Red-throated Pipit ( Lifer ) Landguard.

Jimmy & I head to Landguard in search of a lifer after a Red-throated Pipit landed there yesterday.
We arrive just after first light & walk up to the wardens house where it had been seen on Wednesday
but after briefly scanning around the house we have no luck so walk up towards the sea wall. It's then that we notice a small group looking as if they might have something around the concrete blocks so we head over to them & one of the group is LGRE & he has heard the bird & within minutes the Pipit lands a few feet away to give us both another lifer.
Over the next hour or so we get some good views of it, a lovely little bird not to much red on show on the head or throat but very boldly streaked making it easy to pick out as it feeds with a few Meadow Pipits.

Today's  Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Local Red necked Grebe Roding Valley Lake.

Nice for my local lake to get some attention when a Red necked Grebe landed on the lake on Friday afternoon,a right bonus as the lake has never had anything this good.
Only living 100 yards away Jimmy & I are over there as soon as we hear about it from Brian, once we locate the Grebe we let Brian know & he soon joins us to get some good views of a juvenile bird.
Today we head back over & the Grebe is still showing well & in much better light Brian gets some great  photos.
Never thought our local lake would be the scene of so much attention with a fair number of birders arriving all day long.
The bird was still hanging about late this evening so maybe some more watching it tomorrow if not birding elsewhere.

Brian's photo of the Red necked Grebe

Grey Phalarope K G V Reservoir

A quick visit to King George Reservoir in Chingford it's only local to me & the Phalarope has been seen here for a few days.
Jimmy had already ticked the bird on Thursday but came over with me to help spot it.
We walk all the way around the south basin stopping from time to time to scan the water but after over an hour there is no sign.
So we finish the loop & just before we head down the slope to the car Jimmy gives it one last scan & bingo he has it in the scope.
The water was very choppy so we expected it to be more on the edge in the calmer water but it was found right in the middle of the reservoir, so another year tick for me.

Grey Phalarope

Spotted Crake Ingrebourne Valley

A short trip of 20 miles See's the three of us turn into Ingrebourne park at around 8am.
It's a short walk down to the viewing platform & a few people were already scanning the area in front of us where the Crake had been seen yesterday.
It's nearly an hour before Brian spots the Spotted Crake in the corner of the reeds & over the next couple of hours it moves across the reed bed from left to right giving us some great views of a lovely little bird. Nice to meet up with some familiar faces over the time spent here.
So a nice easy year tick for all three of us.

The Spotted Crake

White-winged black Tern at Tyttenhanger.

After missing the trip with the boys on Friday that got them 2 lifers at Portland Dorset I decide to to head to Hertfordshire for a year tick.
So with Jimmy on board I drive to pick up Brian & the three of us head up to Willow farm lake.
It's about 20 miles so in no time at all we pull into Willow farm activity yard but we can't find the lake, so after getting some directions from a local driver we drive  back to the roundabout & drive about 4 miles before pulling into the Willow fishing lake & heading down to the car park.
We pay the parking charge & the fellow in charge allow us access in the car to the lake, & as soon as we pull up by the lake Brian is out of the car & finds the Tern without to much trouble.
We spend the next hour watching a great display from a smashing looking bird as it flies up & down the lake feeding. A really nice year tick this one.
As we look over the lake we realise that nearly all the other birders have parked where we had been at the Activity farm & found a way down to the lake,still we never had to walk anywhere so a real bonus.

Jimmy & I,  Brian catches the bird flying by.

White-winged black Tern

(Lifer ) Citrine Wagtail at Minsmere.

 A lifer is the target at Minsmere a Citrine Wagtail  means the three of us had to head there .As we get nearer to Minsmere a we run into a heavy mist,on arrival at 7 am we walk down to East hide & the mist is not going to lift for another hour.
As the sun starts to burn off the mist we get to see more of the scrape & see loads of Black- tailed Godwits & a single Bar-tailed a few Ringed Plover,Dunlin,Golden Plover,Common & Green Sandpiper,Avocet,Ruff,a few Spotted Redshank,a Water Rail walked about in front of the hide.
A Cuckoo & a hunting Peregrine fly across the scrape but no sign of the target bird.
It's a good 2 hours before we get a sighting of the Wagtail as it shows for a few seconds as it walks up a bank before it flies off to another scrape. We manage to find it again a long way off on number 9 marker scrape & this time we get great scope views for the next 2 hours before it flies over to North hide where Jimmy manged to find it again & got a lot of people onto it after we had walked round to the hide.
Off home but we stop off in the cafe for a coffee & Brian just couldn't resist a giant portion of Ruby's apple & blackcurrant crumble at £2.80 I only mention it because he never stopped going on about how it was the greatest thing he had ever tasted all the way home & he recommended it to everybody on his blog.

Photo of a Citrine Wagtail

Woodchat Shrike for a lifer in Gloucestershire

The decision is made on sat evening for the three of us to drive up the M4 to Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire on Sunday morning the aim being a Woodchat Shrike that would be a lifer for Jimmy & I,  we made good time & arrived just after 7 am.
Parking up just off the road the common is spread out in front of us & it is huge area.Three fellow birders pull up & park behind us & it's our lucky day as it was one of them David Poulton that had found the Shrike & they walked with us to the area the bird favoured.
It's a gloomy old day & after half an hour of no luck it starts to rain so not looking good, an hour or so later the rain eased & the sun started to warm things up & that was when the Shrike made it's appearance to big high fives for another lifer Jimmy & I & a year tick for Brian.
The 3 local birders had told us that the common was full of Whinchat & Common Redstart & we soon found that to be true when we see double figures of Whinchat & many Redstart flying about the place.First time any of us had been here & with what the locals were telling us about the amount of birds that they see here we are sure to return. After 3 hours or so of enjoying the locals company we depart for what will be our first visit to Slimbridge Nature reserve.
The weather is still pretty rough so not a lot of people on the reserve, we head to the hides & although  there is nothing here to give us a year tick we really enjoy watching what was on offer with Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper,many Godwits & a couple of Cranes feeding out by the beach.
A walk through the conservation area was grand experience being able to get close up to many birds that we only get a distant view of & the birds that we are not able to see if you not able to travel to see them. Once again we shall return on a more weather friendly day.
So over all a smashing day out only 2 ticks but 2 new places visited & meet some really nice birders as well.

The Woodchat Shrike at Sodbury

Greywag at Slimbridge

Bewick

Eider

Bean Goose

Bean Goose

Black winged Stilt

Male Eider

Merganser