Catching up again…

Just a few quick pics from the last couple of weekends, hoping that the next one might involve some more birds!

Two weekends ago, both days were pretty relaxed, given plenty of nice weather and not much happening on the bird score. Saturday morning involved a spot of pre-Shetland shopping (ditch-dwelling Sibes beware, I’ve got some new wellies!) on the way up to Suffolk, where we enjoyed great views of the 1st winter Lesser Grey Shrike near Sizewell, and of a rather sickly Arctic Skua on the beach. The latter was somewhat oiled and a bit scruffy from some angles, but was at least still feeding well in the usual piratic manner.

Sunday kicked off at a pretty ungodly hour, in order for us to be at Snettisham for a big spring tide, and the resulting wader spectacular. Despite counting myself very much as a Norfolk birder, I’ve never actually enjoyed this experience before – it’s just a bit of a trek across there from the east coast. However, it’s well worth it – just the sound of thousands of Knot and Oystercatcher wheeling around and whooshing overhead is amazing. And the massed ranks of birds on the shingle over the highest part of the tide is well up there with the best wildlife sights in the country, for sure.

And then this weekend featured a brief stop at Thorpeness (highlights: Willow Emerald damselfly and a couple of Firecrests) on the way up to my sisters’ place, and then a relaxed meander around a few sites in E Norfolk on Sunday. The only notable bird here was this typically uninspiring Rose-coloured Starling – it certainly has nothing on the adult from Wells in the spring!

The hornemanni twitch… a few more pics

A few more photos from yesterday’s trip to Aldeburgh. The redpoll was a cracking bird, but it was also great to see a number of friends enjoying really good-natured, fuss-free twitch.

Well, almost fuss-free: after washing the car on Saturday, and leaving London with it spotless (at least on the outside) it would appear I need to do it again! Parking next to a muddy puddle on the carpark approach led to this artistic polka-dot paintjob, presumably thanks to a nervous twitcher arriving at speed:

The crowd wasn’t ever that big,though, no more than 100 at one time enjoying the bird at close quarters…

… some of whom utilised stealthy fieldcraft (and especially camouflaged headwear) to gain closer views with state-of-the art equipment, whilst scattering surplus optics on the surrounding shingle…

… and others employed somewhat simpler technology.

Crofty, already a veteran of multiple Shetland Hornemann’s, appeared casual and relaxed throughout. Here he is, striking a sultry pose for the Wanstead winter collection…

… and here, hoping for the ultimate shot of flyover hornemanni undertail coverts.

Cheers to all the guys shown here, and everyone else we spoke to, for making a memorable day out!

And finally, lest anyone forgets what the point of the whole crazy exercise was… here’s a video of ‘the boy’:

Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll, Aldeburgh

Ok, I’ve seen a few of these before on the Shetlands, but it was still absolutely awesome… hopping around, unconcernedly, no more than about 8 or 10 feet away. Beautiful little bird, mega rarity, huge distance from its home, and not far from ours. Excellent!

Here’s my selection of the many, many photos taken on the beach today. As usual, click any to view a larger (1280px) image.

This post sponsored by the letter ‘W’

Spot the difference:

Similar, no? One obvious conclusion for potential Woodchat Shrike finders is that you need to find a wire fence with wooden posts, on the east coast in early June!

The top bird is the first-summer female at Winterton North Dunes, which I saw with Nick late morning on Sunday. As we birded our way back home to London down the east coast, we were looking at a couple of Glossy Ibises at Minsmere when news broke of another Woodchat, this time at Walberswick, just up the road. It would’ve been rude not to go and have a look, no?

The Winterton bird is clearly a 1st-summer female (probably the most washed out I can recall seeing), given the pale orange-toned crown and nape, and the greyish mantle and scapulars. In the field, I reckoned the Walberswick bird was a 1st summer male (and it’s been reported as such elsewhere), given the much more richly toned crown – but without more reading, I’m not so sure how you’d rule out an adult female. If anyone has a definitive answer, please let me know.

Satisfied with a two-Woodchat day, and some pleasantly warm sunshine for a change, I confess to getting slightly distracted by this:

… and then, naturally, this:

… before continuing on homewards, stopping only to continue the alliterative theme with an excellent Wood Warbler at Sutton Common, near the site of last year’s Roller. It showed extremely well, calling and singing from relatively low perches.

Finally, >click here< for a recording of the bird singing. This was taken from a video on the 7D – I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of the mic and resulting audio! Definitely worth remembering if I ever find anything good giving interesting calls…

A weekend of bits and pieces

Just a quick update and a few pics from a long weekend spent pottering around various sites in the south-east. It feels as though the spring may be fading out now, with very little being found on the coast despite my hopes for one more major rarity. Though the weather certainly doesn’t feel like June, the birding does! That said, I’ve been about a bit, and seen a reasonable amount…

Saturday morning had a slow (and somewhat fragile) start, recovering from a well-attended set of London Birders’ drinks at Tower Bridge the night before. However, the Marsh Warbler at Rainham offered a suitably straightforward place to start, and sang really well at times with a Grasshopper Warbler and Corn Bunting nearby. After spending a while there on two occasions, I’m amused by the number of people who are so desperate to see the Marsh, however badly! Apart from proving that it really is a bird, not a well-hidden tape, I can’t see what the big deal is: on a poor view (which is all you’re likely to get), you’re not going to conclusively ID it, and, let’s face it, a Marsh Warbler sounds a hell of a lot better than it looks. I really don’t understand the ‘can’t tick it if you don’t see it’ mentality with birds like this…

On a more serious note, it’s pretty sad to see that some of the ‘must see it’ brigade have ignored instructions asking people NOT to go into the vegetation, and blazed a trail in from the usual viewing area to get a few yards closer towards the bird’s favoured area. It’s all too predictable, and to be honest another good reason why these potential breeding birds could (should?) be suppressed in future. Apparently some twats have tried tape luring it up, as well. Schedule 1 mean anything to you? No, thought not…

However, returning to the bird’s glorious song, there’s a cracking recording of the Marsh Warbler >here<, recorded by Dave Smith at 1.30am a few nights ago. Enjoy!

Anyway, post-warbler, I had a wander around the reserve – or tried to, before a Red Kite interrupted me almost immediately. It headed in from the north, almost flew directly over the visitor centre and then loafed around over Crayford way for a while. I ran back through the centre to stay on it, possibly scattering a few scones and lattes in the process… The rest of the loop was far less eventful, with just the regular female Peregrine of note.

Sunday morning was pretty foul weather-wise, and I spent a couple of hours back at Rainham checking the river. In general, there was next to nothing moving – but a couple of Sandwich Terns came through a few minutes after a timely text from Dave Mo via Rich (the latter not even having seen them!)

Late that evening, news came through of an adult Rose-coloured Starling in Gillingham – not far the other side of the bridge. It had apparently been there since 1030 that morning… so much for sharing news. A call to one of the news services would’ve cost, ooh, at most five-pence. Howard was especially pleased, given that he lives less than ten minutes away (and reports everything from Rainham, to many birders’ benefit). Needless to say, there was no sign when we looked the next day, and having reached the limit of our tolerance for housing estate birding, headed down to Elmley. The weather wasn’t great (grey skies, with a cold northerly blowing), but we got off to a good start with a Quail calling immediately from the carpark – bonus! And of course, the entrance track is great for good views of breeding birds – this female Lapwing posed particularly well:

Like those at Rainham, the pools in front of the first three hides all had pretty high water levels, but hopefully this means they’ll be in good nick for the return wader passage later on. We did note ten or a dozen Black-tailed Godwits – presumably Continential limosa birders lingering through the summer, though we didn’t get good views. A couple of Short-eared Owls are also still knocking about, one showing fairly well along the seawall. That evening, after dropping Howard back home, I popped back into Rainham, where a Black Tern was showing distantly over Aveley Pools from the Serin Mound while the Marsh Warbler sang vigorously.

And that brings us on to today! I didn’t make a particularly early start, but still opted for Lakenheath and a spot of oriole-hunting. Arriving around 9am, it didn’t take me long to hear one of the males singing – but in increasingly breezy conditions, they were playing hard to get, and I didn’t get views this time. Not to worry – the birding backdrop was excellent for a few hours, as usual, with a Bittern booming and giving a couple of flypasts, heaps of Marsh Harriers and a few Hobby, all the reedbed warblers and close Cuckoos. Those who knock the RSPB would do well to visit Lakenheath at dawn in the spring…

Next stop was the nearby Weeting Heath NWT reserve. To be honest I only stopped to grab a cold drink, but having got out of the car, decided I should really have a bit of a look round! A pair of Stone Curlews were showing from the West Hide, but passerines in the pines were much more photogenic. A family party of Marsh Tits were really noisy, and one or two occasionally showed quite close.

A Spotted Flycatcher also showed more fleetingly, darting around near the approach to the West Hide.

While watching these, I got a useful tip-off from another birder, who’d been photographing a pair of Redstart at a site nearby. Following it up during a rare sunny interval, I spent a pretty relaxed half-hour sitting around out of the wind, listening to the male sing and both birds feeding – cracking stuff, far more entertaining than any of the jubilee celebrations!

Normal service…

… will be resumed when spring birding actually starts and we get some halfway decent weather!

Since returning from Finland and Norway, I’ve been pretty busy with work, but the birding I have managed to squeeze in hasn’t generally set the world on fire. I know one or two people (hi Dave!) have noticed the lack of blog activity, though, so here’s a few recent photos. To start with, some rather soft / distant / hazy record shots of some scarcities – Black-winged Stilts, a Wryneck (my first in spring, after 16 autumn birds!), and a Hoopoe, respectively:

… followed by a snippet of lovely Snowdonian scenery (singing Wood Warbler, Pied Fly, Redstart and Tree Pipit were all just behind me)…

… and finally (at last) one of the few vaguely worthwhile bird photos I’ve taken in the last month!

A Breckland selection…

Another fantastic day’s weather, and some more excellent birding up in the Brecks. (Norway and Finland’s temperatures are going to come as one hell of a shock in a few days’ time!). I seem to have spent much of the day in places that I either wasn’t strictly supposed to be, or probably shouldn’t name, so this might be a bit of a weird post…

After narrowly avoiding a potentially bad accident involving 8 large and apparently suicidal Red Deer stags with poor road-crossing skills on the A11 near Elveden, I arrived at site A just after dawn, still in very cold and misty conditions. Just 2 above zero! Great-spots were already drumming, and Song Thrush and Blackbird were belting out full song. After a bit of a wander, these typical sounds of the woodland were met with something about as pleasing on the ear as yesterday’s Egyptian Geese were on the eye… “Eh-kaaaAARK… KAARK”. Much like >this<. But hey, that was just what I wanted – a Golden Pheasant. In fact, there were at least three ‘singing’ from favoured thickets, but as usual, very hard to see – after some stealthy creeping about, I only managed a couple of brief views.

Moving on to site B (which I can safely name as Santon Downham), I arrived to find an alarming number of people milling around near the bridge looking unsuccessfully for little woodpeckers. I rather anti-socially cleared off along the river towards Brandon – and promptly picked up a drumming Lesser-spot. It almost immediately flew off towards the expectant throng (likely causing numerous groans of the “No, I STILL can’t see it” variety, I suspect), while I continued to head in the opposite direction! Further down the river, there was plenty of Nuthatch, Great-spot and Marsh Tit action, a Kingfisher zipped past, a Brambling or two gave their wheezy calls, and a couple of Mandarin dropped in on the water. These seem to be colonising the area slowly – I don’t remember seeing them here more than a few years ago?

I heard another Lesser-spot calling and had a quick look at the ultra-distant Great Grey Shrike the other side of the bridge, before the sun started to emerge and I decided that accipiter o’clock was rapidly approaching. On, then, to site C. This is one of East Anglian birding’s worst kept secrets, and consequently a crowd of around 30 people were already lined up scanning over a clearing in the pine forest. Two or three Woodlark were yodelling away from the heavens, and after about half an hour a pleasingly large raptor appeared to our left, and then circled higher and higher over the clearing. Great scope views of Goshawk… and another top quality addition to the well-known ‘hazy raptors in less than 100 pixels’ collection.

Awesome. Consider yourself privileged to have witnessed such a photo (but unfortunate not to have seen the Gos – it was pretty good, honest!)

Just on the point of leaving, I bumped into Harry and Barry, from just down the road from me in the Lee Valley. During the ensuing conversation as we wandered back, they happened to remind me of a very fine culinary establishment nearby – the mighty Walkers snack bar at the Barton Mills roundabout. I was starving, and a mega alert probably could not have got me moving quicker…

One sausage, egg and bacon bap and a coffee later, I moved on to site D, suitably replenished. This spot is another semi-open secret, along a public road, but it would birders are being actively discouraged from visiting now, so I won’t name that either. Suffice to say, there were three Stone Curlews, and yet more Woodlarks in the sunshine. The warmth was drawing out butterflies again, too – here’s my first Peacock of the year:

Site E was a return to the Little Ouse, this time at Brandon. Here the notebook was supplemented with another Kingfisher, two handsome pairs of Grey Wagtails, another pair of Mandarin, several Yellowhammer, Redpoll and Marsh Tit.

Oh, and I nearly forgot: there was yet another Lesser-spot, drumming almost non stop and showing well again. I must be getting a bit blasé about them: that’s six birds in almost as many days…

When in doubt… always go out!

My wife is very good at recognising the symptoms: indecision, increasing irritability, and if left untreated for long enough, bruising caused by a thump to the head with a frying pan. If the weather is ‘birdable’ at the weekend but I’m still indoors, then I’m probably going to be very grumpy. Fortunately, after years of experience, Suzanne knows this and is frequently kind enough to apply the necessary medicine, with gentle words like “Will you just b*gger off out, for God’s sake?” It was something like that today…

My original plans had featured small woodpeckers in a much-blogged London setting – but I put paid to these by ignoring the early alarm and getting another three hours sleep. But then what to do? Could try woodpeckers regardless (no, too many patch birders dogwalkers); could go to north Kent (no, bridge would be hideous at this late hour); could go out Southend way (no, pier closed, less photo opps); could stay in bed even longer (no, that would be outrageously lazy) etc, etc, etc. After some (blunt) words of wisdom from my better half, I leaped out of bed, got in the car and went up to the Suffolk coast.

And it was great! For the first time this year, every single one of my many birding jackets could be left in the car – it felt pretty warm when I arrived at Alton Water, around 14 degrees. The birds on show here still had a decidedly wintery feel, though, featuring Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes and a pair of Goosander. The first of these was quite showy initially but was always drifting further away, and I gather others have seen it closer still.

Continuing north, I had a quick look at Sizewell to see if any Black Redstarts felt inclined to burst into song yet (nope), though the Kittiwake colony was in full swing on the rigs offshore, making quite a noise. Just up the road, a smart male Dartford Warbler on Westleton Heath was typically handsome and charismatic, but the long walk up to Dingle Marshes only resulted in three Snow Buntings, no Twite. (I learned later that they’ve moved to Southwold).

The remainder of the afternoon was spent at Minsmere. I’d intended to have a quick look from Bittern Hide, and then head round to East to check out the gull roost… but got a bit distracted when this guy flew straight at the hide for a moment or two and landed right in front of us:

Oh well, another photo of Mallards ruined, I just had to make the best of a bad job for the next hour or so!

The Bittern paraded around and across the pool in front of the hide as the temperature and light gradually dropped away, with just a very small audience of appreciative photographers and wowed visitors. In fact it was still there when the light had almost completely gone and I left! By way of backdrop, Marsh Harriers gave regular fly-pasts, a drake Smew flew in from Island Mere, Bearded Tits pinged, Cetti’s exploded occasionally, and the Great White Egret briefly deigned to show its lanky neck above the reeds in the distance. Oh, and I saw another two Bitterns – one dropping into the reeds in front, and another continuing on west towards Island Mere. Great stuff!