Skinningrove twitching Eastern Black Redstart

Working during the week has now reduced me to a weekend twitcher. Having been for the White-billed Diver yesterday I decided to have a look north for the Eastern Black Redstart thats been wintering on the south side of Tees. Its not a species, and is something I have seen before but that previous time the light had faded badly, and its just something I wanted to see.

Once I arrived on site it took a few minutes before the bird appeared, but once it had come out from the rocks it started showing obscenely well at incredibly close quarters on the rocks less than two meters in front of me. There were only a few other birders there so we were able to really get to grips with the bird and for me, try to learn as much about it as possible.

Its a cracking bird to say the least, one of the best I have ever seen and the way it behaved was fantastic. It gave me the chance to experiment with my photography, allowing me to test all my camera set ups;

Phonescoping...

-Eastern Black Redstart

Digiscoping...

-Eastern Black Redstart

and DSLR set up...

-Eastern Black Redstart

I have learnt not to trust my DSLR as it struggles to get things in focus. However it performed much better today, probably as a result of the bird being so close to us. The light was a big problem as the bird was always in shade, but as the afternoon drew on it did improve a little.

As for the supporting cast, it was very good. With the Redstart on the beach was a pair of very bold Stonechats and a flock of Turnstones that were equally confiding. On the cliffs behind us was a small colony of Fulmar and a Peregrine flew through. It was a really pleasant afternoon out birding. 

-Turnstone

-Stonechat

On the way back I got off the bus in Redcar and went to have a look at the Velvet Scoter flock off the cinema. In total I counted eleven birds diving around among the roost gulls. Its the first time I have properly seen these birds on the sea through my new scope, and not through my old scope. A nice way to wrap up the day, a fantastic days birding out in the north east.

-Velvet Scoter

Species List:

Skinningrove: Grey Heron, Eider, Red-throated Diver, Eastern Black Redstart, Robin, Rock Pipit, Stonechat, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Fulmar, Jackdaw, Peregrine, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 

Redcar: Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull,

NGB Spurn Weekend Day 2

My first full day at Spurn. It started steady, dipping the black brant, but then got to see a Garden Warbler in the hand as compensation. A few birds moving on the sea, including my first Arctic Tern on the year, bringing me so close to 200. Then the radio crackled into life and the morning really kicked off. It happened that a Red-breasted Flycatcher had been found in the Crown car park, so I piled into Steves car and we raced up. There was a feeling of deja vu as I arrived to the news that it had just gone, flown across into Cliff Farm. A similar story to the one I missed at mig-fest. Whilst everyone else tried to find it from the road, I wandered down the canal and after waiting it did finally sit out. I whilstled the others but by the time they arrived the bird, which proved tricky all day, dived back into the bushes. It was some time before it remerged too, leaving me hoping I had not cocked it up. Thankfully it did come out and when it sat out I was able to get some record shots. However, the early morning gloom made it diffiuclt, and the bird was very tricky, and hard to follow. It continued to show all day but the first views in Cliff Farm sound like the best of it. Another lifer for the weekend for me.

-Red-breasted Flycatcher

I could have watched it longer, but the time was cut short by news a male Red-backed Shrike had been caught at the Warren. Once again I piled into Steves car and we raced down. In the hand the shrike was absolutely stunning, obviously. An adult male shrike is always fantastic but to see it up close you could really appreciate it, an incredibly handsome bird to say the least. Undoubtedly one of the many highlights of the week. I mean, what more can I say. Awesome...

-Red backed Shrike

After release the bird continued to show nicely along the canal. The day was warming up, so I decided to make a move up to the ponds via beacon lane to see if there was anything up there. I got very little on the way up, but once at ponds and wetlands there was a few things about, including Tufted Duck, Knot, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit flybys. Obviously the Little Terns were still there, with 12 sitting out on the shoreline. But the real highlight, and the best bird I found up until the Sunday was a flyby Velvet Scoter. I picked up a duck at sea, mid distance, but from long bank it was quite far away and the haze was making it difficult. However, it was clearly a Scoter, even from a long way out. It was only when I got to see its wings clearly that the White really stood out. I tried to get a photo but once I took my eyes off the scope I lost it. Still, a smashing Spurn and Year-tick for me.

As the afternoon wore on, the weather continued to be incredibly warm, so I decided to head on down to Clubleys to see if any Red-veined Darters were out and showing. I was in luck. I had four male and one female showing very well along the edge of the scrapes. I finally got the shots and views of the species that I had wanted since I first came to spurn almost two years ago.

-Red-veined Darter

I finished the day with a short trip to Sammies, but there was nothing much going on up that way. A couple of Grey Partridge gave me a fright when the erupted from the grass in front of me, and a tatty cream-crowned Marsh Harrier flew over. In the evening the NGBs started to arrive, allowing me to see old friends and make new ones. Despite there not being the numbers of birds around, it was a fantastic days birding.

Sightings List:

Spurn: Canal and Warren: Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Swallow, Shelduck, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Wren, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Curlew, Greylag Goose, Dunnock, Whimbrel, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Mallard, Magpie, Reed Bunting, House Martin, Black-tailed Godwit, Canada Goose, Gannet, Sandwich Tern, Common Scoter, Brent Goose, Whitethroat, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Common Gull, Garden Warbler, Little Tern, Arctic Tern, Red-throated Diver, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Grey Wagtail, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Red-backed Shrike, Oystercatcher, Skylark, Meadow Pipit,

Spurn: Beacon Lane and Holderness Field: House Martin, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Robin, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Dunnock, Magpie, Swallow, Moorhen, Sedge Warbler, Carrion Crow, Shelduck, Little Egret, Avocet, Skylark, Yellow Wagtail, Black-headed Gull, Reed Bunting, 

Spurn: Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds: Tufted Duck, Ringed Plover, Little Egret, Avocet, Oystercatcher, Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Tern, Swallow, Cormorant, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Teal, Knot, Shelduck, Woodpigeon, Meadow Pipit, Herring Gull, Greylag Goose, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Redshank, Pheasant, Bar-tailed Godwit, House Martin, Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull, Dunlin, Reed Bunting, Velvet Scoter, Turnstone, Stock Dove, Four-spot Chaser, Orange Tip, Red Admiral

Spurn: Triangle: Blackbird, Woodpigeon, House Martin, Goldfinch, Swallow, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Whitethroat, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Moorhen, Linnet, Cuckoo, Peregrine, Grey Partridge, Marsh Harrier, Lapwing, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Red-veined Darter, Black-tailed Skimmer, Orange Tip, Wall Brown, Common Blue

Norfolk Holiday Day 4

And so on the last full day in Norfolk I decided to return to Titchwell since it had given so much more than Cley had yesterday. Once more it took me the best part of the morning to get to the site, but once there the weather was lovely and hopefully there would be plenty of morning reports for me to go for. 

I arrived at the site and checked the list. Both the mornings oddities were at Patsy's Reedbed; Pink Footed Goose and Lesser Whitethroat, the latter would be a lifer for me. I therefore headed straight to there. I wandered up to the view point over the pool and immediately spotted the PFG, which was resting among the graylags on the near side of the pool. I watched it for about 10 mins before deciding it would be time to try and locate the Lesser Whitethroat. 

-Pink-Footed Goose

So having picked up a great tick in the PFG, and got my best ever photos of the species I headed on to where the whitethroat was. It had been reported in the hedge behind the the pool, not showing well but calling frequently. As I had been asking for info about the bird at the center one of the birders wandered by who had seen it. He asked if I knew what one sounded like, and said that it sounded like a yellowhammer but without the 'cheese' when I replied no.

And so I stood next to the hedge listening for a yellowhammer with no cheese. And after about a minuet I heard it. I followed its call for some time before I saw it shadowy figure moving through the hedge. That was the pattern for a good 20 mins, following the skulky bird through the hedge without getting a real good view, but frequently hearing its call. 

After the 20mins it had a quiet spell, before having a very loud spell and then deciding to up-sticks and head away from that hedge and a different one away on the far side of the field. I tried to get a record shot as it flew off, but I struggled and my only effort is shown below, the bird being near the bottom right corner. You can see the dark cap if you blow up the photo enough, but photos are not everything, and my record shot is enough, as it pretty much sums up my view of the bird, skulky and difficult to see.

But see it I did, making it my 4th lifer of the holidays, and that was exciting enough when I had only just started the mornings birding.

-Lesser Whitethroat

Since the whitethroat had left I turned to find that the PFG had left to my disappointment. As a result I decided to head off, and just as I was leaving I turned again and what should drop out of the reeds but a Bittern. I could not believe it, as it landed right on the edge of the reeds on the edge of the pool, allowing me a great view of the bird. 

It stayed at the edge for a little while before merging itself into the back of the reeds. I managed a few photos but struggle to find it through the scope. The bins were enough, though they were not necessarily needed for a great view.

-Bittern

As I waited to see if the bittern would come back out the PFG returned with a small group of Graylag's, and landed on the pool. It took a little while but it returned to the bank soon enough and I was able to pick up a few more photos with the light with me this time. So that's 3 pretty awesome bird species and I had not even been onto the main part of the reserve.

-Pink-Footed Goose

I began my walk up the Western Bank to the Parrinder Hides. On the way up along the edge of the woods where the reeds are I heard a very familiar call that I have been hearing all week. It was the stunning and shocking call of a Cettis Warbler. As I turned to see if I could find the source of the call I spotted a small reddish warbler fly out of the reeds and land lower down. I then got to follow the bird as it skulked through the bottom of the reeds before it flew off into the woodland. So that was my second Cettis Warbler of the Holiday, and only my 4th ever.

The hides were quite quiet by the high standards set last time, though there were still great numbers of wildfowl and waders. There were a few Little-Ringed Plover and Avocets, as well the usual suspects. I decided to head up to the coast and see what was around up that end. 

On the way up to the beach I was able to watch some lovely birds along the edge of Volunteer Marsh and Tidal Marsh. There were good numbers of Grey Plover and Brent Geese, but the highlights was a small group of Avocets over the tidal marsh which did a few Loop-de-Loops over the marsh before coming back down and landing on the island. Because they were in flight you can really appreciate the beauty and elegance of these birds.

-Avocet

Up on the coast I arrived just in time to see a flock of scoters with white wings come and land on the ocean quite near the shore. I had a look through the scope, and possibly because the sea was calm, or perhaps because they were closer I was actually able to fully appreciate the birds and even see the yellow on their bills and the white on the wing.

I still could not really count the number of each species in the flock, but I knew there were a large majority Velvet due to the number of white wings that I had seen when they landed. I grabbed some better record shots, which show that quite a few of the birds do indeed have white wings, but that some don't, a mixture flock.

-Common and Velvet Scoters

I was able to watch them for quite a while, though the started to drift out to sea, and then drift towards the western part of the beach until they ended up some was away. At that point I began to look around, see what else was about. Someone had decided to wander right down to the edge of the water, not a birder, someone on the beach, but in doing so they had sent up all the birds from the shoreline, Sanderlings, Dunlin and Bar-Tailed Godwit. The numbers of them can be difficult to tell if they are on the shoreline feeding, but when they were all in the air you can see the number of Sanderlings, far more than I had thought initially.

-Sanderling, Bar-Tailed Godwit and Dunlin

Also the near the waters edge was a small group of Common Scoter, 2 males and 2 females. The males however drifted off while the waders were up, but the females stuck around very close to the shore. I wanted to get close to the bird, since it was so close to the shore, but I decided against it in case I incurred the wrath of any other sea-watchers, though they would probably be watching the larger but drifting flock of other scoters. So in the end the photos were not what they could have been, but I did manage to get some decent photos of it.

-Female Common Scoter

Since the scoters had drifted away I decided to head down to the South Parrinder Hide to see if anything else had shown up through the day while I had not been there. I went in and began to scout around to see what was about. There was the usual stuff, until I took my eye away from the scope and spotted, on the bank right in front of the hide, the Spotted Redshank.

I'm always dubious in calling birds like this in case I am wrong, but exclaimed it more in surprise since I had been looking all over and here it was right in front of me. I got some great views and took plenty of photos, allowing me to fully appreciate the subtly beauty of the bird, as well as get to grips with all the key features: Spots, dark bill and the slight droop on the end of the bill.

Like I said, I got many photos, and who wouldn't with such an usual bird right in front of me looking so fine in the sunshine. Unlike last time, the sun was with me this time so all the spots on the birds back show up well in the photos, clearly showing the bird in all its glory.

-Spotted Redshank

Between my Spotted Shank watching a small family of Mallards swam across the front of the hide. You could tell the dude birders in that moment, as they became infatuated with the ducklings, while the other birders remained watching the Spotted Shank in front of the hide. I took a few quick photos of the Ducklings simply because its the first family I have seen this year, though of course there was the duckling on fly flatts, sadly though that one was dead. 

-Mallard Ducklings

-Spotted Redshank

After a while I decided to return to see if the scoters had come closer to the shore. They had not, the only birds of note being Sandwich Terns that drifted past the shore. However, on the way up I was able to get great views of a stunning Black-Tailed Godwit in summer plumage, on the small strip of water along the edge of the Volunteer Marsh. 

-Black-Tailed Godwit

After that short trip I called in again at the South Hide to see if the Spot shank was still there, but it had left, probably insulted by the number of 'birders' that seemed more keen on the ducklings that the shank. Time was running out for me so I decided to go and see if the Whitethroat had turned up. On the way there I stopped by to grab a few more photos of the Avocets, who even knows when I will next see one...

-Avocet

On the way I passed the Reedbed Pool, and on there was a pair of Red-Crested Pochard. The male and female were drifted from each other, the male drifted behind the reeds as I approached, but the female was sat quite close to the path. I managed a few photos of the bird, another record shot of this species. 

-Red Crested Pochard Female

I checked where the Whitethroat had been but it was not there, and neither was the PFG. In fact, the only thing that made that bit of the walk interesting was the fact that I stumbled across my first damselfly of the year, a fleeting glimpse of a Large Red Damselfly as it flew across the path. 

All in all, a great day, all four lifers of the holiday in one day, if that there was one addition today. And that will probably be the last birding action of the day. The only thing left to do is to give a full breakdown of all the species seen today...

Species List:

Titchwell Marsh: Pied Wagtail, Lesser Whitethroat, Pink-Footed Goose, Graylag Goose, Tufted Duck, Black-Headed Gull, Willow Warbler, Shelduck, Wren, Gadwall, Oystercatcher, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Woodpigeon, Robin, Cettis Warbler, Shoveler, Pochard, Teal, Avocet, Grey Plover, Redshank, Brent Goose, Herring Gull, Dunlin, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Ruff, Little Ringed Plover, Canada Goose, Lapwing, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Little Egret, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Turnstone, Sandwich Tern, Sanderling, Jackdaw, Common Crow, Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Red-Crested Pochard, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Pheasant, Long-Tailed Tit, Swallow, Red-Legged Partridge, Large Red Damselfly, Speckled Wood, Large White, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell,