sh4rpy's birding blog

Monday, 24 June 2013

Paul's Wilson's

Paul and Dave went over to the Isle of Wight yesterday to see the Wilson's Phalarope.
Paul's pic below.

Wilson's Phalarope-Yarmouth IOW-Paul Frost

Sunday, 23 June 2013

Saturday 22nd June 2013.
A trip to Wells, West Quay in Norfolk with Paul, Brendan, Dave, Ephraim, Samuel, Tony D and later Jim.
We met up at 06:00 at the Harvester and all 7 of us including Brendan crammed into my miniMetro. A brief discussion as to how to load the vehicle resulted in 3 in the front and 4 in the back. It rained nearly all the way but luckily had stopped by the time we arrived at Wells where we met Jim. Jim had already seen a nice looking bird and her name was Penny. We joined the other birders assembled a sensible distance from the feeders under the Rosy Starlings favoured tree. We didn't have to wait too long before the Rose-coloured Starling dropped down onto the feeders. It showed well for a few minutes before hopping back up into the tree and out of view. Then again a few minutes later a repeat performance and this time it took a drink from the bird bath. Whilst at the Key we also saw a Spoonbill on the saltmarsh and a Little Tern fishing.
Next stop was a site in Norfolk where we had recently seen a male Montagu's Harrier. But now we had Jim with us, so how were we to load the miniMetro? Yes you guessed it 4 in the front and 4 in the back. We didn't have to wait too long before we connected with a male Montagu's Harrier. It showed well for about 45 minutes quartering the fields. A female also made a very brief appearance. Just before we left we enjoyed a bit of action as the male gave chase to a Skylark, unfortunately we couldn't see the outcome as both birds disappeared behind a hedgerow. Also here a Red Kite.
Next stop was Swanton Novers " Raptor Watchpoint". We spent some time here but as expected no Honey Buzzards.
Titchwell was our final destination and the best birds seen here were; Spotted Redshank, several hundred Knot including some in summer plumage, Bar-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Little Gull, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern. Also a cute looking Chinese Water Deer showed briefly.
Nice to meet Tony D, who I always wanted to be as good as at football but now at birding/photography, however, I have no points on my licence so maybe I'm a better driver?
Tony, Ephraim and Samuel took some pics and no doubt they will be on their respective blogs.
Tony's Blog http://regentsparkbirds.blogspot.co.uk/
Samuel's Blog http://samuelbirding.blogspot.co.uk/
Ephraim's Blog http://mybirdblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Paul's pics below.

Rose-coloured Starling-Paul Frost

Male Montagu's Harrier-Paul Frost

Knot-Paul Frost

Chinese Water Deer -Paul Frost

Monday, 17 June 2013

Paul's Pacific Success

My birding pal Paul Frost connected with the Pacific Swift at Trimley yesterday. I couldn't go yesterday due to fathers day commitments. Regretting not going on Saturday now!

Pacific Swift-Trimley Marshes-Paul Frost

Sunday, 16 June 2013

proposed day trip to Calais

We have been talking recently about doing a birding day trip to Calais and surrounding area. I recently read a post on a blog that I thought I followed that had some really good sights and info, however, after looking through all the blogs I follow I can't find it. So fellow bloggers if you have any info you think might useful for a birding day trip to Calais it would be very much appreciated. Either post a comment or my email sh4rpy [at] Hotmail dot com. Many thanks.

Birds 2 Hapless Twitchers 0

Saturday 15/06/2013.
American Golden Plover in East Sussex and Black Kite in Kent were the target birds for myself, Paul and Ephraim. First stop was Cuckmere Haven, where the Amercan Golden Plover appeared to have done a Friday night flit. So not too much time was spent here and we headed off to Selling in Kent. A couple of miles from the site the news services reported the Black Kite and also a Honey Buzzard. So things were looking good. Also a Pacific Swift was reported in Suffolk so we discussed the possibility of going for this if we connected fairly quickly with the Black Kite. Well we spent 5 hours on site and no sign of the Kite. A pair of Hobbies did do their best to entertain us. We probably still had time to get to Suffolk but the news services reported the road where we were going to park being closed and police on scene issuing tickets, so we headed for home.

Sunday, 2 June 2013

Fort it was then Fort it wasn't

An afternoons birding in Hampshire with Paul and Ephraim. A late start due to Asda's, Costco and then wifey to work. At our pre trip team meeting we all rather half-heartedly decided to head for Fort Brockhurst to see the "is it" or "isn't it" Marsh Warbler. As soon as we got on the m25 the traffic was really heavy. We were discussing the Marsh/Reed Wabler and looking at the reports on various news services. We fairly quickly decided to abort our mission and instead head to Acre's Down. We couldn't stay as long as we wanted as I had to be back to collect the boss. However, we did manage some decent birds. 2 probably 3 Firecrest, 2 Wood Warbler, 2 Redstart (male and female), Buzzard, Marsh Tit and Grey Wagtail. Ephraim's account here http://mybirdblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-new-forest.html

Firecrest-Acres Down-Paul Frost

Wood Warbler-Acres Down-Paul Frost

Redstart-Acres Down

Monday, 27 May 2013

Savi's

Paul's Savi's Warbler pics at Lakenheath.

Savi's Warbler-Lakenheath-(Paul Frost)

Sunday, 26 May 2013

Sunscreen

A summary of todays outing with birding pal Paul Frost.

First thing this morning we visited Broxhead Common where a European Roller showed well if a little distant.

Then over to Rye Harbour. No Terek's Sandpiper but; 3 Temminck's Stint, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Avocet, Ringed Plover, Mediterranean Gull.

Dungeness; Black Redstart, Hobby, Marsh Harrier, Tree Sparrow. Also near the moat at the Observatory a dead Hobby (insert sad face here).

Finally, early evening at Pewley Down, Guildford; Red-backed Shrike (female).

I think I might have sunstroke! Who applies sunscreen in this country on a late May Bank Holiday week-end? I thought my thick skull would be able to cope, but I was wrong.
Paul's pics from Rye Harbour then my female Red-backed Shrike pics below.

Temminck's Stints-Rye Harbour-Paul Frost

Common Tern-Rye Harbour-Paul Frost

Avocet-Rye Harbour-Paul Frost

Red-backed Shrike (female)-Pewley Down

Oi-Oi Savi's Joy

A shortened version of my intended post as my craptop had the dreaded blue screen of death last night.
Saturday 25th of May 2013. An afternoon visit to Lakenheath with Paul. The Red-footed Falcon showed well on several occasions but the Golden Orioles did not. No sight nor sound of them.
We did see Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Bittern and Hobby, but the best was left to last as we had great scope views of a singing Savi's Warbler.

Hobby-Lakenheath

Red-footed Falcon-Lakenheath

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Monties Pics

Paul's Monties pics from our recent trip to Reculver

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Dead Easy Dusky with no Irritation

A planned trip with Paul, Dave and Brendan. We had arranged to meet at 05:00 which is about an hour earlier than usual. Unusually for us we didn't have a pre-planned destination. So it came in very handy when Brendan switched his pager on and one of the messages from late on Friday evening was a Dusky Thrush in Margate Cemetery. So we set the sat-nav and off we went, arriving about 06:40. At first the bird proved a little elusive but soon showed well on and off as it did a circuit of the cemetery. Rather than follow the bird we waited for it to arrive in it's favoured area. I did take a couple of pics but as usual the light was quite poor. Always a good idea to get the excuses in early!
From Margate we headed over to nearby Reculver. Here we enjoyed nice scope views of female/ringtail Montagu's Harrier.
No news of the Red-backed Shrike, so we headed over to Stodmarsh. Not far from the car park we connected with Turtle Dove (4). A walk around the reserve where we did not connect with the North Hide. Near the river we heard a Nightingale but could not make visual contact.
News of the Red-backed Shrike at Reculver had us scuttling back to Chambers Wall. Unfortunately after walking several miles we did not find the Shrike. Lots of other birders also looking but no joy.
Cattle Egret at Shorne was our final target bird. After a slight detour due to the postcode supplied straddling both sides of the railway line we eventually arrived at Shorne. We marched along the track for quite some distance before we saw the rather distant Cattle Egret. Lots of familiar faces on the walk to and from the Egret.

Dusky Thrush-Margate Cemetery

Friday, 17 May 2013

Reaching for a Turtle

Stupid post titles are back!
A trip to Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. Flying solo today, I arrived at Wicken Fen and made my way to the "new bridge". I met another birder who told me the Black-winged Stilt had flown off about an hour before my arrival. I scanned the flooded area near the bridge but nothing doing. I decided to have a walk in the direction the bird had flown. After about a half a mile I joined two birders who were viewing the Black-winged Stilt. It was fairly distant and asleep. After a few minutes it woke up and started to feed. Also here was an even more distant Hobby.
From Wicken Fen I decided to head over to Lakenheath. On route I noticed two Turtle Dove's feeding on the ground outside some farm outbuildings near the village of Reach. I stopped the car and viewed the birds also taking a couple of pics. A car drove by and flushed them so I continued my journey to Lakenheath.
At Lakenheath the first thing I noticed was hundreds and hundreds of Swifts also lots of Cuckoo's calling and a couple of Bitterns booming. I made my way to the first viewing point and almost straight away the Red-footed Falcon showed really well. The only drawback being the poor light. From here I had a stroll around the reserve where I saw several Marsh Harrier and a few more Hobby. Also on the reserve; Cetti's Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin. On the walk back to the car a Cuckoo was being mobbed by a Chaffinch.