With the quieter summer months, I haven't done much birding of late. The one highlight was a year tick of a corn bunting whilst walking along the Ridgeway near Sparsholt Firs in Oxfordshire in July.
Friday 31st July - Sunday 2nd August (101 species - 170 for year)
With Jennifer visiting her family in Ireland, I took the opportunity to spend a few days in North Norfolk in search of some year ticks. I based myself in Blakeney at an excellent new B&B called Number 58, A reasonable price and the most amazing breakfast.
Friday
I started the day at RSPB Lakenheath. Sadly the golden orioles no longer breed there, but it's still a lovely reserve. On the walk down from the visitor centre, I saw both green and great spotted woodpecker.
The latter posed obligingly for a photo. I then had a lovely lengthy flight view of a bittern heading across the reed beds. At New Joist Fen another bittern showed well in flight and the family of common cranes were bugling close by, but sadly never came into view.
The new mere hide gave me a super close up flew of a third bittern in flight as well as this obligingly perched kingfisher.
I then moved onto the NWT reserve at Weeting Heath and had some reasonable close up views of a single stone curlew. Little else around other than a blackcap in the pines and a couple of juvenile kestrels,
En route to North Norfolk, a likely looking field yielded grey partridge and a close up singing yellowhammer.
I finished the day with an evening at another NWT reserve, Cley. This yielded a distant barn owl and a supporting cast of waders including whimbrel, greenshank, green sandpiper and my first ruff of the year. On the sea, numerous gannets were fishing just offshore.
Saturday
Saturday turned into something of a marathon with twelve hours of birdwatching. I started on the seawall at Burnham Overy Staithe, but this was disappointingly quiet bird wise - a few buzzard, curlew and egyptian geese to add to the weekend list, but little else. Cholesey Drying Barns was similarly barren - just a pheasant to the weekend list.
Titchwell RSPB was much more productive. A little stint and curlew sandpiper were in close proximity and enable comparisons with both each other and the nearby dunlins. From Parinder Hide, the eight spoonbill were visible, but I just missed seeing the wood sandpiper, which was to remain hidden during my visit. Someone claimed one of the eclipse moult ducks looked good for a garganey, but I wouldn't want to have put any money on this. On the beech were a couple of knot, whilst an obliging chinese water deer was a nice bonus on the walk back.
Time was moving on, so I headed down to Snettisham RSPB for the early evening high tide. Just as I arrived, a swirling flock of 1,000-2,000 knot flew overhead - the sound of their wingbeats startlingly loud. The tide came in quickly with a hugely impressive cast of thousands of knot, oystercatcher, godwits, sanderling, turnstone and some stunning summer plumage grey plover. It was quite a sight.
With darkness rapidly approaching, I sped the short distance down to Sandringham Forest and a well known spot for watching nightjars. A couple of London birders were already in place and we didn't need to wait long before a pair gave good close flight views. The supporting cast was a flyover woodcock and a hooting tawny owl - a great end to a super day.
Sunday
After Saturday's marathon, Sunday was always going to be a much quieter affair. After another enormous breakfast, I popped down to Cley for another visit. There was another curlew sandpiper on Pats Pool, whilst several snipe were weekend ticks. On the East Bank, the bearded tits stayed hidden, but I joined a couple of local birders to go through the tern flock, where eventually we found a single arctic tern.
It was getting seriously warm now, so my final stop was the raptor watch point at Swanton Nowers. Some honey buzzards had been seen for a few days a couple of days earlier, but sadly they had not lingered nor apparently bred locally, so I dipped on these. Compensation came in the form of a high flying red kite passing through.
All in all a successful weekend, but a few omissions I would have expected to have seen - little gull, little tern, wood sandpiper, red legged partridge, corn bunting, both song & mistle thrush, jay, spotted redhank, hobby, turtle dove, jay, bullfinch. Another time.
This weekend was spent at my parents. My bird watching on Saturday was focused on Weirwood Reservoir followed by a circuit of Old Lodge. On Sunday I visited a new Ashdown Forest site - the Old Airstrip near Chelwood Gate. I added two year ticks. However, a review of my list revealed, I'd missed counting a couple species earlier in the year, so my revised year total is now 157 species.
Weirwood Reservoir (20 species, 156 for year)
This was always going to be a short stop of half an hour or so to pick up an easy year - and so it proved. The water levels have fallen and started to reveal some mud at the back of the reservoir, where I soon picked up three green sandpipers. There were also impressive numbers of great crested grebe (easily 100+) and a number of female mandarin ducks lurked in the margins. A garden warbler sang in one of the car park trees and two treecreepers gave good views. There were several common terns and black headed gull numbers seemed to building.
Old Lodge / Old Airstrip (26 species - 157 for year)
From Weirwood, I headed up to Old Lodge for a circuit. it was a warm sunny day, and the birds were generally fairly elusive. Over the horse paddocks a large number of juvenile swallows were flying. A hovering buzzard quickened the pulse slightly, as it reminded me that it was one year ago exactly that we were graced by the short toed eagle just up the road at Gills Lap. in the valley, a whitethroat was calling and a healthy looking fox trotted up the path ahead of me. As I headed around the back of the reserve, I found a female redstart and a lone tree pipit was on the telegraph wires just before I headed up the hill back to the car park. From the top of the hill, I had two common buzzards overhead with at least another six in the distance.
With rain forecast, I decided to try a different part of the forest for a change and paid a visit to the Old Airstrip near Chelwood Gate. This was last year's Short Toed Eagle's other feeding area, It was fairly windy and rain wasn't far away, but the area looks to have good potential for birding and merits a return visit. Linnets were perhaps the commonest bird. A lone skylark sang over the heat and I soon came across a pair of stonechats. The bird of the morning, however, was a couple of flyover common crossbills calling loudly. Heading back to the car park, a song thrush sang loudly and several greenfinches were also calling - perhaps surprisingly not a bird I see that often on the forest.
Little to add recently, but I did manage a year tick earlier this week in a most unlikely location - Baker Street Station. A grey wagtail has been keeping me entertained, whilst I wait on Platform 3 by calling from nearby rooftops. I have seen them here before and wonder if they might have a nest in the vicinity.
I've been neglecting my blog lately, but a free Sunday afternoon has finally given me a chance to update it. June has been a barren month bird watching wise, only one addition to my year list with a common guillemot flying past the ferry as we neared Newhaven last weekend.
Friday 22nd - Thursday 26th May - Scotland (67 species - 152 for year)
However, the undoubted birding highlight recently was a trip to the Cairngorms in Scotland with my walking group. Although the main aim of the weekend was primarily walking, there was lots of opportunities to include some great birding, and I managed to add another twelve species to my year list.
Friday
Thursday was mainly a travelling day, but a stop at the renowned Inshriach Tea Rooms provided the first wildlife highlight. This is primarily a garden centre, but it has a great café and you sit facing out onto an impressive array of bird feeders. Coal tits and a great spotted woodpecker provided the birding highlights, but the star of the show finally made an appearance with this lovely red squirrel:
Saturday
Saturday was to be our main walking day with the plan being to start from the Cairngorm Ski Centre and see how far we got. Little did we realise, that this meant an ascent of Ben Macdhui, Scotland's second highest mountain.
As we set off from the car park, I soon picked up my first year tick with a close red grouse, that quickly flew away. Ad we climbed towards the corries and the plateau, I picked up a distant ptarmigan. However, any disappointment at the distant view was swept away with a succession of close up encounters of a bird that had previously proven difficult for me to see.
As we struck out for the summit, the going became rockier and there were several large snow fields to cross. The views from the summit were spectacular, and an added bonus were the large numbers of snow buntings flitting around the summit cairn.
As we descended, I caught sight of three low flying dotterel , a life tick for me. It got even better as we crossed the plateau and a pair flew in front of us and settled a short distance away. A great day.
Sunday
After the heights of the previous day, it was a more relaxed day today and a chance to explore the Caledonian pine forest around Loch Garten. Down by the loch, a spotted flycatcher was feeding and a redstart briefly alighted in a nearby tree. A flock of siskins noisily passed overhead, and as we pressed deeper into the woods a crested tit could be heard calling. Just before the car park, a goldcrest came down to head height to give great views.
Monday
Monday was spent in possibly one of my favourite places in the UK - the Findhorn Valley. There's always a frisson of excitement as you enter the valley and head up the dead end road. At our first stop, a common tern was fishing along the river, but a small group of visiting birdwatchers drew our attention to a lovely fishing dipper.
Towards the end of the valley we took a stroll up a hillside spotting a mountain hare and startling some feral goats.
Lunch was spent at the car park at the end of the valley where a very kindly guide from Aigas was able to point out a very distant golden eagle to us. We then headed over the spectacular Farr Road to drop into Loch Ruthen. The slavonian grebes were very distant compared to when we holidayed just up the road from here in 2013. A cuckoo could also be heard calling.
Tuesday
Our final day was a travel day, but we dropped into Loch Insh on the way back, where we were lucky to get good views of the pair of nesting osprey. This is a much better view of them, than you get at Loch Garten.
En route back to Edinburgh airport, there was still time for one final year tick with hooded crow in a field near Loch Leven.
I took Friday off work to have a long weekend at my parents in Sussex. That gave me the chance to catch up on a number of local birding sights.
Friday 8th May - Pulborough Brooks RSPB (52 species - 136 for year)
Although the car park was full, I was the first birder onto the reserve and pretty much had it to myself for the first hour.
Heading down the zigzags, I very quickly picked up a number of summer migrants - willow, chiffchaff, blackcap & whitethroat and my first garden warbler of the year. Moving onto Fattengates courtyard, I caught a brief song of my main target species (more later). Two bullfinches landed in a nearby bush,
Jupp View was quiet, After much searching, I finally found a ringed plover. There were lots of shelduck and a couple of little egrets. From Nettleys Hide, a sedge warbler was singing and an Egyptian goose was a site tick.
As I climbed the hill, I heard a lesser whitethroat sing from deep within the brambles. The Hanger produced a linnet with more warblers. Three distant buzzards were spotted.
At Little Hanger, a sudden burst of song meant, I'd found the nightingales. Two more birds were singing along Adder Alley, including one which sat nicely atop a bush.
The pool in front of Winpenny Hide had a late pair of pintail, whilst a kestrel hovered over the distant hills.
A great spotted woodpecker was on the feeders in the café area.
Saturday 9th May - Seaford Head (10 species - 138 for year)
I had intended to do a sea watch but when I got down to Seaford, it was blowing an absolute gale and before long pouring with rain. I grabbed a spot with a couple of the regulars on the benches half way up the cliff. They were soon calling out skuas, but I was struggling so much to hold my tripod still, I failed to spot any of them. I did manage to see a few gannets and a small group of common scoter flew past. The only other highlight was some sandwich terns.
Saturday 9th May - Bough Beech Reservoir (39 species - 138 for year)
With the weather on the coast so bad, I decided to head inland. As I hadn't been to Bough Beech this year, I decided to drop in here. Run by the Kent Wildlife Trust, I've seen some good birds here over the years - GWE, GND, bearded tit & rather bizarrely a pelican.
I picked up a few spring birds including a singing garden warbler with the willow warblers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs & whitethroats. I also had a nightingale singing from deep within the undergrowth.
A little egret fed next to two shelduck in the far bank and some common terns were fishing close in on both the reservoir and the pool.
Other highlights were a close buzzard, a stock dove, a single lapwing and swifts, swallows & a house martin.
Well worth the detour
Sunday 10th May - Old Lodge Nature Reserve (29 species - 140 for year)
This is probably my Sussex local patch, as I pay it a visit on every trip I make down there. At this time of year, it has some very special birds.
As I got out the car, a number of willow warblers were calling along with chiffchaff. From the top path, I spotted a distant great spotted woodpecker and a cuckoo was heard calling (I would hear at least two birds, maybe three throughout the morning).
At the ponds, I found a tree pipit perched on the wires. In the valley, I had a whitethroat and a long tailed tit on the gorse. On Pippingford was another whitethroat.
A pair of woodlark were performing a courtship routine on the telegraph wires on the long straight, as nine fallow deer ran across in front of me. A loudly singing bird soon caught my attention and as I headed downhill back towards the valley, I found my main target for the day perched atop a pine - a beautiful male redstart.
I then had my bizarre moment of the day, as literally hundreds of racing pigeons flew over my head. They must have been released from a nearby car park. It spooked the local raptors two - with a kestrel and at least two buzzards suddenly appearing.
As I moved through the gorse back up to the top path, I finally found a pair of stonechats, and whilst I was chatting to a birder on the top path, I caught a glimpse of a female redstart flying into a gorse bush.
Just before the car park, I saw another birder photographing two birds close by on the ground. I crept up alongside him to find two stunning woodlark a great end to a good morning.
Always a pleasure to visit this lovely spot.
Sunday 3rd May (62 species - 134 for year)
A weekend to myself meant I got to go on two birding trips. As I needed to be back for lunchtime to catch Chelsea winning the title, I stayed closer to home & ventured to Otmoor.
The weather was OK when I left, but around High Wycombe the heavens opened and didn't improve for the rest of the journey. My first couple of hours' birding was in steady sometimes heavy rain, but there was lots about, so it didn't matter too much.
Whilst I was putting my boots on, I heard a cuckoo. A wander down the Roman Road didn't deliver the hoped for grasshopper warbler, but two nice close male bullfinches were nice compensation. Lots of singing birds in the hedgerows.
Arriving at Greenaways, I did a quick scan in the hope that the cranes that recently arrived in the area might be showing, No such joy. However, there were two marsh harriers over the back and a hobby dashed through.
The rain was heavy now, so I dived into the hide, where things were very quiet. Venturing out again I had an abortive search of Big Otmoor for the garganey that had been reported the previous day. Swallows & swifts were overhead and more cuckoos were calling.
On the walk down to the first screen, I soon came across a loudly singing lesser whitethroat. Not much else to report on the walk down to the second screen - two cettis warbler and a pair of red legged partridges. Lots of very showy sedge warblers too.
At the first screen on the return was an incredibly tame muntjac. It fed just twenty feet away from me (bad mobile phone shot below)
I stopped to listen again and try and see better the lesser whitethroat. However, almost immediately I was onto the star bird of the day - a whirring grasshopper warbler. Result!
On the walk back to the car, no less than five hobbies were hawking over the reedbeds.
Saturday 2nd May (66 species - 132 for year)
Looking back through my notes, I see it's been four years since I was last at this cracking reserve. After a very fruitful day yesterday with no less than eleven year ticks, it hopefully won't be as long before I am back there again.
I arrived just after 8am, so had an hour and a half before the reserve opened, so I went for a walk along the river wall. Whitethroats were immediately obvious with nearly every bush seeming to have one perched on top. I soon added my first year tick with a singing sedge warbler. My second shortly followed with a very showy wheatear on some waste ground, that was soon joined by a second bird.
The reserve was now open, so after a quick cuppa & a caramel shortbread, I ventured forth. My next year tick wasn't far away, as I heard a calling cuckoo which soon became visible flying into a distant tree.
The woodland around the old cordite stores held a good selection of migrants - blackcap, a very confiding chiffchaff, more whitethroat and as I made my way back into the reedbeds an incredible number of cettis warblers, including several birds that showed themselves. There were a good number of reed warblers too.
At the first hide, I caught a glimpse of two marsh harriers, which I would get much closer views of later. Along the boardwalk, I soon heard a close pinging in the reeds and a striking male bearded tit showed itself at the top of a reed. Over the water were a number of swallows and my first swifts of the year.
There were plenty of birders scanning the Target Pools, as a pectoral sandpiper had been present since midweek. Sadly, it wasn't playing ball today, so another twitching dip for me. From the hide, I saw four summer plumage black tailed godwits. The marsh harriers were much closer here and a buzzard was a site tick.
I decided to move to a nearby viewpoint, and my luck picked up - 3 ringed plover, then a little ringed plover before a hobby passed close by.
The walk back to the visitor centre was largely uneventful. The sun then popped out and I sat on a bench near the visitor centre to see what would come to me, Five whimbrel flew up from the scrape, and a careful scan revealed four more. The high tide on the river was pushing in waders with another little ringed plover and several redshank also spotted.
I was then alerted by another visiting birder (Oliver Timms) to the presence of several greenshank on Aveley Flashes. A quick walk around soon had us watching three of these elegant waders with two oystercatchers bringing the wader total up to eight species. Two raptors then sped across the water towards us, one with prey in its talons. They were too large for hobbies and as they came overhead, we could see they were a pair of peregrine falcons.
A most enjoyable day!
