Long-tailed Shrike ( lifer ) Oxfordshire.

I think I left it too late to tick this Shrike, as it has been seen for a few days now. And the boys had been to see it a few days ago; I was not able to go with them even though it was a lifer.  

Brian phoned last night to offer to drive me to hopefully tick the bird, as it had been reported as still in the same location yesterday.

The 3 of us met up just before 5am and had a trouble-free run to Holwell, Oxfordshire.

This is on the Oxfordshire-Gloucestershire border, at Eastleach Downs on a minor road. 

As the boys had been here already, they didn't make the same mistakes, and we arrived at the farmer's field at the bottom of the road. I didn't hang about and set off up the road to a row of bushes where a few people were spread about, and I was put onto the Shrike by a couple of birders that we found had come all the way from Poland to see this bird this morning.

So I got cracking views, and when the boys arrived, they got far better views than the first time they came. The bird, a 1st-summer male Long-tailed Shrike, was well worth the trip.

After a couple of hours spent with this lifer, we headed off to Chum about 30 miles away to try for the reported Montagu's Harrier. It was really hot standing and scanning the large open fields, and after about 90 minutes and talking to a few birders, we decided that the Harrier was not going to show for us today. So a lifer tick for me for the trip, but Jimmy and Brian had to do with better views of the Shrike that they had already seen.

                                                               

The Long -tailed Shrike

Hudsonian Godwit ( Another lifer )

I was away with some of my family in Bruges for a few days. While there, I saw that Jimmy and Brian had been to see a Hudsonian Godwit.   

It was not a lifer for them, but it would have been for me if I had been with them.

On arriving home and seeing that the bird was still hanging around, Brian got in touch to ask if I wanted to try for the Godwit, as it would be a lifer for me. It's a yes. 

We waited to see if the bird had been seen, and when it was confirmed to have stayed around 

We meet up with Brian around 7ish and arrive in Manningtree, Essex. It's an 80-minute drive. We pull into a small free car park. Only a few cars are parked here,

   A  fellow birder thinks he knows where to go to see the bird, and we follow him, but he gets it wrong. We try another route and soon find a group of birders who have the target bird.

The Godwit is not far away and is showing very well; it is a cracking looking bird, and the cameras are clicking away.

After spending a couple of hours watching the Godwit, we head off to Abberton Reservoir.

A Ringneck Duck had been seen, and also an Osprey. 

We scanned the reservoir for a fair while, but we couldn't find any sign of them.

So only a single tick, but it's a lifer, so no complaints.

On the trip home, a stone cracked the car windscreen, just bad luck. 

                                                                  

                                                                       

The Hudsonian  Godwit

                                                                        

                                                          

At last, Black_winged Kite. ( Lifer )

The Black-winged Kite has been at Hempstead Marshes in Norfolk for a few months, and it seems everybody had been to tick it except me. Brian & Jimmy had both ticked the bird, although at a different location. I did go with them when we dipped the Kite and was in the area on probably the only day it wasn't seen.     

So when Brian calls, do I want to give it another go to tick this lifer for me? I jump at the chance. 

We set off at 5.30 and arrive around 7am. We park in the beach car park at Sea Palling and pay, and we walk down the Marrams, it's a 20-minute walk for me. As we walked, we met people who told us we could have parked down the lane for free, and we found that out when we saw loads of places to park the car.

We find the double iron gates that we have been told was the best place to spot the Kite, which proves right as we spot the bird on the phone wires. It gave great scope views but stayed distant and flew into the bushes over the back of the field. The bird flew onto a few bushes and showed well, but never came any closer to us while we were here.

We met a nice birder from Nottingham named Andy, who had traveled down by train, bus, and taxi to see & tick this bird, and we informed him that there was a Little Tern colony on the beach just behind us. So he joined us on the short walk onto the beach. Andy and Brian walked right along to where the colony was, a fair walk on the sand, so Jimmy and I stayed by the stairs and got some great views as the Terns flew around and landed right in front of us at the edge of the water. Only 2 ticks, but one is a lifer, so well worth the trip.

Off home now, we stop off for refreshment, and while sitting there, we decide to take a short detour to Weeting Heath to get me another year tick. It was a couple of miles longer than planned, but I got my tick as soon as we got in the hide, where 2 Stone Curlews are seen not far from the hide. We got 3 more when we went round to the east hide. Also saw Spotted Flycatcher, not needed for a tick, but always nice to watch.  Another really nice day spent with the boys, doing what we all love doing.        

Black-winged Kite

                                                                        

Little Tern

Little Tern

                                                                 

One of the five Stone Curlews seen.

                                                                             

                     

                                                                   
                                            

A great day birding in Wales, Western Reef Heron ( lifer )

We finally got a day when we were all free to go birding. A Western Reef Heron has been seen in north Wales, and that will be a life tick for us all, as it is a first for this country. So that's where we decided to head.  

We met Brian at 2am and started the long drive to Caernarfon. It took us nearly 5 hours with a short breakfast stop.

On arrival, we pull into the last space left in the layby.

As we walk the few yards to the hide, we are met with a lot of hellos from the group already here; they all came from our area and had done the long drive, and we knew them all. 

They had seen the Heron around 5 .30, but it had flown off and had not been seen for the last hour or so.

So not a great start to the day, but not to worry, after just a short time, Jimmy calls out got it.

The target bird was at the far right-hand side of the hide and hard to see, so we all exited the hide and headed up the road, where we got great views and ticked another lifer for us all.

I think the Heron is typically encountered between West Africa & India. 

It was smaller than I expected, but I hadn't done any homework on the bird; it was a late decision to go for it. The blue-grey plumage was very striking.

We fill our boots watching it fly up and land in a short area, for around an hour or so and after enough photos have been taken, we take our leave and head to South Stack to get a few year ticks.  

It's a first visit here, and I must say what a great place to watch sea birds. As we exit the car, we have a great year tick when a few Chough fly around us and land on the rocks.

On the cliffs are thousands of Guillemots and Razorbills. After a long search, we managed 

 to find 3 Puffins, then a bonus when Brian picks out 5 Manx Shearwaters passing by.

A few Shags are seen for another tick. Then the Gannets start to show, and that is always a wonderful sight to witness. 

Off now to tick Black Guillemot at Holyhead fish quay, as it is so close to where we are, and we pick out a couple as soon as we arrive there.

We get some information from a man and his son from Wolverhampton about a Tern Island not far away, and that is right up Brian's street. 

Cemlyn is the place we head to. It is a short walk along a stony beach before we watch hundreds of Terns in front of us, a great sight. I get 3-year ticks, Sandwich, Arctic Terns, and a few Med Gulls.  Off home now, we do stop off at a fast-flowing river in the hope of picking up a Dipper, not to be, but I did get another tick with Spotted Flycatcher.

Now for the long drive home after a really cracking day birding in some lovely places.

                                                                  

Sandwich Tern

Western Reef Heron

                                                                           

                                                                 

The cliffs at Holyhead are alive with birds

Chough

American Golden Plover.

We had some spare time, so we arranged to meet up at 6am and head to Old Hall Farm, where an American golden Plover had shown up.   

As the reserve is not open until 9am, we head to Abberton, which is very nearby, to spend the waiting time.

The trees there were full of nesting Spoonbills, Little Egrets, Herons, and Cattle Egrets.

Two Great White Egrets fly overhead and land nearby.  I needed a Cattle Egret for a year tick.

It's a warm, clear morning, and it's really nice to be here with the boys. We popped round to the other causeway, but there's not a lot about.

Off now to find the Plover. It's before nine o'clock when we arrive, and the entrance gate is open, just a short drive to park, and then about a mile walk till we see the steps up to the sea wall.

We walk along the wall till we see the breach area where the Plover had been reported as being seen earlier. It only takes Jimmy a few minutes to find the target bird. 

A smart-looking bird, although at a distance, we get great scope views, for a good year tick.

I pick up another year tick when we spot two Little ringed Plovers. This is my first visit here that I can remember, really nice with birds on both sides of the sea wall.

Also seen Spotted Redshank, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets, 2 Whimbrels, 2 Ruff, Oystercatchers, Snipe, and a good helping of Terns. 

Brian needs to be home by lunchtime, so after a nice morning where we meet Steve G on one of his tours, it's off home. 

                                                                    

Abbberton Spoonbills

Great white Egret & Heron

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Bar-tailed Godwit

just about the AGP

 

Ross's Gull at Thurrock. ( Lifer )

A call from Brian tells us a Ross's Gull has been reported at Thameside Nature Park Thurrock. 

Brian was heading to his son's house, but diverted to get himself a year tick.

Jimmy and I debated for a while, " Shall we go or not? 

Jimmy only needed it like Brian for a year tick, I, however, had not seen one, so the pull of another lifer for me is too great, so we set out hoping the Gull would stay around for a while.

A drive of around 40 minutes sees us park up on the road by the park's car park.

A walk of around a mile along a stone and mud track that felt like two miles, around a couple of bends, and to great relief, we see a group of 50 or more birders, and they soon get us on the Ross's Gull, it is only a few yards away from the bank to give great views and me my third lifer of the year.

On the way back to the car after spending some time watching the Gull, we picked up a year tick with Nightingale.  

Over the last five days, I've had Tawny Pipit, Hoopoe, Ring Ouzel, Ross's Gull, Garden Warbler, and Nightingale. not too shabby for me at the moment.  

                                                                

                                                                

A few of the birders watching the Ross's Gull 

Ross's Gull

 

Hoopoe and then Ring Ouzel.

An afternoon trip to look for a Hoopoe that was reported at Hunsdon in Hertfordshire.  

We arrive at the place that the pin took us to, just a small bit of road off the main road, enough for four cars to park. It's a work yard with lorries loading up and workmen driving out after finishing work. 

Now we have no clue where to head to find the Hoopoe, so we walk about looking for any sign of a lawn that the target might be on.

We get lucky when a birder walks back from seeing it and sends us on the right course. 

Don't think we would have found the way on our own; it was up the road, looking for a not very well-signed public right-of-way path. When we found it, it was a 200-yard walk down to an open field with a large house over the back. The two fellows already here tell us that we have to stay on the edge and not walk on his ground, that he said the field was.

On the plus side, they have the Hoopoe in the scope, it's right over the back by the fellow's house and in front of a row of dark bushes, so we were never going to get any good photos and never tried, but the scope views were very good to give us another nice year tick, and always good to see these great-looking birds.

The next day, I was just sitting in the garden watching the birds, of course, when I remembered a Ring Ouzel had been seen at Rainham. 

Jimmy says, " Why are we waiting? Let's go see it. Brian is over the KGV reservoir, so he had to abort that and meet us over there. It's only 30 minutes on a good day if after the morning rush to get there. We beat Brian there and started scanning without any luck. I thought a few more people would have been looking for it; the report said it had been seen down by the metal gate halfway along the Thames path to the reserve.

Brian and the two Daves arrive, and a few more to help look for the Ouzel, three people here needed it for a lifer, and after about an hour, the bird flies out of a nearby bush and heads over the path we are on. It stays hidden in a large bush for a fair while. Marko arrived on his bike just in time to see the Ouzel fly out and back over the other side again, so only a couple of flight views, but it's a year tick, and with the long trips out, few and far between at the moment it keeps the score moving along.

 

Tawny Pipit at Landguard. ( Lifer )

Jimmy got news of a Tawny Pipit that had been found at Landguard 

A call to see if Brian was free finds him birding at Rainham Marsh. 

He wants to go for it, so we decide to meet up along the A12 to save him coming back to pick us up. 

We meet up and arrive at Felixstowe at 11.15 and pay for two hours of parking. 

There are about ten other birders when we get to the roped-off area by the beach. 

Raphael tells us that the Pipit had been seen on and off over the last half hour in the foliage on the brow of the ridge.

We don't have to wait long before we all have another lifer. Brian had dipped this Tawny Pipit a couple of times, so well, sweet for him to get that one out the way.

The bird gave good scope views as it walked about on top of the ridge before it was spooked by a Ringed Plover that sent it flying over our heads and landing in open ground to give us an even better view of the bird. Only one tick for the day, but well pleased with another lifer.

                                      

                                                 

                                                  

The Tawny Pipit

                                        

                                                    

Hume's leaf Warbler plus six more year ticks.

 We set off at 5am, heading to Lowestoft to look for the Hume's leaf Warbler. We arrive at Denes Oval in Suffolk, around 7 30, and we park the car next to the tennis courts, where the bird has been seen over the last few days.    We are the only people here at this time.

A walk down a path outside the tennis courts, looking over the wall at the bushes, but there is no sign of the bird.

Other birders have now arrived and are inside the complex, so we head around to join them.

Some familiar faces, so it's always nice to catch up while waiting for the Warbler to show. After an hour of nothing happening, we pick up the call from the Hume's Warbler, and after much pointing, we get our first sighting of the target bird for a nice year tick.

As we watch, we get a bonus tick when a Firecrest shows well in the same bush; also, a Barnacle Goose goes over our heads calling as it flies.

After an hour of watching, we head off to look for more ticks.

First stop close by at Ness Point to look for Purple Sandpipers, the tide is in, and with the sea bashing the rocks, we never saw any. 

On to Kessinland now, about five miles away, to look for Shorelarks. Parking on the main road leaves us a long walk alongside the caravan park up to the beach. The steps going down to the beach are very steep, and a few birders have scopes up a very long way along a very wet beach. I decide it's not for me, so Brian & Jimmy go without me, as I watch them walk and walk, and I think I made the right decision not to go with them. They do find four Shorelarks, so one I missed out on. Brian wanted to try for the American Wigeon, but that would be another long walk, so instead we tried for the Iceland Gull, which is  25 miles away at Sea Palling.

The car is parked, and we only pay for an hour, so not long to find the Gull.

Once we walk up the slope onto the beach, a large flock of Gulls is seen feeding about a hundred yards away. As soon as we get up to them, Brian spots the Iceland for another year tick, also seen but not needed for a tick, two Caspian Gulls. The last stop of the trip is at Ludham to get Jimmy and me 2 ticks when we see 50 Swans on the drive around the fields, we scope them, and they are a mix of Whoopers and Bewick's. Forgot to say we had gone back to Ness point and did get 3 Purple Sandpipers for another tick. Off home now after a good day with no rain about.

                                                              

Purple Sandpiper

Iceland Gull

Again

Hume's leaf Warbler

Firecrest

What are we doing, Red-breasted Goose.

Brian wanted to try again to find the Red-breasted Goose that had been around a few places in Essex, around Wallasea.   

The weather is horrible, and the forecast for the rest of the day says heavy rain, so not a lot is going for it, but being mad, we decide to give it a go anyway.

We have heard the bird had been seen at Paglesham Eastend Essex. That is around the back of the bank at Wallasea reserve.

On finding the road, we park at the bottom end of it; it's still raining heavily, but we have found the large flock of Brent Geese a long way off, and Brian picks out the target bird within minutes. This is a good year tick for us. 

We spent a short time watching the bird, not as long as we would have liked, as we were getting soaked.

Back in the car for a warm-up and drive around to Wallasea reserve. Somehow, we talk ourselves into walking out to the hide, and the ground is just puddles, and it is very unpleasant indeed.

There are not a lot of birds flying about, as you can imagine, in the hide for some relief from the rain, and all we could find for our troubles was a single Ringed Plover, another year tick, but we wanted more for our heroic troubles.

Still, two-year ticks are better than none, and as Brian always says, if you get out there, you might just find something.  

                                                          

First trip of year to Norfolk gets me 21 year ticks.

With us all being free for the day, we decided to take our first trip to Norfolk to add to our tick list for the year.  

So off before six am on a dark, rainy morning. First stop was Hunstanton, knowing that we would tick Fulmar, we also got Red-breasted Merganser, so it was a good start.

Off now to Titchwell, first up, we check if the Tawny Owl is still in the Ivy-covered tree on 

The first boardwalk from the visitor centre, to our surprise, we spot it straight away, tucked up behind the Ivy, on the walk up to the beach. Jimmy and I got a few ticks, two Pintail, and some Curlew, Avocet, and Pinkfoot flew over.

Up at the beach, the tide was in, and waders were in low numbers. Out on the waves, we see three Long-tailed ducks, a Red-throated diver, and then two drake Eiders pass through.

We also tick Sandeling and see hundreds of Oystercatchers, all needed for year ticks.  Off to have a look in at Brancaster Staithe, three ticks here in Bar -tailed Godwits, Turnstones, and Grey Plover. 

We hear about Glossy Ibis at Stiffkey floods, so we set off to find them, on arrival we hear gunshots and people walking back tell us the Ibis had flown off. We are told that two Ibis had been seen at Morston Quay, so we set off to get them. We park for free, as it is a National Trust and I am a member. A short walk soon gets us another year tick when we see two Glossy Ibis not too far out, and a single Greenshank is seen. 

Off to Salthouse looking for Twite, but no sign of them, but got lucky when thirteen Snow Buntings flew over our heads. 

Brian asks if we want to go see the Eastern-Black Redstart, but it's not a bird we can tick, but we want to see it anyway. Brian had seen the bird when he came here on his own, so we went to an alleyway where he had seen it, and there it was, high up on a windowsill.

It flew down to a wall and was mobile as it kept flying up and down and back to the windowsill.

A great day out with the boys, now for the drive home.  With another twenty one tear ticks on the list.

                                                          

Turnstone

Oystercarcher

Greenshank

The non-tickable Eastern black Redstart.

Nice looking bird.

Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwits