29/03/2019 My first Wheatear of the year - at last!

Friday 29 March 2019
Rye Harbour

Seeing my first Wheatear of 2019 is proving more difficult than I thought.  Having "dipped" at Hope Gap earlier in the week, I had no luck on Thursday afternoon and evening at Birling Gap and Beachy Head.

• I had the chance to look at Rye Harbour this afternoon, before getting back for the Weirwood AGM and Matt Eade's talk.  This time I was more fortunate when I saw a splendid male on the Beach Reserve.

Well worth the flying visit to Rye. 

Matt's talk on Kittiwakes, Hope Gap migrant birds and then his recent trip to Antarctica was excellent.

26/03/2019 Weirwood Day and a pair of Garganey in the afternoon.

Tuesday 26 March 2019

Another glorious day at Weirwood. 

• Snake Survey No 2 produced no snakes but a good show of voles, mice, a shrew, toads and a frog. 
• At least 6 Snipe were disturbed by us as we carried out the survey.
• Highlight of the morning however was the sight of the first Bluebells - we saw at least 3!  The place was bursting with life so I expect the numbers to explode later on this week.

In the afternoon I dashed down to Charleston Reedbeds to see the pair of Garganey that had been there for over 24 hours. 

• They were showing well all the time I was there.  Paul Stevens kindly allowed me to use his photograph of the drake swimming on the flooded field east of the river.

courtesy of Paul Stevens

 

 

 

 With time to spare I decided to go to Hope Gap and look for my first Wheatear of the year. 

• Unfortunately things didn't work out for me but I did have some consolation by way of sightings of a Raven, several Meadow Pipits, at least 2 Skylarks and several Stonechats. 

 

 Can you imagine a more delightful backdrop as you look for, but fail, to see migrant birds!

 

Seven Sisters

 

 

 

 

 



24/03/2019 East Grinstaed RSPB Group at Rainham Marshes and Thameside Nature Park

Sunday 24 March 2019
Essex

Another fantastic turn out today with 21 of us travelling north of the Thames for this visit.  We were rewarded with some very good birding moments and some glorious weather.  All in all we saw over 60 species.

RSPB Rainham Marshes

 

• The only migrant birds we all saw were a few Chiffchaffs.  Michael and Steve also caught sight of a solitary Sedge Warbler as they stopped for a sandwich and drink at the northern boardwalk while the rest of us carried on round the reserve.
• A reminder that spring is just round the corner came from the Skylarks singing above us at a few locations en-route.
• Pick of the other birds were a few Avocets, a couple of Pintail ducks and several Marsh Harriers.

Thameside Country Park, Essex

After lunch we spent an enjoyable couple of hours at Thameside Country Park.  This was a new site for all but me.  Unfortunately we arrived just before high tide so there was no mud around for the waders to land so we had to settle for flight views and distant shots of them in the saltmarsh.

• By far the most abundant birds here were the Black-tailed Godwits, with well over 100 seen.
• Also present were Redshanks, Dunlin and Grey Plover.

Everyone seemed very happy with the events of the day!

19/03/2019 First Chiffchaff of 2019 and a cracking Barn Owl

Tuesday 18 March 2019

• I heard my first Chiffchaff of the year as I took the dogs for their morning walk.
• At Weirwood Reservoir, whilst doing the first snake survey of 2019, we saw a Barn Owl flying over the meadow.
• No snakes today but good numbers of voles, toads and shrews.

05/03/2019 Glossy Ibis on the Cuckmere, Sussex

Tuesday 5 March 2019
Exceat Bridge, Cuckmere Haven, Sussex

• I twitched the Glossy Ibis on the Cuckmere today, at the second attempt, having failed miserably yesterday afternoon in the really foul weather.

03/03/2019 With Marcus Nash 3/3 North Norfolk Coast Shorelarks, Great Northern Divers, Spotted Redshanks and Med Gulls

Sunday 3 March 2019
North Norfolk Coast

Today threatened to be our most challenging day with wet weather forecast for much of the time.  However we were determined to make the most of it and, as usually happens, things turned out well in the end and we saw lots of birds.

Holkham

 

Our primary target here was Shorelarks, although they had not been seen here so far today.  On the way out we met a young birder who was rather irritated at not having seen these birds despite searching high and low for them.  We suggested he try the vegetation adjacent to the cordoned off area but he chose to ignore the advice.

•  The first birds we encountered on the saltmarsh were Rock Pipits with a small group feeding by the path.  They come here from Scandinavia for the winter. We could see some of them were moulting and getting slightly pink on the breast.



courtesy of Marcus Nash



• The Shorelarks were in the vegetation by the cordoned-off area but the growth was such that they were incredibly hard to find initially.  Once found we tracked their movement and enjoyed superb views.  Thankfully the young birder must have read about our find on social media and came back to get some photographs.

courtesy of Marcus Nash



Next on the agenda was a spot of seawatching.  Pick of the birds seen was a Great Northern Diver.  It was diving regularly and moving west steadily each time it resurfaced, but eventually we all got some good views of it.
 

 By now the weather was at its worse with quite heavy rain so we headed for the sanctuary of the Joe Jordan Hide There was a good selection of birds here.

• pick of the bunch was a Spoonbill which had only returned to the breeding colony after, probably,wintering down at Poole Harbour.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

•  A Great White Egret was also showing well.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

•  An intriguing cameo performance was provided by a couple of Long-tailed Tits as we headed back to the car from the hide.  There was a swarm of gnats and the tits flew from the nearby bushes and attempted to feed on them, hovering in mid air before heading back to the bushes.  I had never seen this "flycatcher" action by this species before.

We stopped for lunch in The Lookout café, out of the rain. Afterwards, as we made our way back to the van we could see lots of gulls swarming over the grazing marsh, and landing down on the grass.

• We heard the distinctive call of a Mediterranean Gull and looking through the flock could see at least four in with the Black-headed Gulls.

Holme

We headed west to Holme where we did some more seawatching where we were sheltered from the rain by the pines behind us

• There was a single Velvet Scoter in among a group of Red-breasted Mergansers.  You could just make out a pale spot on its cheek, but it was not until it flew round that you could see the diagnostic white in its wings.
• A small group of dark-winged Common Scoter flew past just afterwards.

 

 Walking through the dunes to Gore Point, it was windier out of the lee of the Firs, although at least the rain had eased off now.

• Here the pick of the species were the distant views of Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Red-throated Divers and, of course, more Red-breasted Mergansers.

 

 

Titchwell









 No trip to North Norfolk is complete without a visit to Titchwell and it was fitting that we ended our trip here. 

• On the main path from the centre we saw the usual Water Rail in the ditch.

courtesy of Marcus Nash



• A little further along Marcus alerted us to a sleeping Spotted Redshank on the Lavender Marsh.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• From the Parrinder Hide we saw lots of birds on the freshmarsh with the pick of them being Water Pipit, lots of Mediterranean Gulls and a small group of Avocets.

courtesy of Marcus Nash



courtesy of Marcus Nash

courtesy of Marcus Nash

With such poor weather, there was a good case for finishing early today but such is Marcus' charisma and dedication that we finished over an hour later than normal, getting back to Wells-Next-The-Sea at 6.30 pm!  Thankfully the drive home was uneventful and I arrived back in Uckfield just before 10 pm.

Another first class trip to Norfolk with all the expected species seen!




02/03/2019 With Marcus Nash 2/3 In The Brecks Again - Goshawks, Hawfinches and Crossbills

Saturday 2 March 2019

The weather forecast put this as our best day but things didn't quite work out as planned.  Nevertheless we made the most of it and finished up having another great day, seeing our primary target species.

The overnight rain had just cleared as we motored down to the Brecks from our base in Wells-next-the-Sea and things did not improve significantly until early afternoon. 

Thetford Forest

• We started with a stroll in the northern section of the Thetford Forest where the main birds that caught the eye were a couple of Woodlarks,



courtesy of Marcus Nash

several Yellowhammers and a couple of magnificent Mistle Thrushes.

 

Outskirts of Cockley Cley.

• As soon as we arrived on site, Marcus picked out 2 Goshawks in full display mode - a male and a female flying over the tops of the trees immediately ahead of us.  Panic over - Marcus was so worried that the overcast conditions might prevent these birds from showing today!



courtesy of Marcus Nash

• We stayed almost an hour during which time the birds re-appeared and showed well at times.  There were definitely 3 Goshawks - a male, a female and a juvenile - and probably a fourth.  That brings my total to an impressive 9/10 sightings in 3 counties and 5 sites in the last week or so!
• Also seen were an impressive 20+ Fieldfares.

Main job done!

There was a bit of a lull in the middle of the day where we went to a well known site for Willow Tits but hardly heard a bird let alone see a rare species such as this.

Lynford Arboretum

 

The end of the day was truly explosive with some fabulous birding moments.

• In the feeding area just down from the car park we enjoyed watching 20+each of Brambling



courtesy of Marcus Nash

and Yellowhammer as well as a Nuthatch

• Down the hill, heading towards the bridge and the lake, we came across a group who were looking at a Tawny Owl high in the tree by the main path.  We stopped to take in this unexpected bonus before carrying on.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• By now we were running late and we had missed the Hawfinches in the Hornbeam trees in the paddock area.  Thankfully Marcus picked them up in the tall pines behind and eventually we were able to enjoy good views of most of the 14 birds that we knew were present.



• 

courtesy of Marcus Nash

Our last act was a real show-stopper.  Yesterday we saw a couple of Crossbills in flight; today it was time to see them perched and resting.

• By the bridge near the lake we had a superb view of a male Crossbill at the top of a deciduous tree to the left of the path.  As we approached things got even better with more views of more males and at least one female using the trees as  a strategic stopping point before dropping down to drink by the waterside.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

courtesy of Marcus Nash

courtesy of Marcus Nash

A cracking Day 2!

01/03/2019 With Marcus Nash 1/3 In The Brecks for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Friday 1 March 2019

The weather has changed dramatically since yesterday.  The sunny days and 19C have gone and today we have overcast conditions with no sun, much lower temperatures and the possibility of showers.  Tomorrow is likely to be the sunniest day and on Sunday it is forecast to be raining. 

Marcus re-jigged the programme so we visited the Brecks today, looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and we will go back again tomorrow looking for Goshawks, leaving Sunday free to go to the north Norfolk coast where we can use the bird hides if the expected wet conditions prove true.

SANTON DOWNHAM
 

The long drive down from Wells to Santon Downham was well worth it with some outstanding birding moments. 

• 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were seen about 20 minutes after we took up our position by the river.  The female flew in first, followed quickly by the male.  They then moved about in playful tandem at the top of the Poplar trees . 



courtesy of Marcus Nash



• This continued until we lost sight of them.  The female then re-appeared a short distance away and was seen busy feeding at the top of the same Poplar trees

courtesy of Marcus Nash

. 

All in all we had over an hour of rich activity from these lovely birds.

• Woodland birds were present in good numbers, particularly Siskins, Redpoll, Chaffinch and Brambling.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• We even saw a Goshawk fly over the trees in front of us, having been involved in an altercation with some Carrion Crows.



courtesy of Marcus Nash

• We also ended on a high note when we saw at least 3 Woodlarks on the ground in the heathland on the opposite side of the railway line.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

BRANDON COUNTRY PARK
 

We had a lovely lunch at Brandon Country Park, a new venue for me, where we met  a familiar bird behaving very uncharacteristically.

• On the way down to the lake we came across a mixed group of Mallards and Mandarins - on the grass!  Some were sitting underneath the large Oak tree, others were out in the open but all were a long way from the water and not the least bit perturbed by our presence.  We saw 9 drake Mandarins and 3 females.

one of my own snaps using my iPhone

courtesy of Marcus Nash

What a difference from Weir Wood Reservoir in Sussex where, despite being a breeding site, the best I have had so far this year was a female flying overhead!

• We also had good views of a Firecrest in the pines close to the lake.  Goldcrests were also present.

Thetford Forest, near Brandon
 

Our final port of call was the Thetford Forest, a few miles SE of Brandon where we were hoping to see the Great Grey Shrike that had been reported there earlier.

• On the way to the designated sighting location we heard, then saw, a Crossbill flying overhead. 
• A lovely Yellowhammer added to the glamour

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• Right on cue, the Great Grey Shrike was showing well and we were able to get superb views in the scopes.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• On the return leg to the minibus we heard, then saw, a second Crossbill.

A great first day!

The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker sightings have made my weekend already - everything else is a bonus.  One hour in the presence of these birds is an enormous privilege.