Back to Fowlmere for Turtle Dove.

Having dipped on Monday Jimmy & I set off to to put it right with another visit to the RSPB reserve at Fowlmere in Cambridgeshire.
It's only 43 miles from home down the M11 & with no traffic about at this time of the morning we are soon parked up & walking down to the reedbed hide, as we near the hide we hear the first purring of a Turtle dove, a quick scan of the trees & we have another year tick in the bag.
There is a large bare tree just before you reach the hide & with a bit of Patience you will see the bird come in to sit out in the open from time to time.
A look in the hide that over looks a reed bed we see Sedge & reed Warbler along with Reed Bunting a couple of Little Egrets fly up from the reeds.
Speaking to a local fellow birder in the hide he tells us that a pair of Marsh Harrier are nesting here & after a little time the female makes an appearance to give us a nice display.
On walking back to the car we hear at least 3 more purring Turtle Doves & we believe that there are five here in total.

Turtle dove

Temminck's Stint at Rainham.

Not expecting to get in any birding today but just looking on bird guides & 3 Temminck's Stint have landed at Rainham, so it would be rude not to head off to tick them.
Only 30 minutes later we are walking down to the hide to look over the target pool, we get on them with out any trouble, a long way from the hide & we need the scope to see them, 4 have been reported but we spend an hour looking at them & we only get to see 3.
So just a quick visit to give Jimmy & myself a nice year tick & the bonus of being only 30 minutes from home.

Little Bittern, Red-necked grebe, Red-backed Shrike.

Just Jimmy & myself today, we are up & out by 5am heading to Lakenheath for the Little Bittern.
At the last minute we decide to pop into Weeting heath & the first tick of the day when we see Spotted flycatcher & I also pick out a couple of Stone Curlew, not needed for a tick but nice.   We wanted to see  Woodlark for a year tick but didn't manage to see any here today.
So off to look for the L Bittern at Lakenheath, the car park is fairly full as you would expect for this visitor.
We are told that the bird had been heard on & off over the last two hours & it is in the pool right down by Joist hide.
On arrival a group had already gathered & we soon hear the bird, it seems to be on the move up & down the reed bed but the bird never showed while we are here so we tick it on the call that we hear many times over the time that we spend here.
We don't have a lot of time today so with the pager telling us of a Red-necked Grebe only 15 miles away we must go looking for it.
Parking by the church at Livermere lake Ampton water it's a bit off a walk  that is not needed after the long walk at Lakenheath but that is soon forgotten when we see the bird half way out on the water & it's a little cracker in full summer plumage to give us another year tick.
A call from Brian & he is at Fowlmere RSPB & he is looking at four Turtle Doves & it is only a four mile diversion off the M 11 on the way home, as I said we have to be home by 2 o'clock & that only gives us a very short time to search for the bird's even with help from Brian on the phone & finding the bare tree that one of them likes to sit in it's not a happy ending as we have to give in to the time & with a heavy heart we dip out but only being about 40 miles from home we will try later this week & feel very confident of getting a sighting of at least one of them.
I make it home in time to lift my brother in law to hospital & think that's the days birding over ,but after dropping Fred off at his house I arrive home to find Jimmy waiting at the door & we are on the way to Fairlop waters that is only 15 minutes from home to find a reported Red-backed Shrike, once again it's a bit of a walk before we spot the Shrike sitting up very nicely for us, a really smashing bird this one & a real bonus to give me the fourth tick of the day.


                                                     
                                                                 

Red-backed Shrike at Fairlop.

Broad-billed sandpiper a lifer + 7 year ticks.

The planned trip to Wales this week is postponed for another day & instead we meet up with Brian & head to Minsmere with the intention of being in the area if the Broad-billed sandpiper shows at Tinker's marsh.
First up we pop in at Dunwich heath & get a quick tick when we see 3 Dartford warblers just yards from the footpath & on the way back to the car a nice Stonechat is seen.
On the way to Minsmere now when the pager does the job & we head to Southwold for the Sandpiper
it's not to far away so the planning really worked for us.
We find the Harbour inn & park up & can see the bailey bridge that we have to cross & walk for over a mile before we see a small group of birders & the target bird is added to our life list, a cracking little bird that is not to far away until it gets spooked & flies to the back of the scrape, we are still able to watch it in the scope but I missed a good chance to get a good photo when it was close.
On the other pool 3 Curlew Sandpipers & a Caspian gull give us two more year ticks as a bonus for the long walk we had to get down here.
Back to Minsmere to head to the east hide for a good view of the Red-necked phalarope ,it's with some Avocet & looks so tiny up against them.
so a good tick & before we leave it's a look in the Bittern hide & what a good decision it turns out to be when at least 4 Bitterns are seen with two good flight views & one Bittern shows in front of the hide for over an hour, word must of spread as the hide is now packed & some off the people were so excited as it was there first time of seeing one so close, it made for a really nice atmosphere to round off a really nice day birding with the boys, &  I also pick up a tick when I see a Hobby over the back of the trees.

Broad-billed sandpiper

The very obliging Bittern

Lifer in Hampshire, Greater yellowlegs at last.

Meet up with Brian at a family gathering on Saturday & he greets me with the words Hampshire in the morning, I reply what time.
So we pull up at Tichfield around 7.30 only to find the reserve is shut till 9.30, another fellow tells us that the bird has been seen around the other side at Posbrook flood & we follow him around in the car,a bit off a walk when we get there but we do meet up with the couple of fellows that had found the bird back in January & they tells us that the bird had been seen here from tine to time.
Unfortunately for us it's not here today.
So we go back & wait for the reserve to open, we pay the £4 fee & walk to the north scrape where we see Med Gull & Avocet  plus Swallow & many Black-headed gulls but no sign of the target.
After a few hours 1 Godwit drops in to get us excited but nothing follows it in, then Jimmy gets a surprise when his pager tells him that the Yellowlegs was on the scrape in front of us, there is only about 6 people in the hide & none of them had posted it, so where is it, then another fellow gets a message to say the bird has been seen from Knights bank hide that is right round the other side of the reserve, so we all march at a fast pace back up to the road by the sea wall & take the long walk to the hide.
The hide is packed & we have to wait for a gap to look out over the scrape but at least the bird is present & we soon get onto the bird, it's a long way off so no photos today.
A nice long look at the Yellowlegs through the scope makes it all worth while the wait & long walk
The fellow that we had meet earlier stayed with us all morning, he resides in Brighton & it was nice to spend the time with him, let's hope we bump into him at another twitch.
Before heading home we call in at Acres down, as soon as we arrive a Wood warbler is heard & then seen flying from tree to tree, so another bird that we don't need to see on our trip to Wales next week.
Redstart & Willow warbler seen but no more ticks for the day, so off for home with a lifer in the bag & a nice day birding in some really nice warm weather.

Where we saw the Greater yellowlegs

This fellow just popped in to say hello.

A very friendly Water vole

A few photos sitting by Fleet Lagoon Weymouth

Rook

Turnstone

Whimbrel

Cirl bunting in Devon

While on a short break in Weymouth I take the 70 mile drive to Labrador Bay in Devon in the hope of seeing  Cirl bunting. After parking in the small off road car park I set about finding the target bird.
A walk along the hedge row by the car park gets me nothing, when I get talking to a RSPB volunteer who was one of only about six people here & he tells me that I should head down the hill to another row of bushes where he had seen them many times.
As I walk along the bushes a bird drops of a bush & picks up some food on the ground, it turns out to be a Robin, but as I look I see a couple of birds moving about on the grass & bingo they turn out to be Cirl bunting, they are up & down from the bushes & I watch them for a short while before getting back to my wife & dog that had stayed in the car.

Well worth the drive to see these cracking little birds, I had also seen them here last year so a really good place to go to see them.

As close as I could get.

Cirl bunting

Pectoral sandpiper at Rainham marshes

A 35 mile drive to Gunners park See's Jimmy & I arrive just after 10 am,  only to be told that the Red-Rumped swallow had last been seen at 10 o'clock & had flown off north west.
We stay for at least a couple of hours passing the time talking to John p & friend also meet up with Marco who arrived with bike, nothing doing with the target bird so we leave Marco still looking & head off to Rainham for the Pec sandpiper.
On arrival John & mate had beaten us here & were tucking into a nice sausage roll & a coffee in the cafe. We head down to target pool not stopping for refreshment just in case the bird legs it, one dip today is one to many.
After 20 minutes of looking Jimmy picks out the Pec & gets everybody on it, John has reached us now & we put him onto the bird, then Mr Evans turns up & once again he is put onto it without having to look to hard.
So just one tick for the day but one is better than none & you don't see a Pectoral sandpiper that often.

Peregrine

A long way off so not bad.

Pectoral sandpiper