Month: January 2016

The Rest of England

Coal Tit; Blue Tit; Great TitAfter Christmas and all, the birding kind of cooled down, other than Cley, of course. I went to Stewartby once or twice, including a trip to a birder’s favourite place – the sewage lagoons. Grey Wagtail (Lifer), Pied Wagtail, and Yellowhammer (also Lifer) were the only birds actually on the excrement but all around were Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Robins.
Hopping around in the scrubby bushes and on the ground was another lifer – Chiffchaff (a Siberian race, spending the winter in a summer paradise – for it at least)!

Furthermore, it was my cousin’s 10th Birthday the next Saturday, and we were going to his Grandparents’ farm. On the way, however, we decided to stop at the “Danish Camp.” There we saw an Eagle-Owl, Mandarin Duck, Eider, Black Swan, and Garganey. Only the Garganey was wild – the others were part of a private collection.

Black-headed Gull
Black-headed Gull

We left that night for Portsmouth, not intending to bird watch too much…
that didn’t happen. At the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, there were gulls all over. Herring, both Black-backed, Black-headed, and a rarity – Ring-billed Gull! I don’t do well on boats, but on the short tour of the bay, we found Gooseander (Common Merganser), Cormorant, and even a Eurasian Shag! At the restaurant where we ate lunch, there was a Water Pipit, some Gulls, and a Pied Wagtail.

The next day, we went for a short walk, on which we found Ruddy Turnstone, Pied Wagtail (they were everywhere), Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker and others.

Turnstone
Turnstone

Back in Bedfordshire, I could most often be found watching through the window out at my Grandparents’ acre, where I registered about 30 species. One day, I came across half a dozen Linnets, a Yellowhammer, and 6 Dunnock in addition to the regulars. Another, I saw a Green Woodpecker flying across the lawn. Pheasant were present in the back corner, and I once had a fleeting glimpse of a Eurasian Jay.

And only a few days before we left, a couple others and I went down to the Sandy RSBP Lodge to see what was there. We got there and found the feeders, but there was only a couple birds there – Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Chaffinches, etc. Further on, we hit on a bird hide watching over some feeders, where we found Nuthatch, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and more. Back near the Lodge, we identified Reed Bunting, and Redwing as well as Goldfinches, Tits, Chaffinches and a solitary Brambling!

Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker

 

 

 

Brambling & Chaffinch
Brambling & Chaffinch

Overall, it was a good trip, with lots of great birds. The most notable thing was the birdsong, which filled the air where ever you went. The one downside was that I did not see a single owl, but that was okay. I was surprised by the number of shore birds there, although you must consider the fact that England rarely drops below 0 Celsius, even in winter.

And now I’m on the plane back. Vacation goes too quickly, especially with a place like Cley Marshes in it…

Cley Marshes…

What happened in Cley depended almost entirely on the weather, a factor that really influenced our experience, considering that from Wednesday afternoon to Friday evening (the length of our stay), all of Thursday found torrents of water dumping out of the heavens.

Wednesday was the best day by far, on which we found 18 life birds, and others, including rarities like Red-crested Pochard, Spotted Redshank, and Common Raven. Our target species were not many, only five species were on our Cley bucket list: Barn Owl, Bearded Tit, Water Rail, European Storm-Petrel, and Smew.

Lapwing and Mallard
Lapwing and Mallard
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Eurasian Curlew

We searched for the Water Rail first, but did
not find it. Next, we walked down through the marshes keeping our eyes open for Bearded Tit, Reed Bunting, and Barn Owl. Nothing. At the first lake, however, we found Shelduck, Common Redshank, Red-crested Pochard. Curlew lurked among the banks of small rivulets, while Lapwing strutted around like they owned the world – and in those numbers, maybe they did!

 

We ate lunch in one of the hides, sporadically scanning the lake to see if anything else was there.  Suddenly, a medium sized duck slipped off the shore and swam away, catching my attention – Common Scoter!

Continuing to the sea, we came upon a kilometer long beach, 500 meters on each side. Deciding to go left might have been the right choice, but with what we found out later, it’s hard to decide!

Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull

Hundreds of shorebirds littered the point – Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Ringed Plover. Over to the left, there were 2,000 Herring Gulls settling down for the night. to the right, a solitary Great Black-backed Gull.

Walking back, we hit upon the Marsh Harrier roost, and saw 15 of these amazing raptors retiring for the day. And, with the last ray of the sun shining on a single portion of the Marshes, it was time for the Bearded tits to make a quick appearance. Two of the made themselves obvious, a male and a female. One target species was good enough for the day.

Then we saw the most significant sighting of the day. My Mom.  We had overstayed our welcome at Titchwell.  We were losing light and it was time to move on to Cromer, where we were staying.  My family had been killing time at the RSPB lodge and was ready to move on.  But guess what they had seen?

What happens next in part 2?  Stick around!

My First Week in England

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Eurasian Robin

I  have now been in England for a week. First impressions? More birds than Canada in winter. Small birds everywhere, many Wood Pigeons, and a few Eurasian Collared Doves. On the lake, Black-headed Gulls galore, with lots of Tufted Ducks and Eurasian Coot around. Little Egrets burst out from the banks on occasion, and Blackbirds dart around the paths. Gold-, Bull-, Green- and Chaff-finches litter the skies while Blue Tits rule the bushes.

And they sing. They sing and they sing and they sing. Being a stranger to the songs of English birds is definitely the biggest difficulty you can have here. The Robin’s song has caught me out more than once. A surprising lack of raptors is present, for I have seen but a Red Kite, two Eurasian Kestrels and one Buzzard in a lot of birding time.

Today I went out to a nearby lake, Stewartby Lake. It is the best birding spot in Bedfordshire, with a species list including Caspian Gull, Little Egrets, Yellow-footed Gull and others. We didn’t leave until about 9:45 local time, but we still got a reasonable checklist.

Starting off with a Blue Tit, we walked around the lake with my uncle, my mother, my sister and a dog. Eurasian Coot, Tufted Duck and Great Crested Grebes were he first thing we found on the lake itself, continuing with a million and two Black-headed Gulls. A Kingfisher roared past, and as we followed its path, we hit upon the first rarity of the day – a Little Egret!

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Little Egret and Eurasian Coot

After a while, the Uncle, Mother, Sister and the dog left to go back home, but we stayed on for the full loop of the water. Further on, we came across some strange ducks. Mallard sized, they were mostly black, but with a white throat and upper breast patch. Not a bird either of us had seen before. It took us until we found these birds to figure them out: Mallard hybrids!
IMG_1499

Continuing, we walked past the sailing club, and found a small dockyard full of birds. by now, the light was too bad for any good photos. My Uncle has lent me his telescope to use as a spotting scope, and it was with this that I saw something behind the Moorhen on the dock – a Dabchick, or Little Grebe!

IMG_1417Nearing the end of the loop, we passed out of  the lake habitat and into a more wooded area, where a flash of red led us to a Bullfinch, and as we were leaving, we found a Song Thrush!

In a few days, I shall leave for Cley Marshes, in North Norfolk, where I expect to see a good number of species. So though I shall post then, I suspect that I won’t post again until then.

Happy New Year!