Bitter Sweet Day!

Small Fall Of Chiffchaff Today!

I arrived at the crack of dawn at Brandon Marsh in pouring rain in the hope that some early migrants had finally arrived. My targets for this morning were Wheatear, Sand Martin and Little Ringed Plover, but sadly with the rain hammering down East Marsh Pool lacked any additions.

The best of the early arrival was a Barn Owl quartering Newlands during a lapse in the downpour. Other species of note were 2 Kingfisher, 4 Shelduck, 28 Snipe, 5 Wigeon, a pair of Goldeneye, 5 Oystercatcher and 5 Great Crested Grebe, two of which were displaying.

After many scans of the Gull flock for Mediterranean, having missed yesterdays two pristine specimens by half an hour, the best was a juvenile Yellow-legged. Shortly after I set off with Jim Rushforth for a tour around other areas. It was obvious by the time we got back to the car park that we'd had a nice fall of Chiffchaff overnight when at least 5 were seen and heard singing! Also of note during the walk were 7 Buzzard, 1 Siskin, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 3 Goldcrest. Now here's the bitter sweet news! I've just been informed by a Brandon regular that 2 Wheatear were on Farm Field this morning, an area I normally check but failed to do so today, great to know but what can I say!!

Local yellowhammer Doing Well

This afternoon Dee and I cruised out of the marina and moored at Bridge 101 of the Oxford Canal on route for Braunston, where on Monday morning 'Quidditch' will come out of the water for hull blacking. The cruise was our first of the year and remarkably quiet, only passing one other boat before mooring up. The local Yellowhammer population looks in great shape with 14 recorded on our journey.

This evening I took a walk along the disused Weedon to Leamington railway line which runs right next to our mooring and noticed that a lot of work has been completed in the surrounding area clearing the ditches. This has resulted in a good flow of water around the area and from a birding perspective its actually paying dividends already, when I inadvertently flushed a Jack Snipe from one. Several Hare were in the nearby fields and another 5 Yellowhammer were recorded, along with 2 Kestrel, 4 Skylark and 2 Linnet.

Gloomy but Happy!

New addition at Brandon!

I can't believe that this time last year I was twitching a Western-scrub Jay on the outskirts of Vancouver Canada, were on earth has the year gone!!

This week back in the UK I decided to stay local and after a successful day at Brandon Marsh on Tuesday recording 63 species and a year first (Green Sandpiper) today proved to be really hard work. I can take rain, I can take snow and I can take wind but the last few days of low cloud and misty (sometimes foggy) depressing calmness with high pressure dominating is personally my worst nightmare.

Still for those who know me, my cup is always half full and so a visit to Napton Reservoir, Draycote Water and ending up at Brandon once more was my lot for today.

Napton was its usual quietness and it was noticeable that the powers that be had once again been at work cutting down anything that has the audacity to grow. This time it was the reed cutting machine that had sliced away at the bank reeds and then dumped the excess in any place available, most were still floating around. Consequently the only wildfowl of note were various numbers of Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, along with 2 Great-crested Grebes and 2 Little Grebes which were calling from within the far reed bed. Probably wondering what the hell had happened. Common Gull numbered around 50+ and also seen of note during my walkabout were: 5 Skylark, 3 Snipe, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Green Woodpecker and a lone Fieldfare.

Draycote Water was sadly even worse and this was summed up on arrival when I immediately bumped into the Draycote duo Bob and Richard, who told me to turn around and get straight back into the car. I don't think I've ever seen these guys looking so depressed, not because they'd both missed Sunday's Glossy Ibis, ouch!!, but after about 15 minutes I could understand why. Fisherman on the banks, fisherman in boats, works traffic and workers coming and going. All this combined led to a completely devoid water with the exception of about 30+ Goldeneye and the usual Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Grebes. I was soon off and on route to Brandon after a dismal 30 minute stay.

Ah sanctity!! I arrived at Brandon and took a leisurely stroll past Sheep Field, through New Hare Covert and on to Big Hide, where I spent the next few hours chatting with Bob Lee and scanning for the imminent Sand Martins and Little Ringed Plovers! During my walk I'd probably ended up with similar sightings to Tuesday, the exception being Redshank and Ringed Plovers which today were absent from East Marsh Pool.

So an interesting and varied day but as usual I'm always glad that god graced me with yet another days birding. I've posted the above a picture of the new Osprey Pole at Brandon Marsh which is now complete. Sadly a new hide for phase 3 is a ways of but in the interim an observation screen is currently in the making and when complete the general public will have their first look at the new project.

London Wetlands

Ringed-necked Parakeet

With Dee and I attending a christening in Reading today we decided to make a weekend of it and took the opportunity to visit the WWT London Wetlands Centre for the first time on Saturday.

It was shortly before Peter Scott's death in 1989 that the WWT came across this particular site. Originally the 53 hectare Barn Elms Reservoirs in Barnes, south-west London, owned by Thames Water. Barn Elms was built in the 1890's to supply drinking water for the local area, the reservoirs had recently become redundant following the completion of the Thames Water ring main - a vast underground tunnel supplying all the capitals water needs.

By 1997 the landscaping and engineering work was largely complete and planting had begun in earnest. The London Wetlands Centre was officially opened on 25th May 2000. The centre boasts one of the best wildlife habitats in the UK and has been designated SSSI status on account of the nationally important numbers of Shoveler and Gadwall Duck that overwinter.

Little Grebe (Healthy Population)

Amazingly the first species noted on our arrival were four extremely noisy Ring-necked Parakeets, the UK's only naturalised Parrot! In fact the birds could be heard during most of our visit. Dee and I found the centre more organised than the recently visited Slimbridge reserve with less captive birds on show, but you cant help being amazed by this oasis, particularly being surrounded by the sights of London and the constant stream of aircraft on the flightpath to Heathrow.

The reed beds are extensive with Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail heard on several occasions and 10 Little Grebe sightings during our stay suggests a healthy population. A Peregrine was seen making two passes during our stay putting the whole place into turmoil. There are 5 hides plus the Peacock Tower but I have to say that personally for a 6"4' guy the majority are uncomfortable, with the viewing windows in completely the wrong positions! Having said that the 3 storey Peacock Tower is exceptional and offers panoramic views of the whole reserve, I could happily spend the whole day here!

Peacock Tower (highlight of the reserve)

I had hoped to be reporting on a whole array of Wader species during our visit but sadly, with the exception of Lapwing, the reserve was completely devoid of any! This due to the extremely high water levels which completely covered the scrape areas, the local birders tell me this has been an ongoing battle between the trust and its regular visitors. Good numbers of various Gull species (sadly no surprises) and many Grey Heron and Cormorant could be seen. 2 Siskin, 5 Lesser Redpoll and good numbers of Gadwall, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, but surprisingly only 2 Pintail and 3 Shelduck. Our first two Butterflies of the year were also seen but too distant for a proper recognition, although I suspect from size one was possibly an Orange Tip.

Martins and Kites!

Red Kite

With my birding time limited over the past several days I've taken every opportunity to keep up to speed with both the local and national birding news. It's exciting times of course at the moment with the real spring imminent and of course so too the arrival of our amazing summer visitors.

I've noticed that Sand Martin numbers have now reached double figures and a few have also been reported more inland. The first Swallows have also been spotted in coastal areas along with a couple of Osprey and Northern Wheatears. Unfortunately the great British weather has given a slight kick in the teeth to these early arrivals! With temperatures plummeting over the weekend after some recent spring like days you do fear for these gutsy migrants. Martins and Swallows for example rely on airborne insects and of course with the low temperatures (-3C at the marina this morning) these will be hard to find.

Nevertheless in anticipation I spent this morning at Brandon Marsh constantly scanning for the first Sand Martins but I suppose I was being a little premature, with the current conditions probably blocking any further early arrivals, I did however manage another view of a Bittern in flight from the Carlton Hide. More Waders are now moving inland and during my brief visit to Brandon on Saturday morning I recorded my first Redshank for my Brandon list this year.

Chiltern Hills Red Kite

Yesterday morning and this afternoon I had to make a couple of visits to London Heathrow Airport and of course any birder who knows the route from the Midlands is aware of the fact that it passes right through The Chiltern Hills. In 1989 a decision was taken by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to reintroduce Kites to various parts of the UK. Between 1989 and 2004 the RSPB, English Nature and a variety of other partners have been working on a programme to re-introduce Red Kites to a number of sites across Britain, the Chiltern Hills being one of those sites.

The birds have now spread exponentially and today for example I counted an amazing 17 birds in view at one time. I decided on the way back home to leave the M40 motorway and try to get a closer look at these huge birds. The posted photographs speak for themselves but it was a pleasure to spend 45 minutes in the company of these stunning birds.

Cracking Day!

Mediterranean Gull Record Shot!

Having tweaked my back a few days ago completing some boat repairs I decided that today's visit to Brandon Marsh would be mostly confined to the hides. I certainly don't wish to go through the trauma encountered last summer when I was completely laid out during a visit to France!

With this in mind I positioned myself in Big Hide at first light in the hope that last weekends Glaucous Gull may well be within the overnight roost. As I opened the flaps in anticipation all hope faded, astonishingly only one solitary Black-headed Gull to be found, a great start to the birding day!

Well my cup is always half full and a quick scan of East Marsh Pool soon diminished my early disappointment. The long staying ♂♀Pintail were still asleep off Willow Island, ♂♀Goldeneye were also having a snooze near the floating rafts and a terrific count of 31 Snipe, my best this year. Further scans produced 5 Pochard, 6 Gadwall, 4 Oystercatcher, 5 Shelduck, 45 Tufted Duck and C100 Lapwing and so the day was definitely improving.

Curlew on East Marsh Pool (click to Enlarge!)

As the morning progressed 3 Cetti's Warbler could be heard calling from the reed bed, a Water Rail made a mad dash from one reed bed to the other and as I chatted to Tony Pratley, who'd arrived to clean the hides, (a volunteer and a person who I must highly commend,) a flock of around 50 or so Golden Plover could be seen circling in the distance high over Newlands reed bed. I'd noticed that a few of the other regulars had arrived and were busy scanning from the Wright Hide and so a quick phone call to alert them to the Plover. This was happily reciprocated when a call back shortly after alerted me to a Curlew, which gassing to Tony I'd completely missed dropping in onto Willow Island.

The day was to get even better when I moved on to Carlton Hide, where after a short vigil a Bittern flew from the right hand reeds towards big dead tree. As if this wasn't enough, less than 5 minutes later a second flew high from the left over East Marsh Pool, eventually dropping down onto Swallow Pool, stunning stuff!

Water Rail (More Like Road Runner!!)

Having settled back into Big Hide happy with my lot and enjoying a coffee and a chat with the guys I didn't expect the day to get even more interesting. It certainly did when the earlier 50 or so Golden Plover eventually dropped down, shortly followed by the arrival of the first 2 Ringed Plover of the year, a sure sign spring is on the way. Could things get even better? Well in fact yes they could with one of Peter Berrill's endless scans of the pool locating our first Mediterranean Gull of the year, and Jim's beady eye picking up 4 Dunlin amongst the scattering flock after an unseen Raptor pass, probably a Sparrowhawk, which was seen later in the afternoon.

A cracking days birding and my best day so far this year at Brandon! A few records shots of today's visitors, but with poor light and distance that's all they are, record shots!

Status Check!

Brandon Willow Tit

To Brandon Marsh this morning for my usual Sunday visit and a catch up with the guys. One topic on the agenda was yesterdays reported Iceland Gull, which none of the team had the good fortune to see! As it happens, after pictures posted on the Brandon Guide show, this was actually a Glaucous Gull, which nevertheless is an excellent sighting!

I've always felt that amongst Brandon's many virtues the reserve also appears to be a haven for a few of the nations declining species. The RSPB status alerts list Willow Tit, Song Thrush and Lapwing as Red and Golden Plover, Common Snipe, Stock Dove and Green Woodpecker as Amber. Another bird regular to Brandon during the winter months and on the Red list is the nationally rare Bittern.

Common Snipe

So today as a change to my normal routine I decided to take a closer look for these species and ended up recording 4 singing Song Thrush, 3 Willow Tit, 11 Stock Dove, 75 Lapwing, 1 Bittern, 2 Green Woodpecker and 12 Snipe. Those who regularly visit Brandon will also know that just prior to Christmas we also played host to anything between 20 to 150 Golden Plover on a regular basis. It's also worth noting that my top daily numbers over the previous 3 months of Lapwing have topped over 500, Snipe 34 and on one visit earlier this month no less than 5 Willow Tit. It seems that as far as declining species go Brandon is definitely a winner!

Long-tailed Tit

Back to the rest of the visit highlights and East Marsh Pool still had the long staying pair of Pintail, plus 2♀Goldeneye, 1♂Goldeneye, 2 Shelduck, 5 Pochard, Water Rail, Kingfisher and 6 Oystercatcher. Numbers of Shoveler and Teal continue to decline as we head towards spring, and by the time I left I'd also recorded of note: 8 Treecreeper, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker (3 drumming), 4 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Common Buzzard, 2 Nuthatch, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Skylark over and several Long-tailed Tit flocks.

Glorious Sunshine!

Ruff & Black-tailed Godwit

With the prospects of a beautiful days weather today Dee and I decided to take a picnic and spent the day at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trusts Slimbridge reserve in Gloucestershire.

A few fellow birders I speak to about these types of reserves are rather scathing in their comments (kids running around, families everywhere etc!) and I have to say that I do have mixed thoughts myself when I see birds bread in captivity with wings clipped, after all aren't birds meant to fly? But this is always put to one side when I actually think about the amazing job this organisation does. Captive breeding and release projects for endangered species for example, research, conservation the list goes on, not to mention the protection of some amazing habitats, so you can count me in. I love the idea of children getting to see and learn about our amazing wildlife, the younger they learn, the better for me!

Shelduck♀ & Yes, This Is A Wild One!

In fact from a personal perspective Slimbridge is an excellent place to go birding, offering some superb hides and some amazing diverse habitat. Not to mention the fact that it's a major wintering ground for thousands of Swans, Geese and Waders. Plus, you can have great fun with the camera.

The Zeiss Hide looks out towards the Severn Estuary along with some large pools and reed bed. A selection of Waders were on view with good flocks of Dunlin, which were constantly being harassed by no less than 2 Peregrine. Snipe, Ruff, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Redshank were also recorded. The surrounding pools held large numbers of Shelduck, plus 4 Bewick Swan, at least 200 Wigeon and various numbers of Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Pintail and Teal, 2 Common Buzzard were also seen. From our vantage point at least 150 Barnacle Geese and around 200 or so European White-fronted Geese could be seen feeding on the Dumbles.

Red-crested Pochard (Captive)

The Hogarth Hide, which overlooks South Lake Scrape, is one hide that provides some excellent opportunities to get close ups of various Waders. It's also one of the quieter hides and so you can take a well earned break from the many visitors.

Finally, the Holden Tower provided much better views of the Dumbles and here we had great views of the Barnacle Geese, plus at least 1000 Wigeon and the 200 or so White-fronted Geese seen earlier. Also present were Great-crested Grebe on Long Ground Pool, several Skylark on the surrounding flats and around 50 or so Northern Shoveler. Unfortunately no sign of the recent Lesser Scaup but a really enjoyable day in the spring sunshine!

More Signs Of Spring!

Stunning Moon Rise!

Spent the weekend on the home patch and it came as a real shock this morning when I emerged to find an inch of snow lying on the pontoon! However, the bonus of a cold and frosty night was the stunning sight of a waning crescent moon just appearing over the horizon to the east.

As normal when I'm on the home patch I spend the bulk of my time down at Brandon Marsh and this weekend was no exception and there are definitely more signs of spring. The highlight of today however was unbelievably my first sighting this year of a Bittern. Although I recorded one at Tichwell in January I hadn't connected with any at Brandon, this despite the endless time spent on the reserve both birding and working. Glad to get that monkey off my back!

Nuthatch Already Pairing Up!

It's very noticeable now when your out and about that the resident birds are already beginning to pair up. Several sightings of Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Bullfinch over the weekend were all of paired birds. The ♂Pintail which arrived late last week has now been joined by a female and we've also had a pair of Goldeneye on site since the pools thawed. The Brandon Robins are now beginning to sort their territories too, becoming more aggressive towards each other, and no less than 5 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard drumming today on the lookout for a mate.

The first Oystercatcher of the year was reported on Friday and sightings of Kingfisher are also on the increase. In another 3/4 weeks the first Ringed Plovers are set to arrive, closely followed its hoped by Little Ringed Plover and Redshank, and dare I say it, but my first Sand Martin was recorded last year on March 18th, so I'm getting very excited already.

More signs of birds on the move and if your a regular follower of the five BTO Cuckoo's you'll know that Kasper has now begun to move north 950 miles from his wintering grounds in Africa. I've been fascinated by these guys and their blogs are well worth a read, particularly now they appear to be on the move.

Finally, a quick run down of today's personal numbers at Brandon which included of note: Pintail (♂♀), Goldeneye (♂♀), Pochard (10), Gadwall (8), Barnacle Goose (1), Kingfisher (2), Treecreeper (6), Nuthatch (2), Goldcrest (2), Lesser Redpoll (11), Siskin (4), Great Spotted Woodpecker (6), Snipe (14), Great-crested Grebe (1), Shelduck (1), Wigeon (3), Water Rail (1), Cetti's Warbler (3 heard). Also of note on Saturday's visit were 2 Little Grebe on West Marsh and on arrival today at least 500+ mixed flock of Thrushes which emerged from Willow Wood, probably made up of mostly Redwing and Fieldfare.

Spring?

Brandon ♂Goldeneye

For the first time this year the local Tawny Owls were calling when I left the boat this morning on route to Brandon Marsh at around 6.30am.

My journey was interrupted on the back road towards Long Itchington by a Muntjac Deer, which suddenly took fright and began darting all over the road. Fearing for its safety I pulled up just as he managed to slip through a hole in a nearby fence and made his escape across the field.

When I eventually arrived at Brandon there was a definite feeling of spring in the air. By the time I reached West Marsh for a Bittern vigil prior to starting work I'd recorded 4 Dunnock in song, 2 Goldcrest calling, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in Horsetail Glade and 2 Song Thrush also in song.

My search for the illusive Bittern proved to be unsuccessful but I did spot my first Little Grebe on site this year, when one of two finally emerged from the reed bed after calling to each other for a good 10 minutes. A text from JR, who was on the east marsh, regarding a ♂Pintail persuaded me to finally give up my search and I made my way over through the central marsh path. On route across: 2 Mistle Thrush, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, 2 pristine Willow Tit near the Black Poplar tree which were constantly calling, 4 Siskin in the Alder and a small group of about 10 Lesser Redpoll passed overhead.

♂Pintail (still on site this afternoon)

I arrived at Big Hide just in time to see a Sparrowhawk shoot through, causing absolute mayhem on the pool and as if this wasn't enough for the 300 or so Lapwing, a Buzzard soon followed. Now that the pools are once again thawed it's interesting to see birds returning which had disappeared in the icy conditions. A pair of Goldeneye, regular before the big freeze appear to have returned and were endlessly diving over towards the deeper water of the pool.

Good numbers of the usual Teal, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, plus several Gadwall and at least 5 Snipe, but I was unable to make contact with the Pintail from Big Hide as he was busily upending near the west bank, totally hidden from view by the reed bed. A welcome sight were the 2 Kingfisher which darted past towards Carlton Pool, one chasing the other which had a nice fish in its beak.

A little chain-saw maintenance was required prior to attacking more of the invasive Willow, so as I made my way back to the tool stores I dropped into Baldwin Hide to finally make contact with the Pintail, still happily feeding near the bank. Another surprise along the path were 3 more Willow Tits on the central marsh area, giving me a best ever Brandon total of 5 for the day.

Suffolk Weekend

Meadow Pipit in good numbers!

Late Friday afternoon Dee and I drove over to Suffolk for a weekend with friends and although the birding wasn't top of the agenda we did manage a visit to RSPB Lakenheath Fen on Saturday.

The drive East turned out to be an interesting one as we cant ever recall seeing the temperature drop as much as it did on this particular journey. We left Napton at +1C around 4pm and by the time we arrived at Wixoe in Suffolk a few hours later the temperature had dropped to an amazing -10C. When we woke on the Saturday morning the thermometer was showing a bitter -14.9C.

Stonechat

Despite the temperature the day was beautifully crisp and clear and so unperturbed we took a leisurely drive the 30 miles or so to RSPB Lakenheath with our hosts Pat and John, arriving in -10C at around midday. This was our friends first trip with us to an RSPB reserve after recently developing a keen interest in birding, I wonder who influenced them?

With the pools frozen over the plan was to start at the Wash-land Viewpoint and then walk the perimeter of the river Little Ouse in the hope that anything interesting would probably be on or around the unfrozen water. Firstly though a quick scan in the immediate area where about a half hour earlier the currently visiting Great Grey Shrike had been showing. Despite a Shrike now-show 2 pristine Stonechat's were constantly flitting from the reed bed up onto the frozen teazel, A Green Woodpecker was ground feeding and 3 Skylark passed overhead.

Hoar Frost on Teazel

The walk along the bank produced some stunning scenery with a large amount of trees and most small bushes glistening in the harsh hoar frost. Canada Geese, Greylag, Lapwing, Snipe, Pied Wagtail and various numbers of Teal and Wigeon were busily feeding along the river banks and excellent numbers of Meadow Pipit were also recorded along the route. Fieldfare, Redwing, Song Thrush and Blackbird kept a constant search under leaf and several small flocks of Goldfinch were constantly on the go.

On the return trip to the nature centre a day hunting Barn Owl was the highlight and after Dee, Pat and John made their escape for hot chocolate I spent an enjoyable 40 minutes trying once again to locate the Great Grey Shrike, sadly in vain. During my frozen vigil 2 more Stonechat, probably the same birds as earlier, plus more Meadow Pipit, Water Rail and a flypast from firstly a Little Egret and then a USAF Tanker on finals to the nearby American Airbase.

Several Lesser Redpoll on the centre feeders and a very nice Sparrowhawk on the way out, ably spotted by John, the newest member of the world wide birding network. Not a prolific birding day, dipping on both Shrike and the local Cranes, but a greatly enjoyable one with some dear friends!