There was a Temminck’s Stint near Soham, Cambridgeshire and a Pallid
Harrier in Norfolk yesterday and so David, Roger, Malcolm and I had planned to
go for them today. The weather forecast
yesterday indicated that there would be some overnight rain, which should be
clear where we were heading around 09:00, however the forecast had changed and
there was now a risk of rain all day.
Roger picked me up at around 07:00 and we then drove to David’s, who was
the nominated driver, before collecting Malcolm in Market Harborough. Malcolm then informed us that there had been
negative news on the Temminck’s late last night but despite that and the
weather we decided to head for Welney and hopefully the Pallid Harrier.
As we made our way towards Peterborough the rain was quite heavy at times
and after reaching Thorney we decided we would call at Eldernell before
continuing to the Welney Wetland Centre, where the harrier was being seen.
When we reached Eldernell it was still raining but was now mainly a light
drizzle but there was no sign of the hoped-for Common Cranes but we did
surprisingly have a female Western Marsh Harrier in flight.
The journey between Eldernell and Welney produced a couple of Common
Kestrel, one just after leaving Eldernell and the other the other side of March
and we then had a Common Buzzard before reaching the B1098.
On reaching Welney it was still raining, and it had been over three hours
since I had left home. The benefit here
is that there is a rather pleasant hide, where we were able to stay and look
out over the washes, where there was a small lake just in front of the
hide. There was a single Black-tailed
Godwit and five Common Snipe around the edge of the lake and four adult and two
juvenile Whooper Swans feeding in the fields beyond and Malcolm picked up a
Whinchat on the edge of the scrub beyond the lake. As the rain eased we found a Western Marsh
Harrier flying to the east and another birder alerted us to another harrier to
the west. When I got on the second bird
there was clearly a white rump and we suspected it was the Pallid Harrier. It then flew in front of the hide, and although
some distance away we were able to confirm that it was the Pallid Harrier,
before it flew further to the east. As
it started to rain it dropped down again and disappeared. There was a good number of hirundines feeding
over the lake, most of which were Barn Swallows, but we did see a single Sand
Martin and a Common House Martin. There was also a juvenile Common Shelduck
amongst the more numerous Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard and Eurasian Teal
and a Common Redshank was also observed, and a Common Kestrel was observed to
the west.
As the rain eased again a Western Marsh Harrier was seen and then the
Pallid Harrier also took to flight, and we watched as it flew some distance to
the east before dropping out of sight again.
As we went back to the car for lunch I saw five Eurasian Tree Sparrows
around the feeding area and after lunch with a report of a Grey Phalarope at
Rutland Water we headed off back towards home territory.
There was a Common Kestrel at the roadside as we drove along the road
away from the centre and there was another alongside the A47 to the west of
Guyhirn and a Common Buzzard before we reached March. A WhatsApp message from Erik then arrived
indicating he had found a Glossy Ibis near the Old Hall. I gave him a call and he confirmed that it
was between the end of the road and the Old Hall and that the Grey Phalarope
was still in South Arm Three. We were
now close to Peterborough and were optimistic we would be seeing a couple of
good birds, one of which was a year-tick.
However, it wasn’t long afterwards when another WhatsApp indicated that
the ibis had flown off. We saw another
Common Buzzard just after passing through Peterborough but hadn’t seen anything
else as we pulled up near the Old Hall.
Erik was still there but it was surprising how quickly the wind had got
up and there were now some significant waves in South Arm Three. Erik was still pretty sure the phalarope was
still there but after walking around the cycle track to view the area where it
had been there was no sign. We spent
quite some time scanning the water but eventually having to concede it had at
least moved and possibly left. We did
see fifty Common Pochard, two Common Goldeneye, seven Little Egrets and a
Common Tern whilst looking for the phalarope, with the goldeneye being my first
of the autumn.
We then walked back towards the car and I went on to view the bay near
the Old Hall where the ibis had been as Erik said there was some Common Ringed
Plover and Dunlin there and I was hoping that perhaps the phalarope might have
joined them. I went as far as the Old
Hall to get a better look into the bay and found another Little Egret, two
Common Ringed Plover, a Little Ringed Plover and eight Dunlin but there was no
sign of the phalarope.
Disappointed missing both good birds we went to the North Arm where we
had twelve Northern Pintail, two Great Egret, four Little Egrets, twelve Common
Ringed Plover, five Dunlin and a Yellow-legged Gull and a Eurasian Hobby over
Burley.
A visit to the centre produced another Great Egret, a Red Kite and three Ruff
before leaving for Eyebrook Reservoir.
When we arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir I was pouring my coffee in the
northern corral when David said I’ve got a Grey Phalarope. He provided some directions and we were all
able to have views of it on the Rutland shoreline. It seemed rather restless as it kept flying
short distance between short stays on the shoreline. There were three Ruff amongst the gulls and a
Common Greenshank on the far shore and like at Rutland Water plenty of
hirundine, of which we could only identify Common House Martin. Three Northern Pintail and a Red Kite were
also observed during our brief stay.
It had turned out to be a pretty good day with two year-ticks with the
Grey Phalarope being particularly pleasing having dipped on the one at Rutland
Water.
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