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