Here it is with a common sandpiper.
White-tailed plover with common sandpiper.
Here is one of it in flight showing the plumage and the pure white tail:
Sunday, 1 August 2010
White-tailed plover at Rainham - 7 July 2010
Had a call from David Campbell at work about a white-tailed plover which had just arrived at Rainham. I couldn't leave work then but I was able to leave early to go home and get my gear. I got to Rainham about 6.30 pm and the plover was on the opposite side of the reserve. The group was visible and those nice folks at the RSPB had agreed to keep the reserve open late. I hurried over to the other side and the plover was showing well but on the far side of the lake. Nevertheless, it waded and preened and flew up and down. Next day it was gone! These shots were taken in fading light.
Here it is with a common sandpiper.
White-tailed plover with common sandpiper.
Here is one of it in flight showing the plumage and the pure white tail:
Here it is with a common sandpiper.
White-tailed plover with common sandpiper.
Here is one of it in flight showing the plumage and the pure white tail:
Norfolk 5 and 10 July 2010 - Montagu's harrier at last.
After our 'not bad' visit to the New Forest, David and I decided to visit Norfolk, and also to try and see the river warbler which had turned up East of Norwich (i.e. a very long way from home).
The day started well with some distant stone curlews in a field near Weeting. A useful year tick.
On to Titchwell for the buff-breasted sandpiper. We saw a corn bunting (which I needed) on the way and we were confident. Too confident as it turned out. The buff-breasted sandpiper proved elusive and after 2 hours or so we decided to call it a day and look for Montagu's harriers at North Creake. That also proved fruitless so we headed for the river warbler. It didn't normally come out to play until 21.00 or 21.30 so it was almost dark when it did appear. It had been singing for quite a while before we saw it a few times flit from place to place in the reeds. Not a very satisfying twitch if I'm honest. We watched / listened to it on and off for about an hour before heading for home where we arrived shortly after 01.00.
At the end of the week I decided to go back to Norfolk. I retraced our steps except for the river warbler. At the stone curlew site I watched a common curlew for about half an hour from behind a bush and it came quite near.
Curlew.
On the way to Titchwell, a couple of miles from the coast, I heard a quail and saw it fly briefly. I tracked down the corn bunting and photographed it.
Corn bunting.
At the reserve the buff-breasted sandpiper was more forthcoming and someone from the hide who had seen it came out to tell those on the bank where it was. Very distant but visible for quite a long time.
Buff-breasted sandpiper (behind oystercatcher).
While I was waiting I saw a spoonbill on the other side of the freshmarsh as well as 3 little terns.
I headed off to North Creake with a couple of guys I met at Titchwell. We weren't sure which site to watch from. There were warning signs at some of the most obvious gaps in the hedge but we found a site to the West which gave good views. Eventually, one of the guys spotted a harrier in the distance and we saw an unmistakable male Montagu's harrier as it came nearer but still distant. My record shot is not one I'm proud of but here it is:
Montagu's harrier.
We also saw a turtle dove fly nearby, another year tick.
I and one of the guys went to Swanton Novers in the hope of seeing a honey buzzard but no luck. A couple had been seen that day by a chap who visited Scandinavia a lot and had seen hundreds of them, but they are not breeding this year so their trips were less predictable as they had no need to find food for young.
After that I went back to North Creake hoping to get a better view of the Monty's. I met some others there including a couple of Americans and one of them pointed out a harrier not too far away which I didn't examine too closely while trying to get a picture. The general view was that we had seen a Monty's but later inspection of my photos revealed that it was in fact only a male marsh harrier. If any them reads this, I'm afraid it wasn't a Montagu's harrier, guys.
The day started well with some distant stone curlews in a field near Weeting. A useful year tick.
On to Titchwell for the buff-breasted sandpiper. We saw a corn bunting (which I needed) on the way and we were confident. Too confident as it turned out. The buff-breasted sandpiper proved elusive and after 2 hours or so we decided to call it a day and look for Montagu's harriers at North Creake. That also proved fruitless so we headed for the river warbler. It didn't normally come out to play until 21.00 or 21.30 so it was almost dark when it did appear. It had been singing for quite a while before we saw it a few times flit from place to place in the reeds. Not a very satisfying twitch if I'm honest. We watched / listened to it on and off for about an hour before heading for home where we arrived shortly after 01.00.
At the end of the week I decided to go back to Norfolk. I retraced our steps except for the river warbler. At the stone curlew site I watched a common curlew for about half an hour from behind a bush and it came quite near.
Curlew.
On the way to Titchwell, a couple of miles from the coast, I heard a quail and saw it fly briefly. I tracked down the corn bunting and photographed it.
Corn bunting.
At the reserve the buff-breasted sandpiper was more forthcoming and someone from the hide who had seen it came out to tell those on the bank where it was. Very distant but visible for quite a long time.
Buff-breasted sandpiper (behind oystercatcher).
While I was waiting I saw a spoonbill on the other side of the freshmarsh as well as 3 little terns.
I headed off to North Creake with a couple of guys I met at Titchwell. We weren't sure which site to watch from. There were warning signs at some of the most obvious gaps in the hedge but we found a site to the West which gave good views. Eventually, one of the guys spotted a harrier in the distance and we saw an unmistakable male Montagu's harrier as it came nearer but still distant. My record shot is not one I'm proud of but here it is:
Montagu's harrier.
We also saw a turtle dove fly nearby, another year tick.
I and one of the guys went to Swanton Novers in the hope of seeing a honey buzzard but no luck. A couple had been seen that day by a chap who visited Scandinavia a lot and had seen hundreds of them, but they are not breeding this year so their trips were less predictable as they had no need to find food for young.
After that I went back to North Creake hoping to get a better view of the Monty's. I met some others there including a couple of Americans and one of them pointed out a harrier not too far away which I didn't examine too closely while trying to get a picture. The general view was that we had seen a Monty's but later inspection of my photos revealed that it was in fact only a male marsh harrier. If any them reads this, I'm afraid it wasn't a Montagu's harrier, guys.
New Forest - Tree pipits and other common birds!
David Campbell and I decided to go to the New Forest today, 10 July, to see if there were any Honey buzzards at Acres Down. On arrival there was no sign of them and one chap reliably told us that no-one had seen any this year (I knew we should have gone to Norfolk). After photographing a meadow pipit, we decided to look in the forest.
On the way back we saw two ravens fly ahead and then land. Then we flushed 2 or 3 woodlark which we then stalked to get reasonable views.
Woodlark.
Meadow pipit looking for his offspring.
We saw a lesser spotted woodpecker briefly, tree pipit and heard woodlark.
Tree pipit.
We made our way back to the car and headed for Beaulieu Railway Station near Bishop's Dyke. We hoped to see a dartford warbler and we did see one briefly as we neared the edge of the forest.
In the forest David saw some crossbills but our search for redstart was unsuccessful until we were leaving when we saw one adult male and a juvenile.
Juvenile redstart.
Woodlark.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Blue-winged teal and sand martins.
Last Tuesday, 29 June, I had the pleasure of attending my daughter's graduation ceremony in Durham, a very long way from Sutton. Why not start the journey on Sunday? Lynne, my wife had to work on Monday so she decided to go up by train. I left late Sunday morning and went straight for the blue-winged teal at Berry Fen, Cambs. It was not a bad bird but very distant and the 'white' face patch was more beige, making it difficult to pick out from the many female mallards there.
After a record shot I left for Welney WWT hoping to see the bluethroat. It wasn't there! However, the swallows nesting in the centre were fledging. This young swallow looked as if he was nearly ready to migrate.
This one who dropped to the floor didn't look as if he should have been out of the nest.
In the carpark there was an immaculately restored old amphibian car which, the owner assured me, still worked in water. Bet he wouldn't try it now though!
After lunch I headed for the raptor viewpoint at Wykeham Forest in North Yorkshire. The spot was perfect but it was probably too hot as I saw only a few buzzards in about two and a half hours. By then it was time to head off towards Durham. I went via Middlesborough and passed the magnificent transporter bridge which takes only nine cars. Cars are ferried on a swinging platform suspended beneath a moving trolley on the overhead gantry. It was quite old fashioned and quaint but I loved it.
Just on the other side is Saltholme, the new RSPB reserve. I got there 20 minutes before it closed but it looked good. At Durham the hotel was by the river. Some sand martins were actually nesting in the river wall. Nice to see them close up.
The graduation was very satisfying. The ceremony took place in the cathedral and the chancellor is Bill Bryson! Everyone gets a quick handshake but they don't get any certificate at the ceremony. Bill Bryson was quite amusing in his speech. The whole thing was quite well organised but we were still at the back of the cathedral even though we queued for an hour. Then we had to do the graduation photos, order the handshake photo separately, buy the graduation video, the graduation teddy bear, the university scarf, the tea towel....!! OK, OK, I lied about the tea towel but the rest is true.
 |
| Blue-winged teal |
After a record shot I left for Welney WWT hoping to see the bluethroat. It wasn't there! However, the swallows nesting in the centre were fledging. This young swallow looked as if he was nearly ready to migrate.
 |
| Fledgling swallow. |
This one who dropped to the floor didn't look as if he should have been out of the nest.
On my way out, this pied wagtail on the bridge had an interesting mixture of insects and wriggling things. I'm not very good on bugs but perhaps someone knows what they all are?
 |
Pied wagtail with selection of 'goodies' |
On to Bridlington where, next morning, I went to Bempton cliffs. I did take pictures of gannets, guillemots, razorbills, puffins but they weren't that good. The sun was very strong. This nice tree sparrow was on the roof of the centre.
 |
| Tree sparrow. |
In the carpark there was an immaculately restored old amphibian car which, the owner assured me, still worked in water. Bet he wouldn't try it now though!
 |
| A lovingly restored amphibian car. |
After lunch I headed for the raptor viewpoint at Wykeham Forest in North Yorkshire. The spot was perfect but it was probably too hot as I saw only a few buzzards in about two and a half hours. By then it was time to head off towards Durham. I went via Middlesborough and passed the magnificent transporter bridge which takes only nine cars. Cars are ferried on a swinging platform suspended beneath a moving trolley on the overhead gantry. It was quite old fashioned and quaint but I loved it.
 |
Transporter bridge
Middlesborough
|
Just on the other side is Saltholme, the new RSPB reserve. I got there 20 minutes before it closed but it looked good. At Durham the hotel was by the river. Some sand martins were actually nesting in the river wall. Nice to see them close up.
 |
| Sand martin. |
 |
| Sand martin. |
The graduation was very satisfying. The ceremony took place in the cathedral and the chancellor is Bill Bryson! Everyone gets a quick handshake but they don't get any certificate at the ceremony. Bill Bryson was quite amusing in his speech. The whole thing was quite well organised but we were still at the back of the cathedral even though we queued for an hour. Then we had to do the graduation photos, order the handshake photo separately, buy the graduation video, the graduation teddy bear, the university scarf, the tea towel....!! OK, OK, I lied about the tea towel but the rest is true.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Richmond Park. Red-backed shrike.
Having failed by 10 minutes to see the Banstead red-backed shrike, I went to Richmond Park yesterday, sunday, where a male had been reported, 'walk West from Sheen car park'. West from Sheen car park the land didn't look right. There were no bushes and small trees in open terrain or fences that shrikes like. I wouldn't have found the spot except for meeting someone who had just seen it and was going home. It was in a large hawthorn tree where it had been for about an hour. Would it come out?
Dog walkers went very near. A mallard landed on the improbably small pond only a few metres in diameter. We sat on a nearby tussock and waited. Then the bird was spotted. I took a few photos and watched the shrike for a while. I had only brought my smaller lens. Even though it would take half an hour to go back to the car for my 500mm I decided it would be worth it. When I got back the shrike was still there. Hid behind a bush and got some shots of it sitting in wait, but not actually catching anything. A nice trip to the park.
Red-backed shrike
Dog walkers went very near. A mallard landed on the improbably small pond only a few metres in diameter. We sat on a nearby tussock and waited. Then the bird was spotted. I took a few photos and watched the shrike for a while. I had only brought my smaller lens. Even though it would take half an hour to go back to the car for my 500mm I decided it would be worth it. When I got back the shrike was still there. Hid behind a bush and got some shots of it sitting in wait, but not actually catching anything. A nice trip to the park.
Red-backed shrike
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Marmora's Warbler good, Forest of Dean better.
My first reaction on hearing the news of a Marmora's warbler in Blaenavon, Gwent was: "What's a Marmora's warbler?" Oops. Showing my ignorance again. The next question was: Should I go for it? The first day news was a bit dodgy. 'Probable', 'mobile' and 'elusive' are not words you want to hear when contemplating a 165 mile journey to see a bird. The second day reports were more encouraging so I decided to go yesterday, Sat 5 June.
I left early and arrived easily and found the car park (that lonely road on the moor is actually in Google street view). There were probably 200-300 people there already. No sooner had I got to the spot than the bird emerged unexpectedly from a bush at the side of the road and flew in front of my face a couple of metres away! It was a while before it reappeared so, in the meantime, I enjoyed the other birds. There were several cuckoos, one being mobbed by tree pipits (both year ticks), willow warbler, meadow pipits, whinchat, etc.
Tree pipit
Cuckoo
After twenty minutes, the Marmora's warbler reappeared causing a surge. It favoured a wall on the North of the road which was good from the point of view of light. I managed shots from about 100m and the bird is small. Nevertheless, you can clearly make out the Dartford warbler look, the orange legs, red eye, black tip to bill and plain breast. It was singing away most of the time. Lovely.
Marmora's
warbler
Marmora's
warbler.
Marmora's warblers normally live on Mediterranean islands such as Corsica and Sardinia. The last record in the UK was about ten years ago. After about an hour it was still only nine o'clock. I spoke to some guys from Essex who told me the Forest of Dean was very nice, especially for goshawks displaying in the Spring. It was too late for that but it was on my way home so I went to have a look. I was sure to be able to get a drink at the RSPB visitor centre!
On arrival at the Nag's Head, sorry I mean Nagshead RSPB, the visitor centre was very spartan with no facilities at all except for toilets. They had solar panels for electricity but they were not working so there were no lights. The volunteers were very helpful and, hearing that I'd been up since 5 o'clock, they gave me a coffee from their own personal flask. Thanks very much to the Harrisons (I think they were so called). That was very kind. I was gasping.
The Forest of Dean is gorgeous. It's a large area of mature woodland, ideal for pied flycatcher and wood warbler. On my way to the lower hide I heard a family of treecreepers. They were very mobile and light levels (photographically speaking) were very low in the wood. I had to up the ISO to 1600 most of the time and this does affect the quality of the photos. I know some people say modern cameras are good to 1600 and even to 3200 but I notice a distinct graininess even over 400.
Treecreeper
The hide was a very old fashioned one from 1986 with very narrow slits only about 180mm high. I had a job looking out and I only just managed to get my lens through the opening. There was a nice spotted flycatcher nearby and a nuthatch also came to the same tree.
Spotted
flycatcher
Even though I applied -1.3 stops of exposure compensation, the pale bird in sunlight is still overexposed. -2 would probably have been right for a small pale bird with the dark trees around.
I then had to find a pied flycathcer and wood warbler. According to the volunteer, pied flycatcher should be relatively common in the wood. It was simply a case of finding a nesting box with them in it. Returning birdwatchers, however, reported that all the nesting boxes seemed to be occupied by tits. I found a point where I could watch three nesting boxes at the same time. The middle one did have pied flycatchers in. The guys from Essex appeared at that moment and so did the wood warbler which proved to be very mobile and elusive.
Pied flycatcher.
male.
Pied flycatcher.
female.
Wood warbler.
On my way home I stopped off at Highnam Wood to see if there were any nightingales. The nature trail was good, but I found no nightingales. I met the Harrisons again, checking nesting boxes. They'd finished their shift at Nagshead and they'd been to a wedding in between!! That's efficient use of time.
Time to go home and look at the photos.
I left early and arrived easily and found the car park (that lonely road on the moor is actually in Google street view). There were probably 200-300 people there already. No sooner had I got to the spot than the bird emerged unexpectedly from a bush at the side of the road and flew in front of my face a couple of metres away! It was a while before it reappeared so, in the meantime, I enjoyed the other birds. There were several cuckoos, one being mobbed by tree pipits (both year ticks), willow warbler, meadow pipits, whinchat, etc.
Tree pipit
Cuckoo
After twenty minutes, the Marmora's warbler reappeared causing a surge. It favoured a wall on the North of the road which was good from the point of view of light. I managed shots from about 100m and the bird is small. Nevertheless, you can clearly make out the Dartford warbler look, the orange legs, red eye, black tip to bill and plain breast. It was singing away most of the time. Lovely.
Marmora's
warbler
Marmora's
warbler.
Marmora's warblers normally live on Mediterranean islands such as Corsica and Sardinia. The last record in the UK was about ten years ago. After about an hour it was still only nine o'clock. I spoke to some guys from Essex who told me the Forest of Dean was very nice, especially for goshawks displaying in the Spring. It was too late for that but it was on my way home so I went to have a look. I was sure to be able to get a drink at the RSPB visitor centre!
On arrival at the Nag's Head, sorry I mean Nagshead RSPB, the visitor centre was very spartan with no facilities at all except for toilets. They had solar panels for electricity but they were not working so there were no lights. The volunteers were very helpful and, hearing that I'd been up since 5 o'clock, they gave me a coffee from their own personal flask. Thanks very much to the Harrisons (I think they were so called). That was very kind. I was gasping.
The Forest of Dean is gorgeous. It's a large area of mature woodland, ideal for pied flycatcher and wood warbler. On my way to the lower hide I heard a family of treecreepers. They were very mobile and light levels (photographically speaking) were very low in the wood. I had to up the ISO to 1600 most of the time and this does affect the quality of the photos. I know some people say modern cameras are good to 1600 and even to 3200 but I notice a distinct graininess even over 400.
Treecreeper
The hide was a very old fashioned one from 1986 with very narrow slits only about 180mm high. I had a job looking out and I only just managed to get my lens through the opening. There was a nice spotted flycatcher nearby and a nuthatch also came to the same tree.
Spotted
flycatcher
Even though I applied -1.3 stops of exposure compensation, the pale bird in sunlight is still overexposed. -2 would probably have been right for a small pale bird with the dark trees around.
I then had to find a pied flycathcer and wood warbler. According to the volunteer, pied flycatcher should be relatively common in the wood. It was simply a case of finding a nesting box with them in it. Returning birdwatchers, however, reported that all the nesting boxes seemed to be occupied by tits. I found a point where I could watch three nesting boxes at the same time. The middle one did have pied flycatchers in. The guys from Essex appeared at that moment and so did the wood warbler which proved to be very mobile and elusive.
Pied flycatcher.
male.
Pied flycatcher.
female.
Wood warbler.
On my way home I stopped off at Highnam Wood to see if there were any nightingales. The nature trail was good, but I found no nightingales. I met the Harrisons again, checking nesting boxes. They'd finished their shift at Nagshead and they'd been to a wedding in between!! That's efficient use of time.
Time to go home and look at the photos.
Friday, 4 June 2010
Devon and Cornwall for Gilbert and Sullivan.
I had high hopes for this weekend. Not only was I going to see my sister sing in G&S's Ruddigore but I could spend a whole day going down to Devon. I had high hopes of seeing cirl bunting at Labrador Bay, just South of Teignmouth. After a gorgeous day on Thursday 13 May, the Friday turned out to be awful in the West. It rained most of the day and I only heard the cirl buntings. I don't blame them for not coming out to show for me. I wouldn't have come out either!
Well, dippers aren't afraid of rain are they? I knew there were dippers at Aveton Gifford in South Devon. I just couldn't find the right spot on the map. After that, I went for a coffee and cake in the local shop; comfort eating!
Well, the next day was lovely so I thought I'd head for Cornwall where quite a number of useful birds had been sighted. I left early for the Camel estuary for 3 spoonbills and a lesser yellowlegs, a rare wader from America. Got there quite early and went down to the flats only to be greeted by thick mist. Before it cleared a fox came along the path towards me, stopped briefly, before carrying on straight towards me. He looked me up and down, then passed within two metres of me on his way somewhere. He did have a rather opaque looking eye so maybe his sight was bad.
Fox with dodgy right eye!
I made out a heron in the mist
.
Heron.
The mist cleared half an hour later but I was clearly in the wrong place. Further up the river I met someone from Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society who very kindly told me the spoonbills were at their private sanctuary but the yellowlegs had gone. He said he was sure the others wouldn't mind if I had alook from their hide, and they didn't. Just that the spoonbills had flown a few minutes before I got to the very impressive new tower hide (thanks very much guys, much appreciated).
Ah, well. There was still the woodchat shrike at Polgigga, near Lands End. I was halfway there already! Cormwall is surprisingly difficult to get about in. It took nearly one and a half hours to get there. The instructions on the pager were unusually accurate. I got straight to the spot to find another birdwatcher, David Bradford, already there and not having seen it. It didn't show up in the next ten minutes and we judged it too near the middle of the day. I wanted to see the choughs at Lands End and it turned out that David had had a hot tip on where to see them. "Lead on" I said.
We went to one of the valleys by the airport. I had been there once before and I had seen a chough fly over last year. We followed the coast path round and saw some charming stonechats on the gorse. The yellow backdrop of the gorse made the stonechats stand out in a lovely way. I spent some time taking pictures.
Stonechat - male
In scanning the cliffs I saw a buzzard fly to it's nest and closer inspection with the scope showed two chicks.
Buzzard on nest with chicks
David decided to call it a day. He left wondering if he'd see from my blog that the choughs came after he left! I continued with the stonechats for a while and then decided to go to Cot Valley, the next valley over from where I was. This is quite hard to get to because you have to go through St Just where the lure of the fish and chip shop proved too much. With full stomach I pressed on. At the bottom of Cot Valley I walked along the coast path towards where I had just been. I met Peter Tonkin. He was also looking for choughs and had his camera ready. Two choughs flew to the top of the cliff above our heads and out of our sight. We pressed on and after ten minutes two choughs came very close. One went into an old mineshaft. The other posed for us on the edge for 30-40 seconds, long enough to get good views. It was, I think, the closest either of us had been to a chough. Very nice.
Chough, Land's End
It was getting late and the satnav showed over two hours to get back to Plymouth. I decided not to look for shags as I would surely see them in July when I would be back in Cornwall.
The light opera was very enjoyable, despite their selling out of ice-cream very quickly.
On Sunday, after lunch, my sister came with me to Plymbridge Woods for a walk to see the peregrines. They had young in the nest. We talked to the volunteer. The dipper hadn't been seen that day. While we were talking I kept an eye on the river and suddenly the dipper was there!! Great! Gill, my sister, was chuffed at seeing nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker and a grey wagtail that also appeared over the river.
I left after breakfast on Monday and decided to visit Labrador Bay again to see if the cirl buntings would come out to play. A couple of hundred metres from the car park I saw a chap with binoculars and I stopped to ask him if he had seen any cirl buntings. "I'm doing a survey of cirl buntings" he said! There were some in the hedges along the main road, but he advised me to look from the carpark. It was good advice. I went down the ridiculously steep field and immediately saw a female. I couldn't take any photos though, coz I'd left my tripod in the car! I had to walk up the steep field again to get it.
Cirl bunting, male.
Labrador Bay, Devon
As I wasn't a million miles away from Dawlish Warren I decided to go there and see what was about. It was quite a hot day and I had forgotten how tiring it is to walk through soft sand. At the far end of the spit I saw a group of whimbrel. I managed to get fairly close before they flew off.
Whimbrel
Whimbrel
There was a small flock of dunlin too, almost unnoticeable on the edge of the water.
They just looked like pebbles.
Dunlin
That was the highlight of the afternoon apart from a few common whitethroats, greenfinches, goldfinches, and mainly herring gulls. There were a few shags / cormorants on a distant sandbank but they were far too far away to be sure what they were.
At home I was pleased about the choughs, the dipper, cirl buntings and the whimbrel. Wonder what my year list would be like if I saw, say 90% of the birds I hoped to see!!
Well, dippers aren't afraid of rain are they? I knew there were dippers at Aveton Gifford in South Devon. I just couldn't find the right spot on the map. After that, I went for a coffee and cake in the local shop; comfort eating!
Well, the next day was lovely so I thought I'd head for Cornwall where quite a number of useful birds had been sighted. I left early for the Camel estuary for 3 spoonbills and a lesser yellowlegs, a rare wader from America. Got there quite early and went down to the flats only to be greeted by thick mist. Before it cleared a fox came along the path towards me, stopped briefly, before carrying on straight towards me. He looked me up and down, then passed within two metres of me on his way somewhere. He did have a rather opaque looking eye so maybe his sight was bad.
Fox with dodgy right eye!
I made out a heron in the mist
.
Heron.
The mist cleared half an hour later but I was clearly in the wrong place. Further up the river I met someone from Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society who very kindly told me the spoonbills were at their private sanctuary but the yellowlegs had gone. He said he was sure the others wouldn't mind if I had alook from their hide, and they didn't. Just that the spoonbills had flown a few minutes before I got to the very impressive new tower hide (thanks very much guys, much appreciated).
Ah, well. There was still the woodchat shrike at Polgigga, near Lands End. I was halfway there already! Cormwall is surprisingly difficult to get about in. It took nearly one and a half hours to get there. The instructions on the pager were unusually accurate. I got straight to the spot to find another birdwatcher, David Bradford, already there and not having seen it. It didn't show up in the next ten minutes and we judged it too near the middle of the day. I wanted to see the choughs at Lands End and it turned out that David had had a hot tip on where to see them. "Lead on" I said.
We went to one of the valleys by the airport. I had been there once before and I had seen a chough fly over last year. We followed the coast path round and saw some charming stonechats on the gorse. The yellow backdrop of the gorse made the stonechats stand out in a lovely way. I spent some time taking pictures.
Stonechat - male
In scanning the cliffs I saw a buzzard fly to it's nest and closer inspection with the scope showed two chicks.
Buzzard on nest with chicks
David decided to call it a day. He left wondering if he'd see from my blog that the choughs came after he left! I continued with the stonechats for a while and then decided to go to Cot Valley, the next valley over from where I was. This is quite hard to get to because you have to go through St Just where the lure of the fish and chip shop proved too much. With full stomach I pressed on. At the bottom of Cot Valley I walked along the coast path towards where I had just been. I met Peter Tonkin. He was also looking for choughs and had his camera ready. Two choughs flew to the top of the cliff above our heads and out of our sight. We pressed on and after ten minutes two choughs came very close. One went into an old mineshaft. The other posed for us on the edge for 30-40 seconds, long enough to get good views. It was, I think, the closest either of us had been to a chough. Very nice.
Chough, Land's End
It was getting late and the satnav showed over two hours to get back to Plymouth. I decided not to look for shags as I would surely see them in July when I would be back in Cornwall.
The light opera was very enjoyable, despite their selling out of ice-cream very quickly.
On Sunday, after lunch, my sister came with me to Plymbridge Woods for a walk to see the peregrines. They had young in the nest. We talked to the volunteer. The dipper hadn't been seen that day. While we were talking I kept an eye on the river and suddenly the dipper was there!! Great! Gill, my sister, was chuffed at seeing nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker and a grey wagtail that also appeared over the river.
I left after breakfast on Monday and decided to visit Labrador Bay again to see if the cirl buntings would come out to play. A couple of hundred metres from the car park I saw a chap with binoculars and I stopped to ask him if he had seen any cirl buntings. "I'm doing a survey of cirl buntings" he said! There were some in the hedges along the main road, but he advised me to look from the carpark. It was good advice. I went down the ridiculously steep field and immediately saw a female. I couldn't take any photos though, coz I'd left my tripod in the car! I had to walk up the steep field again to get it.
Cirl bunting, male.
Labrador Bay, Devon
As I wasn't a million miles away from Dawlish Warren I decided to go there and see what was about. It was quite a hot day and I had forgotten how tiring it is to walk through soft sand. At the far end of the spit I saw a group of whimbrel. I managed to get fairly close before they flew off.
Whimbrel
Whimbrel
There was a small flock of dunlin too, almost unnoticeable on the edge of the water.
They just looked like pebbles.
Dunlin
That was the highlight of the afternoon apart from a few common whitethroats, greenfinches, goldfinches, and mainly herring gulls. There were a few shags / cormorants on a distant sandbank but they were far too far away to be sure what they were.
At home I was pleased about the choughs, the dipper, cirl buntings and the whimbrel. Wonder what my year list would be like if I saw, say 90% of the birds I hoped to see!!
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Elusive red-rumped swallows. I hate 'em!
Two trips to Arlington Reservoir in East Sussex trying to see the red-rumped swallows led to nothing. The first time on Monday I arrived too late in the day. The second time I got there at 0700 when the mist was down and it took an hour or so for the sun to burn it off. There was no red-rumped swallow but there were some ordinary (barn) swallows. This one was skimming the surface.
swallow.
Some linnets also came by. This one was wary. I manged a single shot before it was off like a shot!
Linnett
There was compensation for not seeing the red-rumped swallows in the form of a very obliging Temmincks stint. I followed it for a while. It was remarkably tame and did not scare easily. Lovely bird.
Temminck's stint
swallow.
Some linnets also came by. This one was wary. I manged a single shot before it was off like a shot!
Linnett
There was compensation for not seeing the red-rumped swallows in the form of a very obliging Temmincks stint. I followed it for a while. It was remarkably tame and did not scare easily. Lovely bird.
Temminck's stint
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Wood sandpipers are handsome birds. Crossness Nature Reserve, London.
On Sunday I went to Crossness Nature Reserve in South East London where some wood sandpipers had been seen. At first it was difficult to know where they were. I am a member but I couldn't get into the reserve itself as my code for the gate didn't seem to work.
Then I met someone who showed me where they should be. We both scanned the flooded paddock but could see no wood sandpipers. The pager reported them at 0800 and it was now 0845! What?? I reported that there was no sign. A lady walking her dog also scanned the field with me but there was nothing to be seen. Then, a flock of 8 small waders flew overhead and away into the distance. They'd been there all the time!
I waited around taking pictures of a distant wheatear and black redstart. Then the wood sandpipers came back and, of course, went into the most remote and inaccessible corner of the field. We watched them through scopes for a while and people then dispersed. I decided to ask the owner of a nearby field if I could go into the far corner for a better view. He was friendly and said I could go wherever I wanted. I managed to approach without disturbing the birds and got to within 25m.
Wood sandpiper.
That was the high point of the day. I went home to join Lynne for lunch in a pub (Lynne was doing a charity walk) and then headed off to Arlington reservoir hoping to see red-rumped swallows. No such luck! They'd gawn!
Then I met someone who showed me where they should be. We both scanned the flooded paddock but could see no wood sandpipers. The pager reported them at 0800 and it was now 0845! What?? I reported that there was no sign. A lady walking her dog also scanned the field with me but there was nothing to be seen. Then, a flock of 8 small waders flew overhead and away into the distance. They'd been there all the time!
I waited around taking pictures of a distant wheatear and black redstart. Then the wood sandpipers came back and, of course, went into the most remote and inaccessible corner of the field. We watched them through scopes for a while and people then dispersed. I decided to ask the owner of a nearby field if I could go into the far corner for a better view. He was friendly and said I could go wherever I wanted. I managed to approach without disturbing the birds and got to within 25m.
Wood sandpiper.
That was the high point of the day. I went home to join Lynne for lunch in a pub (Lynne was doing a charity walk) and then headed off to Arlington reservoir hoping to see red-rumped swallows. No such luck! They'd gawn!
A chiffchaff like any other (almost)
When is an ordinary chiffchaff not an ordinary chiffchaff? Well, when it's an Iberian chiffchaff, of course. Blowed if I could see much difference but there it was and I took it's picture. It's hard to get too excited about a chiffchaff but it is a new lifer and a year tick too. It was rather wet when I went so I borrowed Lynne's umbrella with the flashing LEDs to cheer up the birds. The poor chiffchaff looks quite bedraggled. It's a good job it was so obliging and came out to sing instead of hiding from the rain.
Iberian chiffchaff, Kent
After that, I went on to Dungeness RSPB and was lucky to see the purple heron briefly as it flew.
Iberian chiffchaff, Kent
After that, I went on to Dungeness RSPB and was lucky to see the purple heron briefly as it flew.
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