew past my cottage.
Saturday 24th October
After seeing a Merlin dash through Old Town, St Mary's (a welcome year tick), I made the trip over St. Agnes to see the reported Marsh Warbler around the Big Pool. Got the 1015 boat over to the island and hastilly made my way over to the pool. On the way, at Porth Killier I enjoyed fantastic views of around 5 Black Redstarts including a male. At the Big Pool, I stood with ten or twenty other birders. We waited for a while before somebody decided to walk through the low vegetation around the pool, and one by one everybody followed his actions. Sure enough the MARSH WARBLER flew from the vegetation and showed well briefly a couple of times. This was my 253rd British bird. Also on the pool were 6 Whooper Swans. I asked around about the Rosy (Rose-coloured) Starling but nobody had reliably pinned it down. I proceeded to walk around the areas that I had learnt were most likely and pinned down a large Starling flock which I followed and scanned through but I couldn't locate the bird. As I was about to board the boat over to St. Mary's, a WONDERFULLY timed message came through on the pager that the Starling was at St. Warna's Cove c.1 hour previous. Dilemma time. I decided, in a rather cheesed off manner, to stay and look for the bloody thing. It was all completely pointless in the end because I thought at the time that Porth Killier was St. Warna's Cove, and spent my time there. I realised after ten minutes I wouldn't find the bird, even if that was St. Warna's Cove. So I gave up pretty quickly and sat overlooking the sea and relaxed for a while (I wouldn't have much time to do this for the rest of the trip); here I watched a Peregrine pass close by and some entertaining Rock Pipits at close quarters. Other bits and pieces on 'Aggy' was a heard-only Firecrest, a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Siskin, 2 Stonechat, many Meadow Pipits and Skylarks and a Merlin.
Below is a series of shots that I took of the Black Redstarts and a Rock Pipit for good measure . . .
Back on St. Mary's a Water Rail was heard at Lower Moors. I received news on my pager of the continued presence of the Richard's Pipit at Porthloo Lane so made my way up there. Here I met Joe Ray for the first time, after being in contact with him for two or so years and enjoyed relatively good views of the RICHARD'S PIPIT before it flew into another field. A good bird and my 254th for Britain. Walking back through Holy Vale, I enjoyed EXCELLENT views of 2 Firecrests.
Richard's Pipit
I attended the Birder's Log at the Scillonian Club and continued to do this daily. It was very informative and good fun.
Sunday 25th October
On St. Mary'sI pinned down the Snow Bunting at Peninnis Head that I had heard about at the log the previous night and enjoyed good views. This was a very welcome year tick and a cracking bird. A Firecrest was heard at Lower Moors with one or two Water Rails noted and plenty Chiffchaffs.
Snow Bunting
News of a Citrine Wagtail on Tresco was released so I made my way over to the Tourist Info centre in Hugh Town and bought me a ticket. I joined up with James Bloor-Griffiths who I had met earlier in the day and we enjoyed good views of the 1w CITRINE WAGTAIL (my 255th British bird) before having a quick check of the Great Pool where we noted 6 Greenshank, plenty of Redshank, a drake Pintail, a Water Rail, 2 Little Egrets (6 were on the shore) and many Teal and Gadwall.
We got the boat back to St.Mary's. A Little Egret flew over Porthcressa Beach as did c.5 Swallows +many Meadow and Rock Pipits and Skylarks.
Monday 26th October
On St Mary's my early morning walk yielded a Black Redstart near the dump and a self-found but frustratingly heard-only YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER in strange habitat at Buzza Hill; it was probably moving through quickly. Also 2 Stonechat, 2 Goldcrest (Lower Moors), 6 Common Snipe over Lower Moors/Old Town Bay, Firecrest at Old Town Bay and Water Rail at Lower Moors. Little Egret Porthcressa. + usuals +Curlew.
I made another trip over to St. Agnes to have another go at the juvenile Rosy Starling. After much effort and searching and scanning, another birder told me where the field was that the bird was feeding, unfortunately, this was out of view wherever you went so you had to wait until the bird flew up. Myself and another birder both got a brief view of the ROSY STARLING in flight before seeing it atop a bush all too briefly before it again flew down to the field. This was my 256th British bird. Also seen on 'Aggy'; 1 Peregrine with prey +2 Stonechat. I made a brief stint over to Gugh and saw nothing before getting back to the quay and boarding the boat back to St. Mary's.
Tuesday 27th October
I suppose the highlight of my daily early morning walk was a female/1w Northern Wheatear showed well in the field by the Health Centre with the plastic Owl in it. A Ringed Plover flew over Porthcressa.
I got the 1015 to St. Agnes with Harry Barnard and we both enjoyed good views of our target, a PALLAS'S WARBLER in The Parsonage. This was a complete stunner of a bird, showing very well for me; so tiny, so active and with so many striking marking, this was the highlight of the trip for me and my 257th British bird. 1 Firecrest showed well. Ashley Fisher, some other birders and Harry and I put our fair share of money in the pot and arranged a chartered boat to Bryher to look for the 1w Serin that was reportedly showing well. 4 SPOONBILLS were on Merrick Island in Tresco Channel. 6 Shelduck and a Cormorant were on some rock and a handful of Little Egrets were knocking around.
We spent some time looking for the Serin, Joe Ray was already there and had been treated with brilliant views. Eventually, somebody saw the bird fly into a tree and we waited for the bird to re-appear. Foolishly, I went around the corner to ask a local birder about the resident Hooded Crow and when I returned the others informed me it had just flown to Tresco . . . nice. I wasn't too bothered, I didn't need it for Britain, it would just be a nice year tick.
We boarded the boat over back to St. Mary's. Harry and I walked to Holy Vale and pinned down the YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER (my 258th British bird; I don't count heard-only). We made our way over to Porthellick/Higher Moors and saw 1 Common Snipe, 2 House Martin, a singing Firecrest and heard 2+ Water Rails (2 showed well at Lower Moors). An enjoyable day with 2 lifers.
Wednesday 28th October
This time my early morning walk produced a 1w Mediterranean Gull at Porthcressa Beach where a Fieldfare flew over (my first of the autumn). There was also a handful of Redwings in the area which I had also seen daily til now. A Grey Wagtail flew over. 1 Little Egret in Porthcressa Bay was being harassed by a Grey Heron. It really was a beautiful morning. A Stonechat showed well on the way up to Peninnis Head. One fem/1w Black Redstart was at Peninnis Head. Lower Moors was, as usual, packed with Chiffchaffs, 5 Common Snipe and 2 Water Rail showed well at Lower Moors. A single Greenshank was present in Old Town Bay. 2 Ringed Plovers flew over the Quay as I boarded the boat to Bryher to look for the Hooded Crow. On the way to Bryher, 10 Shelduck were on the same or possibly another rock. Stonechat
On Bryher I failed miserably to find that bloody Hooded Crow but found a Curlew Sandpiper and enjoyed good but brief views of the 1w SERIN which had returned to its favourite fields near the post office. A welcome year tick. Also 54 Ringed Plovers, 3 Grey Plovers, 3+ Lesser Redpolls, 4 Spoonbills still and a single Greenshank. 2 Water Rails were heard at Samson Hill. Spoonbill and Little Egret
I was keen to return to St. Mary's to see the 1w female Bluethroat at Rosehill just north of Lower Moors. I got off the boat and walked as quickly as I could, breaking into a run once or twice before I got to the surprisingly large gathering. I am truly pants at estimating numbers but there were perhaps around 100 people there . . . the bird was frustratingly elusive and I was scared that I was going to miss it but sure enough it did show (though it took me too long to get onto it, as I was in a panicky state). James let me look through his scope and I saw my first BLUETHROAT (My 259th British bird). Happy, I headed home.
Thursday 29th October
My final full day. Thrushes were evident in the Porthcressa Bay area with 40-50 Redwings knocking about and a flock of 60-70 Fieldfares NW. A Merlin on Peninnis Head was harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull and it flew to Gugh/St. Agnes. A male and 2 female/1w Black Redstarts showed briefly on Peninnis.
I went to St. Agnes with James and looked for the Radde's Warbler for a couple of hours. This bird had apparently been suppressed for no reason for several days . . . we failed in pinning it down but James saw a Warbler's undercarriage with it's bright orange legs. He also reckoned he heard it a couple of times. We enjoyed good views of the juvenile ROSY STARLING on the beach below the coastguard cottages, it was great to finally get good and prolonged views, but these views were truly supurb. 6 Whooper Swans were still present on the Big Pool. 3+ Blackcaps were noted.
Rosy Starling (juvenile)
Whooper Swan
Back on St. Mary's, 6 Common Snipe, 2+ Water Rail (1+ showing) were at Lower Moors with a putative Wilson's Snipe. This would be a major rarity. Some people are saying it definitely isn't one but I think there might be some confusion over which bird was which and how many were involved etc. Plenty of the usuals (+Curlew . . . slightly more unusual)
putative Wilson's Snipe (foreground on first photo and the only bird in second)
Friday 30th October My last day . . . and an enjoyable one. I spent the morning and early afternoon with Harry Barnard and his parents, and James Bloor-Griffiths. The putative Snipe and c.15 Common Snipe were at Lower Moors and a YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER was heard around the Hilda Quick hide. A Reed Warbler was seen where the old tin hut used to be at Lower Moors. 5 Little Egrets were in Porthellick Bay. 4 Ringed and 10+ Golden Plovers were at the airfield with a male Northern Wheatear. 9 or 10 Black Redstarts were newly arrived and moving inland between the airfield and Giant's Castle (there was also one or two at the east end of Hugh Town, one of which was later seen by Harry's dad and James flat on the road). 1 YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER (seen), a Goldcrest, 10+ Common Snipe, 1 Cormorant, 4 Little Egrets, 1 Redshank, 4 Greenshank and 2 House Martins were at Porthellick. I said my goodbyes, headed off to the quay and boarded the Scillonian III. The crossing was pretty good. The highlight was a pod of Common Dolphins that jumped at close range by the side of the boat for a short while. My first cetacean ever, I think. 3 Great Skuas were seen and I got much better views of a Manx Shearwater as it was getting dark. Also c.23 Kittiwakes and many Gannets. We drove home through the night and got back home at around mid night. I actually got some sleep in the car this time!
My British list stands on 259 and my West Pal/Life list is on 275. My British year list is on 236.
I really, really, really enjoyed this trip. I saw some fantastic birds, even if none were mega rare nearctic passerines, enjoyed brilliant scenery (the islands are truly unique and stunning, everything is mini too!) and made some new friends. I truly hope to come back next year; I'd be so gutted if I couldn't.
woo hoo! A couple of hours ago I got back from a successful after-school twitch for the Staines Moor Brown Shrike.
I zoomed out of school at 15:05 and got the 15:27 train to Clapham Junction, then getting the 16:08 from here to Ashford, 'Surrey'. Here I phoned a cab up and they picked me up promptly; dropping me at Hithermoor Road, Stanwell Moor for a relatively cheap £8. From here I walked down the concrete path by KGVI, passed through the metal kissing gate, over the boardwalk, a little bit further after that and then connected with the *BROWN SHRIKE*, this is a MEGA bird for Britain, but especially so for London! What a bird to have on your London list eh!?
I enjoyed good views on and off for a little while, around 17:00 until it seemed to go to roost. I waited for Phil Wallace to arrive to try to help him but I wasn't expecting him to get it. We tried another angle, here we saw that some other birders were on something, almost certainly the Shrike. Over we went. Oh no it had just flown into a bush. Phil ducked down to get his camera ready. It flew past with perfect timing deep into another bush. An angry Phil got his scope onto the bush and spotted it slowly emerging at the right hand side of the bush, I called it out and most people got onto it. It flew again to another bush where it gave better, more prolonged views and everybody present connected before it flew to another bush presumably never to again be seen, for that day at least.
Also seen: c.80 Wigeon, 1 Snipe, 1 Kestrel, several Meadow Pipits and a possible Rock Pipit overhead, calling.
I had a very good day out with Phil Wallace in Kent on Sunday with a fantastic and long-awaited British tick and a very nice year tick.
The internary was carefully chosen; Bockhill Farm. We arrived at something like 0945 and already we could tell migration was in action with shed loads of Siskins and Goldfinches passing over head (the latter feeding on thistle etc in large flocks) and an overhead movement of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. I attempted a seawatch but this didn't come up with any seabirds of note.
Then the news came through on the pager of a Wryneck at Hope Point, St.Margaret's at Cliffe. I had no idea how to get there but knew it couldn't be too far. After asking the tea-room staff we were soon directed to where to go and headed down there; after a cup of tea and a snack. It was a fairly short walk, interrupted by the Wryneck finder giving us directions to the bird and better still a Barred Warbler that he had found! 'Great!' we thought, in the least sarcastic way possible.
We joined a couple of well-known Kent birders and proceeded with checking the areas he described but before too long, we were rather comically being followed by between 10 and 20 birders and had got into a terrible state of confusion as to where each bird was meant to be! Despite perhaps 5 different stories, the two Kent birders walked through a huge clump of bushes and flushed something and I got onto it as the bird sat atop a small bush and called 'WRYNECK-there's the Wryneck!'- most people got onto it before it flew over to the footpath a few hundred metres ahead and we eventually got good views of it alongside 2 Meadow Pipits and a mole as it fed along the path! What a smashing bird!- following, to be frank, crap views of an elusive bird in France, I have since been very keen to get GOOD views in BRITIAN. British tick 251.
Wryneck
I spent the rest of the time coming up to 1:25pm trying without any luck to relocate the Barred Warbler (though I think I may have heard it call at one point). Phil and I headed back to the car; he wanted to look for Ring Ouzels at Samphire Hoe (I wanted to have a look at the Lydd Cattle Egret and maybe look for his Ring Ouzels in the trapping area . . .). On the way to the car we relocated the Dartford Warbler which the patch watchers were getting very excited about.
Samphire Hoe was a complete failure and waste of time, we quickly sussed it out and headed to Lydd.
At Lydd, we enjoyed good views of the adult CATTLE EGRET as it fed amongst a very noisy heard of cattle. Nice year tick and my first good views of one in this country. Also 1 Yellow Wagtail here. A very quick stop at the trapping area, which considering the conditions, we also concluded was a waste of time and we headed home, happy.
I got a bit of a surprise today at school when I took a sneaky look at my phone and found a text from Johnny Allan stating that there was a Cetti's Warbler at Beddington by the feeder!!! This is a mega patch bird (2nd record- 1st in 2002)! I counted up my money and changed my after-school plans so that I could twitch the bird. This bird follows a lot of talk amongst patch birders that we are due for one; it seems that if we talk about a bird, it turns up! Another example is Spotted Flycatcher; there was discussion that we should get one this year following no records last year and 3 turned up this year (one of which I found).
I was there at 15:40 and not in a hopeful state of mind, for an hour or two I had been hearing negative news and didn't expect much. There was so much vegetation that the bird could have been in and these birds are hard to catch when at their breeding grounds and where they are vocal, let alone at Beddington Farm! I half halfheartedly walked the public footpath (here I met Roy Weller who reported a probable Raven) before forgetting the idea of trying to pin the bird down and made my way up to the Irrigation Bridge, just after I'd checked the lake which literally looked like a tsunami had just hit it because of the destruction which is apparently in line with the landowner's conservation management plan . . . 3 sides of the lake which were once lined with willows were as flat as a pancake and the main island and main spit looked like a squelchy piece of mud that someone had just stepped in and were now joined together. There were few other birds than Herons, Gulls and Crows to be seen- what a depressing sight (not forgetting the ex-scrape just south of the lake which is completely unrecognisable state; you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a football pitch which has had all it's grass pulled up). Enough ranting.
I managed to get myself into the gully just north of the slope leading up to the Irrigation Bridge in the hope of flushing a Wryneck but this produced nothing and I came out covered with seeds, thorns, cuts and grazes. I crossed the bridge and entered the Shrike Field which links on to the Biker's Field. The only notable birds were one or two Stonechats showing well in the latter field.
From here, I made my way over the 100 Acre bridge (I hate crossing this bridge, it always feels like one of the wooden planks is going to come loose and you will fall onto the railway track below) and gave Jim's Pit a quick check. Here there were 3 or 4 Snipe and perhaps 50 or so Teal with a couple of Lapwings and little else.
Time to go home so I made my way back to Hackbridge train station then walked home from Sutton, a dip, but it was expected really.
On the above date I decided to do a bit of birding in London to get a couple of county ticks (more importantly, one was a lifer).
First off was the London Wetland Centre for the Spotted Crake, which, perhaps surprisingly compared to the bird I went for next, was not the lifer, just a London tick. I made my way to the Dulverton Hide, was informed as to the general area that the bird had been seen in (I had just missed it) and proceeded with scanning the bank again and again. An RSPB Wildlife Explorers group came in, and although it was very nice to see the kids were actually very keen on the birds, helping point out commoner birds like Snipe to them and putting up with the constant noise was a bit distracting. I recognised the group leader as someone related to surveys and things at Beddington.
The persistent scanning payed off with an all to brief glimpse of the Spotted Crakeas it scurried along the bank, appearing from behind an island and dashing into a clump of reeds. I shouted the news out to everyone in the hide, but I knew there was no chance that all the kids and birders would connect; this would simply be too quick and elusive for so many people to connect with.
It showed briefly one or two more times, but again it was only me who glimpsed the bird. About 5 minutes after the group left, the bird appeared out of the vegetation and gave good, prolonged views at the water's edge, murphy's law for you! I'd have loved the kids to have seen the bird. Anyway, it showed well for everyone who was in the hide at the time and they enjoyed good views. It disappeared again. It showed once more before I left, this time for a very prolonged period of time and with more people to enjoy the bird. I managed a handful of awful photos and video footage but someone with a proper compact and digiscoping adapter seemed to get better results.
I texted dad to ask if we could pop over to Staines for the Red-necked Grebe as soon as he arrived back at the Wetland Centre from his little excursion and he agreed. I duly hurried over and checked the WWF and Peacock Hides, there was little of note except a handful of Wigeon, 3 Snipe showed very well from the latter hide.
Staines was good. With ease, I connected with the juvenile Red-necked Grebe which was associating with the adult Great Crested Grebes towards the west side of the north basin. This was a very overdue lifer (250 for Britain and something like 267 for West Pal, I don't really keep track of that- of course a London tick as well). In addition, an adult winter Black-necked Grebe gave untold views as it hugged the south edge of the causeway, I managed some pretty good pictures, but as I've said before I can't post these here at the moment because of the lack of software on this laptop. Also seen was a Northern Wheatear, a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Meadow Pipits.
Kevin McManus and I met at Banstead Downs for a bit of birding before the main trip of the day. The highlight was a female Reed Bunting which was an overdue patch tick for me (71). Other highlights included Treecreeper, Coal Tit, one Swallow and 2 Grey Herons which are now starting to fly over regularly again for the winter period.
We headed back to my Gran's place to wait for the parents to pick us up, just after hearing bad news about the Zitting Cisticola aka Fan-tailed Warbler that we had been planning to see, and hearing surprising news of an Isabelline Wheatear at Colliers Wood Farm, Essex. Kevin did not need the Wheatear but I did, and I was keen to head up there especially seeing as there was also a White-rumped Sandpiper at Abberton Reservoir, another bird I needed.
The parents arrived and the satnav was reorientated, despite negative news coming out on the Wheatear. This weekend and the last one were the only ones in a fair while that I and/or Kevin had got away from our local patches, and we were both grateful for the break from our fruitless efforts. On the way to Essex my mum spotted four Common Buzzards circling together above the M25.
Eventually Abberton Reservoir was reached and Kev and I were soon watching the WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, enjoying good views of this American calidris Sandpiper. The long primary projection, streaking on the flanks and the head pattern were all clearly visible. British lifer 249 for me.
White-rumped Sandpiper
It was a very pleasant surprise to see 30+ Spotted Redshanks, say 20+ Ruff, 5-10 Black-tailed Godwits and smaller numbers of Snipe and Green Sandpipers. There was also a handful of Little Egrets. There were huge numbers of Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard, Mallard and Tufted Duck with at least one Pintail, a female-type.
Spotted Redshank (left) and Ruff
Yes, the wildfowl were certainly, interesting . . . 2 escaped Red-breasted Geese were present amongst all sorts of farmyard ducks and geese. A sighting that got me thinking was a pair of Black Swans with 6 cygnets . . . a potential promotion to category C of the British list?
Following reports of Spoonbill that were released as we were there, myself, Kevin and Ian (a Surrey birder that we sometimes bump into) scanned for the bird, then moved to the other causeway and scanned some more but there was strangely no sign of the bird which was reported to have been seen while we there on site watching the Sandpiper.
From the other causeway we saw a female/immature type Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel and several more Little Egrets.
The parents returned and Kev and I left for Rainham Marshes RSPB, hoping we'd bump into something special after the run of birds there. Just after leaving the reservoir, dad pulled up the car so that we could all enjoy stunning views of a pale morph Common Buzzard that was flying low over the road in excellent light, I snapped a few shots but can't put them on yet as the laptop I'm using doesn't have any photo editing software (the photo is currently a NEF). Rainham was extremely disappointing with nothing on the Thames or in Aveley Bay, which were the main areas we scanned the only thing that brightened it up was a Clouded Yellow butterfly that fluttered past the seawall.
I can't complain, I got great views of a good lifer and 'discovered' an excellent site that I would love to return to some time for some general birding.
I got a message on the pager saying the bird was still present on the right hand lagoon in the early morning, my spirits lifted slightly and I headed over again to have a look.
