Sunday 20 April 2014

Croxley Common Moor and Withey Beds LNR

Croxley Common Moor; Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff.

Withey Beds; Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, Stock Dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, Little Egret, Coal Tit.

Whitethroat and Grey Wagtail pics on Croxley Common Moor.

Croxley Common Moor and Stockers Lake

Sat 19th April 2014

I met Tony H and Geof L on the Moor. The best birds noted here were; Whitethroat (5), Lesser Whitethroat (3), Bullfinch (4, 2 pairs), Ciffchaff, Willow, Warbler, Blackcap, Common Tern (2).

Stockers Farm; Little ringed-Plover, Swallow, House Martin, Egyptian Goose (7, 2 adults and 5 young).

Stockers Lake; Sand Martin, Oystercatcher (2), Kingfisher, Little Egret, Sedge Warbler, Common Tern (3), Red Kite (2).

Pics below Sedge Warbler at Stockers Lake and Little ringed-Plover at Stockers Farm.







Sat 19th April 2014.

Good Friday April 18th 2014.
A days birding with Paul. Brendan and Dave. We left the Watford area around 05:00 and headed for North Norfolk. Unusually for us we didn't have a target bird. So we decided to see if we could encounter over 100 species for the day.

On route to our first stop which was Chosely we added; Magpie, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Sparrowhawk, Wood Pigeon, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Pheasant, Collared Dove, Starling, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Red-legged Partridge, Great Tit, Stock Dove, Mallard, Robin, Mute Swan, Skylark, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Shelduck, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Jay, Wren, Black-headed Gull, Swallow.

At Choseley; Grey Partridge, Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Oystercatcher, Dunnock.

Then on to Titchwell where the following were added to our day list; Willow Warbler, Lapwing, Coot, Little Grebe, Gadwall, Cetti's warbler, Greylag Goose, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Avocet, Redshank, Grey Plover, Reed Bunting, Black-tailed Godwit, Yellow Wagtail, Snipe, Shoveler, Brent Goose, Great black-backed Gull, Teal, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Ruff, Pintail, Little ringed-Plover, Little Egret, Kestrel, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Great crested-Grebe, Turnstone, Sandwich Tern, Spotted Redshank, Bearded Tit, Red crested-Pochard, Curlew.

Burnham Over was next up. Added to our list here were; White Wagtail, Whimbrel, Mistle Thrush, Sedge Warbler, Spoonbill, Egyptian Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Red Kite, Canada Goose.

Our final stop of the day was Lynford Arboretum; Greenfinch, Buzzard, Siskin, Crossbill, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great spotted-Woodpecker, Brambling, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Firecrest.

Total 101.

A couple of Paul's pics below; Spoonbill at Burnham Overy and a Common Crossbill doing it's best to be a Two-barred at Lynford Arboretum.

 

Sunday 13 April 2014

Tyttenhanger

An early afternoon visit to Tyttenhanger; Little-ringed Plover, Swallow, Little Egret, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Buzzard, Tree Sparrow.

Dungeness

Sat 12th April 2014.
A trip to Dungeness with Paul, Brendan and Dave.
At the patch; Red-throated Diver, Gannet, Kittiwake, Common Gull. Sandwich Tern.
Over the power station a Peregrine put on a nice show as it terrorised the feral pigeon population, the plastic owls looked quite worried too.
At the entrance to the reserve; Cetti's Warbler and Tree Sparrow.
On the reserve; Marsh Harrier, Swallow, Cetti's Warbler, Sedge Warbler performing display flight, Barnacle Goose (feral), Whimbrel, Long-tailed Duck.

Middle Farm Kings Langley

Friday 11th April 2014.
Acting on a hot tip from Samuel P, Brendan and myself made an early morning visit to Middle Farm, Kings Langley. Here we soon connected with 3 White Wagtail, c20 Meadow Pipit, a few Skylark, c6 Swallow and a similar number of Pied Wagtail. We were also joined by Samuel P who was working his patch hard as always. Thanks for the info Samuel.

Sunday 6 April 2014

Red-necked Grebe Farmoor

An afternoon visit to Farmoor with birding pal Paul F. The light was poor and it was really windy but at least the rain held off until our journey home. The Red-necked Grebe showed well on the south side near the bus stop.






Lesser is more

Sat 5th April 2014.
A days birding with Paul, Brendan and Dave. Herts, Cambs and the Brecks our destinations.
First stop was Bishop's Stortford; A female Bullfinch in the car park was a nice start and then after a bit of messing about we soon found our target bird a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We enjoyed great views as it drummed and called frequently, no doubt trying to attract a mate. Let's hope the little fella is successful in his quest. We spent some time watching the Lesser Pecker but we were keen to get in as much birding as possible so we headed back to the car park. At the car park we were more than pleasantly surprised to find the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming on a tall tree stump. A good start to our day.

Fen Dreyton was our next destination and Baikal Teal our target here. On route negative news of the Teal did not fill us with confidence. We arrived and parked up, a singing Willow Warbler was my first of the year. Then off to Moore Lake, running the gauntlet of an express "busway" and silent but deadly cyclists. Before we arrived at Moore Lake we did manage to see a Cetti's Warbler. Lots of birders were leaving or had left and we didn't hang around too long. On our walk of shame some lady joggers stopped for a brief chat, which was nice!

The village of Pymore was our next stop. Here we were hoping to see another plastic duck, this time an American Wigeon. Same result as Fen Dreyton no sign of rubber ducky.

Then off to the nearby Four Balls Farm and this time success with our target duck. A Ring-necked Duck showed distantly among some Tufties.

Lynford Arboretum was our next port of call but no luck with Two-barred Crossbills, however, we did manage good views of a pair of Firecrest near the car park entrance.

The Brecks next where 2 Stone Curlew showed well. It was getting late in the day now and we were thinking of where to go for a final stop. Off went the pager and news of the Baikal Teal at Sutton Gault made our minds up for us. We arrived at Sutton Gault and swiftly made our way to where a small group of birders had assembled. However, the Baikal Teal could not be seen. Then all of a sudden there it was in amongst a group of Wigeon. Well done team! Most of the other birders could not get on the Teal so friendly chaps that we are we managed to get everyone onto it. Also here a nice drake Garganey. As usual we did keep a day list which you can see below. After the list Lesser Spotted Woodpecker pics at Bishop's Stortford.

Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Blackcap, Carrion Crow, Green Woodpecker, Mallard, Wood Pigeon, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Coot, Moorhen, House Sparrow, Wren, Starling, Grey Heron, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jay, Rook, Buzzard, Jackdaw, Skylark, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Black-headed Gul, Mute Swan, Cetti's Warbler, Goldeneye, Willow Wabler, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Grebe, Greylag Goose, Sand Martin, Redshank, Lapwing, Teal, Wigeon, Common Gull, Reed Bunting, Shoveler, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Stock Dove, Whooper Swan, Pochard, Shelduck, Pintail, Little Egret, Gadwall, Linnet, Marsh Harrier, Fieldfare, Ring-necked Duck, Herring Gull, Crossbill, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Treecreeper, Firecrest, Siskin, Greenfinch, Swallow, Stone Curlew, Yellowhammer, Stonechat, Red-legged Partridge, Egyptian Goose, Baikal Teal, Garganey, Red Kite. 84 species.