Rainham for Pectoral Sandpiper.

News that the Pectoral Sandpiper had been found again at Rainham came on bird guides around 1 o'clock so with my wife Jean wanting to join us we are soon on the road heading to look for the bird.
It is reported as being on Tringa pool, we are not sure where that is as it's not on any map of the reserve & we have not heard of it so,a quick check in the visitor centre reveals it to be the next pool after Aveley pool.
So on a lovely warm afternoon we head down there,on arrival about six or so people were already getting great views of the Pec, it was not to far away & was walking about with a ruff.
Probably the best view we have had of a Pec so we spend a good amount of time enjoying the bird as it walks up & down on the far bank not troubled by us being around.

Pectoral Sandpiper

My second Pallid Harrier

I dipped 6 times in 2016 trying to see my first Pallid & had to wait till 2017 to finally get to tick my first.
So when we get a call from Brian asking us if we wanted to chance the weather & go after another Pallid Harrier at Therfield, it's about 30 miles up the A10.
So with dinner shelved till later you bet we headed there & as we neared Mill Lane the rain stopped & it got a bit sunny so hopes were high.
A long walk down the track at Greys Farm See's us join a few other people to scan the fields at first without success.
Jimmy is first to spot the bird but we never got on it before it went to ground & stayed out of sight for over an hour.  A fair crowd had come out now I suspect they had been waiting for the rain to stop.
A shout goes up telling us all that the bird was up again & this time it flew along the long hedgerow & then turned back again to give us all a great long view of such a wonderful bird.
We also see at least 5 Red kite 2 of them come down very close to us  for fantastic views, also a few Buzzard & 3 Kestrels show so a good unexpected afternoon spent with my second ever Pallid Harrier.

Wryneck at Landguard

Back from my short break in Devon Jimmy & I meet up with Brian & set off to Landguard in search of a Wryneck.
We never found the one at Dungeness last week so hope for better luck this time.
It's around 7 am when we arrive & we find the Wryneck within half an hour, it flies out of a bush & drops down about 60 yards away in the open ground to give us great views for a good 10 minutes before flying off not to be seen again for over 2 hours.
We spend over 4 hours here & spend most of the time searching for Pied Flycatcher but although 2 have been reported nobody could find any sign of them but we do get to see another couple of sightings of the Wryneck.
As we walk we see many Linnet a single Redstart a few Willow Warbler loads of Whitethroat + the odd sighting of Lesser Whitethroat & down by the caravan park many Whinchat are seen.
Some familiar faces are here so always nice to catch up with them.Tom & Barry plus a good old talk with people around makes it a very pleasant morning indeed.

Once again Brian the only one us who got a good photo

The Wryneck

Cirl Bunting Labrador Bay + G w Egret Ham Wall.

Great w Egret

On a break near Exmoor  last week with my wife Jean gives me the chance to head down to Labrador Bay in Teignmouth, it's a 50 mile drive but times our own & well worth the effort to see the wonderful Cirl Buntings.
When we arrive the notice board informs me that the Buntings have had a good year & up to 28 have been seen here,so off to look for them.
I turn right after going through the gate & spend an hour searching without any luck, so I head back & go left & meet a couple coming back & they have just seen a few & guide me in the right direction & within minutes I am watching 4 Cirl Buntings on a small drinking trough by the top gate.
A couple more are sitting in the trees waiting to fly down. I only spend around 30 minutes watching them & that is all I managed to find but as always a great treat to see them.

The next day I pay a visit to Ham Wall & the only highlight is when a Great white Egret drops in as we arrive in the hide.

Cirl Buntings

Cirl Bunting

Dungeness again.

It's off to visit Dunge again this weekend,we are driving down Gallaways around 7 am & have the place all to ourselves on a nice bright warm morning.
We would like to find a Wryneck & maybe a Pied Flycatcher for a couple of year ticks but we fail badly on that score.
Over 15 Whinchat many more Stonechat a fair sprinkling of Wheatear plus a nice Spotted Flycatcher.
A pair of Raven show well over head.

Despite not getting any ticks this was a very nice place to be with so much flying about.
On now to drive the track down to visitor centre where we see just one Cattle Egret in the cow field, over 14 were seen yesterday.
Before heading for home we stop off at the Long pit area for one last look for a Pied Fly.
But all we got was a long walk but Brian did find a Grass Snake.
We divert on the way home to Wanstead for another look at the Red-backed Shrike.
A fellow is already on the bird when we arrive, so we spend around 45 minutes watching the Shrike just dropping off the bush to feed & back up again.So a rather nice finish to our birding day.

Wanstead Shrike

One of the many Whinchat

long way off the single Cattle Egret

Spotted Flycatcher

Red-backed Shrike at Wanstead

Nick found a Red-backed Shrike on his patch over the flats on Tuesday around 2 o'clock & he posted it on Bird guides,20 minutes later Jimmy & I are heading over there.
Unfortunately as we approach him the bird takes flight & over the next 2 hours all we get are 3 flight views. We are told this is the first Red-backed Shrike since 1980 so pretty rare for here.
So we decide to head back over the flats today in the hope of a better view.
We spend around 4 hours there & are rewarded with 3 good views of this juvenile bird,it was still very elusive but with a bit of patience we get our reward.
After we have had our fill of the Shrike we head over to the now burnt out enclosure that still has a fair bit of scrub left to try to find any Pied Flycatchers 2 had been reported earlier.
It's a bit of a walk to get there but on the walk there we see 3 Whinchat they are not needed for a tick but always nice to see them.

Brian's photo the Red-backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

long way off the Shrike

Once in the enclosure  a few Spotted Flycatchers are flying around but after an hour we never found any Pied.

Never got very close but a record shot.

American visitor at Dungeness

A call from Brian takes us to Dungeness after he finishes work around 12 o'clock.
The target is the American black Tern that has been around for a few days also aWryneck has been reported.
It's a drive down Gallaways as far as the old tank, parked up we join a group of about ten birders looking for the Wryneck, it had not been seen by anybody here but people that had left had seen it earlier on. The boys pick up a year tick when we see about 4 Whinchat.
We give it about an hour but we get no show from the bird, so it's off to look for the main bird on the reserve.
Only one person in Makepiece hide when we arrive that was a bit of a surprise but the hide did fill up later in the afternoon,one fellow had driven from Cornwall & another from Bristol to view this cracking American visitor.
We don't have to scan for long before we find the target bird as it flies around with some Juvenile Black Terns & one adult bird.
Mainly distance views but the bird did come close a few times & we got some great scope views when the bird landed on the Tern raft.
So a late decision to come & it took us 3 hours to get here with the traffic but turns out to be a good trip as always when you find the bird you set out to see.

American black Tern

Black Tern