A Nice Variety

After stopping at the boulangerie again Wednesdays birding started at Blanqueataque which is a wetland area between my sisters village and the coast. The small lake held Coot and Mallard and three Marsh Harriers hunted over the wet fields putting up a lot of birds as they passed over. Green Woodpecker was heard but not seen and several Curlew were coming into the fields. A recently created path along the edge of a wet wooded area had a few small birds with the best at least three Firecrest. From here we moved along to the saltmarshes where we found the first White Storks of the trip along with all three Egret species. Ringtail Hen Harrier, Buzzard and Kestrel were hunting and Water Rail and Cetti’s Warbler called from the reeds. Back at the car park a couple of Short-toed Treecreepers were seen along with Chaffinch and Greenfinch. The pine woods at La Maye were next and initially it seemed as if there were few birds here. We then started to hear and then see Goldcrest and a couple of Firecrest. We then heard the trilling call of the hoped for Crested Tit and were lucky enough to get good views of at least three birds. Back at the car we had our lunch, today we were able to do this outside as there was virtually no wind. We then moved a little further along the eastern side of the bay to walk along the edge of the Marquenterre reserve. This walk starts in the pine woods and then comes out on the beach between the bay and the reserve. Soon after leaving the car we had great views of a couple more Crested Tits but didn’t see or hear Crossbill. When we reached the bay the tide was coming in fast which meant that we were only able to reach the first of the screens that look over the reserve, a little disappointing as it meant that we weren’t able to see the several Smew that are wintering here. There were also Snow Buntings and Shore Larks that we weren’t able to reach so we had to settle for Pintail and Reed Buntings instead. Our final stop for the day was to be the area around the sluice gates at Le Crotoy. On the way we stopped at another gravel workings that have created a really large lake. In the past we have had Great Northern Divers here but today it was a single Black-necked Grebe, several Little Grebe, thirty plus Great Crested and plenty of Cormorants and gulls. When we arrived at Le Crotoy the tide was on its way out and there were several areas of sand and mud being exposed. On these were several hundred each of Curlew and Shelduck along with thirty or so Redshank. The lagoon which is beyond the sluice held more of the same and also sixteen Avocet. The reliable resident Kingfisher also put in an appearance making several flypasts. On the way back to the house there is a field that often has Cattle Egrets in it, this evening there were a total of thirty-one there which made a nice end to the day.

Windy and Cold on the Coast

Our first day of birding started with a pre-dawn stop at the boulangerie in the next village. On the way we were hoping for a pre croissant Owl sighting but didn’t see anything. After buying croissants and pain au raisin for breakfast and a baguette to go with our lunch we then drove to our first stop at Hordel which is situated at the mouth of the Somme. The area consists of a small harbour and a large stony promontory which juts out into the bay. The tide was out exposing miles of sandbanks in the estuary. This area was dotted with many Curlew, Shelduck, gulls and seals. On getting out of the car we were hit by a strong cold wind blowing in from the sea. Heading out onto the stony beach, with, our target being Snow Buntings and Shore Larks. Having checked out their favoured area with no sign we carried on along the beach. It is such a large area that a fair slice of luck is needed to find land birds. All we managed was a single Ringed Plover and some Reed Buntings. After over an hour of wandering we flushed a small flock of Snow Buntings that promptly disappeared over the estuary not to be seen again. Following this we weren’t sorry to get back into the car to warm-up. It was only a short drive to our next stop the gravel pit lake complex at Gravieres. This is an area of four pits, two are fishing lakes and were pretty quiet with mainly Coot on but the others which were the working pits had a lot more birds on. The majority were Coot with relatively few ducks the majority of which were Tufted. It didn’t take us long to find the first of five Black-necked Grebe amongst the Little variety of which there were at least twenty. A little more scanning turned up two Slavonian Grebes, it isn’t that often that I have seen all four of the regular grebes on one piece of water. Our next stop was one of our favourite sites, the Hable D’Ault. This is a coastal site consisting of scrub, bare stone ground and many lakes and stretches for several kilometres. As with many sites in France the area is heavily hunted but is still fantastic for birds. Our first priority was lunch which we had in the car overlooking one of the larger areas of water. Pochard, Teal and gulls were the most numerous birds here. After eating we again braved the wind and went for a walk. Not a great deal seen with the wind keeping the smaller stuff out of sight. A quick look at the sea found us a fairly close-in Red-throated Diver, there were a fair few auks which were too distant to identify. From here on, mainly due to the cold winds the majority of the birding was done from the car, most of the lakes held just a Coot and gulls with the occasional Cormorant. There was one with a better selection, mainly on the margins with Grey and Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Water Pipit and White Wagtails along with a few Shelduck. There had been a couple of Grey Phalarope on this bit of water but there was no sign of them today. Heading inland a bit the habitat becomes a little softer with cultivated fields and some cattle and horses. On a calmer day there are more small birds around but certainly not today. The interest here was mainly Egrets with all three species seen. We then drove to the town of Ault where the cliffs hold breeding Fulmars. Peregrine can be found here but only Kestrel was seen today. Out to sea were several hundred gulls along with a couple of Great Northern Divers and more distant auks. This was our final stop of the day which ended with fifty-six species seen.

Birding the High Seas

My first visit to France this year started with me leaving home at five this morning and heading for Newhaven. I normally go from Dover but the Dieppe crossing although a fair bit longer was around a hundred pounds cheaper. I arrived at Newhaven quite early and parked at West Beach to do a bit of birding. With the tide right out there was no chance of Purple Sandpiper as there was no way of getting to the end of the harbour wall but I did get Turnstone and Oystercatcher as well as four species of gull. Leaving the Port on the ferry a good scan of the under structure of the east jetty got me a single Purple Sandpiper along with a few more Turnstone. Withcalm conditions on the four hour crossing Ianaged to get Red throated Diver, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake and several Gannets along with a good amount of gulls. From Dieppe the drive to my sisters house was under an hour. Just corvids, gulls and Starlings seen along with a dead roadside Barn Owl. With a reasonable forecast I am looking forward to four days of dawn to dusk birding.

Sunday

Last night I was woken at three a.m by a Tawny Owl calling from the house roof, it stayed for about fifteen minutes and after it had gone I struggled to get back to sleep. I finally dropped off and then woke later than intended. This meant that we were a bit late going to Marlborough for breakfast and a walk along the Kennet. So after a light breakfast at the Coffi Lab in Marlborough we walked along to Preshute. We couldn’t stay by the river the whole way as the path was flooded so had to use the top path. We went a s far as the church and then back to the town. Again I wasn’t able to find the Dipper but it was reported later on in the day so I will need to go back for another try. Plan for the afternoon was a walk from my daughters house to Lydiard Park. But a message on the local Whatsapp group reporting a Great Grey Shrike near Devizes caused a change of plan. I arrived at the location at around two to find a couple of other birders looking. We stayed for about an hour and a half being joined but a couple of others but there was no sign of it. A bonus was a flock of Golden Plover which started at around a dozen birds and ended up at around a hundred and fifty. Lovely to see as these flocks are nowhere near as easy to find as they used to be.

Afternoon on the Plain

Yesterday I was working and had started at four in the morning. The plus side of this can be an early finish and i got one being home for twelve. The wife and daughter had gone to IKEA (gutted that I missed out on that) so I had the afternoon to myself. Work had taken me to Weston-super-Mare and the journey back had been in freezing fog and this was covering Swindon as well. The weather charts were showing that south of us was clear so I took a chance and headed for Salisbury Plain. By the time I got to Marlborough the fog had gone and it was wall to wall sunshine. I made a quick stop to have a look for the Dipper from the road bridge but with the water level still high there was no sign of it. As on my last couple of visits I started on the central area which I accessed at Casterley. To start I headed west as far as Redhorn and then returned on the same route before heading south towards Larkhill. I had made a good choice as aside from corvids and pigeons one of the first birds seen was a ringtail Hen Harrier along with four Red Kites and a couple of Buzzards. There were plenty of Fieldfare and Starlings around along with singles of Mistle and Song Thrush. Not so many small birds with just a flock of Linnets a few Corn Buntings and a couple of Stonechat. Also a couple of Reed Buntings surprised me as they always do so far from what you expect to be their usual habitat. Generally the Plain is fairly dry, most water being found in hollows dug out by the tracked vehicles that use the area. However despite it not having rained for a few days there was one place that had a lot of water and it had turned one of the byways into a fast flowing stream, something I don’t recall having seen before. here was a large group of mainly Starlings and Fieldfare plus a few Lapwing taking advantage of different habitat created. A small flock of Golden Plover were in a dry field and there was a flock of twenty-one Great Bustards in what is probably the most reliable site for them. From here I drove across to the eastern side where I parked at a good vantage point and settled down with a cup of tea and some cake to watch for Harriers heading to roost and Short-eared Owls coming out from roost. I failed to see either but there were couple of group did get to enjoy a nice sunset. In all twenty-four species seen.

Duck Hunting

AAt first light yesterday and having just beaten the traffic through Bristol found me at Barrow Tanks where I was hoping to see the wintering Long-tailed Duck. There are three separate bodies of water here imaginatively called, number 1, number 2 and number 3. 1 is the smallest and the favoured haunt of the LTD. Plenty of birds on the water, Tufties, Pochard Teal and Mallard along with several Little Grebe but no LTD. So I moved along to the adjacent and slightly larger number 2. Again plenty of birds but again not including the target bird. So it was across the busy A38 to number 3 which is the largest. I don’t know why but I prefer to scan from right to left and having covered three-quarters of the water I was starting to feel a little despondent even though I know that if the duck is diving it is easy to miss. Fortunately though I then found it with the last group of Tufted, it was on the far bank but it was staying on the surface giving good views. My next stop was Blagdon where there were three potential targets. After an interesting drive on the very icy roads I arrived at the Dam on what was only my second visit to this site. Unfortunately I was looking pretty well into the low morning sun which made things a bit difficult. There were a lot of birds to look through, eventually I found the Scaup but had no luck with Smew or Ring-necked Duck. An unexpected bird here was a Common Sandpiper, another species that seems to be overwintering more regularly. Then it was a short drive along to Chew Valley. I have been here a few times but cannot claim to know it well. I started at Herons Green Bay The Smew seems to split its time between here and Blagdon but again I couldn’t find it. I did heat my first Cetti’s of the year though. Then it on to Herriots Bridge after a stop at the excellent shop in West Harptree which sells great rolls, pasties and cakes. Plenty to see here although nothing new was added to the year list. WIth sunshine and hardly any wind I had been hoping for Bearded Tits bit had to settle for a couple of Long-tailed and another Cetti’s. Next stop was to be the Sewage Works at Compton Dando where a Yellow-browed Warbler had been re-identified as a Humes Leaf Warbler. I had seen my first and only one of these in Kent last January. I found the site easily enough, smaller and more easily viewed that many of these places it wasn’t long before I saw what was a very showy Humes. It had a couple of favoured perches, one on a earning sign and another on the centre post of the far treatment tank. There were loads of birds here, all taking advantage of the insects that abound at these sites in the winter. Chiffchaff and Grey Wagtail were added to the year list and several others to the day list. My initial plan from here was to go to the Somerset levels but I had changed my mind and was set on heading homewards, however I bumped into Nigel, a birding friend from home who had just come from the levels and following a chat with him reverted to my original plan. It is a place that justifies a whole day but this was going to be a two stop and hopefully not too long twitch. It is another area that, other than the main reserve areas, I don’t know that well. First target was a Lesser Scaup, a female, so maybe a little harder than the drake I tried for at Staines earlier in the week. Initially I was the only person looking and I wasn’t having any luck, again plenty to see but no LS. It wasn’t long before some other birders turned up and eventually there were seven of us looking. With another place to visit and a fair drive home I had set a time limit. About five minutes before that the bird was seen, it just sort of appeared not that far out from us and gave pretty good views. From here it was about a ten minute drive to the car park at Ashcott Corner from where a short walk west alongside the canalised river takes you to Meare Marsh and the relatively new Tower Hide. New as in it wasn’t built the last time I was here a couple of years ago. A long staying American Wigeom was the hoped for bird here. As I approached I could see a large amount of ducks flying around with a couple of Marsh Harriers not far away, not a promising start. However the Harriers drifted away and the ducks soon settled down on the marsh. It was then a case of hunting through them for the one with the green head. To my advantage was the fact that most of the ducks were still quite alert and I soon found the odd one out. If it had been sleeping which apparently it does a lot it would have been a whole lot harder. With mission accomplished it was then back to the car to head homewards. I did manage to add a lone Cattle Egret to the list on the drive back across to the motorway, a nice end to a good day of birding which got me past the one hundred mark for the year.

A Walk on the Downs

My car was in the garage at Aldbourne for a service today and I needed to pick it up in the afternoon. My daughter had offered to take me but as it was such a nice day I decided to walk there to collect it. I set off from home at half one and estimated that I would get there at around four. I have walked to Aldbourne once before and there are at least three route options. I chose to go past Folly Farm, up to the Ridgeway and then across the Aldbourne road to Sugar Hill and then follow the ridge past the four barrows (http://aldbourneheritage.org.uk/village-history/aldbourne-timeline/prehistory-aldbourne/aldbourne-barrows) and then dropping down into the village. Walking up the lane to Folly Farm got me my first Fieldfare of the year and along the path up to the Ridgeway my first Corn Buntings and Yellowhammer. The first of several Red Kites and Buzzards put in an appearance but overall it was quiet for birds. The area each side of the Aldbourne road was good for Stonechat with six seen along with more Corn Buntings and a few Meadow Pipits. Not a single bird was seen in the small wood on the ridge but there were four Red Kites drifting over the fields. From here very little was seen until the path entered trees as it dropped down into Aldbourne. In all the walk was just under seven miles which I completed in two and a quarter hours seeing a total of twenty-seven species. If I had done the walk at birding pace I am sure that I would have added a few more but time had not allowed for this.

Just a Few Minutes Ago

I went up to my Mum’s last night and this morning managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to have a quick walk over to Osterley Park to look for Little Owl. Having tried and failed a couple of times recently I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t see it. Just hoping that they haven’t gone the same way that our local ones in Wiltshire have. I was only out for half-an-hour or so so not much else was seen but did manage to year-tick Song Thrush. Checking on birdguides before heading home I saw that there was a Lesser Scaup at Staines Reservoir. This is pretty well on my way home so as on many other occasions I was soon parked in the layby at the end of the causeway. There were a few birders around and I was soon informed that it had been showing really well and fairly close in but had flown off just a few minutes ago and they weren’t sure where it had gone. So along with a couple of other recently arrived birders it was a case of scanning the large expanse of water that is the south basin. Unfortunately I could only stay for an hour or so as I had something to do at home. Despite a really good search there was no sign of the Scaup it what were almost perfect conditions. No wind meant a flat surface and the light was really good. There was the bonus of some Black-necked Grebes with at least three seen. Of course and as expected, on checking birdguides when I got home it had been reported later on in the afternoon.

The Welcome and the Unwelcome

Having worked yesterday and needing to catch up on stuff at home this morning the birding again took a back seat. The best I could manage was an afternoon family walk around Coate Water. This started with a first ride on the Coate Water Railway for the new grandchild which brought back happy memories of doing the same when my two were young. Then it was along to the lake where straight away I managed to year-tick the long staying Black Swan. Despite the cold wind it was quite pleasant in the afternoon sun and the dam end was very busy. The large flock of Feral Pigeons were taking advantage of the food on offer as were the Mute Swans and Canada Geese. The majority of people don’t venture far from the car park so by the time we reached the boathouse it was a lot quieter. It was quiet on the bird front as well until we reached the woods on the southern side of the lake. Just the common stuff to start and then a call caught my attention. If I had been in Osterley Park I wouldn’t have been slow to identify the bird but I am not used to hearing Ring-necked Parakeet at Coate. I shouldn’t have been surprised as there have been fairly regular reports of three of four birds over the last couple of months. Unfortunately it seems it won’t be long before a population is established in Swindon. Just a few yards further on and we headed along one of the walkways to a fishing stand. As we did so a Little Egret flushed from the bank, as I started scanning the far bank a Great White Egret flew up from the reeds there and landed in a tree alongside a Grey Heron. One or two Little Egret have been regular visitors for a while now but the GWE is a rare visitor. Hopefully they will both soon be joining the breeding bird list here. Also seen from here were a male and two female Goosander. After this the only addition to the list was a Goldcrest but overall a productive walk.

Out in the Wind and Rain

With the wife back at work I had yesterday pencilled in for a trip out. My initial thought was Barrow Tanks and Chew Valley as this would get me some decent birds without travelling far. I was up for seven and a check of the forecast showed that it was going to be windy with heavy showers. I decided that somewhere with a bit more shelter would be more sensible so I headed off to Slimbridge. Arriving well before opening time I availed myself of the early entry members gate. First stop was the Peng Observatory and a few minutes of birding in the warm through the windows started the list off with a good number of wildfowl and waders. I then headed towards the tower making stops at the various hides along the walkway. These added a confiding Water Rail and best of all a couple of White-fronted Geese. Despite there being fifty plus here they are often grazing out of sight so I was pleased to get them so easily. With a couple of Peregrines about the waders were spending a lot of time in the air with large numbers of Lapwing, Golden Plover and Dunlin wheeling around. The top of the tower wasn’t a pleasant place to be with a strong cold wind howling across from the river. The North Sea gales had been way warmer than this. Moving down to the lower floor made watching a lot more pleasant and several more species were added to the list. There wasn’t much different to be seen from the Zeiss and Kingfisher hides so I moved along to the South hide where fortunately the first winter male Scaup was drifting around fast asleep but in full view. In the thirty or so minutes I was there it only lifted its head once. Twenty plus Avocets and a couple of female Goldeneye were also seen here. It was getting on for lunchtime and with conditions worsening I decided to see if I could outrun the weather and get a couple of hours of dry time at the Water Park on the way home. Typically the rain followed me so I ended up eating my sandwiches in the car and then heading for home. This highlighted the fact that there are very few places, at least on the Wiltshire side of CWP that can be easily birded from the car. I managed forty-nine species at Slimbridge so have finally got my 2023 list on the move.