30/12/2016 Blue Rock Thrush in the Cotswolds

Friday 30 December 2016
Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

Another early start saw us off to Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds to twitch the Blue Rock Thrush.  Gareth, Paul and myself were about to have a long, hard and eventful day.

Driving conditions were very challenging all day, with fog and mist adding to the already icy conditions.

• We arrived at our destination just on 08.30 only to find that our target bird had not been seen at all! We joined the large gathering of birders searching for our prize.  
• After a fruitless 90 minutes or so we decided to head to the Cotswold Country Park some 25+ miles away to look for the Red-crested Pochard that Paul needed for his year list and await further news about the thrush.  We duly found over 50+ of the Red-crested Pochards on the water, albeit barely visible in the mist.  With no further news from Stow-on-the-Wold we decided to cut our losses and head home.
• As we were passing Reading on the M4, Gareth picked up an alert from Bird Guides - the Blue Rock Thrush had been sighted!  We persuaded a reluctant Paul that we should go back and try again.
• Some 90 minutes later we arrived back at our original destination only to be told the bird had flown off after showing well!! 
• However it didn't take long for the bird to be found again and we finally enjoyed excellent views of the bird on the gable end of a nearby roof.

Blue Rock Thrush
courtesy of Bob the Birder

Blue Rock Thrush - the twitchers

The journey home was long and slow with many hold ups due to the poor visibility.  Just as I was getting into Uckfield my son, Peter, called from the Amex to say the Brighton game v Cardiff had just been called off because of the fog and I could relax and enjoy my fish and chips with Sue at home.

• Only seven times in history has one of these southern European mountain birds been spotted in the United Kingdom.
• As soon as news of the bird’s arrival in Stow-on-the-Wold began to circulate late on Tuesday, a small army of keen twitchers were making plans to travel to Gloucestershire to see the species with its striking indigo plumage.
• An autumn that has seen an unprecedented host of rare birds arriving from the far reaches of Siberia as well as North America now appears to be producing sightings from southern climes.
• By rights, the blue rock thrush should be wintering among the rocky crags and lower slopes of mountain ranges skirting the Mediterranean and North Africa.
• The bird is believed to have arrived in Fisher Close two weeks ago and seems well at home, feeding alongside the neighbourhood blackbirds and robins.
• To a casual observer, a male blue rock thrush  appears smaller but more upright than a blackbird, with a relatively longer bill and dark blue colouring across its head and body.

courtesy of Daily Express



Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
Blue Rock Thrush   (264)

Addition to BUBO UK Life List:
Blue Rock Thrush   (326)

29/12/2016 Siberian Stonechat at Dungeness

Thursday 29 December 2016
Kerton Road, Dungeness

A grey stonechat has been in residence at Kerton Road, Dungeness since November.  I have resisted attempts to go and see it until more information was forthcoming.  DNA tests on it's pooh have now shown it to be a Snejneder's Stonechat - a member of the Siberian Stonechat family.  With this in mind, I finally made the trip early this morning.

• Thankfully the bird was showing well as I got there, with terrific views of it on the fence, on top of the low bushes and on the ground.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

Siberian Stonechat   (263)



I had no luck at Newhaven Tidemills on the way home, in an hour long search for the Serin.

21/12/2016 Twitching Pipit's - a Winter Solstice Treat

Wednesday 21/12/2016  
Twitching with Gareth and Paul

Another early start, this time at 05.00. I picked Gareth and Paul up at 05.45.  We then headed off to Blagdon Lakes in Somerset arriving just after 09.30.  On the way home we dropped in at Blashford Lakes in Hampshire arriving at 12.30.

Blagdon Lakes

A Blyth's Pipit has been present at Blagdon Lakes for over a week but only reported a few days ago. We were hoping to get a good sighting before the forecasted poor weather arrived in the afternoon.  

• We joined a small group of birders who were already viewing the bird by the lake edge.  For the next 90 minutes or so we enjoyed good views, from about 30 metres, as the pipit moved restlessly about it's business, flying occasionally.  Fortunately, there were several Meadow Pipit's in close proximity so it was easy to make the comparison.

Blyth's Pipit to the left of a Meadow Pipit
Courtesy of Brian Thompson Bristol Birding

• We also saw other interesting birds including 5 Great White Egrets, a Little Stint and 3 Bewick Swans.

• The Blyth's pipit (Anthus godlewskii) is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds in Mongolia and neighbouring areas. 
• It is a long distance  migrant moving to open lowlands in southern Asia. 
• It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
• This is a large pipit, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below.
• It is very similar to Richard's pipit, but is slightly smaller, shorter legs and a shorter dark bill. 
• Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic "pshee" call, higher pitched than Richard's

Blashford Lakes

Having succeeded with our main target we had time to call in at Blashford Lakes to twitch the Water Pipit.  This was a "lifer" for Gareth.  

• Thankfully it didn't take long to spot it from the Lapwing Hide.  It was heading left along the edge of the lake and we were able to get good scope views from about 30 metres.
• There were other birds of interest on view including 16 Goosander.

Another memorable trip on a day when it would have been easy to succumb to the poor weather forecast and stay in the comfort of your own home. 

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

Blyth's Pipit   (262)

Addition to BUBO UK Life List:

Blyth's Pipit   (325)

11/12/2016 Into Dorset and Hampshire

Sunday 11 December 2016

I teamed up with Andrew and Paul for a twitch into Dorset and Hampshire.  It meant an early 07.30 start from Lancing in quite misty and damp conditions but with the promise of some sunny weather later on.

Lytchett Fields RSPB in Dorset

• Our target bird was the Lesser Yellowlegs, seen regularly on this reserve since September.  Just as we arrived it flew away but Paul and Andrew managed to see it in flight.  We then spent a long time searching for it, a non-too-easy task in the misty conditions.

• After the mist began to clear, Andrew, Paul and a local birder found the bird, this time on French's Pool.  The view was distant and into the sun however. I was searching for it on the original, adjacent pool so didn't get back in time to see it.  We didn't hang around for me to catch up with it.  It had disappeared again and as I had already seen one in Essex earlier in the year I was happy to move on.

Blashford Lakes in Hampshire

Our target bird here was the Ring-billed Gull that has been roosting here for some time now.  

• We arrived early so had time to visit the Woodland Hide, looking at birds on the feeders. Most of the usual suspects were present, the pick of them being Nuthatch, Siskin and Great Spotted Woodpecker,
• From Ivy North Hide we saw a Great White Egret flying over the lake but could not see any Bittern or Water Rail.
• We took our place early in the Tern Hide to ensure a good position later on.  In the meantime we enjoyed seeing 15+ Goosander, a Kingfisher, a Green Sandpiper, 5 Goldeneye, a Green Woodpecker, a White-fronted Goose and 10+ Egyptian Geese.
• The Ring-billed Gull did not show until 30 minutes before dusk, by which time we were getting a little anxious.  However the views were good and with Common Gulls and at least one Yellow-legged Gull in close proximity we were able to appreciate the list of key ID differences that Paul gave us 

A great day out! 

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
Ring-billed Gull   (261)

10/12/2016 Rye Harbour NR with the East Grinstead RSPB Local Group

Saturday 10 December 2016

Our annual visit to Rye Harbour NR turned out to be a success with over 50 species seen.  Thankfully the weather was mild and dry, if overcast, for the 11 members who made the trip.

There were several highlights:-

• 4 species of raptor were seen.  A stunning Merlin was perched on a post in the area to the left of the path leading to Denny Hide.  Also seen was a Peregrine which spooked the water birds and put them to flight.  A Sparrowhawk was seen early on and a Marsh Harrier showed up mid morning.
• A huge group of Golden Plover caused a lot of excitement, on the ground and in flight.
• Over 10 Pintail ducks, including several males, provided a regal touch to the water birds on show,
• We were unable to find any Scaup or the Black-necked Grebe but we did find a smashing Red-breasted Merganser.

After lunch 5 of us made the short trip to RSPB Dungeness where we saw the Ring-necked Duck but missed out on the Long-eared Owl and the Smew.  We only stayed for a short time.

A very pleasant trip which everyone seemed to enjoy.

07/12/2016 Dusky Thrush in Debyshire

Wednesday 7 December
Beeley nr Matlock in Derbyshire

I went with Paul and Gareth to Derbyshire to twitch the rare dusky thrush.  A very early start (2 a.m.) saw me pick them up at 4 a.m. before we made the 400 mile round trip to the lovely village of Beeley near Matlock.  After a 40 minute delay on the M1 we arrived on site just after 8 a.m. Sadly there was a huge gathering of similar minded twitchers  and they were occupying the prime viewing positions.

• As we arrived at the orchard, the dusky thrush took flight so our view was good but only fleeting. In the next hour or so it was seen near the church, then in the playground area but again the best we could get were flight views.

• Finally we got to see the bird on the ground, in the orchard close to where we parked our car.  The views were now prolonged and excellent so we could pick up the key ID features.  Quite soon after we got further, even better, views in the main orchard by the activity centre.

dusky thrush
courtesy of Daily Telegraph

By this time the sheer number of birders was getting to us as it was quite chaotic at times.  Heaven help the locals if this bird is still there at the weekend!  We decided to head off home - and it was still only 10.30 a.m.

Too many twitchers in a confined space
courtesy of The Telegraph

This rare vagrant breeds in Siberia and winters in south east Asia and should be somewhere near Japan at the moment!





Addition to BUBO UK 2016 Year List
dusky thrush   (260)


Addition to BUBO UK Life List
dusky thrush   (324)

5/12/2016 and 6/12/2016 Local News

Monday 5 December 2016
Ashdown Forest

• Spent an hour at dusk with Alastair looking for signs of any hen harriers going down to roost.   Although there had been a sighting during the daytime recently, no harriers came in to roost. It looks as if we will have a second successive failure after many years of continuous success.
• The usual suspects were there - winter thrushes, mippits, corvids and a sparrowhawk.

Tuesday 6 December 2016
Weir Wood Reservoir

Spent the morning burning debris and clearing paths on the north side of the reservoir and the afternoon helping Bob J put up a second sign in the water at the boundary of the nature reserve to remind the boating fraternity to keep out.

A rather distasteful experience presented itself to us in the north end car park at the start of the day.  We found 4 deer heads and a stomach smack in the middle of the parking area where the deer had obviously been butchered and the unwanted bits strewn around.  


On a more pleasant note we saw a good selection of birds.

• A couple of kingfishers flew up and down the stream on Willets.  
• On the feeder we had marsh tit, coal tit, great-spotted woodpecker and nuthatch of note.
• The usual buzzard sounds drew our attention at times.
• There were an unusual number of gadwall (25+) for Weir Wood.
• The start of the gull roost at the end of the day gave us 7 or 8 common gulls and a lesser black-backed gull among the black-headed gulls.

01/12/2016 East Head, Snowhill and Medmerry

Thursday 1 December 2016
West Sussex Coast

On a glorious sunny day 10 of us joined Paul for a visit to the south coast near Chichester. Temperatures were well below freezing early on but, with no wind and clear skies, it felt much warmer.

• Brent geese were present in huge numbers all day and provided the perfect backdrop to our visit..

East Head a.m.

There were so many things to enjoy early on as we took advantage of the low tide to walk along the sands, away from the numerous dog walkers.

• At least 9 sanderling immediately caught our eye at the water's edge.
• Eiders are not common on the south coast so we were delighted to find a juvenile drake showing well close in.
• The birds just kept coming; soon we saw a slavonian grebe, a couple of great northern divers, a black-throated diver, a couple of common scoters, up to 10 red-breasted mergansers and a superb kingfisher feeding in the bay as we rounded the corner.
• Highlight of the day however had to be the snow bunting we encountered near the sand dunes.  It was so obliging, even when disturbed by the dog walkers, and we spent a good 30 minutes or so enjoying close views.
• We even had a close mediterranean gull join us right at the end of our lunch.  It was on a post just a few metres from us before it decided to give us a display of it's flying skills.

Snowhill p.m.

After a lovely lunch, seated by the bay so as  to take full advantage of the outstanding sea views, we headed off the short distance to Snowhill Marshes where there were lots of birds to be seen.

• Pick of the bunch was a couple of knot, showing well on one of the distant pools
• A striking greenshank made it's way around the pool.
• There were quite a few snipe showing with at least 2 on the exposed grassy area adjacent to the footpath.

Medmerry p.m.

A long walk to the sea at Medmerry in the late afternoon sunshine was very enjoyable.

• We saw our first raptors here - a kestrel and a marsh harrier.
• On a personal level, I was delighted and surprised when we saw a scaup on one of the distant pools to the east.

Over 60 species seen today and some superb scenery.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

Scaup   (259)

It doesn't get much better than this in December!