Breakfast at Brandon

Common Snipe

After an early morning bike ride which half killed me, I decided to take my birder's wife out for breakfast at Brandon Marsh to replace the calories I had burnt off earlier.

After breakfast, we strolled over to East Marsh Hide where we soon discovered we had missed out on a Curlew Sandpiper that had been there earlier.  We were not that concerned as we have seen quite a few Curlew Sands this year but it would have been nice to see one on our home turf for a change.

We sat in the hide for a few minutes while I fiddled around on my new bridge camera try to find out how it worked.  An obliging Snipe was on the water's edge in front of the hide and the above photo shows how powerful the zoom on my little new camera actually is.

At last an Unseen Bird seen

Red Backed Shrike

After waiting for 30 years and always being in the wrong place at the wrong time or just too far away to go and see Red Backed Shrikes, I finally bit the bullet and decided to travel down to Greenham Common this morning to finally try and nab one of my bogey birds.  The bird has been at the site for a few days now but was not reported till late yesterday and therefore I was unable to make it down there. So, this morning, when news broke that the bird was still there, I left immediately.

Red Backed Shrike

I do not know Greenham Common at all and it took me a while to locate the area where the bird has been seen but after searching for 30 minutes I saw the tell tale signs of tripods and camera lens and within minutes soon had the bird in my sights.  Unfortunately, views were limited as the crowd viewing the bird had pitched up quite a distance from the area it was preferring. I at least managed to obtain a record shot and on the way back to the car, managed to update the blurred photos I have of Whinchats.

Brandon Marsh and Pec Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper blurred

Ruff

This morning I was debating whether or not to drive to Rutland to add Pectoral Sandpiper to my year list.  Fortunately, God sent one to Brandon Marsh which saved me a long drive.  Also on East Marsh this morning was a Ruff.

The obliging East Marsh Hide Water Rail

Slimbridge (again)

2nd Summer Common Crane

After scrubbing off Common Crane from my year list (as the birds I saw earlier in the year were from the Great Crane Project and not wild), I decided to make my way down to Slimbridge today as a juvenile wild Common Crane had flown into the reserve and was spending time with the captive birds in their pen.

It so happened that a wild un-ringed Ruddy Shelduck was doing the same thing in the Asia Pen.  So, the visit was well worth it to obtain two year ticks in one go (although Ruddy Shelduck should probably be scrubbed if I am to be a total purist and go by the BOU approved list).

After securing both birds within 5 minutes of arrival, myself and my birders wife took time to go round the captive birds and the mammals, including the Otters, Water Voles, Water Shrews and Harvest Mice. All of these must have been recently fed as we saw all them quite easily, fascinating, we didn't realise how small Harvest Mice are.

Female Ruddy Shelduck

Brandon Thursday Evening Visit

Decided to take a late visit to Brandon Marsh with Mike-PCC on Thursday evening.  Trouble is, I forgot how early it gets dark and left it a bit late to do any serious birding.  I arrived at the site at 19:00pm and by then the gloom was beginning to set in already.  Before dusk fell, I did manage to count between 15-20 Snipe on East Marsh but gave up after their shapes merged in with the mud in the gloom.

We decided to make our way up to Carlton Hide to sit and wait till darkness fell completely, in the hope of seeing the Barn Owl.  The hide was full of photographers and lots of chat but as the light faded so did the company until it was just us two.

Unfortunately for us, with a slight drizzle, no Barn Owls turned up but as we sat silently and waited we were rewarded with sightings of two Otters at the back of the scrape, a fantastic sight.

Another twitch but another bird

Still feeling a bit obsessive in amassing birds for my year list and so we decided to zip up the M69 and M1 today to see the White Winged Black Tern at Attenborough NR and a very fine bird it was too.

Juv White Winged Black Tern

Juv White Winged Black Tern

Spotted Crake (after 2nd attempt)

After breaking news of a Spotted Crake at Napton Reservoir last night, I ventured out early before work in an effort to see the bird and stood looking into some reeds with Kevin (http://diaryofabirdingmedic.blogspot.co.uk/) for two hours and saw nothing except two Moorhens and a Snipe.

News then broke that the Crake was still there this evening and I zipped back over to Napton and immediately obtained a view thanks to Keith (http://www.boatbirder.com/) through his scope.   Over the next hour the bird disappeared and then reappeared a couple of times and eventually I managed to find it sitting slightly back into the reeds preening itself but just could not obtain a record shot as the light had pretty much almost gone completely.

Gredenton Hill and Balscote Quarry

This afternoon  I decided to try and find some birds myself instead of chasing after other people's finds.

My first stop was Burton Dassett Hills, where I parked the car and swiftly walked out of the country park and away from screaming children and their families flying kites.  I found solitude at Gredenton Hill just up the road, which has attracted migrants like Ring Ouzel in the past.  Unfortunately, this afternoon, despite an extensive search, all I could find was one Yellowhammer, 4 Linnets, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk.

I then made my way over to Balscote Quarry just over the border in Oxfordshire.  This is an excellent little reserve run by Banbury Ornithological Society and has attracted Dotterell, Whimbrel, Whinchat and Greenshank in the past (and those are just the ones I know about).  Today, things were quite slow, with just a flock of Linnets buzzing around, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Mallard, 1 Moorhen, 4 Coots and 4 Lapwings flying through.  A kind couple put me onto a Clouded Yellow, which is a rarity for the area and my first.