Wednesday 27 February 2013

A day’s birding in Bedfordshire - February 27, 2013


Dave, Roger and I were heading south today into Bedfordshire where we were hoping for some good year ticks.

Our first call was at Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire for a Great White Egret but there was no sign and so we moved on to Clifford Hill Country Park in Northamptonshire.  There had been eight White-fronted Geese present in fields behind the Premier Inn for at least three days but there was no sign.  Not a good start dipping on the first two species.

We made our way to Radwell Gravel Pits in Bedfordshire where there had been two Bean Geese present with a party of Greylag Geese.  We fond the place ok and walked to the area where we thought they should be.  We found five Greylags but there was no sign of the Bean Geese.  A third dip and the day was turning into a bit of a disaster.

Next was Priory Lake in Bedford for a male Ferruginous Duck but after searching for almost and hour we had not seen it.  Roger decided to walk further around the lake in an attempt to get a full view behind the island and located it with a party of Tufted Duck that all flew towards the hide.  Dave and I walked the opposite way and soon found it amongst the Tufted Duck.  Success at last, although we began to think we might dip on everything.  With the pressure of we moved onto the RSPB Headquarters at Sandy.

When we arrived at the gate house car park there was clearly a lot of birds feeding around the feeders.  We walked around to the area with a shelter overlooking the feeding station and there were at least fifty Siskin feeding, mainly on the ground and also a few redpolls.  We eventually at least fifteen Lesser Redpolls and four Mealy Redpolls amongst the Siskin.  There was also Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird Robin and Nuthatch in the area.  After lunch we took a walk in the direction of the lodge but all we saw was several Blue and Great Tits with a single Siskin at a second feeding station where a nice male Sparrowhawk made a pass but didn’t hang around.  The only other sighting of any note was another Nuthatch and a Raven was heard.

Back at the feeding station we had further views of Siskin and redpolls and also a couple of Brambling.
The day had started badly but had improved after we found the Ferruginous Duck and superb close views of the feeding flock at The Lodge.


Male Siskin at The Lodge


Male Siskin at The Lodge


Male Siskin at The Lodge


Blue Tit at The Lodge


Male Siskin at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Mealy Redpoll at The Lodge


Lesser Redpoll at The Lodge


Lesser Redpoll at The Lodge

Sunday 24 February 2013

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 23, 2013


I was out with Roger today and we initially went to Eye Brook Reservoir seeing a couple of Buzzard on route.

When we arrived at Eye Brook Reservoir we soon found a couple of male Smew and eventually saw four males and two red-heads but other than five Shelduck and three more Buzzard there was little else of real note.

We went to the dam seeing a couple of Red Kites on the way and we soon located the Great Northern Diver off the dam and also two Yellow-legged Gulls.

We then went to the fisherman’s car park in the north arm hoping for both Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes but other than a number of Goldeneye and a few Great Crested Grebes we saw little else.  We moved to the end of the Reserve Manager’s road where Roger found the Black-necked Grebe and then the Slavonian Grebe.  We had met Frank Pickering and Stuart Gill who shorted at us as we had gone through the gate to get better views of where they had seen some Dunlin before our arrival.  We could see a number of Dunlin, a single Ringed Plover and an Oystercatcher and a Redshank was observed in flight.  Frank then called us back and informed us that there was also a Sanderling.  We eventually found the Sanderling amongst the Dunlin, which we difficult to count as they kept flying around and then dropping out of sight.  We felt that there was at least twenty and we also saw three Ringed Plovers.  A single male Goosander in the fishponds was to be the only one of the day.

From the Bird Watching Centre we saw a number of Shelduck, a Little Egret and six Curlew on lagoon one before making our way to lagoon three.  Lagoon three produced a further four Shelduck and two male and five red-headed Smew.

Lagoon four was pretty quiet with just a few large gulls at the pre-roost assembly consisting of mainly Great Black-backed but there were also several Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls.  On the walk back we found eight Siskin and four Lesser Redpoll feeding close to redshank hide and a Treecreeper was also observed.

Back at the centre there were know three Little Egrets and a Sparrowhawk flew close to the centre.  At the Egleton feeding station there were two Lesser Redpoll and a few common species.  We decided to walk down the service road where there was a party of Redwing, a single Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush feeding in one of the meadows.  We also saw four Brambling and there was nineteen Blackbirds feeding on the path where seed had been placed.  A second Sparrowhawk then flew from over the hedge scattering the birds as it passed close by.

On route home we had another three Buzzards, one at Cranoe and two close to Kibworth and five Tree Sparrows near Slawston.

We had recoded seventy-nine species, which is a pretty good total for this time of the year.

Thursday 21 February 2013

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland - February 21, 2013


Dave and I visited Rutland Water as there had Whooper Swan and both Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes in the north arm yesterday.

When we arrived at the fisherman’s car park the water was quite choppy and it was difficult to find birds on the water and all we saw were a few Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebes and an Oystercatcher on the south shore.  From the end of the Reserve Manager’s road we had no better luck with the grebes but we did find another two Oystercatcher, six Ringed Plovers, nine Dunlin and a Redshank.  There were only five Barnacle Geese present and two would have appeared to have gone. 

A Red Kite was observed over Egleton village as we driving to the centre.

At the Bird Watching Centre we signed in and then looked over lagoon one for a while where we fund a male Smew, a male Goosander, four Little Egrets and a Curlew flew in during the end of our stay and there were twenty-one Shelduck with another two on lagoon two.

As both grebes had been seen during the morning both in the fishponds and the north arm we decided to give them another go but with no further luck.

A day’s birding Northwest Norfolk - February 20, 2013


I was out with Dave and Roger today and we had decided to visit Northwest Norfolk.  Roger was driving today and our first stop was at Wolferton and hopefully Golden Pheasant as two males had been showing well recently.  After about thirty minutes with no sign we moved off to Hunstanton cliff-top where we found two Shag and Fulmar but no sea duck.

We continued around the coast to Burnham Overy Staithe where we met Steve Lister who informed us he had seen Golden Pheasant at about 08:30, which is about the time we arrived.  I had already picked up a Barn Owl hunting over the marshes and we had a Red Kite, at least four female Marsh Harriers and a single Buzzard but there was no sign of the hoped for Rough-legged Buzzard.  There were also a large numbers of Brent Geese but there were very few Pink-footed Geese, although five Barnacle Geese were unexpected.  We drove a little further east to Lady Anne’s Drive at Holkham but a quick drive up and down the drive failed to produce anything with no sign of any geese.

We then started to comeback west and called at Burnham Norton where we had two more female Marsh Harriers over the marsh and a male was observed just before we turned back onto the A149 and headed towards Titchwell.

A visit to Choseley Barns was decided to before we went to Titchwell, which proved quite rewarding.  As we drove up the hill towards the barns we noticed a large flock of birds that dropped from the hedge into a stubble field.  We stopped for a closer look and I soon noticed several Brambling amongst the Chaffinch.  We drove a little further to look back on the birds and realised there must have been about thirty Brambling amongst the Chaffinch.  Dave then picked up two Grey Partridge and we then found a third and there was also circa sixty Linnet and a few Skylarks in the same field.  Grey Partridge was a year-tick and a species that is becoming quite difficult to see, even in Norfolk.

We had lunch at Titchwell before walking down along the main track to the beach.  There were a lot of birds at both feeding stations particularly Chaffinch and Greenfinch and we did find three Brambling.  There was also good numbers of Goldfinch feeding in the alders but we were unable to find any Siskin or redpolls.
As we walked down the path there were quite a few waders feeding in the grass meadow towards Thornham and we saw Golden Plover, Lapwing and Curlew.  The small pool to the left of the path was drained and the few puddles of water had attracted a Redshank and two Knot.  Further down on Reedbed Pool there was a female Red-crested Pochard and a couple of Coot.  The Freshwater Marsh was pretty full but had plenty of birds on it including Avocet, a single Ringed Plover, a few Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit and the wildfowl included several Pintail but we were unable to find a female Long-tailed Duck.
We continued to walk to the sea and found a Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh and Roger also found the Bar-tailed Godwit of the day.  There was also quite a gathering of Redshanks and a couple of Grey Plover.


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh

We continued to the sea and what a treat when we reached the beach, there was literally hundreds of waders feeding just a couple of meters away feeding amongst a wreck of razor shells.  There must have seen several hundred Sanderling, a hundred plus Turnstone and several Knot.  They provided an excellent photo opportunity and both Dave and I were soon clicking away.  On the shoreline there were more Sanderling and several Oystercatchers, Grey Plovers and Bar-tailed Godwits but the sea appeared very quiet.  There was a large raft of Common Scoter way out towards the wind farm and must have easily exceeded 2000 birds.  Roger did find a single Eider and there was also a Goldeneye and a Great Crested Grebe.  Dave and Roger decided to walk up the beach to search for Twite but I decided to stay put.  After they had gone about two hundred meters five Twite dropped on the beach quite close.  I tried ringing both Dave and Roger but they both had their phones off but fortunately Roger thought he saw me on the phone and switched his phone on and I was able to get him at the second attempt and we were able to get good views.


Knot on the beach


Knot and Sanderling on the beach


Knot on the beach


Sanderling on the beach


Sanderling on the beach


Sanderling on the beach


Sanderling on the beach


Goldfinch on the beach


Twite on the beach


Twite on the beach
As we walked back we found a second Spotted Redshank on the Volunteer Marsh and also Long-tailed Duck on the Freshwater Marsh.  We bumped into Steve Lister again who informed that a male Bearded Tit was performing well on drained lagoon being seen on the ground out in the open.

When we arrived back the crowd had dispersed and there was no sign of the beardy but we did have a Water Rail and two female Marsh Harriers over Thornham Marsh and a third was observed over the reedbed to the east.


Black-tailed Godwit on Volunteer Marsh


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh


Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Dave had returned to the centre before Roger and I and had seen Siskin at one of the feeding stations and fortunately it was still there for Roger and I to see.

We decided that it might be a good idea to call at Wolferton again and give the Golden Pheasant another go on route home.


Song Thrush near the feeding station

We arrived back at Wolferton to found two cars perked so we parked up so we could see down the road.  After a few minutes a superb male Golden Pheasant appeared and walked slowly across the road giving excellent views.  What a superb bird these are with their gaudy colours and extremely long tails.

We were now on a high and decided to call at Roydon Common and hopefully a Hen Harrier and we were lucky again with views of a ring-tail as it came into roost.

We also saw two more Barn Owls as we traveled back to Leicestershire.

A day’s birding in Northwest Leicestershire - February 19, 2013


After dropping my granddaughter off at school I decided to visit Kelham Bridge, which is one of the few sites that Willow Tit can be regularly found in Leicestershire & Rutland.  I was in the hide overlooking the feeding station for forty-five minutes and whilst there was plenty of activity there Willow Tits were noticeable by their absence.  A pair did fortunately pay a brief visit during the forty-five minutes before moving off very quickly but at least they could be added to the year list.  There was Great Tit and Blue Tit present for most of the time and these were supported by a pair of Long-tailed Tit, several Chaffinch, a Robin at least three Dunnock, Blackbirds and a single Jay.  A single Snipe was also observed in flight.


Jay at Kelham Bridge 


Brown Rat at Kelham Bridge


I moved off to Blackbrook Reservoir but there was no sign of any Mandarin and there was very little else, A Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming being the best.

I called at Swithland Wood next but again it was very quiet with a Jay, two Treecreeper and three Mistle Thrush being the best.

I moved off to Swithland Reservoir where I spent the rest of the day.  There was nothing of note from the causeway overlooking the southern half of the reservoir but I soon found the female Velvet Scoter and a Peregrine from the dam.  I heard Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Nuthatch and saw a Buzzard but there was little else during my lengthy stay.  How much the birdlife has changed at this reservoir of the years with passerines in particularly being significantly fewer than thirty years ago.  However it was a beautiful afternoon and I enjoyed soaking the sun whilst hoping the scoter my come close enough to the dam to photograph, but it didn’t.


Male Goldeneye at Swithland Reservoir


Male Goldeneye at Swithland Reservoir


Grey Squirrel at Swithland Reservoir


Sunday 17 February 2013

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 16, 2013


Dave and I had made a late start as the forecast yesterday was for dense fog early morning but it never materialised and it was a very pleasant day with plenty of sun and no fog.

We initially went to Eye Brook Reservoir where we located six Smew, three males and three red-heads and I also found a single drake Pintail close to the dam.  A single Buzzard was observed perched from Holly Oaks Farm gate and we had a total of twenty-eight Red-legged Partridge.  There were far viewer birds at the inlet end and the reservoir was probably on top water an there were no areas of exposed mud.  There was a single Little Owl in the old oak but with little else we made our way to Rutland Water.

As we were getting our gear out of the car at Rutland Water other birders told us they had been watching the female Hawfinch in the car park but it had flown off just before we arrived.  We walked to the centre and had a quick scan of lagoon one where we located four Shelduck, a drake Goosander and a Little Egret and there was also quite a large flock of Lapwing.

As Dave has still not seen the Hawfinch this year we spent quite some time on the service road but the Hawfinch did not oblige and all we saw amongst the more common species were a male and two female Brambling and two Water Rail in one of the flooded meadows.

After lunch we walked down to the normal footpath, which was still impassable without wellingtons to crake and lapwing hides.  A Jay provided some good views in the large meadow but we saw nothing else of note and continued to crake hide.  Other than numerous Coot and a few Great Crested Grebes on the water but I did pick up two Raven and Buzzard over Burley Wood.



Jay in the Egleton Meadows


Great Crested Grebe from lapwing hide


Great Crested Grebe from lapwing hide


Great Crested Grebe from crake hide


Coot from lapwing hide

Lapwing hide produced another two Buzzards and two Red Kites but again there was little on the water.

We called at buzzard hide on return where we soon found three drake and six red-headed Smew and there were to Buzzard visible over Burley Wood.  I then picked up two Bittern flying over the reed-bed but they disappeared behind a tree and Dave who blocked my view trying to see them.  He then indicated that they were coming back and we watched them both fly quite high before dropping back into the reed-bed.  This was my first multiple sighting of Bittern in the counties, although three have been claimed this winter.  Shoveler hide produced five Snipe but little else and we moved onto lagoon four.


Female Goldeneye on lagoon three

Lagoon four was very quiet but we did find three Oystercatchers and four Ringed Plovers.

We called at grebe hide on the way back to the centre where Dave found a drake Scaup amongst a raft of Tufted Duck.  From the centre we found another five Snipe and there were now two Goosander on an island and a Sparrowhawk provided some nice views as it perched on post near lagoon two.  I saw two Carrion Crows harassing what I though would be th Sparrowhawk but soon realised it was a Barn Owl.  The Barn Owl then flew over quite a bit of the margins of lagoon two before heading off to the poplars at the back of lagoon one  and then onto towards the nest box and over the bund and out of sight into south arm three.  Dave then announced he had three Green Sandpipers in flight and I watched them fly over lagoon one and drop into the wet meadow area.


Grey Heron on lagoon one


First-winter Herring Gull over lagoon onr

We decided to visit the north arm and after seeing northing special from the fisherman’s car park moved onto the point at the end of Reserve Manager’s road.  As I scanned a group of Coot looking for the Long-tailed Duck and found the female Red-breasted Merganser and then Dave found the female Long-tailed Duck further to the right.  The light was now starting to go and so we called it a day.

As we travelled home we had another Barn Owl just east of Billesdon.





A morning at Newton Harcourt & Great Glen, Leicestershire - February 15, 2013


I went for a short walk near the church in Newton Harcourt where there were a few birds on the feeder the best being Coal Tit and Nuthatch.  I also had nice views of two Goldcrest and a Treecreeper.

A walked the footpath to the south of Great Glen that passes close to the sewage works.  There were four Goosanders, two male and two females, on the small lake and at least four Grey Heron were present.  The sewage farm was particularly quiet and I only found a single Pied Wagtail although there was a nice party of Long-tailed Tits just past it that were accompanied by a single Goldcrest and Treecreeper.  I also had a rather brief but nice view of a male Sparrowhawk as it flew parallel to the stream and a Buzzard was observed nearby.  A Grey Wagtail was also heard calling as it flew over but unfortunately I couldn’t see it and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling and observed at the top of a tree.

Another nice sight was of three Red Foxes sitting along a hedgerow sunning themselves.

Friday 15 February 2013

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 14, 2013


Dave and I had gone out slightly later today due to the overnight and early morning rain.  The journey to Eye Brook Reservoir was not uneventful as we had to negotiate some flooding on route and there was a lot of surface water.  The roadside at Eye Brook Reservoir was extremely wet and parking on any verge would have been risky and so it was rather a short visit with nothing unusual recorded.

The dam was to be a first port of call at Rutland Water where we hoped to find the Great Northern Diver.  On arrival the water was rather choppy and I wasn’t very optimistic of seeing the diver following my recent attempts.  There was an adult Yellow-legged Gull resting on a buoy and then the water but as we scanned all we could find where a few Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebes out on the water with a few Wigeon, Mallard and Coot feeding closer to the shore.  Dave then saw something dive that he thought was interesting and I we searched the area the Great Northern Diver suddenly appeared but closer and not the bird Dave had thought was interesting.  We then had further views as it dived and gradually moved closer to the northern shore.  They were not great views due to the very choppy water but I had at last caught up with it.
Having succeed with the diver we drove the short distance to Stanford where there had been a flock of Waxwing for a few days.  When we arrived there was no sign and they did not appear during our fairly short stay and they were not reported all day.

Back at Rutland Water we visited the north arm and found a male Scaup in the fishponds and the seven Barnacle Geese on the north shore.

Reaching the Bird Watching Centre was not easy as we had to negotiate a rather large puddle to reach it.  Lagoon one was know quite high and the channel between lagoon one and two was now part of the main water, indicating a further rise in the reservoir levels.  Lagoon one was generally quiet with seven Shelduck, a drake Pintail and a Little Egret being the highlights.  There had been both Siskin and Lesser Redpoll at the feeding station yesterday but not today with only common species visiting, although a party of five Long-tailed Tits proved some good photo opportunities and a Sparrowhawk made a rapid visit but all the birds had already taken cover.


Long-tailed Tit at the Egleton feeding station


Long-tailed Tit at the Egleton feeding station


Great Tit at the Egleton feeding station

After some lunch we walked down the service road hoping to see one of the Hawfinches but neither appeared, although we did have some nice views of two Jays and a male and two female Brambling.  There was also plenty of common species but there was no sign of the regular Water Rail, possibly due to the higher water levels.


Redwing in the Egleton Meadows

We continued onto lagoon three but after a short while with nothing of note being seen Dave decided to go to lapwing to view south arm three but I stayed as the water levels on the track would have resulted in my feet getting wet.

Juts after he had left and Oystercatcher flew over and headed towards lagoon four and then I picked up a Bitten flying towards me and saw it drop into a small reed-bed close to buzzard hide.  I informed Dave and he soon returned having seen a red-headed Smew on lagoon two.  We stayed in shoveler hide for quiet some time and had several sightings of the Bittern, the best being as it came out of the reed-bed I had seen it go in and then fly right across the lagoon to the larger reed-bed on the northern edge.  We also found a drake and red-headed Smew, a Sparrowhawk and Green Woodpecker and the Oystercatcher flew over again.

We eventually went to lagoon four where there were fifteen Dunlin on a nearby island and a Ringed Plover more distantly.  There were plenty of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls present and at about 16:20 the first-winter Glaucous Gull flew in and provided some good but distant views as it preened amongst the flock of larger gulls.  We finally decided to call it a day seeing a Barn Owl over lagoon one as we returned to the car park.

It had been a pretty successful visit and we recorded seventy-three species at the reservoir and completed the day on seventy-six, with Red-legged Partridge at Eye Brook Reservoir and Linnet and Yellowhammer being added during travel.

A Barn Owl was observed as we drove home towards Great Glen at SP670988.