NGB Spurn Weekend Day 4

Oh boy, was today hard work. Birds on the sea were reduced to a limited stream of Auks, and the highlights were five Eider that settled and then headed south. With news of a nightjar at the obs the enduring watchers all gave up and headed up, but there was no sign of the bird when I arrived. Since I was back, I settled in to wait for the weather to warm up in the hope that something would pop out of the bushes.

By 11.00 in the morning I decided to go to Wetlands to have a look at the Little Terns again. For unclear reasons I decided to head up by Beacon Lane, probably so I could check the Triangle again for anything. Of course, there was nothing. Wandering up Beacon Lane I had spoken to a few birders about how hard the days birding had been, and that nobody had gotten much at all. I was just thinking about going home that evening whilst walking up Beacon Lane when I glanced left and there, right there, sat next to me was a male Red-backed Shrike. I was stunned, the canal bird was still present so far a I knew, so this had to be a new bird. I diddnt have time to process these thoughts as the bird saw me the moment I saw it, and in a flash it was gone behind the bushes.

It took 20 mins before I managed to relocate it, but the sheer sense of relief when I did. I managed to get a text to Tim Jones that I had an RB Shrike but I had lost it. Now I had it again all I had to do was check for rings. It was unringed, and this was seconded by Tim Sexey who joined me as he had walked down Beacon Lane birding. This must be a new shrike then, and as such is my first ever self found scarce drift migrant. What a moment, and a stunning bird too.

Sadly only Tim and I saw it, as it dropped into bushes not long after and was not seen again on Beacon Lane, although I read on the website that it moved to Rose Cottage in the late afternoon. Really brought the best out of the day.

-Red-backed Shrike (Self found)

The ponds were quiet, only 10 Little Terns present, and no waders of any note. On Wetlands there was a White Wagtail which was a nice addition to the weekend list. There were also three very young Avocet chicks along the edge of the shoreline quite close, allowing me to get fantastic views of them. What little cuties.

-Avocet

Despite the Shrike, it could not persuade me to stay, especially with the northerlies set to continue and get stronger, meaning even fewer birds around. I decided to head home that evening, to spend my last few days at uni actually at uni. Especially since now I will be working at Spurn again for the next three months on little tern wardening as a result of the current warden getting a job at Blacktoft. Excited would be an understatement. 

Sightings List:

Spurn: Canal and Warren: Eider, Common Teal, Gannet, Linnet, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Blackbird, Herring Gull, Swallow, House Martin, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Common Scoter, Guillemot, Razorbill, Sanderling, Kittiwake, Oystercatcher, Cuckoo, Yellow Wagtail, Greenfinch, Sedge Warbler, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Shelduck, House Sparrow,

Spurn: Beacon Lane, Beacon Ponds and Kilnsea Wetlands: Chaffinch, Starling, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Swallow, Lesser Whitethroat, Red-backed Shrike. Avocet, Little Egret, Carrion Crow, Linnet, Whitethroat, Shelduck, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Dunlin, Gadwall, Meadow Pipit, Sand Martin, Ringed Plover, Little Tern, Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail, Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, 

Old Moor RSPB

With nothing worth twitching turned up around I decided to make my first trip to Old Moor of the year, in the hope of seeing a Bittern. As a result, as soon as I arrived I headed to the Bittern Hide. I had not waited long when the Bittern, which had obviously been somewhere behind the hide, flew round right in front of us, giving me one of my best ever views of this species. It had a stream of angry gulls following its tail until it dropped down in the reeds. I did not have the camera out so I was able to just watch it, but obviously it does mean no photos. I did see the Bittern again when I was in the Wader Scrape Hide, as it flew past more distantly and much higher up, but again no photos. Still, its been over a year since my last Bittern so I was pretty thrilled with that.

I had also got myself a new attachment for my scope to hopefully aid with my digiscoping. Today was its first time out. Its a bit fiddly but helps prevent shaking when trying to take photos and I'm looking forward to taking it with me on twitches. Its fortunate that there were plenty of birds to take photos of today...

-Mediterranean Gull

-Little Ringed Plover 

-Avocet

Overall it was mainly common species on the agenda today but I got a good list gathered and Bittern is my 190th species on the yearlist this year. Its keeping it ticking over very nicely.

Species List:

Old Moor RSPB: Black-headed Gull, Great Tit, Gadwall, Moorhen, Swift, Swallow, Mallard, Kestrel, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Great-crested Grebe, Coot, Stock Dove, Jackdaw, Pochard, Bittern, Robin, House Martin, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Sand Martin, Common Tern, Carrion Crow, Common Buzzard, Redshank, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Lapwing, Linnet, Oystercatcher, Little Grebe, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Blackbird, Mediterranean Gull, Avocet, Shoveler, Little Ringed Plover, Jay, Grey Heron, Bullfinch, Collard Dove, Tree Sparrow, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, 

Norfolk Day 1

So my parents decided to go to Norfolk for a week and I of course was not going to decline tagging along. Having travelled down overnight I set off for the first day by heading to the usual Cley Marshes followed by Blakeney for the long staying Lapland Buntings. 

First port of call were the hides at Cley where I picked up some wader species for my yearlist, namely Avocet, Ruff and Green Sandpiper. I also had nice views of Marsh Harrier which was also a yeartick. Species all familiar to the site but ones which I had not seen overwinter, so was pleased to see again.

-Avocet

-Ruff

-Marsh Harrier

The reason I did not start my day at Blakeney was simply because of the weather being awful, but as it began to clear late morning I decided to just take the hit and go. After all, the birds had reduced from around 8 being present a week ago to only 2 the last I heard. Along the walk through Cley-next-the-sea and Blakeney Freshmarsh I picked up my first Swallow of the year. They were quite abundant already this far south but none had really appeared up north so this was quite exciting.

-Swallow

Blakeney freshmarsh was a fairly standard affair, fields with pools, but I did pick up my first Brent Geese of the year, which initially only looked to be a few individuals until something spooked them, or the tide moved them and the sky was suddenly full of Brent Geese. Quite a site really, a really smart bird to look at.

The highlight of the walk along the marshes though has to be the really nice White Wagtail that was knocking about. A real stunner, and although they turned out to be fairly abundant during the day, there is something special about this European visitors.

-Brent Geese

-White Wagtail

And so I arrived at the location where the Lapland Buntings were meant to be. I picked one up, a female, distantly almost immediately but it soon vanished into the undergrowth and I could not find it again for around half an hour. 

I made a move past the gate where most people have been watching them from, and began to walk down the track to relocate it. I was able to, but it now seemed that only this female remained. I tried to get some photos but the bird was quite skittish. After a while I returned to my scope and tripod set up at the gate and scoped out the marsh whilst decided when to give the bunting another try. But I need not have worried, for whilst I was scoping the bird flew onto the fence next to me, before coming down and feeding around my feet. I only wish the light had been a bit better because the view I got was otherwise unparalleled. It was really something. It was so close I could have reached out and touched it. What a real treat. 

-Lapland Bunting

After that I was obviously buzzing. The bird flew off into the marsh and I decided to take my leave. I headed back to Cley and walked along the beach side where I was treated to nice views of a few smashing Wheatear. Willow Warbler was another spring migrant of which was my first of the year. I also yearticked Sandwich Tern flying up the coast, something of an expected yeartick but still a much welcome one. A really nice bird to see. I also year-ticked Sand Martin and a few other waders; Grey Plover and Knot.

-Sandwich Tern

So an excellent start to the week, with a host of yearticks and other awesome species, and of course the Lapland Bunting being the real highlight, even if there was only the one bird left.

Species List:

Cley Marshes NWT: Avocet, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Egyptian Goose, Greylag Goose, Meadow Pipit, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Dunlin, Ruff, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Shelduck, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Little Egret, Green Sandpiper, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Ringed Plover, Pochard, Carrion Crow, Rook, Starling, Collard Dove, Pheasant, Jackdaw, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Greenfinch, Sandwich Tern, Brent Goose, Sand Martin, Wheatear, Kestrel, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot,

Blakeney Freshmarsh: Wheatear, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Skylark, Jackdaw, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Linnet, Redshank, Canada Goose, Avocet, Gadwall, Teal, Cormorant, Curlew, Shelduck, Shoveler, Moorhen, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Swallow, White Wagtail, Brent Goose, Marsh Harrier, Lapland Bunting, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Red Kite, Rook, Pheasant,

Dorset Holiday Day 12

Our last full day! My brother had an open day for his placement next year, which was in Gosport. Adjacent to Gosport is Titchfield Haven NNR with its ever resident Greater Yellowlegs, so that is where I got dropped off for the day.

I arrived to the news the Greaterlegs was in front of the hide, but picked it up on the river, as viewed from the road. It was fairly close and I got some nice views in the morning light before it flew off after about half an hour. I later watched it distantly from the Suffern Hide, for about an hour intermittently, before it flew off again late afternoon, when I was picked up by my parents.

-Greater Yellowlegs

 Between watching the yellowlegs I wandered round the reserve on Scrapes Trail, looking in the hide. In the first hide it was a very similar composition to my other visit here. However, that was rudely interrupted when the birder next to me pointed out a couple of Bearded Tits in the reeds right in front of us. It was the best view I have ever had of the species, and this included a superb moustached male. I was able to get some pretty nice shots and what was the best encounter I have ever had with this species.

-Bearded Tit

 On the path further round, at the Pumfett Hide, there were a few more nice additions to the day list. There was an Avocet in front of the hide which looked quite nice in the light. There were a few Juvenile Mediterranean Gulls too, as well as an adult. They were a plumage tick for me, as I have never seen juveniles looking as fresh as this. A final bonus was a Fluvlous Whistling Duck, which is obviously an escape but I seem to recall is resident. It was distant but was still nice to see. I would hazard a guess that this was the source of the ruddy shelduck reports earlier in the week.

-Avocet

-Juvenile Mediterranean Gulls

-Fulvous Whistling Duck

The other hides were quiet, mainly composed of commoner wetland species such as a nice Greenshank on the river with the Greater Yellowlegs. It was a nice comparison between the two species, but it was distant so I could not get a photo. Common Sandpiper, Redshank and Black Tailed Godwit were also all present, while Common Terns were fishing all the bodies of water. It was a pretty sweet day overall, a nice way to end the holiday.

In the evening we headed up the Nightjar point again and were rewarded with good views, but the views were far more inconsistent than they had been the previous night, with long periods where the birds had gone quite. That being said there were occasions when they were flying round our heads calling, which was awesome as per.

Species List:

Titchfield Haven NNR: Turnstone, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Greater Yellowlegs, Redshank, Common Tern, Linnet, Oystercatcher, Black-Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Lapwing, Black-Tailed Godwit, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Avocet, Teal, Grey Heron, Gadwall, Starling, Blackbird, Magpie, Bearded Tit, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Canada Goose, Common Sandpiper, Sand Martin, Kestrel, Shellduck, Stock Dove, Mediterranean Gull, Shoveler, Marsh Harrier, Reed Bunting, Little Egret, Greenfinch, Wren, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, House Sparrow, Robin, Song Thrush, Greenshank, Carrion Crow, Long-Tailed Tit, Dunnock, Willow Warbler, Jay, Great Tit

Titchfield Haven NNR

With the weather being a little blustery of late I postponed my trip to Hampshire to see the Greater Yellowlegs multiple times during the week. On Wednesday night I finally decided to make my move. I set off on the coach at 1.00 on Thursday morning. I then arrived in London at 6.00 in the morning for my coach to Southampton. I kept my eyes open for Ring-Necked Parakeets but only saw 5 in a single flock on the south side of London. I spent the rest of the journey asleep but arrived in Southampton for 9.00. Next stage was to grab a train to Fakenham which arrived swiftly. Once in Fakenham I went to the bus station to grab a bus to Hill Head, which was about a 5 min walk from Tichfield. And with that I arrived on site at half 11 in the morning.

There had been no news on the bird all morning and by the time I arrived at the reserve I was pretty convinced that I had made a mistake and that the bird would not be seen today. However, just as I arrived at the reserve it came in from the Suffren Hide, so I quickly made my way there.

It was on the mud at the far side of the lake in front of the hide, feeding on its own. I got to watch it for around an hour before it took off and we lost it. In that time it showed really well, just not especially close. The legs were far more distinctively yellow than I had expected. I had expected a bird that looked very similar to greenshank, but it was distincively different. The legs were much brighter yellow than I had expected, and the bill far strighter. As it was on its own there was nothing much to compare it to size wise, but you could still see that it was a about the same size of a Greenshank.

-Greater Yellowlegs

I grabbed some shots, but they were all digiscoped due to the distance. I got a few reasonable ones though, enough for me at any rate. I also tried to get some video, but as per its quite shaky, and my best effort (the one below) the bird is largely obscured by a Little Egret. But when the egret moves you can get a reasonable view of the bird, so its not too bad.

-Greater Yellowlegs

Whilst enjoying the Yellowlegs we were also treated to a couple of other bits. The guys I was chatting to in the hide picked out a Cuckoo at the back of the hide, Though distant I still managed to grab a record shot, though its far from any good.

-Cuckoo

As I said, the bird then took off but did not appear to go far, down the river towards the road. As a result the small number of birders rushed down that way to see if we could pick it up. At the road there were a few Black-Tailed Godwits, the birds that the Yellowlegs often associates with, but sadly he was not there. A pity as the godwits were really close to the road. There were about 20 godwits already, but these were then joined by another 50 maybe, but the additional birds did not stay long before flying back upriver to where they had come from.

-Black Tailed Godwits and Little Egret

After about an hour searching the river I decided my time on the reserve was too limited to be spent waiting for it to reappear so decided to go for a wander round the reserve in the hope of encountering it or at least seeing some other good stuff.

I went into the first hide I came to, which was very busy with birds around, though these mainly consisted of Black-Headed Gulls and their chicks. There were reasonable numbers of waders too, such as families of Avocets and Lapwings, as well as Wildfowl including Canada Geese, Shoveler and Shelduck. Sadly I could see no shoveler chicks, but they would have been something to see.

On the far raft one of the birders in the hide picked out a summer plumage Mediterranean Gull, but it was distant and add to that the fact that it kept its head down for the large part and was not overly active I could manage no more than a couple of record shots.

-Mediterranean Gull

-Black Headed Gull

By now I only had an hour left before I would have to go so I decided to head back to the main entrance to see what had been seen, see if I could see it in the time I had, and also take a look at the ducks in the harbor.

On my way in I had seen a Black Swan with the ducks. Despite not being tickable I wanted to get a good look at it as its been a while since I last saw one. Sadly when I arrived it was asleep which was something of a bummer, but never mind. Can't beat an escaped bird.

-Black Swan

I went back to the visitor center to have a look at the sightings, only to find out that the Yellowlegs had been found again in Pumfret hide. This was a trek but I had a little time so decided to go for it just in case it was showing better than previously.

Sadly it was not! If anything it was showing much worse. It took a while for it to come out of the reeds before it then moved through the assembled sleeping godwits before it too settled down to sleep, but behind a godwit. I took a photo just for the sake of it to be honest, all you can see is the birds spangly back and nothing else. I could not stay long but I now knew that it was not showing any closer from the new location than it had been from the original, giving me peace of mind.

One of the other birders in the hide pick out a Grass Snake on the far bank. When I first managed to get on it, the snake had stopped moving and I was unsure if I had even got the right thing, but then it slithered off into the reeds. All this was through the scope so no photos, but it's my first reptile this year and with a family holiday to Dorset coming up, who knows? Maybe I will get them all this year!

-Greater Yellowlegs currently Obscured by Black-Tailed Godwits

Sadly I had no time spare and had to get back pretty sharpish to the bus stop or have to endure a uncomforatbly close journey home with marginal connection times. On the way back I even got a mammal tick for the day when I spotted this rat feeding in the duck area in the harbour. I could not be bothere getting the DSLR out of my bag so I only grabbed a couple of compact shots. It is a rat after all...

-Brown Rat

On the way back all the connections ran smoothly up to the coach, but out of Southampton the coach was running very late. Good thing I slept through it as I ended up having to absolutely pelt it to make my transfer in London, a transfer that I was supposed to have had 40 mins to wait with. Never mind, I made it and was back in Sheffield at 2.00 on Friday morning, job well done; Greater Yellowlegs seen.

Species List:
Coach Journey: Starling, Collard Dove, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Ring-Necked Parakeet, Common Buzzard, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, Swift, Swallow, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw,
Titchfield Haven NNR: Blue Tit, Greater Yellowlegs, Moorhen, Coot, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Black-Headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mallard, Gadwall, Great Black-Backed Gull, Mute Swan, Jay, Cuckoo, Common Tern, Great Crested Grebe, Robin, Dunnock, Black-Tailed Godwit, Pheasant, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Whitethroat, Avocet, Shelduck, Lapwing, Shoveler, Mediterranean Gull, Sedge Warbler, Linnet, Wren, Reed Bunting, Great Tit, Common Buzzard, Brown Rat, Grass Snake, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Common Blue Damselfly,