Berkshire woodcock and nightjars :: 28 May 2023

Sunday lunchtime arrived, and I was talking with Kevin Heath (@kev07713) about the previous day's birding. He then suggested that he and his wife Karen (@karenheath62) had been discussing making a trip down into Berkshire that evening to see if they could see some woodcock and nightjars - what a splendid idea! I was invited to join them. And so, after an afternoon of visiting garden centres and planting up, we met in the evening to make the journey of about an hour. With Kev's car in the garage having some work done on it, I offered to drive, and we were there in about an hour.

We found our car park and made our way down a woodland track, eventually finding the area we thought would be most productive for nightjars and settled in. We were entertained by a pair of great spotted woodpeckers who were nesting in a very visible tree and came in and out regularly.

At 9.00pm we had our first flyover by a woodcock, and I started trying out settings to give some relief against the sky - we watched as every few minutes another appeared. Within ten minutes we started to hear some ‘churring’ on the far tree line and by 9.15pm we had seen a flight from a nightjar - very early! We watched as one nightjar became two and there was some chasing around the clearing we were standing in. I followed one of the birds and saw it land in a tree out in front where it continued to 'churr'. I pointed out the position to Kev and Karen.

We had a few more flight views but much of the time the birds were perched in trees and 'churring', even getting much closer in the trees behind us. We then spent the next half an hour listening to and watching woodcock (over a dozen) over and the nightjars relocate.

Kev picked out a tree in which one of the nightjars was calling from and so I eventually positioned myself there and waited in hope that it would return before it was too dark. At 9.50pm a nightjar dropped onto the stick and started to ‘churr’ - I took a few photos and this didn't seem to disturb the bird - I managed to make a few changed to the camera setting in the hope that I'd be able to extract something from one of them. I had limited to ISO12,800 and was shooting at f5.6 with a shutter speed of around ⅙s and would need to be steady - I shot in bursts of two or three with the shutter sounding very sluggish.

After a minute or two the bird took to the wing and left - the light had left too, and I snapped a photo of the moon to capture the environment and mood. We were elated by the fantastic evening we'd shared and picked our way back to the car, trying not to trip over any tree roots across the path. Kev heard a car door close and sped ahead to check it wasn't someone at my car, but finding another car at the end of the car park - we didn't stop to find out any more! We jumped into the car and basked in the glow of a successful trip. One of the photos of the nightjars would turn out better than in my wildest dreams, and I also managed to extract something from the woodcocks too.

Turtle doves and ospreys :: 27 May 2023

There was a slight mist as Kev and I arrived at site to try and find turtle doves - we used to see a few at RSPB Otmoor each year but they have disappeared from the site, now only being spotted infrequently on passage. As we reached the area where the birds were likely to be we could see a chap standing on a bridge and watching out in front of him. We said hello and joined him, listening to and watching a turtle dove on a far rooftop. A few minutes later another would call, this time from a tree to our left.

We had a nice chat to the chap we'd met and found out that he worked for Natural England. He also had a camera and snapped off a few photos as we watched. The bird that had been on the rooftop relocated to a favoured perch and allowed great views. Beautiful as they were we decided to withdraw and leave them in peace.

We stopped for breakfast enroute, arriving at our next stop where we hoped to see ospreys - this reservoir is one where they regularly fish and so we stood a good chance of success. We parked the car, set up a scope, and started scanning. Out in front we saw stonechats, yellow wagtails and out across the water were numbers of common terns.

Calls from behind piqued our interest and on investigation we found a magpie's nest in the hedge - the calls from a chick. Kev then found an osprey sitting in a tree that is known to be a favourite of visiting ospreys and we waited, hoping for some action. We were focused on the bird in the tree and completely missed the approach of a second osprey. It flew and hovered alternately, looking for an opportunity to dive for a fish.

Suddenly we had both ospreys in front of us, with the original bird chasing the new arrival - the birds continued the chase off into the distance until they were lost from view. A couple of birds appeared amongst the common terns and were black terns - a bonus species! They were eventually lost from view, but two black terns would be reported on another piece of water locally just a couple of hours later - our birds? Photos were difficult as the birds stayed close to the water in the heat haze.

An osprey reappeared in the favoured tree but again flew off without fishing. We travelled further down the bank and had a close flypast from an osprey, still not fishing but giving superb views.

We couldn't add any more and so made our way around the reservoir stopping when we saw an osprey starting to fish. We jumped back out of the car, joining a woman birder - Penny we found out. We watched as a second bird appeared and chased the first trying to rest a fish from its talons.

We chatted with Penny for a while and saw an osprey fishing but failing to catch on multiple attempts. Photos were becoming less and less clear as the heat haze intensified and so we bid Penny farewell and travelled back, stopping for lunch as we got closer to home.

Now mid-afternoon we decided to drop into Wormleighton to see if I could add spotted flycatcher to my year list - our friend Dave South had photographed one recently. We walked through the village and down to the water treatment works, failing to see much other than chiffchaff.

We split up and it would be Kev that found a spotted fly flicking deep in the trees - he called but it had gone from view by the time I arrived. I stayed looking at the area Kev had indicated but nothing moved. Kev had dropped further ahead and to where I'd been standing, calling when he saw another bird. This time I got on it and eventually one became two. Cracking little birds eventually showing well and now I had four ticks for the day.

Old Arley, Pilning Wetlands & Staple-edge Wood :: 19/20 May 2023

A WhatsApp alert updated that a hoopoe had been located in a churchyard in Old Arley, Warwickshire; it had apparently been there a few days, but birders had only just become aware. I pinged the information to Kevin Heath as he might find some free time - I was busy at work and wouldn't be able to slip out before the end of the working day. As it happened Kev was also busy, and it wasn't until the following morning (Friday) that he and his wife Karen made it across from Banbury and ticked the bird. The company I work for were planning to present a course on the following week and so final preparations had to be completed before I would have any chance of leaving - I managed to get wrapped up by 4.00pm and was off.

I arrived at the last posted location and scanned around, looking for the bird in a large garden - the bird had been feeding here and visible from the end of the drive through a fence. But not for me now. I gave Kev a call to see if this was where he had seen it, but he said he had connected further down the road in the churchyard and in the playing fields. I wandered off there, the only person in attendance which I thought strange. I scanned around but still no dice. After 5 minutes or so a nice chap and his wife turned up - he joined the search while she waited in the car. Still nothing.

We decided that we would track back down to the garden and again couldn't see the bird. I worked along the verge beside the main road, whenever possible peeking through the dense hedge, but still nothing. Then I spotted a photographer on the far side of the garden, across another lower hedge, his camera trained on the back side of my hedge. I pushed up against some holly and looked back along the hedge line, soon spotting the bird hopping in and out of view. I tried to take a photo, but the foliage was a real pain. I called the chap who then popped off to retrieve his wife and we all joined together at the end of the drive. The bird was now in full view, and I snapped off some record photos as the bird would never get close enough for that frame filling shot.

As we watched Dylan Parry-Davies (@DPDNature) and Sue Toon (@SueToon79) arrived - we said our hellos. Dylan is concentrating on Warwickshire birding this year and so this is a welcome visitor to his "patch". After quarter of an hour a blackbird flew directly at the hoopoe and there was a small altercation - I'm not sure what the hoopoe was doing to upset the blackbird. In any case, after a minute or so the hoopoe decided to relocate across the lawn and out of view. A few spots of rain started to fall and as I hadn’t bothered with a coat, I started back to the car as did Dylan, Sue, and the other couple. A terrific bird and not far from home.

Saturday arrived, and I set off with Kevin Heath (@kev07713) to see if we could connect with quail reportedly calling in Gloucestershire. We pulled up at the field highlighted and waited. The skylarks were very busy with dozens showing - up to nine hares scuttled across the field in front and behind. We waited and waited but no joy - another birder past by and said he'd been here from very early and had made a complete circuit of the area and heard nothing – was the bird just passing through? He left and we waited for another half an hour but still were not able to connect. We could wait here all day and not see or hear anything and so made for Pilning Wetlands where both little and Temminck's stints had been reported the day before.

As is expected, I took the wrong path along to the bird, but we got there in the end and found another birder already in place - we chatted and found his grandparents had lived quite local to Banbury (in Shenington) and he knew our area. It wasn't long until we were on the little stint, the Temmink's was not there. To begin with it was on the far side of the pool but on occasions it would fly with ringed plover and dunlin to our shore, still distant but closer. A great white egret dropped in, and a marsh harrier hunted ahead.

The distance and heat haze over the water made it almost impossible to get a photograph, but eventually I managed an acceptable record shot.

We chatted and watched for a while but with not much else happening we set off for the main event, trying for an Iberian chiffchaff at Staple-edge Wood. The bird had been present for about 5 days and had been reported earlier so it should be well worth the visit - it would be a lifer for me (Kev had seen one in East Sussex already. but was happy to see another). We didn't know the area and from our maps it wasn't clear where the best parking spot would be - again I probably messed up as we had a walk of almost 1&fract12; miles from the car to the bird's location, and the first two-thirds up a slope ... Kev didn't mention it though. There were surprisingly few birds on the route, save for blackcap, garden warbler, goldcrest and crow.

We eventually arrived in the area where the bird had been reported and met two lady birders who were on the point of leaving. They told us where we should look and departed - it only took us a few minutes until we could hear the bird calling. We'd listened to the call in the car on the way over and of course Kev had recently been listening to one. Seeing it was another matter - it took us around 15 minutes to eventually clap eyes on the bird, high in the tree canopy and above a group eating a picnic.

Eventually the picnicking group left, and we were joined by a couple more birders. The chiffchaff eventually decided to perch on a very high branch in clear view and I snapped some photos. The bird then dropped into a fenced off area beside the footpath where we heard it call and eventually watched it return high into the canopy. I turned and spotted a goshawk spin by and away out of view before I managed to capture a photo.

We talked to another birder about where he had parked as we were miles away - he pointed us to a track on the map that was actually a lane that cars could travel along. Intel after the event! - however, this was useful as Kev's sister then got in touch to say she and her partner Dean were on their way. We provided instructions on where to park and where the bird was to be found. We weren't going to stay and wait for them and started back having one last encounter with the chiffchaff as it landed in a tree almost directly above the footpath.

The return journey to the car was much easier as it was largely downhill, and we had more sightings including: siskins, chiffchaff, willow warblers, coal tits and goldcrests. When almost back to the car we came to a pool and heard a strange bird call - it turned out to be four black swans - they were on the other side of a fence and seemed very content to have us very near.

We reached the car and grabbed some lunch and drinks from the boot, then climbed up onto Lightmoor Pool. A pair of greylag geese and their goslings came over and waited expectantly to share our food - we obliged. A moorhen chick was also fed by one of its parents. Out in the water a terrapin cruised by, apparently one of around four residents. It was a beautiful afternoon and the goslings settled down for a post-prandial nap, the adults seeming happy to have their young sleep at our feet.

Kev got a call on his phone from his sister to ask what the registration of my car was - they were in the car park beside us! They came round to join us and also had a spot of lunch. As we were sitting on the grass, a squirrel took some of the food and just behind where it retreated to, a large grass snake slithered down the slope and into the water - it was a big 'un.

Karen and Dean headed off to see the black swans and would then go down for the Iberian chiffchaff, parking closer than we had. We said our goodbyes and headed home after another great day out.

Norfolk, Lincolnshire & Berkshire :: 13-14 May 2023

A blue-winged teal was still being reported around the RSPB sites near Boston so we formed a plan to visit and see them as it would be a life tick for both Kev (@kev07713) and I. Corncrakes were also being reported at Welney, calling frequently so we decided to divert to these enroute and see if we could connect with these first.

We arrived at the advertised location at Welney and jumped out the car, crossing the road from the layby to a gate facing into the field, and where the corncrakes were reported. It took only a couple of. minutes and we heard a call to our left and soon after from our right. We watched and waited with at least another two birds joining in the regular chorus, one of the birds sounding relatively close. We just could never see the birds as they were obscured by the grass and wild meadow flowers in which they were living - I suppose why they picked this area. As we waited, we had flythroughs by a peregrine and a kingfisher, and a great white egret dropped into the pool ahead. With a lot to do we couldn't spend all morning here (in hope of a sighting) so eventually we moved on, stopping for breakfast on the way.

We decided that as we were in the area that we'd go and see the two dotterel at Choseley Dry Barns - neither of us is likely to go to Scotland for these this year and so we couldn't rely on connecting with one around home base. We arrived and jumped out the car with another couple of birders departing as we'd approached, leaving us as the only people there. I scanned with my bins, but it wasn't until Kev located the birds with his scope that I could pick them out - once I was on them it was simple enough to locate them, but proper views were only possible with a scope. With the heat haze and distance, it was impossible to get a photo of any description but with the scope and a phone camera Kev was able to capture us a record shot - one of the two birds present. A couple arrived and asked if they could view through Kev's scope as they only had bins - once Kev was finished with his digiscoping he obliged, although one of them seemed to struggle to pick up the bird even when positioned dead centre of the image.

© Copyright and courtesy of Kevin Heath

Within ten minutes, two minibuses turned up and parked, releasing a couple of dozen birders from an RSPB group to join us. They enquired as to where the birds were and so we put them all on it and decided that enough was enough and we'd make for RSPB Freiston Shore where the blue-winged teal had reported just minutes before.

We'd ended up a bit further east than originally planned and so it was lunchtime before we arrived in the car park, taking the last space. We popped on our boots. and when passing some birders coming the other way, we confirmed if the bird was still there and we were heading in the right direction. It was and we were.

After a walk along a well-trodden path, we came to the screen overlooking at pool and where the blue-winged teal had been reported. We had been expecting it to be quite busy but there were only half a dozen people there and we could squeeze in easily - we were immediately on the bird. It was sleeping on the opposite bank and had apparently been like that for the last couple of hours. From time to time, it would flick it's head but not stay awake long enough to allow for a photograph.

In front there were a couple of areas where the pool was shallow enough to allow a scrape to form and on these were a couple of little ringed plover, black-headed gulls, several shelduck, an oystercatcher and at one point a single avocet. Far to our right in another pool, gargeney could be seen. Skylarks regularly rose and fell as they do this time of year. Hirundines fed around us.

After an hour or so the teal woke up and started to stretch, eventually walking to the edge of the pool and preening. I managed a few record shots but waited in the hope we would see it in the water. After another ten minutes or so it dropped into the water, swam about five metres, and climbed back out - just for us. We'd waited and been successful in observing the duck though at distance. It was time to move on for some lunch and a coffee - we decided this would be best achieved at RSPB Frampton Marsh (and not far from where we were). As we reached the car a couple of birds dropped in close, a swallow and a little egret - I could resist taking some photos.

After a roll and sausage and a slice of cake we ventured out onto the reserve and the 360° Hide. We hoped to find a little stint here but having scanned through the birds a number of times, we couldn't find one. The other birders said they hadn't seen one either. There were groups of dunlins, ruff and a single spoonbill (the spoonbill asleep on a distant shore). Quite a few avocets were also feeding or sitting on nests.

Nice though it was, we decided to have a walk down towards the sea wall in case anything else could be found before we made for home. Avocets continued to dominate the bird species, including chicks scurrying around after their parents, but a dozen or so common terns also appeared and took turns to go off fishing. A pair of stonechats were feeding along the sea wall and as we finished watching them a cuckoo flew past, luckily for us landing on a post between the sea wall and the main part of the reserve. I edged back along the footpath and took a couple of photos which flushed the bird, but it landed only ten posts further away and we could still get good views.

Time was now our enemy and we pushed on - we'd opted for a full circuit and time was now short - but we were here and what is the point if you don't have a look about! Kev picked out a rather dashing ruff in his summer finery, and then we saw another pale male alongside a group of females feeding away frantically. A reed warbler wanted to get in on the action and hopped into view right in front of us, calling.

We returned to the car, had a quick drink and set off home - another cracking day out.

The following day my wife apparently had a tennis match and I was left at a loose end. I decided to drop down into Berkshire and try to connect with a nightingale. Kev had already seen some on a weekday trip out and so I flew solo. I had good intel on likely sights and arriving at the first, I was not to be disappointed - singing nightingales are not inconspicuous! It took about 20 minutes or so to get eyes on the bird I had in my sights but it obliged and stayed in view as I took some photos. A result, and a beautiful walk in the sun.