Roger and I went to Burrough
Hill in Leicestershire which can be a good during migration. We set off from the car park seeing several
Tree Sparrows on the feeders alongside Blue, Great and Coal Tit. The fog was swirling around quite a bit and
it appeared very quiet bird wise as we walked down one of the footpaths to the
bottom of the hill. When we reached the
bottom it was still very quiet but we eventually found a couple of Chiffchaffs,
a Whitethroat and a Goldcrest. We found
a third Chiffchaff as we approached the wood before we scrambled up the steep
bank to the top. The fog was now
clearing and the sun was making an effort to emerge and several Blackbirds flew
out of the grasses just above the scrub and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew
over. Roger then found a Spotted
Flycatcher and more Blackbirds emerged.
We stood and looked down into the scrub on the western edge seeing more
Blackbird, a couple of Song Thrushes, Blue and Great Tits, another Spotted
Flycatcher, two more Chiffchaffs and two male and three female Blackcaps and
several Swallows suddenly appeared and began feeding over the hill. As we started to walk back across the top we
flushed four Meadow Pipits and seven Skylarks flew over, which were the first I
had seen since the end of July. There
were now clearly more birds feeding along the track to the car park, mainly
Chaffinch and House Sparrows but there was also several tits, Tree Sparrows and
a single Yellowhammer and we also found a Treecreeper.
On reaching the car park, I
called Erik and Ken, as we were going to meet them in the Egleton car park and
head off to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire.
We arrived at Frampton just
before midday and after some lunch we set off towards the east hide. There were several Ruff and a couple of
Black-tailed Godwits on the first lagoon but otherwise it was a bit quiet. As we started to walk along the track on the
northern edge of the reserve there were clearly fewer waders than when Dave and
I were here on the 3rd but we did find a Ringed Plover, ten juvenile
Little Stints and a couple of juvenile Curlew Sandpipers. When we reached the east hide the Pectoral
Sandpiper had disappeared and hadn’t been seen for a while. We settled down and began scanning the area in
front of the hide. There was another
Little Stint, two more Curlew Sandpipers, four Dunlin, and several Black-tailed
Godwits along with five Avocets. There
were also several Pintail and Shelduck amongst the more common wildfowl but
there was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper.
There were also fewer passerines around the hide with just and odd Pied
Wagtail and several Linnets. I suddenly
noticed a Little Ringed Plover to the left which then flew and landed on the
other side of the hide. Roger and I both
followed it as it flew and then Roger noticed another wader close to where it
had landed, which was one of the two reported Pectoral Sandpipers. Having been so elusive it then provided some
nice views and remained despite an immature Peregrine flying over when both it
and the Little Ringed Plover crouched close to the ground.
Pintail
Juvenile Peregrine
Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Meadow Pipit
After some discussion we
decided to walk back along the sea wall and complete the circuit. There was more water on the salt marsh and
there had clearly been a high tide but other than a few Little Egrets, a single
Pied Wagtail and several Meadow Pipits there was little else.
As we walked along the bank
Erik found a couple of Brent Geese on the fresh marsh and then he found another
four on the salt marsh. I then picked a
Spoonbill that was feeding on one of the small pools and Roger then noticed the
Glossy Ibis in the larger pool that was quiet close to the path. We were able to watch the ibis at a
reasonable distance and even took some photos before it flew into one of the
channels. When the sun caught the
plumage it looked remarkably green on the upperparts. We scanned one of the lagoons as we walked
back to the centre and found four more Little Stints with several Dunlin but
saw little else before we departed.
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Golden Plover
Juvenile Black-tailed Godwit
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