5 Sea ticks + probable Stejneger's Stonechat.

The three of us head off early to Cley,it's a clear run & we are up on the beach around 7 where we find the car park packed & loads of scopes looking out over a very rough sea & strong wind making very good conditions for us to see a few sea ticks.
A long line of birders stretched along the beach trying to find any sort of shelter from the wind.
We found an old tractor to shield behind & soon the birds started to pass by.First up we see a flock of 4 Eider followed by a Little Auk  so a good start with 2 year ticks.
Then the highlight of the day when a Pomarine  Skua flies along the beach right in front of us for a great view for everybody.
This is followed by a flock of Scoter with two Velvet Scoter with them, we also needed them for a tick.
Only one more tick while on the beach when a distant Great Skua is picked up by Jimmy & he gets us onto that.
The sea is getting calmer now & the flow of birds is slow so it's off to look for the probable Stejneger's Stonechat at Salthouse. A Glaucous Gull is seen before we leave the beach.
with the car parked it's a short walk to where the Stonechat has been seen & we are onto it within minutes,a bit far off at first but came a lot closer as we watched along with a small group of people all hoping for a positive I D.of the bird.

The Stonechat

hopefully a Stejneger's

Sparrow Hawk in my garden again.

I took the decision not to go to Cornwall with Brian & Jimmy at the weekend for the Catbird & spent all day regretting that decision not helped by regular updates from the pair about what a great view they were getting of another lifer, what an idiot am I.Really pleased that they saw it after going such a long way over 650 miles round trip would have been horrible driving home if they had dipped.

Just sitting having a cuppa this morning when Jean says whats that big bird on the lawn, looking up a nice Sparrowhawk was having a Pigeon breakfast.
So camera out & got a few shots off before it took off with prey leaving behind a mass of feathers for me to clear up.

The Sparrowhawk

Tasty

The Mess

Rustic Bunting( Lifer) at Wanstead Flats

A panicking Jimmy came flying down the stairs he had just seen that there was a rare Rustic Bunting only 20 minutes away on the flats that had been found by Nick once again.
A quick call to see if Brian could get off work for a while to join us as it's a lifer for all three of us.
The car park in Centre Road was closed so we head round to Capel Road & park near to the pub.
It's a long walk up to East Copse & as we came into the clearing we could see a large group & they looked very interested with all scopes trained on one spot, when we join them it's bingo as we see the Bunting feeding in front of some burnt out trees on the ploughed up field near Long wood.
We get long superb views for near an hour.
Brian arrived but the bird had flown & he had to wait for over an hour before it came back to give him a lifer as well.
Thanks to Nick once again & really nice to see loads of local birders plus many from further afield.

Some of the group including Jimmy & Brian

The Rustic Bunting

Sunday at Minsmere

We roll up at Minsmere at first light & are soon seeing some Brambling a single Bullfinch plus Greenfinch as we walk up towards the beach.
On the way we spot 4 Red Deer in the channel drinking plus a couple of Water Rail that was nice.
The morning was rain free & warm, we had done our homework weather wise & it proved  to be a great decision.
As we look over the reed beds we could hear many Bearded Tits but never saw many despite there being no wind not many were sitting up.
A walk along the shore gets us loads of Linnets & Meadow Pipits,nothing to much on the scrape the highlight being a Spotted Redshank. & down by the sluice a couple of Dartford Warblers are calling & flying about, we are told by a Warden that they had breed here this year, we have never seen them here before, we always get them up on the heath.
A short stay in the South hide looking over Girder Pool for the Ferruginous Duck proves to be in vain as it never came out of the reeds until after we left & came out on bird guides.
So not much about & no year ticks but at least we found the sun.
The Konik ponies came close as we walked back to the car.
P S Forgot we did pick up a year tick when we heard two Yellow-browed Warblers.

Bearded Tits

Water Rail

The Konik Ponies

First light looking out at sea

Spotted Crake Wilstone Herts

A simple trip to Wilstone Reservoir See's us romp up around first light looking for the Spotted Crake

 that has been around since early September.
We spot the bird after 10 minutes in the second reed bed just by cemetery corner ,It comes out of the reeds & walks about with the Moorhens giving us great views of the bird as it goes up & down the mud in front of the reeds.

First light looking over the Reservoir

So a nice easy tick & back home before ten o'clock.

Spotted Crake

Grey Phalarope & Beluga Whale.

Jimmy & I needed to get out to do some birding so we decide to head to Bough beech in Sevenoaks Kent as a Grey Pharalope has been about for a few days, so as we need one for a tick we think we have a fair chance of seeing this one.
We set off around 6 am & arrive at a very misty Bough beech before 7 am.A scan of the large pool gets us no luck & it's over half an hour before a local birder turns up & tells us to look at a smaller pool down the road & bingo on the pool on it's own is our year tick
I don't think we would have found the bird without the fellows help as we never knew there was a smaller pool down the road so good on him.
Last Thursday my wife Jean wanted to head to Gravesend to see if we could see the Beluga Whale that had appeared in the Thames estuary some days earlier.so Jimmy comes with us as you don't get to see one of these & it's a once in a life time for us.
We park by the pub as told to do & walk over a mile along the river till we meet up with a group of around 100 people all hoping to get a look at the whale.
Didn't have to wait long before the whale swam down towards the barges & then went back up the river & repeated the same pattern every 5 minutes or so.
In all we got over twenty sighting of the whale.Let's hope it find it's way back to the sea in good health.

The Phalarope

Benny the Beluga Whale

Heron at Sevonoaks N R

Buff-breasted Sandpiper ( Lifer ) at Scotney. + real close up of a Bittern.

The three of us meet up & head to Dungeness arriving around 7.30 am, on a bright clear morning we take a drive down Galloway's, disappointingly not a lot about,just flocks of Meadow Pipit,the odd Stonechat but not much sitting up to get a nice photo off.
We pop into the reserve entrance to watch the Tree Sparrows & spot 6 Cattle Egrets over in the back field,later in the day on the way home we see 6 more at Elmley.
Popping over the road to Arc we get lucky when a Bittern lands in front of Hanson hide & walks about in full view for 10 minutes.The best & most prolonged view I have ever had of a Bittern.
Great white Egrets are showing very well all over the pool both standing & in flight,a common sight now.
The reason we came to Dunge to day is to try to find the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that would be a lifer for Jimmy & I. It's coming up to 12 0'clock now & there has been no report of the bird but we head to Scotney to try to find it.
With the car parked we walk down past the farm over the bridge & take the long walk down to the double gates.
On the way people were coming back having given up on finding the bird & it's not looking good for us.
After 20 minutes of scanning the area there is hardly any sign of a bird at all.
Then as Brian gives another scan he spots a flap of a wing & bingo we have another lifer, it's a very long way off so no photos but fairly good scope views. So a really cracking day & home in time to see us bring home the Ryder cup happy days.

Meadow Pipit at Gallaways

Just one of the Cattle Egret

Rainham for Pectoral Sandpiper.

News that the Pectoral Sandpiper had been found again at Rainham came on bird guides around 1 o'clock so with my wife Jean wanting to join us we are soon on the road heading to look for the bird.
It is reported as being on Tringa pool, we are not sure where that is as it's not on any map of the reserve & we have not heard of it so,a quick check in the visitor centre reveals it to be the next pool after Aveley pool.
So on a lovely warm afternoon we head down there,on arrival about six or so people were already getting great views of the Pec, it was not to far away & was walking about with a ruff.
Probably the best view we have had of a Pec so we spend a good amount of time enjoying the bird as it walks up & down on the far bank not troubled by us being around.

Pectoral Sandpiper

My second Pallid Harrier

I dipped 6 times in 2016 trying to see my first Pallid & had to wait till 2017 to finally get to tick my first.
So when we get a call from Brian asking us if we wanted to chance the weather & go after another Pallid Harrier at Therfield, it's about 30 miles up the A10.
So with dinner shelved till later you bet we headed there & as we neared Mill Lane the rain stopped & it got a bit sunny so hopes were high.
A long walk down the track at Greys Farm See's us join a few other people to scan the fields at first without success.
Jimmy is first to spot the bird but we never got on it before it went to ground & stayed out of sight for over an hour.  A fair crowd had come out now I suspect they had been waiting for the rain to stop.
A shout goes up telling us all that the bird was up again & this time it flew along the long hedgerow & then turned back again to give us all a great long view of such a wonderful bird.
We also see at least 5 Red kite 2 of them come down very close to us  for fantastic views, also a few Buzzard & 3 Kestrels show so a good unexpected afternoon spent with my second ever Pallid Harrier.

Wryneck at Landguard

Back from my short break in Devon Jimmy & I meet up with Brian & set off to Landguard in search of a Wryneck.
We never found the one at Dungeness last week so hope for better luck this time.
It's around 7 am when we arrive & we find the Wryneck within half an hour, it flies out of a bush & drops down about 60 yards away in the open ground to give us great views for a good 10 minutes before flying off not to be seen again for over 2 hours.
We spend over 4 hours here & spend most of the time searching for Pied Flycatcher but although 2 have been reported nobody could find any sign of them but we do get to see another couple of sightings of the Wryneck.
As we walk we see many Linnet a single Redstart a few Willow Warbler loads of Whitethroat + the odd sighting of Lesser Whitethroat & down by the caravan park many Whinchat are seen.
Some familiar faces are here so always nice to catch up with them.Tom & Barry plus a good old talk with people around makes it a very pleasant morning indeed.

Once again Brian the only one us who got a good photo

The Wryneck

Cirl Bunting Labrador Bay + G w Egret Ham Wall.

Great w Egret

On a break near Exmoor  last week with my wife Jean gives me the chance to head down to Labrador Bay in Teignmouth, it's a 50 mile drive but times our own & well worth the effort to see the wonderful Cirl Buntings.
When we arrive the notice board informs me that the Buntings have had a good year & up to 28 have been seen here,so off to look for them.
I turn right after going through the gate & spend an hour searching without any luck, so I head back & go left & meet a couple coming back & they have just seen a few & guide me in the right direction & within minutes I am watching 4 Cirl Buntings on a small drinking trough by the top gate.
A couple more are sitting in the trees waiting to fly down. I only spend around 30 minutes watching them & that is all I managed to find but as always a great treat to see them.

The next day I pay a visit to Ham Wall & the only highlight is when a Great white Egret drops in as we arrive in the hide.

Cirl Buntings

Cirl Bunting

Dungeness again.

It's off to visit Dunge again this weekend,we are driving down Gallaways around 7 am & have the place all to ourselves on a nice bright warm morning.
We would like to find a Wryneck & maybe a Pied Flycatcher for a couple of year ticks but we fail badly on that score.
Over 15 Whinchat many more Stonechat a fair sprinkling of Wheatear plus a nice Spotted Flycatcher.
A pair of Raven show well over head.

Despite not getting any ticks this was a very nice place to be with so much flying about.
On now to drive the track down to visitor centre where we see just one Cattle Egret in the cow field, over 14 were seen yesterday.
Before heading for home we stop off at the Long pit area for one last look for a Pied Fly.
But all we got was a long walk but Brian did find a Grass Snake.
We divert on the way home to Wanstead for another look at the Red-backed Shrike.
A fellow is already on the bird when we arrive, so we spend around 45 minutes watching the Shrike just dropping off the bush to feed & back up again.So a rather nice finish to our birding day.

Wanstead Shrike

One of the many Whinchat

long way off the single Cattle Egret

Spotted Flycatcher

Red-backed Shrike at Wanstead

Nick found a Red-backed Shrike on his patch over the flats on Tuesday around 2 o'clock & he posted it on Bird guides,20 minutes later Jimmy & I are heading over there.
Unfortunately as we approach him the bird takes flight & over the next 2 hours all we get are 3 flight views. We are told this is the first Red-backed Shrike since 1980 so pretty rare for here.
So we decide to head back over the flats today in the hope of a better view.
We spend around 4 hours there & are rewarded with 3 good views of this juvenile bird,it was still very elusive but with a bit of patience we get our reward.
After we have had our fill of the Shrike we head over to the now burnt out enclosure that still has a fair bit of scrub left to try to find any Pied Flycatchers 2 had been reported earlier.
It's a bit of a walk to get there but on the walk there we see 3 Whinchat they are not needed for a tick but always nice to see them.

Brian's photo the Red-backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

long way off the Shrike

Once in the enclosure  a few Spotted Flycatchers are flying around but after an hour we never found any Pied.

Never got very close but a record shot.

American visitor at Dungeness

A call from Brian takes us to Dungeness after he finishes work around 12 o'clock.
The target is the American black Tern that has been around for a few days also aWryneck has been reported.
It's a drive down Gallaways as far as the old tank, parked up we join a group of about ten birders looking for the Wryneck, it had not been seen by anybody here but people that had left had seen it earlier on. The boys pick up a year tick when we see about 4 Whinchat.
We give it about an hour but we get no show from the bird, so it's off to look for the main bird on the reserve.
Only one person in Makepiece hide when we arrive that was a bit of a surprise but the hide did fill up later in the afternoon,one fellow had driven from Cornwall & another from Bristol to view this cracking American visitor.
We don't have to scan for long before we find the target bird as it flies around with some Juvenile Black Terns & one adult bird.
Mainly distance views but the bird did come close a few times & we got some great scope views when the bird landed on the Tern raft.
So a late decision to come & it took us 3 hours to get here with the traffic but turns out to be a good trip as always when you find the bird you set out to see.

American black Tern

Black Tern

Early morning visit to Titchwell (Lesser yellowlegs )

We set off for Titchwell at 4 am in search off the Lesser Yellowlegs  The bird has been around for a few days now so hopes are high.

The car park is empty when we arrive at 6 am on a very warm morning.
A walk up to the beach where we find plenty of Turnstone,Oystercatcher,Sandling & a flock of Common Scoter fly past,it is very calm at sea & the beach is empty but very pleasant to be here.
Off now in search of the target bird,as we walk past Tidal Marsh it is alive with over 40 or more Little Egrets,later on we see the trees at the back of the Marsh are just awash with them,funny to see a green tree just turn white.
On to Fresh Marsh where the Lesser Yellowlegs is found on the Tern Island without to much trouble to give us all a nice year tick.
With the water level very low the place is full of bird life & we see Bar & Blacktail Godwit,Curlew,Green & Common Sandpiper plus Redshank, Avocet, Dunlin also Ruff & 5 Spoonbill drop in & stay active for a change so all very nice, still not a lot of people here so it was a real pleasure to just sit & watch all that was going on out on the Marsh.
Before we leave a Little Gull is seen along with Grey & Golden Plover also a few Bearded Tit are picked out as they dropped out of the reeds onto the mud to feed.
We shoot over to Cley & spot a very nice Spotted Redshank that gave us the second year tick of the day.
That is all we got in the way of ticks but another 5 Spoonbill drop in, that was nice then a fellow birder thinks he has a Buff-breasted Sandpiper but after a few people had got a view of the bird it turns out to be a Knot.shame that as it would have been a lifer.
There were many Green Sandpipers, a single Whimbrel, also seen Greenshank.to finish off a very nice relaxing day. Only 2 year ticks but so nice to be out & about birding after the last couple of weeks merry go round.

2 of the Spoonbill

Spoonbill in flight

Lesser Yellowlegs

Visit to KGV Reservoir

Jimmy calls down that Neville  had just reported a Little Stint at KGV Reservoir,  having missed the one at Oare on Sunday its not long before we are pulling into the car park at the Reservoir.

We need this for a year tick but we had to work for a sight of this one.

We spent 3 hours walking the whole way around the Res seeing over 15 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, lots of Pied Wagtails and many Sand Martin flying around the banks of the Reservoir also some Terns but no sign of the Stint that we needed.

We were heading back towards the cabin just before the slope to the car when 3 Birds drop onto the bank & bingo one of them is the Little Stint to give us another year tick,such a cracking looking little bird.
Neville also reported a Black Tern but we didn't need it for  tick so we never looked to hard & although we did scan around the boats it never showed.

Only gone & got a couple of year ticks at last.

Its been a very busy July so we have not managed any  birding until yesterday.
Brian & Sue have got them self a lovely Grandson named George that makes me a Great Grandad for the second time and my Grandson Michael, Brian's youngest has gone & got married to a lovely girl  Lucy.This brought relations from California & Adelaide in south Australia totalling ten in all over for the wedding, so we have been been on one long party, with the lovely weather we have been drinking in the families gardens until late into the night.
It was just so nice to to meet up with the six that I had already meet over the years & to get the chance to meet some other members of Sue's family for the very first time.
So with them all departed now back to the over side of the world we think its about time we got going again, so we meet up with Brian at 5 am & head to Oare Marsh in Kent.
The weather has changed to a dull rainy morning,although forecast it took us a bit by surprise after the great sunshine days we have been having.
On arrival we pick out a Red-necked Phalarope circling around not far from us & at least ten Curlew Sandpipers are spotted in the scope on the East flood to get the year ticks on the move again.
Unfortunately that turned out to be the only ticks of a short trip.
We did shoot off to Pegwell Bay in the hope of seeing the Pec Sandpiper that has been around for some time but with the change of weather it seems it has moved on somewhere else.
As we head home we make a quick visit to Rainham Marsh as a Marsh Sand was reported on Saturday but all we got was a good soaking for no return.
So with baby George coming to visit its off home.
Nice to get back to normal & some birding but I must say the last few weeks have been really great.

Oare Marshes again for the Bonaparte's Gull

After our trip to Oare last week to get a year tick when we spot  one of the 4 Turtle Doves that have been seen there. We head back again today for the Bonaparte's Gull that has returned this week.
A quick look on the flood gets us no sight of the Gull ,so it's off down to the mudflats just past the boat ramp, where a single birder already had the Gull in sight & we have our year tick, it was an easy tick but thanks Barry & nice to meet you.
A walk up the track gets us onto another Turtle Dove & then Brian gets us onto one of the Little Owls we did see 2 last week but only one this time but nice this time as a couple of ladies had joined us & they had never seen one so nice to share the excitement with them.
A quick chat to the Essex boys in the form of Harry,Stewart & Neville before we set off to Elmley.
On the way we stop off as we needed Spotted Flycatcher for a tick & we have had them in there before.
It takes us over an hour before we spot one, we watch it fly into a large tree & get to see 3 more sightings over the time spent here maybe the one bird or maybe 3 different birds.
At Elmley there are many Yellow Wagtails on show plus another sighting of a Corn Bunting along with all the Skylarks & Redshanks, lots of Lapwing & the odd Marsh Harrier.It's such a nice way to round of a day's birding when ever we come here.

Skylark at Elmley

Song Thrush while looking for the Flycatcher, one of many.

Elmley

Spotted Flycatcher

At Elmley