A week late but Eagle ticked.

Last Sunday the boys went to E Sussex & got good views of the S-t Eagle plus a nice Honey Buzzard,I was not able to go with them due to family coming as it's fathers day & it would have been very rude to just shoot off to see just a bird,they don't understand.
So with the boys teasing me ever since I wait till Thursday & see the bird still being reported I have to give it a go, I talk Jimmy into coming with me & we arrive about 10 o'clock at Gill's lap car park.
A lot of birders about looking for it, it's a nice warm day & it's a nice place to be, but the bird is not going to show for us today.
The trip home took for ever with the traffic really bad & of course when we do get near home the pager tells us the bird is in the trees viewable from the car park, not a good day.
So still a loser I get up really early on Saturday morning, get over the bridge before you  have to pay,I know it's only £2 but it feels good, on arrival the place is packed birders all over the place.
I stand talking to some birders that I have meet at other places, they have spent the last 5 hours driving down from Durham & it is one of them that spots the Eagle perched in trees a long way off but it feels great to get a view of the bird at last.

Short-toed Eagle

Over the next couple of hours we get great flight views as it comes nearer to us, it is a great bird to see, we see the bird grab a snake & eat it while it's on the wing. what a relief to join the hundreds that have seen this bird over the last few days.
Also seen a nice Redstart & 3 Stonechat.

Redstart

Back in the saddle with Nightjar at the Brecks.

Brian & I attend a family funeral this afternoon & before he has to leave to head back to work we make plans to go looking for Nightjar tonight at the Brecks.
Jimmy gets the call to meet up at 7.30pm & we arrive at 9 pm & pull into a small clearing in the woods.
Other people arrive over the next hour & that gives us the chance for a talk while waiting for darkness & the birds to start churring.
We hear Tawny Owls & then Woodcock start to fly over our heads, in all we see 10 plus over the next two hours. At about 10.20 we hear the first Nightjar & over the next hour we hear a few more,a bird flies up to give a quick view but we hope for better.
We start to head back towards the car & stop to talk to a lone birder who was here to record Woodcocks.
Brian had gone on ahead of us & gets to see a Nightjar fly over his head, he points to us but we miss out on this one, but as we stand here Jimmy turns round to get us onto a nice one just above our heads & as it flies the light hits it just right for a really great view.
We do this trip every year now & once again it proves to be a good one with 2 more year ticks.

Annual trip to south Wales.

We make this trip every year around this time hoping to get 8 or more year ticks,as it turns out Brian & I pick up 10 & Jimmy gets 11, so a good trip all round.
On the way down Jimmy had done some homework & the wetland centre in Newport has a Savi's Warbler there for the last two days so we have to give it a try.
We arrive hours before the gates open, so parked up on the road we head for the lighthouse, the only trouble we take a  2 mile wrong turn following a sign post for the lighthouse when all had to do was go along the main path for about 1/4 mile to locate the bird, this is starting to become a bit of a habit with us lately.
as we get near to where the bird has been showing we hear it singing away so the walk is worth while in the end & a bonus when the bird gives us great views to start our trip of on the right note.

Savi's Warbler

On now to the Deer Park by Skomer Island. Brian wants to go over to the Island but the boat is already sold out for the day, so he has to settle for a boat trip around the Island. Jimmy is feeling a bit dickey so he & I stay behind & scan the Puffins & all the other birds from the park.
Raven is the first bird to drop in to where we perched our self, not needed for a tick but always nice to watch.

Raven

  Next up Chough start to fly round us but as we don't want to walk about to much we don't get any photos of them this year. Fulmar are nesting & give us a good display, Jimmy needed this for a tick so that's a extra one for him.Brian gets back from the boat trip with some cracking Puffin shots.

Brian on the way back at the front of the boat.

After a few hours we book in to our room & then head up to Strumble Head to watch the Manx Shearwater
heading to Skomer to spend the night there, after a slow start they start to pour past in small groups.
A great first day with some good birds seen & the weather really nice. A quick look along the river by Blackpool Mill & we get our first Dipper of the year at the same place as last year, shame that the Mill is now had to shut down will miss the cream teas.
Up bright & early to find it's raining, we are going to Dinas for the morning so a drop of rain we not stop us as this is a must for us when we come to Wales, we all love this place.
Spotted flycatcher & then Pied Flycatcher are the first birds to show as we walk down the boardwalk.
Next we hear Wood Warbler & set about tracing it down, which turns out to be easy as we see a few while here.Now the next bird on the list to find is Common Redstart ,a fellow that had come here to ring so birds tells us that there are not to many about this year, but we do get lucky when we see two or three while here.
Brian gets a Tree Pipit but I miss it, so real pleased when I find one for myself later on as we stroll in the woods.
We drive now out of Dinas & head up to get some really great views as we drive up the Mountain road this is a dead end but well worth doing just to get really fantastic views.
Off now to Gilfach Farm to get some close up views of Redstart & Flycatchers, it is raining quite hard & never stops while at the farm that is a shame as we would have liked to have spent a lot more time watching these cracking birds.

While driving about we get to see great views of a very accommodating Buzzard that is getting an easy meal as the workers are strimming the grass verge & they must be giving the bird clear views of any thing that runs out of cover.

Spectacled Warbler at Burnham Overy.

Headed to Norfolk for the day, the aim was to see the Black-headed Bunting that has been seen for a few days now, we arrive just after 7 to find a dozen or so people already looking for the bird at the discarded pig farm, nobody had seen any sign of it up to now, not a good sign.
After a couple of hours the local birders pack up & call it a day, we give it a bit longer but in the end we also give up, a bad start to the day.
A quick look in at Salthouse only to find that the car park had become part of the beach, so we head to Titchwell, on the way we stop off at Choseley drying Barns hoping to see Turtle Dove, again nothing doing.
A drive down the lane gets us a year tick when Jimmy spots a Grey Partridge in one of the gaps in the hedge, a good spot as we have been finding it hard to find one this year.
On to Titchwell, we spend a few hours here just watching many Avocet with the chicks all over the pool, Brian picks up a Little-ringed Plover he needed it for a tick, 2 Spoonbill are seen from the hide,over all not to much about but we still have a good time here.
As we head back to get a bite to eat, the bleeper tells us that a Mega bird was only 15 minutes away so the food takes a back seat as we rush to Gun Hill dunes at Burnham Overy.
We park at the side of the road & walk to the dunes, it is one hell of a walk with a bad leg, it felt like 3 miles
& nearly killed me.
The good news when I catch up with the boys the bird is in the middle of jimmy's scope & the view of the Spectacled Warbler is a good one. So a lifer for all of us, so the day has just picked up for us.
By this time many birders have started to arrive to fill the area by the bushes that the bird has been seen.
Of course this is the signal for the bird to fly to another bush , so we all want another look & maybe a photo,the so the by now large group all follow the bird as it goes from one place to another before it settles again, we now get to have a little sit down on the dunes ,I can tell you that was very welcome indeed,
after an hour watching this smashing little bird fly about from bush to bush, it flies a long way back to where we first saw it, we decide to head back to the car, we had great views of the bird but I never got to get any good photos of it.

Grey Partridge

Looking back as we leave a good crowd getting bigger by the minute

One of the many Avocet

Red-necked Phalarope at Bowers Marsh Essex

Just sitting reading the papers when Jimmy calls out do I want to drive to Bowers Marsh for a Red-necked Phalarope, it's only 30 odd miles away so we can do that & be back for lunch.
On arrival the drive down to the car park is an up & down ride with holes all the way down, the underside of the car takes a bit of a bashing & will need to be washed this afternoon.
The walk to the freshwater Lagoon is not to far & we see a few Corn bunting & Skylark on the way, a small group of birders are already on the bird when we arrive so a nice easy tick for us.
Swimming about with the Avocets & the chicks you can see just how small a bird this in contrast to the babies.
We spend about an hour watching the target bird being chased back & forth by nearly every other bird on the water but it just dropped down a bit further away & was not to bothered by it all.
So a nice year tick for both of us, home now for some Sunday roast.

To far for the camera but a record shot.
Red-necked Phalarope

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