Wildlife BCN Summer Leys :: 13 April 2019

Woke early and so after a leisurely breakfast I headed off to Wildlife BCN Summer Leys; it has been ages since I've visited due to the spate of break-ins and the closure of the bridge down to the reserve (I've had limited time too).

On arrival I headed for the Pioneer Hide and who should I see but @987jonty. As we talked a flock of c.50 fieldfare launched themselves from a tree to our left, others could be heard. Late leaving this year? @987jonty mentioned that someone had seen an osprey earlier, over towards St. Mary's, but that he hadn't seen it.

In the hide I added common tern to my year list; initially there was one but there were three when I left. It was suggested that there was a yellow wagtail on the far side but I never found it. I was joined in the hide by another chap and I warned him of the cutting wind when you opened the side shutters. As he opened them he decided nothing was showing well enough to endure this and having been out on the reserve for 1½hrs, he would warm up in his car. As we walked towards the car park he spotted a wren obligingly showing for a photo (saw this on Facebook later).

As I walked around the path there were numerous chiffchaff, willow warbler and more blackcap than you could shake a stick at. At the next hide I met a chap coming out who let me know of the two little ringed plover on the scrape. When I came out he was standing with his scope and chatting to another guy doing the same. Apparently the second chap had spotted the drake garganey sleeping on the waters edge but when he looked again, it had gone. We searched for a while but couldn't locate it.

We looked again from the screen (hide) but still no joy. Continuing on I saw @987jonty though the hedge and he said he'd seen the garganey feeding in the corner of the reeds from the Charles Towler (Feeding Station) Hide. When I got there I found it back on the waters edge and asleep. Fortunately a coot took umbrage at the sleeping garganey and charged, forcing it into the water. It swam right, back into the weed and reeds but at least was visible (just).

Onwards and added more views of chiffchaff and willow warbler, close enough this time to get a couple of photos. As I turned for home I had my first views of speckled wood butterflies for the year.

Sightings (44) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blackcap, blue tit, bullfinch, canada goose, carrion crow, chaffinch, chiffchaff, common tern, coot, cormorant, dunnock, fieldfare, gadwall, garganey, goldfinch, great crested grebe, great tit, greenfinch, grey heron, greylag goose, jackdaw, lapwing, little egret, little ringed plover, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, oystercatcher, pheasant, redshank, reed bunting, robin, shelduck, shoveler, swallow, teal, tufted duck, wigeon, willow warbler, woodpigeon and wren.

Seamill and Coast :: 08-11 April 2019

A visit to West Kilbride and Seamill to see the folks. We were again staying at the Seamill Hydro and so each morning I got up early to be on the beach by sunrise. The sun rises behind a hill and so it is closer to 7.05am before the sun climbs high enough to be visible.

My first morning out started with views of 6 red-breasted mergansers (3f,3m) offshore. The males were displaying to the females although they appeared to be completely unimpressed. I never managed to get them all within a single group by did manage a couple of photos before they began to exit, stage left.

I headed south from the hotel and stopped on the bridge to see if the dippers were showing. No sign. I was just about to move on when there was an odd disturbance under the shallow water and to my surprise there was a sudden commotion, much splashing of water, and an otter shot off up the burn hugging close to the righthand wall.

Two wheatear (my first of the year) amongst the rocks in front of the houses overlooking the sea, one catching grubs for his breakfast. Just short of the Waterside Inn there were numbers of rock and meadow pipit and four further wheatear on the beach. In the field to my left there were also a further 16 wheatear.

I scanned each curlew sighting hoping for whimbrel but no such luck.

The second morning I made it down to the beach and tried again for sighting of dippers (and now also hoping for another otter encounter!). I waited on the bridge and damn me, a dipper flew past me from the beach side, and up the burn and out of view.

I retraced my steps from the day before and found many of the wheatear had departed the cow field by the Waterside Inn, and most were now to be found on the beach and rocks. The rock pipit were showing well and could be seen with nest-building materials.

As I approached the burn, I saw a lighter-coloured pipit and on reviewing my photographs confirmed it was a summer plumage water pipit.

In the late morning we headed off to Tescos for some provisions. We then detoured back from the shops to look at any birds showing at Irvine Harbourside. We found four sandwich tern fishing up the estuary and then a flock of pink-footed geese on the nearside spit of the River Irvine. Two wheatear showed across the river from Harbour Road on the opposite bank.

 

 

 

As I headed out on the third morning the sky was completely clear, and there was a pink appearance to the island of Arran. This became redder and redder as the sun climbed above the hills behind, until the beach, sea and islands were bathed in sunlight. No sign of the dipper or otter and I didn't add any new species to my list.

After lunch Charlotte and I decided to have a walk from Troon Harbour to the sea wall. At the harbour we saw 46 eider swimming around with 5 grey seals. There was also a single black guillemot, with two more outside the main harbour.

We started out towards the sea wall and as as we walked, we found a small flock of ringed plover with a single dunlin. As we got to the path along the sea wall we spotted 4 purple sandpipers playing chicken with the incoming tide; along the remainder of the wall we found 12 more. We also noted 5 redshank, more ringed plover, and 20 turnstone.

The fourth morning was the last walk for this visit. I could only find 2 wheatears though there were increasing numbers of ringed plover (8), reed bunting (2), and a grey wagtail outside Seamill Hydro.

I flushed what looked like a snipe from beside the cow field by the Waterside Inn but didn't get a good look to know precisely what it was. I decided a distant fuzzy photo of the birds distant behind wouldn't be conducive to obtaining an ID.

Sightings (50) included: black guillemot, black-headed gull, blackbird, buzzard, canada goose, carrion crow, collared dove, cormorant, curlew, dipper, dunlin, dunnock, eider, gannet, goldfinch, great black-backed gull, grey heron, grey wagtail, greylag goose, herring gull, hooded crow, house sparrow, jackdaw, linnet, magpie, meadow pipit, oystercatcher, pied wagtail, pink-footed goose, purple sandpiper, red-breasted merganser, redshank, reed bunting, ringed plover, rock dove / feral pigeon, rock pipit, rook, sandwich tern, shag, shelduck, song thrush, starling, stonechat, teal, turnstone, water pipit, wheatear, wigeon, woodpigeon and wren.

Draycote Water :: 06 April 2019

A couple of black-necked grebes (in summer plumage) had been spotted at Draycote Water on the previous day, so I got up early to arrive as the gates to the reservoir opened. The car park was predictably quiet as not many had beaten me there.

On previous occasions any black-necked grebes I'd seen there had been off Farborough Dam and so I headed that way. Not a sign of the grebes but there were c.10 little gulls in the centre of the water and numbers of sandmartin moving left to right. All to distant for a photo.

When I got to the hide I stopped briefly and decided to go to the trees just beyond the boardwalk as there are often a selection of tits and finches there. I was not disappointed as I soon found a blackcap, chiffchaff and a pair of goldcrest.

As I strolled back and forth a green woodpecker landed in a tree ahead but almost immediately left again. As I watched the blackcaps a treecreeper dropped in a the top of the trees behind.

As I made my way back to the car, I could see reed bunting, meadow pipits and a few skylarks in the field down the bank on my left. Nothing else of note other than the sandmartins appeared to have departed.

Sightings (38) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blackcap, blue tit, buzzard, canada goose, carrion crow, chaffinch, chiffchaff, coot, cormorant, gadwall, goldcrest, great crested grebe, great spotted woodpecker, great tit, green woodpecker, greylag goose, herring gull, jackdaw, lesser black-backed gull, little grebe, little gull, mallard, meadow pipit, moorhen, pheasant, pied wagtail, reed bunting, robin, rook, sand martin, skylark, teal, treecreeper, tufted duck, woodpigeon and wren.

Farmoor Reservoir & RSPB Otmoor :: 30 March 2019

I had a 9.00am appointment in Didcot and, as I finished before 10.00am, I thought I'd spin across to Farmoor Reservoir. It was misty as I had left home but now it was a beautiful sunny morning. I left the car and immediately found and watched a chiffchaff in the trees by the car park. I then decided on a clockwise circuit of F2.

Every copse I passed buzzed with the call of chiffchaff, then my phone buzzed with a call from Charlotte to see how my morning was going. As I walked and talked I came across a flock of c.80 snow geese, a few blue morph. I understand that this feral flock travel around Oxford, although I've not personally encountered them before. This large flock, typically numbering up to c.100 individuals, are found wintering on many of the large reservoirs around England but particularly Farmoor in Oxfordshire.

I watched one of the number of fly-fishermen catch a beautiful trout and land it successfully. He was a friendly guy and asked about my sightings as he was playing the fish. Unfortunately from the distance I heard a shout and saw his disappointment as he lost the fish back into the reservoir - an unplanned catch and release ...

I reached the causeway and dropped down to the river, hearing another chiffchaff singing it's heart out and spotted bullfinch on the far bank. Heading right I could hear reed bunting, chiffchaff and a Cetti's warbler. I reached the turn to the Pinkhill Reserve hide and met a chap waiting for the Cetti's to return, it having exited stage left. We chatted and watched as a water vole climbed a tree stump, but not clear enough for a photo. Although we heard the Cetti again it didn't really show enough to confirm a sighting - likely candidates exited left but at speed and slightly in cover.

Not much to see from the hide but I did see another water vole scurrying around under the feeders to the left, this time enough in the open to get a shot.

Bought a sandwich from the Visitor's Centre and decided I was close enough to RSPB Otmoor to make a quick visit there. Again, a calling chiffchaff as I left the car park. Nothing new for the day until I got to the hide where I saw a small flock of linnet and two oystercatchers. At the first screen I watched some aerial manoeuvres from three marsh harriers which mostly ended with them dropping down into the reed-bed.

A strange looking leucistic drake pochard was visible from the first screen, with at least 5 other smart looking drakes. On the way back to the car I saw two redshank 'getting it on', and a third a bit further along Big Otmoor.

Sightings at Farmoor Reservoir (33) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blue tit, bullfinch, buzzard, carrion crow, chaffinch, chiffchaff, coot, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, goldfinch, great crested grebe, great spotted woodpecker, great tit, grey heron, greylag goose, little grebe, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, pied wagtail, red kite, reed bunting, robin, snow goose, starling, tufted duck, woodpigeon and wren. Additionally at RSPB Otmoor (11): Canada goose, lapwing, linnet, marsh harrier, oystercatcher, pheasant, pochard, redshank, rook, shoveler and teal.

WkWT Brandon Marsh :: 24 March 2019

Back from a couple of weeks working in the USA, and it was a beautiful Sunday morning. After a relaxing breakfast we pulled our stuff together and decided on a visit to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Brandon Marsh. We arrived to find the car park full - visitors had taken to parking their cars along the access road - we followed suit. Despite the volume of visitors we managed to find a table in the Badgers Tearoom and enjoyed our bowls of soup.

Out on the reserve we opted for our usual circuit through New Hares Covert. By the tall trees we saw nuthatch (2), song thrush (2), great spotted woodpeckers (2) and treecreepers (2). We found it odd that earlier posts on Twitter had mentioned many chiffchaff as they were silent in all their usual haunts.

From the Baldwin Hide we watched as a great crested grebe fished close by the hide. Eventually he caught a substantial roach and took some time to get it over. It then cruised gently across the water, having had sufficient and deserving a break. We could see two little ringed plover (#96) and two oystercatchers on the scrape.

Nothing exciting from the EMP, just three shelduck and some odd gulls which all turned out to be juveniles of common species, so moved on to have a look at Teal Pool. Earlier there were reports of a jack snipe showing well. As we waited a few people dropped by but none had any views. We had to make do with a couple of feeding redshank. Just as we were about to leave - yes definitely this time - I found a snipe in the reeds on the far bank. As it skulked around, behind the reeds, I convinced myself that it was the jack snipe. Unfortunately, I looked at cropped photos when we got home, and it was obviously a common snipe. Bugger.

From later hides we picked out some stock doves and a kestrel basking in the sun, on one of the large bird houses mounted in trees. As we approached the Visitor's Centre we at last heard a group of chiffchaff calling. They were there after all!

Sightings (46) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blue tit, buzzard, canada goose, carrion crow, chaffinch, chiffchaff, common gull, coot, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, goldfinch, great black-backed gull, great crested grebe, great spotted woodpecker, great tit, greylag goose, herring gull, jackdaw, kestrel, lapwing, lesser black-backed gull, little grebe, little ringed plover, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, mute swan, nuthatch, oystercatcher, pied wagtail, redshank, reed bunting, robin, shelduck, shoveler, snipe, song thrush, stock dove, teal, treecreeper, tufted duck, wigeon and woodpigeon.

Draycote Water :: 24 February 2019

I looked at Twitter on Saturday night and found that three Slavonian grebe had been found at Draycote Water so I heading there after breakfast. Setting off, a chiffchaff [#95] sang and worked it's way along the edge of the car park.

From the Visitors Centre I could see a birder looking out at some birds on the corner of Farnborough Dam. I walked along, noting the rise in little grebe numbers since I was last there.

When I reached the corner it hadn't been the slavonian grebes. I decided to continue on and make a full circuit, despite having only paid for a couple of hours parking. A good view of a fast moving goldcrest was the highlight of the far side. Still a number of goldeneye and goosander present.

Relatively quiet in bird numbers which I thought surprising at this time of year.

Sightings (31) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blue tit, canada goose, carrion crow, chiffchaff, common gull, coot, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, goldcrest, goldeneye, goosander, great crested grebe, great tit, greenfinch, greylag goose, lesser black-backed gull, little grebe, long-tailed tit, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, pied wagtail, reed bunting, robin, rook, teal, tufted duck and woodpigeon.

Rutland Water :: 21 February 2019

Half term at Charlotte's school so I took another day off to spend some time with her - but birding! There were some reports on Twitter of several smew at Rutland Water and so we set off there early. On arrival we went into the Anglian Water Bird Watching Centre and picked up coffees and paid for our permits. I then left Charlotte for an hour as I had to take a conference call with clients in the Middle East. When the call was over we set out, heading north towards Lagoon 4.

On the way we added egyptian goose [#91] and heard both great spotted and green woodpeckers but couldn't get our bins on them. We stopped off at several hides adding great white egret [#92] to the year list; a single stonechat displayed to our left. We bumped into another birder with a camera and discussed the smew - as a result we dropped into the hide on the southern end of Lagoon 4.

Looking out across the water, everything was very distant but after a few minutes scanning the surface found two and then four redhead smews [#93]. I took a few record shots but they never came close enough to get a decent shot, nor did we see any males.

Onto the Bittern Hide, overlooking Lagoon 3, we met the birding photographer and he said that he'd gone into the Plover Hide and had been lucky to get good views of a pair of smew close to the hide. As there was nothing special where we left and headed to the Plover Hide.

We could see the smew through some distant reeds to our right and eventually they swam out far enough for some better record shots. A juvenile peregrine flew from island to island, eventually landing in the waters edge. It was soon joined by an adult. Looking back round the smew had become two pairs and both started swimming in our direction, eventually giving us a decent swim-past.

Nothing showed at any of the other hides as we made our way back to the Centre.

After a spot of lunch we headed to the southern hides and on our walk, added a pair of bullfinches [#94]. We got to the Harrier Hide and had three stonechat in distant bushes. The guy we shared the hide with had been down the path and said there was nothing of note warranting us going further. It was getting late so we headed back to be sure we were back in Banbury to collect Eilidh from the train.

Sightings (54) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blue tit, bullfinch, buzzard, canada goose, carrion crow, chaffinch, collared dove, common gull, coot, cormorant, dunnock, egyptian goose, gadwall, goldeneye, goosander, great black-backed gull, great crested grebe, great tit, great white egret, greenfinch, grey heron, greylag goose, house sparrow, jackdaw, lapwing, lesser black-backed gull, little egret, little grebe, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, oystercatcher, peregrine, pheasant, pochard, red kite, reed bunting, robin, rook, shelduck, shoveler, smew, sparrowhawk, starling, stock dove, stonechat, teal, tufted duck, woodpigeon and wren.