Orgreave Lakes

This years revision break was not as extravagant as last years. I decided I'd had enough of the library and needed to spend a day in the fresh air. What better way that to try my luck at a pair of Black Redstarts near Orgreave lakes. I arrived early morning to the news that the male was still present but had gone off according to birders on site. I spent two mins looking where it had apparently gone and immediately refound it. It was very mobile and at no point did I get an outstanding clear view, but its my first adult male Black Redstart and a stunning bird.

Not long after it was lost again and in my attempts to try and refind it I stumbled across the female bird feeding down one of the side roads with some Dunnocks. It was a far more obliging bird but in the gloom I labored to get a decent photo. In the end I managed a couple of record shots of the bird which I am very happy with. A morning well spent I would say. 

-Female Black Redstart

After a while I decided to give up on the male and head over to Orgreave lakes themselves. Being so early in the year I was blessed with a host of yearticks. The best of these was a nice flock of around 40 Siskin feeding in the alders near the track and the host of waterbirds. By far the most abundant bird were the Pochards, which are now a red listed species but very abundant at Orgreave.

-Siskin

-Pochard and Goosander

Whilst at Orgreave I managed to get two patch ticks, something I had not counted on. The first was a bird that has been around all winter but only now connected, a beautiful Short-eared Owl. Another birder I saw let me know he had seen it around and as we talked I picked it out quartering over the hill and then beyond, lost to view. I headed up the hill for a look and was delighted to see it perched up in a tree. It was not bothered at all about the passing lorries but decided not to risk getting any closer. What a superb bird, and probably the best view I have ever had of one.

The second patch tick was a solitary Lesser Redpoll. Just as I was finishing walking round a lake I heard a finch calling overhead and considered that it might be a redpoll. So when it landed I was pleased to see I had been right, and that I could add another species to my patch list for here.

-Short-eared Owl

On the way back I decided to try my luck at the gulls in Attercliffe to see if there was anything unusual among them. Sadly there was not, only commoner large gull species, but it was still a nice way to end the afternoon. More often than not when I try here the large gulls just don't bother landing at all.

-Herring and Great Black-backed Gull

Species List:

Orgreave Lakes: Skylark, Magpie, Collard Dove, Woodpigeon, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Dunnock, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Carrion Crow, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Siskin, Blue Tit, Fieldfare, Long-tailed Tit, Pochard, Coot, Goldeneye, Great-crested Grebe, Herring Gull, Mute Swan, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Goosander, Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, Grey Heron, Common Teal, Feral Pigeon, Stonechat, Lesser Redpoll, Grey Wagtail, Great Tit

Attercliffe: Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Mallard, 

Dorset Holiday Day 9

Sadly it rained today which left my options limited. The morning I did the moths as per and was rewarded with a new species for the holiday in the form of a very smart Ruby Tiger. I grabbed a couple of record shots, for the lack of any other moths.

-Ruby Tiger

 In the end I decided to revisit the Weymouth RSPB reserves to watch some birds! Since Radipole was right next to the train station I decided to head there first. Birds on the reserve were a little thin on the ground, but a flyby Bearded Tit was nice, and there were a few Pochard and Gadwall on the lakes.

Having said that, most of my time was spent in the reserve car park looking at the gulls… I was pretty desperate to find a YLG, especially since 3 had been reported there about half an hour prior to my searching. I was unable to locate one, or so I concluded having looked through my photos. I could never conclusively rule out YLG but had decided for one or more reasons that all the birds I had looked at considering YLG were in fact something else.
--That being until the 29th when an article appeared on Birding Frontiers with YLG in it. One of the example birds had been photographed in Dorset and was the spitting image of one of the birds I had seen. I decided to message Tim, who confirmed that it was a YLG and that he thought they were the same bird. As such I will now include the photos I took of the juvenile YLG

-Yellow Legged Gull

The fact that the bird raised my attention is a sign that I'm getting somewhere with gulls, even if it was not the right conclusion I hesitantly reached. I hasten to add that the above sequence is not necessarily of the same bird, the first two were photographed in the car park, before all the gulls flushed and I picked it up, or a similar bird, again on the nearby lake...

With that in mind, I have reason to believe that another bird I photographed at Lodmoor later in the day is also a YLG, though I did not get a clear view of the tail on this individual. There are clear faint windows in the wings that I did see, and the notching is incorrect for Herring Gull...

-Yellow Legged Gull

I think a lot more practice will be needed before I will confidently be able to do this in the field, but being able to pick out different looking birds is a good start, and I'm pretty pleased with that. (Its also a yeartick!)--

After spending so long at Radipole I decided to move on to Lodmoor. Once more there were better numbers of birds here, including a nice group of 5 summer plumaged sanderling, a couple of Greenshank, a flock of 11 Dunlin, a Black-Tailed Godwit Flock and a large group of possibly up to 50 Mediterranean Gulls. Not bad going at all.

-Black-Tailed Godwit

-Sanderling

 That was only in the main area for birds, and I headed round to the other side of the reserve where I had not been before. Here there were no waders but a few more wildfowl, including a Gadwall, a couple of Shoveler and a few Pochards.

-Pochard

 As I was scanning one bird really caught my attention, namely by its very small size for a duck. I instantly realised it was a teal of some description, but when it turned I was stunned to see how defined the face was and that there were clear white marks. My immediate reaction was Garganey, but I had to spend ages watching it going through every feature before I let myself believe it. Fortunately it was a very obliging bird, feeding in the open, even doing a couple of wing stretches to put beyond all doubt. That being said, I did release the news as a female, when I was rightly corrected via twitter that it is in fact an eclipse drake. My bad!

-Gargany

Not gonna lie, I was buzzing after that and was a real bonus for the bird list of the holiday. It means I did actually make a contribution to the Dorset birding world during my stay…

Species List:

Radipole Lake RSPB: Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Reed Warbler, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Swallow, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Greenfinch, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, House Martin, Sand Martin, Dunnock, Bearded Tit, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Black-Backed Gull, Swift,

Lodmoor RSPB: Sanderling, Dunlin, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Black-Tailed Godwit, Herring Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mallard, Cormorant, Common Tern, Linnet, Coot, Moorhen, House Sparrow, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Magpie, Swift, Starling, Great Black-Backed Gull, Avocet, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Pochard, Gadwall, Swallow, Greenfinch, Reed Warbler, Feral Pigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Little Grebe, Gargany, 

Orgreave Lakes

Another day off, but this time my options were limited. The black-bellied dipper had not been seen for 2 days and there was nothing else to twitch around. So I decided to stay local, and head over to Orgreave, since I had been trying to do more patching this year as well as twitching, and it also gave me a chance to use the scope again.

Funnily enough the bb dipper was reported this morning, but I decided to just stick to my original plan and go to Orgreave. There was not much happening, with duck numbers much lower than they have been previously, and the number of passerines was also down, though there were a lot of Skylarks singing.

Gull numbers had remained the same but aside from a juvenile Great Black Back there was not much there besides Herring and Black-Headed. The real highlight was a trio of Goldcrest as I was leaving, one displaying its crest very nicely but moving through the vegetation and hard to follow, plus they were on the other side of the river, so no photos. Since I decided I did need a photo though, I grabbed a quick shot of the Pochard on the island in the small pool, pochard being the only duck still present in large numbers.

-Pochard

Species List:

Orgreave Lakes: Goldcrest, Goosander, Mute Swan, Great Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Robin, Wren, Stock Dove, Long-Tailed Tit, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Carrion Crow, Black-Headed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Lapwing, Cormorant, Pochard, Starling, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon,

Fairburn Ings

My time at uni is drawing near to an end for good for the summer. Since it is 'Le tour' this weekend I decided to make today my final major birding trip due to the number of road closures over the weekend. I decided to try a new site, for public transport at least, by going to Fairburn Ings RSPB. Its a site where I have had mixed fortunes before, dipping smew 3 years in a row, but I had not been for some time.

Reports showed that there were 2 spoonbills on site, that had been around for some time, which was the main reason I thought to go and have a look, but the glossy ibis that has been roving around west and South Yorkshire had recently made it is home. As a result I decided to head over that way to enjoy my last bit of proper first year birding.

Despite its steep train fare I did not have to get a bus, as I can walk to the site from Castleford, so that was a major bonus. Once out of the town you follow the canal for a short distance before going onto the RSPB land.

It was walking along the canal that I had Mallard, Swallow and Mute Swan on the canal and woodpigeon on the overhead cables over the hedge. Or so I thought. I don't really know what inspired me to check out this so obvious woodpigeon on the wires, but for some reason I gave it a thorough inspection. It was difficult from my range, and my head secretly wanted turtle dove, so I allowed myself all kinds of thoughts. When I managed to get a decent view through the bins I immediately noticed a lack of white round the neck. Woodpigeon no more. I still struggled to make anything out with my bins though, so got the camera and grabbed a record shot. I could not believe my eyes when I had a look, it was a Cuckoo, chilling on the wires. I got closer until I was right in front of it, the hedge providing a suitable hide. Its my first good shots of a Cuckoo landed, and it is also one of my best self finds. To find a Cuckoo at this time of year, on a site not reknown for its cuckoos, is something pretty special. I was well pleased with myself. I had a good look through the bins, before taking some shots and then going for the bins again. But it was between the transition of camera to bins that the bird moved off, as it was no longer there when I looked up again. I don't know where it went, but it made my day, and it was not even lunchtime.  

-Cuckoo

I continued onto the reserve, and decided to first call in at Lin Dyke Hide, as that was where the ibis and spoonbills were most frequently recorded. As I left the riverbank and headed up towards the hide I noticed 2 large white birds circling near the farm in the distance. Of course my first thought was swans, but through the bins I could see that they were not swans, they were in fact the Spoonbills that I had come to see. The scope was in my bag, and through the bins there was not much to make out except for their long neck and broad wings and tail. I grabbed a ton of record shots of the birds, since I had no idea what their next move would be, and good thing too, as they quickly dropped down below the tree line. They are my 17th lifer this year, and a bird I have long wanted to see. Sadly because of distance I could not make out the bills properly, but I had hope that over the course of the day I would find them again.

-Spoonbills

Now I was really buzzing and it was about to get even better. Not much further up than from where I saw the spoonbills I noticed a large bird fly towards me over the reeds to the right of the hide. It was clearly a heron and because the neck was tucked in from such a low flight I identified it as a bittern. A quick check with the bins showed I was right, but it also showed that the bird was coming towards me. I grabbed the camera due to the potential of some great shots, just in time for the bird to gain altitude and fly right over me. Great shots? you bet, it was without doubt the greatest view of a bittern I have ever had, beating even those birds that I have seen landed. I think it would only be right to let the pictures do the talking.

-Bittern

The bittern flew over the path and then was lost behind the trees. I had barely made it on site and already it was one of the best days birding this year, and that is saying something. I made it to the hide without further incident, but that's not saying much due to the short distance. I began looking for the ibis, or to see if the spoonbills had landed. The latter had not and the former was not to be seen. I did not want to ask other birders, as it removed some of the pride from any sighting, but from tactical eavesdropping I learned that it was in a pool just up the path.

From the hide there was good stuff to find, including many waterfowl; Common Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall and more Mute Swans. On the banks there were Lapwing, Redshank with a well grown chick and a few Little Egrets, which were showing really well. After some continued searching I found a few Little Ringed Plover on an island quite far out, and was going to announce them with pride, when I noticed a small bird right in front of the hide have a stretch. There had been a Little Ringed Plover with a well grown chick right in front of the hide all along, and nobody had noticed. They were even close enough to get some decent record shots.

-Little Ringed Plover

After my stay in the hide I decided to head up to check out the Ibis and see if it showing. I saw the small cluster of birders on the path, but could not see the bird due to the hedge. I saw the pool next and was shocked by how close it was to the path, as in really close. There were also about 10 Little Egrets on the pond, which being so close and so unfazed looked absolutely great, the best views I can ever recall having.

After a short while the ibis raised its head, it had been feeding at the back out of view. It was moving closer though, but keeping to the reeds and sedges, making it difficult to photo, or even see. This is of course the same bird that I twitched at Wombwell Ings, before exams and all that fun. That seems so long ago, and compared to how close the bird was currently seems completely independant of this encounter.

While I waited upon the ibis to yield a great view I noticed a pair of Whitethroat that had been moving around the hedge in front, probably disturbed by the small cluster of birders. I decided to back off to avoid causing them more harassment. Once back the birds started landing in very nice positions for a photo of Whitethroat for this year.

-Whitethroat

As I had mentioned before there were many Little Egrets all showing well. While photographing the Whitethroat I had noticed to my horror that my camera battery was very very low. Even so, I decided it was too good and opportunity to miss, so took a few photos of the egrets while they were in nice positions.

-Little Egret

But of course, the bird of the hour was the ibis. After waiting a little while it decided to finally come out and show itself in all its glory. It was a different perspective to the view I had got at Wombwell, here really highlighting the grey streaks on its head and the the green and purple sheen on the bird. It carried out all kinds of behavior, mainly feeding but also preening which was a different perspective of the bird.

-Glossy Ibis

I got so many better pictures of the Ibis than before, the fourth awesome bird that I have seen already today. After a while I decided to move on to try and re-find the Spoonbills further up the reserve. I had initially decided to walk along the river, but the spoonbills had changed that and I decided to walk along the road to see if I could find them further up.

Before the road I added Willow Warbler to my day list, and Wren too, which was singing with great gusto from the hedge. Once on the road the birds naturally declined. Overlooking the Spoonbill Flash I did not get many additions as most of the birds could be seen from the hide. However, there were some ducks resting hidden next to the road which I failed to see due to me being distracted by a Sedge Warbler. One of the ducks was a Pochard female, which I took a couple of photos of due to it being so close.

-Female Pochard

I continued along the road, reaching the area that overlooks the moat. However, the spoonbills could not been seen. What did impress me were the number of Cormorants. They were everywhere, on the trees, on the bank, in the water even flying overhead. I was very surprised by how many there were.

I moved off and entered the car park area of the reserve. I first headed down to the main bay lookout point near the car park to see if there was anything there, as there has been some decent stuff in the past. Today it was very quiet though, mainly eclipse mallards. There was also a female Mandarin which was different, a lovely male reed bunting giving it Gusto from the reedbed and a couple of Common Terns hunting out over the bay.

After a short stay at the feeding station my next call was the Pickup Hide for lunch. On the feeding station there were Blue Tits, Great Tits and Tree Sparrows, nothing particularly unusual, nor were there any willow tits which I really wanted to see.

Fortunately at the Pickup Hide there was a Willow Tit, a very aggressive individual that was chasing all other birds on the feeders. Besides that there was not much about. The Sand Martin wall in front of the hide was quite busy, with a few birds drifting in and out at regular intervals. There were also about 5 Avocet on the bank, I am informed a pair with chicks. A Stock Dove also joined in at one point for a drink, but it was very quiet. I tried for some record shots of the Willow Tit but it was very dark and they did not come out well. Never mind.

-Willow Tit

-Tree Sparrow

Once I had moved on from Pickup I decided to take a look at the hide overlooking the main bay before returning to Lin Dyke via the river. In that hide there was not much, but there were good numbers of Great-Crested Grebes on the lake, most of which were sleeping. On the way to the hide I also picked up Chiff-Chaff and Long-Tailed Tit, the latter being a regular at the site.

Along the river it was very quiet. There good numbers of Cormorants in the river, and a Grey Heron on the bank. It was mainly the insects along the bank that were the highlight, with many species of butterfly; Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Small and Large Skipper, Red Admiral, as well as a couple of dragonfly species; a spectacular Four-Spot Chaser and a Black-Tailed Skimmer on the path.

-Four Spot Chaser

-Black-Tailed Skimmer

 I re-arrived at Lin Dyke hide intending to stay a little while and then go and re-find the ibis. However, not long into my stay at the hide and a birder came in and informed us that the ibis had moved on, apparently we should have seen it from the hide, but failed. So I spent all my remaining time in this hide waiting for something to appear.

And right on cue the Spoonbills decided to do another flyby, but this time I opted to watch them rather than photograph them. Even through the scope it was difficult to see that beak, but I certainly got a better view than I had got before, and I was glad I saw them again before I left for the train. Once they had gone down again I returned to try and see what else was about. The fore mentioned birder had spoken about Common Sandpiper, and right on cue a Common Sand came and landed on one of the pieces of wood on the lake, another great day tick. There was a tree in the middle of the flash, and while I watched this tree became frequently covered in Sand Martins, before something would cause them to flush and they would all leave. But the real stars again were the Little Ringed Plovers, which once more were right in front of me, but I was unable to spot them for a good half an hour. It then turned into a nightmare trying to describe their location to the other birds, who could not believe how well hidden they were, despite being out in the open.

-Little-Ringed Plover

It came to the time when I had to go for the train sadly, and I departed. On the way back I picked up another Grey Heron and a Pheasant but not much. It truly had been a great day, really enjoyable. And with another lifer, and catching up with that Glossy Ibis what more could a birder really ask for.

Species List:

Fairburn Ings RSPB: Spoonbill, Bittern, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Starling, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Blackcap, Great Tit, Robin, Common Pheasant, Black-Headed Gull, Wren, Mallard, Jackdaw, Mute Swan, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Mistle Thrush, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Kestrel, Collard Dove, Lapwing, Long-Tailed Tit, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Moorhen, Coot, Great-Crested Grebe, Jay, Common Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard, Redshank, Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Stock Dove, Willow Tit, Oystercatcher, Chiffchaff, House Martin, Little-Ringed Plover, Sand Martin, Willow Warbler, Scaup, Canada Goose, Graylag Goose, Avocet, Sedge Warbler, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Whitethroat, Swift, Cuckoo, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Large White, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Blue-Tailed Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Four-Spot Chaser, Common Toad,