Year List Update/RSPB Frampton Marsh

After a trip to RSPB Frampton Marsh yesterday, I realised that it was time to update the blog with my new Year List total. Since my last post, I've added 8 new species, taking this year's British total (so far) to 185 species.

The first three new additions were: Tree Pipit (178) and Nightjar (179), both seen back in June, on uplands near Chesterfield, and Black Tern (180), with one seen at Ogston Reservoir on 14th June.

Yesterday's new additions, at Frampton, were: Greenshank (181), Temminck's Stint (182), Green Sandpiper (183), Spotted Redshank (184) and Curlew Sandpiper (185).

Temminck's Stint

Other birds seen included: Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit (including 2 colour-ringed birds), Dunlin, Snipe, Common Sandpiper (1), Little Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Teal, Wigeon, Greylag and Canada Goose, Mute and Whooper Swan (1), Swallow, Sand Martin, Spoonbill (26!), a possible/probable Merlin, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Marsh Harrier, Goldfinch, Linnet, Pied and Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Reed and Sedge Warbler.

There were very few insects about, but 2 Painted Ladies were seen, along with Migrant Hawkers, male Ruddy Darters, and, best of all, a single Eyed Hawkmoth caterpillar, and 3 Willow Emerald Damselflies.

Eyed Hawkmoth

Willow Emerald Damselfly

Lesser Yellowlegs!!!!

 This weekend, Jayne and I went across to RSPB Frampton Marsh to try and see a couple of North American waders, that have been present for a couple of weeks. We dipped one (Semipalmated Sandpiper), but we did manage to get fantastic views of the other species, Lesser Yellowlegs (189 and lifer number 4 of the year) as it fed about 10m away, in front of East Hide. What a fantastic bird to catch up with!

Lesser Yellowlegs

Other birds seen were: Little Stint (190th bird of the year), Curlew Sandpiper, Whooper Swan (1), Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Pintail (1fm), Lapwing, Dunlin, Canada, Dark-bellied Brent and Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

There were a few insects flying about, including 1 Red Admiral, 2 Migrant Hawkers, 3 Common Darters, and a very small damselfly, most likely a Willow Emerald Damselfly. 

RSPB Frampton Marsh

RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire is a fantastic reserve that I love to visit several times a year. This time of year is great for waders (and lots more besides!), so Jayne and I had a trip there today.

As I said, there are loads of waders at Frampton at this time of the year, and together we spotted: Ruff (50+), Black-tailed Godwit (100+), Dunlin (c40), Green Sandpiper (1), Spotted Redshank (1, in winter plumage), Wood Sandpiper (1, and my 182nd bird of the year), Avocet (c.100), Lapwing (c50), Ringed Plover (1), and Curlew Sandpiper (1, and my 183rd species of the year). Unfortunately, there was some maintenance work going on whilst we were there, causing some disturbance to the birds, and we didn't manage to connect with Little Stint, Greenshank or the Pectoral Sandpiper, that was reported half an hour after we left!!!

Wood Sandpiper

Other birds seen were: Spoonbill (33!), Little Egret (20), Buzzard (2), Marsh Harrier (1), Kestrel (1), Swallow (3), Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird,  Pintail (3), Mallard, Wigeon (1m), Teal, Pochard (1m), Mute Swan, Whooper Swan (1- presumably an injured bird that hasn't migrated?), Greylag and Canada Geese.

Whilst there, we also spotted several insects: Speckled Wood (6), Common Darter (1m), Migrant Hawker (1fm) and, best of all, a single, male Willow Emerald Damselfly- very nice!

Willow Emerald Damselfly

Year List Update - 26th October 2020

 I last updated the Year List at the beginning of September. Since then, I've had several trips out and about, and have added 11 new specie, including a "British tick".

The first trip, to RSPB Frampton Marsh on 19th September, added 3 species, numbers 164 - 166. The next bird, my "British tick" was on 4th October, when Jayne and I saw a very confiding Hoopoe, feeding on a cricket pitch on the edge of Leeds!

Hoopoe

Numbers 168 - 171, were recorded at WWT Slimbridge on Saturday, whilst the Great White Egret, was seen at Blenheim Palace lake yesterday.

Whilst eating dinner at Blenheim I saw that a Grey Phalarope had been found on the River Wye at Bakewell. Thankfully, it stayed all day, and I managed to catch up with it just before dark (which was good, because it had gone this morning!)

Grey Phalarope

The final addition was today, with 2 Cattle Egrets that I travelled to see at Cranfield Farm, Long Eaton.

Cattle Egret

Year List update:

164 – Curlew Sandpiper
165 – Little Stint
166 – Pintail
167 – Hoopoe
168 – Marsh Harrier
169 – Russian White-fronted Goose
170 – Bittern
171 – Cetti’s Warbler
172 – Great White Egret
173 – Grey Phalarope
174 – Cattle Egret

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 2 Insect Lifers

It's not often that I go to an RSPB reserve and get more insect "lifers"  than birds, but today that is exactly what happened when I visited RSPB Frampton Marsh. To be honest, I'd gone with the intention of seeing the insects in question, so I was very pleased to see them both.

The first insect lifer was a Willow Emerald Damselfly (see here). This damselfly is a relative newcomer to Britain, and has a very limited, but expanding, range. I'd heard they were present here, so, after  getting directions from the Visitors' Centre, I set off to find them. It took a while, but, eventually, I spotted a male perched up on the hedgerow, and got a few photos. Fantastic!

Willow Emerald Damselfly

The second new insect was a Sea Aster Mining Bee (see here). This species also has a limited range, but Frampton is a stronghold. Again, I managed a couple of photos.

Sea Aster Mining Bee

Other insects seen included: Migrant Hawker (male and female), Ruddy Darter (1 male), Common Darter (10s) and a very impressive Wasp Spider.

Wasp Spider

Birds seen were: Peregrine Falcon, Short-eared Owl (1 over the saltmarsh - year tick), Spoonbill (17, including a Dutch-ringed bird), Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Turnstone (4 - a new species for me here), Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit (c.3500!!), Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail (2), Shoveler, Mallard, Canada and Greylag Geese.

Year List update:
189 – Long-eared Owl (young heard in NE Derbyshire in August)
190 – Short-eared Owl

191 – Spoonbill

Little Bustard - LIFER!

News of a Little Bustard in West Yorkshire broke earlier this week. As it is a lifer, I thought I'd drive up to see it today. When I arrived, it had gone into hiding, but, after an hour and a half it decided to come out again, and put on a good show for the next hour. It never came nearer than about 200m, but I managed great 'scope views. Here are a couple of heavily cropped photos.

Little Bustard

Since my last Year List update, I've also added another 4 "year ticks" along with the Bustard. The first, Manx Shearwater, was seen on a boat trip in Cornwall. The Curlew Sandpiper and Bearded Tit were seen whilst visiting Rye Harbour last week, and the Chough (a Derbyshire tick), was seen on Monday.

Year List update:
184 – Manx Shearwater
185 – Curlew Sandpiper
186 - Bearded Tit
187 – Chough
188  - Little Bustard

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Jayne and I have had a week in East Sussex, staying in Rye Harbour. Whilst there, we had a couple of walks around the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.

Our first walk, with the ranger, on 27th July, saw us visit the shingle ridges and scrapes. We were introduced to a wide range of interesting flora, and also spent time looking at birdlife, including dozens of Dunlin, 1Knot, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, Redshank, Curlew and Whimbrel. There were also several Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns (adults and juveniles) still present. Whilst there, Jayne also spotted a small bee that turned out to be a Sharp-tailed Bee (Coelioxys conoidea).

Sharp-tailed Bee

We had a second walk around this morning, and this time we visited the Castle Water side of the reserve. This area is very different, consisting of large areas of reedbed, and deeper lakes. Here we saw: Mallards, Coots, Mute Swans, Greylag Geese, and then.....a juvenile Green Woodpecker, a Kingfisher (1), a Great White Egret and at least 2 juvenile Bearded Tits!!

Although it was quite overcast we also managed to see a few insects including Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady (1), Common Carpet (moth), Brown Hawker, Common Blue Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Volucella inanis (hoverfly), Common and Ruddy Darter.

Common Carpet

We also managed to spot 3 Marsh Frogs (a new species for us both), a non-native amphibian from Europe, that was introduced into Kent in 1935, and has set up feral populations in the south east.

Marsh frog

Year List Update - 7th October 2017

I haven't update  my 2017 "Year List" since August.  There haven't been too many additions since then, but I have added Short-eared Owl (1 spotted in the Peak District in August, at a potential breeding site), Ring-necked Parakeet (dozens seen in Vondel Park, Amsterdam in August) and Grey Phalarope ( at Worsborough Reservoir near Barnsley on 7th October, my first since 2008).

Ring-necked Parakeet

Grey Phalarope

Today, Jayne and I had a few hours at RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire and managed to spot a few new species, namely Little Stint (4+), Curlew Sandpiper (2), Pintail (5) and Dark-bellied Brent Goose (200+).  Other birds present were: Black-tailed Godwit (100+), Ruff (1 seen), Dunlin (20+), Redshank (10+), Golden Plover (20+), Little Egret (10+), Grey Heron (1), Teal (100s), Wigeon (100), Shelduck (5), Shoveler (4), Black-headed and Herring Gull, Mute Swan (5), Whooper Swan (1), Canada Goose (100+), House Martin (1), Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon (1 large female eating something on the ground from East Hide), Tree and House Sparrow, Starling (30+), Magpie, Linnet and Goldfinch.

Year List update:
185 – Short-eared Owl
186 – Ring-necked Parakeet
187 – Grey Phalarope
188 – Little Stint
189 – Curlew Sandpiper
190 – Pintail
191 – Brent Goose (Dark-bellied)

Frampton Marsh RSPB

Yesterday I spent 5 hours at RSPB Frampton Marsh with my nephew, Luke. Luke saw 5 new species of birds, and I managed to get 8 new "year ticks".

The first new bird for me was Little Stint. We saw at least 4 different birds, but there have been up to 40 birds present recently. 1 bird in particular came feeding very close in to the 360 hide, and we managed to get some nice photos.

Little Stint (juvenile)

The second bird that I really wanted to see was Curlew Sandpiper. Last week there were over 200 present, but this week the numbers had dropped off, and we managed to see about 6. They were quite distant, but 1 came in close to 360 hide along with a Little Stint.

Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint

Other "year ticks" were: Green Sandpiper (1 seen), Ruff ( a minimum of 6 seen), Yellow Wagtail (1 flew over), Marsh Harrier (3 seen), Little Ringed Plover (1 seen) and Spoonbill (4 birds).

Spoonbills (1 adult and 3 juveniles?)

Spoonbills and Black-tailed Godwit

As well as these birds we also saw: Avocet, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Snipe, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Wheatear (1 juvenile), Teal, Little Egret (10+), and Ringed Plover (1 juvenile).

Ringed Plover (juvenile)

It was quite sunny, so we also managed to see a few insects; Common Darter, Migrant Hawker and Common Blue Butterfly.

Common Blue Butterfly

Year List update:

167 – Green Sandpiper
168 – Little Stint
169 – Curlew Sandpiper
170 – Ruff
171 – Spoonbill
172 – Yellow Wagtail
173 – Marsh Harrier
174 - Little Ringed Plover

RSPB Frampton Marsh

I had a drive over to Lincolnshire today to see if I could see a Red-footed Falcon at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Willow Tree Fen Reserve. Unfortunately, I "dipped", but I did spot at least half a dozen Yellow Wagtails feeding around the cows, a Green Sandpiper, a Kingfisher and 2 Marsh Harriers.

Afterwards, I drove over to RSPB Frampton Marsh, near Boston, to look for some of the many waders that had been reported recently on the Birdguides website. The first species I saw was Black-tailed Godwit, followed closely by Ruff , Snipe, Ringed Plover and Lapwing. Wood Sandpiper was the next species seen with 2 individuals seen. Little Stints (2 juveniles), and a single juvenile Curlew Sandpiper were also seen. I got  a few "record shots".

Little Stint showing white "braces"

Little Stint (face on)

Curlew Sandpiper (juvenile)

Wood Sandpiper 

Ruff (juvenile)

Along with the waders there were also hundreds of Mallards, Teals, Canada and Greylag Geese, as well as 6 Pintail, Black-headed and Herring Gulls and a single, unseasonable Pink-footed Goose!

Year List update:

160 – Yellow Wagtail

161 – Green Sandpiper

162 – Wood Sandpiper

163 – Little Stint

164 – Curlew Sandpiper

165 – Pink-footed Goose

166 - Pintail

RSPB Frampton Marsh

Yesterday I drove over to the RSPB Frampton Marsh reserve in Lincolnshire and spent a few sunny hours watching the birdlife, including couple of "year ticks".

On arrival I walked straight down to the Reedbed Hide, where there were a couple of migrant juvenile Ruff, feeding with the resident Mallards, Great-crested Grebes, Mute Swans, Coots and Moorhens. I then went across to the 360 Hide to see if I could spot the Glossy Ibis that had been present throughout the summer. Unfortunately it wasn't in view, but I did manage to find a couple of Spoonbills, including this juvenile bird with a completely pink bill, approximately 700(!) Black-tailed Godwits,  a couple of summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper, juvenile Redshank, Teal, Wigeon, Canada and Greylag Geese.

Spoonbill (juvenile)

I had a short walk around the rest of the reserve and then returned to the 360 Hide. This time, the Ibis was feeding just in front of the hide, and I managed to get a few photos, showing the glossy feathers that give this bird its name.

Glossy Ibis

Also spotted in front of this hide was a stunning Wood Sandpiper, that I also managed to get a shot of. I'm pretty sure it's a juvenile, due to the prominent supercilium behind the eye, and the  fine streaking on the breast. Please tell me if I'm wrong!

Wood Sandpiper

Driving home I spotted a dead Barn Owl by the side of the road. I managed to stop and look to see if it had been ringed, but unfortunately it hadn't.

Year List update:

164 – Whinchat (a family party seen on Big Moor on 27th July)

165 – Spoonbill
166 – Glossy Ibis

A Week in Suffolk

I've just been down to Suffolk for a week's holiday, and in between visits to Southwold and Aldeburgh, and sitting on the beach in amazing 25 degree heat, I managed to see a few birds and increase the Year List, including a  new British Tick, in the form of a Collared Pratincole. Here's a terrible picture that I managed to get.

Collared Pratincole

 

Most of the birding, including the Pratincole,  took place at the superb RSPB Minsmere reserve, which was just 10 minutes drive from our cottage. I managed to see all of the year ticks except the Dartford Warbler and the Garden Warbler, at this site. Here's another poor shot, this time of the part breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper.

 

Curlew Sandpiper

 

Year List update:
153 – Red-legged Partridge

154 – Green Sandpiper
155- Curlew Sandpiper
156- Collared Pratincole
157 – Little Gull (20+ every day at Minsmere)
158 – Little Tern
159 – Sandwich Tern
160 – Arctic Tern (1)
161 – Dartford Warbler (Dunwich Heath)
162 – Garden Warbler (1 ringed at The Avenue, Chesterfield on 12th July)

As well as the birds I also managed to see a few butterflies and moths, so I'll add another post about those later.