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,

Norfolk Holiday Day 3

So as yesterday was Titchwell day, today can be Cley day. Yes, and it was another lovely day, added to by the fact that the find had dropped, thank goodness. And the day started smashing as well, because no sooner did I arrived on site than did I hear and then see my first Sedge Warbler of the year. It was sat on a bramble ticket singing its heart out allowing me to get some record shots of this year tick.

-Sedge Warbler

However, it may have started well, but in the same region as the Sedge warbler was singing there was another warbler singing, a cettis, exploding out from a bush right next to the path, and yet still I could not see it. The pain of being so close and not being able to do anything is unbearable, but after quite a while waiting I decided it might be an idea to try and find some other birds rather than spend all day following this bird that would probably never show.

And find other birds I did, as I heard a 3rd species drop a low ping followed by a small black bird with a long tail dive into the reeds opposite the river. It was of course a bearded tit, my first of the year. I waited to see if I would get a better view but alas it did not happen like that and it failed to re-show.

I made my way to the hides to see what was about on there. Nothing major had been reported in but it was still early in the morning. Or it could just have been that there was nothing major around, as there was nothing to really add to the hide from what was there last night. There were still Little Ringed Plover, which were the undoubted highlights, and good numbers of Avocet but nothing really different was around. One marsh harrier flew over, which I grabbed a record shot of in order to add to my year-list photo album. 

-Marsh Harrier

After the hides I headed up to Blakeney to see if there was anything on the sea. On the way up I passed the field where the Brent Geese had been before. There were still some there but in lower numbers, and they were further away than before. Almost at Blakeney I spotted Wheatear fly past me, distinctive by it white rump. That was the highlights really. The sea had very little on it, mainly Herring and Black-Headed Gulls. The hide at the northern end of the reserve had been washed away by the storm surge, but I had a look over the pool where it had been. The only addition there was a small flock of ringed plovers that took off and flew away up towards Blakeney point, my first of the holiday though which was nice.

I did the full circuit of the reserve, but found little else to add to the list besides the small numbers of wildfowl and waders. I even reached the end of the walk before lunchtime, and so decided to check out the small Hill Reserve at the bottom corner of Cley, to see if I could track down any whitethroat that might have come back. 

There was none, but there was another cettis warbler singing which led me on a little chase through the woodland trying to track it down, which I failed to do of course. However, in chasing down the bird I stumbled across a small feeding station, and on one of the feeders there was a small rodent cheekily making away with some seeds, probably a wood mouse.

-Wood Mouse

When I gave up on the cettis I decided to go and see if I could find the one that was outside the visitor center. On the short walk there I heard and briefly saw another Bearded Tit, but again the view was brief and I was unable to get any other view. 

I arrived at the site where the warbler was, and after a short while heard the familiar song again. I then spent a good half an hour following the birds movement through the bush. At one point a pair of birders wandered past me and said 'you've got no chance mate', so much for birder-birder support. After a little longer and another explosive song session I spotted it finally, through the bush. I caught a glimpse of the red in the silhouette. I was very pleased, but the view was brief as it dipped down. I decided to nip round and see if I would be able to see it on the other side from the edge of the bush.

And a view I got indeed, as it was perched on a bramble branch that was stuck out from the bush over the water. Sadly it was too brief a view for a photo, but it was the best view I have ever had of this species, as it sat there and sang for all of 10 seconds. It was a pity not to be able to get a photo of this view I got, but its not the most important thing. 

I saw its silhouette again after a little while, but I was unable to see it again after that. After about 40 mins I decided to head back to Blakeney to watch the sea for a little while before heading home. On the way up to Blakeney there remained a few Brent Geese on the field, and this time I decided to take a few photos to add to the list for the day. 

-Brent Geese

Also on the way up was a Little Egret fishing in one of the pools on the saltmarsh. I grabbed a few shots since I have not got one of an Egret yet this year, but it was not a great photo.

-Little Egret

The heat on Blakeney Point was pretty incredible, the haze making it difficult to see much up the shingle. There was a Common Lizard on the edge of saltmarsh which I flushed. I was very surprised at that, I would have thought it would have been too early to see any reptiles, but at the same time it was very hot, so it makes sense that they would start to come out now.

I spent a relaxing half an hour sat on Blakeney point. There was nothing out to sea, but after a bit I was joined by a Black-Headed Gull on the shingle, which came very close to me. Sadly most of my photos were too dark due to the back light, but I managed a few nice ones, just as well considering how close it was to me. 

-Black-Headed Gull

I will not lie, I was a little disappointed by how quiet Cley was over the day, but that's probably a result of the comedown from yesterday, when I had 3 lifers. But there was still plenty of birds around, and 3 year ticks. Overall it was still a good day, the only thing left to do is to break down the day list:

Species List:

NWT Cley Marshes: Sedge Warbler, Greenfinch, Starling, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Ruff, Little Ringed Plover, Shelduck, Graylag Goose, Mute Swan, Black-Headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Coot, Pied Wagtail, Teal, Redshank, Brent Goose, Grey Heron, Gadwall, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Common Buzzard, Goldfinch, Little Egret, Jackdaw, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Skylark, Cormorant, Kestrel, Ringed Plover, Swallow, Black-Tailed Godwit, Chaffinch, Wren, Great Tit, Cettis Warbler, Bearded Tit, Wigeon, Dunlin, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Herring Gull, Common Lizard, Wood Mouse, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Large White

Caravan Site: Blue tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Woodpigeon, Rabbit

Grange-over sands holiday day 2

Day 2. It was a lot more overcast than yesterday, and also a lot colder. We decided to go on a steam train journey to Windermere lakeside, and then catch the boat up to Bowness. It sounded like a plan.
The train journey was pretty uninteresting, with a coal tit and a chaffinch at the station. So we arrived at the boat landing spot at lakeside. In terms of birdlife there were quite a few swans, as well as mallards, and black-headed gulls. While I waited for the boat I decided to take some photos of black-headed gulls in flight. My results were not brilliant, but it killed time, whilst birding at the same time.

-Black-Headed Gulls
The boat journey had very little in the way of birdlife. We were shadowed by a lesser black backed gull for about a minuet, which was probably the highlight until we got to Bowness. Here there were more birds, including mute swans, Canada geese, mallards and more unusual species too, such as pair of goosander sleeping on a small rock, as well a cormorant on a buoy.

-Goosander Pair
Bowness was quite pretty, and had some nice features. However, in terms of birdlife, it had nothing. We had lunch at the boatside where we were shadowed by jackaws and black-headed gulls, which readily finished up after we had left for the ferry.

The ferry journey back went along the less inhabited side of the lake, and so had more to offer in the way of birdlife. However, they were not the only things in the sky, as RAF pilots started to fly their planes down the valley, as they do.

-Plane
Back to the birds and it was proving the case that there were more interesting birds on this side, including a pair of distant goldeneye, a couple of oystercatchers on the rocks and a pair of red-breasted mergansers, which were the only ones close enough to the boat to bother with a photo.

-Red Breasted Mergansers
So that ends our boat journey. I forgot to mention how cold it was on the boat, so I'll mention it now-It was really cold. Maybe that's why there were not many birds, they were trying to stay warm!

Back at the campsite, I sat down to get some stupid past papers homework done and out of the way. However, these are not relevant past papers, these are critical thinking past papers, I mean, what even is critical thinking. Luckily, I had a seat that overlooked our birdfeeder, and so i could watch proceedings there. We were having quite a good turn-up, with great tits, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches and woodpigeons.

More unusual species included nuthatches of which we had two. It was unusual that they didn't try to chase each other away. But, about time too, we had a marsh tit visit. in fact we had two, which was great because they were here last time we were here, and are possibly the most unusual bird in these parts. However, there was a snag in trying to get a photo, In that it involved opening the window. I took a photo through the plastic and then opened the window...

-Marsh Tit
...And failed! The other birds appreciated my stealth in opening possibly the most creaky windows over, by sheltering. But the marsh tits bolted, and sadly didn't return. So far then, the most anticipated bird of the holiday has shown its face, and my only photo is that of a blurred bird through a plastic window. Not great! So I'll leave you with a photo of a coal tit, Because they are a nice bird and it will make up for the lack of marsh tit photo.

-Coal Tit

*N.B: for anyone wondering why the window wasn't open in the first place, the answer would be that it was cold outside, and the heating was on inside.

Northumberland long weekend Day 2

Our final day in Northumberland, and the weather remained unchanged, grey and chilly. As is normal when we go to this region we decided to go to Seahouses. Last time here we had plenty of turnstones and eiders. The difference being that we were later in the year, and that it wasn't horizontal rain this time.
As we were driving along the coast road, I was disappointed to see that the tide was out, and so I imagine that the turnstones would be out as well. As I arrived in the harbour I looked over the sea wall to see if my suspicions were correct. They were to some degree, but one turnstone had hung around nearish the wall. It was about half way between the sea wall and the sea, although my photo was pretty poor.

-Turnstone
This turnstone was unfazed by my being there. It started having a wash in a rock pool, between two gulls.
I walked down the pier/breakwater to see what there was. I spotted at the end a bird in the water, so I went up to see if it was a diver or rare sea duck, or an eider. However I was pleasantly surprise to see that it was a shag when I arrived. If I recall, this is my first this year, which is quite late all things considered.

-Shag
Moving back up up the pier I looked at the gulls along the side, for potential iceland or glaucus gull. However the most unusual that I managed to find was a greater black backed gull.

-Greater Black backed Gull
On the other, harbour pier I was delighted to finally find some eiders, a handsome flock with a nice mixture of males and females. I got a great view of the eiders, and they even approached me despite being a few meters above them. Then I saw that the eiders moved away from me, towards a young family feeding them on the slipway opposite. They then started feeding them bread, so I decided to go over there, to be at eye level with them. I did and enjoyed listening to them "Awooo" comically, and also take some great photos of them. Unfortunately they all started moving away as soon as they realised I had no bread.
After about 15mins of doing my best to entertain the eiders, I decided to try and find my family to get some real bread. After about 15mins looking for them in seahouses I eventually managed it and got hold of some bread, AKA my lunch. I returned to the eiders and again enjoyed photographing them and feeding them, great views of such great birds. Here is a compilation of the eider photos I took.

-Eiders
I returned to my family and walked around the harbour with them to see what was around. At the turnstone area, I spotted a herring gull flying with some seaweed dangling out of its mouth, then, as it landed nearby, it became clear that it was not a piece of seaweed, it was a giant butterfish. It started bashing it against the sea wall, but was rudely interrupted by a mob of black headed gulls. I only managed one photo, sadly though it has it back to me.

-Herring Gull
Moving on, We walked onto an area of mud and beach on the southern side of the harbour which was far more natural. There were plenty of birds around here, oystercatchers, redshanks, grey heron and a handful of ringed plovers on the harbour mud which was nice, the first I've seen this holiday.

-Ringed Plover
We moved back to the car for lunch, and moved it from its current parking spot into an area where we had a great view of the harbour and the sea. As we were eating lunch we attracted a great deal of attention from a variety of gulls, herring and black-headed, who feasted on the scraps that I threw for them.

-Black Headed gull
the gulls left for a few mins to feed on somebody Else's lunch, and in that time, a very handsome winter plumage starling turned up and started picking up the scraps. The gulls started drifting back, but seemed reluctant to start feeding again. It was odd to see the gulls being reluctant to feed on some food being fed on by a starling.

-Starling, seemingly hording the food
After lunch we headed down towards Newcastle to see some family Friends, but first we would be going to big waters to see if there were any birds or otters. When we arrived we spotted a marsh harrier soaring above us. Besides that there were a few things to see, but they were all distance, there were shoveler, teal, whooper swans and cormorants.

-Marsh Harrier

so ends our long weekend on the Northumberland coast.