Ducking and diving

Just a few quick record shots from a full day in the field in London – three species that are all somewhere between scarce and rare in the area. The first two birds, a female 1st-summer male Long-tailed Duck and a female Scaup, were seen on the KGV Reservoir. [edit: thanks to Barry’s attention to detail, it’s been pointed out that I screwed up the ID of the LTD: it’s a boy, not a girl! The pink panel on the bill is the giveaway, as well as the white scaps and crown…]

The third, the rarest of the lot, a Red-throated Diver, was on the Thames at Rainham. Thanks to Jonathan Wasse and Shaun Harvey for the tweets to get the news out.

Sadly this bird doesn’t appear to have a bright future, with a large oil patch on its flanks and vent, and in its constant effort to preen, it must be ingesting a fair amount of toxic rubbish. On a couple of occasions, it hauled itself out onto the soft mud in Aveley Bay… not the act of a healthy bird, and pretty depressing to watch.

Hoping for something a bit more cheery tomorrow.

The last few weeks…

… have been something of a rollercoaster ride, unfortunately including the last-minute cancellation of a week’s holiday on Islay for the New Year. But I’ve still been out on the patch a few times and seen some pretty good birds. (WHAT? A patch, I hear you say? Simple – the one generously allocated to me by Jono just before Christmas. I rather like it!)

Since I’ve got a bit of unexpected free time right now, here’s a quick whizz through where I’ve been and what I’ve seen, giving me the chance to sort out the photos I’ve taken along the way.

After the wonderful Hornemann’s at Aldeburgh, the notebook is empty for a couple of weeks before a quick drop-in at Queen Mother Res on 22nd December, en route from Loughton to Norfolk via Tamworth. Arriving in the rain, plenty of people seemed to be ill-equipped for the weather (denim jeans? When it’s pouring down? In December? And they say twitchers are idiots?!) and disinclined to go any distance and actually look for the bird (disconsolate random twitcher: “hmmph, must’ve gone”. Me: “not a chance – it’ll be here somewhere.”). I happily sploshed round to the other side and was nearly halfway round when some guys just in front started waving me over, having found it just feet away. Cracking views, and though I managed a bit of video on my phone, I’ve got no pics due to the camera staying dry in the car. Some well-informed folk reckon that Buffy will become a fairly regular autumn visitor in the UK before too long, and looking at the recent run of records, it wouldn’t be totally surprising.

Pre-Christmas birding was based in East Norfolk, with an afternoon out on Haddiscoe Island near St Olaves a particular highlight. With no other birders anywhere to be seen, Dad and I had stunning views of a Rough-legged Buzzard both perched and in flight, a pale Common Buzzard for comparison, a pair of Peregrine, numerous Marsh Harriers including a locally wing tagged bird, and brief, distant views of a self found Great White Egret. Excellent winter birding! I also popped in to see the returning American Wigeon at Bawburgh, diverting slightly from aChristmas present delivery route to Norwich.

Back home alone for New Year, I was out early on the first of 2013 with Prof W, heading for Dungeness pre-dawn. A shiny new notebook acquired some nice stuff on page one, including an early morning Merlin and a Crane on Walland Marsh, one of the first birds seen in the half light. Small groups of Bewick’s Swans and Tree Sparrows were good value, too. Down at Dungeness itself, the Glaucous Gull was predictably loafing near the fishing boats, and a flotilla of Smew were on the New Diggings. The highlight, though, was the ridiculous frequency of Great White Egret sightings… they just seemed to be everywhere! Conveniently, they all got together just before we left, with a group of 5 lined up on one side of the entrance track, and two more singletons concurrently on the other. Just one short of the UK record, I believe…

Moving up the coast, we popped in to Dover for some filthy county ticks for the Prof. Purple Sand and Shag were duly located, with a supporting cast of Razorbills and a Red-breasted Merganser, and the Black-throated Diver briefly appeared right next to us… nice!

A couple of pre-roost Hawfinch perching up in conifers, and (finally) a decent wader selection on the Swale completed a cracking day – the first time I’ve cracked 100+ species on January 1st.

The following Saturday, a flying visit to NW Norfolk featured charming flocks of Twite and Snow Buntings, a rather bizarre group of Grey Partridges on a barn roof, Greenshank and Spotted Redshank, three Barn Owls and at least six Hen Harriers coming in to roost. Pretty good stuff again.

Closer to home the next day, a splash of colour in Wanstead!

What a bird!!! Most escaped cagebirds do very little for me, but I’ve been wanting to see this White-cheeked Turaco for ages. It only appears rather irregularly, but when it does, there’s no problem getting close enough for photos! Unfortunately the light was pretty awful, and the above were all taken at ISO 1250. Still put an enormous grin on my face, though…

And finally (almost up to date now), I had a little jaunt around the west side of London last weekend with Nick C. Yet another Great White Egret (something of a theme in this post) showed pretty well after dawn along the picturesque Chess river valley at Chenies, along with plenty of their smaller congeners.

Continuing around the M25, we popped in to admire both Buff-bellied Pipits (now outside the reservoir), and then on to look for the re-identified Phyllosc at Moor Green Lakes. After it had been missing for a while, I did manage to relocate the Pallas’s Warbler… but irritatingly after hearing the familiar call a few times from cover on the far side of the river, the bird itself remained invisible. Several people asked what the call is like, so here it is…

… always reminds me of an old-school quiz show buzzer: “boiiinnnngggg!”. (Can’t remember which quiz, though – any offers?)

Concluding that day, we finished up at Staines Moor, with one or two Short-eared Owls and a Barn Owl (notable within the London area), a Water Pipit, and the usual noisy parakeets.

This weekend, with the forecast of more snow to fall, I might have to check some bits of the patch closer to home! Might find at least one of the following…

OMG, RNG KGV!

Or, for those that still speak proper, “Oh, my goodness! A Red-necked Grebe on the King George V Reservoir!”

The grebe was a pleasant surprise this morning on the first scan across the south basin, initially out towards the middle, but then later on significantly closer in towards the south bank once the sailing club had got themselves mobile. I think it’s only the third I’ve seen in London (after Wraysbury in May 2004, and then Staines in October 2009), and about the 20th in the UK. In the scope, views were superb and although the photos don’t really show it, the bird still has a little bit of colour on the neck. Hopefully this one won’t be troubling the local records committee for long!

This Grey Wagtail was also really smart and confiding, though by the time I reached its favoured shore on the north basin, the light had taken a turn for the worse, and I didn’t quite nail the crisp shot I’d hoped for.

KGV is a funny old place, two enormous concrete sided basins surrounded by industrial estates on one side, a main road on another, and relatively open countryside on the remainder. It’s not watched all that much these days (or, at least, that’s my impression), but has turned up plenty of good birds. Despite the somewhat gritty suburban location, once you’re on there it’s pretty quiet and pleasant, and to be honest I should probably get over there more. Gotta be a chance of something like a Ring-necked Duck or a Lesser Scaup one of these days…

Anyway, just after the wagtail had bombed off ahead of me, I got a call from H at Rainham to let me know about 3 Bewicks Swans that had arrived on Purfleet Scrape. I’d been wondering about somewhere to grab a coffee, so that sounded perfect and off I went. After fighting my way through ridiculous traffic in Woodford, I eventually arrived to find the swans still present, coffee, sandwich and cake available, and Messrs Vaughan, Croft and Harvey loitering for a chat. All good!

I finished up the day down at the west end of the site, where two Short-eared Owls showed rather poorly – though the peace and quiet, and the sunset were more than good enough for me.

Before I sign off, just one more quick photo – the female Long-tailed Duck from Grange Waters at South Ockendon last week. An excellent find by Paul H, and well worth negotiating the commando-style obstacle course I faced to get access… birders laugh in the faces of ploughed fields, watery ditches, barbed wire, hawthorn scrub and trail bikers!

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!

Deja vu…

Same start to the day as last weekend – a minor spot of Dendrocopos action as the mist cleared and the sun came out. Some better shots this time (IMHO), but still some work to do. They’re simply awesome birds, though, leaving photos aside… I could honestly just stand around and simply watch, and listen.

And since the rest of the day was warm and sunny – what else to do but stroll around a few places and take some more pics. First up, a candidate for the ugliest species on the British List:

… followed by a small sample of today’s four butterfly species – a Comma:

…a spring migrant Little Ringed Plover (rather more distant, at Rainham):

…and finally a couple of commoner species at Rainham… Collared Dove and Reed Buntings.

Apologies for the distinct lack of words this time – but after spending all day out and about, then going out to dinner (mmmm… BBQ Ribs!), the blog is being squeezed into a very small slot before I need to get to bed to facilitate another early start tomorrow. But not for woodpeckers this time!

Sunny Sunday: best of the rest

And, following that glut of woodpecker action, here’s a few more shots. You just can’t beat: a) good light, and b) getting close to the subject! Pretty pleased with the sharpness coming out of the 7D with minimal post-processing – though I suppose a 23MB RAW file has to contain quite a bit of detail to reach that size!

Rainham 2nd winter Kumlien’s

In another brief venture out today, managed to time my arrival at the Rainham Stone Barges just right to coincide with the 2nd winter Kumlien’s Gull that Dominic had found a little earlier on, up on the tip. First one of these I’ve ever seen, and (in this case) pretty striking – in addition to the prominent grey/brown wash to the primaries visible in these pics, there was also a really obvious grey/brown tail-band, which you can just make out underneath the wingtips in the first shot. It was also rather robust for an Iceland, with a slightly boxier head shape and perhaps a slightly stronger bill than typical glaucoides? The undertail had a notably brown suffusion, too. Unfortunately, these are all quite heavy crops, and I didn’t manage any flight shots, but with luck Dom will have some better shots to post later.

I also had brief views of a 1st winter Iceland Gull, while others saw an adult and a 2nd winter Iceland, and a probable adult Kumliens. So five white-wingers in the area, by my reckoning. Or even maybe six if you include this guy:

I didn’t get the ring details, but it’s almost certainly the London birders’ old friend, SH1T – a leucistic Herring Gull, if you were still wondering. Proof that ringers definitely have a sense of humour…

Wanstead: what could it be?

After dropping Suzanne off at work, went for a little wander on the flats with the camera, and (eventually) found one of these…

Happy days: it’s officially spring! (And also, most uncharitably, because a well known Wanstead watcher and Wheatear enthusiast hasn’t seen one yet – maybe they’ll all be gone tomorrow?!)

In the wilds of Thurrock

Been out to the east of the London area this afternoon with Paul H, primarily to count waders as part of Dave Morrison’s co-ordinated high tide roost survey. The saltmarsh and industrial structures generally hold fairly large roosts, and with a particularly high tide predicted, we were hopeful for a decent selection of birds.

Thurrock should definitely be classified as an urban site. It certainly lacking in classic wilderness scenery, though compensation is provided in the form of an extensive selection of graffiti on the river wall. Amongst the repetitive primary colour ‘tags’, a proportion of the panels are quite impressive.

And the entrance to the site features the most bizarrely contrasting pair of buildings you could imagine – St Clements church, and the enormous Proctor & Gamble factory looming behind it:

Once we’d made our way along the river wall, out of range of the sweet smell of Persil, and past Stone Point, we picked out a wader roost site on the south shore. Numbers weren’t anything spectacular (c350 Redshank, c100 Dunlin, 25 Curlew, 8 Oystercatcher, c30 Lapwing, few Snipe, Water and Rock Pipit), but in ridiculously warm sunshine for late November, life wasn’t feeling too bad at all.

And then Paul found these three little beauties!

Snow Bunting is not an easy bird to catch up with in the London recording area, and these were a tick for both of us (when I’d eventually managed to clap eyes on them!). Apparently my 226th in London, though I maintain I’m not really trying on that score – schlepping an hour each way round the M25 to the west London reservoirs, or crawling through to Beddington or the Wetland Centre, for species that I see regularly elsewhere doesn’t exactly float my boat!

Happy days… particularly for Paul, since he had had the foresight to put wellies on, and was able to splosh out for closer, on-the-deck views. My best photos shown here are pretty terrible, but I think you can expect something much better on his blog later!