Back out birding at last for a lifer.Masked Shrike Kent.

It's been over two months since I have been birding. Not being able to travel in the same car as Brian for such a long time has stopped me from going on long trips. I've missed a few birds over the last few months. But this morning Brian phoned to say a Masked Shrike had stayed overnight at Shuart in Kent & it's only 78 miles so not too bad for me to drive there.

Jimmy & I set off around 9am & had a trouble-free journey & arrived at 10.30.

A few cars were parked at the top of Shuart Lane & we found a place & parked up.

About a mile walk down the Lane & Shuart Drove finds us meeting up with Brian & find the Shrike showing really well for a nice lifer for Jimmy & myself, Brian had seen one a couple years ago but this gave him a much better view.

It felt really good to be birding once again & always nice to meet up with other birders.

On the way back to the car we get a year tick as we find a Yellow-browed Warbler by the farm.  This horrible virus has really cut short my birding year but a lot of people have had a lot more things to worry about than that & we all have so many people to thank for what they have done for so many.

The Masked Shrike a lovely bird.

 

 

Lifer & a great day at Frampton Marshes.

Got up this morning with no plans but after breakfast, and a chat with Jimmy we decide to go for the CaspianTern at Frampton, which is over a 2-hour drive about 120 miles from home, the Tern would be a lifer for me so let's go for it.

We leave around 7 am & after a trouble-free run we arrive at the car park at 9 30 am to find it packed & struggled to find a parking place.

A scan from the side of the visitor centre over Reedbed Lagoon gets our first tick of the day when a Little Stint is seen.

Next up I get my lifer when we find the Caspian Tern asleep among the many Godwits. We watch the Tern for a good ten minutes before it wakes up to give a full view of the carrot-like beak to confirm that we have the Caspian.

I needed Common Sandpiper for a tick & pick out 2 while here on the same lagoon.

A walk round to Reedbed hide soon gets us tick number 4 as we spot a Curlew Sandpiper just a few yards away from many Spoonbill a good find this one.

As we leave the hide we are told that a couple of Wood Sandpipers are showing & we are onto them for tick number 5.

The reserve is alive with both Bl & Bartail Godwits, about 18 Spoonbills, Ruff,  Ringed Plover & 2 Little-ringed Plover.

A great few hours spent walking this special place with the added bonus of a lifer for me.

The Caspian Tern

Wood Sandpiper

We never fail to have a good time when we visit here & today was no exception.

Caspian

Lesser Yellowlegs + at Oare Marsh.

Brian had set off for the long trip to the Peak District for a sight of the Bearded Vulture & still not able to travel in one car & not wanting to drive that far myself & the very very long walk when you get there means that trip is a no go for me.

So Jimmy & I set off to once again to Oare Marshes in Kent in the hope of ticking the Lesser Yellowlegs that has been seen on the east flood for a few days now.

On arrival, we have the tick within minutes as the bird shows very well on the single island halfway out on the flood, it continues to show well for the whole of the four hours we spend here.

As the morning goes on we get updates from Brian & he is still walking to the tor & has a long way to go & has found a nice bog to sink into up to his knees.

We head round to the seawall side to search for the reported Curlew & Wood Sandpipers for more ticks. We spend a few hours searching back across the flood & it's easier to scan with the sun behind us now.

But we have no luck & there are no sightings of them all day. so back round to the layby for a scan of the flood before we head off for home & we pick up a couple of year ticks as a Whimbrel is spotted on the same single island that the Yellowlegs was on.

A last scan of the Northern corner gets us our first Little-ringed Plover of the year.

A really nice warm day spent here & along with the 3-year ticks we see a Spotted Redshank, some Med Gulls, Redshanks, Common Terns, Ruff, Knot, Dunlin, Avocet & many Black-tailed Godwits.

A Turtle Dove is heard again & the Barn Owl shows once again the same as the last 2 visits here.
An update from Brian & he has seen the Vulture after a very long wait & is not looking forward to a horrible walk back to the car. such a stupid hobby but we all love it.

Lesser Yellowlegs

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Bonaparte's Gull again at Oare Marshes Kent.

Jimmy & I had planned to head to Oare Marshes for a morning's birding, a text to let Brian know our plans & he says he will meet us there early morning, dam this not being to use one car.
We set off before 5 am so we could avoid the Dartford bridge toll its free before 6 am & we reach there well before that.
On arrival, we find Brian has beaten us there & was already scanning the mudflats for the returning Bonaparte's Gull without any luck so far.
We scan the east flood & get no sign of the Gull. The flood is full of Black-tail Godwits, Avocet, Dunlin & we pick out a Waterrail over the far corner showing very well.
Two Turtle Doves are heard & then seen on the pylon wires & once again the same as our last trip here a Barn Owl shows well with a nice flight view.
Brian joins us & after another scan of the scrape, we decide to walk around the scrape.
Brian walks on as we look for a tick with a Little Ring plover but no luck.
We do spot a Greenshank that is a year tick for me, Jimmy didn't need this. Also not needed a nice looking Spotted Redshank was great to see.
The phone goes Brian tells us to get round to him as he has the Bonaparte's just past the hide, out on the mud on the east side of the slipway.
The bird moves about on the mud to give us great views. Nice to see this bird returning again to give us a nice yearly tick.

Gull-billed Tern ( Lifer ) at Dungeness +

As we have been doing lately we head off to where Brian has been a day or so before, hate this not being able to go together in one car as we normally do.

We decided around 10 am to try for what would be a lifer for both of us as the Gull-billed Tern has been reported again on Arc pit, the weather report is not in our favour with a lot of rain about, but if you don't try you are not going to get anywhere, as Brian's blog says if you get out there you might just see something.

A trouble-free journey sees us arrive around noon.as we drive along Dungeness Road we see a small group are looking over Arc pit & look as if they might be on the Tern, so I drop Jimmy off so he can start scanning while I park the car further down off the road & get myself back up there to find Jimmy has the Lifer insight & I'm onto it straight away so well worth the 2-hour trip to get really great views as it flies up down the pit, we spend 20 minutes with the Gull before we get ourselves back to the car & off this dangerous road with very little grass verge to stand on & the cars are not going slow past us.

Off now for the Black-winged Stilt at the other end of the pit, the car park is open so we park in there & walk down to the screen.

The viewing screen is boarded up so so along with all the others we stand halfway up the bank & think this will be an easy year tick as it had been reported only a few minutes ago,2 hours later after getting a good soaking we manage to see the Stilt as it comes out onto the scrape along with some sunshine, so we have the two ticks we came for.

The Gull-billed Tern 

Brian texts to say he has just got a Quail not far from home in Hertfordshire so that's tomorrow booked up.

Lovely evening with the Nightjars.

We made a late decision to travel to the Brecks to get our annual Nightjar fix.
Setting off at 7pm we have arranged to meet up with Brian at Kings Forest around 9 30. Jimmy & I set off early so we could pop into Cavenham Heath as we need to tick Stone Curlew, arriving just after 8pm. Just before heading down the bumpy track, I got lucky when a Woodcock flew up from the grass verge & gave me a good year tick a bonus for me as Jimmy & Brian had seen the one at Titchwell that I missed.
So a good start to the evening, only a couple of fellows looking as we set about getting a look at any of these funny looking Stone-Curlew's.
It takes us nearly an hour before we find a group of four birds walking along in front of the grass mounds just in front of the fence posts, as we get the scope on them we see a family as two of the birds are babies with Mum & Dad, well pleased with that sighting.
Off now to meet up with Brian in the forest, keeping social distance in mind we meet up & wait for any sign of Nightjars.
It's great here as we only have to wait 20 minutes before we hear the churring of a few birds & a Nightjar flies right over our heads & lands in a big tree by the crossroads clearing, that gives us great views as it sits out in the open before flying off to be replaced by other Nightjars flying around us.
We get to hear more calling & clapping before another one comes & lands on the same tree & starts churring away.  ( lovely )
A Tawny Owl starts to call to give Jimmy & I a year tick, been really lazy here as we live only a mile or so away from Epping Forest & had been putting it off going to get the Owl ticked & then lockdown stopped everything, so a welcome tick here.
Off home now after a great evening with 4-year ticks to my list arriving home around midnight.

Brian the only one that took a camera.

Welcome trip to Minsmere.

I would have liked to join Brian at Minsmere on Tuesday but had a lot of work to get done in the garden so I made a decision to stay at home & watch the wife working on it,( only kidding).
Brian got 4-year ticks on his visit, so Jimmy & I set off at 5am to arrive at Dunwich Heath just before 7am only to find it all shut off.
Not to be put off we head down the road to Westleton Heath & start our search for our first Dartford Warbler of the year.
It's not easy to find or hear any but with some perseverance, we pick up a few calls & then get good views of a single bird a bit disappointing not to find more but it's a tick so a good start to the day.
With some directions from Brian, we head to Saunders hill that is not far past the little layby for Island Mere hide.
As soon as we get out of the car we hear the signing of the Iberian Chiffchaff as Brian said we would.
So another good year tick. On to Minsmere now, as you would expect with most of the reserve still closed, the car park only has 3 other cars parked up.
The only hide open was the public hide, so we headed along the beach stopping to scan a few times.
On reaching the hide we find only 2 other birders present so social distancing no problem.
On scanning the South scrape we find our first Little Gull along with many Sandwich Terns.
One of the fellows in the hide thinks he has the Roseate Tern but we are not too sure. So just the 4 ticks the same as Brian the day before gives us a good day's birding.
On leaving the hide we get to see at least 3 Dartford Warblers if we had known it could have saved us a trip to Westleton Heath but to be fair it's only up the road. Starting to feel like we are birding again, just waiting till we can all head off together in one car.

Red-footed Falcon at Fen Drayton Cambridgeshire.

It still feels funny not being able to go birding in one car, with Brian going on his own & Jimmy & I going to the same place in my car.
Brian went yesterday to Fen-Drayton & got to tick the Red-footed Falcon so of course, we had to get our fill of the bird.
We never left till 7 am & after a clear run we are parking up at Fen Drayton RSPB in Cambridgeshire inside an hour.
At first, we head off the wrong way but a call to Brian soon gets us on the right track.
It's a bit of a trot before we find a few birders standing up on the ridge by the busway overlooking the sheep field where we are told the bird had been seen but had flown off but had done that a few times before returning to this corner of the field that it seems to favour.
Sure enough after 10 minutes or so the Falcon returns to sit on some bare land behind a wire fence, it hangs about not moving much so a good scope view but it was at a distance. The bird takes off & we are treated to a lovely flight view as it passes near to us before heading away & very high.
A nice year tick for us & we also tick Willow Warbler & we see Hobby, Kestral, another Turtle Dove that is the third one this year we have seen or heard.

A long way off but a record shot.Red-footed Falcon.

A visit to Oare Marshes in Kent just what we needed.

After our visit to Ware in Hertfordshire yesterday we have the urge to travel a bit further today.
So Jimmy & I set off for Oare Marshes in Kent, it's not too far only 60 miles away.
It felt a bit strange to be heading out of the house at 5 am after so long of not being able to go birding.
With the roads clear it only takes an hour before we are pulling up at Oare.
Not sure what is about maybe a Garganey & we hope the Bonaparte may show. we set about scanning the flood, the water level is high so not a lot about, a few Blacktail Godwits, the odd Avocet, plus some Bearded Tits pinging away.
We head back up the road & head to the west side & scan the bushes & although we never got to see it we could hear a Turtle Dove purring away, this proves to be a bit disappointing not getting a view of the bird, we had already ticked one in Ilford before lockdown so not needed for a tick here but we did see that one. As we scan for the Dove a Barn Owl comes up right in front of us & we get a great display as it hunts the area, Brian would have loved that his camera would have been clicking non stop he loves a Barn Owl.
A walk around the flood on the eastside gets us a year tick when we find a Garganey on the bank with a few Mallard Ducks.
It's asleep but the head is visible & it gets up & moves a bit to preen before settling back down again.
So no swimming views but after so long not being to be out birding any view is a bonus.
We continue the walk around stopping to scan the mudflats in the hope that we might find the Bonaparte Gull, after 3 hours we give up looking & head off to a local cemetery for what we hope will be an easy tick.
On arrival, we park just outside the cemetery & walk down the main path & inside minutes we get to see a few Spotted Flycatchers flying down from the large trees & giving good views as they land on the gravestones all very nice.
After we had our fill of the Flycatchers we check to see if anybody had found the Bonaparte back at Oare, no news so we head back for home after a very welcome mornings birding again. Just waiting now for the time to come when the three of us can all head off birding in one car.

One of the Flycatchers

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The Garganey

Brian's photo same place but 2 days earlier, Spotted Flycatcher

Marsh Warbler at Ware.

Brian shot off to Oare Marsh yesterday & that whets our appetite. So with the news of a Marsh Warbler in Ware, it doesn't take us long to make our minds up to head off to get a year tick & we have only seen two Marsh Warbler's before so an easy decision to make.
A quick text to tell Brian that we are going just in case he wants to meet us there & of course, he does.
It's only a 25-minute drive from home along the A10 & as we pull up to park Brian is already parking up.
A very short walk soon sees us meet up with 5 other birders also searching for the Warbler.
All keeping a safe distance we set about finding the bird.
First, we hear the Warbler singing away to give us hope of seeing it. Not long before we have our first sighting of the Marsh Warbler & in the hour we spend here we get another short view & then the bird sits out at the top of the bush to give a good prolonged view.
Just to be out birding again is a great feeling. And so nice to get the year list moving again.

The Marsh Warbler sitting out nice for us.

Out birding again but only local patch.

On Wednesday 13th the government lifted some rules about how far we could travel. So Brian was first out of the blocks when he headed over Jimmy's former patch at Lee Valley CP.
He informed us of the birds he found & he also went back the next day to add some more ticks to his year list. So on Friday, it's time for Jimmy & I to get back out there for some birding.
As I have said this was Jimmy's local patch for years & it's only 20 minutes from home.
Parking up by the farm at Fishers Green, we are back ticking as soon as we are out of the car when a calling Cuckoo greets us.
We head round to the bushes where we are more or less guaranteed to find a couple of ticks & that is the case when first up we spot a nice Whitethroat showing really well & that is followed by Sedge Warbler. We head down to the Weir & pick up our first Common Tern of the year but we only find another one which was a bit of a letdown but it's another tick & our first Swift soon follows.
The search for a Nightingale proves a disappointment, it's a bit late to hear them now but we had seen a report from a couple of local birders that they had heard a small burst from a couple, but Brian never heard any & we never got to hear that wonderful song while here.
So it's good to be out birding & a total of 5 ticks is not a  bad start.
On the 20th we arrange to meet Brian over the patch & bird at a distance from him which was so nice to be doing again.
We start off listening for the Nightingale again but once again no luck.
So we head off round to the bushes & this time along with the Whitethroats we see a nice Lesser Whitethroat quickly followed by Garden Warbler & before leaving we find Reed Warbler. The year list has moved up 3 more so well worth the visit.
Today we get a call from Brian telling us he has just heard a Nightingale over the patch. So within 20 minutes we are over Fishers again.
We never met up with Brian this time but with the information we have Jimmy & I are soon listening to a lovely Nightingale song what a bonus. A walk down to the weir soon gets us another 2 ticks with both Sand Martin & House Martin up with many Swifts.
The aim now is to find a Hobby & after an hour we are rewarded when 2 Hobbies fly over the water & circle around above our heads for over 15 minutes to give us a great treat. So 3 very local trips to the Lee Valley gets us up & running again & with 12-year ticks, not a bad total. what a relief to get back out doing what we love, let's hope it's not too much longer before we can meet up with fellow birders all doing the thing that draws us together.

Fudge Duck after 4 hours at Abberton.

With the weather going to be a bit nasty around lunchtime we plan a quick trip to Abberton that's only an hour from home. The only problem nobody told the Fudge Duck that we wanted to only spend a couple of hours here.
We scan both reservoirs without any luck, we are now joined by some more birders, some stayed to search with us while others shot off & returned later.
A couple that we haven't seen for  some months join us & it was him that put the cry up got it.
The Duck had swam out from the overhanging trees & for a few minutes showed well but before we could get any good photos it was off flying right over to the otherside .
We head round to the other causeway where we have to wait some time before Dave B picks it out as it swims in close to the overhanging trees & at a distance so once again no photos.
A nice couple of Whooper Swans are picked out along with Smew & (Greater) Scaup along with many Goosander, a Kingfisher flies along the bank always a nice sight.2 Long-tailed duck's, Goldeneye, 2 Great White Egret.
So what we hoped was going to be a short trip turned into a cold windy but dry 4 hours. Only one year tick today but once again a nice catch up with some nice birders.

Brian was the only one to try for a photo.It was off as soon as we saw it.

One of the two Whoopers

Hoopoe + Spoonbill + Woodlarks

Off to Hampshire early arriving at Badminston lane  around first light.We get parked at the bottom of the lane & the Paddock is right in front of us.
A few birders are already here & we join them in scanning the horse field for the Hoopoe. It's not a long wait before the bird lands in the middle of the field but with a man feeding the horses it didn't hang about & flies away over our heads behind some trees,we walk up a track & get another flight view,it flies a long way & out of sight.We get a bonus tick when 3 Woodlarks fly over head calling & displaying to give a good show.
We head back to the Paddock & wait it out in the hope it will return. This pays off when the Hoopoe flies back over our heads & lands in the middle of the Paddock & we watch it for the next hour but it stays at a distance.
A local birder tells us of a Spoonbill only 12 miles away at Keyhaven Marsh, not seen one yet this year so off we head where we find a single parking space left at the bottom of Lower Pennington lane. It's just a short walk before we are looking over the first Marsh & the boys get to see the Spoonbill.
 I managed to miss the bird as it flies off before I catch up with them .So that means a walk around to the other pool Oxey Marsh where I get my tick as the bird is spotted on the far bank.
On the way back a large flock of Golden Plover are seen along with 5 Ruff 2 looking very white.
A few Snipe along with many Lapwings are seen & then a bonus as we spot a Peregrine Falcon feeding on a Plover on the ground.
A 2 hour trip keeps the year ticks rolling over nicely & we never saw a Hoopoe all last year so well worth the journey .

The Hoopoe

Our view across the Paddock the bird is over the back.

Pitstone Hill & Stocker's Lake.

With limited time again we decide to head to Pitstone Hill in Buckinghamshire. The aim is to try for the long staying Ring Ouzel.We find the car park & as soon as we get out of the car we find the Ouzel perched on a small tree yards from the car park,so a good year tick but we still spend over 2 hours watching the bird flying off & returning again soon after. Nice to spend time with Matt M on his local patch who gave us info on a couple of other places that we wanted to head too.
Off now to Stockers Lake Rickmansworth, the lake is the furthest away but not a bad walk.
The lake is scanned & we find just one Male Red-crested Pochard over the far side of the lake,that was our target so it's a year tick & we find that we are not far from Cassiobury Park so off we go to find ourselves a Little Owl.
It did not take long before we find the Owl in a large tree only yards from the car park.
A small time spent with the bird but before we leave it was nice to get a family onto the Owl as they had never seen an Owl before so nice.
The last place to visit as we head for home is Tyttenhanger G P. We know that there are Tree Sparrows here & we need them for a year tick after not seeing any at our usual spot at Dungeness a few days ago.
This turns out to be a long hard walk across some fields that were water logged in places.We find the feeders behind the builders yard & it's not long before a flock of ten or so fly out of the bushes & head away from us & we have to wait a while before a single bird lands onto the feeder in front of us.
We need to head home now as we are already a bit later than I should have been.

The Iceland Gull from last week.

A nice morning gets us 4 ticks each & that takes my year list to 164.

Little Owl

Pitstone Ouzel

Valentine's Park Turtle Dove.

We take a quick local visit to Ilford's Valentine's Park arriving around 8 o'clock & heading down to the pond where the Turtle Dove had been seen on Sunday.
A flock of Collared Dove fly up & away over the trees & we suspect the Turtle Dove had gone with them, we are joined by a few birders & walk the park for 3 hours before the Doves start to drop back onto the Island in the middle of the pond.
After a short wait Jimmy spots the target bird on the waters edge where it hung about for 5 minutes before flying into the middle of the Island & was lost to sight for the remainder of the time we spent here.Only 5 miles to drive home with another unexpected year tick.

The Turtle Dove

Bittern ( Titchwell) plus Waxwing ( Sculthorpe Moor )

On the way up to Sculthorpe Moor this morning we pop in for a another quick look for any sighting of Golden Pheasant,no sign again today.Not to long looking before it's on to the Waxwing at Sculthorpe Moor.
The bird can be seen from the car park but we pay the £5 donation & after spending a short time with the Waxwing we walk the reserve & find loads of Bullfinch from a couple of hides.
At Tower hide we get our first Bramling of the year when 2 birds drop onto the feeding tray just outside the right hand side of the hide along with Marsh Tit,Coal Tit, Longtail Tit & Nuthatch, Its nice to just sit here in the peace and quiet watching these fabulous little birds going about their daily life.
A great time spent here before it's off to Titchwell where after not finding the Woodcock on Meadow trail we walk up the central path & a Bittern has just dropped into the reeds only yards from the path.
An hour spent as it kept teasing us showing & looking like it was coming right into the open before moving back into the reeds but a few good looks & it gets us another year tick.
Before heading off we have one more look for the Woodcock,once again no sign but our first Chiffchaff is ticked.
Willow Tit is ticked as we pay a visit to Cockley Cley after we do a small detour on the way home I  missed seeing any Willow Tits here last year so a real bonus when we see a few on the feeding tray & also get to hear them to confirm that we have seen the right bird.
A dull sort of a day but with 6 new year ticks we had a nice day.

Bramling

Just some off the Bullfinches

The Sculthorpe Waxwing

Walthamstow Wetlands.

We only have a short amount of time this morning, so a Black Redstart is at Forest Road & that is only 20 minutes away from home without heavy work traffic.
We have to renew our entry permits for the year & once that is done we set about looking for a couple of reported Firecrests seen just past the permit hut.
An hour later still no sign of them so a walk over Forest Rd & head  off to Lockwood Res for the Black Redstart. As we approach the south end towers the bird is spotted sitting on a red buoy & then gives great views as it sits on top of the tower & was happy just sitting there until a water board worker flushed it away & as other birders turned up to get a view of the bird it never came back while we where here.
Nice to meet up with Dominic M, Dave B, & local birder Lol, & have a nice catch up as we walk back over the rd & head to the reeds behind the Engine room & get nice views of a couple of Bearded Tits. It's time for us to head home but as we go we walk the river boardwalk & get lucky as Brian picks out a single Firecrest before it flies up river & out of sight.
A quick visit gets us 3 year ticks when a Sparrowhawk flies across the river Jimmy & I needed that for a tick & with permits renewed an nice people to walk with well worth the visit.

Bearded Tits

Brian's photo of the Black Redstart.

First visit of the year to Dungeness & Rainham Marshes.

On Friday we head off for our first visit of the year to Rainham Marsh & pick up a few year ticks.
Walking along the foreshore of the Thames away from the stone barges the first tick is Water Pipit quickly followed by Rock Pipit,next up a Yellow -legged Gull adds to the list. The boys find 5 Snipe but I had to wait to tick just one when we scanned from the foreshore over the pools on the reserve.
A couple of Ruff add to the year ticks,so a very good visit & only 1/2 an hour from home.
On Saturday it's off to look for Red-necked Grebe that has been seen on Alpha Pool at Cliffe.
On a arrival we find that it's very very muddy as we struggle to get down to the Pool.Once we get in a position to scope the pool we find the Red-necked Grebe at one end of the pool & a bonus when we find a Black-necked Grebe at the other end of the pool so well worth fighting the mud to find them. Lots of Little Grebe all over the pool along with Great-creasted are nice. A Green Woodpecker gives Jimmy & myself another year tick. We have to be home early so just a very quick visit that still gets us 3 nice ticks.
Sunday sees us set off at 6 am & arrive at Dungeness by 8 am for the first visit of the year.
First up we head up to the beach & it's really cold, so after ticking our first Gannet & Razorbill we get ourselves back to the car & think we will easily tick Tree Sparrow by the entrance gate that we do every year but to our surprise we find the cupboard bare,plenty of Greenfinch & Tits on the feeders but whats happened to the Tree Sparrows.
A quick look at the mound gets us Cetti's Warbler & Bearded Tit to keep the ticks rolling.So a good 4 ticks. Off now for Purple sandpiper at Hythe, after parking up we find it's a longer walk as we find we need to be at the 2nd off the Groynes & that is  a fair walk along the sea front.The bonus is when we reach the right place we spot 2 Purple Sandpipers within minutes, that's good as we want to head off to Chatham Marina on the way home.

We arrive at the Marina & have to look for pool 2 as some Shag had been reported yesterday. it's an easy tick when we see 2 at different sides of the pool. Another 6 ticks added today pushes the year total up to 149 for me.

Hythe where we got the Sandpipers

Rainham's Stone Barges

One off the Shags at Chatham Marina

Hawfinch + at Lynford Arboretum.

Not a long trip today, Lynford is just over an hour away from home.We park up in the Arboretum car park at first light & after a quick look at the feeders we find nothing is awake yet so head down to the bridge. A small flock of Siskin followed by a single Greenfinch give us our first ticks of the day.
A look over the Paddocks gets us a few Hawfinch 5 in total seen but they might have been the same bird returning once or twice.
On the bridge many Coal Tit & Marsh Tit along with a few Nuthatch are seen for year ticks.
Walking down to the other bridge we all tick Mistle thrush in the Paddock & Jimmy gets a needed Song thrush tick. At the bridge we find more Coal,Marsh & a flock of Long-tailed Tits gives Brian a tick.
Another look at the feeders by the entrance as we head for the car gets us an unexpected tick as a single Yellow Hammer is seen feeding on the ground by the empty pool.We head off in search of more birds but after we get lucky when we spot a Goshawk very low over the trees when we pull off the road to watch it.The rest of the time we had left before heading home produces no more ticks so it's a fairly short day for us,but with 9 year ticks a very pleasant trip.
135 year ticks is not a bad start to the year.

Marsh Tit

One of the many Nuthatch

Richard's Pipit.( Boy what a walk )

A quick tick not far from home when we visit the Eagle Pond in Snarsbrook & find the Caspian Gull after about 5 minutes,the bird has been here for a while now,so it was time we paid a visit.
We have not planned anything for today apart from the Caspian but we have the bug so a quick decision gets us heading off to Kent in search of the Richard's Pipit.
Over the water onto the A2 & after running around a bit we find Clinch St, in High Halstow  it's a very narrow lane with little parking,but we pull off the road & get the only bit of room available down by the gates.
Now just the longest walk I have ever done while out birding it's nasty. but off we go heading for Egypt Bay & that's only half of the way, we have to get our self's over six stiles & that turns out not to be to easy for me it feels like we are never getting any closer to the bird.
It takes us nearly an hour to get down too the second sea wall where we had been told the Pipit had just been seen by Barry W, he was the only person on site the whole of the time we are here.
After we find the area the Richard's has been seen we have to walk the wall a few times before the Pipit gives a brief flight view.
Over the next hour we keep getting little views of the bird in flight before finely it lands close enough for a few photos.
On the way back we get a couple of Reed Bunting's for a year tick & just before we reach the car a Barn Owl flies across the field for Jimmy & I to tick our first one of the new year.So another 4 year ticks helps to ease the old legs. 120 year ticks in a few days & some good ones on the list.

Thank God we never dipped this one.

The Richard's Pipit.

Great day at Abberton on Friday followed by a day in East Anglia on Saturday.

What a great day we had at Abberton Reservoirs on Friday, a Green winged Teal had been seen over the last few days so that was the main reason for the visit.

We do find the Teal but it took us a few hours to pin it down but a nice looking bird so well worth braving the cold & rain to look for it.

The Ring neck Duck also proved hard to find but that was found at Layer Bretton Causeway just before setting off for home,a Kingfisher gives us another tick.

My first Rook of the year was seen & a real shock when we see a single Swallow flying up & down the edge of the Reservoir frantically seeking food.

Many Goosander are seen along with Red head Smew & a nice male Greater  Scaup, & all really good year ticks.
Up by Billets farm our first Stonechat of the year is ticked along with Skylark.
Round to the church we get a real bonus when both the Black-throated Diver & Green wing Teal are seen also a flock of Corn Buntings & a Male & female Merlin show. So despite a gloomy rainy sort of day a nice year tick total.
On Saturday we set out with a plan & set off for the East Anglia heading first to Buckenham Marshes
In Norfolk where we tick the Taiga bean Geese that had not moved away from where we saw them before xmas.
Next stop is Ludham, a large flock of Golden Plover are seen as we arrive followed from a distance
by both Bewick & Whooper Swans.Onto Acle where we find a large number of Common Cranes.
So  off to a good start. Eccles-on Sea next for the Desert Wheatear.With the car parked it's a fair walk along the beach before we arrive to join a group who had the bird pinned down on the sea wall.
A real good tick I think we have only seen 3 before today.
After spending some time with the Wheatear it's a long drive to the next site Hollesley for another look at the Siberian Stonechat that we saw before the new year.
Just outside the car park a Peregrine Falcon sits not far away perched in a tree, the place is alive with
Tundra Bean,White Fronted,Pink Footed, Brent,Greylag,just everywhere you looked was Geese.
Once again it's a long walk for these old legs, but the rewards are great when the Siberian Stonechat
is spotted on arrival.
Kittiwake & Common Guillemot also ticked while here.
We finish a very good day of birding at 5 locations when we spot a Short-eared Owl to round the trip off. 116 bird ticks in 3 birding trips feels like a good return for the effort put in .

The Siberian Stonechat

again

The Desert Wheatear

Again

Whooper & Bewicks Swans at Ludham

Off we go again.not a bad start for 2020

The day we look forward to, as we set off on a new birding year. This year we decide to head off to Norfolk as we seem to see more birds there than Kent.
It's a 5 am start & we arrive just after 8 am at Sedgeford  to find only one other birder there.
It's a short walk down to some dung heaps where we only have to wait 10 minutes before the best tick of the day is seen when the Alasan blue head Eastern yellow Wagtail shows well while here Fieldfare & a few easy ticks are seen.,we are joined by a lot more birders before we leave to set off on a day to see as many birds as we can.
So a good start to the  year. we pop into Brancaster Staithe on the way to Holkham it gives us a few ticks Brent Geese,Oystercatcher,Black & Bar tailed Godwits, Gadwall,Wigeon,Redshank,Dunlin & Turnstone.
On to Holkham to find it packed out with no parking spaces & people just everywhere enjoying a new year walk,this place is so popular.
A walk down to the roped off area where we soon spot the Shore larks & a large flock of Snow Buntings are seen. A quick look out to sea gets us Red-breasted Merganser,Red-throated Diver,Long tailed Duck,Goldeneye,& just hundreds of Scoters with a few Velvet there as well.
An easy tick at Wells when the Rough-legged Buzzard is seen on a tree in front of a couple of sheds.
At Burnham it's White fronted Geese & Cattle Egret.
Passing through Docking a Ringtail Hen harrier shows along with a couple of Redkites on the ground for a cracking view of them.
Choseley next where we get a couple of Tundra Bean Geese along with a large flock of Pinkfoot.
Now we pop into Titchwell,it's a bit of a let down as the water levels on the pools was very high so not much bird life about there.
A walk up to the beach gets us a nice Slav Grebe on the sea & on the way to the beach a Spotted Redshank gives us a tick.
Just enough time to pop into Thornham  for a flock of Twite & then we head on to Hunstanton for the last tick of the day when a few Fulmar fly along the cliff top.
Not a bad start to the new year with 90 year ticks.

The Eastern yellow Wagtail at Sedgeford 

A couple of a few Grey Partridge we saw.