A Swift Decision

After my visit to Farmoor yesterday I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with stuff at home. At around five o’clock a message came in reporting an Alpine Sift at Oldbury Power Station which is on the River Severn about fifty miles from home. There wasn’t enough time left to go even if I left straight away so as soon as it was confirmed that the bird had gone to roost I decided to go first thing this morning. Matt was also free so four thirty this morning saw me picking him up. We arrived on site at about a quarter to six and could see the skies starting to lighten on the horizon. Fortunately there is a good path all the way around the site so we headed off to the area that the Swift had been seen going to roost. In a way having all this information makes lazy birding and despite some confusion as to exactly where it had roosted we were soon set up at a point that we had a good all round view of the building (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldbury_nuclear_power_station). There were a few other birders there as well and our chosen spot was a little away from the others Despite being overcast it was getting light quickly and it wasn’t long before Matt saw the Swift as it flew out from its roost. It circled around almost above us and we had great views with the large size noted and white undersides being seen really well. It then appeared to fly of over the building but in actual fact it had roosted again, this time in full view where we continued to watch it for a good while longer until it appeared obvious that it wasn’t going to fly again for a while so we headed off back to the car. It would have been nice to see it flying again but Matt needed to be home mid-morning as he was working a late shift and it turned out to be a good decision as the Swift didn’t fly again until after ten. So another unexpected bird which for us both was not a lifer but a UK tick.

Finally Got It

Yesterday morning started with an appointment with my dental hygienist after which I decided to head for Farmoor to try for the Lesser Scaup which is probably the same brd as I had tried fro three times at Staines. On the way I treated myself to breakfast at Mollies diner which as always was very nice. On arrival at Farmoor I had a scan around to see if I could get a clue of where the bird might be as it obviously wasn’t in front of the cafe as it has been on some occasions. I could see a small group of people at the far end of the central causeway looking onto F1 so headed in that direction. When I was halfway there I could see that the people had moved on with one of them heading my way. He gave me the great news that the Scaup was very flighty and had moved over to F2 and then back to the far side of F1. I had a good look around with the scope and could see a couple of groups of Tufted but couldn’t see the target bird. I carried on walking hoping it wouldn’t end up as a marathon chase the bird session. Luckily for me I found it on the eastern bank along with four Tufted Duck and so settled down to watch it diving and preening. Unfortunately it didn’t once open its wings to show the bar pattern but I was just happy to finally catch up with it. I then carried on to check out the other larger flock amongst which I found the female Greater Scaup which was also fairly close but a lot less active. Apart from these it was pretty quiet with nothing else out of the ordinary found.

A Second Chance

Last Thursday morning had been planned as birding time and I had decided to try for the Waxwings at Cranfield in Bedfordshire. A bit of a drive but I reckoned worthwhile as I haven’t seen a Waxwing for a while. I had the alarm set for five o’clock and got up when it went off. However a look out of the window found that the rain was hammering down, so not fancying what is a not great drive in the best of conditions in the rain I went back to bed, got up at a more sensible time and went for a wet but enjoyable walk around Coate Water managing forty-seven species in all. The best birds were four Goosander, a small flock of Siskin and double figures of Snipe. On Friday it was off to London as I was going to the O2 for C2C with my daughter. Saturday was to be a day with my Mum but she said that she wanted to go out with a friend as normal so I straight away thought Waxwing time. I left at a reasonable six thirty and was in Cranfield before eight. After parking and a short walk I saw a group of birders and toggers obviously looking at the birds and sure enough there they were perched at the top of a Silver Birch tree along with a couple of Starlings. After about five minutes they dropped down to an ornamental crab apple tree that was loaded with fruit and seemingly oblivious to the fifteen or so people just across the road started to feed. I spent about fifteen minutes watching them before deciding to move on as I had a busy day planned. Next stop was the airport which was just a couple of roads away. I haven’t been here for thirty years r more and didn’t remember it at all but there were a few interesting planes to be seen.

My plan was to then head for the London Wetland Centre at Barnes but after a quick look on Birdguides I decided to head for Stanborough Country Park in Welwyn Garden City where a Little Bunting had been for a few days. After a relatively short diversion from my route to London I soon found the correct car park and after headed of on the ten minute or so walk to the reed bed that the bird was located at. Birders going the other way all said that the Bunting was showing well and when I arrived at the site almost straight away someone said it was in his scope if I wanted to look. However all I could see was a female Reed Bunting in the place he said to look so I’m not sure if he genuinely though it was the Little Bunting or if he was waiting to see my reaction. I just said thanks and started to scan the reeds myself for the bird which, after just a couple of minutes I found sat low down on the edge of the reedbed where it stayed for a couple of minutes before moving out of sight. Although short I was happy with the views so again decided to move on. The journey to Barnes wasn’t too bad considering that it took in parts of both the North and South Circular roads and I arrived just before twelve. Despite it being just a few miles from my Mum’s house I haven’t been here since well before covid so was looking forward to the visit. My plan was to head straight to the tower hide and to then work my way back to the visitor centre. Several Cetti’s and a single Water Rail were heard on the walk to the tower and on arrival there I found thet I was the only one there. I started by scanning the wader scrape area hoping to find a Little-ringed Plover but with no sign moved to checking out the islands on the main lake. On the second one I looked at I found an LRP, my first spring migrant of the year. I could see that it was much closer to one of the other hides so decided to walk over there for better view. This I did before returning to the tower. Just as I was going in I thought that I heard the calls of Sand Martin but couldn’t see anything. It wasn’t long though before, from the tower I found two searching for insects of the lake. Two spring migrant species in just a few minutes. Then it was down to a general scan around which found a group of half-a-dozen Stonechats busily moving on and off of one of the fences. A good check of the reed edges failed to find any sign of a Bittern (one was reported about thirty minutes after I left) but I did manage to find a Water Pipit on the same island as the LRP which was a nice way to end an excellent day of birding.

Coate Water

Sunday morning and I had not long started painting the walls in the kitchen at my daughters house when a message came in reporting a Red-breasted Merganser at Coate Water. Not a year tick but certainly a rarity in Wiltshire. It took me just under an hour to do the painting and then it was into the car and off to Coate. I had the wife’s car so, no scope, no camera and only an old spare pair of bins. Fortunately the bird had been reported as being close to the Dam so hopefully not a problem. I parked the car and walked in along the path by the miniature railway. Straight away I could see Joe who was the one who had reported the bird standing about halfway along the Dam and a quick scan of the water found it fairly close in. I joined Joe and we watched the Merganser as it frequently went under the water looking , fairly successfully for fish. Everytime it came to the surface it was mobbed by numerous Black-headed Gulls that were hoping to grab an easy meal. We were joined by Jon and Laura, both local birders. Several passersby stopped to ask us what we were looking at, most seemed to be fairly unimpressed when we showed them although a couple showed some interest. I rang my wife to say I would be back soon and was told that they were finishing off the painting so I could go homegiving me a bit more time to enjoy the bird before leaving.

Norfolk Birding Day Four

Today we had a slightly later start and headed back to Cley hoping to catch the Dowitcher. We were in the hide before half past eight but again not a sign of it. A Whooper Swan was a nice surprise on Pat’s Pool and again there were eight species of wader on show. We stayed for just over an hour before heading off for a look around at Cley Spy. We arrived a little early so went into the Smokery cafe for a hot drink and a croissant. In Cley Spy my sister purchased a new tripod but although tempted I managed to resist. I did come out with a Tilley hat though, something I have been thinking of getting for a while. We had planned to spend the rest of the day at Holkham but when I saw on birdguides that the Lapland Buntings (a lifer for us) had been reported again at Weybourne we headed there instead. We parked opposite the cemetery and took the path past the lovely converted windmill to the Coastal Path. Again a small group of birders could be seen in the distance and it wasn’t long before we joined them. Again conditions weren’t great with the wind blowing hard off of the sea. The Laplands had been seen amongst a mixed finch flock so we settled down to look for them. Scanning an almost featureless clifftop stubble field for small birds in a howling gale is certainly not the most enjoyable type of birding. We managed to find a few birds, Skylark and Reed Bunting initially and then a few Yellowhammers. One or two of the others found the Laplands but there was no joy for us. Even when a bird was found it almost immediately disappeared behind a lump of mud or in a dip. We gave up after an hour or so and went off to have our picnic. The intention was to then go to Sheringham for Purple Sandpiper but I saw that the Dowitcher had been seen from the hide at Cley so we headed back there instead. Of course by the time we got to the hide it had moved on again. After spending some more time here enjoying the activity we decided to have another go at the Serpentine from the East Bank. There were a few people looking but it hadn’t been seen until one birder said they thought they had it, by the time we all got on the right area it had moved out of sight below the bank. After about five minutes a dozen or so Godwits flew up and there amongst them was a much smaller plain winged bird, the Dowitcher. Typically the flock flew away from us and most of the watchers including my sister didn’t pick it up. The flock then dropped down and someone said they would be on the pool in front of the Babcock Hide. Straight away we headed back for the car and drove off, luckily there was a small pull-in near the track to the hide and we were soon quick marching towards it. There was no-one in the hide so I carefully opened a flap and could see Godwits right in front of us. A quick look with the binoculars soon found the Dowitcher amongst them and soon my sister and a couple of others who had caught up with us had great views as it fed along the margins and on the grass fairly close in. This was my third one but by far was giving the best views I have had. We watched it for a few minutes until it moved away and out of sight. A good sized flock of Brent Geese descended onto the pool just before we left. So we headed back to the car with the great views being a just reward for what amounted to around seven hours of looking for it. By now time was getting on so we started off back to Hunstanton. We stopped off at Morston Quay for a few minutes and added Greenshank and Lesser Black-backed Gull to the trip list. This was the end of the trip as we were heading home on Saturday. Final trip total was ninety-five species which was a little short of expectation, partly due to the strong winds and partly the time spent on the Dowitcher which meant that we missed out on a couple of other sites. On the way home Saturday I made a small diversion to Blatherwycke Reservoir where I had great views of a pair of Smew without even having to get out of the car which made a great ending to the week.

Norfolk Birding Day Three

Day two started with another visit to Snettisham for the high tide waders. With high tide being forty-five minutes later today we didn’t have to get up quite so early which was good. There was a brisk northerly wind blowing which gave a completely different look to the sea when we arrived. The tide was rising quicker and from a slightly different direction. The birds were also acting differently with large flocks of Knot wheeling around over the water before splitting into smaller flocks when they headed for the scrape. Also the Oystercatchers were later coming in and the larger waders were flying around more than yesterday. With a lot planned for today we didn’t stay around after the high-tide. Following a quick stop at the house to sort out picnic stuff we headed east towards Cley. First stop was the goose field at Brancaster where it only had to wait a few minutes before a male Ruddy Shelduck wandered into view through a gap in the hedge. A short roadside stop at Stiffkey was made to check out the floods, the area was packed with birds, mainly Teal,Wigeon, Godwits and Lapwing along with a few Curlew and Little Egrets. Then it was Blakeney Harbour where after a struggle to get the machine to scan my NT card for the parking we headed off along the sea wall to look for a small flock of Twite that were in the area. Unfortunately conditions were against us. Snettisham being east facing hadn’t been that bad but here the wind was pretty strong and other than a handful of Mipits and Reed Buntings the small birds were staying on the ground and out of view. We managed to find a bench that had a little bit of shelter from the wind for our picnic and then it was the short drive along to Cley where we headed straight out to the hides. As always there was plenty to be seen here, eight species of wader were seen in varying numbers and we added Barnacle to the goose list. ALso had some great views of a Snipe right out the front of Bishops Hide. However of the Long-billed Dowitcher there was no sign, it hadn’t been reported since flying off at eight in the morning. After a couple of hours in the hides we wandered back to the visitor centre for a drink before heading off to the East Bank to walk along to the beach to look for the Snow Buntings. Luckily for us there was a small group of people a little way along the beach who were obviously watching the Buntings. Not wanting to disturb then we stopped a bit short, set the scopes up and were soon getting good views of nine birds. Just a couple of minutes later they all flew up and disappeared out on the salt marsh. We then headed back along the East Bank for another look for the Dowitcher, no luck again but a flyover flock of Golden Plover were a nice addition to the trip list. Final stop was to be Warham Greens for the Harrier roost but time was getting on and by the time we had walked to the viewpoint we had missed them. We did get several Grey Partridges and a hunting Barn Owl so it was a worthwhile stop. Having done over twenty thousand steps over the day we then drove into Wells for an well deserved fish and chip supper. We had hoped that the drive back from here would get us some more Owl sightings, it didn’t but there were several deer and a couple of Hares seen.

Norfolk Birding Days One and Two

Last week I spent a few days in Norfolk with my Sister and her husband. On the way I have I made a few stops starting at Hockwold Fen which is next to the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath. This was a new site for me but was easy to get to access was by walking the path alongside the Little Ouse and viewing the Fen across the river. One of the first birds seen was a Great White Egret, along with a Little Egret. Five Bewick Swans had been reported first thing but there was no sign of them, however two Whooper Swans were a better find for me as they were a year tick. My main reason for stopping here was the three Tundra Bean Geese that have been in the area for a while. I found the goose flock quite a way along the river but it only consisted of Canada and Greylags. I walked a little further hoping to find them but with no luck. Fortunately for me while I was walking back three Geese appeared in flight from over the trees and they were the Bean Geese, they circled over the flock a couple of times and then flew off again. Having spent a short time checking out the planes at Mildenhall earlier I next headed for the viewing area at the Lakenheath airbase and was lucky enough to catch five F15’s departing. Then it was a short drive to Santon Downham, another new site for me. This is a great place to see Lesser spotted Woodpecker so I parked the car and chose to take the path heading east along the river. Siskins and Redpoll were in the Alders and a Grey Wagtail on the river. I walked around a mile before retracing my steps. Almost back at the car I met another birder who informed me that the LSW’s were being seen about the same distance away in the opposite direction so my fifty fifty choice had been the wrong one. The other bonus sighting here was the return of the F15’s as the runway approach was directly over the village. Next stop was Lynford Arboretum where after having my lunch a short walk down to the paddocks got me Brambling but not Hawfinch. I then headed for Hunstanton which is where we were staying. We all met up at Tesco to do a bit of shopping and after getting sorted at the house we went for a walk along South Beach promenade. It was almost high tide and there was a wader roost consisting of over two hundred Sanderling, seventy or so Oystercatcher and four other wader species as well as a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese. These were the fifth goose species of the day as I had a couple of roadside Egyptian on the way up.

Next morning was an early start as we were heading for the reserve at Snettisham for the high tide wader spectacular. This meant being in the car park before six to allow time to walk the mile and a half to the watchpoint to arrive well before the high tide. On the way a Barn owl flew across the road and we soon arrived at the already busy car park. As we arrived at the watchpoint it was getting light and we could see a lot of bird moving in as the water moved in. Initially it was just small flocks but as the tide came in more and more flew in. Then they started to fly over us and onto the lagoon, mainly Oystercatchers to start and then big flocks of Knot an some Dunlin and Godwits. The sight and sound of them was absolutely incredible. Once all the birds were in we headed for the hides to see thousands of waders tightly packed almost motionless on the shore and the islands of the lagoon. Just over an hour after high tide some movement started amongst the flock and then pretty well as one the whole flock flew up and headed back out to the sea. Then it was back to the house to collect our picnic before heading to Titchwell via Cholsley Barns. Thew barns were very quiet with hardly any birds seen at all. At Titchwell we first had our picnic while watching Siskins and a Treecreeper before walking out to the beach. The hoped for Long-tailed Duck and Eider couldn’t be found but we did manage Red and Black-necked Grebes. Then it was back to the reserve where Brent became the sixth goose species of the trip. In all we had forty-four species here. We then moved along to the fields south of Brancaster where with some help from others we picked out a lone Tundra Bean Goose amongst hundreds of Pink feet. We ended the day with a quick look in at Thornham Harbour but nothing new was seen.