Wilson's Phalarope on the Isle of Wight

We get a text from Brian do we fancy a trip to the Isle of Wight to see the Wilson's phalarope that had been there for the last 5 days, it's a bit of a chance to take but if you don't give it a go you don't see any thing.
So up at 4 o'clock to meet up with Brian for the drive down to the ferry, we book in & the ferry goes at 1/4 to 8, it's a 30 minute trip over to the Island.
We find the spot where the bird has been reported within a few minutes of getting off the ferry, we park up & find the target bird straight away, it keeps going back & forth into a little inlet, we stay watching the bird for a couple of hours, it gets spooked a few times & flies to other parts of the water, it comes in & out of view , we get great scope views of it but it is hard for us to get a good photo of it due to all the shrubbery

around.

On the pond are a few Bl- tail Godwits
& a single Redshank that the Phalarope seems to stay close to. about 20 birders are here looking at the bird by now, one of them is Dave Aitken who has come down from Yorkshire  & works at Bempton cliffs, he tells us he is on Bubo & is round about the same number of birds as Brian just a few in front of  Jimmy & me, we have a good old talk to him a really nice fellow.
Time to leave now, we take a quick drive to Shanklin it's only 30 minutes away, just to have a look to see what it's like there really a bit of sight seeing for a future visit.

So another lifer in the bag,  237 year ticks so far this year.We are booked on the 12, 30 ferry back so we have to go now, well worth the trip to see a great looking female Wilson's Phalarope.I have never been over to the Isle of Wight before but I will be back for a good look round when I bring my wife Jean here for a hoilday later this year.

Nightjar at the Brecks + Tawny Owl.

Jimmy calls out do I want to meet up with Brian at 8 o'clock to go to the Brecks to try for the Nightjars, of course the answer is yes.
It takes about an hour from my house to get to the clearing in the forest, that is where the boys had heard them last year. some other birders were already here, this is the perfect night clear & warm, so hopes are high of at least hearing them.
We had arrived at just after 9 o'clock, the first bird seen is Woodcock, we see at least a dozen within the hour.
Then around 10 o'clock we hear Tawny Owl & Little Owl, I needed Tawny & Jimmy needed the Little Owl for year ticks. then the first Nightjar is heard, just a quick call at first then it goes quiet for 20 minutes or more, then we start to hear the churring of a few more, this time they are really going full blast, we cup our ears & the sound magnifies, on the edge of the forest now in the dark the sound is fantastic to hear.
With all the other sounds going on this  makes it well worth the trip just to stand & listen & to have heard the target bird so clear & loud has made it a good night, but as we start to head back to the car 2 Nightjars fly up no more then a few yards away from us, all three of us get a great view as they  fly  up into the light just above the trees. What a bonus.
Another year tick for all of us this time, so 2 ticks for the trip gets me up to 236 for the year.

( Mega ) Pacific Swift for another lifer.at Trimley Marsh.

With no plans to go anywhere today I get a rude awaking at 5 o'clock telling me Brian is waiting for us in his car to try for the Mega twitch that was at Trimley yesterday it's a Pacific Swift.
Not expecting it to be still hanging about for a second day we still give it ago.
It's only about 70 miles from home, we arrive by 7 o'clock & park up in the only space left as a lot of birders are already here.
It's a long, long walk down to the first hide where the bird had been seen yesterday,a couple of fellows were on the way back, we ask has it been seen, the answer is no sign, we think maybe they had not given it to much time as it was still not  to much past 7 o'clock. so they tell us we are about 1/2 mile from the hide, so with not a lot of hope we carry on down to the hide.
On entering the hide we are told it had just been seen at a distance , so we settle down to scope the area over by some telephone poles & a small gate, this turns out to be a great guide as the bird is picked out again & the shout goes up over the small gate heading towards the poles, this gives us a chance to get onto it for another lifer for us all.  Out side of the hide up on a grass bank we get some better views of it, a nice bunch of people are here today & that adds to the enjoyment for us. The day gets better when Brian gets us a lift back to the car with a helpful volunteer, what a nice fellow. What a great decision to make the trip more in hope then expectation  that paid off for us to see such a mega rarity.

start of the long walk to see the bird

Where the bird was seen

Black Kite Faversham ( lifer )

Jimmy & myself had given up hope of getting to Faversham to see the Black Kite, it had been around for a few days now, but we just could not get the right time to go for it due to Jimmy's work.
Brian had seen the bird on Monday,  but a phone call from him on Friday night to see if we wanted to give it a try on sat, gets the thumbs up from us both.
So up early to drive to Selling near Faversham hoping  the target bird was still about.
When we arrive a couple of birders are already there & tell us it has been seen a long way off, but still it's still about so we set up the scopes & wait, after 20 minutes the bird is picked up by Brian, still a long way off but  it's a tick & another lifer for Jimmy & myself.
Off now to a little church St Peter & St Paul's not to far away to look for Spotted Flycatcher.We get to see a couple as soon as we get there, none of us needed one for a tick as we saw them in Scotland a few weeks ago, but nice to pick them up in England as well.
While here a single Hobby flies up & over the church.
On the way here we had seen a pair of Turtle Doves, this was the best view I have had of this good looking Dove, they where just sitting a few feet  away on the floor feeding, out comes the cameras but just as I think I'm going to get a great photo, two people on their bikes scare them off, just my luck.
We shoot off to Oare Marsh just to have a quick look around, not to much as it turns out, plenty of Black-tail Godwits being the highlight of the visit.

Black-tailed Godwits

We did get to hear many marsh Frogs & I got some sort of photo of one of them.  On the way home we take a quick drive to Elmley, a slow drive down the road to the Farm buildings, gives us a chance to use the camera to get some close ups of Red Shank, & Lapwings. A good days birding with a life tick as well.

Lapwing

             

Redshank

Marsh Frog

Little Stint, Bitterns, Garganey, Otter at Minsmere.

A planned trip to Minsmere See's us set off at 6 o'clock for the one hour 20 Min's journey.
When we arrive it's not a very nice morning weather wise,  a bit cloudy & windy, so with top coats on we head off to North wall looking for the Shrike that had been seen on Friday.
We are out of luck as there is no sign of it & nobody else had seen it today, so we walk off heading for East hide, on the way I hear & then see Beaded Tit, also pick out plenty of Sedge, & Red Warblers.
I then stop to look at some Greylag Geese that had some young gosling with them, you see these every where &  don't take much notice but today I looked at them & saw just how much colour is on them if you see them up close, so I stop to take some photo's of them & as I do an Otter ran across the path no more than a few yards in front of me, a really nice bonus to start the day off with.

Greylag 

Sitting in East hide a pair of Garganey are spotted, 2 Little Terns in the middle of the Scrape give me another year tick.
Then the Otter is seen swimming towards us & gives great views as it passe's in front of the hide.
On now to South hide where Jimmy picks out a Little Stint to give us all a year tick.
Loads of Kittiwakes plus Little Gull also seen.
We head back for a cuppa in the canteen, then head for the Bittern hide, Lot's of people in here who had never seen a Bittern, so when 3 fly up & give a great view a buzz goes round the hide, it's always nice to see the faces when people see a bird for the first time. We spend quite a long time in this hide watching many Marsh Harriers give us some good entertainment with some close ups, we even see a food pass that is always a nice thing to watch.

Brian's photo

We head down to Island Mere hide,not to much going on here, but we still stay for some time talking to some really nice people, I like this side of birding it's so nice to meet & talk & sometimes have a good laugh with them.
One Lady Was desperate to see a Bittern as she had missed it in the other hide when everybody else had seen  them, so she was over the moon when Jimmy tells us that a Bittern was heading towards the hide, it flies right up to the hide then drops down in the reeds at the side of the hide, this time she gets a really good view of it much to the pleasure of all of us all.
Just two year ticks today, but a a really nice day not chasing about to much.

More Scotland photos

Oban Harbour, Black Guillemot seen here.



Red squirrel, Capercaillie, Crested Tit, all seen here.



On top of the Cairngorms having seen a Ptarmigan.

Osprey one of four seen here

Mountain Goat  one of many

where we saw Slav Grebes in full plumage

Findhorn Valley where we saw the Golden Eagles

Lochindorb, four Osprey seen here.

Findhorn Bridge Dipper seen here.

View from Findhorn Bridge

Savi's Warbler another lifer.

Just Jimmy & myself today as we both need the Savi's Warbler that has been seen at Lakenheath for a few days now, Jimmy needs it for a year tick, & I need it for a life tick.
When we arrive at about 7 o'clock the car park is packed, it's not to bright as we walk down towards the Joist hide, the bird has been seen in the reeds about 70 yds before the hide.
As we walk we hear Grasshopper Warbler singing away & then we hear the Savi's call, hearing the both together makes it easy to tell that the target was near to us.
As we get close some birders already have the bird in their scopes & let us have a quick look at it so we don't miss out, but it stays within a few yds for a good time, so we get good views with our own scopes, as I have already said this is a lifer for me.
As we all hang about three Bitterns fly up over the hide to give great views to all.
Time to search for the Oriole now, Jimmy & a couple of others think they hear it but after a couple of hours we get no sight or any sound of any.
We do see another Bittern & a great view of a Hobby flying low in front of us.
 A Grasshopper Warbler sits up & we get really good views of it as well, flying up above the Hobby we pick up a single Red Kite.
Off home now in time for some dinner, a nice morning with another lifer in the bag,but it means we will have to make another visit this week sometime to get a year tick with the  Golden Oriole.