Phil Bishops Birding Blog

Time Off in October

2023-10-12T11:39:00.002+01:00

Off work for a while. I've had a bit of time to sort through more recant photos.

A few years ago we spent a lovely day on the Lizard hoping to see the Brown Booby that had been present in the area for a few days. Great crowd, decent selection of seabirds, Chough and so on, but no Booby.

This year there were more coastal sightings in various places, generally flybys on sea watches, but fortunately one of the birds settled for some time in Redcar, usually seen from the South Gare, so off we went to enjoy the early morning views of Middlesborough and the Tees estuary. The Booby had flown off by the time we arrived but was relocated on one of the many buoys at the mouth of the river. Distant, and the heat haze didnt help with the photography, but a relief to finally get to see one.

The estuary itself was full of razorbills and guillemots, guess the adults and young find it a safe place post breeding, plus many terns, a few skuas and waders.

We headed off to RSPB Saltholme where the Buff Breasted Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint showed after a bit of effort, but rather distant. Seal Sands/Greenabella Marsh had plenty of common waders, seals but no Pectoral Sandpiper.

We returned via Tophill Low where we finally got a Pec Sand and also on of the Blue Winged Teals that seem to be resident at the moment.

After one of my regular strolls around Fairlands, I took the opportunity to go down to Amwell, where the long staying, but often hard to find Osprey had settled. Been some time since my last visit so it was good to meet up with Phil and Ron again.

Last Sunday we paid yet another visit to RSPB Frampton. A bit easier to get to than Norfolk, plenty of waders always around and no dog walkers or day trippers getting in the way.

This time there were several long staying American waders around, and an intriguing post on social media of an odd bird that had suggestions of a Least Sandpiper (later found to be one of the many Little Stints). Bumped into Ritchie Gannon in the car park and we all headed off to the crowded 360 Hide and found a space. Looking into the rising hazy sun was a problem where I was and after sorting through the mobile stints settled on a dumpy individual a long way off on one of the islands and hearing others on the bird came to the conclusion it was the Semi-palmated Sandpiper. Several poor phone scoped images were taken which showed the salient plumage features. Ritchie and a few others on the other side of the hide had flight views of the Lesser Yellowlegs and White-Rumped Sandpiper, so Colin and I headed off to the east hide for better light and hopefully closer views.

Crowded again and difficult to get clear vies past shoulders and heads. I found the White-Rumped, a long way off and managed to get a couple of phone scoped images. The Yellowlegs was a lot more obliging when it got close to the hide and I managed to get some great images.

Heading south along the sea wall was novel as our default in most visits is an anti-clockwise circuit.

The most notable thing was the steady stream of Red Admirals heading south.

Enjoyed watching a Peregrine put all the waders and ducks up and later found it perched in the pasture south of the seawall road. No sign of any Lapland Buntings, but just as we were leaving the Buff Breasted Sandpiper flew in and allowed close views.

New Photos.

2023-09-09T12:07:00.001+01:00

Ive had a few trips out over the last couple of months, but photographic opportunities have been a bit limited. It has taken a while to sort things out and get the photos onto the computer so here are a few of the better ones.

RSPB Frampton has been visited a couple of times. July had two pairs of breeding Black Winged Stilts with five or six chicks. I also managed to locate the eclipse American Wigeon.

The last visit to Frampton was in August over the bank holiday. Wader numbers were starting to build up, with several Curlew sandpipers, a nice Wood Sandpiper and a few Little Stints. The Convolvulus Haw Moth had been trapped earlier and had been left on one of the car park posts. We were hoping to locate the long staying Black Stork, but just like the one here a few years ago it didn't show.

Also on August Bank Holiday we visited Titchwell. Six hours failed to produce any migrant passerines apart from a car park full of warblers early on-nothing out of the ordinary. Bird of the day was the American Golden Plover, the first for quite a long time, though the Turtle Dove at Chosely Barns on the way home was notable too. Shame I never got a photo of it.

Elsewhere I have been plugging away at Fairlands Valley with Tony Hukin, and sometimes Tom and Andy. We are rapidly approaching 100 for the year though last weeks flyover Linnet was surprisingly rare being the first for 12 years. The Spotted Flycatchers found over the Bank Holiday lingered for over a week and eventually proved fairly photogenic. The previous week I had a very long walk down to Frogmore as Alan Ford had reported several Spotted Flycatchers there and at the time I hadn't seen any in 2023, so i was a bit shocked while finishing the coffee and getting ready for the walk when I noticed one in my palm tree! Of course by the time the camera was out it had departed.

Aston end has been hard with few scarce migrants and it has only been in the last week or so when things started to pick up and I could record decent numbers. Lots of Chiffchaffs, a few Willow Warblers and large tit flocks were notable. A briek flyover Kingfisher near the flying club was the first here for many years-mind you its the first summer with water flowing along the Beane for a long long time. A bit further on two Whinchats played hard to get in the hedge up to Lords Farm. Three Lesser Whitethroat were also notable here.

A few Recent Bits and Pieces.

2023-07-18T21:23:00.000+01:00

Locally at least, the butterflies have been a bit hard to come by, numbers are well down, and some species have been very late to appear-I only saw my first Comma a few days ago! However things seem to be picking up a bit in the last few weeks despite the often strong winds and rain.

At the end of June I popped over to see Sarah and Ed. On the way I called in at a location near Buckland where a friend of mine had found a Lizard Orchid. Unfortunately the local farmer had strimmed the field edge and took the top off so I had to get in close with the phone camera.

A stroll around Shaftenhoe in the afternoon was fairly productive with decent numbers of Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and skippers. Unfortunately the bee orchids had pretty much gone over, but pyramidals were abundant.

A few days later I took the opportunity of the warm weather and went for an evening walk around Aston End. It had been a few weeks since I had been there and the grass had really shot up because of the rain, and it was fun walking past and watching seeing large numbers of roosting butterflies explode around me. I had been put onto a small patch of Bee Orchids which were hard well hidden in the grass but looked really good. BTW the soft focus was down to fingerprints on the phone lens but it seems to have worked.

A few Dark green Fritillaries have been around here, in similar numbers to recent years.

It was getting a bit late and the light was dropping when I came across the Little Owl actively searching for food so I guess there were some chicks. A young fox cub in the same area was also entertaining.

Some New Images

2023-06-14T20:42:00.001+01:00

The last two weekends have involved a couple of day trips and a bit of local walking, and I managed to get a few nice photos in the process.

The 4th was a long day out to Martin Down and Bentley Wood around Salisbury. Rather warm and sunny all day, we did quite well for the butterflies but missed out on the Turtle Doves that still turn up in summer at Martin.

The usual walk around the down took us south west to the south end of the dyke, and then north to the Burnt Orchids and returning along Sillen Lane. Probably because of the wet winter, the down was very lush and there were plenty of orchids out, with chalk fragrant being the commonest, at least until we reached the dyke which seemed full of Greater Butterflies along with a few Common Spotted. There didnt seem to be any other species out yet. Butterflies were a bit odd. Huge numbers of Small and Adonis Blues as expected, and a lot of Brimstones and Small Heaths, but hardly any skippers, whites or browns.

At the end of Sillen Lane the damp spot was well vegetated but a search of the buttercups eventually produced one rather lively Marsh Fritillary. Birds were as expected, withe several photogenic Corn Buntings being very obliging.

The usual stop at Bentley Wood on the way home produced a few Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries which were rather tricky to pin down but I was able to get a nice underwing shot after a while.

Being a rather warm June afternoon, birds were rather quiet but one Tree Pipit was still singing with its parachute display flight.

Saturday 10th was a rather quiet day out with Colin visiting a local plant nursery, and as Hertford heath was just down the road we called in there and did a circuit of the heath and Balls Wood. For once, the ponds had plenty of water but I suspect we were a bit too early for the Emerald Damselflies. Borad Bodied and Four Spotted Chasers were abundant, as were Azure and Large Red damsels, and my first Emperors of the year. Highlight was the Norfolk Hawker perched in a small birch only a few feet away.

Very few butterflies, indeed very few insects at all despite the heat and humidity.

A very early start on Sunday for a three hour stroll around Aston End before the heat built up really paid off.

Right at the start a young Jay being fed by an adult was a good start. Of course the camera battery was flat so I missed the best poses.

On to the building site that used to be a nice bit of farmland I finally found a Bullfinch in one of the usual copses, the first here for a good six months. Its doubtful if they will survive much longer unfortunately.

The next bonus was the adult Little Owl flying around the sheep fields. They were rather tricky in the past few years, normally needing an evening visit but I guess it was feeding young.

The hedges have been devastated again by Spindle Ermine moths, but hopefully that will mean lots of caterpillars and moths for the birds. There were a lot of singing Yellowhammers, Blackcaps and Whitethroats, a flyover Raven, several Nuthatches and Mistle Thrushes and I managed to locate a Willow Warbler where I had found a nest a few years ago. I had 44 species of bird, yet still managed to miss a few expected regulars like Kestrel and Linnet. Potentially 50 is doable.

It turned out to be a bit early for Marbled Whites and Dark Green Fritillaries-I checked the usual spots with no success. I will have to try again in a few days, but there are few flowering thistles etc at the moment to provide nectar.

May Bank Holiday

2023-06-01T18:57:00.001+01:00

Another bank holiday trip on Sunday, out to the Brecks again. I had had a bad fall and cracked some ribs the previous week so travelled as light as possible and tried not to overdo things but had a very enjoyable day out.

We started quite early at Cavenham Heath. It was rather chilly but gradually warmed up and we actually ended up doing all three trails over 3 1/2 hours. One obliging Stone Curlew wandering around not far from the car was nice, and a bit further down the track a Woodlark sat on top of a bush allowing some decent images. Down the river and along the Fen trail we encountered large numbers of Azure damselflies, a few 4 Spotted Chasers and a couple of other larger species that were too quick. A flyby Kingfisher was nice as well.

Along the Heath trail more Woodlark, some Stonechats and a singing Tree Pipit in the now warm sunshine, plus a few butterflies made a decision to head into the woods to the north a no-brainer where we added a couple of Marsh Tits and a Treecreeper.

We then went to Lakenheath, had a bit of lunch and a gentle stroll along the river with a long stop at the Joist fen viewpoint. There were a few distant Hobbys, and one or two Bitterns were flying around getting food for their young.

We pretty much cleaned up on dragonflies here-Broad Bodied and Scarce Chasers, Hairy dragonflies, more 4 Spots, Azure and Red Eyes Damsleflies and a lot of butterflies as well, including Green Hairstreak and Brown Argus.

Thursday highlights-

With the cool cloudy mornings with a bit of drizzle I thought we might get a Black Tern at Fairlands. I was a bit surprised not long after getting into work to hear that Andy Day had found a Sanderling-not on the radar and a first for the park. I held out til lunchtime and had a quick dash where it showed quite well. i could have hung on as it lingered into the evening. Not an easy bird to see in Herts, as they are usually short stayers so a county first for me.

Three Tick Bank Holiday

2023-05-16T20:08:00.002+01:00

Thanks to the Coronation we got two Bank Holiday Mondays in a row. Although I had some family commitments, the 8th was free and Colin and I arranged a big trip to Fife, my first visit to Scotland for quite a while.

A few years ago, Colin had a very bad night, decided to drive up in the early hours to Mussleburgh on the Forth and managed to see the drake American White Winged Scoter that had been wintering there in recent years, and was, presumably the bird that was first found in Aberdeenshire off Murcar 11 years ago. Since then every time it has been reported he has raised the possibility of me seeing it, but have been reluctant to commit to the long day needed. This year I had the time but little enthusiasm in the early part of the year. A complication arose when someone accidentally photographed a Stejnegers Scoter (the Asian version of the American White Winged ) at Mussleburgh which was then rediscovered at Largo Bay in early May along with two or more American White Winged Scoters! We really had to go, and so headed up the A1 in the early hours of last Monday.

We arrived quite early at 0730, it was cold, windy overcast and wet but headed east along the beach for around a mile to reach the pillboxes that were the main viewpoint. I picked up a few year ticks on the way-Arctic Tern, Kittiwake and many hundreds of Common and Velvet Scoters (Largo being the scoter capital of the Uk in winter). When I arrived, the few present in the lee of the pillbox had not found anything unusual, but two guys the other side had seen two drake White Winged earlier. My bins were soaked, as were my glasses and the scope so I was not finding it easy to work through the huge flock of scoters. Early on I found an interesting duck with a large white spot behind the eye and a thicker bill which had pale edges with no obvious yellow-the drake Velvets yellow bills were impossible to miss at any distance as did the immature males except those far out. I was reasonably confident that this was one of the White Winged, but lost it after a few minutes. I was then distracted by the drake Surf Scoter, the first for many years, and while studying it a slightly smaller preening 'Velvet" caught my eye and the two guys announced that they had the Stejnegers near the Surf at which point I realised it was the preening bird. I could see the distinctive prominent bump above the nasal opening, but needed Colin's larger (and drier) scope to see the pinkish bill. We watched it for a while until it drifted off and I continued searching the bay for more birds. We had a few Mergansers, Shag, Long tailed Duck one or more Red Throated and one Black Throated Divers, a few Gannets offshore and the occasional Sandwich Tern, so a decent bump up of the year list. The Red Necked Grebe that had been present on previous days was never found.

Over the course of three hours I had a few decent White Winged candidates, encountered the Surf Scoter a few times (there were three drakes present but I never saw more than one at any time) but eventually had to head back to the car. I stopped off a couple of times as there were a lot more scoters now, and the visibility had improved. I was hoping to find Purple Sandpipers on the rocks, but Sanderling and Oystercatchers were the only waders of note. A large flock of mainly female Velvet and Common Scoter had a very interesting bird-a scoter with a chunky thick bill and a significantly large pale patch behind the eye, and very different to the accompanying Velvets. This I took to be a female American White Winged Scoter which others had reported earlier in the week.

So five Scoter species in a day, all we needed to complete the set would have been a Black Scoter, but unfortunately one wintering earlier in the year off Northumberland had long since departed.

To add to the fun of the day, and a third lifer for the day, we stopped off on the way home to see the Grey Headed Lapwing that had appeared in a farm field near Beadnell in Northumberland. This is perhaps a bit suspect, but one or two have appeared in Europe over the last few years and there does seem to be an increase in vagrancy records so it stands a fair chance of being accepted. It was always distant, and like Largo there was no chance of any photographs.

A White Stork for Easter

2023-04-13T20:00:00.002+01:00

I had a five day break this easter. It started in a really big way on Good Friday.

I got up early and headed off to Fairlands Valley, arriving just after eight. Being bright and sunny (but a bit chilly) there were decent numbers of singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. On the way up, I had had a chat with a dog walker about camera gear and thought I'd seen a Raven go over west, and was relieved to see one drift west over the balancing pond. I thought it would be the highlight of the day, being my first for the park, and the first local bird this year.

Approaching nine, I had covered Environmental and Millennium Lakes when I bumped into Tony Hukin, so we swapped notes-he had seen the Raven too. Peter Clarke approached us and asked if we had seen the large bird on the marina lamp post which he thought was a young Heron. We walked round to get a view and were stunned to see the unmistakable silhouette of a White Stork!

I took a few snaps and moved to get a better view, and it just sat there not more than 15 yards away unconcerned by the passing dog walkers runners and so on. Having got very good views we were able to establish that it was not bearing any ring we put the news out and it wasn't long before the first locals arrived. The Stork stayed for nearly an hour with wing stretching and the occasional bill clatter until it suddenly took of, and after circling a bit drifted south where, over the Glaxo site the local Buzzard and gulls took offence and then it slowly moved west and appeared to turn north before we finally lost it behind Monks Wood. I had a nice bottle to celebrate with my lunch!

On Saturday Colin came over and we headed off to the Brecks. It was misty locally but cleared to a nice but rather cold sunrise. Unfortunately as the day progressed it gradually got cloudier and duller but we had a pretty good day out.

First stop was Santon Downham where we headed west along the river to try and locate the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We met someone who had seen one at first light but nothing over the next two hours. Undaunted we continued on. There were several drumming Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, singing Nuthatches and Marsh Tits (sadly the Willow Tits were lost years ago). To my delight I found an otter that gave us fantastic views so I spent a while trying to get good images-not easy as it spent most of the time underwater but came out onto a log for a bit. A bit further on we stood on the bank and watched another which then climbed up the bank towards us, but unfortunately far too close for the camera!

We spent around an hour hoping to get the Woodpecker without success and returned to the road, finding several Mandarins, and a nice flock of Redpolls.

After this we drove up to the Cockley Cley watchpoint stopping off a bit to the south first. Here we could hear several Woodlarks singing in the pines above our heads but couldn't see any, but fortunately one showed really well at the watchpoint.

While there were a few birds of prey up-Kites and Buzzards, the conditions were not ideal for Goshawks. A bit late for displaying birds obviously, but we are often successful in seeing one.

A brief stop at Weeting failed to locate Stone Curlews and then we finished the day at Lakenheath. By now the wind had picked up and it had got rather cloudy. The drake Garganey showed well but distantly, several Stonechat were along the river and after a bit of a wait at the viewpoint I thought I could hear a Bittern booming behind me but dismissed it as the wind until dropping down to the shelter of the reeds when it was obvious there was a bird in front of us. Invisible of course, but the pings and brief views of Bearded Tits were a nice compensation.

All in all a great start to the holiday.

Spring Solstice

2023-03-21T19:29:00.000+00:00

My last post started with a resolution to post a bit more frequently. It barely lasted a week.

Unfortunately we lost Mum at the end of January-I had been caring for her for many years but in the new year there was a sudden decline and I had to take a few weeks off work. Luckily both my sisters were here and we looked after her as best we could, and I cannot thank the doctors paramedics and nurses who were in and out on a daily (and sometimes nightly basis) enough. Obviously there has been a lot to do and it will be some time before some sort of normality resumes.

Colin's been a great help too and has got me out of Stevenage on a few occasions to relax, chill and do a bit of birding. This will be a bit of a brief synopsis of our trips with a few pictures.

The first trip was February 4th and the Norfolk coast. While we saw a lot of the expected stuff, it was a bit quiet. The sea in particular-Hunstanton had most, with Fulmar, Mergansers and a few auks, and Colin had a Skua. Titchwell was nice to visit, but apart from a nice flock of Brambling and a Slavonian Grebe on the sea, there wasn't much for our efforts. Rather than head along the coast to the jam packed Holkham area we decided to head inland.

Just south of Brancaster we found the small crowd looking at the distant flock of Pinkfeet, and eventually we were able to get onto the Cackling Goose (basically a smaller Canada), the first we had seen since the mid nineties. We then moved south east to the Nene Washes at Eldernell, which I had been hoping to visit for several weeks. The roosting Short Eared Owl was visible of sorts, but the two Long Eared Owls were a bit more obliging, as was the Tawny Owl.

The following week, the 11th we did Essex. Abberton had five Smew (the largest number I had seen for years, a nice Black Necked Grebe and the usual Long Tailed duck. No sign of any Scaup which was a bit odd. The Great Northern Diver showed very well for us.

A visit to Copt Hall marshes was very disappointing, some of the footpaths seemed to have vanished and there werent many birds. I did get a longed for lifer with the MV Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline on the distant Blackwater estuary.

We ended at Fingringhoe Wick. My only visit was some 30 years ago and it had changed quite a bit, so much so that I couldn't reconcile my memories with what was there. It proved to be a very nice place for a relaxed wander and I hope to get back there soon.

My last trip out on the 19th was down to North Kent. Oare Marshes was cold and breezy and we decided to walk west along the sea wall, as we hadn't really been that way before. Lots of Stonechats and Meadow and Rock Pipits, plus wildfowl. The hoped for Hen Harriers did not appear.

More pirate radio at our next destination, the old towers of Reculver. This is now a country park, but when I used to visit relatives at nearby Birchington back in the 70's there weren't as I recall any paved paths, and not much in the way of facilities. There weren't any offshore wind-farms either, but the WW2 sea-forts and pirate homes of Red Sands and Shivering Sands were still visible among them. Unfortunately the distinct pyramid on stilts of Tongue Sands collapsed some years ago. Fortunately the Snow Buntings were still present but it was a bit of a slog, not quite half way to Minnis Bay.

The final stop was Stodmarsh, long a favourite place to visit in summer, but by far the earliest in the year. Lots of Cetti's warblers, squealing Water rails and plenty of woodland birds, but surprisingly no Redpoll or Siskin. A new sight for us were the gnawed and felled trees courtesy of beavers, which of course we didn't see. We did find our target in the shape of the female Ring Necked Duck.

Since then I haven't been far, the weather has not been ideal but I have tried to get over to Fairlands on a regular basis. I did get to Bramfield where three Hawfinch showed well.

A New Year

2023-01-04T17:14:00.002+00:00

New year resolution (sort of) is to try and keep a bit more up to date here. Will see how it goes.

After a longish break I got to see Colin in the early hours of the New Year. As on previous occasions, we decided on a modest start and tour the fens rather than hit the very busy coast. This would hopefully make a nice stress free day with a reasonable chance of getting home at a sensible time.

The first stop at Pyemore viaduct was a bit of an eye opener. Despite the mild forecast, the wind was rather chilly and I regretted leaving my big coat at home. However it was quite a pleasant half hour or so. There were two Barn Owls hunting the bank just south of us, and despite being completely unprepared and with the wrong camera settings managed to get a couple of decent images.

The usual selection of wildfowl were on the washes, with a few Whooper Swans near the village. There were huge numbers of Lapwings flying around and a few thrushes but hardly any small farmland birds-this has been a feature of recent weeks and now doubt is the consequence of the big freeze in early December.

A stop off at the A1101 bridge failed to produce the large number of egrets that we saw last year. The water levels were too high. Again, large numbers of Lapwing in the air, more wildfowl and a few thrushes and tits in the trees. Facing north, we didn't see a Short Eared Owl approaching behind us at not much more than head hight. I completely fumbled the camera due to the shock as it flew over and away towards the bank. Thinking that was it we drove off and up to Welney. We were incredibly lucky though, as we refound it on a roadside post, stopped in time and I wound the window down and fired a frame filling sequence from around ten feet.

Welney was a bit quiet. While there were a few swans in front of the main hide, there was little else and we wondered how the midday feed would fare. Apart from the vast numbers of Lapwing, the only waders were around 80 Black Tailed Godwits on one of the islands. A walk around Lady Fen produced a large flock of Golden Plovers and 2-3 Short Eared Owls though they stayed distant. One each of Little and Great White Egrets added some interest, but apart from a couple of Linnets and a distant Snipe the best birds remained around the car park with decent numbers of House and Tree Sparrows.

After a bite and plenty of coffee we stopped off near Wissington Beet Factory where a small herd of Whooper Swans contained for Tundra Bean Geese. Too far for photos.

The final stop was near Thorney Toll on the Nene Washes. The beet fields held an enormous herd of Whoopers, with estimates that day of around 1600 which i felt to be an under estimate. I have since learned that the farmer reckons on around 4000 birds. In among them were a few Bewicks, but trying to find them was a nightmare as all the swans had muddy beaks. Fortunately a couple flew over calling which was handy. There were a few Pink Feet as well which were a bit easier to see.

I ended the day with a decent count of 60 species. The following day, a stroll around Fairlands Valley with Tony Hukin added another 13 species to the year list, though I missed several that were seen by others.

September Highlights

2022-10-04T16:14:00.000+01:00

September continued pretty much as before in that I rarely strayed out of the local area. This low carbon birding has saved a fortune in petrol over the course of the year, though I must admit much of it has been spent on other things like the garden.

Most of my weekend walks have been either to Fairlands Valley, or the Beane Valley around Aston End, and over the course of the month almost hit 60 species-there were several regulars that I missed and I reckon 70-75 could have been possible.

Early in the month I found my own Whinchat in one of the fields south of Walkern, my first along the Beane since the early 90's. There seems to have been larger numbers than usual reported this year in Hertfordshire from late August onwards so I was hoping to find one. No doubt, with only a few hours per month I have missed a few over the years.

Also in the same spot, a pair of Bullfinch seem to have settled for the winter, and there were good numbers of warblers in the area-mainly Chiffchaff and Blackcap, though numbers diminished as the month progressed. A Little Egret on the stable reservoir was also notable.

Fairlands was pretty good with a variety of ducks visiting-two Teal, two Shoveler, two Egyptian Geese and a Tufted Duck, though I missed a Pochard. More unusual were two Little Grebes, one was very hard to find but the other showed well. Even better was a real rarity-the first Valley Snipe since the late 70's spent a few days on the balancing pond late in the month.

On the 11th I paid a visit to Norton Green and Langley. Two Pied Flycatchers had been seen at Potters Spring previously so I was hoping to get another two for the local area this year. Unfortunately they had gone, but a Spotted Flycatcher. showed well nearby-rather fortunate as I hadn't seen one up til now this year. It has been a long time since it was a common breeder round here.

At the end of the month I popped over to Wallington where a Marsh Harrier had been present for a while. The crops here, borage and quinoa seem to be very attractive to finches as there were several hundred birds milling around, along with around 400 Starlings and a flock of around 50 Meadow Pipits. These were being hunted by a Sparrowhawk, and there were many other raptors around-Buzzards Kites and Kestrel are always present and I was pleased to watch a Peregrine hunting over one of the nearby woods. I didn't see the Harrier and I didn't see any migrant chats, Wheatear or Wagtails either.

Bank Holiday Bonus

2022-09-05T19:09:00.000+01:00

The end of August Bank Holiday meant that Colin and I would meet up for the first time in months and go somewhere. Often in the past it has been a gentle saunter somewhere in the Chilterns like Warburg, but we decided we would do a wader day around the Wash trying to hit the high tide roost at Snettisham, followed by something like Titchwell or Holme for early migrants. However as usual plans change at the last minute and we had a very very early start and went to Yorkshire instead.

A Greater Sandplover had been on Redcar beach for a couple of days, and with a summeringTurkestan Shrike and Roller on the way back it was a no brainer. Now we both have history with the Sandplover as 30 odd years ago one was in Blakeny Harbour and we duly went for it. Unlike the majority of birders that day who were on the landward side, we were with a small group on the point up near Half Way House. There had been negative news while we were there and it was assumed to have gone (it was seen a few days later on the south coast somewhere). However we found a small group of waders in a channel off the beach in Blakeny, there were four or five what we realised were Ringed Plovers (small sandy blobs) and another slightly bigger sandy blob which might have been the Greater Sandplover, but being several hundred yards away we couldn't be sure, and to make matters worse a dog walker flushed the lot and they flew out of view never to be seen again.

So a night time departure and a long run north to Redcar arriving a 0730 to bright but cool sunshine. A leaving birder pointed us about half a mile north west to where a small crowd had gathered and said it was showing well. Relieved I started the trudge up the beach but got a bit worried when I got close and saw them disperse with some heading back. Apparently it had flown back past me and presumably was off the small jetty, so I turned round and headed back, meeting up with Darryl Bryant and Tony Hukin.

We could see some waders feeding on the washed up weed but groups of swimmers were walking through them, and as we got close there was no sign. Lots of Sanderlings with a few Turnstones were among the Ringed Plovers and it was with relief that Darryl found the Sandplover running around close to the surf on the sand. Scope views were fantastic and the long 30 year wait was finally over. I managed to get the phone on the scope and got a few good images along with a very bad video, but as I was fumbling to get the camera set up it was off and flew back up the beach to where it was earlier.

So bird of the day was in the bag so it was off on the drive south to Bempton and the Turkestan Shrike. We arrived to be told that due to hedge cutting the day before the Shrike had not been seen all morning, so we resigned ourselves to a spell on the cliffs with the Gannets and Kittiwakes. Most of the auks had departed, though there were still one or two out at see, and it was great to see a Peregrine hunting the cliff ledges (though not for the second Kittiwake that it went for). A scan with bins picked up a distant fin break the surface and I got the scope pointed in the right direction where there were a couple of Razorbills Gannets and Kittiwakes on the sea. The fin broke again, and I started to try and work out what I was seeing. I'm reasonably familiar with some dolphins which aren't usually on their own and it obviously wasn't a Porpoise, in fact it seemed to be too big even for Bottlenose. The only option was Minke Whale, and as there was a huge pod of 80+ further up the coast at Staithes it seems a fairly safe identification.

Unfortunately that was it for the day. The Roller hadn't been seen, and a call in at Berry Fen on the way back failed to produce as it was bone dry.

Two Months to try and catch up on.

2022-08-15T14:58:00.002+01:00

Long time no post. Combination of Mum needing a lot of help now (with a two week break while she was in hospital in July-leaving on her 90th birthday), and the heatwave. Obviously the nearly two quid a litre didn't help much so I saved money and stuck to local venues.

I did the Aston End circuit a few times. There was still a bit of flowing water in the Beane into early July, but has since dried up. The pond at Chells Manor is also dry apart from a small spot, and the one near the model flying club has a few inches left, so the moorhens were able to raise a few chicks, but the mallards have long gone.

Ravens are now a bit more regular, I'm seeing them frequently around Aston, rather than further north towards Walkern. No evidence of breeding, though there does seem to be a pair.

I took a bit of a detour on the 10th to follow up a report of nesting House Martins in Aston opposite the school. There was one occupied nest-something of a rarity these days round here. The meadow by High Wood has been really good, and appears to be the source of the Dark Green Fritillaries I have been seeing in the last couple of years with several tens seen here and nearby. Marbled Whites and browns have also been abundant, but I have been really struggling to find any blues locally.

Other butterflies locally have been a bit of a surprise. My workplace for the last 23 years was finally abandoned before it fell down, and we have moved to a site further down the road. Unfortunately a bit too far for a quick sprint to the now largely inaccessible Norton Green tip. However it is a bit closer to the Knebworth wood complex which no doubt was the source of the Silver Washed Fritillary that flew past the canteen window one morning. The other one was moire of a shock. I was busy pottering in the garden during the milder part of the heatwave and saw a dull butterfly settle on my tall euphorbia sikkimensis. I got close enough to garb a few phone shots of what was a Purple Hairstreak. Despite having an old oak tree outside, I have never seen one on it.

The 14th of July was a red letter day which I nearly blew. Having got home, made a coffee and did some emergency watering in the garden and making arrangements for Mum in hospital I happened to glance at the phones twitter feed and realised that a Sandwich Tern had been found by Tom on the main lake at Fairlands and was apparently still there! Not easy to connect in Herts, most go through very early in the Lea Valley or Wilstone and don't linger. I haven't managed to connect with one, so it was a bit of a panic grabbing the camera and racing down there. Fortunately Tony Hukin and Dave Beer were just leaving and pointed it out to me, so I joined Tom down by the cafe for a closer look. I then walked round to the north side and got a few shots.

I was joined by Alan Ford, and in between looking at the tern I scanned the jetty opposite where there was a large gathering of mostly Black Headed Gulls. There were a few Lesser Black backs as usual-a mixture of ages and a much paler bird which seemed too dark to be a Herring. I took some photos for reference as it seemed to be either Caspian or Yellow Legged but we couldn't be certain. Being a 3cy bird the dull flesh legs, long bill and small head suggested Caspian, but our regular adult bird caught us all out and proved to be a hybrid. Social media responses all agreed it was a real Caspian, and therefor likely the first pure bird for the Stevenage area.

My first real trip out of the county for several months was at the beginning of August when I took Jane and Sarah to Hyde Hall for the Plant Fair. The heat had taken a dreadful toll of many of the plants, but it was good to see that much had survived quite well. Naturally the dry garden was more than ok. What really caught my eye were the huge number of Small Red Eyed damsels around the Lily pond. Unlike most of my past views of them sitting on the pond weed doing nothing, these were incredibly active, very territorial and often high up in the trees and shrubs..

Today I had a day off and started my autumn birding with a short trip to the Wallington area. A stroll along the Baldock footpath produced a Wheatear (someone else had eight) and three Yellow Wagtails. Further along the road to the village the four Whinchats found yesterday were still present feeding in a weedy hedge, though at some distance. Decent numbers of Corn Buntings Linnets and Yellowhammers in the area, but I didn't want to stay out for long as the heat was really building up again, so a quick visit to Wallington church ended the trip-no Spotted Flycatchers but several House Martins was good to see.

Jubilee Week

2022-06-07T20:29:00.004+01:00

I was really looking forward to the long Bank Holiday and was expecting to be busy every day, either in the garden or out birding, with perhaps a long day out.

Didn't quite work out like that, and I ended up with the entire week off. Mum had a fever, and then a bad fall on the Saturday, badly hurting her leg (the good one) and was no longer able to get up, let alone stand. So I phoned 999 and was told that an ambulance would be with us within 14 hours..... Not good to hear, and she was in great pain and getting very cold so I tried to move her and ended up in a lot of pain myself-Ive still got shoulder problems from my fall earlier this year and ended up straining my back and arms . Fortunately the ambulance arrived very quickly and after assessing her she spent the rest of the weekend resting. By the time a GP called to check up on Monday she was back on her feet albeit rather bruised and the fever had subsided.

I had a bit of a temperature and a cough as well-tested negative for Covid, and was extremely tired but put that down to stress and my Addisons. Wasn't able to do much for a few days but by Wednesday I was moving around and managed and hour or so in the garden. This was fortunate as there was a really big mega in the country.

The first twitchable Eleanora's Falcon had turned up in Kent and had been seen reliably near Sandwich from the Friday, so naturally I was expecting to be there over the weekend. I called Colin once Mum was settled and told him I couldn't make it so he went down on the Sunday and got decent views, and very close views of a female Red Footed Falcon (one of two on site). Luckily for me, having checked each day and seen hundreds of stunning images being posted, it was still present on Wednesday so I called Colin and he was up for a return visit Thursday.

A decent run with light traffic saw us arrive not long after 0800 and a half full car park. It was a bit of a long slow trudge up to the raised bank and I could see the crowd ahead of me with a blob in a hawthorn by the path. Showing well to put it mildly. After a while the Eleanora's took flight and went low below the bank where I lost it, and then it was found in another hawthorn even closer, having caught what appeared to be an emperor dragonfly. Cue the machine gun sounds of lots of cameras. After digesting the emperor it decided to fly again just as I was getting the camera set up for flight shots which was typical, so I decided to wander down the track, watched the hunting Hobbys (3) and a very distant very pale headed female Red Footed Falcon. Didn't see a Kestrel all day!

The slow amble back was productive. I had hoped to see some dragonflies, in the ditches but the only ones were distant, being pursued by falcons. Talking of which the Eleanora's was now hunting over one of the larger bodies of water, looking like a super sized and more robust Hobby. Very impressive when it was high overhead, with slower heavier wing beats. We did miss a Golden Oriole that was seen on a couple of occasions, and a Honey Buzzard was seen in the afternoon.

We left late morning and headed up to a secret site and another lifer. Colin and I had tried on a couple of occasions in recent years to locate Late Spider Orchids at one of their known Kent locations. Unfortunately despite directions and misunderstandings we never found the right location. Since then I had been given grid refs to two spots. Unfortunately the Folkstone site was raided a few weeks back and all the orchids were stolen so I was keeping my fingers crossed when we got to the finally reached our destination-not helped by trying to navigate with a mobile and very poor to non existent reception. It was a relief to walk up the steep slope and see the cages ahead of us, where we spent twenty minutes or so appreciating the massive variation in the flowers.

I was really flagging by now but we decided to pay a visit to Park Gate Down, where we were able to see a few more orchids-Fragrant, Common Spotted, Twayblade, a few potential emergent Pyramidal, a couple of almost over Early Purples, lots of the sites speciality Monkey Orchid, and the very magnificent huge Lady all on its own in the middle of a meadow, plus several Greater Butterflies. All in all a fine end to the day out.

May

2022-06-04T12:15:00.001+01:00

Here is a summary of May's activities.

On the 1st, being a bank holiday weekend, Colin and I decided to avoid the coast, and. stay fairly local. As with previous years we headed up to Paxton, but based on last years experience went directly to the northern section of Diddington pits. The pits themselves weren't particularly exciting though there were a few Common Terns and Sand Martins feeding overhead, along with a few Swallows. The Nightingales were not playing ball this year, and while we heard four, all were well hidden. We also only managed to hear one Grasshopper Warbler, but there were good numbers of Willow, Chiffchaff, Garden, Blackcap and both Whitethroats, and Reed and Sedge Warblers. No Cuckoo or Hobby though.

We then went up to Bluntisham's Berry Fen. The lay-by was pretty good with one Great White, Six Cattle and most of the twenty Little Egrets that we saw around the Fen. There were a few Grey Herons but not being a brilliant white they were a bit trickier to find. We had hoped to see the female Blue Winged Teal that had been present for some time but, if it was present it was well hidden. The drake Garganey it was associating with was a bit easier and showed quite well.

On the way back home, we called in at Hitchin Lavender where after some searching with Mike Illett the female Ring Ouzel was eventually located. There were also two Wheatear and decent numbers of Swallows.

Our next big trip out was to Hampshire with a variety of sites planned.

The New Forest was the first area. Our normal spots proved to be a bit problematic as the car parks were closed for the summer, but I had a couple of other areas in mind that seemed worthwhile following some reading, and fortunately access wasn't a problem.

Knightwood Oak is a section of mixed woodland and open areas. We parked in the Woosens car park, and I had expected to head north. The steep path down was very muddy with a lot of boggy areas at the bottom, so we headed south west instead, but still managed to find a very wet area to negotiate. A family of Stonechat in one of the open birch areas was nice, as was the singing Tree Pipit. We then found an area of mixed conifers and birch. Crests were present, and while most were Goldcrest, one Firecrest was also heard. At one point it was above my head in a birch but couldn't be seen let alone photographed, and we only got flight views as it headed away from us.

Further north at Bolderwood, a circuit north east of our car park was worthwhile. A female Redstart showed quite well by the car park. Further on, we encountered a rather deep stream to cross and then entered a conifer and clear-fell area. Here we found another Tree Pipit, and while Colin carried on I lingered for a while which was fortunate as I heard a singing Wood Warbler and then had close views of a male Crossbill gathering food in the pipit tree. After rejoining Colin there was another flyby Crossbill and a few Siskins before we reached the car.

Our final destination was Martin Down. Butterflies were abundant as expected with hoards of Small Blues everywhere and large numbers of Common Blues, some Adonis Blues and Dingy Skippers. Small Heath were everywhere, but Colin got the only brief glimpse of Marsh Fritillary. A few Greater Butterfly Orchids were seen at the south end of the dyke, but the Burnt orchids were rather poor this year.

Birds were as expected, lots of Skylark, Whitethroat and Yellowhammer. One very distant calling Cuckoo was my first of the year, but things like hirundines were virtually non existent. The avian highlight was actually back by the car while I was packing up and a Turtle Dove flew over at very close range. I haven't had such good views for a long time.

Some Photos

2022-05-04T16:59:00.003+01:00

The photos that have accumulated in the cameras over the last month or two have finally been copied to the computer, so I can now post a few of them.

One of the Ring Necked Parakeets that were feeding in the Willows in Fairlands Valley back in March. They have now departed, but, as I am still hearing one or two occasionally, there is a possibility of nesting in the Stevenage area.

Lots of Blackcaps singing in the area, but throughout April other summer visitors were lacking. This one posed well in one of the Fairland's copses.

The Treecreepers in the valley have been tricky to find this year, and I can only locate one territory in Ashtree Woods.

Further afield, one of many Corn Buntings in the Wallington area.

The Hares have been very obliging in the Knebworth and Langley area, with up to a dozens seen.

Two Wagtails. The Grey was frequenting a reservoir for the stables near Aston End for a few weeks. The Yellow was a nice find at the end of April in one of the paddocks.

The Fox was seen along the Beane. There are also a couple of young ones in Fairlands that I saw recently, and although I haven't seen or heard them recently, a neighbour has mentioned that one visits his garden.

The Red Eared Terrapin has been in Fairlands for a while now, and is usually seen on the same bit of mesh.

March

2022-03-31T17:50:00.000+01:00

It's now the end of March, and after a very warm spell we are now getting snow showers and frosty nights again. Hope it doesn't go the same way as last year with a very cold miserable spring.

The month kicked off with a Sunday walk around Fairlands Lakes, being joined by Andy Day. We met up near the old farmhouse where one of the regular photographers had staked out a Long Tailed Tit's nest. It is one of about half a dozen that Andy and Tom Spellar had located so far this year. There were a lot of Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks and Song Thrushes singing from their territories, and the early Willow buds were being devoured the parakeets, but otherwise it was still late winter. The Water Rail was still being seen, a very elusive Little Grebe was on the conservation lake, there were still some Siskin around, and decent numbers of gulls and ducks.

Unfortunately, having checked the owl box-now occupied by squirrels the search of the woods on the way home was cut short when I had a bad fall and messed up my left shoulder (the good arm) which is still causing issues nearly a month later. Later paid a visit to A&E and basically I'm just going to have give it plenty of time. Perhaps I should have started on fixing the fence instead, as thats off the cards for the time being.

Not being up for much, the following Sunday I was back at Fairlands. It was starting to feel like spring now, and I heard my first singing Chiffchaffs. The parakeets were still demolishing the willows around the farmhouse. Three Great Crested Grebes were on the main lake, along with a male Tufted Duck, and an unusual sight were the three Mute Swans in addition to the resident pair.

A bit of weekend rescheduling enabled an early Saturday morning walk around Aston End. The Tawny Owl was still being harassed near Redwings Farm. I suspect that the three parakeets that seem to frequent the area have taken an interest in a nest hole. I recorded four Chiffchaffs, several Chaffinch and Greenfinch (seem to be recovering a bit from their decline) territories, and a diversion into High Wood produced a singing male Marsh Tit. There were still a few Fieldfare and Redwing in the sheep fields, and there was clearly a movement of Meadow Pipits as there were 16 with the thrushes. A full list is here https://ebird.org/checklist/S105201315

With the clocks changing on the 27th, I decided to take advantage of the Saturday morning and visit Dyes Lane and Norton. The last try in January was halted when my boot sole came adrift in the mud, but luckily after the recent warm weather the ground was a bit drier this time. Lots of singing Chiffchaffs, but no Blackcaps (I did hear one shopping earlier in the week). I had hoped to get a Wheatear or two but was unsuccessful-with the fencing off of the tip we have lost the traditional spot and can only hope the odd one turns up in nearby fields. I got my first local Grey and Red Legged Partridges as well as several Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, and also the first bluebells of the year. List here https://ebird.org/checklist/S105591549

Elsewhere it has been interesting. On a few nights I have been woken up by a pair of Tawny Owls in the early hours, and I suspect the oak tree outside the bedroom is being used at times though they have also been a bit distant. It has been a long time since I heard them regularly. There are also a couple of foxes in the area judging by the noise and I have seen one of them recently. Otherwise, there was a fairly early singing Blackcap on the 25th at Poplars, and a flyover Yellow Wagtail at work on the 23rd-again a bit early.

February

2022-03-02T17:21:00.001+00:00

January always starts off with lots of enthusiasm, after all, it's a new year and a fresh start. Then February arrives and things go downhill fast. Normally it is the worst month for bad weather and this year was no exception with rain and strong winds most weekends and three severe storms to boot. Consequently I only managed to get out on three days.

On the Saturday 5th, there was a clear period in the afternoon before heavy rain arrived to ruin the following day, which gave me a couple of hours around Fairlands Lakes. I spent a while at the balancing pond again, but the Water Rail wasn't playing ball. It was rather windy, so small birds were elusive, but there were a few small tit flocks, and a few finches (no Siskin though) and plenty of singing Robins and Blackbirds. Gulls were a bit tricky as there were a lot of people feeding them, but there must have been a couple of hundred Black Heads, as well as four each of Herring and Lesser Black Backs and a rather high count of 25 Common Gulls.

I then had to wait until the last weekend to get out again. The Saturday 26th afternoon was spent doing a circuit around Aston End in warm and sunny conditions though it was still a bit breezy. Following the previous weeks storms, there were a few trees down and a lot of debris, but it was actually better than expected. The ground was rather firm and dry and there was a reasonable amount of water in the river, and the only downer was the fenced off fields and badly damaged footpath by Gresley Way where the new estate is going up.

Undoubted highlight was the Tawny Owl calling near Redwings Farm. Judging by the noise, the crows weren't happy having it around. Finches and buntings were in short supply-the flock of Chaffinch and Yellowhammers seen recently appears to have dispersed, with only a few birds in the area now. The scrubby fields south of Walkern seem to be the favoured Redwing spot at the moment, with 24 birds feeding in a hawthorn clump. Further on, the big sheep field was as expected where I found the Fieldfare, with around 60 birds present, though I suspect there were more out of view.

On the Sunday, I was out with Colin visiting the Brecks. It was a sunny day, but rather cold with an overnight frost. Our first port of call was St Helens picnic area at Santon Warren. A short walk across and along the river produced a good number of Siskin, Brambling and Redpolls with a few Nuthatches, Marsh Tit, a Bullfinch and some thrushes in the paddocks. It was a bit busy with dog walkers so we headed off to Lynford Arboretum, which turned out to be incredibly busy despite the early hour. We missed the Hawfinches which had left their roost though one or two were supposed to be visiting the feeders, which were busy with Brambling, Siskin, Nuthatch-basically a repeat of St Helens with the bonus of a few Yellowhammers. I had hoped for Crossbill and Firecrest here but we had no luck.

The next bit involved a drive around various spots in the hope of finding a displaying Goshawk and singing Woodlark. There were several stop offs which weren't successful, though it seemed that every ploughed field had a big flock of Fieldfare in it. Eventually we arrived at the best known watchpoint, stopping off a few hundred yards west on the higher ground. A superb male Goshawk was seen shortly after we stopped, and there were a lot of Buzzards up as well over the woods to the north east. Unfortunately and presumably due to the wind the Woodlarks couldn't be located anywhere.

We finished at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. It was a pleasant end to our day but we didn't add anything to our year list. The wind was keeping Bearded Tits down and despite a long spell at the Joist Fen shelter, no Cranes or Kingfishers showed. The washes were more interesting with a small flock of Avocets and Oystercatchers among the wildfowl, and there was also a lot of Marsh Harrier activity, including a displaying male, and a nice pair of Stonechat as well.

The rest of January

2022-02-04T19:59:00.004+00:00

On Saturday 22nd I went for a walk around Aston End in the afternoon. It is usually a fairly quiet time of day, but being fairly warm it was pleasant. Unfortunately I noticed that work is starting east of Gresley Way for the new houses being put up, so a nice area of fields will soon disappear and generate a lot of disturbance in the Beane valley. Talking of which, the river is barely flowing despite the wettish previous couple of months, so the development will naturally been even more abstraction.

The walk was a bit of a slog and it was hard finding much of interest. The usual big Fieldfare flock appears to have moved on, along with all the Redwings and I couldn't find any Linnets, though there was a decent (at least for these days) gathering of at least 10 Chaffinch and 25 Yellowhammers in one of the riverside trees-no Brambling though.

The following morning I had considered going up to Therfield and beyond, but news of a Water Rail in Fairlands meant a late change of plans. Being the first for several years (and I hadn't seen the previous) I was keen to see it-it was in the muddy reeds of the balancing pond. A long spell along with a lad and his mother failed to produce the bird so I had a quick walk around the main lakes, producing 9 Siskin, 4 Greenfinch and 15 Redwings. The usual 'Caspian' Gull X307 was also present.

The afternoon of the 29th and I was back in Fairlands Valley. Another long wait by the balancing pond was enlivened by three drake Teal. The circuit around the lakes produced the usual selection of gulls and ducks, and I returned through the woods to the pond where there was another long wait. I was just about ready to quit when I noticed the Water Rail at the norther end and largely out of view. Luckily I was able to move round to get a better view through the willows and grabbed a few shots.

Sunday was a planned trip to Abberton. It had been a bit frosty overnight, but it meant a bright sunny and cold morning. Starting off at Layer de le Hay, there were good numbers of wildfowl including several Goosanders, and the redhead Smew flew in while we were there. A Rock Pipit was also good. The nearby farm sheep field held 7 Cattle Egret. On Layer Breton, there were lots more wildfowl to scan through, and one of the drake Scaups showed quite well. A spell around the visitor centre produced the Long Tailed Duck that we had missed earlier but there was no sign of any divers or grebes. At Billets Farm screen we were told that the White Fronted Geese were off de le Hay so we went back there to find 29+ along with some Barnacle Geese.

A new spot for me was at Abberton Church on the east side-we were told that the Bewicks Swans were here along with Red Necked and Slavonian Grebes. Thanks to disturbance everything was well offshore. I managed to pick the swans out at a great distance among some much larger Mutes, and while there were a few suspects we couldn't be sure of confidently identifying any of the grebes.

After a bit of lunch we paid a visit to Copt Hall where I was hoping to see Short Eared Owl and Hen Harrier on the salt marsh. Had it not been sunny and lots of dog walkers on the embankments we might have been lucky. The low tide probably didn't help much either, so there was no point walking down to the estuary to check for the Great Northern seen in recent weeks.

2022 The first few weekends.

2022-01-18T17:18:00.002+00:00

With New years Day on a Saturday, the bank holiday Monday gave us an extra day to kick things off. As with last year, Colin and I decided not to do a big day on the 1st, and by the sound of things it was a good idea as it sounded like North Norfolk was heaving all day, particularly as it was a warm, sunny weekend.

This gave me the opportunity to see in the New Year with a glass or three and I enjoyed a nice gentle walk around Fairlands Valley in the morning. There was nothing out of the ordinary of course, but it was a pleasant day and I ended up with around 35 species, including a couple around the garden. Also, for the first time ever, Parakeets appeared on my New Year list.

We decided to hit Titchwell early Sunday morning and hopefully avoid the crowds. This meant driving up in the dark, resulting in two roadside Barn Owls which was nice. The car park wasn't too bad when we arrived not long after sunrise, so there were a few birds around. A quick check for Woodcock wasn't successful, and the feeders outside the centre was a bit quiet, but the Siberian Chiffchaff showed well, but didn't co-operate with the camera.

The next good bird was my first heron of the year-Great White Egret (didn't see any last year!) closely followed by a lone Grey Heron and multiple Little Egrets. A Bittern would have been nice, but the reed-beds were a bit quiet. The fresh marsh was full of gulls ducks and waders, with a massive flock of Golden Plover looking absolutely stunning in the rising sun.

We headed fairly swiftly to the beach to catch the dropping tide, and while there were large numbers of waders and gulls feeding, the sea itself was rather quiet despite the calm conditions and good light. I picked up Red Throated Diver, several Common Scoter flocks and a few Goldeneye, but the southerly winds kept things well offshore. Great Northern Diver and a few other sea duck were reported in the morning but it was a bit of a lottery as to what one saw.

The walk back involved a more thorough search of the marsh and scrapes. Most of the Golden Plover had departed, and there weren't any unusual duck or gulls, but fortunately someone had located the Water Pipit on the newly land(?)scaped fresh marsh, and I had my suspicions that there might have been a second bird. We spent a bit of time in the Fen Hide and around the pools as Jack Snipe are often seen-not by us, and the usual Red Crested Pochard seem to have departed some months ago.

Rather than stay on the coast we headed south to Welney-probably a good idea judging by the huge queues of traffic between Hunstanton and Kings Lynn.

I missed the Tree Sparrows on the Welney feeders this time. There were a a few Ruff on the scrape though. Stopping at the bridge with a couple of others, we picked up three Cattle Egret, five more Great White Egrets, Stock Dove and lots of duck. Where possible we stopped to check the fields. All the wild swans that were close proved to be Whooper, there were no raptors and very few smaller birds.We finished at Earith where the flock of Glossy Ibis were not in their usual spot near the lay by. The planned stop off at Graffham was abandoned due to torrential rain.

I didn't do anything the following Sunday. Having a bit of a cold, I popped out in the garden, thought about a walk around Aston and came back in. I was still feeling a bit iffy the next weekend. Saturday 15th was very foggy but the Sunday morning looked a bit better so I drove over to Meadway Park and started walking up to Almshoe. I hadn't got all that far along the muddy footpath when I lost the sole of one of my walking boots. Rather annoyed that they had only lasted 31 years I returned to the car and drove down to Bramfield where a short spell at the church produced at least two Hawfinch, bringing me up to 91 for the year.

Belted Kingfisher for Christmas

2021-12-30T17:02:00.000+00:00

I haven't seen Colin since the early part of October. Various things like family get togethers, weather, a really bad booster reaction in my case and other commitments have stopped us getting out. The one thing we have wanted to do is go up to Lancashire for the fourth recorded Belted Kingfisher. It turned up at outside a reserve called Brockholes near Preston in the middle of November. However it was never reliable, only seen on a few days and getting to the viewing spot on the river involved an extremely precarious descent down a reputedly 200' wooded slope, which being Lancashire was rather wet and muddy. There were stories of many stories of birders slipping down the cliff of doom, falling in the river and apparently on one occasion a mountain rescue team was needed.

After it was last seen, it was hoped that it would show up somewhere a bit more accessible and there were a couple of reports elsewhere and prior to Christmas was finally pinned down to a river near a place called Roach Bridge and the local farmer was allowing access to the field overlooking the river for a suitable fee. Tony Hukin told me he had gone on the 22nd, and viewing was good if you had the right gap in the trees. We planned to go up on the Monday, but there was only one brief sighting on Boxing Day so we held back. Typically it was then seen all day, so we went on Tuesday.

We arrived at the designated parking spot just before 8am to find it full up and had to use a pull in a bit further up the road. It was raining, the light was abysmal but at least it was warm. We had been warned that it was like the Somme, and the access footpath resembled a rocky muddy stream, and the climb up was a bit iffy, but the field was a lot worse. A naturally wet boggy grazing meadow, hundreds of visitors had really churned it up into a more than ankle deep quagmire, and the viewing area was a muddy slope overlooking the river, and more than one person fell while I was there.

It was a bit challenging with the light and while the odd duck was seen and recognised it took some time before someone reported the Kingfisher. I was in the wrong place, and directions hazy but was told it was obscured by a rather distinctive branch just above the water, and I could see a moving shape. Suddenly it flew across the river splashed down near a twiggy bush and returned, repeating this a couple of times. Not much more than a silhouette, the rain. spattered eyepiece and glasses not helping, but at least it was just about recognisable.

That was it for a bit. I though I had it a bit higher up in the tree for a while, and so I moved to get try and get a better angle and met up with Ian Bennell and his crew. One of the nearby birders had it in his scope so we all grabbed a quick view-it was further back than expected, being in a different tree, but the light wasn't bad. It was facing us, the white belly was divided by a distinct chest band and the slate blue upper-parts contrasted nicely. At least we could now say we had really seen it. I couldn't locate it for sure in my bins largely because I was never sure I was looking in the right place. Colin did see it fly further away along the river and then departed in order to dry off. I hung around for a while and it was then seen briefly a long way off by the river bend, and then disappeared around the bend. After I left, Ian did get a very distant digiscoped shot when it was perched near a pool around the bend.

The Kingfisher was my 5th lifer of the year-with the Mockingbird, Albatross, Green Warbler and Long Toed Stint it has been a really good one for new birds.

Some Recent Sightings

2021-11-30T17:15:00.002+00:00

As so often happens these days, I'm playing catch up, with a summary of the last five or six weeks.

My last post was entitled holiday part 1, with the expectation of a follow up. For some reason, in the last few years, my autumn break kicks off with something really good, followed by nothing much and this year was the same. Obviously there were still issues with fuel supplies at the time and there wasn't a great deal turning up to justify travelling. In fact the general consensus seems to be that it was a pretty poor year for the east coast, with migrants in short supply. The now normally abundant Yellow Browed Warblers were very scarce for example.

Following the Long Toed Stint twitch, I had a car service booked, so it was a couple of days before I was able to get out. The 13th proved to be the highlight of the week. Indications were good on the Continent with masses of Thrushes building up on Monday and Tuesday and they duly arrived. Breakfast tweets were full of reports of large numbers of Redwings from first light, so I headed over to the Beane valley. Unlike Amwell for example, where thrush movements have been spectacular as they are funnelled along the Ash valley and then over the pits, there is nothing here to concentrate movements so arrivals are over a broad front.

I saw the first few birds east of Chells Manor, and over the mile south along the river I was encountering small parties regularly, with several flocks of 40-50 flying straight through. In total I counted around 245 over 40 minutes, which is likely to be a small percentage of the numbers locally-some south England migration spots were reporting tens of thousands. Unusually there weren't any Fieldfare at all (and I had to wait until early November before I found any), but there seemed to be rather more Blackbirds and Robins. No Mistle Thrush either, though I did encounter two later that week (they used to be seen regularly around Aston End but are now very scarce). Elsewhere, one of the sheep fields had a huge flock of Pied Wagtails with around 50 birds present for a couple of weeks.

There was a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks, with poor weather and one of the flu-like things keeping me out of action.

The 13th November was one of those days, but a bit of a stunner. I was getting ready for the Saturday shopping trip when I heard a high pitched call. Looking around I saw a few Starlings go over and carried on then the call came again from a neighbour's garden and several Ring Necked Parakeets landed in my Rowan, then more arrived until there were twelve. It was a rather surreal sight as it isn't a big tree and apart from the occasional crow, the biggest birds are normally Blackbirds. The Parakeets are still around, I hear them most days that I am at home and I've seen them here, and also Chells Manor and Camps Hill School, though never more than 6-7. Based on Alan Ford's publication this is the biggest flock in Stevenage, and though they have been seen infrequently over the last few years, I get the feeling that they are now here to stay.

Fairlands Valley has been pretty much business as usual over the autumn. Three Egyptian Geese turned up for a few weeks, the Kingfisher may be back for the winter but has only been reported once or twice, and there is a nice sized flock of Siskins at the moment. The Redwing influx meant that for a week or so around 50 birds remained around the old farm house, with several Brambling that I never saw. Later in November, I started to see our regular Caspian/Herring Gull X307, and highlights were seeing the Tawny Owl in the nest box on the 20th, and a female Mandarin and two Goldeneye on the 20th. The Fairlands year list is getting close to 100, which I understand is unusual if not unprecedented and we are all hoping that a few good birds turn up in December.

October Holiday pt 1. Long Toed Stint

2021-10-13T17:34:00.000+01:00

It's October again, and as usual I have some time off. With the recent fuel 'shortage' and Colin working most of the time, long distance traveling is not on the agenda unless something good justifies it.

That was the case on Sunday. I was expecting to travel to the east coast, as, although a bit quiet for the time of year there was enough interesting stuff to make it worthwhile. However, what had been a Least Sandpiper at RSPB St Aiden (and prior to that a Temminck's Stint) was finally identified as a Long Toed Stint. Apart from one in Cornwall in 1970 which was only seen by it's photographer, the only other record was way back in 1982 in Cleveland, and with the state of birding communications then, only a small number of birders saw it. So a tick for virtually everyone.

Over 2000 birders had turned up on Saturday, so we made plans to leave early and headed up the A1 to Yorkshire (yet again) and got there at 0830. It was a bit cool, but clear and after a bit of a fast walk arrived at the reed-bed complex where the Stint was roosting on a spit among Lapwings and Black Headed Gulls. It was a fair way away but views were pretty good as was the lighting. Also on the pool were a few Ruff, Black Tailed Godwits and one or two Dunlin. We could see that a small crowd on the reed-bed causeway was pretty close and some birders headed off to join them. Unfortunately the birds were spooked and the Stint flew off west. Rather surprised to be able to follow it in the bins until it dropped down on to the far lake.

Unlike most who headed straight there Colin and I took a slightly longer route around the West reed-bed in the hope of picking up one of the Black Necked Grebes. One was present but we couldn't find it. There were a lot of calling Cetti's Warblers, and we encountered a small flock of Bearded Tits, as well as the typical selection of wildfowl, Lapwing and Snipe. We eventually reached the crowd and could see the Stint on a small island with some Lapwing but viewing was restricted. I was able to kneel at the front, but this meant that I only had a small window through the reeds. I was able to get the camera connected to the scope and over the course of about 30 minutes managed to obtain a large number of blurred and poorly focussed images. However a few were passable.

After the long period kneeling I had a lot of trouble getting the legs going but fortunately I only had to walk a few yards to where a rather showy Bittern was feeding. Unfortunately the car park was still about a mile away so it took a while, and it was a relief to reach the car and the coffee.

Green Warbler and White Tailed Lapwing

2021-09-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

A Green Warbler was trapped and ringed at Buckton just north west of RSPB Bempton on Thursday. There have been seven previous records, the first on the Scillies in 1983, and then a long wait until 2014 when the next was found in Shetland. It is now more or less annual but there has only been one brief mainland bird so this one was bound to attract a crowd, particularly as it was still present the following morning. Apparently it was mayhem as the warbler rarely showed for more than a few seconds and hid for long periods, and a lot of birders left unsatisfied or supposedly ticking a Willow Warbler by mistake.

Rather surprisingly considering the weather conditions it remained into the weekend, so Colin and I decided to go on Sunday morning, as there were a few other decent things around and the Albatross was still visiting Bempton cliffs.

We arrived just before 9.30am and headed along the cliff path to the trapping area where a large crowd was present. Tony Hukin and Mike Illett had staked out the ringing ride where they had been getting close but brief views, and suggested that it showed more frequently on the southern side. I found a spot where I could view into the bushes but the couple beside me suggested that the willows were problematic so I moved further right and higher up. Here I was able to look down into a small crab apple by the (hidden) pond and it didn't take long for the Green Warbler to pop up and it sat in the apple for many minutes preening. Views were incredibly good in the scope and while it spent most of the time facing us a couple of times it sat side on showing the faint wing bar. It eventually flew back into the bushes and there was a bit of a wait before it reappeared in one of the willows, this time well out in the open, but too distant and mobile to attempt photography. Colin was a bit further down and closer and seemed rather happy with the views so we decided to head back to the car.

I had to stop on the way to snap some of the Gannets.

Unfortunately the Albatross had departed early morning and didn't return until the afternoon so we missed our back up bird.

We called in at RSPB Blacktoft Sands in the afternoon to see the long staying White Tailed Lapwing. There have been six previous records and we made the long drive to Caerlaverock in 2007 for the third (and first twitchable) one. That one showed quite well but remained distant and my photos left a lot to be desired.

The Blacktoft one was a bit more obliging and was the closest bird from the aptly named First Hide. There was a decent supporting cast ofmany Ruff, Black Tailed Godwits, Snipe, three Marsh Harriers and lots of juvenile Bearded Tits. It has been a long time since we had visited the reserve so it was nice to get reacquainted with it.

RSPB Framton on Sunday.

2021-08-26T17:01:00.004+01:00

Following a bit of a break, Colin and I were back on the road on Sunday with Frampton Marsh the destination. It's always a good place, and at this time of year the build up of waders can be very impressive, with a good chance of something unusual. This time it was an adult Pacific Golden Plover, something we last saw on a fen one winter in the mid 90's hidden among a vast flock of Golden Plovers, and there was also a good chance of the Black Stork appearing, another bird not seen this century.

When we got there, it was a bit cool, breezy with light rain., something I hadn't really prepared for. I spent a while scanning the fields from the car park, but the stork was absent, and in fact wasn't seen anywhere that day. I did however find Barry Reed and Mike Illett who were on a similar mission to us.

The pools by the visitors centre held a wide variety of waders, though not in the numbers normally expected-Mike mentioned that it was a lot better a few weeks previously. We did find several Common Sandpipers, loads of Ruff, Avocet and Black tailed Godwits, plus a few Redshank, Knot and Dunlin. We carried on down to the road to the sea wall with a flyover Spotted Redshank the only bird of note (and surprisingly the only one seen that day). We got to the top, noticed a lot of scopes and cameras pointed at a muddy pool, and after a long and difficult search realised the Pacific Golden was sheltering from the wind behind a muddy ridge and only its head was visible. Fortunately it did eventually move around a bit and showed quite well, though a bit distant for the camera.

While we were there we were told that one or two Short Eared Owls were present on the salt marsh, and eventually four were seen, always very distant. They seem to be resident, possibly breeding but in the past we have not managed to see them. Also present was a rather nice female Merlin and a few flyover Yellow Wagtails.

We carried on along the bank, picking up a few Curlew and Whimbrel, a couple of Little Stints among the Dunlin and a Garganey, with a few more Yellow wagtails and two Wheatear. We ended up int eh east hide for a bit with the big flock of Spoonbills occupying the island opposite, a variety of duck and a rather nice adult Hobby.

Our casual stroll around the reserve ended with the news of a Dotterel among some Golden Plovers at the end of the road so lunch was delayed while we headed off back down the road again. Fortunately it stuck round long enough for most to see it but stayed less than an hour. While there news of an adult and juvenile Black Tern somewhere on the reserve came up-they could be seen by the visitor centre but remained distant and very mobile. Two rather good unexpected bonuses.

After lunch we headed back home with a couple of diversions. The first was Deeping Lakes where we spent half an hour in the rain by the eastern pit. Three Ruddy Shelduck were present, associating with Egyptian Geese. There has been a bit of an influx this year, presumably from the feral flocks that build up in the summer in Germany, and it seems likely that they may eventually be admitted to the British list. There haven't been any truly wild ones for well over a century, and being colourful and popular most are believed to be escapes, though it is assumed that the four we saw in the early 90's (part of a small influx) were migrants from the feral population.

We also stopped off at Graffham Water and had a short spell on the dam. There should have been a Black Necked Grebe but it had presumably moved to another section and we had to be content with a large flock of Pied and Yellow Wagtails feeding on the waters edge, a Common Sandpiper, and a few Chiffchaffs and tits feeding in the trees behind us, and at least two Willow warblers-one of which sang occasionally. Would have been nice if there had been more warbler species, or maybe a flycatcher-there were certainly plenty of flying insects for them.

Butterflies

2021-08-11T17:33:00.001+01:00

It's been a poor year for butterflies for me, though others seem to think it hasn't been too bad. Maybe because the decent warm sunny days in recent months have tended to occur while I am working has been a factor. Pottering in the garden after work has certainly boosted the numbers and variety seen.

I think the early warm spell in spring was a bit of a false promise. I was seeing good numbers of Orange Tips, Brimstones, Peacock and Tortoiseshells and a few Holly Blues back then, and of course Aprils freeze and Mays rain knocked everything back considerably. I really had to wait for June to get going before insects started to appear again, and it was mainly the white butterflies that I was encountering early on (unfortunately growing unprotected kale plants among my salad crops was not a good idea). Eventually by mid summer some Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Large Skippers started to arrive, along with large numbers of Peacocks and Red Admirals. A couple of walks around Aston End suggested that the summer grassland species were doing well, particularly Marbled Whites. What I wasn't seeing were any blues, Commas and Tortoiseshells. Even the few trips out and about failed to produce any.

I had one local butterfly trip in early July. I had planned to visit Hertford Heath and search for dragonflies, but decided at the last minute to go to Danemead instead. The meadow was productive as expected with lots of browns, skippers and a few Silver Washed Fritillaries. Rather than leave and drive to Broxbourne Woods west car park I decided to remain in the Danemead area and explored a number of paths and forestry tracks eventually ending up on the path where the Parrot Crossbills were a few winters ago. On the way back a german couple, also butterflying stopped and retraced their steps. I thought they had found a White Admiral which had hoped to find, but it was something better-a Purple Emperor. This is the first i'd seen in any part of Broxbourne Woods for several years and was fantastic to see. It was rather approachable as they often are and some of my full frame photos were taken on the phone, but this one was with the Olympus 60mm macro.

As July merged into August, Gatekeepers arrived in force, and some Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns were still around in Aston End. After a long wait, one or two Commas finally appeared-the first was in the garden and my one and only Common Blue of the year turned up on my honeysuckle. Red Admirals and Peacocks remain frequent and a couple of Painted Ladies have also been seen. Still no late season Tortoiseshells locally-I'm wondering if the dreadful spring wiped out the eggs and caterpillars, but then again the others species managed to survive.