Owlet

Thurs 8th May 2014.
A brief evening visit to Stockers with Paul F. Good numbers of Swallows around the Farm House and Lock keepers Cottage's. Lots of Swifts over the causeway.  A Tawny Owlet branching.  Reed Warblers along the causeway. Hobby hunting the Swifts over the causeway. Oystercatcher at Stockers Farm near the pumping station.

Pulborough Brooks

A morning visit to RSPB Pulborough Brooks. Paul F had visited yesterday and said there were lots of Nightingales, including one very showy individual. This was indeed the case and I managed to get a few pics. Also here; Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Swift (c50), Garganey.

Full of Eastern Promise

Sat 3rd May 2014
A days birding with Paul and once again no real "target bird". We decided to head for Portland Bill and as luck would have it this turned out to be a very good choice. As is often the case we decided to keep a "day list". Out target for the day was 75 species.

Our first stop was Ferrybridge. On arrival we thought we could see a Little Tern from the car. After parking up and making our way to the visitors centre, we soon connected with a Little Tern as it fished quite close to us and then a few others were seen more distantly. Sandwich Tern, Wheatear (3), Bar-tailed Godwit (3), White Wagtail, Dunlin (6), Sand Martin were the other noteworthy birds here.

Up the road to Portland Harbour and not much doing here just, Oystercatcher, Common Tern, Great Black -backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe.

On to the Bill. Several Wheatear were seen on our walk to Pulpit Rock for a spot of seawatching. Very little moving on the sea just the usual Auks and few Gannet. A Rock Pipit displayed in front of us, a Raven dropped into the m.o.d. compound and we also had some nice views of Fulmar. Swallows were the order of the day here as a steady stream arrived in off the sea. We spent well over an hour here and then decided to walk along the cliff top towards the top fields. A pair of Stonechat were noted and several more Wheatear could also be seen also my first Swifts of the year. Phone reception is not good at Portland so I was surprised when my phone rang. This alerted Paul to the fact that he could check his rba app to see if anything good had been reported locally. Bingo! The Eastern Subalpine Warbler that was missing on Friday had been re-found. We did our best "ministry of twitchy walks" to the top fields and soon connected with the Eastern Subalpine Warbler. Funnily enough this is my second Eastern Subalpine Warbler as I saw one at Landguard on 27th April 2013. We spent some time admiring the bird as it fed in the hedgerow on the opposite side of the field, often stopping to sunbathe and have a bit of a preen. After a while it seem to hop over to the far side of the hedgerow. We waited for quite a while but it did not return. We decided to see if it could be seen seen from the lanes and also had in mind we could look for any possible migrants. This idea proved to be a good one as we found a female Redstart. Not much else along the lanes and with our car park ticket soon to expire we headed back to the car park. As we passed the field where the Eastern Subalpine Warbler had been showing it was on view again so we had another look before continuing to the car. Where did the last 4 and half hours go?

A break for a sandwich and a drink or in Pauls case Doritos and Chocolate! We had planned to walk Barleycrates Lane but kicked that idea into to touch and headed for Acre's Down in the New Forest.
First of all we did a long circuit around a track that leads away from the lower end of the car park. The best birds seen on the circuit were; Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Cuckoo , Tree Pipit (displaying), Crossbill (flock c 20), Siskin, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Redstart (pair). As we neared the end of our circuit we thought we heard a Wood Warbler singing so we speeded up a bit and sure enough we could hear Wood Warbler giving it's "spinning coin" song some welly! It wasn't long before we connected with the bird as it showed well in some Silver Birch. Nice! Just the tonic for our aching legs. Back to the car for a drink and as it was getting late, should we call it a day or head up to the top of Acre's Down to look for Woodlark? We decided to give the Woodlark a go and were rewarded when at least 3 birds showed really well. A nice end to the day.

Our "day list".
On route; Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Rook, Buzzard, Lapwing, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Starling, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Robin, Grey Heron, Black-headed Gull, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Pheasant, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Mute Swan, Coot. 22

Ferrybridge; Shelduck, Little Tern, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Sand Martin, Skylark, Wheatear, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Lesser black-backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Cormorant. 34

Portland Harbour; Goldfinch, Oystercatcher, Great-crested Grebe, Common Tern, Great black-Backed Gull. 39

Portland Bill; Kestrel, Raven, Rock Pipit, Razorbill, Guillemot, Gannet, Linnet, Shag, Fulmar, Redstart, Swift, House Martin, Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Stonechat, Whitethroat, Dunnock. 57

On route to Acre's Down; Mallard, Canada Goose. 59

Acre's Down; Collared Dove,  Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Crossbill, Siskin, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Woodlark. Total for the day 76

Paul's pics below; Little Tern, Wheatear at Ferrybridge.  Raven, Redstart, Portland. Wood Warbler, Woodlark, Acre's Down. Finally my Cuckoo pics at Acre's Down.

Norfolk and the Brecks

Weds 30th April 2014

A few highlights from my days birding in Norfolk and the Brecks.

Choseley; Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge, Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Wheatear.

Titchwell; Cetti's Warbler, Avocet, Pintail, White Wagtail, Marsh Harrier, Spotted Redshank, Little Tern, Greenshank.

Lynford Arboretum; Crossbill, Nuthatch.

Santon Downham; Tree Pipit.

Lakenheath; Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Cetti's Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler (reeling), Garganey.

The Brecks; Stone Curlew, Curlew, Wheatear.

A few pics below; Pintail at Titchwell, Black-tailed Godwit at Titchwell, Crossbill at Lynford Arboretum. Tree Pipit at Santon Downham.

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.

 

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.

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.

A birdie on the putting green

Mon 24th March 2014.
A trip to Kent with birding pal Paul F.
First stop was a golf course in Snodland. We parked on some rough ground at the back of the clubhouse. As I got out of the car I unfortunately flushed our quarry that was no more than 5 meters away. It flew into a tree near the putting green. Then soon dropped down and began feeding along the path. Visibility was not good at this point because of fog. The fog then got worse but eventually the sun broke through and we were able to manage a few pics.
Over to Sandwich Bay and after some searching along the seawall we were able to connect with the 2 Shorelark that were present. Also here 2 Wheatear.
Ramsgate Cemetery next but no luck with Hume's Yellow Browed Warbler. Quite a few noisy Ring-necked  Parakeets here. Don't they know people are trying to sleep?
Then over to Dungeness. A 1st winter Glaucous Gull was the best we could manage here. We didn't go on the reserve as we were out of time.
Some pics below. The Glaucous Gull pics are Paul's.