10/05/2017 Knepp Estate with the East Grinstead RSPB Group

Wednesday 10 May 2017
Knepp Estate
East Grinstead RSPB Group


10 of us enjoyed a smashing 3 hours this morning going round this most interesting estate. Starting from the car park in the village of Shipley we headed south before looping round to the east for the return leg.  In all  46 species were seen.

We were unsuccessful with our target species, Turtle Dove.  We didn't hear or see it, unlike a group of photographers who heard one and saw one earlier.

• Our second target species was Nightingale and here we were more successful in that we heard one singing away at the southern end of our route.  Despite our best efforts, however, we were unable to make a sighting.

On the plus side, we had a few surprises:-

• We had a sighting of a Barn Owl in the Lower Barn area.  It flew across the field in front of us enabling all present to get great views.
• A little further south, several members had equally good views of a Lesser Whitethroat.
• At least 3 Cuckoo's were present, again providing us with superb views.
• Not all present saw the Red Kite near the end of our walk.

• In addition, there were Old English Longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs and several stunning fallow and red deer.

A very satisfied group of people - even though we missed the star species for the second year running!

07/05/2017 RSPB Minsmere with the East Grinstead Group

Sunday 7 May 2017
RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk

Another first class annual outing to Minsmere with this group.  We managed to reach a species count of 80 in spite of the cold and overcast conditions.

• Bird of the day for me was the Hobby with over 10 sightings in all.  I'm not sure how many were present because we always saw just one bird on its own but the views were excellent.

• Rarest bird had to be the second year Caspian Gull which we saw from the East hide.  An RSPB Ranger was on hand to help birders make this difficult ID.  This bird has been around for some time and is believed to have been seen at Dungeness on one of its many, previous, travels.

• Perhaps the most attractive birds were those in summer plumage - the Bar-tailed Godwits, the Grey Plover, the Knot and the Turnstones.
• We even had a Spoonbill on the South Levels which we saw as we had lunch on the grassy slopes.
• A couple of Little Terns seen on the South Scrape were a welcome addition to our list as were the Common Terns, Sandwich Terns and the Mediterranean Gulls.
• Several members of the group managed to get good views of the Bittern and a lucky few saw a couple of Bearded Tits.  Sadly there were no Nightingales around and the Savi's Warbler did not show or sing.

Everyone went back to the coach in high spirits having seen a good variety of species.

05/05/2017 Using the M25 RSPB Rainham Marshes and Staines Reservoirs

Friday 5 May 2017

 I decided to use the M25 as my main route into birding today

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex

First call was to RSPB Rainham Marshes to look for the Wood Sandpipers that had been seen a couple of hours earlier.  

• After a little effort, I got a good, but distant view of one from a  point a few metres from the visitor's centre.  Not satisfied with this view I moved further round to the next viewing point where a second bird gave a superb, closer view and I could see the prominent supercilium much better.

• Next step was to exit the reserve and head out NW, for 500 metres or so, along the banks of the RiverThames to the bay where there were some magnificent Grey Plover,  Bar-tailed Godwits as well as a couple of Knot.  Many of these birds were in stunning summer plumage.  This was probably the highlight of the trip.

Staines Reservoirs in Surrey

After a couple of hours at RSPB Rainham Marshes I took the long, anti-clockwise way round the M25 to home so I could call in at Staines Reservoirs.

After parking in the Town Lane car park, I walked along the path dividing the 2 reservoirs.  

• I was delighted to get my first sighting of a Swift - in fact there were 50+ flying around the southern area making for a wonderful sight.

• Whilst admiring the Swifts, I caught sight of my first Black Tern and very quickly I found another five.  What a rewarding time - 6 Black Terns and over 50 Swifts in the same scope view.

A great way to spend the late morning and early afternoon!

02/05/2017 Weir Wood Reservoir Volunteering Day

Tuesday 02/05/2017
Weir Wood Reservoir

Reptiles etc

• I took the day off from this activity, doing the nest boxes with Alan, Bob D and Shaun instead.  Bob S, TH_J and RL reported 5 Grass Snakes, 15 Field Voles, 6 Toads, 1 Lizard, 5 Wood Mice and a Water Shrew.

Nest Boxes

We only did the high boxes today. 

• Mandarin nests invariably had large numbers of eggs in them.  
• Stock Dove nests tended to contain 2 "squabs".  
• There was no sign of Barn Owls but we did get a good view of the Tawny Owl as it left its nest box.

Around the Reserve

• On the reserve, in general, the highlights were 4-5 Garden Warblers some Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs , a Nuthatch and Canada Geese with goslings in tow.
• The Bluebells were at or just beyond their peak, making a superb blue carpet in the woods.

30/04/17 Pomarine Skuas at Splash Point

Saturday 30 April 2017
Splash Point, Seaford, East Sussex

Although I was tied down with family activities for most of the day, I couldn't resist the opportunity to twitch the Pomarine Skuas that were on the move through the English Channel.  

• In a 45 minute slot, I saw at least 5 as well as a Bonxie, an Arctic Skua and 4 Little Terns.

29/04/17 North-west Norfolk Coast Day 2 with Chris Mills

Saturday 29 April 2017

Visible Migration Event

A very early 05.15 start to experience visible migration from the Old Lighthouse at Hunstanton.  With a change in wind direction, Chris expected us to see lots of birds on the move south, down the side of The Wash, hugging the coastline before heading north again on the Lincolnshire side.  

• He was right but the numbers were lower than expected.  The birds came through in small groups rather than as a mass flow. Nevertheless, it was a really good experience to see birds streaming past us, just a few metres above our heads.
• They were principally Swallows, Sand Martins, Meadow Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, Linnets and the occasional House Martin, Redpoll and Tree Pipit.  
• We did manage to see at least 2 Ring Ouzels in the conifers overlooking the pitch and putt facility nearby.

A good pre-breakfast activity and 2 new additions to my 2017 species list.

Holme Dunes NNR

After breakfast, we made the short journey to Holme to spend a fruitful couple of hours looking for migrants in the nature reserve - viewed from the public footpath.

• It didn't take long to hear and then see yet another couple of Grasshopper Warblers.
• Likewise, we heard then saw Lesser Whitethroats.
• We had several good sightings of Ring Ouzel.
• Quite soon we saw our first Cuckoo of the day, perched at the top of a bush on the horizon.
• There were plenty of Tree Pipits moving through.
• Also moving through were Redpolls, Yellow Wagtails and of course Swallows.
• 11 Ruff were seen at the edges of the pool before they took to the skies when flushed by a Marsh Harrier.

Again it was the sheer number of birds around that impacted most.

Holme Bird Observatory

For the next 3 hours or so we looked for migrants in and around the Bird Observatory.  The birds were plentiful, but much the same as we had just seen.

• In an amazing 15 minute slot, we had a raptor fest with Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Kestrel, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard all showing well in the skies above us.
• We searched for Whinchat, initially in vain, before Chris got a call from a colleague about a stunning male in the hedge on the exit road from the reserve.  After a while, we found the bird.  initially, the views were poor due to the long distance but gradually the bird came closer and we were able to appreciate its beauty.

RSPB Titchwell

Incredibly, it was 2.30 pm on our last day before we reached Titchwell.

• We had good views of a couple of Bearded Tits in the reeds either side of the channel in the reedbed.
• From the Parrinder hide, we saw 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 5 Ruff and loads of Mediterranean Gulls as well as the usual suspects.
• Our final activity, a Seawatch produced well over 1000 Common Scoter and 10+ Velvet Scoter.

At 5 pm we said our farewells and headed home. The feeling was unanimous that this had been an outstanding trip with a good mix of birding experiences and, of course, some stonking birds - our final species count being 117! 

28/04/17 North-west Norfolk Coast Day 1 with Chris Mills

Friday 28 April 2017
I joined up with Chris Mills, our guide for the 2 days, as well as fellow birders, Helen from central London, Patrick from Portsmouth, Nick from Lymington, John and Ben from Leicestershire and Adrian from Lincolnshire - all of us staying at the Burleigh in Hunstanton.

RSPB Snettisham

After an early breakfast, we were in place at Snettisham for the high tide at 08.15 and boy what a delightful 3 hours we had!  The place was awash with birds - no pun intended.  Nothing particularly rare - just so many birds around.  

Kevin, a friend of Chris' joined us for the Snettisham slot. 

• Predominantly there were Knott, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwits present in their thousands on Pit 4, viewable from the Shore hide but better still from the southern end of this stretch of water.  
• As we were watching these birds we received a real bonus when some 40+ Arctic Terns flew in over the pits before heading seawards, out over The Wash towards the Lincolnshire coast. 
• By now the tide had receded considerably and the main birds began to fly back onto the mud appearing in the bay.  This was similar to my experience here in January with thousands of birds flying low overhead.

What a start!

Snettisham Coastal Park

As we retreated from the pits to the Coastal Park, Kevin came into his own.  He has been monitoring this patch for over 30 years and knew just about everything there was to know about it.

• He quickly put us in an area where a Grasshopper Warbler was "reeling".  Alas, we couldn't see it - probably due to the fact that several birders were there and were encroaching too much.  He moved us on to a nearby second site where we soon enjoyed uninterrupted, close views of one singing its heart out. This is a real hot spot for this species and we heard at least 5 birds over the course of the next couple of hours.  So after several failed attempts at Coldwaltham, in Sussex, I was enjoying Grasshopper Warbler heaven here in Norfolk.
• I was one of two who missed the brief views of a Ring Ouzel.
• Lesser Whitethroats were present in good numbers too!  We enjoyed extended views of one of them before moving on.
• A lovely Cuckoo announced its presence before showing itself to everyone.

Amazing!

Ringstead

• After a late lunch at Holme, we headed out to Ringstead to view the 50+ Yellowhammers and a similar number of Corn Buntings feeding of the crop residue in the field. 
• Interestingly they had company - some 11 Whimbrel!

A terrific half hour!

Choseley Barns

• Our final port of call, Choseley Barns, saw us add to our action-packed day even further.  We enjoyed over an hour watching 2 Turtle Doves from close quarters.  Initially, they weren't there but we didn't have to wait long for them to turn up.  They alternated between feeding on the concrete drive to the side of the barns and perching on the nearby trees.
• As a sideshow, we had yet another 40+ Yellowhammers feeding on the drive or in the adjacent field.  Interspersed with these were a few Corn Buntings and several Meadow Pipits.

A truly grand finale!