Holland Haven for 2 Wrynecks.

A text from Brian tells us a Wryneck had been reported at Holland Haven park. 20 minutes later we are heading up the A 12 towards Clacton.
We had dipped one on Monday when we shot over to Hornchurch country park after one had been reported there, but when we got there it didn't look right & apart from topping up the sun tan we got nothing out of the trip.
The trip is not to far 60 miles or so. We park in the car park & see a few people over looking the Dell that is by the toilet block, so things looking good but it took another 90 minutes before we got a first sighting of the Wryneck.
It is just a quick glimpse in flight to give us another year tick.
We spend another two hours here & get rewarded when the bird kept flying down to feed on some steps & looked at home till a lady needed to use the steps as it lead to the toilets & that sent the bird flying away.
Before we head for home we get to see the bird fly back to the trees by the steps & as we scan we spot another Wryneck sitting just a matter of inches away, I don't remember ever seeing two together before so a real bonus.

One of the Wrynecks

Just about spot the second Wryneck

Return to Frampton for Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

The three of us drove up the A1 on Thursday to Frampton RSPB in Lincolnshire,we put in a 5 hour shift looking for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper but it is all in vain with no sighting of the bird the whole time we were there.
Of course as soon as we get near home it appears  on the pager as showing from where we had been looking for it.
So we have a talk & decide to try again on Saturday.
We set out at 5 am for the 2 hour  or so drive to look again. I have only seen one Buff-breasted before so it would be great to get a good view of this one. Parking at the bottom car park ,we are soon on the hill scanning over the large scrape, it's more or less the same as Thursday when we see Wood & curlew Sandpipers loads of Spoonbills plus hundreds of Godwits & Dunlin  & the most Ringed Plover I have ever seen, but still no sign of the target bird. Brian does spot the long staying Dowitcher not needed for a tick always nice to see one.
We spread out with Brian doing the walking round to the hide on the other side of the scrape with birders looking from the sea wall.
After an hour more of no sighting I look up & see people starting to run along to join a group on the sea wall,always a good sign so we phone Brian & head up there to join them.
Sure enough on arrival we find they have the bird in sight.
It's hard to find at first but up goes the shout it's out in the open & that's it we have another year tick & after a while we all get much better views than the last one I saw.
With Brian finding a Whinchat that he needed it turns out to be a good decision to come back.

Brian's distant record shoot of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

2 Days sea watching at Porthgwarra Cornwall.

On Thursday afternoon the call comes from Brian we are off to Cornwall & we will leave at 10.30 & drive through the night, that turns out to be a slow drive due to rain storms making driving very difficult.
As it turns out we arrive just after 5 am at Porthgwarra & head up the stairs along the short coastal path to where a group of birders had already gathered at the view point amongst the large rocks used for some shelter from the wind that was blowing around 50 miles per hour in a southerly direction.
We find a space to set up & spend the next six hours looking out over the Pinnacles & that was a good point for us to pick up any shout that went up from more experienced sea watchers such a great help.
It's a slow start but things pick up when Manx Shearwater  fly past in good numbers followed by a lifer for me when we see a few Sooty Shearwater then Balearic Shearwarter follow in good numbers.  The rain gave us a good soaking from time to time.But with some good company around us along with faces we knew it was a pleasant experience.
I pick up another year tick with a single Arctic Skua,the boys already had this. Bonxies also seen but we would have liked a few more ticks but not to be today, maybe tomorrow.
A walk along the the coast looking for Cornish Chough is a waste of time with the rain & wind not helping. So a quick trip round the coast at Lizard point & Kynance Cove where we get no joy.
We spend the night in a travel lodge & set off just before 5 am for another session.
It is not a great day with hardly anything going past so after 5 hours we head off but we do manage to find a needed Chough.
On the way home we call in at Labrador Bay where we get another year tick when we find several Cirl Buntings flying down from the bushes to feed, so a good trip with one lifer & a few year ticks.
A good look at Stonehenge on the way home breaks the long journey home.

                                     

                                       

The view point

Beautiful Porthgwarra

Shags at Lizard Point

Cirl Bunting

Stonehenge

Another three year ticks.

Up in the lakes for my Grand daughter's wedding gives me the chance to pick up a couple of year ticks.
I pick up Red Grouse with ease the first few seen were on the A 66 heading into Durham & then before heading for home I see many more on the road from Brough Kirkby Stephen to Middleton-in-Teesdale,such a beautiful place to watch them.
Running along side the Inn that was home while staying in the Lakes is a very fast running stream that is ideal for Dippers & Grey Wagtails.
Many were seen over the time spent here. Heading back home on the A1 I stop off   at Fairburn ings
just outside of Leeds at Castleford.
The reserve is good for Willow Tit & I need one for a year tick after missing out when the boys got one earlier in the year.
The luck is in when watching the feeders, Willow Tits come in to feed & I hear the birds calling to make sure of what I was seeing.
Once back home Jimmy & I meet up with Brian & head off to Norfolk to look for a Pectoral Sandpiper.
We are parked up at Cley just after 7 am & find the Pectoral after a scan as it is found among several Wood Sandpipers,Common Sand,Green Sandpiper,Ruff plus many more usual stuff so a a real good find.
So a great wedding weekend with all the family in the Lake district at a wonderful location & to pick up 2 year ticks while there a real bonus.
And then to spend the day in Norfolk with the boys & to take a look at the Wells north pools for the first time, what a great place this is going to be for bird watching in the future.

Wood Sandpiper

Red Grouse

After the lull back with a bang.

We have not been out birding  since June so the ticks had dried up. But come Saturday the three of us set off to put that right.
Not sure if to go to Frampton for the White-rumped Sandpiper or Titchwell for the Semipalmated Sandpiper, decision taken on route was to head to Titchwell.
The freshmarsh is packed with Avocet,  Godwits, Dunlin, Knot,Ruff, and a good sprinkling of Spotted Redshanks along with around 15 Spoonbill.
We put the time in searching for the Sandpiper but have no luck so it's off to try our luck at Frampton wishing that we had headed there instead.
As we pull up at the bottom car park it's out of the car & our luck is in as we get onto the White-rumped Sandpiper to get the ticks rolling again. We met up with some birders from Stoke who are around the same number on Bubo as us and they put us onto a Little Stint down by the visitor centre for tick number 2 and it's always nice to put a face to the names. While here we get a good view of the Long-billed Dowitcher it's not needed for a tick but a cracking bird in summer plumage.
When we are nearly home news comes out that the Sandpiper had been found at Titchwell and that is a bit upsetting after the time we put in to seeing it, so we make up our minds to head back on Sunday.
We set of at 5.30am and as we near the reserve news came out that the Semi P had been found but when on the reserve it turns out to be a Common Sandpiper ( shame ).
So we head round to Parrinder hide & settle down for a long watch. While in the hide we meet up with Gordon Hamlet who's book steered us round on our first visit to Scotland a few years ago & it was worth every penny, so really nice to meet him & his lady & spend over two hours talking with him.
Then bingo the flock of Dublin got spooked and when they came back down we spot the Semipalmated with them, it may have been with them all the time but many birders had been looking since first light without luck so who knows, just grateful to have got another tick along with the Curlew Sandpiper for another year tick, so 4 ticks feels good after not getting any for July.
Now feeling very upbeat we are going to drive over to G Yarmouth and try our luck at Breydon Water for a lifer for Jimmy & I as the Pacific Golden Plover is still around.
Parking at the rugby club we set off on the very long walk down to the pumping station.
We are walking at a fair old pace when Brian stops us to say he's spotted a Swallowtail Butterfly,who would of expected that, This slowed us down as we got the cameras out & even better as Jimmy had never seen one so a real bonus.
The pump house still looked a long way off even after 30 minutes walking but with the sweat pouring of us we headed on, my face was the colour of a beetroot but after another 20 minutes walking we arrive to find a few birders with scopes on the bird & within seconds we have another lifer so the walk is forgotten about till we have to return.The luck was really with us this time as the Plover was standing on a pile of horse dung and we had a great side on look at it before it settled back down again as it had been doing most of the time the other fellows had been here watching it.
So what a great two days 5 ticks one being a lifer & meeting some very nice people. sometimes we think we must be mad to do all this but what a great reward for the effort we put in.

White-rumped Sandpiper

Dowitcher

The Long-billed Dowitcher

The unexpected Swallowtail

The Pacific golden Plover sitting on the horse manure.

Little Bustard ( lifer ) Slimbridge WWT

We pick up news around 2.30 yesterday of a Little Bustard a  mega bird at Slimbridge WWT that will be a lifer for all of us.
The call comes from Brian & we are on our way for a drive up the M4 that will take us nearly 3 hours after diverting onto the M40 after the M4 was closed after a car overturned.
After learning that the reserve will be putting on hourly escorted walks down to the sea wall where the bird has been found, we relaxed a bit but still felt a bit of tension as we got closer to the reserve.
We miss the 5 pm walk by a few minutes & along with other birders think why have we got to wait for an hour when the bird could have flown by then.
Then we got lucky when a member of staff turns up just after 5.30 & after paying £10 each he walks us down to the wall where we find many birders stretched out along the sea wall that over looked the dumbles. where after a short wait the Bustard shows when it moves around the long grass at a distance just a head & neck showing .
Over the next 3 hours that is all the bird showed us as it moved about the long grass. I got about ten sighting of the head & neck & have to wait till after 8pm  for the bird to walk out into shorter grass to give a whole bird sighting but it was back out of sight after 30 seconds or so.
So well worth the long drive to give us all a very nice lifer.

Just some of a very large crowd

If we could of got a closer photo of the bird this is how it looks.

The Little Bustard at Slimbridge  Thats why I put the other photo of another bird elsewhere.

What a rush ( Black-winged Pratincole ) Lifer.

Just about to sit & read the paper when Jimmy asks do I want to rush up to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire for the Black-winged Pratincole & as it would be a lifer for both of us he didn't have too ask twice.
We meet up with Brian around 1 o'clock and with fingers crossed we start the 2 hour drive.
We get no news all the way till about 5 miles away when it comes on the pager to say it had just been seen again.
On arrival we find Graham & he puts us onto the bird to give us another lifer.A fair group had gathered & people were coming to join us some in suits as they had rushed here straight from work.

Some of the birders plus a look at the new attire for birding.

The Pratincole hardly moved for the next 2 hours apart from a short flight of about 6 feet & some preening but as we are about to leave the bird flies off & heads away from us before turning & flies back over the track we are standing on & we get a great flight view before going out of sight over the sea wall. As I am  writing this on the morning after it has just come on bird guides that the Pratincole has just been seen back by the sea wall so good luck to all those heading off to see it.

The Black-winged Pratincole  (lifer )