New Forest, Poole Harbour and RSPB Arne

 After our visit to Salisbury, Jayne and I spent the next four days in The New Forest and Poole Harbour/Swanage area. Whilst there we added 9 more species to the Year List.

Our first new bird was House Martin (139), which was seen around our accommodation in Fordingbridge. Firecrest (140) was added during a walk in Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary in The New Forest, as was Willow Warbler (141).

Firecrest

On 9th, we had a 3 hour cruise with Birds of Poole Harbour, where we managed to see 3 Spoonbills (142), 2 distant Ospreys (143), and, best of all, amazing views of a female White-tailed Eagle (144).

WT Eagle G466

The White-tailed Eagle that we saw was a female, G466, that was translocated from The Isle of Skye into the Isle of Wight in 2020 by the Roy Dennis Foundation. She has been settled in this area, with a male bird, G463. See details here. Whilst on the trip, we also saw Black-headed, Great Black-backed, Herring and Mediterranean Gulls, Black-tailed Godwits, a Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Great-crested Grebes, Curlew, Lapwing, Canada, Greylag and an Egyptian Goose, 3 Little Ringed Plovers (145) and Sandwich Terns (146). 

Our last addition to the Year List was Dartford Warbler (147) that was seen on Hyde's Heath at RSPB Arne. Unfortunately, no photos, as the two birds we saw, decided to keep low down in the gorse, to avoid the attention of a pair of Stonechats!

Hayle Estuary and Ryan's Field - 26th October 2024

 Jayne and I arrived in Cornwall on Saturday, and, after some lovely food in the Birdies Bistro, headed straight to the RSPB's Hayle Estuary and Ryan's Field.

Walking into the hide, we were greeted by approximately 10 Redshank, a single Black-headed Gull and a Danish-ringed Spoonbill, that was feeding on the reserve.

Spoonbill V463

We then walked across to the estuary where there were several hundred Canada Geese, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, Shelduck, Wigeon (200+), Teal (100+), Ringed Plover (2), Dunlin (2), Bar-tailed Godwit (5), Curlew (c.30), Herring, Black-headed, 1 Great Black-backed and at least 6 Mediterranean Gulls (4 1st winters and 2 adults).

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-headed Gull and Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull (adult, left bird, and 1st winter)

Norfolk - 5th and 6th October 2024

 This weekend, Jayne and I went down to Norfolk, where we had a lovely walk around Wells-next-the-Sea and around RSPB Snettisham.

We were at Wells yesterday, in a very warm and sunny 17 degrees. We walked down from the town to the beach and back. Species seen were: Redshank, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Dark-bellied Brent Goose (c300), Red-throated Diver (1 breeding plumaged bird fishing in the channel), a tern species, Little Egret, Great Egret (2 flying over), Black-headed and Herring Gull and a juvenile/1st winter Wheatear - great spot Jayne! We also saw a couple of Wall Brown butterflies at Old Hunstanton Golf Course later in the day - my first of the year.

Wheatear (juvenile/1st winter - almost in focus!)

This morning, we had a walk around RSPB Snettisham. Unfortunately, there wasn't a very high tide, so we didn't get the flyover from the birds, but we still saw thousands of waders. Species seen were: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin, Avocet, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, and Knot ( year tick 193). we also had 20+ Little Egrets and 12 Spoonbills, including a darvic ringed bird; NF1U. A report has been sent off, and it appears to be a Dutch-ringed bird (see here). I'll update with full details, when I receive them.

Spoonbill NF1U

UPDATE: The Spoonbill had been ringed, as a pullus, at Ventjagersplaten, Lebret, The Netherlands, 294km away, on 28th May 2024. Before my sighting, it had been reported at Besthorpe Nature Reserve, Nottinghamshire on 24th July 2024. It was next seen at Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire, on 19th August, before spending the best part of September (1st to 29th) at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. My sighting was the latest, so far.

Weekend Birding

 This weekend, Jayne and I went up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Teesdale and RSPB Fairburn Ings. Over the two days, we managed to spot 10 new species for the "year list".

The first new species was Gannet (152), followed closely by Kittiwake (153), Puffin (154) and Razorbill (155). Back at the Visitors' Centre, we added Tree Sparrow (156).

Tree Sparrow

Afterwards, we drove up to Teesdale, to visit Langdon Beck and the Black Grouse (157). We had two visits, one on Saturday, and one again on Sunday morning. Black Grouse were seen on both occasions, with 27 displaying (lekking) males on the Sunday visit- a very impressive sight and sound. One bird, presumably a young male, by the look of the plumage, wandered up from the lek, right to the car, from where this photo was taken!

Black Grouse

A short while later, this female bird was spotted, posing beautifully. Again, this photo was taken from the car, at a distance of about 15m.

Black Grouse (female)

Other birds seen in the area were: drumming Snipe (158), a male Wheatear (159), Curlew, Lapwing and lots of Meadow Pipits. Driving back to our accommodation, we dropped very lucky, and saw two hunting Barn Owls, and a Red Squirrel!

Barn Owl

Our last stop was RSPB Fairburn Ings, where we added Spoonbill (160) and Common Tern (161).

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

RSPB Minsmere - 9th August 2023

 On Wednesday, Jayne and I had 3 hours at RSPB Minsmere. We got there just after 6am, and walked around the main scrape area, before finishing off back at the café with a delicious vegan sausage cob!

It was quite quiet as we set off, but the first sighting, of a Common Lizard, warming up on a post was a great start. As the weather warmed up, we began to spot several Stonechats, Linnets, Reed Bunting, Common Terns, the first Common and Ruddy Darters, along with a couple of Migrant Hawkers and dozens of Gatekeepers.

Common Lizard

Arriving at the East Hide, we began to spot a few more birds, with the following waders seen: Green Sandpiper (3), Common Sandpiper (1), Ruff (3), Avocet (c50), Black-tailed Godwit (c.60), Redshank (2), Dunlin (6), Lapwing and Spotted Redshank (5). Gulls were far and few between, but we did spot a few Black-headed Gulls, a single, juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 1 adult Kittiwake and, best of all, 26 Little Gulls, including a few in breeding plumage. 5 Spoonbills were asleep, and there were also several Shelducks (juveniles), Teal, Mallard, Greylag, Canada and at least one family party of Barnacle Geese.

Avocets

We carried on around The Scrape, spotting another Migrant Hawker, a male Black-tailed Skimmer, more Common and Ruddy Darter and dozens of Red Admirals and Peacock butterflies, feeding on Hemp Agrimony.

Ruddy Darter

Our final stop was the Bittern Hide. Here we spotted Bearded Tit (heard only), a Muntjac Deer, a Kestrel, a distant Marsh Harrier and a fly-by Bittern.

Back at the Visitors' Centre, we had a few minutes watching the butterflies on the Buddleia bushes. Red Admirals and Peacocks were in good numbers again, along with a single Brimstone (1 male), 1 Comma, Gatekeeper (c.5) and at least a couple of Grayling. 3 Hornets were also seen buzzing around the bushes.

Grayling

Year List update: Little Gull (179)

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 29th April 2023

 Jayne and I had a drive over to RSPB Frampton Marsh yesterday for our annual visit. As always, the reserve was fantastic, and we had a great few hours there, enjoying the weather (warm and sunny) and adding 11 species to this year's list.

The first new species was Ruff (142), followed quickly by Avocet (143), seen on some newly-created wetlands by the car park.

Ruff

Avocet

Sedge (144) and Reed Warbler (145) were added next, along with 3 Spoonbills (146), that we saw from the 360 Hide. Walking down to the reservoir area added singing Lesser Whitethroat (147) and Whitethroat (148), as well as a single male Brimstone, one Holly Blue and 6+ Peacock butterflies.

Walking back down to the Visitors' Centre we spotted 6 Yellow Wagtails (149, including 2 bright yellow males) and a Whimbrel (150).

Spot the Yellow Wagtail!

The final two "ticks" were Barnacle Goose (151) and Common Tern (2 birds seen, 152). Other species seen around the reserve included: Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Canada and Brent Goose (Dark-bellied and 2 Pale-bellied), Greylag Goose (with goslings), Shelduck, Shoveler, Spotted Redshank ( 2 breeding plumaged birds), Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Cetti's Warbler (heard).

Greylag Goose

After our visit here, we drove across to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Willow Tree Fen reserve where we had fantastic views of a Common Crane (153) and a hunting Hobby (154), along with a Brown Hare, 2 Muntjac Deer and a Fallow Deer. At one point, we had Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Hobby in the binoculars at the same time!

Common Crane

Pacific Golden Plover and Black Stork!!

 Yesterday I had a drive over to RSPB Frampton Marsh to see a couple of nice birds: Pacific Golden Plover (lifer!) and Black Stork (British tick).

The Pacific Golden Plover was very easy to see, as it fed for the whole visit on a small piece of water on the marsh, about 20m from the sea wall. I got excellent views via the 'scope and even managed a half decent photo.

Pacific Golden Plover

The Black Stork (a juvenile) wasn't quite so easy, as it was at in a ditch about a 45 minute walk from the car park when I arrived! I walked across, however, and got great views of it on the ground, and then several more throughout the day as it flew around the reserve.

Black Stork

Other birds seen around the reserve included Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Spoonbill (17), Black-headed Gull, Grey Heron, Swallow, Canada and Greylag Geese, Little and Great-crested Grebe, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mute Swan and Goldfinch.

Year List update:

162 - Pacific Golden Plover

163 - Black Stork

164 - Green Sandpiper

165 - Spoonbill

166 - Spotted Redshank

Caspian Tern!

I spent a few hours at RSPB Frampton Marsh yesterday, primarily to see a Caspian Tern that has been present for a few days. I've seen this species once before, in Spain, but this was my first encounter in Britain!

My first sighting was on the main reedbed, viewed from the path to Reedbed Hide, and was quite distant. I did, however, manage to get a record shot.

Caspian Tern

Later during the visit, I got another view, as the bird flew straight over my head! Along with the tern, there were also lots of other species about, and, by the end of my visit, I'd notched up a stunning 14 "year ticks", including a juvenile Black-necked Grebe. In addition to the tern and the year ticks, there were also 14 Spoonbills present.

Spoonbills

It was quite windy whilst I was there, but I did manage to see a new dragonfly species, a Ruddy Darter.

Ruddy Dater

Year List update:
 139 – Caspian Tern

140 – Shelduck

141 – Dunlin

142 – Common Sandpiper

143 – Black-tailed Godwit

144 – Bar-tailed Godwit

145 – Avocet

146 – Spotted Redshank

147 – Ruff

148 – Yellow Wagtail

149 – Black-necked Grebe

150 – Little Egret

151 – Ringed Plover

152 – Knot

Year List Update - 5th July 2020

Wow, I didn't realise just how long it had been since I last updated the Year List!! As you can see, it's increased quite a lot since the end of Lockdown. Obviously, the there many "common" species there, but the best one, by a long way has to be the adult Rose-Coloured (Rosy) Starling that I saw, in Barnsley, back on 6th June.

Rosy Starling

Other highlights include the Wood Warbler ( a beautiful singing male seen in Padley Gorge), a reeling Grasshopper Warbler (on Leash Fen) and the adult and juvenile Spoonbills seen at RSPB Fairburn Ings last weekend.

Year List update:

109 – Red Grouse

110 – Curlew

111 – Reed Bunting

112 – Hobby

113 – Sand Martin

114 – Reed Warbler

115 – Sedge Warbler

116 – Wood Warbler

117 – Redstart

118 – Spotted Flycatcher

119 – Little Ringed Plover

120 – Tree Pipit

121 – Stonechat

122 – Rose-coloured Starling

123 – Whinchat

124 – Lesser Redpoll

125 – Grasshopper Warbler

126 – Long-eared Owl

127 – Spoonbill

128 – Common Tern

129 – Tree Sparrow

130 – Gannet

131 – Razorbill

132 – Guillemot

133 – Puffin

134 – Fulmar

135 – Kittiwake

136 – Great Skua

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

Norfolk Birding - August 2018

Last weekend Jayne and I spent 3 days in Norfolk. We travelled down on Sunday and popped into RSPB Frampton Marsh to catch up with a Stilt Sandpiper - a lifer. We got good 'scope views as it fed in amongst hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits out on the Reedbed Marsh. Here's a distant, heavily cropped photo.

Stilt Sandpiper

Whilst in Norfolk we had a walk around Blakeney Marshes where we got great views of a Whinchat. 

Whinchat

We also visited RSPB Titchwell, where we managed to find, amongst others,  10 "year ticks" (numbers 189 - 198) and a Garganey.

Year List update:
188 – Stilt Sandpiper
189 – Bearded Tit
190 – Spoonbill
191 – Spotted Redshank
192 – Bar-tailed Godwit
193 – Grey Plover
194 – Common Scoter
195 – Red-crested Pochard
196 – Pintail
197 – Tree Sparrow
198 – Golden Plover

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

Ring-billed Gull

Last year I was lucky enough to be in Hampshire, where I spotted a beautiful adult Ring-billed Gull (see post here). Well, a first summer bird had been reported on the Hayle Estuary in Cornwall, on the Birdguides website, so whilst down here, I thought I'd pop along and have a look at it.

Reports on the website, said that the bird had been seen just north of the road that runs parallel to estuary, just next to the RSPB Reserve, so I started my search there. The first bird I saw wasn't the one I was looking for, but it was a beautiful second summer Mediterranean Gull (year tick)! There were also dozens of Black-headed and Herring Gulls, a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a few Great Black-backed Gulls present. After about 15 minutes of searching, the Ring-billed Gull flew in from behind me and settled on the mud about 50m away, where I got some photos.

Ring-billed Gull

I took this more distant shot of the gulls, and when I looked at it on the computer, I noticed that there are, in fact, 5 out of the 6 gull species present in the one photo!

Mixed gulls

 Also present on the estuary and reserve were a Spoonbill, Curlew and another year tick, a Whimbrel!

Year List update:
156- Mediterranean Gull
157- Ring-billed Gull
158 - Whimbrel

Year List tops 150

After a week away in Norfolk I thought it was about time I updated the Year List, especially as I've managed to reach the 150 mark again.

The first new addition, Barn Owl, was actually spotted in Derbyshire a few weeks ago. It suddenly appeared flying over the road as I drove to work through Apperknowle.

The other new birds were all recorded during the last week in Norfolk. Red-legged Partridge was seen in the fields around Sharrington. Sandwich Tern and Knot were seen at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Cley Reserve, whilst the two Godwit species (both in breeding plumage!), Spoonbill and Bearded Tit, were all recorded at the RSPB's Titchwell Reserve.

Whilst at Titchwell, I also spotted a juvenile colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull. A quick check on the internet suggested that it had been ringed earlier this year in Norway- nice! Here's the colour ring.

JT187 

Colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull

On the way back to the centre, we came across these 2 juvenile Reed Warblers that were sitting in the reeds just 20 ft or so from the path. There was a 3rd young bird lower down in the reeds as well, and whilst stood there, an adult bird came in to feed them.

Reed Warbler

Year List update:

146 - Barn Owl

147 - Red-legged Partridge

148 - Ruff

149 - Sandwich Tern

150 - Knot

151 - Black-tailed Godwit

152 - Bar-tailed Godwit

153 - Spoonbill

154 - Bearded Tit

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