30/08/2017 My first time at Abberton Reservoir - Red-necked Phalarope

Wednesday 30 August 2017
Abberton Reservoir, Essex

• A flying visit, in wet conditions, to Abberton Reservoir to. see the juvenile Red-necked Phalarope.  The views were terrific!

  
This was my first visit to the area.  I didn't actually get onto the reserve proper, as the phalarope was in the NE corner of the reservoir, viewable from the screen by St Andrew's Church, Abberton village some distance from the main reserve and hides.

When I eventually got round to the entrance, they were just locking up.  I'm afraid it's another of those reserves which call time when the Visitor Centre closes.  A pity,  as there seemed to be lots of birds around, including a Pectoral Sandpiper.

One for a future visit!

25/08/2017 A really good twitch! Hoopoe

Friday 25 August 2017
Cuckmere Haven

• This is how they should be - a Hoopoe by a pond in an open field, less than 75 metres away.

courtesy of Alastair Gray

• Also saw a Spoonbill and a Peregrine.

24/08/2017 Melodious Warbler at Beachy Head

Thursday 24 August 2017
Beachy Head, Sussex

• A successful twitch of a Melodious Warbler after lunch today at Beachy Head.  

Courtesy of Alastair Gray

• We were graced by the presence of Lee Evans and a couple of his friends.  He proved very helpful in refinding the bird after it had gone "walkabout"
• For such a small area it was remarkably endowed with birds, including 2 Redstarts, at least 3 Spotted Flycatchers, a Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, and several Willow Warblers and the odd Chiffchaff.

23/08/2017 A really bad twitch!

Wednesday 23 August 2017
Norfolk

Alastair and I tried to twitch the Caspian Tern at Potter Heigham today.  

• Unfortunately, I couldn't get away until 2 p.m. which meant we didn't reach our destination until gone 7 p.m. - by which time the tern had gone!  

• We moved quickly to Breydon Water where it normally roosted but a couple of local birders informed us it hadn't been seen.
• Alastair thought he had it in his scope but it was so far away and the light was so poor we could not be sure.
• To make matters worse, on the way home the M11(S) was closed down as far as Stansted Airport and the resulting diversion caused us to get home at 00.30!  

22/08/2017 Honey Buzzard

Tuesday 22 August 2017
Ashdown Forest


A superb view of a male Honey Buzzard at lunchtime today 

16-21 August 2017 Scilly Pelagic Trips

Wednesday 16 August to Monday 21st August
Scilly Pelagic Trips out of St Mary's
Paul and Group - 6 of us.

One of the highlights of the birding calendar for me is the pelagic trip. After a one year break last year, when we went to Madeira, we returned to the Scillies.  Expectations were high after reports of record sightings in the previous weeks.

We booked 3 boat trips (almost a year ago to ensure our places) and we managed to sign up for an extra one when we arrived at St Mary's.

My wish list included the "big 5" - Great Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Wilson's Petrel and European Storm Petrel.  In fact, we saw all 5 and even added the illustrious Sabine's Gull to the list on our final outing.

• The first boat trip - the extra one, on Thursday got us off to a flying start when we saw all 5 target species.  This trip also produced our best numbers of Great Shearwaters (12) and Cory's Shearwaters (40).

• Friday evening's trip was the roughest with quite severe winds blowing, which limited where the boat could go to.  Thankfully the rain held off till late on and we were able to observe a close Wilson's Petrel among the European Storm Petrels.  

• What should have been our best trip, in ideal conditions, on Saturday was rather underwhelming.  However, we did manage to post our best total for Sooty Shearwaters (9) as well as observe them diving below the surface of the water rather than just flying by as on the other days.  

• Sunday's trip, in the rain for most of the time, was, by contrast, our best.  As well as seeing the spectacular Sabine's Gull at close quarters, we also saw at least 7 Wilson's Petrels from distances at times down to less than 5 metres.  

Thankfully there were several really good photographers on board and I have "lifted" some of their twitter pictures to give some idea of what was on show.

A Wilson's Petrel (left) compared with the European Storm Petrel (right).

A Sooty Shearwater flying low over the water

The same bird on the water.

Just one of the many Great Shearwaters.

A fantastic Cory's Shearwater.

The fabulous Sabine's Gull

The procedure was very much the same for each voyage.  As soon as we left port, the assistants threw out bread from the rear of the boat to attract the gulls -  Herring Gulls and Black-backed Gulls (predominantly Lesser)  as well as the Gannets - of course.  After a while, we started to "steam chum" which, together with the build up of gulls, brought in the Skuas and the Shearwaters.  Finally, when we reached our destination we started to "drift chum" -  when the engines were cut for a couple of hours and a huge chum slick was allowed to form which brought the Petrels closer in.

• Invariably we saw several Bonxies each time we went out.  One of my favourite birds - the Fulmars, accompanied us throughout.  It was a sheer delight to see them flying in at high speed towards the boat.  One bird got too close and got caught on the fishing line but it was soon set free by the able attendants. 

Bird of the trip?  There were several contenders, including Cory's Shearwaters on day 1 and Wilson's Petrels/ Sabines Gull on the final day.  My vote, however, went to the "dancing"  European Storm Petrels seen on the last day.  The attendants used freshly caught Pollock and the innards, in particular, to draw in the "stormies" closer to the boat.    Finally, when the process had run its course, I didn't even need binoculars to appreciate the spectacle.  Most of the birders were huddled around the cabin seeking shelter so from my seat along the side I had uninterrupted views.  My waterproofs stood up well to the rain and the visibility was really good.

Here are a couple of shots which give a flavour of what was going on.

Petrels on the water.

and a single Storm Petrel about to "dance" on the water.

We had time to do some birding on St Mary's between trips. Obviously, there was no migration going on and things were rather quiet.  Nevertheless,  we did find some interesting birds.  Alan produced a detailed species list so I will just run through the headlines.

• Top of the bill went to the Hobby, seen flying overhead on Friday.
• There was a good selection of waders including Green Sandpiper and Greenshank.  Rarest bird seen was the humble Lapwing - not usually seen on the Scilly Isles.  A Kingfisher flew by to add some glamour to the occasion.

A pectoral Sandpiper turned up at the last minute but we couldn't generate a slot to go and find it.

Our accommodation arrangements worked very well.  After a good nights sleep at the travel lodge in Hayle, we parked our vehicles at a nearby farm and were driven to Penzance where we caught the early morning ferry from to St Mary's, sailing on the Scillonian 3.

• On the outward journey, the main highlights were an Arctic Skua and many Manx Shearwaters seen gliding over the waves.
• On the return leg from St Mary's to Penzance, we had a much more spectacular experience with hundreds of Manx Shearwaters on the move as we approached the harbour at Penzance.  Paul spotted a couple of Balearic Shearwaters in the pack,  and, fortunately for me, I was able to get good binocular views of the second one.

We stayed at the Old Chapel B&B in Old Town, where the food and accommodation were sensational.  Our hosts Lin and Dave went out of their way to make us welcome.  Lin even got up an hour early to cook our breakfast before the final pelagic trip and Dave then drove us to the harbour saving us a 25-minute dash! 

 This is where I will stay on future visits.

The long drive from home down to Penzance at the start of the trip on Wednesday provided the first birding opportunity.  

• With no plan announced and travelling down on my own, I made an afternoon start, calling in at Labrador Bay, in Devon, in the evening to twitch the Cirl Buntings before heading off to the travel lodge. 

The last birding opportunity, as we travelled home from our travel lodge on Monday, proved a bit of an anticlimax.

• We had no luck at all, dipping on Chough and Balearic Shearwaters at Porthgwarra, near Lands End.
•  Another dip, this time on Hoopoe and White-winged Black Tern at Exmouth in Devon brought our trip to an end.

Another fantastic Pelagic - bring on the next one!






Alan's Species List

Cornwall and Scilly Isles bird list August 2017
Excludes birds seen before most of us met at Walmsley Sanctuary
Ref. is page number of the illustration in Collins Bird Guide 2nd edition
	Ref	Mainland	Scillonian + Scilly	Notes
Mute Swan	15	Yes	Yes
Canada Goose	21	Yes
Gadwall	25	Yes
Mallard	25	Yes	Yes
Wigeon	27	Yes
Pheasant	59		Yes	Heard
Cory's Shearwater	69		Yes	"The Big 3"
Fulmar	69	Yes	Yes
Great Shearwater	69		Yes	"The Big 3"
Balearic Shearwater	71		Yes
Manx Shearwater	71		Yes
Fea's Petrel	73			Only in our dreams
Sooty Shearwater	73		Yes
Storm Petrel	75		Yes
Wilson's Storm Petrel	75		Yes	"The Big 3"
Gannet	77	Yes	Yes
Cormorant	79	Yes	Yes
Shag	79	Yes	Yes
Cattle Egret	83	Yes		Walmsley Sanctuary
Little Egret	83	Yes
Grey Heron	85	Yes	Yes
Glossy Ibis	87	Yes		Walmsley Sanctuary
Common Buzzard	109	Yes
Kestrel	117	Yes
Hobby	119	Yes	Yes
Peregrine Falcon	121		Yes	Seen off St Marys
Water Rail	125		Yes	Heard at Porth Hellick
Coot	127	Yes
Moorhen	127	Yes	Yes
Oystercatcher	135	Yes	Yes
Lapwing	147		Yes	This is a mega on Scilly's being less than annual
Turnstone	149		Yes
Dunlin	151	Yes	Yes
Common Sandpiper	155		Yes
Green Sandpiper	155		Yes	Lower Moors
Greenshank	157		Yes	Including a "Yellowshank"
Redshank	157		Yes	Lower Moors
Curlew	159		Yes
Whimbrel	159	Yes	Yes
Ruff	167	Yes		Flew off at Walmsley with Dunlin
Great Skua	175		Yes
Arctic Skua	177		Yes
Black-headed Gull	181	Yes	Yes
Mediterranean Gull	183		Yes
Herring Gull	185	Yes	Yes
Great Black-backed Gull	190		Yes
Lesser Black-backed Gull	191		Yes
Kittiwake	193		Yes
Sabine's Gull	193		Yes
Sandwich Tern	199		Yes
Arctic Tern	201		Yes
Common Tern	201		Yes
Ferral Pigeon / Rock Dove	215	Yes	Yes
Wood Pigeon	215	Yes	Yes
Collared Dove	219	Yes	Yes
Swift	237	Yes		Just one at Walmsley
Kingfisher	239	Yes	Yes
Great Spotted Woodpecker	245		Yes	Porthgwarra !
Sand Martin	259	Yes	Yes
House Martin	261	Yes	Yes
Swallow	261	Yes	Yes
Rock Pipit	265		Yes
Meadow Pipit	267		Yes	Porthgwarra
Dunnock	275		Yes
Robin	277		Yes
Wheatear	283		Yes
Stonechat	293	Yes	Yes
Song Thrush	295		Yes	Very confiding
Blackbird	297	Yes	Yes
Blackcap	303	Yes	Yes
Goldcrest	337		Yes
Wren	337	Yes	Yes
Blue Tit	343	Yes	Yes
Great Tit	343		Yes
Magpie	361	Yes	Yes
Jackdaw	365	Yes
Carrion Crow	367	Yes	Yes
Raven	367	Yes
Starling	371	Yes	Yes
House Sparrow	373		Yes
Chaffinch	377		Yes
Linnet	379		Yes
Goldfinch	381	Yes	Yes
Greenfinch	381		Yes
Total species		43	70
Trip total species		83

06/08/2017 East Grinstead RSPB Group visit to Oare Marshes

Sunday 6 August 2017
Oare Marshes, Kent

Our group's first outing of the new birding year - to Oare Marshes on the north Kent coast - went down very well with all 17 members.  The weather was ideal with temperatures around the 20C mark with only a light sea breeze.  We were rewarded with some good birding moments and a species count well in excess of 50.

• We missed our target species, the Bonaparte's Gull.  We decided to go round in a clockwise direction from the car park and by the time we got to the east flood, around lunchtime,  the bird had flown off to the River Swale.   Try as we may, we were unable to find it when we re-visited the Swale in the afternoon.  Had we gone round anti-clockwise we would probably have seen it -  but, by now, with a much-changed plumage from when we last saw it.

• We did manage to see the 2 Little Stints on the east flood.  They were the closest birds to us, a mere 25 metres from our viewing point on the layby by the roadside.  In the prevailing lighting conditions, they looked absolutely fabulous.

• Again we were fortunate to see a Turtle Dove here, a rather distant view of the bird perched on a tall post.

• Likewise, Bearded Tits showed in the reeds as we neared the NE corner of the reserve and headed along the path by Faversham Creek.  Not everyone was able to see them as they flew by rather quickly.

• Other highlights included a Peregrine and a Kestrel seen as soon as we got out of the car right at the start of the outing. 

• We saw several Ringed Plovers and one very young Little Ringed Plover at the East Flood.

• Needless to say, there were huge numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets, Black-headed Gulls, Lapwings and Dunlin.

• A Snipe, a Water Rail, several Golden Plover and several Ruff were also interesting sightings.

Capel Fleet from 15.00

Around 14.30, nine of us made our way to Capel Fleet, on the Isle of Sheppey.  

• Here we were able to add Corn Bunting, Marsh Harrier, Greenfinch and Red-legged Partridge to our species list.

A smashing outing!