No show for the Tawny Pipit in Dorset

We set off really early heading to Dorset looking for a Lifer in the form of a Tawny Pipit. It had been present for a few days, so we take a gamble and go for it. On the way, we pull up at Longham lakes and park at the top of Green lane and walk a short distance down to the lakes. The target bird is my second ever Whiskered Tern & we find it on the South lake after a few minutes. It's a cracking-looking Tern & we spend an hour watching it fly about the lake.

After we had our fill of the tern it's off to look for the lifer at Cogden beach. It's a steep slope down to the shingle beach after we had parked in the National Trust car park. A few birders had gathered about a mile up the beach so that's where we headed, on arrival we are told there is no sign of the Pipit. so not to be put off we spend the next 3 hours walking the shingle up and down without any sign of the target, it's a bad dip for us to take with the legs hurting now after all the walking on the shingle. The bird never showed all day so we think it probably had moved on overnight. 

 

Portland is next up for us but on the way, a quick stop at Ferrybridge add's to the year list when we spot many Little Terns on the pool. As we arrive at Portland we hear a Chough has been reported in the field with the 3 horses in. We find that field but there's no sign, so we park up & walk along the front and soon find the Chough feeding on the side of the cliff. A nice find and not expected when we set out this morning for another year tick. As we walk along the path we find lots of Rock Pipits to entertain us as they parachute up onto the rocks, we spend some time just sitting watching this display. Walking on we get 3 more year ticks when a single Shag flies past and there are many Guillemots and Razorbills. A Roseate Tern is reported at Lodmoor so we had to have a look before heading for home. But once again the luck is not with us and as the rain started to fall and no sign of the Tern we don't hang about too long.

So a couple of dips, but 6-year ticks and in such a beautiful place. At last, a visit to the coast made it a cracking day out with the boys.

Whiskered Tern

The Portland Chough

One of the Rock Pipits

Essex Woodchat Shrike.

 After Frampton on Sunday, I wake early on Monday morning & set off with the boys to Rochford in my home county of Essex it's only just over 35 miles.

With it being a bank holiday we arrive in great time & park down the bottom of Mill Lane.

Now it's only a short walk across a crop field before we meet up with a small group of maybe 20other birders. We spot the target bird as we near the group sitting out in the open among the blossom. 

A cracking-looking bird and only the second one I've seen, the other one was seen in 2017 in Chipping Sodbury, a juvenile but this one was a stunning adult.

Over an hour spent watching this beautiful Shrike along with some local birders, a lot of familiar faces came and went while we were there, it's always nice to meet up with them.

With Wallasea RSPB only 5 miles away and on our way home, we look in for a very quick visit in the hope of ticking Corn Bunting.   That is achieved as we enter the reserve on almost the first bush for another year tick.

                            

The Woodchat Shrike

Wallasea Cornbunting

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A Dotterel on a very nice visit to the wonderful Frampton.

 Up early for a drive to a favorite reserve of ours ( Frampton ) When we arrive the car park is fairly full, so we get parked & walk the main track where we are soon watching a Jack Snipe only yards in front of us and its a better sighting than the one we saw a couple of days ago, also on this first pool there are Avocet, Dunlin, Ruff & Black-tailed Godwit which I needed for a year tick. A Dotterel had been seen over on the pool by the barn.

We walked up the steps to the sea wall & after a mile walk we turn right & find the Dotterel and get a nice view from Cross Bank just a single bird but it was walking about showing well although at a distance.

So mission accomplished for the trip now to get on enjoying walking this lovely place to see what else is about.

Ticks soon arrive when 2 Yellow wagtails  & then Golden Plover show on the same pool. Although not needed for a tick a single Whimbrel landed and the third Wood Sandpiper of the week is seen.

A walk back for another look at the Jack Snipe & over a hundred Dunlin land & a few nice coloured Ruff show well. Jimmy spots a Spoonbill for Brian that he needed for a tick.

Over 30 Ring Plover show but we couldn't find the Spotted Redshank despite walking nearly the whole way around the reserve, but it was a nice walk on a nice day.  

Ruff

Golden  Plover & Dotterel

The Frampton Dotterel

The Frampton Jack Snipe

   

At last a visit to the coast after 14 months.

The week started with a local visit to the Lea Valley where we first hear the wonderful song of the Nightingale & then get to see at least 2 for a good year tick.  It is always such a thrill to hear the first Nightingale of the year.     Later in the week, we make the decision for the 3 of us to take our first visit to Norfolk for 14 months due to covid restrictions.    This is a trip to try to get the year ticks up, first up we head to Hunstanton where we are guaranteed a Fulmar &  it only takes a couple of minutes before we get our first tick of the day.      Off now to the main destination of the day in the hope of seeing the reported Jack Snipe at Titchwell, on arrival we head to Patsy's pool & start scanning the edges of the pool for the Snipe, it was not an easy find & as we heard a Grasshopper Warbler down the track at the side of the pool we had to go to find it.  It was an easy find & a right bonus when we find the Gropper sitting displaying at the top of a bush for such a great view & we get to hear at least 2 more on the walk around the reserve.  Back at the pool, a fellow birder had found the Jack Snipe it was remarkably only a few yards from the viewing screen but it was so hard to find.  A Green Sandpiper dropped in for a good year tick. On the walk up to the beach, Brian got a tick when he saw Bearded Tit & Jimmy & myself picked up a tick when we spot a flock of Brent Geese.    On the beach, it is horrible & hardly a bird in sight. We only stay for a short time but get 2 ticks with a Knott & a sign of the times when we tick our first Gannet of the year.   A quick look in at Brancaster was very disappointing with no birds anywhere apart from a few Oystercatchers.    The road to Thornham was blocked off so instead we try Wells north pool & are soon rewarded when a couple of Wood Sandpipers show,  nothing else is seen that we needed so a quick run-up to Choseley to look for the Dotterel, that was a no show but a Whimbrel was found & loads of yellowhammer gets us to more ticks.   Off home now but on the way, we pay a quick visit to Lynford where Brian got a Marsh Tit & Jimmy got, at last, another tick when a Coal Tit showed.   The final bird of a great day birding was a very nice show from a Firecrest. So nice for the 3 of us to be out together after such a very long time.

The Grasshopper Warbler

Wood Sandpiper

The very hard to find Jack Snipe

A few fairly local birding days gives us some nice ticks

Over the course of six days, Jimmy & I have visited Lee Valley twice. Rainham Marshes twice then a trip a little further afield when we went to Easneye in Hertfordshire looking for a Ring Ouzel. Easneye is just a mile from Amwell so we looked in there as well.  First up it's a tick over at Lee valley when a Garganey turns up on Hall Marsh Scrape and we have great views when the bird is found on arrival. A few ticks are seen while here a Little Ring Plover was seen on the same scrape as the Garganey, on the walk back Willow Warbler was seen & a pair of Kingfisher were spotted near their nest to give us lovely views.

Back over the Lee Valley early next day as a White Stork had dropped in at Hall Marsh Scrape the previous evening. when we arrived Brian was already on-site and had the bird in view to make the tick an easy one for us, not a lifer but nice to see, the next day news came through that it may have been wing clipped but it never seemed to hinder it in flight.  

The next day it's off to Rainham Marshes to tick a couple of Spoonbills that we saw after a small search. On the walk to the Serin mound, we tick Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler & a long-awaited Blackcap. I was hoping to see them in my garden as usual but not this year. We also saw our first  Wheatear of the year on the hill by the tip. 

A Ring Ouzel has stayed around in Hertfordshire, many reports of Ring Ouzel have been around but we have not been motivated to go looking for them until now. We wanted to get out birding so set off to find the bird.  It was a bit of a climb uphill before we found the paddock just short of the farm entrance and a mist was covering most of the field. so it's a bit of a wait for it to clear, when it did the Ouzel was found. It never came too close but we enjoyed good long views of the bird. Off to Amwell as it is so close and we get lucky when we spot a lovely pair of Red-crested Pochard for another year tick. 

Tuesday morning a report comes through that a Black-winged Stilt had arrived on Purfleet scrape at Rainham Marshes, so of course, we had to shoot over to tick it. My wife Jean wanted a walk so we all set off and arrived around 30 minutes later only to find that the Stilt had flown off west. So we decide to walk the reserve that was only one way round & had track & trace in operation. On the walk, Jimmy found a self-found Garganey and managed to get a few very grateful people onto it. We are now at the furthest part of the reserve from Purfleet scrape when we hear that the Black-winged Stilt had landed on the Purfleet scrape again, So a fast walk back that was not what we needed. But a tick is a tick and always so nice to see them. It's thanks to Howard that we saw it as we had walked past the area it had landed in and he guided us to where we could get a fair view of the Stilt.  

The real bonus came when just sitting watching the chase on television, Brian phoned to say 3  Black-necked Grebes had just landed on my local Roding valley lake. It's only a 2-minute walk from my house and we don't get too much unusual over there. Although we did get a very confiding Red-necked |Grebe there a couple of years ago. Minutes later we are joined by Brian to watch the 3 Grebes in  Summer plumage for a really nice late evening tick to round off a really nice day.

Garganey

Easneye Ouzel 

Black-winged Stilt

White-throated Sparrow ,at Barcombe cross.

 It's been a long time since Jimmy & I ventured away from our local birding area & we have not been able to travel in one car with Brian for over a year now, that is still the case but the pull of a lifer in Barcombe cross  East Sussex & the lifting of some covid restrictions was to big a pull. So in the car just after 4 am on Sunday we set off to find the White-throated Sparrow that had been around for some time now. On arrival at 6, 30 am we join about 8 other birders in a small picnic area & set up to watch a table that had a small amount of seed on it. The bird had been feeding on here over the last few days. We had to wait over an hour & we were getting a bit worried that we had left it too late when the Sparrow flew down onto the branches by the table & then dropped down onto the floor before flying off, it was 20 minutes before it returned & this time landed on the bench & then started to feed on the table. A cracking little bird to give both of us another lifer. We have missed a few this year along with a lot of other people so this felt really good to just be out enjoying what we love doing.  Not too far away, a Little Bunting has been seen at Warnham nature reserve, we have seen a few of these but being so near we had to go for a year tick & boy do we need some of them.  We had to wait till 10 o, clock for the reserve to open but it was well worth it when we get great near views of the Bunting & while watching it we get another year tick when a Marsh Tit comes to the feeders. so only 3 ticks one being a lifer but just so nice to be out birding again.

The Little Bunting

White-throated Sparrow

Sparrow again.

UNDER LOCK DOWN BIRDING LOCAL AREAS

We were looking forward to the new year so we could get out & do some sort of birding. Being in tier 2 let us go a few miles from home, but on the first day of the year, we decided to stay local and head over to Jimmy's old patch at Fisher's Green in the Lee Valley Park. Our normal destination would have been Norfolk or Kent.

But we still had a nice morning & got ourselves 61-year ticks, well down on our normal total of around 90 or so but still, more than we expected. The highlight of the day was a Cattle Egret at Hallmarsh scrape, & we found several  White-fronted Geese that was a good find for here, up by the farm. A walk around  Hooks Marsh & Seventy Acre lake got us a Redhead Smew & we ended up with a fair first day total.

On day 2 it,s a quick run over to KGV Reservoir. Goosander, Goldeneye,2 Drake Scaup were soon seen but the real bonus came when we found 2 Black Redstart on the fence over the far side by the causeway.

A ride up to Epping Forest to Strawberry Hill pond gives us 2 more ticks with a few Mandarin Ducks & a couple of Nuthatches.

Next up it's a trip to Rainham Marshes. we scan from the Serin mound & see some Barnacle Geese a single Ruff, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck & several Avocet on Aveley Bay.

A walk along the riverbank gets us Water & Rock Pipit also Snipe & Pintail to end a nice visit.

Now we get put into lockdown tier 4 so just really local birding. A visit to Eagle pond gets us the long-staying Caspian Gull, which was seen within minutes of arrival as we crossed the road. Finding the Gull so quick we decided to pop round the corner to Wanstead Flats for the reported Med Gull & found the first winter gull on Jubilee pond after scanning through a lot of Black-headed Gulls on the pond. Across the road is centre drive car park and it's a short walk to find the Little Owl sitting out in the morning sunshine.

On another visit to the Lee Valley, a nice Short-eared Owl is seen and it gives great views.

After no birding for many days, we get a tip that a Ring-necked Duck was over Lee Valley, so over we go & find the female Ring-neck Duck on the fishing lake, the good thing about this find is that we have seen many males but only one other female, so a good tick for us both.

Black Redstart

Brian,s photo of the Short-eared Owl

Wanstead Little Owl

First-year Med Gull at Jubilee pond

Caspian Gull at Eagle Pond