Golden Oriole and Stone Curlews

Early Saturday morning (at 6am) saw myself, Mike-PCC and the Capt on the road heading towards Norfolk for our big day out birding.  The Capt was predictably grumpy at that time of the morning and had a snooze in the back of the car on the drive up while myself and Mike-PCC clocked up some species, including a kamikaze Red Legged Partridge who unfortunately ran under the wheel of my car.

After making good time, we arrived at Lakenheath Fen by 8am and walked to the normal view points for the Golden Orioles.  It was 30 minutes, with the day heating up quickly before we heard the familiar song of an Oriole.  It was probably another 30 minutes before we got a very quick sight of a single bird flying over the top of the wood and that was to be our one and only glimpse - not very satisfactory really.  As we were on a schedule, we then made our way back to the car and clocked up cracking views of Bearded Tit, Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Marsh Harriers and Hobbys.  A quick check on the river produced some Common Tern but no Garganey (although they had been reported as being seen).

We then drove over to Weeting Heath LNR and quickly made up for the poor view of the Golden Oriole we had earlier on with fantastic views of Stone Curlews, in fact, the best views I have ever had when visiting this reserve.  We also managed to track down a Woodlark, thanks to a friendly birder who pointed it out to us and had a very obliging Spotted Flycatcher outside the entrance to the West Hide.

We decided to have lunch at Mayday Farm but unfortunately due to the time of day and heat could not find any birds except for the odd Siskin.  A further search round the Thetford forest produced Goldcrests and many Nuthatch and a quick trip back to Lakenheath before heading home provided us with a pair of Garganey on the river.

All in all, not a bad day out with 3 new species for the year for me and 3 lifers each for the Capt and Mike-PCC.

Dreaming of birding

After having a birding free week, the impending mega trip I have scheduled with the Capt and Mike-PCC must have been playing on my mind this morning as I was dozing.  I recall in my dream that I went on a twitch to a deserted church school garden surrounded by hedges to see a Citrine Wagtail and a Red Throated Pipit.  The dream was that vivid that I can remember the exact patterning on the Citrine Wagtail's head, which is very odd as the Wagtail in my dream was nothing like the real life version - I blame it on the home brew that I had drunk earlier in the evening.  It also could have possibly been the beginning of birding cold turkey, after all I have not been out and about since last Sunday.  Our birding trip tomorrow should reverse any further symptoms.

Tomorrow, after an early start (well not that early) at 6:00am we will make our way to Lakenheath Fen in Norfolk to try and see the ever elusive Golden Orioles that turn up there this time of year.  Our previous trips to the area have not been that successful with me only seeing a pair of Golden Orioles just once in about 4 trips.  Hopefully, as the weather forecast is good for tomorrow we may be more fortunate this time. We also hope to visit Weeting Heath for Stone Curlews and then go to the Mayday Farm area for other species like Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Redstart etc.  A nice looking Green Carpet Moth joined us in our conservatory this evening.

200 but not counting

Today, with all good intentions, I started driving over to Summer Leys LNR for a change of scene and stopped by at Napton Reservoir en route to try and spot the resident Grey Wagtails there (who always seem to evade me).  Fortunately, today they decided to grace me with their presence and performed very nicely.  The banks of the Reservoir also gave wonderful views of House Martin, Swallow and Swift as they swooped past me catching the little midgies in the air.  As I trudged back to the car,  I realised that the Grey Wagtail was the 200th species of bird for me this year, which to me is quite an achievement as I only on average manage to go birdwatching once every week or two.  Of course, my birder's wife will remind me that I am not doing a year list this year, as I have officially declared that this year I am just concentrating on obtaining those species that remain on my unseen list (which is gradually diminishing in size).  Anyway, this realisation made me decide that I just could not be bothered to drive any further and a well-timed text from the Capt made me turn round the car and make my way over to Brandon instead (for a more leisurely afternoon).  Half an hour later, I met up with the Capt who informed me of what she had been up to during the weekend.  This included informing me of the virtues of her other hobby, bell-ringing, which seems to involve tugging on ropes in a church closely followed by tugging away on a pint glass of real ale, followed by another......and another.......and another.

Even in mid afternoon, Brandon was alive with birdsong and we soon managed to clock up the following:-  Chiff Chaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Cettis Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat (heard), Cuckoo, the Hirundines and Swifts.  I also caught glimpses of unidentified day time micro moths....mmmmm....this may be downward spiral as there are far more moth species in the UK to contend with compared to birds.

We decided to only walk round half the reserve stopping by the Wright hide, and the first bird we found as we opened the flaps was yesterday's Wood Sandpiper that had stayed the night, this pleased the Capt immensely.  Other notables were Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plovers, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Redshank and Oystercatchers - almost a wader fest.

So, after completing our circuit, we both made our way back to our respective homes each happy with our additional year ticks (although, mine was not official!).

Wild Flowers and Vids

Myself and my birder's wife had some business to attend to along with a visit to Ikea this morning and decided to do all that after a quick visit to Brandon to buy some wild flowers and view the newly arrived Wood Sandpiper.  We managed to squeeze into the Teal hide and immediately spotted the Sandpiper on the mud to the right of the hide.  These type of Sandpipers are one of my favourites and I therefore, before leaving home made sure I was well prepared for the visit by packing my digiscoping equipment and took the opportunity to try out video digiscoping the bird - a bit shaky and over exposed but not too bad for the first effort.   A quick visit to East Marsh hide provided close views of the Lapwing chicks and the Red Crested Pochard pair busy feeding.  On the way out, we purchased our wild flowers for our garden and had a coffee and slice of cake in the tearrooms, where the catering is excellent at the moment, especially the breakfasts.

Garganey

A glance at the Brandon Birding website when I was at work earlier notified me of a drake Garganey on East Marsh Pool today.  As the Capt and my birder's wife were not available for a trip out, I made my way over on my own.  The car park was surprisingly quiet when I arrived and when I got to East Marsh Hide I had it totally to myself.  All quite surprising, considering Garganeys are cracking birds and always worth looking at.  Maybe all the Brandon regulars and others have seen Garganeys already this year.  I found the bird quite quickly, mixing with a Gadwall and managed a few record shots, although not very good.  Besides the Garganey, there were no other new arrivals and the walk back to the car brought the usual warblers and two cuckoos over the Newlands Reedbed.

A quick inspection of our nestbox at home confirmed that our family of Blue Tits have fledged already, unfortunately we were not at home when they left and we will never know how many the busy parents managed to rear.  The good news is that our resident Hedgehog continues to visit and seems to spend most evenings stuffing her face and setting off our security lighting.

This Weekend

This weekend I mostly did other things besides birding.  However, I managed to squeeze in two and a half hours worth  between yesterday and today.  Yesterday, en route to friends in Kidderminster, we visited Upton Warren Moors Pool to try and see the 1st Summer Little Gull who has now been there for a couple of weeks. It was very obliging and did a few flypasts for us showing off its plumage nicely.  Other birds of note were Common Sandpiper and a very fine looking male Reed Bunting.

After a boozy evening and a chinese meal we then came home via the Wyre Forest (Dowles Brook).  I have always found visits there a bit hit and miss, with only a few of the speciailities being spotted or hardly any.  However, today was entirely different.  After a slow start, we spotted our first Tree Pipit and took a turning off the main drag to search for Wood Warblers.  Although, we could hear plenty, we could not see them in the canopy but were directed to one by a friendly birder and got amazing views of it as it perched on a branch above the path and sang it's heart out.  As we turned back to go back to the main path we spotted an area that seemed to be alive with insects and as my birder's wife was busying herself taking photographs of the wild flowers and bugs, I took the opportunity to scan the trees as there seemed to be a fair amount of activity around a little brook.  After a couple of minutes, I caught a glimpse of a female Pied Flycatcher and then as we drew closer, a Spotted Flycatcher and then a pair of Redstarts who perched in the tree above us.  An amazing five minutes of birding was then had as we watched all these species that were in the same vicinity.  The walk back to the car brought us more Tree Pipit, a singing Redstart, Raven and these amazing creatures (Adela reaumurella, I believe).

Birding from the back door

Not all Birding has to be done from excellent places like Brandon Marsh, Draycote Water, Norfolk, Scotland and the Coast (although I do have a mega day trip planned with the Capt and Mike-PCC later this month to score Golden Orioles and Stone Curlews in Norfolk) but can also be done at home.  For example, the trees close to my house attracted 6 Swallows the other day swooping under the branches catching midgies and I also enjoy our resident Buzzards that occasionally soar high above us on thermals.  There is also a Sparrowhawk who flies quite casually low over the garden to a cacophany of various alarm calls and our Wood Pigeons are busy trying to find an alternative nest site to their normal one which is used to be in a bush, now cut down by a neighbour.  However the highlight at the moment is a family of Blue Tits who have taken up residence in a nest box outside our back door, with eggs that have recently hatched.  Also, after months of believing we have a resident Hedgehog, we have finally seen it and believe it to be a pregnant female - She certainly is enjoying the food we put out for her and now can be seen most evenings stuffing her face then turning round and pooing in the same food bowl..

So, save some petrol and look out your back door, you'll be surprised at what you might see.

A Hobby it is

As I was preparing dinner, I received a phone call from the Capt who had taken the initiative by looking out the window and deciding that the still evening would be excellent for spotting a Hobby.  So, I bolted down my dinner and we made our way over to Brandon Marsh (my third visit in three days).  As we arrived, we thought we would check out a report of a Whinchat on the top reed bed opposite the visitor centre and soon found it in the middle perched on a bush.  Also, close by was a Grasshopper Warbler reeling.  Unfortunately, as per normal the bird was heard but not seen.

We took the long route round (via Sheep field) but did not see or hear much out of the ordinary.  A brief visit to East Marsh hide gave us Red Crested Pochard and Carlton hide gave us a female Cuckoo and my first Hobby for the year.  Unfortunately, no sign of the Nightingale.

On the way back we popped into Jon Baldwin hide and observed 7 Common Tern that are now on the reserve and also spotted the Common Sandpiper who flew in and landed on the bank just below the hide.

As we left the hide, we were asked by some photographers if we had seen the otter, as apparently it had been seen just five minutes before - we must have completely missed it - oh well, you can't see everything!

Early Evening at Brandon

After the successes we had at Brandon yesterday, I took the Capt for an evening stroll at Brandon to try and score her some new species for this year.

The difference just one day makes to the level of water is amazing.  Only 36 hours ago, all paths to the main hides were completely under water yet today they were completely clear and even dry in places, I felt a bit foolish wearing wellies (but as least I went prepared).

I took us the same route as yesterday, past the Windmill on towards Sheep field and before long we had Chiff Chaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler.   Unfortunately no sign of any Lesser Whitethroat or the Nightingale (at Carlton Hide) but we managed good views of Cettis Warblers, Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers and rounded off with a Cuckoo calling from the usual dead tree over Newlands Reed Bed.

Early Morning at Brandon

I managed to drag my birder's wife out of bed at 6:30am this morning and we arrived at Brandon at 7:25am. We started our visit with a walk past the windmill to Sheep Field hoping for a Lesser Whitethroat but managed to clock up Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff, Blackcap and Garden Warbler (my first for the year) instead. As we reached the Wright Hide we finally heard the familiar rattling sound of a Lesser Whitethroat and soon found him flitting around the top of a nearby bush. He posed for us for a moment then darted into some brambles. As we seemed to be on a roll, we then proceeded to march to Carlton Hide for the Nightingale. Well, when I say marched I actually mean waded, as the paths were completely flooded -(just as well we were wearing our wellies). When we arrived at Carlton Hide we were met with questions from those already in the hide as to whether we had come in a boat to rescue them. After asking about the Nightingale, we were told that it had been appearing on and off.  So, we decided to settle down and wait for it to come back from it's lunch break. After just over an hour we were rewarded with our patience and had stunning views of the bird sitting in a bush singing it's heart out - lovely! As the cafe was about to open we then paddled our way back and I bought my birder's wife breakfast as compensation for getting her up so early on a Saturday. Hopefully, we can do a repeat performance tomorrow afternoon with the Capt (who does not do early mornings).