Angelsey

Paul's pics from our recent trip to Angelsey.

Arctic Tern at Cemlyn Bay

Black Guillemot at Holyhead Harbour

Chough at South Stack

Curlew Sandpiper at Cemlyn Bay

Pied Flycatcher at Aber Falls

Puffin at South Stack

Red-breasted Mergansers at Cemlyn Bay

Sandwich Tern at Cemlyn Bay

Sandwich Tern colony at Cemlyn Bay 

Frog Warbler at Woodmore

An early morning visit to Frogmore Lakes with Brendan; Great views of a very showy male Wood Warbler.

Day Trip to Bangor

A visit to Angelsey with Brendan, Dave, Paul and new team member Carol.

Aber Falls; Dipper, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Garden Warbler, Blackcap.

Holyhead Harbour; Black Guillemot (3).

South Stack; Puffin (5), Chough (2), Razorbill. Guillemot, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Gannet, Wheatear, Rock Pipit, Stonechat.

Cemlyn Bay; Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Red-breasted Merganser, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Knot, Ringed Plover, Dunlin.

More Updates

I dropped my wife off at work this morning (Kingsley Green) and was pleasantly surprised to see a Bullfinch. When I arrived back home I saw a Nuthatch on my feeders, a Songthrush in the birdbath and a flyover Green Woodpecker.

Paul captured the image's below on our recent visit to Lakenheath and the Brecks. Golden Oriole, Tree Pipit.

Paul paid a visit to Otmoor during the week where he encountered a White-fronted Goose and a Short-eared Owl. Pics below.

Brief Updates

Monday 14th May 2012.
Keyhaven and Pennington; Little Tern, Common Tern, House Martin, Sand Martin, Swift, Swallow, Buzzard, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Little Egret, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Little Grebe.

Beaulieu Road Station; Stonechat, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Curlew.

Acre's Down; Redstart, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Crossbill (6).

Wednesday 16th May 2012;
Eggplant Lane near J20 M25; Yellowhammer, Linnet, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Buzzard, Red Kite, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch (in and out of nesthole).
Watford Town Centre; Grey Wagtail near the pond.

Take Two

A return to the Brecks this morning with Paul.

Lakenheath; Golden Oriole (2 singing males)

Santon Downham; Tree Pipit (3)

Brecks, Norfolk, Brecks

A trip to Norfolk and the Brecks with Brendan.

Lakenheath; Having spent many hours at Lakenheath last year hearing but not seeing Golden Oriole I visited today more in hope than expectation. After 5 minutes on site we located a male Golden Oriole offering good views in the second poplar wood. Then almost immediately we connected with a second male in flight being mobbed by a cuckoo. The second bird flew from the third poplar wood. Also noted at Lakenheath; Cuckoo (6), Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Cetti's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Bittern (booming), Whooper Swan, Great-spotted Woodpecker.

The Brecks; Stone-curlew.

Cley; Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Gannet, Spoonbill, Little Egret, Whimbrel, Temminck's Stint (2), Dunlin, Redshank, Knot, Ringed Plover, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Bearded Tit, Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail.

Santon Downham; Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Tree Pipit (3), Willow Warbler, Blackcap.

Otmoor

A morning trip to Otmoor with Paul. Started out quite bright but soon clouded over then rain.
Noteworthy birds; Wood Sandpiper, Cuckoo, Common Tern, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Red Kite, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat (singing), Grasshopper Warbler (reeling), Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Wheatear, Curlew.
Paul's pics below; Whitethroat, Brown Hare, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting.

Stalked by Storks

A days birding with Paul. Unusually for us we did not have a “target bird” for the day. We headed off to Portland Bill arriving about 08:30. Nothing much doing on the sea so we decided to walk the general area. We bumped into some local birders in the top fields and in conversation they mentioned that the White Storks had been reported near Weymouth, we told them that we had seen them last Sunday in Oxfordshire. At that very moment one of the birders was alerted by some gulls making quite a commotion. He then said “there they are, the Storks are here!” The Storks flew up the centre of the island before turning round and heading back towards Weymouth. Not too many people have seen these Storks in 2 counties I think?

Noteworthy birds at “the Bill”; Whimbrel, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet, Fulmar, Shag, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear (in excess of 100 birds in the area), Skylark, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Whinchat, Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff,  Spotted Flycatcher, Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Little Owl.

A brief but productive stop at Southwell; Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Tern (7).

On the way home we stopped off at Acre’s Down in the New Forest, quieter than usual but we did note the following; Firecrest, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Coal Tit, Nuthatch (pair attending nesthole), Sparrowhawk, Cuckoo (calling), Stonechat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Bullfinch (calling), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (drumming), Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Paul’s pics below; Linnet, Fulmar, Peregrine, Wheatear, White Stork, 5 White Storks, Hobby, Little Owl, Ringed Plover, Sanderling/Dunlin, Spotted Flycatcher, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit. As always click on pics to enlarge.

Croxley Common Moor

A morning visit to Croxley Common Moor with Tony and Geoff; Common Tern, Swallow, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Whinchat, Wheatear, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker.

Another visit after work with Paul produced 5 Wheatear.

30 mins on the moor

A good return for the 30 minutes I spent on Croxley Common Moor this afternoon; Whinchat, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Green Woodpecker.

White Stork then Black Tern

Back to Oxfordshire with Paul this morning; White Stork (4) at Standlake Common near Newbridge.

Then this evening a trip to Staines Reservoir's again with Paul; Black Tern, Little Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Black-necked Grebe, Shag, Common Tern, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin.
Paul's pics below; White Stork's at Standlake and Swift at Staines.

Boomerang Birding

A trip to Balscote Quarry Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire or to be more accurate the field adjacent to the reserve. Paul, Brendan and myself made the trip this morning. On arrival we were told that the recently reported Dotterel had not been seen for over an hour when it had flown off with Golden Plover. The plover's had returned but the Dotterel had not. We stood in the pouring rain for about an hour and a half but the Dotterel did not show. There were plenty of decent birds which I will come to later in this post. We decided to head for home and when we were just outside Beaconsfield on the M40 news broke that the Dotterel had returned. A vote was taken and we decided to about turn and go back to have another go for the Dotterel. One hour later we were able to enjoy great scope views of the Dotterel associating with the Golden Plovers. The field containing the Plovers and Dotterel was an amazing field as it also held many other decent birds.
A full list of all the birds seen in or over the field; Dotterel, Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Lapwing, Little-ringed Plover, Whinchat, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Yellowhammer, Dunnock, Robin, Reed Bunting, Redstart, Chaffinch, Tree Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Canada Goose, Swallow, Swift, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Willow Warbler .
Paul's heavily cropped (by me!) pics below. Whimbrel, Whinchat.

Evans Halshaw

I took my car in to Evans Halshaw in Hemel this morning. Although it's quite a distance and despite looking like it was going to rain I decided to walk home via the Grand Union canal towpath. Not a great deal to trouble my notebook but the following were encountered; Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Blackcap, Grey Wagtail, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Common Tern, Swift (my first of the year).

Woodoaks

Woodoaks before work; Little Owl, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Skylark.

Going Local

Sunday 22nd April.
The fields near my house before I got the hook because visitors had arrived, produced; Yellowhammer and Linnet.
House Martin (2) exploring for possible nest sites in the flats near my house.
Blackcap (pair) worked their way along the hedge in my back garden. Blue Tits and Great tits in the nestboxes.

Titchwell, Cley and the Brecks.

Saturday 21st April 2012. Norfolk then the Brecks with Paul and Dave.

Titchwell; Siskin, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Cetti's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Swallow, House Martin, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Ruff, Redshank, Spotted Redshank (4, including 2 in summer plumage), Little Egret, Brent Goose, Curlew, Whimbrel (3 over, Dave only), Marsh Harrier (5, displaying), Bearded Tit, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Velvet Scoter (3). Also Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer.

Cley, Wheatear (c12), Spoonbill (2), Curlew, Avocet, Swallow, Sand Martin, Marsh Harrier. Must be more mind gone blank!

Cley; "the Hangs" near Scrib Hill (i think!); Ring Ouzel, Redstart.

RSPB Lakenheath; Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Blue-winged Teal/Shoveler Hybrid (escape), Whooper Swan, Garganey (pair), Cetti's Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit (c10), Bittern, Common Crane (Dave only).

The Brecks; Stone Curlew (3, 1 with white ring on left leg).

Pauls's pic below. Cetti's Warbler at Titchwell, Grey Plover on the beach at Titchwell, next 4 images Spotted Redshanks at Titchwell, Chinese Water Deer at Titchwell, Muntjac at Titchwell, Avocet at Thornham, Wheatear at Cley, drake Garganey at Lakenheath, Bearded Tit at Lakenheath, Marsh Harrier at Lakenheath, Black-tailed Godwit.

Wagtails at Farmoor.

Paul's wagtail pics on the causeway at Farmoor. Pied, Yellow, White.