Great Reed Warbler, Straw's Bridge NR. My bird of the year so far!
Nightingale, Paxton Pits
One of my better digiscoped efforts - I really like this one!
Iberian Chiffchaff, Potteric Carr
Roe Deer, Potteric Carr
Pied Flycatcher, Abbeystead
Spotted Flycatcher, Abbeystead
Grey Wagtail, Halton
Golden Plover, Abbeystead
Lazy Oriental Pratincole, Frampton Marsh
Curlew Sandpiper, Frampton Marsh
Pochards, Ham Wall RSPB
Greenshank, Meare (Shapwick) Heath
Hobbies from Noah's Hide, Shapwick Heath
Wood Sandpiper, Meare Heath
The Wood Sand with a couple of drake Garaganeysxxxxx
Been working away a lot recently and not had much chance of local birding. I am also struggling to remember where I have been and what I have seen, but here goes.
Xxxx
Had an after work visit to Shapwick Heath in Somerset last week. As usual it didn’t disappoint. As soon as I got out of the car a Cuckoo began calling – eventually I picked up five of these birds here, including one bird that flew right over me. I walked along the drainage ditch towards Noah’s Hide on a fantastically warm and sunny evening. A Bittern lifted out of the Meare Heath reedbed to the right and flew over the ditch to land in the Shapwick Heath reedbed. I then arrived at Meare Heath pool and immediately noticed two small waders at the back. One was flushed by a Lapwing and flew to the front – it was a Dunlin. A Greenshank then waded into view in the middle of the pool. I finally got my scope set up and scanned the back of the pool to check the other small wader – it was a Wood Sandpiper! Superb and a nice find.
Been working away a lot recently and not had much chance of local birding. I am also struggling to remember where I have been and what I have seen, but here goes.
Xxxx
Had an after work visit to Shapwick Heath in Somerset last week. As usual it didn’t disappoint. As soon as I got out of the car a Cuckoo began calling – eventually I picked up five of these birds here, including one bird that flew right over me. I walked along the drainage ditch towards Noah’s Hide on a fantastically warm and sunny evening. A Bittern lifted out of the Meare Heath reedbed to the right and flew over the ditch to land in the Shapwick Heath reedbed. I then arrived at Meare Heath pool and immediately noticed two small waders at the back. One was flushed by a Lapwing and flew to the front – it was a Dunlin. A Greenshank then waded into view in the middle of the pool. I finally got my scope set up and scanned the back of the pool to check the other small wader – it was a Wood Sandpiper! Superb and a nice find.
Xxxxx
While I was watching the Wood Sandpiper, another Bittern flew right over me unobserved but seen by another birder. The usual plethora of Cetti’s Warblers were singing away as I walked down to Noah’s Hide. There I was treated to a Hobby fest – at least 15 of these falcons were hunting over the pool. It was amazing to sit in a raised hide and watch Hobbies eating insects in mid-air right in front of the hide. As usual I had left my DSLR at home! In reality these could have been many more Hobbies present – I didn’t have time to spend looking for them and the haze at the back of the pool didn’t help. Just to put this into context, over 80 Hobbies had been seen over the pool a week earlier!
Xxxxx
On the way back to the car park a distant blob flying towards me materialised into yet another Bittern – this one flew straight over my head no more than 30 feet above me. Again I cursed leaving the camera at home. I stopped for another look at the Wood Sandpiper and behind it from the reeds two drake Garaganeys emerged. I nipped over to neighbouring Ham Wall RSPB briefly – another couple of Cuckoos and five more Cetti’s Warblers singing. Two more Bitterns in flight though more distant – including booming birds I had detected at least ten Bitterns!
Xxxxx
Another brief visit was to Frampton Marsh Рa place I had not visited previously. I had little time to spare here and the place is huge Рyou need a good day to view it all properly. The birds attracted to the place are amazing РI spent a while talking to a local who was so blas̩ about the Lesser Yellow-legs he saw last week or the regular stunning views he gets of Monties! I walked around to the east hide to have a look at the Ornamental Pratincole. The little tinker was at the back of the pool and being a bit lazy Рit eventually settled down behind a clump of grass and seemed to indicate it was going to stay there all night. I got bored and wandered around to the 360 hide.
Xxxx
This is a superb hide between a couple of pools. Waders where everywhere – I was running out of time and couldn’t scan them all. Two summer plumaged Curlew Sandpipers were picked up with a flock of around 50 Ringed Plovers and a few Dunlin. I opened the shutters at one window which overlooked a raised grass bank – at least 15 Yellow Wagtails and several Wheatears were wandering about in the grass! Most were too close to digiscope (bloody camera again!) and I soon had to go. Well worth another visit I think.
Xxxxx
At the weekend we went to the van and I decided to stay local as Billy is just getting over a serious illness. I had my usual walk along the Lune at Halton where adult and juvenile Dippers were seen plus a fly by Little Ringed Plover. The usual pair of Grey Wags were in residence with a female Goosander and various warblers singing in the bushes by the river side. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from the far side of the river and curiously landed in the middle of a clump of gorse behind me! Couldn’t figure out why – there were no raptors around. It seemed to stay in there, calling every now and then. In the evening I wandered along the stretch upriver from COL picnic site. A Kingfisher was using overhanging branches of an Alder to fish and at least 35+ Sand Martins were feeding over the water. The sand banks here are littered with nest holes.
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I wandered up to Abbeystead. I stopped briefly at the Dotterel site to watch a half dozen stunning Golden Plovers – some in full breeding plumage. The female Pied Flycatcher was hanging around her nest hole – she was obviously getting food passed to her by the male, however I never did see him with most of the food passes taking place well away from the nest site. A Garden Warbler was singing from up the lane and in separate nest holes near the flycatchers were Robin, Great Tit and Nuthatch.
Xxx
I decided to walk along the path by the stream further up from the car park. Essentially I just plonked myself near some giant “mole hills” and stopped to see what would turn up. Two Spotted Flycatchers appeared almost immediately and spent around half an hour flitting in and around the trees here. An adult Siskin feeding a juvenile appeared next followed by three Treecreepers, another Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Tawny Owl called briefly nearby and another group of Siskins appeared – two adults and two juveniles.
Xxx
I next wandered over to Marshaw. As soon as I got out of the car I found another two Spotted Flycatchers – they stayed around the car park for over an hour. A Dipper appeared briefly in the beck and scarpered just as I was about to digiscope it. I walked up to the conifer plantation – a couple of Siskins (including a male which kept coming to drink at a small stream) and at least seven Redpolls were all flitting around. Back in the car park I found another Treecreeper.
Xxxxx
Managed a quick mooch to Moat Lane where the Common Terns are still present and appear to be nesting. The Lesser Whitethroat that Jonathan found was very loud by the laybye – can’t imagine how I have missed it before. Some guys were working on pool 2 so I didn’t linger. HGF is still dead – the couple of visits I have made over the last 10 days have picked up two or three Little Ringed Plovers each time but not much else.
Xxxxx
Back on the road again and a visit to Potteric Carr. Never been here before either and couldn’t spend the time exploring properly so I restricted birding to trying to twitch the Iberian Chiffchaff. It was a fair old walk to the place where it was seen – having never seen one before I familiarised myself with its song via my cheapo version of a BlackBerry. When I arrived at the general area just one other birder was present – he had seen the Iberian Chiffer fly off. We soon picked it up singing in a v-shaped hedge which contained quite a few densely leafed trees.
Xxxx
The little blighter only sang sporadically and kept moving up and down this hedge without showing itself – we were stuck at the other side of the fence which was the base of the delta of land formed by the hedge. Suddenly it popped up at the top of some brambles almost beside us. Got a few dodgy record shots and spent a bit of time studying the bird. It’s even drabber than a Chiffchaff though the song is marginally more sophisticated (if that adjective can ever be applied to a Chiffer). It is certainly much less irritating! It didn’t stay long and soon melted back into the hedge. Potteric Carr looks to have massive potential and will be well worth a longer visit sometime.
While I was watching the Wood Sandpiper, another Bittern flew right over me unobserved but seen by another birder. The usual plethora of Cetti’s Warblers were singing away as I walked down to Noah’s Hide. There I was treated to a Hobby fest – at least 15 of these falcons were hunting over the pool. It was amazing to sit in a raised hide and watch Hobbies eating insects in mid-air right in front of the hide. As usual I had left my DSLR at home! In reality these could have been many more Hobbies present – I didn’t have time to spend looking for them and the haze at the back of the pool didn’t help. Just to put this into context, over 80 Hobbies had been seen over the pool a week earlier!
Xxxxx
On the way back to the car park a distant blob flying towards me materialised into yet another Bittern – this one flew straight over my head no more than 30 feet above me. Again I cursed leaving the camera at home. I stopped for another look at the Wood Sandpiper and behind it from the reeds two drake Garaganeys emerged. I nipped over to neighbouring Ham Wall RSPB briefly – another couple of Cuckoos and five more Cetti’s Warblers singing. Two more Bitterns in flight though more distant – including booming birds I had detected at least ten Bitterns!
Xxxxx
Another brief visit was to Frampton Marsh Рa place I had not visited previously. I had little time to spare here and the place is huge Рyou need a good day to view it all properly. The birds attracted to the place are amazing РI spent a while talking to a local who was so blas̩ about the Lesser Yellow-legs he saw last week or the regular stunning views he gets of Monties! I walked around to the east hide to have a look at the Ornamental Pratincole. The little tinker was at the back of the pool and being a bit lazy Рit eventually settled down behind a clump of grass and seemed to indicate it was going to stay there all night. I got bored and wandered around to the 360 hide.
Xxxx
This is a superb hide between a couple of pools. Waders where everywhere – I was running out of time and couldn’t scan them all. Two summer plumaged Curlew Sandpipers were picked up with a flock of around 50 Ringed Plovers and a few Dunlin. I opened the shutters at one window which overlooked a raised grass bank – at least 15 Yellow Wagtails and several Wheatears were wandering about in the grass! Most were too close to digiscope (bloody camera again!) and I soon had to go. Well worth another visit I think.
Xxxxx
At the weekend we went to the van and I decided to stay local as Billy is just getting over a serious illness. I had my usual walk along the Lune at Halton where adult and juvenile Dippers were seen plus a fly by Little Ringed Plover. The usual pair of Grey Wags were in residence with a female Goosander and various warblers singing in the bushes by the river side. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from the far side of the river and curiously landed in the middle of a clump of gorse behind me! Couldn’t figure out why – there were no raptors around. It seemed to stay in there, calling every now and then. In the evening I wandered along the stretch upriver from COL picnic site. A Kingfisher was using overhanging branches of an Alder to fish and at least 35+ Sand Martins were feeding over the water. The sand banks here are littered with nest holes.
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I wandered up to Abbeystead. I stopped briefly at the Dotterel site to watch a half dozen stunning Golden Plovers – some in full breeding plumage. The female Pied Flycatcher was hanging around her nest hole – she was obviously getting food passed to her by the male, however I never did see him with most of the food passes taking place well away from the nest site. A Garden Warbler was singing from up the lane and in separate nest holes near the flycatchers were Robin, Great Tit and Nuthatch.
Xxx
I decided to walk along the path by the stream further up from the car park. Essentially I just plonked myself near some giant “mole hills” and stopped to see what would turn up. Two Spotted Flycatchers appeared almost immediately and spent around half an hour flitting in and around the trees here. An adult Siskin feeding a juvenile appeared next followed by three Treecreepers, another Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Tawny Owl called briefly nearby and another group of Siskins appeared – two adults and two juveniles.
Xxx
I next wandered over to Marshaw. As soon as I got out of the car I found another two Spotted Flycatchers – they stayed around the car park for over an hour. A Dipper appeared briefly in the beck and scarpered just as I was about to digiscope it. I walked up to the conifer plantation – a couple of Siskins (including a male which kept coming to drink at a small stream) and at least seven Redpolls were all flitting around. Back in the car park I found another Treecreeper.
Xxxxx
Managed a quick mooch to Moat Lane where the Common Terns are still present and appear to be nesting. The Lesser Whitethroat that Jonathan found was very loud by the laybye – can’t imagine how I have missed it before. Some guys were working on pool 2 so I didn’t linger. HGF is still dead – the couple of visits I have made over the last 10 days have picked up two or three Little Ringed Plovers each time but not much else.
Xxxxx
Back on the road again and a visit to Potteric Carr. Never been here before either and couldn’t spend the time exploring properly so I restricted birding to trying to twitch the Iberian Chiffchaff. It was a fair old walk to the place where it was seen – having never seen one before I familiarised myself with its song via my cheapo version of a BlackBerry. When I arrived at the general area just one other birder was present – he had seen the Iberian Chiffer fly off. We soon picked it up singing in a v-shaped hedge which contained quite a few densely leafed trees.
Xxxx
The little blighter only sang sporadically and kept moving up and down this hedge without showing itself – we were stuck at the other side of the fence which was the base of the delta of land formed by the hedge. Suddenly it popped up at the top of some brambles almost beside us. Got a few dodgy record shots and spent a bit of time studying the bird. It’s even drabber than a Chiffchaff though the song is marginally more sophisticated (if that adjective can ever be applied to a Chiffer). It is certainly much less irritating! It didn’t stay long and soon melted back into the hedge. Potteric Carr looks to have massive potential and will be well worth a longer visit sometime.
xxxx
Next day after work I managed a quick visit to Paxton Pits. Very different from my last visit with lots of foliage on the bushes and trees and not so much visible movement. I detected 6 Nightingales of which I saw two - one briefly and one well. The warblers were all still singing away. This time I walked up to the north of the reserve where it meets the River Ouse. A couple of Common Terns were fishing on the river and a Cuckoo was calling nearby. The place seemed idyllic. Juist when I was wondering why I had not had a peep from a Lesser Whitethroat with so much suitable habitat and other warbler species, a showy male popped out into the open and started singing. Other birds this evening included 9 Garden Warblers and 3 Green Woodpeckers.
xxxxx
Finally got back home from my trips away - on the way back I diverted to a place called Straw's Bridge Nature Reserve where a Great Reed Warbler was in residence. I heard the bird singing long before I got near it and was amazed to find it had taken up residence in a small patch of phragmites in the corner of a large duck pond! Even with the limited cover this bird put Cetti's Warblers to shame for skulking. It briefly shot up to catch an insect after I had been there for ten minutes or so - observation time around 2 seconds! I was blown away by the variation in this bird's song - quite simply amazing. You can hear it here:
xxxx
xxx
This bird is very loud - when it came within 30 feet or so in the reeds your ear drums know about it! It came out onto the reeds briefly after half an hour and the around 25 minutes later sat up in the middle of the reedbed and stayed up for several minutes. What a star this bird is - very large (it makes the reeds move like a Bittern!), very striking plumage and what a voice. Definitely my star bird of the year - it was a wrench to leave the place and go home!
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