Great Reed Warbler for another lifer.

Brian phones to meet up at 3.30 for a trip to bag a lifer in Cambridgeshire at Paxton pits NR.
It's about 60 miles away & we have a small hold up but not to bad, on arrival we meet a couple of fellows who guide us down to the right place to start searching for the Great Reed Warbler.It's a bit of a walk down to the Heronry Trail but it soon pays off for us.
It is heard as soon as we get there & calls the whole time we are here.
After a short while the bird shows but is deep in the reeds so we have to wait for it to climb up to the top of the reeds & we then have some fantastic views over the next hour of a cracking little bird.
On the way out we pick up a tick when we see a Turtle Dove fly by. We see & hear a few Nightingales as we watch the Warbler.
So a nice little bonus trip for two ticks one a good lifer.

                                                                           

Brian's photo

Franklin's Gull for another lifer.

Abberton Reservoir is our destination after Brian finished work at 12 o'clock on Saturday it's only an hour away , a small crowd were already lined up when we arrive & most had seen the Franklin's so looking good for us. We only have to wait 10 minutes or so before we get some great flight views of the bird as it circled around half way across the water to give Jimmy & I another lifer. It was easy to pick it out amongst the other Gulls once you got onto it.

So the lifers have started to roll for us at last this year after a slow start, also seen while here Arctic Tern plus Black Tern.

On now to Vange Marsh where a Red-footed Falcon was flying around & we pick it up as soon as we got there, we get some really great flight views & also get to see the bird sitting on top of some small trees to give us the best views we have ever had of a Red-footed Falcon.

Over the other side of the scrape a pair of Black-winged Stilt were showing well, so 2 year ticks for us here.
We spend a good couple of hours watching the Falcon before it was lost to sight, nice to see some local faces while here in particular Harry & friend as it seems a long time since we had seen them.

Western Bonelli's Warbler at Gibraltar point.

We set off at 4 am intending to go to Choseley for the Dotterell but  we change our minds & drive the 140 miles to Gibraltar point Lincolnshire in the hope that the Alpine Accentor had hung about over night.
About 40 or so birders were already here at 6 30, but it's not looking good with people already giving up the search down by the bird feeders & heading off, so not a good start to the day, after an hour or so the general opinion is the bird had gone, so it's back to the car to head off to Choseley when we see people running up the road in front of us, on asking what was going on we are told that a Bonelli's Warbler had been seen just up the road.
With the car parked up again we join a large group to search a Sycamore tree & get to hear it calling but with a lot of people saying that they had got it we are not sure it's our bird & some good birders around us feel the same. So feeling a bit down as two dips in a day is not good.
The warden then calls out that the bird was round the back of the car park, so we all shoot round & it's not long before we get some good views of another lifer for us, not the lifer we set out to get but really happy for this bird to save the day for us.
On arrival at Choseley drying barns we pull in just off the road by the bend & get to see over 20 Dotterell not to far into the field, the most I have ever seen in one go so well pleased to get a nice year tick here.
On now to Titchwell & pick out 2 Wood Sandpiper on the first scrape for another year tick, Geoff B tells us where to find the Temminck's Stint down by the first hide & we have no trouble in finding 2 along with Little Stint for two more ticks.On the way back a Whinchat sits up on a fence for another tick.
So five year ticks & a lifer gave us a long but happy day & we also picked out a Green Hairstreak for good measure.

                                                                 

Just a few of the Dotterell from distance

Hairstreak

3 ticks over the valley on a nice morning

On a nice warm morning Jimmy & I head off to Fishers Green & spend a nice 3 hours watching loads of small birds flitting about in the bramble.
We start off in the Bittern hide & soon see many Reed Warbler popping from reed to reed in front of the hide. We scan the trees in the hope of seeing a Hobby or two but not today.
Off to walk round to the brambles & soon find lots of Garden Warbler along with Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, a pair of Bullfinch show well.
A walk down to the weir gets us our first Swifts of the year when we see many flying over the water.
Three more ticks for the year gets me up to 201.

At last Lady Amherst's then another lifer Rufous Turtle Dove

With Brian still in Scotland Jimmy & I think it is about time that we had a go for the last Lady Amherst's Pheasant left in the the country.
We did try once last year but didn't like it much & found it hard to go back to spend hours looking at a small patch of grass in case the bird showed for a second or two. but off we go for one last try & arrive at Lidlington Beds at 6 o'clock & spend six hours just looking at said patch of grass with out any sign of the target.
We do hear it call at least three times but we can't leave it at that & come back the next day for what will really be our last try.
This time we roll up an hour earlier & hear the bird calling many times from the wooded area, it seems to be close but we can't see any sign of it.
Three hours later with a few more people looking we get a quick sighting at the bottom of the ridge, then it walks up the hill to give us a better view of it as it walks across the grass patch that we were all focusing on. So worth the effort after all. Nice to meet up with Geoff Busby again & also nice to meet some new faces while here.
So with one lifer in the bag we are up very early this morning to try for another as we head off to Otford in Kent for the Rufous Turtle Dove.
It's six o'clock when we arrive to be meet by at least 30 other birders & the first fellow we reach has the bird in his scope & lets us both get a look at it.
Jimmy gets his scope set up & we get a great view as it sits out in the open before dropping down into the garden & it stays out of sight for the next couple of hours.
More people arrive & then the bird is seen again but this time a lot deeper in the leaves making it a lot harder to find.Most people had trouble finding the bird & the couple of scopes that had found the right angle to see it were busy letting all those that hadn't seen it the chance to get a view, a really nice friendly crowd here today.
So only 2 ticks for the 3 days but both lifers make it a good weekend.