On my most recent return trip from Paris I spent the afternoon and following morning birding with DDL around London and East Anglia. There were a few interesting species on offer for us to look for, and the weather was not too unpleasant so we had a very enjoyable session visiting a few sites.
We started near the
village of St Osyth in Essex, where there had been a group of four Dotterel in
a field between the village and Colne Point. They did not take us too long to
track down, as they are quite conspicuous in the open habitat. Still they were
distant and we had some issues with heat haze in the late morning. Fortunately
in the hour we spent there the birds decided to walk closer towards us and in
the end we had truly excellent views. We decided that there were two males and
to females, although the bird news services instead reported only one female.
This is only the third time I have seen this very attractive species and the
first time I have seen multiple individuals.
Next we decided to
continue up the East Anglia coast to Suffolk, where at least one Purple Heron
had been utilising one of the reedbeds at North Warren RSPB. It took us a while
to work out exactly where we needed to watch from, but we eventually worked it
out. As we arrived a photographer/birder was present, who said that he had been
present since 06:00 and had not seen the bird until 12:30. Given how elusive
Purple Herons are known to be, I suspected that we might be in for a long
afternoon. Fortunately that was not the case, as the bird came out of the reeds
and looped around after less than hour and in the mean time we were entertained
by six Hobbys. Sadly the heron did not stay airborne for long, dropping back in
after only around 15 seconds. Still, Purple Heron is a British tick for me!
Whilst we were
waiting for the heron, news broke of the nomadic Booted Eagle being seen an
hour away on the Norfolk/Suffolk border in an area we planned to visit anyway
due to good numbers of Red-footed Falcons in the area. We headed up but despite
spending the rest of the day there we had no joy tracking down the eagle, which
had probably moved on by the time we reached the site anyway. Because we spent
most of our time chasing dubious eagle sightings, we did not track down any
Red-footed Falcons.
The following morning
we birded an area of Ancient Woodland on the outskirts of London. While there
was nothing rare of the calibre of the previous day, we enjoyed some nice
Garden Warblers and a family party of Treecreepers that were energetically
feeding all around us. After this I headed back into central London on my way back
north to Yorkshire.
St Osyth: Common Shelduck, Mallard, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Eurasian Dotterel, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Whimbrel, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, European Green Woodpecker, Eurasian Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Common Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Western Yellow Wagtail, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,
RSPB North Warren: Greylag Goose, Mallard, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Cuckoo, Common Swift, Eurasian Coot, Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Egret, Purple Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Common Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch,
Burgh St Peter: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Common Pheasant, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Redshank, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Eurasian Jay, Western Jackdaw, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch,
Cely Woods: Common Pheasant, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Eurasian Coot, European Herring Gull, Great Cormorant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, European Green Woodpecker, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Common Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch,
