Pacific Diver at Eglwys Nunydd reservoir Glamorgan ( Lifer )

We had been watching this Pacific diver for a while with a lot of frustration as we had no transport to get us to Wales as Brian's car decided to stop working in protest of all the work it had been put through on our many birding trips over the last few years,

As the bird continued to hang around the frustration got the better of Brian and we now have another bird mobile for Brian to drive us around this wonderful country seeing lovely places, meeting nice people, and doing the thing we love watching birds.

So on Monday 27th, we leave home at 5am to drive the 200 miles to Glamorgan in Wales for our first trip for a while of any distance, it's a nasty old morning rain and mist nearly all the way. On arrival, we pull into the car park at Margam cemetery at 8.30 & it's not long before we are joined by a couple of birders who had been here the day before, so we follow them up the path of the crematorium and over a grassy hill just a short walk and within 10 minutes of leaving the car we are looking over the reservoir and as luck would have it the Pacific Diver is in our corner and only a short distance away to give us cracking views of another lifer for all 3 of us. 

After a couple of hours of watching this cracking-looking bird, we just head back home without doing any more birding on a grey sort of day with only the one bird that we needed for a tick but what a cracker. A bit of frustration as Brian had picked up a tick when he spotted a Dipper but failed to get us on it despite the fact he saw it 3 times, never mind we got what we came for.

                                                                                                                           

Pacific Diver

                                                            

Short-toed Lark ( Lifer ) West Runton Norfolk.

 Up early to head up to Cromer in Norfolk, that should take us just over 2 hours but the M11 is shut for nighttime maintenance and as a result, the trip takes us 4 hours.

On arrival at Water lane West Runton we park the car and after a battle with the parking machine we pay & set off on the short walk to where a small group of birders tells us the Lark has been seen.

We are up high overlooking the beach & the wind is blowing hard making it hard to keep the scope still & the eyes were watering, and only Brian got a quick view of the bird.

Nearly an hour before Jimmy and myself get on the Lark but we then get some great views of another lifer for Jimmy & myself. This is 400 British ticks for Jimmy so a real milestone for him, I am on 384 now so a bit to do still.

After we had our share of the Short-toed Lark we head to Cley & get a year tick when a Great Skua passes by as we scope from the beach shelter, not too much else about so we set off to pop in at Holkham for the Shorelarks & get rewarded when we spot 4 birds walking about inside the roped-off area.

We don't hang about long as we all feel a bit cold. 

So after a bad start to the day, we end up with a lifer & a couple of year ticks, and of course Jimmy's long-awaited 400th tick.   

Short-toed Lark at West Runton 

Shore lark

                

Nice trip to Titchwell RSPB.

The three of us decide we need a day birding, so it's up to leave at 5.30am and drive to Norfolk for a visit to Titchwell RSPB, we arrive around 7.20 & head towards the freshmarsh.

A Grey Phalarope had been seen over the last few days & it was seen within minutes of arrival. It was close to the path giving us great views of this funny little bird.

The work that has been done on the marsh, putting in more scrapes & Islands looks like it will attract loads of waders a great job.

A pair of Pink-footed Geese fly overhead for a year tick, that just shows how little we have been out under the covid rules, trips to the coast being few & far between. 

Our last trip out was to St Aidan's RSPB for the Long-toed Stint at the start of the month

There were a load of birds on the marsh, hundreds of Golden Plover, Avocet, Black & Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Ruff, Lapwing & many Dunlin. Later we pick out Greenshank, Grey Plover, Turnstone & Curlew. As we walk up to the beach Brian spots a single Guillemot on the flood close in, we think it is not well but as we watch it dive a few times before it flies off back out to sea.

Upon the beach, we soon make contact with the Purple Sandpiper that was walking along the beach.  The bird was very accommodating & came very close for some good photos a nice year tick. While on the beach a single Snow Bunting runs towards us and then 12 more land but fly off quickly.

Loads of Sanderling are running up & down entertaining us. Red-throated Diver also Common Scoter that is a year tick that tells how much we have been out this year.

5 Red-breasted Mergansers fly past & they give me a tick as I missed the one that swam past at the Long-toed Stint twitch.  

So a rare trip out this year but so welcome on a pleasant morning and I end up with a few years ticks.

Purple Sandpiper

Grey Phalarope

    

                                          

Long-toed Stint at Swillington ings. ( Lifer )

Brian had been watching the news about the small bird that had dropped in at  Astley lake on the reserve at Swillington ings near Leeds.

The bird had been identified as a Least Sandpiper & I need that for a lifer, but the boys didn't, so the chance of going over 3 hours is not on but things change when the bird is re-identified as a Long-

toed Stint now all three of us need to tick this mega as there have only been two other sightings in 

England, so when news comes through that the Stint has been seen early morning around 8.30 we get a call to meet up at Brians & we are on the way by 9 o'clock.

It's a clear drive & we arrive at 12.15pm. The place is packed with cars parked all the way up both sides of the road & we head into the reserve to find the place packed but we get lucky when a car pulls out & we are in like a shot.

It's a long old walk before we meet up with hundreds of birders & get ourselves on the end of the line without too much trouble & the bird is on a small island in front of us to give all 3 of us another lifer.

We spend a fair while watching the bird looking to pick out what we had read up about the bird on the way up here.

Never went anywhere else so it's straight back in the car & head off for home feeling really good with ourselves as we have had a bad birding year and are only going for Life ticks because the year list is way down with the covid stuff.

This could be Jimmys 400th bird tick so a really good day, he is counting it as 399 because he is still waiting for the Black-eared Wheatear to be given the green light.

Me looking at the Stint

The Stint

Just a few of a mega crowd

Another lifer at Frampton Marsh. ( Black Stork )

With Brian away with his family for the weekend, we think the chance of getting up to Lincolnshire for a lifer, a Black Stork is slim. It had been seen for a couple of days but I didn't fancy the long drive.  The bird was still being seen on Tuesday and a call from Brian telling us to get down to his house as he can take us to Frampton Marsh in the hope of seeing the Stork.  It's late morning and we quickly hit heavy traffic on the roads heading up there, when we get there we are told that the Stork had flown out of sight, so a bad start after the traffic troubles. We decide to walk out from the car park through the avenue of trees to look for the bird ourselves. we keep walking and as we turn a corner some people had got there in cars, pity we didn't know about that beforehand. As we approached the cars a fellow jumped out of his car and tells us the Stork is flying high above some pylons.  We are straight onto it to give us a distant view of another lifer.   The bird heads out of sight so we walk across the center path to the seawall.   Once on the wall, we get 3 more flight views and see the bird land in the field in front of us for a great view, but just as we think we are going to get some good photos the farmer starts calling his heard of cows, and it scares the Stork away and over the trees and out of sight. 

On a walk around the reserve, we pick up a year tick when Jimmy spots a Little Stint, no sign of the Pacific Golden Plover that was a shame.  Never mind we got what we came for so smiles all around on the way home.

Lifer Black Stork

Minsmere and Oare

On the 3rd of August, we set out to have a day's birding at Minsmere. We need to push our year count up to a reasonable number as we have still not been too active with the trips out this year.

It's off to the beach on arrival and we are soon looking over East scrape which is packed with waders. The first tick of the morning comes when we get great views of the White-rumped Sandpiper, which we had hoped would have stayed for another day. Luckily for us, it had. It's distant but we get good scope views of the bird. The birds on the scrape are flushed by a Marsh Harrier and when they settle a Pectoral Sandpiper is found feeding alongside the White-rumped Sandpiper! Spotted Redshank was also seen for a third year tick of the morning.

We moved onto the public hide and found a single juvenile Arctic Tern among the numerous Little and Sandwich Terns.

Then Brian spots a single Little Gull adding another year tick. We spend the remainder of our visit just walking around the reserve enjoying the day.

The Pec & the White-rumped Sandpiper as they flew past.

The Spotted-Redshank

The next day a Hoopoe had spent the day at Oare Marshes. So we headed there this morning hoping it had stayed overnight. We set off to look for the returning Bonaparte's Gull that we have had the pleasure to see for a few years now and pick it out without too much trouble for a good year tick. Now a long walk for the Hoopoe, a small group had gathered but the bird had not been seen. After a couple of hours, we along with most of the others give up and head back towards the slipway picking out a couple of Whinchats on the way. We spend the next few hours just birding the site. Sadly there was still far too much water on the flood to attract any smaller waders.

The returning Bonaparte's

 

Black-browed Albatross at Bempton cliffs. ( what a beauty )

A mad idea from Brian to leave home at 12 o'clock and drive 4 hours up to Bempton Cliffs for a lifer is agreed by Jimmy and myself.   As mad as it is you don't get to see an Albatross every week, and it is always a pleasure to visit this fantastic reserve.  We arrive just after 4 am to find the car parks almost full, there must be over 300 birders already lining the cliffs, so full of hope that the bird is still around and that people could get us onto it straight away is a pipe dream as we are told the bird had not been seen leaving the roost site on the cliff and people had been on site since 3 am and there was no sign of it anywhere.

The weather is horrible, cold, windy, drizzly & no bird not a great start to the day.

It gets to 7 am and the mood is not good all around the now very large twitch, then those fantastic words are heard when a birder shouts  "there it is" everybody is now on the move to get to see it.

My first sight of it is as it flies around with the Gannets and then heads straight towards us, what a great sight, it was a lot harder to pick out than we thought it would be as it blended in with the Gannets until we get to see the black wings & the head size in better light.  

Over the next few hours, we get some great views of the Albatross as it flies up and down the cliffs and then lands on the cliff face to give us wonderful scope views.

As you would expect the place is now buzzing and we see a few people that we know and a few faces that we bump into at twitches like this to make this a great decision to come all this way, just the long drive home now but well worth it to see this fantastic lifer.

Black-browed Albatross

Roller in Suffolk.

 As usual, Brian had been to see the Roller on Wednesday, Jimmy & myself were hoping the bird would hang about till we could get there.

Thursday was a no-go for us but after seeing the bird was still about on Friday we are keen to go, a text from Brian tells us that he is keen to see the bird again so he will drive us.

A bonus again for us is when Robert can come with us as he needs it for a lifer.

It's a late start around 10 o'clock but it's only an hour before we are parking luckily we find a sport in a grass lay-by on the A1101 a very dangerous road for bird watching.

All we have to do is cross the road & we are onto the Roller as it sits on a distance fence post.

 It then gives us a wonderful display as it flies up & down the fence line, every few minutes it would land high on a bush before dropping to the ground & it came back up with a massive worm in its beak.

The closest view of the morning is when the Roller flies up onto the wires & poeses for the cameras that had gathered. What a cracking looking bird & only an hour from home & to have Robert with us to get him a lifer is a great bonus for us all.

Beautiful.

The first view we had of the Roller.

 

Another 

Bee Eaters at Breydon Water Norfolk.

A late call from Brian gets us heading off to Norfolk for the Bee-eaters at Breydon Water. It's a 2-hour drive to Great Yarmouth before we park & at Gapton hall we are off towards the allotments. We had been told on the way down the track that the birds had gone missing. Unperturbed we head on & meet up with some fellow birders & it was one-off them that put us onto a single Bee-eater in the distance, so we have a year tick but want more.  It's back in the car & head back to the rugby club car park & once parked we are off down to the farm & that was a great decision as we get stunning views of 9 beautiful Bee-eaters.   It was the only tick of the day but what a great one.

4 of the 9 birds seen.

  

Another 2,  beautiful

  

A few days out birding

Spurn and Bempton Cliffs 

Our first trip was up to Kilnsea for a lifer in the Eastern subalpine Warbler. It took us a little over 4 hours and as we drove along the road to park at Spurn we got great views of a Purple Heron as it flies over our car and lands just behind us, we find a place to pull over and pick it out again as it is chased off by a Grey Heron and lands at a distance, so a nice year tick to start the day. We park up and head straight out to the point in search of the Warbler. It is a long walk along the beach and then head out to the point, people walking back tell us that there is no sign of the bird but we walk on.  A couple of hours later along with most of the other birders we give up and head back having dipped on the lifer again. We pick up a couple of year ticks on the way back but a real disappointment. We decide to head off to a favorite reserve of ours about 40 miles away, Bempton cliffs.

On arrival, we find the place is packed with people and as usual birds. We pick up a year tick within minutes as we see many Tree Sparrows flying around the bushes by the car park.

Looking over the cliffs from the viewing platform gets us another tick as a couple of Puffins are resting on the rocks. The place is alive with Guillemots, Razorbills. Fulmars, Kittiwakes, and of course the wonderful sight of the many Gannets that they have there.

Jimmy and I get a bonus when a Barn Owl shows when it comes out of a nesting box that they have there, Barn Owl in a normal year is one of the first birds we see as we start our year list but not being able to travel for most of the year anything seen now is a bonus.

On the long trip home we stop off at Rutland Water and tick a pair of Ospreys as they feed the chicks that were visible to us.

Baldock, Hertfordshire and The Brecks

A few days later we are off very early in the morning to Baldock to tick a calling Quail, it took a good hour before we get to hear the bird but another good year tick. 

We had already planned that evening to travel to the Brecks, leaving home around 8 o'clock we arrived in the forest just after 9pm a bonus for us is that Robert another of my sons has come with us. After around an hour, we start to hear the first call of Tawny Owl for a year tick and then a few Woodcock fly around for another tick, then it's the turn of Nightjars to start calling then some wing clapping, soon followed by several good sightings of a couple of birds in flight as they fly over our heads. Another good visit here as we leave around 11o'clock with Robert having picked up 2 life ticks.

Dungeness and Oare Marshes

Next up we head off to our first visit of the year to Dungeness that in its self is unbelievable as it's a place we go to on a regular basis It's a misty old morning when we arrive around 7 o'clock, a look for the long-staying Glossy Ibis is our starting point and it is seen very easy as it feeds but not great views as we have to pick it out through the mist. As the sun starts to burn the mist off we find ourselves on the path heading down to the reserve with a few other birders in the hope of finding the reported Collared Pratincole. It's not looking good for us despite being told that it had been seen very late the night before. Then we get lucky when a warden drives up and tells us he has just seen two birds 100 yards along the track. We all rush down there and pick out 2 flying around the field, over the next two hours we have great views of the two birds, and unbelievably they are joined by a third bird. a real good year tick a cracking bird. A quick trip up to the beach is a waste of time as it is still so misty we could not see much beyond the beach but Jimmy and I get a bonus when a Sandwich Tern flies along the beach line for another tick.

One of the Collared Pratincoles at Dungeness

With not much to hang about for we head off home but pop into Oare marshes as we nearly always do. We scan over the trees for Turtle Dove but without any luck but that changes when a local birder turns up and gets us on one right over the back at a long distance away but good scope views. He also tells us that a male Eider could be seen without having to walk too far, so just after going up the ramp and walking a short distance, we can see the Eider in the scope.

Ham Wall

Brian had got a life tick a River Warbler last week at Ham Wall in Somerset when we could not go with him as Jimmy had issues with his covid jab. The bird has hung around all week and Brian offered to drive us there in the hope it was still there, it is a long old trip so really appreciated him doing that for us. As we near the reserve it comes on the pager that the Warbler was still present, it's not a long walk before we join around maybe 50 birders already there and the bird could be heard reeling way before we reach them.  Another lifer for us both as the bird is sitting no more than a few feet away from us and over the next two hours it only moves a few meters away from that spot, what a great tick,  Bittern's are heard on and off all the time spent here and we get to see 2 as they fly over for another year tick.

 

To break the journey home we call into Thursley Common and it is now a very hot day so we don't intend to walk too far. Within five minutes we are seeing Dartford Warbler as they are in good numbers here. We look for Tree Pipit next but as we won't be walking far none are seen. Next up the search is on for Redstart and after a walk longer than we wanted we see a male high up in the the tree. It had taken us a while to find the Redstart so time to head home but just before we reach the car a male Redstart is spotted sat on a low branch to give a good view and a Woodlark was seen walking about just under it. So a great few days with one lifer and a good few year ticks catching up on what we have not been able to do for so long due to covid.

Brian and Jimmy at the River Warbler Twitch

Lifer River Warbler

The River Warbler again.

No show for the Tawny Pipit in Dorset

We set off really early heading to Dorset looking for a Lifer in the form of a Tawny Pipit. It had been present for a few days, so we take a gamble and go for it. On the way, we pull up at Longham lakes and park at the top of Green lane and walk a short distance down to the lakes. The target bird is my second ever Whiskered Tern & we find it on the South lake after a few minutes. It's a cracking-looking Tern & we spend an hour watching it fly about the lake.

After we had our fill of the tern it's off to look for the lifer at Cogden beach. It's a steep slope down to the shingle beach after we had parked in the National Trust car park. A few birders had gathered about a mile up the beach so that's where we headed, on arrival we are told there is no sign of the Pipit. so not to be put off we spend the next 3 hours walking the shingle up and down without any sign of the target, it's a bad dip for us to take with the legs hurting now after all the walking on the shingle. The bird never showed all day so we think it probably had moved on overnight. 

 

Portland is next up for us but on the way, a quick stop at Ferrybridge add's to the year list when we spot many Little Terns on the pool. As we arrive at Portland we hear a Chough has been reported in the field with the 3 horses in. We find that field but there's no sign, so we park up & walk along the front and soon find the Chough feeding on the side of the cliff. A nice find and not expected when we set out this morning for another year tick. As we walk along the path we find lots of Rock Pipits to entertain us as they parachute up onto the rocks, we spend some time just sitting watching this display. Walking on we get 3 more year ticks when a single Shag flies past and there are many Guillemots and Razorbills. A Roseate Tern is reported at Lodmoor so we had to have a look before heading for home. But once again the luck is not with us and as the rain started to fall and no sign of the Tern we don't hang about too long.

So a couple of dips, but 6-year ticks and in such a beautiful place. At last, a visit to the coast made it a cracking day out with the boys.

Whiskered Tern

The Portland Chough

One of the Rock Pipits

Essex Woodchat Shrike.

 After Frampton on Sunday, I wake early on Monday morning & set off with the boys to Rochford in my home county of Essex it's only just over 35 miles.

With it being a bank holiday we arrive in great time & park down the bottom of Mill Lane.

Now it's only a short walk across a crop field before we meet up with a small group of maybe 20other birders. We spot the target bird as we near the group sitting out in the open among the blossom. 

A cracking-looking bird and only the second one I've seen, the other one was seen in 2017 in Chipping Sodbury, a juvenile but this one was a stunning adult.

Over an hour spent watching this beautiful Shrike along with some local birders, a lot of familiar faces came and went while we were there, it's always nice to meet up with them.

With Wallasea RSPB only 5 miles away and on our way home, we look in for a very quick visit in the hope of ticking Corn Bunting.   That is achieved as we enter the reserve on almost the first bush for another year tick.

                            

The Woodchat Shrike

Wallasea Cornbunting

. 

A Dotterel on a very nice visit to the wonderful Frampton.

 Up early for a drive to a favorite reserve of ours ( Frampton ) When we arrive the car park is fairly full, so we get parked & walk the main track where we are soon watching a Jack Snipe only yards in front of us and its a better sighting than the one we saw a couple of days ago, also on this first pool there are Avocet, Dunlin, Ruff & Black-tailed Godwit which I needed for a year tick. A Dotterel had been seen over on the pool by the barn.

We walked up the steps to the sea wall & after a mile walk we turn right & find the Dotterel and get a nice view from Cross Bank just a single bird but it was walking about showing well although at a distance.

So mission accomplished for the trip now to get on enjoying walking this lovely place to see what else is about.

Ticks soon arrive when 2 Yellow wagtails  & then Golden Plover show on the same pool. Although not needed for a tick a single Whimbrel landed and the third Wood Sandpiper of the week is seen.

A walk back for another look at the Jack Snipe & over a hundred Dunlin land & a few nice coloured Ruff show well. Jimmy spots a Spoonbill for Brian that he needed for a tick.

Over 30 Ring Plover show but we couldn't find the Spotted Redshank despite walking nearly the whole way around the reserve, but it was a nice walk on a nice day.  

Ruff

Golden  Plover & Dotterel

The Frampton Dotterel

The Frampton Jack Snipe

   

At last a visit to the coast after 14 months.

The week started with a local visit to the Lea Valley where we first hear the wonderful song of the Nightingale & then get to see at least 2 for a good year tick.  It is always such a thrill to hear the first Nightingale of the year.     Later in the week, we make the decision for the 3 of us to take our first visit to Norfolk for 14 months due to covid restrictions.    This is a trip to try to get the year ticks up, first up we head to Hunstanton where we are guaranteed a Fulmar &  it only takes a couple of minutes before we get our first tick of the day.      Off now to the main destination of the day in the hope of seeing the reported Jack Snipe at Titchwell, on arrival we head to Patsy's pool & start scanning the edges of the pool for the Snipe, it was not an easy find & as we heard a Grasshopper Warbler down the track at the side of the pool we had to go to find it.  It was an easy find & a right bonus when we find the Gropper sitting displaying at the top of a bush for such a great view & we get to hear at least 2 more on the walk around the reserve.  Back at the pool, a fellow birder had found the Jack Snipe it was remarkably only a few yards from the viewing screen but it was so hard to find.  A Green Sandpiper dropped in for a good year tick. On the walk up to the beach, Brian got a tick when he saw Bearded Tit & Jimmy & myself picked up a tick when we spot a flock of Brent Geese.    On the beach, it is horrible & hardly a bird in sight. We only stay for a short time but get 2 ticks with a Knott & a sign of the times when we tick our first Gannet of the year.   A quick look in at Brancaster was very disappointing with no birds anywhere apart from a few Oystercatchers.    The road to Thornham was blocked off so instead we try Wells north pool & are soon rewarded when a couple of Wood Sandpipers show,  nothing else is seen that we needed so a quick run-up to Choseley to look for the Dotterel, that was a no show but a Whimbrel was found & loads of yellowhammer gets us to more ticks.   Off home now but on the way, we pay a quick visit to Lynford where Brian got a Marsh Tit & Jimmy got, at last, another tick when a Coal Tit showed.   The final bird of a great day birding was a very nice show from a Firecrest. So nice for the 3 of us to be out together after such a very long time.

The Grasshopper Warbler

Wood Sandpiper

The very hard to find Jack Snipe

A few fairly local birding days gives us some nice ticks

Over the course of six days, Jimmy & I have visited Lee Valley twice. Rainham Marshes twice then a trip a little further afield when we went to Easneye in Hertfordshire looking for a Ring Ouzel. Easneye is just a mile from Amwell so we looked in there as well.  First up it's a tick over at Lee valley when a Garganey turns up on Hall Marsh Scrape and we have great views when the bird is found on arrival. A few ticks are seen while here a Little Ring Plover was seen on the same scrape as the Garganey, on the walk back Willow Warbler was seen & a pair of Kingfisher were spotted near their nest to give us lovely views.

Back over the Lee Valley early next day as a White Stork had dropped in at Hall Marsh Scrape the previous evening. when we arrived Brian was already on-site and had the bird in view to make the tick an easy one for us, not a lifer but nice to see, the next day news came through that it may have been wing clipped but it never seemed to hinder it in flight.  

The next day it's off to Rainham Marshes to tick a couple of Spoonbills that we saw after a small search. On the walk to the Serin mound, we tick Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler & a long-awaited Blackcap. I was hoping to see them in my garden as usual but not this year. We also saw our first  Wheatear of the year on the hill by the tip. 

A Ring Ouzel has stayed around in Hertfordshire, many reports of Ring Ouzel have been around but we have not been motivated to go looking for them until now. We wanted to get out birding so set off to find the bird.  It was a bit of a climb uphill before we found the paddock just short of the farm entrance and a mist was covering most of the field. so it's a bit of a wait for it to clear, when it did the Ouzel was found. It never came too close but we enjoyed good long views of the bird. Off to Amwell as it is so close and we get lucky when we spot a lovely pair of Red-crested Pochard for another year tick. 

Tuesday morning a report comes through that a Black-winged Stilt had arrived on Purfleet scrape at Rainham Marshes, so of course, we had to shoot over to tick it. My wife Jean wanted a walk so we all set off and arrived around 30 minutes later only to find that the Stilt had flown off west. So we decide to walk the reserve that was only one way round & had track & trace in operation. On the walk, Jimmy found a self-found Garganey and managed to get a few very grateful people onto it. We are now at the furthest part of the reserve from Purfleet scrape when we hear that the Black-winged Stilt had landed on the Purfleet scrape again, So a fast walk back that was not what we needed. But a tick is a tick and always so nice to see them. It's thanks to Howard that we saw it as we had walked past the area it had landed in and he guided us to where we could get a fair view of the Stilt.  

The real bonus came when just sitting watching the chase on television, Brian phoned to say 3  Black-necked Grebes had just landed on my local Roding valley lake. It's only a 2-minute walk from my house and we don't get too much unusual over there. Although we did get a very confiding Red-necked |Grebe there a couple of years ago. Minutes later we are joined by Brian to watch the 3 Grebes in  Summer plumage for a really nice late evening tick to round off a really nice day.

Garganey

Easneye Ouzel 

Black-winged Stilt

White-throated Sparrow ,at Barcombe cross.

 It's been a long time since Jimmy & I ventured away from our local birding area & we have not been able to travel in one car with Brian for over a year now, that is still the case but the pull of a lifer in Barcombe cross  East Sussex & the lifting of some covid restrictions was to big a pull. So in the car just after 4 am on Sunday we set off to find the White-throated Sparrow that had been around for some time now. On arrival at 6, 30 am we join about 8 other birders in a small picnic area & set up to watch a table that had a small amount of seed on it. The bird had been feeding on here over the last few days. We had to wait over an hour & we were getting a bit worried that we had left it too late when the Sparrow flew down onto the branches by the table & then dropped down onto the floor before flying off, it was 20 minutes before it returned & this time landed on the bench & then started to feed on the table. A cracking little bird to give both of us another lifer. We have missed a few this year along with a lot of other people so this felt really good to just be out enjoying what we love doing.  Not too far away, a Little Bunting has been seen at Warnham nature reserve, we have seen a few of these but being so near we had to go for a year tick & boy do we need some of them.  We had to wait till 10 o, clock for the reserve to open but it was well worth it when we get great near views of the Bunting & while watching it we get another year tick when a Marsh Tit comes to the feeders. so only 3 ticks one being a lifer but just so nice to be out birding again.

The Little Bunting

White-throated Sparrow

Sparrow again.

UNDER LOCK DOWN BIRDING LOCAL AREAS

We were looking forward to the new year so we could get out & do some sort of birding. Being in tier 2 let us go a few miles from home, but on the first day of the year, we decided to stay local and head over to Jimmy's old patch at Fisher's Green in the Lee Valley Park. Our normal destination would have been Norfolk or Kent.

But we still had a nice morning & got ourselves 61-year ticks, well down on our normal total of around 90 or so but still, more than we expected. The highlight of the day was a Cattle Egret at Hallmarsh scrape, & we found several  White-fronted Geese that was a good find for here, up by the farm. A walk around  Hooks Marsh & Seventy Acre lake got us a Redhead Smew & we ended up with a fair first day total.

On day 2 it,s a quick run over to KGV Reservoir. Goosander, Goldeneye,2 Drake Scaup were soon seen but the real bonus came when we found 2 Black Redstart on the fence over the far side by the causeway.

A ride up to Epping Forest to Strawberry Hill pond gives us 2 more ticks with a few Mandarin Ducks & a couple of Nuthatches.

Next up it's a trip to Rainham Marshes. we scan from the Serin mound & see some Barnacle Geese a single Ruff, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck & several Avocet on Aveley Bay.

A walk along the riverbank gets us Water & Rock Pipit also Snipe & Pintail to end a nice visit.

Now we get put into lockdown tier 4 so just really local birding. A visit to Eagle pond gets us the long-staying Caspian Gull, which was seen within minutes of arrival as we crossed the road. Finding the Gull so quick we decided to pop round the corner to Wanstead Flats for the reported Med Gull & found the first winter gull on Jubilee pond after scanning through a lot of Black-headed Gulls on the pond. Across the road is centre drive car park and it's a short walk to find the Little Owl sitting out in the morning sunshine.

On another visit to the Lee Valley, a nice Short-eared Owl is seen and it gives great views.

After no birding for many days, we get a tip that a Ring-necked Duck was over Lee Valley, so over we go & find the female Ring-neck Duck on the fishing lake, the good thing about this find is that we have seen many males but only one other female, so a good tick for us both.

Black Redstart

Brian,s photo of the Short-eared Owl

Wanstead Little Owl

First-year Med Gull at Jubilee pond

Caspian Gull at Eagle Pond