Rye Meads

Dipping reached new heights at Rye Meads this morning. Not only were there no birds to be seen, but I missed the Willow Emeralds and Wasp Spider, despite there now being a big sign saying "Wasp Spiders are right here!" Nevertheless, got into pleasant conversation with a fellow birder and saw a few insects so a worthwhile and enjoyable outing. The best of the photos here.

Male Migrant Hawker. Lots of these here today along with Southern Hawker.

I think this is Green-Veined White?

lots of Blue-tailed Damselflies out day.

Female Common Blue

Rye Meads

A freezing cold day but a clear blue sky, so off to Rye Meads to give the camera a go.

Quiet, initially, with no sign of the water Pipit. Off to the Gadwall hide where there is a Shelduck amongst a mass of Shoveler and Gadwall. Then back to the Draper hide and a fly over Green Sandpiper, a Grey Wagtail, and a Snipe in the corner. The light is good and as always the birds are not too distant, so I fill up on Wigeon and Shoveler.

The chap next to me starts clicking away with his camera and I realise he's found the Water Pipit. Its right in front of us on a spit. We get a half hour of fantastic views, seeing every feature. Which would be great if it were any other bird, but this is, at least in winter plumage, possibly the dullest bird known to man.

Double Dipping

Count the Bramblings!

Deepest midwinter and a spare morning. Which bird to miss? Top of the list is the Pallid Harrier in Norfolk. Better birders than I have been several times for this and missed it. Then out on the Norfolk coast there are Shore Larks and Snow Buntings. Much opportunity here to walk miles and not see them. Or the Brecks with "distant" Great-Grey Shrike, single Hawfinch at Lynford. hmmm.

In the end I decide to miss the Hawfinches at Bramfield again. Something I achieve with ease, as a twenty minute patrol produces nothing. Standing waiting is not my kind of birding.

On to Rye Meads RSPB, a reserve that gets better year-by-year. No sign of the Bittern or Water Pipit, but the obligatory Green Sandpiper and a few Shelduck made the list. And for the first time this year Brambling. Three of us set up with scopes and camera a reasonable distance from what is a quite skittish flock and eventually found three males and a female, the males now looking quite spectacular. The grain put out by the staff had attracted 13 Magpies too. The photo above of a bush by the path has a Brambling clearly out in the open about a third from the top, a second one near the RHS two thirds of the way down, and a third bird hiding in the bushes in the lower left.

The second dip was a very predictable one on Monday night. The regulars at Amwell had seen a Franklin's Gull in the roost on Sunday so about forty birders dutifully turned up on Monday. To no-one's surprise the star bird didn't turn up, but a Caspian Gull and a Peregrine dashing through made up for the no-show.

Local early August

the extra time has paid dividends. Not just in more time in the field, but a more relaxed approach, more time to stop and observe, not just tick and move on.

In reverse order ... I returned to the house after a walk in Pishiobury Park to find this on the buddleia

Its a Jersey Tiger, which I believe is spreading out of its South London stronghold, and with a 2011 record for Herts being the first for a while this is still a good find, but should be less scarce in a few years.

I had just returned from a leisurely stroll round Pishiobury Park. It was hot, mid afternoon, and windy, so anything with wings was staying put. It was a day of missed opportunities; a large orange butterfly shot past, too big for a comma. Silver Washed Fritillary? I hung round to try for another glimpse, but it had gone. And then a falcon between the trees. Small, direct, surely a Hobby? But it moved on out of site without a clinching view.

The definate items were predictable. Butterflies - a large number (18) of large whites, a small number (1) of small coppers, 4 "blues", Ringlet, many Gatekeepers, some Speckled Woods and a Red Admiral. There were some bees, a surprising number of queens - what are they doing out now?

 

Magpie was the commonest bird, but there was a Willow Chiff, two Kestrels, and three Common Buzzards talon grappling.There was also these, doing what they do best.

Born to munch ...

Earlier in the morning I had popped into Pincey Brook on my way top Stortford. Back in the spring there was some decent mud, and I had birds such as Wood Sandpiper, 200 Golden Plover, Shelduck, and Little Egret, quite an impressive list for a flooded inland brook. My heart sank when I saw the field was heavily flooded and the mud gone, but I my worries disappeared when a Creamcrown (prob juv) Marsh Harrier rose from the flood and quartered the area, even diving toward the ground at one stage. A Red Kite appeared and the Harrier flew off toward a neighbouring field, but in its brief time airborne it had put up c50 Lapwing, 2 Teal, and caused some consternation amongst the c40 Greylag Geese.

Yesterday was Rye Meads, an RSPB that has benefited from some recent effort to atrract intersting birds. There were 2 Green Sandpipers at thge Draper Hide, and at the Gadwall Hide a local had identified a juvenile Meditrerranean Gull amongst the 50-100 Black Headed Gulls. He offered to direct me but I took the challenge and ended up finding 2. Here is a very poor shot of one of them. It's the one on the right. Clearly.