Flushing Hell - following on from yesterday's flushing nightmare, I arrived at St Neots just as the cattle egret had been flushed. After a while I found a footpath at the back of the field and located the cattle egret. It flew back to my original position, so once back there it was easliy located close to the road in photo range well until 3 birders approached it and flushed it. Enough was enough so I left, my target another egret at Paxton pits, it had been seen earlier but was nowhere to be found, in fact all the dog walkers, screaming children had flushed all the birds away. A pair of goosander was the highlight on a complete circuit of the reserve. A quick check of the sightings book in the visitors centre gave me the roosting position of the egret, so I went and staked it out, worringly lots of birders passed me heading to another place but I sat firm, a peregrine stirred the ducks up which included several goldeneye. Sometime while I was distracted the great white egret appeared perched on the island opposite my position, word got round and a large group was assambled watching the bird.
28th December
I was almost blown away as I got out of the car, and no geese to be seen, it was first light and I still had not beaten the bloody dog walkers. I was at West Wittering and eventually scanning the bay I found the geese. I walked to the point and the geese were busy feeding, after 15 mins the red breasted goose walked into view. I headed back to the car, another birdwatcher suggested waiting for the high tide and the geese would come to the car park. And they did about 150 brents showing well just had to wait for the rest to come in, but then some *£##*! threw a ball for his dog into the geese field and they left - we had words but all the other geese leaving the saltmarsh headed for East Wittering not the car park fields. I found some of them in nearby fields but the red breasted could not be refound. I headed for more geese this time bean geese, but they were also being elusive until a local gave up their location and after a short walk dodging golf balls I was watching the three tundra bean geese feeding with 20+ mute swans in a field - photo success. After some fast food I was heading to East Sussex to a wood to stake out some mammals with the help of some Christmas veg. The tawny owls were vocal and abundant, and several woodcock gave good flybys but still no mammals, but they were there I could hear them, it was dark when they first appeared a group of four wild boar, next up was a fox then an adult and two piglets and two deer which I could not ID in the dark. Heading back to the car there were lots of wild boar around and fired off a couple of shots with the flash and headed home.
24th December
Suffolk calling and in a bitter wind I arrived at Southwold for the Lesser Yellowlegs, no sign but a caspian gull present in the harbour. After a search of 1.5 hours the lesser yellowlegs was on show but I had been entertained by white fronted and barnacle geese and a water pipit and a greenshank. Thawed out and off to Lowerstoft - Leathes ham had lots of pintail but nothing else, so it was off to Gunton. Two hours of searching gave crap views of the elusive Pallas Warbler.
Battling the last minute Christmas shoppers, I made it to Stubbs Mill for the freezing cold raptor roost, Merlin, 2 Hen harriers, barn owl, 50+ marsh harriers and a sparrowhawk two chinese water deer and eventually the cranes did come in, allowing me time for some shopping before home!
22nd December
Off to Slimbridge - why well it was a stop on the way to Somerset - more of that later,anyway plenty of greylags and the usual ducks a particularly large flock of widgeon plenty of Bewick's swans had returned in the week and they were easily found around the reserve. We located the tundra bean goose amongst the whitefronts and a distant peregrine. There was no sign of the Bittern but not surprising considering the two loudest brummies were in the hide and scared everything but a water rail away and they succeeded in scaring us away as well. The young cranes part of the crane project were on show. So off to Somerset to Ham Wall RSPB to see the Starling roost, the weather was perfect and they did a little performing before going to roost, avoiding a waiting peregrine and sparrowhawk it was an amazing spectacle. Of note was a water vole two water rails a roe deer and two cetti's warblers.
21st December
Amwell - I haven't been for a while and news is not good with major works started to make it a flagship reserve i.e. a reserve for people not birds, what a shame. Anyway a brief morning visit had drake goldeneye and smew and a pair of stonechat.
A brief respite at work and I returned early afternoon showy water rail from the viewpoint and 2 drake and one redhead smew. The hide was quite productive a large flock of siskin at least 60, a cetti's warbler - its winter I am allowed to report it! The feeders drew in a long tailed tit flock, jay, great and blue tit, chaffinch, robin, wren, blackbird, reed bunting, great spotted woodpecker, dunnock. The gull roost was a non event but the third drake smew showed and a few goldeneye were displaying, a few little egrets roosted but not much else.
20th December
Being quite at work I spent a little time early morning at Fishers Green and Hooks Marsh, both were very frozen the swans were icebreaking, pintail of note but not much else. A few little grebes obliged for photos but a car driver trying to park disturbed them (guess the sex!) so I headed to work.
14th December
A busy week with Christmas events, some late night sightings in the village are fox, brown rat and muntjac. Just got word that one of the ringed med gulls I reported (white 38J0) was ringed in Belgium as a 3cyr in May earlier this year.
11th December
Being gifted a day off to recover from the Christmas party, anyway by 10 I was suitably recovered and headed to Norfolk, being probably the only birder not to have seen the Desert Wheatear, Horsey was my first stop. But a few hours later I had not seen it. I did find a couple ofSnow buntings on the beach along with the seals and a comma butterfly - most unexpected. So off the Stubbs Mill roost, with marsh harriers aplenty, 2 hen harriers, sparrowhawk, barn owl and a few woodcock for my efforts. No sign of the Cranes, not a top day.
8th December
Wales in Whales or Whales in Wales (regular readers know will know spelling and grammar is not my strength) but anyway getting to Scilly was a no go so a very early start saw us arrive to wet Wales for breakfast, a small group of very wet people were assembled on the pier but no sign of the whale. They dispersed during the morning, but we persisted. A good selection of birds great northern diver, red necked grebe, razorbill, red breasted merganser of note. Heading to the next bay at least six med gulls were present some were ringed and they allowed us to read them. Returning to the pier area another watcher was present and talking to him gave us the pattern of the whale, arriving on the rising tide to fish off the pier. It arrived and as news got round the few watchers swelled by the locals watched as the whale came to a distance of 20m, thrilling the crowds a truly amazing creature well worth the soaking and the wait.
25th November
Slightly hungover after a day drinking in Reading (on the 24th), (saw loads of Red kites on the way there), my first stop was Theale, it was a beautiful morning and I had a leisurly walk around the gravel pit where the scaup was easily found, but no sign of the fudge duck despite a few attempts by some birders to string a tufted duck. redwings, siskins, buzzard and kingfisher were of note. Next stop was food and drink supplemented with a couple of Asprin. Suitably refreshed it was on to Staines Reservoir
where the wind was bitterly cold, suitably underdressed my visit was brief, but long enough to locate a black necked grebe amongst the common ducks. My final stop was Esher rugby club where I chose not to join in but to wait for the parakeet roost. But things were not going according to plan and the ring necked parakeets were flying through, roosting futher away and they were fewer in number, I tracked them down and got a few pics in the gloom before heading home to bed.
23rd November
A muntjac just outside work in central Harlow was an unexpected particularly in rush hour.
22nd November
Screeching to a halt just outside my village on the way home to avoid hitting a tiny mouse, it scurried into a hedge, so I leapt out, torch in hand just in time to see a harvest mouse disappearing into the hedgerow. Not the first one I have seen, have had one in the garden.
18th November
With the discovery of an accessible Pechora Pipit, all be it 5 hours away in South Wales, I was off with an overnight drive and a few hours kip in the car park. I opted to stay in the car as the rain hammered down at dawn, but some brave souls headed for the bird. 20 mins later the weather was better, so was the light and the bird was still there. The Pechora pipit showed very well on my arrival although in a rather gloomy wooded area, chased off now and again by a robin, but kept returning giving crippling views. After a few hours of top views it was time to head for home, back in the car before the next storm - well timed.
17th November
With the birding quiet elsewhere it was time to do my tetrads for the Bird Atlas both mostly arable farmland with hedgerows, sparse housing and little isolated pockets of woodland. So I started just after lunch in a bitterly cold breeze, even so there were plenty of birds about. I have two tetrads one east and one west of my house. I headed west and encountered a flock of 40 skylarks a few yellowhammers. But the biggest surprise was the number of blackbirds well over 40 feeding on the abundance of berries on the hedgerows, the pheasants were keeping their heads down due to the gunfire so numbers were lower than I usually see from the car on the way to work. Good numbers of fieldfares, a few redwings and hundreds of woodpigeons. The only raptors were a distant kestrel and a sparrowhawk hunting around my house. A quick cup of tea and a coal tit and it was east for my next tetrad, the sparrowhawk was still hunting
but things were a little quiet. a total of three green woodpeckers a few lapwing and some gulls were the highlights, until I met a tit flock with a couple of goldcrests, a few moorhen around a farm pond and then the highlight a large flock of golden plover displaying like starlings.
3rd November
A day out with the Stortford crew to North Norfolk saw us at Lyndford at first knockings. Quickly we were onto a couple of hawfinches in the paddock which eventually turned into 6. A large number of redwings pair of great spotted woodpeckers tit flock and mistle thrushes. Next to Salthouse where a late swallow supported the two lapland buntings amongst the commoner species. Seawatching highlights were kittiwakes. The next stop was East bank Cley, where the car park is shut (apparently they blew all the money on the tea shop and can't afford the repairs but they can afford to plant a forest halfwaydown.) All this has scared the birds away and the water on Arnolds marsh. Seawatching was more productive little auk the highlight. Last stop was the Holkham geese fest with the Ross's flying around on our arrival. The sacred ibis was present in the egret pre roost, a rather obliging Jay in the gloom and the Ross's goose was found on the deck. A small bat was present but no woodcock or barn owls.
