Soil Hill

    Last night there were a few reports of Common Scoter migrating over Lancashire, with reports indicating it was quite the movement of birds. Most of the reports came at around 20:00 but I was not aware of them until already 21:30 by which time those flocks would have had ample time to reach Calderdale and continue towards the North Sea.

  However, from Bradshaw, I did some listening and at 21:40 a clear flock of Scoter was heard passing over. Buoyed by this I grabbed my thermal imager, jumped in the car and set off for Soil Hill. There was not much activity however, and during the hour I stayed on the Hill I only recorded one clear flock of six Common Scoter flying over, with just a few calls heard. A very distant large flock of birds flying in formation were probably also Scoter but without calls it's impossible to be sure. A few solitary birds I picked up in the thermal could have been anything! 

  This morning was once again very pleasant, but with little in the way of standout species. I managed to locate two Jack Snipe this morning but sadly one of these was deceased. A Jay was a nice surprise, initially in the North Slope Tree-Line before flying north. It, or another individual, was spotted flying SW a little time later. A late Common Gull flew north. 

-Common Scoter

-Jack Snipe full of life

-Sadly expired Jack Snipe

-Meadow Pipit

Soil Hill

   I’m back home for the week, so I wasted no time heading up to Soil Hill this morning, hoping for some Whooper Swan migration. I didn’t manage to pick up any flocks flying past, but from the vantage point of Soil Hill I was able to distantly spot a group on Mixenden Reservoir. From the photos I have I was able to count 22, but being so distant it could easily be more. DJS went down later and counted 23.

  However this Whooper Swan action was thoroughly trumped when I reached the bottom of the North Slope. I was just scanning the area of The Shay for Wheater (no joy there) when I turned around to see the bright white crescent of a male Ring Ouzel looking back at me! This is my first March record here, and caught me completely off guard. I was able to approach the bird but it was then flushed by a patrolling police helicopter. It remained in the area after, but was quite mobile. Sadly JJL was not able to re-find the bird late morning, so it may have moved off.

  In addition to these two highlights, there was a nice supporting cast. A single Raven flew over heading SE. Lots of wader activity with two Oystercatchers on The Shay and another three flying north, plus at least two Snipe in full display. Two male Stonechats were at the bottom of the North Slope and a female Bullfinch was on Ned Hill Track. A mobile flock of 30+ Fieldfare was still present on Taylor Lane.

A very rewarding return to the Hill after a few weeks away.

-Ring Ouzel

-Northern Raven

-Whooper Swans

Abberton Reservoir twitching Canvasback

     As per usual on my journey back and forth from Paris, I stopped in to see my good friend David Darrell-Lambert and we spent the day birding together around London. Our destination of choice was Abberton Reservoir, a large water body in Essex that at the time of our visit hosted a good number of interesting species, including a potential world tick with the long-staying Canvasback.

  We arrived mid-morning and headed first to the Billets Farm viewpoint from where the Canvasback was seen. Unfortunately a strong backlight, blustery conditions and the flocks of ducks being distant meant that we were unable to spot the bird during this first visit. However, it was not a complete bust as were able to pick out a distant drake Smew.

  Next we continued around to St Andrews Church Viewpoint, which had the benefit of being with the light but the birds on the reservoir were distant. From here there had been a pair of Lesser Scaup and a small group of Greater Scaup but again we were not able to pick them out as we filtered through the distant flocks of birds. A Sand Martin flying overhead was the highlight of this location, my first Hirundine of the year.

  Moving on, we next stopped at the Layer Breton Causeway, where there had been a flock of 12 Greater White-fronted Geese. Finally we had some luck, with the birds showing nicely in a field at the side of the road. Also at this location we had a small group of Spoonbills, as our day began to turn a corner.

  Now early afternoon, we headed back to the Billets Farm viewpoint, where our visit immediately started well with a flyover Great Egret. We continued scanning the birds and eventually one of the other birders present managed to pick out the Canvasback from a very distant group of Pochards. It was extremely difficult to keep track of however, with the bird sleeping most of the time, whilst the plumage features we could see changed with the variable conditions. Not a classic bird to have twitched!

  To round out our day, we tried once again to see the Lesser Scaups, except this time we chose to view from the Lodge Lane viewpoint. Once again, the birds were very distant from here, but after much scanning we finally managed to pick out both Scaup species. The flock then had the discourtesy of flying around, so we had to once again filter through the flock for the birds. At this range, distinguishing between these two Scaup species was not an easy prospect, but we did manage to find them both. The highlight from this section however was a nice close flyby Peregrine and two Little Gulls over the water!

  After a very satisfying day, we headed back to London, with all the birds in the bag. My train that evening took me back to Halifax. 

Lac de Créteil

   There is not a huge abundance of birding sites within Paris, and having a car means those of the periphery of the city are often too much of a hassle to reach to consider worthwhile. However, with a little time on my hands this week, I decided to explore some sites within an hour on public transport of the apartment and had a really good time at the Lac de Créteil. Although it takes the best part of 45-minutes to reach, it certainly seems to have excellent potential that warrants investing a bit of time to travel to. 

  I’ve now got two visits wrapped under my belt, and I enjoyed both very much. The lake is home to several common wetland species, but the potential is there for rarer species (reinforced by several eBird records of interest from years gone by). Perhaps the standout is the population of Red-crested Pochards on the lake, with double figures seen on both days. These handsome ducks were not at all shy, allowing for excellent views. In addition, there is an Egyptian Goose present, which has not been recorded on eBird at this site previously. 

  In the vegetation around the lake there are a few species of interest. There had been no records of Cetti’s Warbler before yesterday, according to eBird again, so it was a bit of a surprise to find three singing males. Commoner species that are of interest to a birder from the north of the UK include Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper. And to round it off nicely I picked out a Pied Wagtail with two White Wagtail feeding on a cut grassy area, a nice little flavour of home for whilst I am over here. 

-Cetti's Warbler

-Egyptian Goose

-Pied Wagtail

-Red-crested Pochard