The Importance of Parking

What makes for a successful day out? After yesterday's trip with David round the insect hotspots of Essex, I'd say Parking.

First stop was Langdon Hills, a large area of woods and meadows with a number of recent records of butterflies of interest. I had pre-selected an excellent place for parking for this venue - or so I thought - the Essex Wildlife Trust Langdon Visitor Centre. We had excellent parking close to the centre, and then found out that the areas of interest were a forty minute walk away. We relocated a bit nearer and wandered off to investigate, but long story short we had lots of glimpses of butterflies and dragonflies in the meadows but never made it to Marks Hill for the Purple Emperors.

We cut our losses and headed to Canvey Island for the dragonflies. We had some excellent parking at West Canvey RSPB and saw what was probably a Southern Migrant Hawker, but after walking around had only Common Darters, Black-tailed Skimmers, 4 Black-Tailed Godwits and a Lesser Whitethroat. We headed off to the mecca of Douthern British odonata, a ditch opposite the domestic waste centre on the Benfleet Road.

There was a pull-in by a gate with a few cars but no spaces, so we spent a while driving round and eventually parked in the public car park behind Benfleet Station. Having navigated the administration involved in paying for three hours rather than the whole day, (short-stay bays, yellow button) we then walked back through the mediterranean heat to the ditch to find some mediterranean dragons. In the comparatively brief time we had left we managed to find a few dragons, and even managed to take photographs of them. David, our official photographer, will have better, (and anyone looking for odonata photography excellence will of course look at Marc Heath's wonderful site),  but here are my efforts including some "atmospheric" (i.e. out of focus) shots.  I am informed these are Southern Migrant Hawker, Scarce Emerald, and Southern Emerald. If I go to my guide book published a mere 21 years ago, it has the Scarce Emerald in it, mentions the Southern Migrant Hawker with one picture, and doesn't mention the Scarce Emerald. 

Southern Migrant Hawker in flight

mating Scarce Emerald. The reason I know these are Scarce Emeralds and not Emeralds is because a bloke at the top of the ditch said "there's lots of Scarce Emeralds down there mate."

Southern Emerald

Southern Emerald close-up

Summer on the patch

Spring has been and gone with hardly a migrant to mark it. We are into summer now and everything is settled, although I could do with the Garden Warbler that sings in the impenetrable forest to show itself so I can get it properly on the list, and for a local Hobby to appear at some point.

Today there was Common Tern fishing along the river, Grey Wagtails at the lock, and some Swifts and House Martins overhead. The Marbled Whites have emerged in decent numbers, and I added Large Red Damselfly to the patch list - long overdue.

An average/excellent day at Minsmere/Dunwich

To Minsmere with David. A windy and cloudy day after yesterdays sunshine. Nothing too much of significance; Bittern from the Bittern hide, the usual Marsh Harriers at Island Mere and just a fly-through Hobby for variety. Spotted Redshank at East Hide the pick of the waders, Kittiwake and fly-over Fulmar at South scrape, a few Mediterranean Gulls, a Greenshank on North Levels, another flying Bittern from West hide, a pair of Stone Curlews as we left the reserve and then a trudge round Dunwich had just one sighting of Dartford Warbler. An average visit.

Lets replay that as it doesn't seem to do justice to the variety of birdlife on show. The Bittern flew close to and slowly past Bittern hide and landed in the reeds, so as good a view as I've had in the last couple of years. There was a constant stream of birds crossing the levels with flocks of Black-Tailed Godwits, Shovelers, and a few Little Egrets. From Island Mere hide at least 4 Marsh Harriers, some coming quite close, and the Hobby gave an exhibition of hunting as it did a fast-pace circuit of the hide. East Scrape was a mass of bird-life, with Mediterranean Gulls everywhere;  a male Pintail, an intriguing Knot in a strange brown-and-white plumage, and Spotted Redshanks in glorious summer plumage giving views as good as I can remember. South scrape was a mass of birds again with 300 Black-Tailed Godwits huddled together, sparkling summer plumage Grey Plover and Turnstone, and an unexpected flock of about 30 Kittiwakes. The beach was pretty empty apart from a fly-over Fulmar. Good views of the Greenshank and then another close-up of a fly-by Bittern. On departing, an RSPB ranger told us where to park to see one of the pairs of Stone Curlews in the area which we duly saw, if rather distantly. We then walked round Dunwich Heath, heard a distant female Tawny Owl, and then had excellent views of Dartford Warbler in heather, and then with a young bird. So all in all, an excellent day's birding at Minsmere.

A year's rarities in one morning - Birdwatching Lisbon

D#1 and D#4 wanted a short break in Lisbon. I went along too and negotiated a morning off from parental duties. A quick google, a couple of emails, and at 7:30 am on Wed 30th May Rui from Birdwatching Lisbon was outside my hotel to whisk me off for a few hours birding. Would there be much worth seeing so close to a capital city?

We drove across the Tagus river and shortly after turned off the highway down a rough track to an area of rough land with a patchwork of lagoons near Bracieira. Straight out of the car there was Black Redstart singing, Zitting Cisticolas, and a flock of 100+ Swifts. Rui pointed out the more relaxed flight, paler throat and scale appearance of Pallid Swift distinguishing to from the more nervous Common Swift. A Black-Winged Kite sat atop a pole looking for prey, a Black Kite flew through, a Hoopoe Flew cross, then some Flamingoes flew past. We saw more of these pre-historic looking creatures during the day, easily visible from a long way off including a flock of c250 out by the estuary and some wading much closer. 7 Black-Tailed Godwits flew over, then 3 Black-winged Stilts flew in to a lagoon, A quick scan revealed a Squacco Heron on the bank of a lagoon - apparently a rarity at this site, and a Spoonbill in full breeding kit feeding in a lagoon. A distant building had Spotless Starlings - the local variety but new to me - and a pair of Sardinian Warblers flitted through some bushes.

Mention should be made of the first escaped bird established here - Waxbill. A male with a very nice raspberry-red breast appeared close to, but other ones were around.

We drove on to our second location, some (dry) rice fields and dykes with reeds. A couple of Little Owls were around a farm building, then in a ditch the second of our escaped local birds - Yellow Crowned Bishop. The males had just come into full summer plumage and were chasing the females. They looked like slow-moving luminous tennis balls. A really vivid and beautiful bird. Three soaring raptors turned out to be Black Kite and two pale-phase Booted Eagles. A Crested Lark called from a field and flew briefly. We moved on to a reed-filled dyke alive with the sound of Great Reed Warblers. We had a brief view of a bird flying along the back, then an Iberian Yellow Wagtail perched close by enabling the white throat and eyestripe to be clearly seen. The song of the Serin is a constant accompaniment in this area, and was finally made flesh as a male did a song flight and sat in a tree next to the car. Rui picked up a Red-Rumped Swallow amongst local Barn Swallows and we watch this for a while admiring this spectacular hirundine with its seemingly stuck-on tail. There were Corn Buntings and a pair of Marsh Harriers, and then onto the next and final stop

The final location was a road moving north parallel to the estuary with farmland to the left and open cork woodland with bulls and cattle to the right. At the first stop a Nightingale flew past and a Crested Tit moved through a pine tree - a bird that had simply not been on my radar as occurring here. Then at the next stop Rui could here Rock Sparrow. A pair briefly appeared on a tree stump but I missed these as I was looking at a Western Bonelli's Warbler as it sang in a tree. A distinctive "prutt prutt" call got us searching and a pair of Bee-eaters flew into a nearby tree with fantastic scope-filling views. We spent some time here and had Short-toed Treecreeper and Nuthatch. Another Booted Eagle appeared, this time quite near and low giving great views of the head and back instead of the usual under-wing views. As we moved on another raptor appeared low over the trees. It was a species I have been looking to renew my acquaintance with for a few years now, often wondering whether I was watching this or the common variety, but as so often happens when the real thing turns up, I instantly knew we were looking at a Honey Buzzard, apparently not a regular bird here. As we watched, it circled round giving spectacular views, then floated away on flat wings giving a view of its brown back and greyish head.

Shortly afterwards another raptor came over. Large, cruising slowly, as it came near we could see the deep-russet brown head and breast and speckled white underwing and body of a Short-Toed Eagle. This happened as we were watching a singing male Melodious Warbler, Rui pointing out its mimicry and also the start of the song sounding like an engine slowly getting into gear.

Then 8 Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage amongst cattle, a fly-thru Cuckoo, and then the final stop by some electricity pylons where White Storks were nesting on special nesting platforms, the bill-clattering and black-billed youngsters made for quite a site. Just time for one last bird - Cirl Bunting singing in a bush, then back to Lisbon.

I don't know about you but I'm quietly amazed at such a list. The countryside is much-less intensively managed, and correspondingly full of birds. It goes without saying that Rui did a fantastic job and was a pleasure to spend time with. Most of the birds gave excellent views and I'm still feeling a warm glow from the trip. If you find yourself in Lisbon with half a day to spare, you know what to do.

Short-Toed Eagle overhead - photo taken by Rui

Dipping in Yorkshire 21-22 May

A trip to see my elderly mother in God's Own County gave a couple of opportunities for birding. First a detour on the way to Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve to see the Montague's Harrier that had been consistently seen over the last few days. I used to visit this regularly in the 1980s and 1990s and had birds such as White-Rumped Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Red-Necked Stint, Spotted Crake, as well as lots of other waders. Like many similar places, it seems to have gone off the boil a bit, so it was really an all-or-nothing trip for the Harrier.

Long-story-short, the Montague's decided not to appear. I gave it several hours, mainly spent in the Singleton Hide, and had a brief bit of excitement when a medium-size brownish raptor with white on the tail appeared, but it was a female Sparrowhawk.

Nevertheless, it was a good day. A pair of Garganey, many Avocets, lots of Tree Sparrows - a bird Northerners stroll past without a second thought but that Southerners like myself always enjoy seeing, having none of our own. Bearded tits, Reed Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, but stars of the show were Marsh Harriers. I settled on 3 males and 3 females. There was hunting close to the hide, talon grappling, food passes, and displaying. One of the males was as fine a bird as I've ever seen; silver wings with heavy black tips and a chestnut body and coverts, then an orange tail. It looked like it had wondered over from the Indian sub-continent.

Worth noting Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler, and Buzzard. All birds I saw on this visit and I'm pretty sure I didn't see in my visits of the 80's and 90's.

The 22nd dawned cloudy and windy. I visited Norwood Edge for the Iberian Chiffchaff and found a couple of others there looking for it. It sang nice and clearly, and distinctively. Should I tick it? Well firstly, I didn't see it as it remained in swaying treetops, but if I had seen it I would have seen a chiffchaff, or possibly a silhouette of a chiffchaff. Secondly, part of me refuses to recognise these variants of chiffchaffs as real species. But on the other hand, a tick is a tick ...

On to The Strid at Bolton Abbey with now bright sunshine, and a repeat of last-years walk; up to near Barden Bridge then back down the other side. It was marginally less successful than last-year; no Dipper, and no Wood Warbler, but I did get Redstart (just 1), Spotted Flycatcher and many Pied Flycatchers, singing, perching, going into nest boxes, a truly spectacular sight. There was a nesting Treecreeper, Goosander with chicks on the stream as well as Mandarin there too. Then whilst walking down the far side, a flurry of activity in a small ravine just forty yards away. Three medium-sized round-winged birds flying at each other and giving repeated 'tic' sounds. Finally one settled and wandered round briefly with its large eyes and enormous beak. How often do you see Woodcock in the middle of the day? How often do you see three? As always with birding, it is the unexpected that puts the icing on the cake.

The strid in full flow.

Hatfield Forest - Wall wood

A walk round Wall Wood just off the South-West corner of Hatfield Forest today. It is managed by the National Trust and has been recently fenced off (with gates for access) to keep deer out. I neglected it over the winter mainly because the Hawfinches were in another part of the wood, but thought it worth a trip to see if keeping the deer out had enabled the Early Purple Orchids to reappear.

And they were back. One area had 63 spikes (in the SE corner) and there were a few spikes elsewhere in the Southern half. A clear vindication of the NT's policy of keeping deer out. all we need now is Nightingales.

Otherwise there were a few insects, including some busy bumble bees, one of which passed briefly to enable this photo which despite the quality shows the main features:

I did wonder whether this was a Buff-tailed queen that had lost its fur from its middle, but the yellow edge to the lower white gives away that this is a cuckoo bee, and I'm reasonable sure it is a Vestal Cuckoo Bee Bombus Vestalis which last year for a while was the commonest bee on my patch. I saw a few later in the day round Pishiobury Park, and one of the most distinctive features is a notch or gap in the centre of the white tail. So if you see a queen which is all black apart from a ginger collar and white tail with a notch in it then I think it is this species.

Also was a gathering of small bees, too few and sparse to be properly called a swarm. There were bees of several sizes, so I had a go with the macro lens and got these.

I think I'm on reasonably safe ground saying these are Nomad Bees. After that, it is a but more difficult. The top one looks like a Long-Horned Nomad Beetle due to the extent and positioning of the red but my guide book says it is scarce so probably not one of these. A Flavous or Painted Nomad Bee may be more likely and the second may be one of these. In truth I have no idea. Anyway, this is another class of creepy-crawlies to have some camera fun with over the summer.

UPDATE: Twitter came to the rescue on Nomad Bees with Jono Forgham suggesting Fork-Jawed Nomad Bee. This would seem to fit with the second photo which would be the smaller male, and the comment in my guide book that it is "common throughout much of southern England". Steven Falk very kindly also gave some other possibles such as Painted or Flavous as apparently the appearance is variable and really you need a specimen. If I photograph more of these creatures I will just suggest possible IDs as I am not up to capturing and dissecting them.

Steven kindly responded to a tweet message, which gives me an opportunity to plug his book "Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland" which is a wonderful book. At this time of year I am browsing through it or reading in detail almost every day. Highly recommended

?? Hill Cuckoo Bee??

doing the daily dog walk in Pishiobury Park I noticed a bee with a red tail crawling slowly through the grass. Lazy bee behaviour can indicate cuckoo bee and on closer inspection it had a shiny thorax and dark wings indicating a Hill Cuckoo Bee Bombus Rupestris, which parasitises the more common Red-Tailed Bee.

I clicked away with the phone camera and had a good look when I got back; on one photo it has a shiny first segment on the rear leg which I think indicates a pollen basket which is not compatible with it being a cuckoo bee. So I'll just leave some pictures here for comment.

nice shiny black and dark wings

shiny abdomen ... and a shiny pollen basket on the rear leg?

Local Spring update

Its been hard going on the patch. A few regular bits and pieces - GreyWagtail, Little Owl, Shoveler, Little Egret, and a trickle of summer visitors with 3 Lesser Whitethroat of particular note. But there has nevertheless been a new bird for the patch - a pair of Mandarin have been seen a couple of times. They have been on the horse field and the male looks slightly overdressed as it waddles round in its finery.

Elsewhere folks have been seeing Ring Ouzels so I went back today to Tharbies, our local patch of high ground, to see if I could find one. It is intensively farmed so lacked the variety of my patch round the Stort. There was no ouzel, but 2 Wheatear in a ploughed field were nice compensation, and 3 Lapwing, 2 Grey Partridge, a few Yellowhammer, Linnets, and Skylarks with single Swallow, male Kestrel, and a distant displaying Buzzard made it worthwhile. A Tawny Mining Bee on the path was my first for the year.

Back by Popular Demand!

After several months my regular reader has finally noticed the absence of new posts and confessed to actually enjoying some of my ramblings. Would I consider restarting the blog? Well, yes, I suppose I would. I guess there may be a small number of folks out there who might think that if only they were free of the 9-5 tedium of work they might actually be able to go and see some decent birds, or birders who trudge their patch in search of decent birds and imagine that other people’s patches are dripping with rarities and migrants, and for both those categories this blog has demonstrated that, in my case at least, that isn’t true. So, for you who wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else, this blog will return to show you that it isn’t.

The final posts prior to the break ended with a Long Dark Night of the Soul following what I will refer to now as “The White-Rumped Sandpiper Incident” and will henceforth never mention again. I guess it is just one of those things that happens as you get older; that slow march of missed opportunities and accumulated faults, such as when you realise that if you were actually going to be good at cricket, you would right now be playing for a good team not just watching it on telly, or that driving test where as soon as you crunch onto that curb whilst reversing round the corner you realise you will never be on of those people who can say " I passed first time. Can't understand why anyone would fail it!" Over time you accumulate a list of mistakes and missed opportunities, and no matter what you do you can’t undo them. In the end, you just have to reach an accommodation with your past, and understand that when you go out birding such things are going to happen and you just have accept that you are not a perfect birder and are just doing your best to make the most of the opportunities each day brings.

So, back to the blog. Winter has been and gone. There were some Hawfinches, some more Hawfinches, then really quite a lot of Hawfinches, and then a few more Hawfinches for no other reason than they were there and may not be there again. But spring is on its way at long last and I’ll look to post the hits and misses. I may even get my camera out. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Birding Disaster Recovery at Spurn Head.

After an eternity of westerlies, a brief window of South-Easterlies. Spurn Head was clearly going to be the place to be. Time to visit my mother in Leeds with just a small detour to see some birds on the way.

Late morning found me at Spurn Head with just one problem. Thick fog. An Olive Backed Pipit and a couple of Little Buntings had been seen, but by 2pm I reckoned given the number of people there that out 100 man hours had been collectively spent birding, of which thirty minutes had been spent looking at rarities and 99.5 hours at been spent staring at bushes through the gloom.

This was clearly a birding disaster. As the rain began to fall and I contemplate a list that was worse then an average morning in my back garden, I decided emergency action was called for. Time to put Birding Disaster Recovery into operation, which is basically to just go and find some birds, any birds, and look at them.

Kilnsea Wetlands is just north of Kilnsea. the first hide has a few ducks, mainly Wigeon and Teal with some Shovellers, and a couple of eclipse Pintail. I could just make out 3 juv Little Stints through the gloom, and a wader that seemed bigger than the stints but smaller than a Dunlin, like a large Temminck's Stint, but I was peering into thick fog round a corner and getting nowhere so I moved on. I walked round the wetlands toward Beacon Lane Ponds, stopping for some decent views of a small flock of Reed buntings - sadly no Little. On walking up to the top of the bank I realised the fog had lifted and I could see the sea. The ponds and dunes looked just ideal for a Merlin to fly though. A Merlin flew through and stopped on a low branch long enough for the scope; a vision of brown and white monochrome hunting perfection. four Whooper Swans in a field were the first of the autumn for me, and then out onto the beach where the sea had a few Gannets and three small parties of Common Scoter heading south. Then back to the wetlands where waders were gathering for a high tide roost. 3 Ruffs joined over a thousand waders, mainly Redshank and Dunlin but also Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit. The birds went up and the air filled with white as about 30 Little Egret flew round prior to landing

From the end of the wetlands onwards, Thrush numbers had been building. Mainly Redwings, but small parties of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, and a couple of Fieldfares. Stood on the beach there was constant calling as small parties flew over, and scans showed some flying in; one black bird had a silvery sheen and some white on the breast so was almost certainly a Ring Ouzel. a scan on returning to the car showed fields full of thrushes. I must have seen in excess of a thousand, with Blackbirds over a hundred and sing thrushes over fifty. So at the last, a decent list for the day and some classic Spurn October migration.

I could have done with my birding mates. Apart from the company and two extra pairs of better birding eyes, at times like this I tend to start dashing around, trying to see everything but ending up seeing nothing and they would probably have calmed me down. Perhaps we would have spent longer looking at that bird with the stint as today I see a White-rumped Sandpiper was recorded at Kilnsea Wetlands. Oh well. I think trying to make sense of that bird in the murk would have meant missing out on the Swans and the Merlin

Fingrinhoe and Abberton - 5th Sept

I pick up David at the uncharacteristically early time of 8:15 and we head off to Fingringhoe Wick. Our aim is to be in place for the incoming tide, hopefully not too far to the back of what is sure to be a packed hide. On the way down to the "intertidal zone" we can see from the mud that we are not too late. Nor are we too late for the Osprey that is flying slowly over the river, then casually drifting down over the reserve woodland. A pair of partridges fly up and whirr over the hedge, and a certain amount of bickering as to which variety they are ensues.

We settle in the hide where there is only one other person, but surely it will pick up later. Redshanks, Ringed Plover and Dunlin are scattered around on the exposed mud, and there is a smattering of Greenshanks amongst them. Slowly the large lagoon begins to fill, and more and more waders appear and begin to settle on the nearby purpose built piles of mud. There are some sparkling summer plumage Grey Plovers, a party of about 20 Golden Plovers again a few with large amounts of black, and some Black Tailed Godwits come closer. Then Knot appear too, with some still in red, and Bar-tailed Godwits. soon it is a mass of just about every common wader in just about every plumage. Avocets are slightly more distant, Curlews are on the river's edge, and a Whimbrel flies past. A kingfisher whistles and zips round the hide into a bush. The tide builds and more waders come in and two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers appear with that distinctive long-legged appearance and a gorgeous peachy wash on the breast.

Periodically the waders all fly up as raptors appear. The first time it is the Osprey back for more fish, the second a Merlin zooms through quickly followed by a Peregrine that zips back and lands briefly in a tree before continuing on, then two Hobbies, all wings and tail, zip down river.

It is high tide so we head off.  Still buzzing from the spectacle of so many waders in fantastic plumage at very watchable distances, and from the show put on by as good a selection of raptors as one could wish to see. And all watched by just three people.

We head off to Abberton and call in to see the two juvenile Red-Necked Phalaropes from the church. Still distant, still hard to see, but this time we get some decent views of a couple of very neat birds. Down to the centre to establish that there is not much here. David insists we stop at the Layer De La Haye Causeway which I know will be a waste of time but surprisingly we find a Black-Necked Grebe in winter plumage working its way up the right hand bank, mainly under water. We go down to Billet's Farm and then round to the screen overlooking Wigboro Bay. There is a juvenile Whinchat on the fence, 3 Spotted Redshanks and 20 Ruff in the bay with various more common waders, and a further 4 Black-necked Grebes in the bay. We meet a couple of birders who tells us what they have seen at Hide Bay so we go back to the centre and head off. I ignore David's directions and set off to the hide by what ultimately turns out to be a circuitous route ending up exactly where David suggested we go in the first place. From the hide is a Great White Egret patrolling the bank. We get excellent views of the yellow beak and pale yellow green loral patch, and the legs starting pale but becoming blackish round the knee. I haven't seen these details before. Slightly further away is the rare and unusual sight of 2 Spoonbills actively feeding and a couple of Pintails in the small lagoon.

What a list. And not just ticks on the page but a real birding spectacle. The intertidal zone at Fingringhoe Wick is, at the right time for these few weeks, surely one of the best places to see birds in the East of England. It is almost criminal that so few people were there to witness it.

Here's an excellent shot from David of a mixed wader flock getting squeezed whilst the tide rises. See if you can spot the Curlew Sandpipers!