Green Heron ( lifer ) in Pembrokeshire.

We meet up with Brian at 4 am for the long drive to Llam-Mill in Pembrokeshire & we make good time & arrive around 7. 30.
The car is parked at the top of the hill as asked to do by land owner, the walk down to the old mill is at a fast pace & when we reach the bottom a sign had been put up to direct us up the path & another one to send us to the MPs house where the Heron was to be found.
As we enter the garden about 20 other birders were present & we were looking at the Green Heron within seconds to give us all another lifer.
It was showing really well but at the back of the flooded pond, as the morning went on the bird got active & flew a lot closer to us to give us some great views of this little beauty with it's wonderful colours.
People came & went over the few hours that we spent here only amounting to about 60 that was a lot less than we expected to come to this twitch as it's not that often you get a chance to see a Green Heron here.
The MP Simon Harts & his wife came out to greet us all & provide the group with coffee or tea & were very pleasant indeed & the whole twitch was a pleasure to be on.Made all the better when Brian went up the hill to fetch the car to save us the climb.
Now where do we head to looking for a tick or two it's a choice either Fishguard or Stumble head or Marloes.
Marloes wins the day & on the way we pop into Blackpool Mill & after walking the stream for half an hour or so we get to see 2 Dippers to add to year list, just a shame the Mill is now shut as it was a nice place to have a cuppa & a cream scone.
On to Marloes where we pay the £5 parking fee & head up Deer park to look over to Skomer Island
where we soon spot many Puffins both on the water & flying about always a nice tick to see them.
It was a lot harder to find any Chough & we had to walk the park before one flew over our heads calling as it went .Jimmy & Brian got to see a couple more but I was having a bit of a rest & let them enjoy the long walk to find them. A few House Martins fly about to give us a year tick.
So now the long drive home that took us 5 hours with Brian driving that was harder for him than us, but we all agreed that the day was worth all the effort & was one of our great days birding.

Green Heron

Beautiful

Nightingale + at Lea Valley.

A nice warm day on Saturday See's Jimmy & I head off to Fisher's Green as it was almost to the day last year when we got Nightingale.
The big difference if you go this year is you now have to pay to park. The first hour is free but it is £2 50p after that for the rest of the day, but you can not drive to any other car park without paying again fine for dog walkers not so good for us birders.
Soon after we arrive we hear the beautiful sound of the Nightingale & just past the gate down to the National Grid station we get a couple of nice views of a single bird, there is just something about seeing & hearing a nice early Nightingale that puts a spring into your step.
Walking on & going across the Bailey bridge we search the bracken & soon see a few Common Whitethroat & then set about finding Lesser w.t.Not to long before Jimmy picks up one calling & then we get a great view as it sits up high on a bush.
We never found any Garden Warbler but our first Cuckoo of the year is heard
On Monday we pay a quick visit to KGV Reservoir & pick up a couple of ticks when we see our first Swift of the year & then we get a fly over Yellow Wagtail for another tick.

Nightingale

Egyptian Goose also seen at Fishers

American Visitor at Carlton Marsh

5 am start for the three of us to head off to Carlton Marsh near Lowerstoft Suffolk in the hope of meeting up with the American Bittern. We arrive around seven am & park in the main car park.
It's then about a 20 minute walk along a fairly muddy track but not to bad, some birders are already here but not as many as I expected there to be. Just past the first gate we get our first tick of the day when a Grasshopper Warbler is found.
It's going to be a long four hour wait before we get any sign  of the lifer.
Around a hundred people had arrived by now, so we had many eyes looking for any sign of the bird. It was not looking good but the locals were not to worried & that's how it turns out when we see a few people running up the track but before we could join them the cry goes up bird in flight.
We get a really great short view of the Bittern as it flies across the front of us before dropping down into the reeds.
Everybody is now focused on the spot the bird had dropped into. But it was a long time before we get another sighting. It's found a long way up the track by the group looking there, a large group go charging up to join them & get another view as it walks across a channel between the reeds.
So well worth the long wait in the end.
While here we had 2 Common Cranes fly over & then get a year tick when a Whimbrel drops onto the scrape behind us.
Barn Owls are seen Quartering at both sides of the track & we get some great views of  Marsh Harriers nest building right in front of us & that helped pass the time while waiting for the main act.
On the way out we all pick up a tick when we get a Willow Warbler.
We stop off at Cavenham Heath & see a few Stone Curlew & also pick up another tick when we see  a few Woodlark as we head  up & down the track.

Really hard to get photos but Brian got this one 

Ring Ouzel at Walthamstow Wetlands

Friday morning nothing going on when a Ring Ouzel is found again at the Walthamstow wetlands so Jimmy & I are soon on the way, it's only 15 minutes from home so we are soon walking up to the bushes 20 yards or so before the bend where we saw the Little Bunting.
We only have to wait a short time before the Ouzel flies down off the bushes from behind us & lands on the grass right in front of us.
We get to spend a good hour watching the bird just walking about not troubled by us being there, it helped with only one other fellow watching with us.
A walk around the wetlands we get to see a few Brambling plus ten or so White Wagtails but never saw a single Yellow Wag. We needed that for a year tick.
A few Egyptian Geese walk about on the paths as we walk around but no other year ticks are seen.
The wetlands have had a few good birds over the last few weeks with the long staying Little Bunting, Bluethroat plus a Hoopoe for a day & now the Ouzel, Looking forward to coming back here.
On the way home we pop into the KGV Reservoir & see our first Swallow of the year & then we find 6 or so Arctic Terns for another tick.
A single Little Gull flies towards us but it's not needed for a tick but still nice to see.

Dull start on wet day but turns out well at Oare.

We set off at 5 am on a wet morning destination Dungeness. It rains nearly all the way & when we arrive it's up to the hide on the beach where the visibility is very poor. A few Gannets some Aulks offer a poor return but I do pick up a tick when a few Sandwich Tern fly close in, a few Porpoise show well but it's not worth getting to wet for what is on offer.
A look around from the car gets us our first Wheatear of the year by the lifeboat station but that was the only one we found.
A drive down the track to the reserve gets us another year tick when we hear several Sedge Warbler & a couple show on the drive down.
Not wanting to get to wet we stay in the car & head off to Oare for another look for the Dowitcher.
We spend a fair while searching from the sea wall but it's not looking good & Brian & Jimmy started to walk back but I was talking to a nice couple from Chelmsford so I had to get a move on to catch them up & when I do they have found a Little owl so knowing that the pair I had just left wanted to see the Owl we turn to signal to them only to find that they were doing the same to us as they had found the Long -billed Dowitcher, so it's back we go & sure enough the bird was on an island on east flood with loads of Godwits a bit tucked down but no doubt that was our bird ,so thanks Tina & Doug in return they got to see the Owl on the way back.
As always we have to pop into Elmley & find a lot of water so loads of birds walking about mainly Redshank & lapwing but we see 5 Snipe a few Skylark & we get to watch the Marsh Harriers building a nest.Unfortunately no Yellow Wagtails are found.

Just a few shots of the many Redshanks

A couple of the many Hares that were running about

Well it was there so why not.