Roding Valley Meadow Goldcrest

A quick trip over the field near my home to see what is about.
A nice view of the Goldcrest chicks is my reward.
On my walk about a Kestrel lands on a tree in front of me, then hovers above my head for some great views
I see 20 Pied Wagtails, a few Goldfinch, Green Woodpecker, 1 Cormorant, 10 Swans, 1 Great Crested Grebe, Swallows, lots of Black Headed Gulls, Mallards every where, also plenty of Coots.

Goldcrest





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Goldfinch

Kestrel

Goldcrest

Green Woodpecker



Wryneck at Wanstead

Jimmy phoned me on sat at about 9 o'clock from Lea Valley, he had been there on his patch since 5 o'clock,he said he had just bumped into Neville who told him there was a Wryneck at Wanstead flats, and do I want to shoot over there with him.
I was going to spend the day indoors and go Birding on Sunday, but 20minutes later I am walking all over the flats looking for the right place to see the bird, we had picked Robert up on the way as we had to go past his house to get here and it was nice to have him with us,
After about 2 hours we find the local birder who reported the bird on birdguides I think he's name was Tony, the bird had been seen some 20 mins ago.
we stand looking at the Hawthorn bushes for some time but to no avail.
Brian had now joined us,he has been down to Oare Marsh with Sue to try out his new binoculars.
Jimmy had phoned him at the same time as he had me, we knew if he could get here he would.
We spend another 2 hours looking at the Hawthorn bush but we never got a sight of it so we call it a day.


Whitethroat

 The 20 minute drive home turns into a nightmare as the 406 & the M11 are  shut because of a big crash, nearly 2 hours later we get home, not to happy about that , but then you think of the poor people in the crash and realise your trouble is small compared to what they are going through.

After spending the evening down Brians house, we deciede to try again on Sunday.
We meet up at 6,30am and get to the flats before 7, Tony and another Birder are already there, they utter the words we dread , not seen it yet.

As we spend the next couple of hours looking at the said bush, it is starting to come alive with birds,  inside 20 minutes we see a beautiful male Redstart showing really well & often, also a Lesser Whitethroat, Robin , Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Dunnock, Greenfinch, male & female Blackcap.
Flying over we see Green Woodpecker, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, and Ring-Necked Parakeet.

We are having a really nice morning as we get to talk to some of the local birders on their patch, we do see most of them from time to time at different places, but it was nice.





Wryneck; If you squint hard enough

  No luck with the target bird, so we set off to go round the other side, we only go a very short way when the shout goes up Wryneck,
we run back and a fellow kindly tells us to get a view through his scope so we don't miss out.

The bird stays in view so we get our own scopes on to the bird and get a really nice look at it.

I take a photo of the bush and you can just about see the shape of the Wryneck , it is just a bit to far away for my small lens, but at least I know what it is, Johnathan is standing next to me and he has a massive lens on his camera and shows us the snap he has taken,he got lucky as the Redstart is also in his photo, which is ten times better than mine, still that's life ,maybe one day I might upgrade I wonder if my wife will let me sell the house to fund it.

I must say this was one of the best decisions we have made to come here today, and I will come back to stare at this Hawthrorn bush on another day.

Bird Fair Rutland plus Ospreys

Our yearly trip to Rutland Bird Fair. It is about a 2 hour trip, we start out at 6 o'clock and decide to stop off on the way to try to see the Dotterel reported yesterday, we spend about an hour scoping the ploughed fields but no luck,
We arrive with 10 minutes to opening time, and get in to the fair without too much trouble.
The first port of call is the Swarovski stall, which is high up so you can look through their new ATXG5 right across the water and I must say this is a really top bit of kit.

Bird Ringing

Now we get to the bird ringing stand, this is always a must for us, it is fascinating to see how small the birds are and they show us how to handle the birds so not to harm them,we also are given some rubber ring bands which have a bird number printed on them so you can track the said,bird on the Internet which I think will be nice to follow.
Birds that were ringed while we watched, a couple of Blue tits, Robin, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler.
Moving on to the main show tents the first celebrity we see is Mike Dilger who appears on the one show, he is talking to Johnathan scott who films wild life, I have a quick talk with Mike and Brian takes a photo of us.

The beer tent

I must say it is really nice to find how pleasant and accommodating they are.
It is a really nice hot sunny day, but the down side to that is it is to warm inside the tents, you are glad to get out in to any breeze you can find, failing that the beer tent seems to help.
Next tent and we find Johnny Kingdom, we always have a laugh when we get to his stall, another photo taken and we move on to the next tent to see who is doing any book signing today.
We missed Bill Oddie the last two years that we came, but not this year as he is sitting here signing his book, Brian buys his book and gets it signed, he asks if he can have a photo with him,and he is happy to oblige.

I brought myself a Butterfly & Moth guide as I need to know a bit more about them.

Bill Oddie

Robert never came this year as it is his sons 21st birthday,& as we will be going up his house tonight to celebrate he needed to stay behind to help get things ready,
Robert is the one that buys himself a picture most years, as that is he's thing, we missed him this year.
We have seen all we need to see now, so we walk around the the trails and find a Brimstone Butterfly and get a photo of it, it's the first of the year for Jimmy & me.

Time to go now, but before we head home we go round  to a Bridge on the main road to get good views of the Ospreys, we found this spot last year, it saves having to have a long walk to the hides, only downside it seems to be a favourite run for cyclists & they seem to want to run you down rather than slow down.
We had already seen Osprey flying over at the fair,but this is a better view here.


 Now we drive round the water's to try for Black Tern, we haven't been round the whole site before, and we soon see how nice a place this is, we are now at the North Basin, it is packed with people enjoying the sun & views over the water, with boats sailing up & down, a lovely scene ,but no luck with the Terns.

Now it is really time to head home,another  great day and a nice party to look forward to tonight.







Johnathan Scott




Brimstone Butterfly

Mike Dilger



Charlie Hamilton James

Quail at Wallasea Island

Jimmy is home from work, and our dinner is about to be served, when Brian phones to ask us if we would like him to show us where he heard the Quail on Tuesday, a quick word with Jimmy to see if he wanted to go 40 miles before dinner, of cause the answer is yes as this will be a life tick for both of us.
After getting the OK to put dinner on hold from my wife she's good like that, I drive to pick up Brian and we get to Wallasea Island just past Southend -on- sea at about 6;30.

After a drive down some bendy roads we go through the yellow gate and drive to where Brian heard the Quail a couple of nights ago.
I park the car and we start to listen straight away, no sound at first so we walk up the road for 70yds or so,when Brian hears the call and Jimmy gets it as well, but I am not sure as it was a single call, we call out to a fellow who was also there for the Quail and he joins us to listen for the call again.
Brian walks back down to see if he can hear it back at the car, while he has gone, Jimmy & I get a nice long call Whip- Whip-Whip, this happens another twice but the fellow with us can't hear it, lucky enough it calls again & he gets it this time which was good, as we look down at where Brian has gone he is waving his arms  to tell us he has got the call at that end as well, as we walk to meet up we hear at least 4 Quails calling, so target meet for the evening.

As we stand about we see about 50 Corn Buntings, & at least 4 Grey Wagtails, a Marsh Harrier shows  as well.
This is not a place that we have been to before, but we will definitely come back again and spend a good few hours here.
On the way home now, but before we go to far we see 2 nice Hobbies really close to us so the car is stopped and out we get to get nice views of them.


Corn Bunting

 Hunger is starting to bite now so home as fast as we can go, boy did that dinner taste great.



Brian always on the job




Will come back again

       

Arctic Tern

Jimmy gets in from work and asks if I want to go and try for reported Black Tern at K G Reservoir in Chingford.
As always it's a yes, it is only 10 minutes away and Jimmy has a key to get into the Reservoir,so we are soon scanning across the water,but there is not a lot about, so we move further up and start to see Terns flying about, but they seem to be Common Tern, as some of them had landed on the buoys in front of us, we are able to get a photo of them, as we notice one is different to the others, we will check it out when we get home.
Also we see at least 4 Common Sandpiper, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Cormorant, plenty of Great Crested Grebe, & lots of Gulls.
We spend over an hour looking, but Jimmy's in need of his dinner after a hard days work, so it's off home.
Jimmy loads the photo on the computer and it turns out we have seen an  Arctic Tern, which is good as we both needed one for our year list.

Little Stint & Turtle Dove at Cliffe Pools & Oare Marsh

It's going to be a very warm day, so we decide to not go to far away from home.
We meet up with Brian at 6 o'clock and drop in at Cornmill Meadows to try to get the Wood sandpiper for Jimmy to get a patch tick, we do not hang about to long as we want to go to Cliffe Pools to try for a Little Stint, no luck with the Wood Sand so off we head to Cliffe.

Over the QE11 bridge and into Kent, it is not to long before we are at Cliffe and start looking for the Stint.
We go up to the mount and join another birder scanning the pools, no Stint but plenty of activity.
Loads of Bl Tail Godwits, Snipe everywhere you look maybe 50 or more,we then see a Ruff, Brian then picks out a Wood Sandpiper on the far bank really nice but where was it when Jimmy needed it at Lea Valley.
A Spotted Redshank is seen and then the boys pick out a nice Whinchat on the small bush in front of us.
Another fellow had joined us by now, but the two of them head of before we do as they are going to try for the Stint at another of the pools.
We are soon off to join them, it means getting in the car and driving round the roads to the over side of the reserve. as we walk down the path one of the boys we saw earlier is walking up towards us and tells us the Little Stint is visible over the back of the pool, a quick thanks mate, and the scope is out an on the target bird  within a few seconds, another year tick and great views of the bird as well.

It is only 9 o'clock so it is to early to go home yet, so we head for Oare Marsh which is about 30 miles away.
The place is full of people and the parking is not easy, but we take our time and a space soon comes up.
Our bins are out to look over the scrape which is full of birds.
Mainly Golden Plovers & Godwits, as well as usual stuff, as we stand here looking all of  a sudden the whole  lot of the birds go up, so we all look to see why.
Then we see the reason a Peregrine is in the middle of the flock, it takes a bird out but drops it and flies away without his dinner, what a great sight to see this happen in front of us.
We are told by another birder he has just seen a Turtle Dove, but it might be a bit of a walk.
We don't mind that so off we go, but luck is on our side & we see the bird straight away sitting on top of a bare tree, Brian & Jimmy get good photos of it , but mine turn out to be rubbish, I think I can't keep the camera from moving about. But never mind I get a great view of the Turtle Dove which is only the third time I have seen one, so not bad.
We walk round to the beach to look at some nice sailing boats going past, it seems to be a large race

Back to bird watching again, we do the whole circle of the scrape, an as we head up to the car, we spot another Wood Sandpiper, how ironic. is that for Jimmy. That is 3 Wood Sandpipers for me at 3 different places in 4 days. Off home now after another really nice day spent with the boys.





Turtle Dove




Turtle Dove

  

Small Heath



Peregrine sends the flock up



Wood Sandpiper, Cornmill Meadow

 After not seeing the Wood Sand yesterday, Jimmy & I decide to get up early to try before he has to get off to work, so up at 4 30 & get in the hide before 5 o'clock.
It is really misty looking over the scrape, it is going to be a nice hot day, so we sit & wait for the sun to burn off the mist a bit, this starts to happen just about 20mins past 6, we see a single Black-Tailed Godwit, which is good for Jimmy as this is his patch & he needed it for a year tick.
Stuart turns up now as he told me he would see me here today to try & find the Wood Sand.

Unfortunately for Jimmy has to leave us now to get to work, and all he has seen is the B T Godwit, better than nothing I suppose, but he really wanted to see the target bird for his patch.
I stay & keep looking as the mist is going away fast now, after another hour Stuart has to leave to take his wife shopping & still no bird, but we did see 2 Snipe & 2 Green Sandpiper & the Yellow Wagtail came back to give us a nice show.

I stay & keep looking & I am joined by a couple of more birders to help me scan the scrape, 4 B T Godwits arrive and are in great colour, the Snipe are still here as well, 10 Greylag geese fly in, then in the far corner of the scrape 2 Sandpipers are seen,  they look to be different, so I ask one of the fellows to get a scope on it & bingo one of them is the Wood Sandpiper, seeing the two birds together it is easy to see the  taller more elegant Wood Sand & in the scope the long eye stripe is visible.
It has taken 3 trips and a lot of hours, but the target has been seen, this is a first of the year tick for me.

Peacock Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly

Jimmy & Brian already had one this year so it's nice to get this one for myself
 When I get home a walk out in my garden & I spot my first Peacock Butterfly of the year, not a bad day & the sun is beating down so great.

Holly Blue & Green-Veined White

An  early morning trip to Cornmill Meadow in the Lea Valley looking for a reported Wood Sandpiper.

Holly Blue

It is only 8 miles from home, so I am soon walking to the hide to start looking, on the way I spot a Holly Blue Butterfly and get a nice photo of it.
Into the hide now, a single birder is there already I say good morning and he tells me he has not seen the Wood Sandpiper yet,  we keep looking
but no sign of it.

I spend 2 hours in the hide talking to Stuart Hamilton who it turns out  is on   his home patch, and as it is my son Jimmy's patch as well it was good to get his views on birding. and he knew a lot of the fellow's we bump into on the trip's we go on.

We have given it a good shot but all we see are 5 Green sandpipers, loads of Lapwings, a nice Yellow Wagtail flies in and lands on the bank of the scrape which was nice, a Kestrel lands in a tree and it give us a nice view, a few Buntings & Warblers are popping in & out of the reeds, a  Grey Heron shows on the middle island for a nice photo shot.

Green-Veined White

A pleasant couple of hours, but it's time to get going home now, before I go I get a quick photo of a Green-Veined White Butterfly. which is the first for the year for me.

A nice view from the hide.

I arrange to meet Stuart really early tomorrow morning to give it another go for the target bird.

Green Sandpiper



Alpine Swift,back to birding.

After a couple of weeks of no new Birds being reported that I need for my year list, the boys tell me about a reported Alpine Swift at Sheringham Norfolk.
So jimmy & I meet up at 5am with Brian & we set off for the 2hour drive to Norfolk, the M11 is shut so it puts another 30mins on the trip.
Brian gets us to the area we need to be to spot the target bird,we park the car & prepare to trudge up the hill to the mound, when Brian sees the bird right over our head, we get really great long views of the  Alpine Swift.it's not often you see your target bird within a minute of arriving so great.


Alpine Swift



So now we set off to to go to Cley to try  to see a Little Stint that has been there a couple of days now. It's only 20miles away from where we were ,so we are soon in the hide scoping the scrape.



Small Copper Butterfly

  We see plenty of Black-Tail Godwits, a few LR Plovers, 2 GreenShanks, GreenSandpiper, 9 Spoonbills fly in which is always a nice sight to see. Just a single Curlew is spotted, a few Whimble. Common Sandpiper. 

 As I leave the hide I spot a Little Copper Butterfly on the gravel and get a photo of it.
We have spent a few hours here and it's time to head home, but we decide to go on to Titchwell . it's always a nice visit to come here.
Looking out of  the first hide there are loads of Golden Plovers, & Ruff, a Spotted RedShank, Dunlin, plenty of Avocets.  Jimmy then calls a Curlew Sandpiper.
Then it's Brian's turn to spot two Little Gulls.We must set off for the 2 hour drive home now.
Walking back I see Reed Warbler showing well in the trees, a lot of young ones hopping about and giving good views.




Reed warbler




Spoonbills landing

  


Alpine Swift









Avocet



Off home now after a really nice day birding. we got home at about 6 o'clock.
Just time to get a take away before I settle down to watch the best day at the Olympic games I have ever seen. congratulations to all the British athletes who made us all feel so proud tonight.







 



Roding Valley Meadow

Jimmy & I walked over to the Meadow to take some photos on a quick trip before dinner.
A quick look at the Little Owl for Jimmy to get another photo,and then off on the short walk over the River Roding & start to look for anything to photograph.


On the bridge we see some  Dragonfly types flying onto the reeds just above the water,it took a bit of scrambling down the bank but I got my photo.
Now we start to see some Butterflies,just the normal stuff we see over here, but still really nice to see on a warm sunny evening.


Banded Demoiselle



Comma

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GrassHopper

Small White






On the way home now just time to get a photo of a nice Swallow sitting in the sunshine.