2009 Diary
21st November - Making the most of the early hours before the imminent rain, I headed down to Rainham to see if the two Serins would play ball. After a bit of a wait the first bird (a streaky brown first-winter job) showed well several times with a flock of Goldfinches. Later on, the second and yellower of the two birds, showed admirably for around ten minutes in a stunted elder for an appreciate crowd of just me(!) and allowing a few record shots to be taken. Whilst in the Serin area, a Lapland Bunting like 'choo' was heard overhead a couple of times, but the bird never showed itself. Other bits and pieces included an adult male Marsh Harrier, Green Sand, two Water Pipits, several Scandinavian Rock Pipits, four Grey Wags, three Stonechats, three Cetti's Warblers, Brambling, Redpoll and a Corn Bunting.
15th November - With the sun due to shine, I decided an escape was required, so an early wander to Lakenheath was order of the day. First car in the car-park, and first bird of the day was one of the Great White Egrets out on the Washland. A while later, the second bird was showing well on the river between the two plantations, and I enjoyed the bird in solitude with the sun shining through. A few hours around the site also produced a few other bits and pieces, most notably a second-winter Caspian Gull that dropped in briefly, and a Water Pipit alongisde the river. Large numbers (20+) of Water Rails were squealing from the reedbeds, as were good numbers of Beardies and plenty of Cetti's Warblers (including several birds which were showing admirably). A single Brambling flew over, and a couple of adult Bewick's Swans whistled overhead.
23rd October - Arriving at Coploe shortly after 07:30, it was nice to see a clear movement of finches down the ridge. However, my mind was elsewhere and at 07:45 the phone flashed with the news that was needed, that being the confirmation that the previous day's Eastern Crowned Warbler had survived the night in South Shields. A phone call later to Mark, and I was soon heading for our rendevouz point at Bar Hill. Making excellent progress (via a Red Kite over the A1 somewhere near Peterborough), we were on site at the tiny Trow Quarry in South Shields, and within minutes had watched the bird flicking through the sycamores. Quite simply a stunner of a bird! A chunky phyllosc similar to Arctic Warbler in proportions, with a superb head pattern, dagger-like bill and yellowish undertail coverts to boot. From the bottom of the quarry, the bird showed superbly and was on view nearly constantly as it flicked around several small sycamores. Plenty of muppets abounded, but with such a mega in the bag - who really cared!?! Two hours and we had 'filled our boots' (as the saying goes), so a quick wander over to another clump of bushes for views of a Yellow-browed Warbler slipping through the tree tops (a second possible bird having been heard nearby) and we left the crowds to it. A quick stop at the South Pier and a short wander produced a feeding group of seven Purple Sandpipers on the rocks, and a few other bits and pieces. Lots of locals stopped us to find out about the ECW - news of which has spread hard and fast through the North-east by the medium of teletext(!). Happy with the day, we decided to head homewards with one awesome bird under the belt - as they would say up North - 'Champion'!
19th October - My third morning in a row on Coploe, and things were generally quiet with the exception of another heavy passage of Chaffinches (over 1000 west during the first hour of daylight!). A text from Mike concerning a first-winter female Pied Wheatear at Shingle Street curtailed my visit somewhat, and I made my way down to the site where the Wheatear was proving exceptionally confiding in front of a small and fawning crowd.
16th October - Today was my last day in my current job, and being unexpectedly turfed out the door at some early hour, I was left debating how to spend the day! I like weird coincidences, and as it had been exactly three years to the day of my first-ever Red-flanked Bluetail in Suffolk, I thought that I would take the opportunity to go and see my third Red-flanked Bluetail... in Suffolk! The drive took no time at all, and soon I was in position by the bushes at Minsmere sluice. News on site was that the bird was extremely difficult, a fact seemingly dispelled by the fact that within fifteen minutes I had had crippling views of the beaut as it flicked alongside the path for a short while. It disappeared, and then it became hard as it seemingly vanished into thin air!! However, all soon became clear when after an hour or so I relocated it back in the original spot. It was feeding exclusively on the ground and covering only a tiny area, which unfortunately had somewhat restricted viewing! But still, given some sense it was possible to see the bird as it completed a tiny circuit of it's chosen area every few minutes. The views were actually extremely good, for those who could actually see it that was...!
13th October - After an early morning viz-mig session on Coploe, I was pleased with clocking 798 Redwings in just under an hour-and-a-half. Unfortunately I wasn't quite clued into the scale of the birds that were coming through elsewhere, and I left what could have been a corking morning somewhat prematurely! The source of my premature departure being the Brown Shrike at Stanwell Moor. Although I saw the Flamborough bird last year, this was an excellent chance to get some experience with a first-winter bird in the UK, and so I headed down on confirmation that the bird was still present. Arriving on site at the same time as Mr Wills and the reborn again (optic-less) twitcher Mr Harris, we had excellent views of the bird as it hunted around an area of scrub. It was a bit distant at times (as the following shoddy shots testify) but an interesting bird, and well worth the visit.
12th October - Off to Norfolk on a serious mission! Arriving at dawn, I spent an hour and a half staring out at a rather violent sea off Sheringham. Hundreds of large auks and Kittiwakes were piling past offshore, but the quality was a little lack with a handful of Little Gulls, a couple of Arctic Terns, five Bonxies, eight Arctic Skuas and a Puffin to break the monotony. A Velvet Scoter landing in the surf off the promenade was the highlight of the stint.
Feeling that I was missing out on the morning's main event, I jaunted along the coast a short distance to the delightful environs of West Runton, where I spent the next couple of hours stomping around in a stubble field. The reason? For some delightful rare of course! Or perhaps not! I had never really expected that my first UK Short-toed Lark to be overly inspirational - but I had thought that it might be slightly better than this one! A couple of views in flight and calling as the bird moved between the stubble and a nearby grassy field was about as good as it got. Great!!! Also noted were an equally elusive Richard's Pipit and a slightly more obliging Lapland Bunting. A Peregrine overhead being the only other thing of note.
Feeling the need to get away from the stubble, I decided to go on a bit of a mission to find some birds of my own. Walking around the bushes on Muckleburgh Hill proved a little desolate with a couple of Chiffs and a Song Thrush the best in the bushes! Wandering out to scan Weybourne Camp proved a better decision as I watched a Short-eared Owl arrive in off the sea and depart strongly inland being mobbed by Corvids. Nice timing! The water meadows held a single Dunlin(!), whilst Salthouse produced a heavy shower! Along the East Bank at Cley, I noted a couple of Stonechats and a bunch of Beardies. Offshore, a very strong movement of wildfowl (especially Brent) was occurring, and I picked out three more Bonxies and an Arctic Tern, but nothing much else. Opting to finish the day off in Wells Woods, I spent a good deal of time in the Dell hoping that the previous day's RBF might still be present. It wasn't, but at least three Firecrests were showing superbly. Wandering down the path towards Holkham and lots of digging produced the goods with two Yellow-browed Warblers south of the path, along with a couple of Brambling and a group of three Snow Buntings overhead.
8th October - Burning up the last of my holiday before leaving my current job, I scrapped my plan to go to Norfolk and instead decided on a day out in Oxfordshire. An hour and a half on Coploe first thing was a little quiet, so I was soon heading southwards. The M40 is not a good driving route with my attention being distracted at regular intervals by Red Kites, which totalled 30 individuals before I came off at Junction 7. The short drive down towards Didcot, and I was soon staking out the gull flock loafing in the tilled fields near Appleford. No sign of my quarry initially, so instead I was left spending an hour or two watching the antics of 40+ Red Kites present in the area, plus numerous Buzzards and a juvenile Peregrine overhead. At least five adult Yellow-legged Gulls were picked out from the loafing gull flock, which was receiving regular replenishments from the tip nearby. Several other birders wandered off, but I decided that staying put was going to be the best way forward, and so eventually it proved as the putative adult Azorean Yellow-legged Gull flew in and landed amongst the loafing Lesser Blacks. A very distinctive and interesting bird. A small crowd soon gathered and the bird showed reasonably well, albeit at a little distance.
4th October - A ridiculously quiet weekened locally (not without effort - five hours on Coploe for example), lead me into doing some dirty cross-county twitching. Heading up to Paxton, I rolled up at Diddington Pit where a rather fine juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper was showing well, albeit at distance for most of the time. My sixth Buff-breast in the UK, it's been over 13years since I had close views of one! Though talking of views, distance is something that could not be applied to the awesome first-winter Glossy Ibis present at the site, that was showing absolutely admirably a few feet from a small crowd of admirers. 
Whilst using up my camera batteries on the totally unphased Ibis, news filtered through that a winter-plumaged adult Grey Phalarope was showing off the Lagoons at nearby Grafham Water. Having not seen a Grey Phal during 2008, and as I have never had the chance to take photos of one (not having had my camera with me the last time one swam around at my feet at Heybridge in early 2007 or for the trio at Cley in September that year!), I ambled that way home for a look. Fortunately the boy was showing admirably just off from the shore, and I managed to fire off a few pictures that I was actually happy with! A quick wander over to look in the lagoons at a rather skulky Jack Snipe and then it was off home satisfied with the afternoon's work.
26th September - Awake at 4am, I decided to make an 'on spec' visit to Pegwell Bay to see if the very elusive Fan-tailed Warbler would play ball. Having gone AWOL for a couple of weeks, the previous two days had seen the bird showing first thing, so I was quietly confident that the pattern would be mirrored today. A dawn start and after an initial hour without a peep, I was standing chatting to Joan T when a 'zit' came from behind us. Another birder zeroed in, and the bird was in the bag. Over the next couple of hours, the bird was on view on & off and did eventually give very good views, although often at a little distance out on the saltings. My third mega in Kent this year, following the Crested Lark and the Oriental Pratincole and adding to a salivating list of vagrants that I have seen in the county - Slender-billed Gull, Baillon's Crake, Sociable Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Daurian Shrike and Green Heron to name a few.
17th September -
13th September - A semi-local day. First thing I was on Coploe experiencing a rather pathetic scale of viz-mig, so with things very quiet I raced over to Fowlmere to not see the juvenile Pec that had been present the previous day. Returning to Coploe, a large gull flock proved a worthy distraction as it revealed a fine first-winter Caspian Gull and an adult Yellow-leg in the midst of the many Lesser Black-backs. Unfortunately the whole lot were soon flushed by an annoying bird scarer. With not much else happening, I headed home for a bit, before heading down to Abberton for early afternoon. The adult White-rumped Sandpiper was still present - though was showing somewhat distantly on the island in the hide bay. Also of note around the reservoir was a Spoonbill between the Causeways, along with a Garganey, 34 Pintail, juvenile LRP, nine Ringed Plovers, two juvenile Little Stints, four juvenile Curlew Sands, 14 Ruff, 109 Black-tailed Godwits, 41 Spotted Redshanks, three Green Sands, a first-winter Arctic Tern and two adult Yellow-legged Gulls.
Finishing up at Abberton, a call from Mike meant that I needed to get back local as he had just found a corking juvenile Curlew Sandpiper at SAL - a cracking bird for the site, and an area first for me. Along with Mike and Graeme we watched the bird as it fed with a couple of Snipe until we left at around 6pm. 
12th September - A rare day out with the Norfolk mob on a gloriously sunny Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather was just too good - thus rendering migrant searching a difficult activity! Meeting up with Mark first thing, we decided to start at Warham Greens by heading west towards the westernmost track. Using up our birding luck of the day, we hadn't gone far past the first pit when a passerine flickering into a stunted hawthorn bush had my attention. Bins up and we were clocking a superb first-winter Red-breasted Flycatcher cocking it's tail in the way only RBFs can. Almost instantly though it vanished, and despite trawling the scrub up to the westernmost track, we got no second helpings, although Mark had a brief Pied Fly as consolation. Further on, and a juvenile Hen Harrier passed by us heading west. A few common sylvias and the odd Greenshank overhead kept up enthusiasm, but as for the birding joys, we had got the best that we were going to get. Meeting up with the rest of the crew, we spent a lot of time searching for the reported Icky and RBF near the Gibbet, but nothing materialised, other than a Hobby and a few Buzzards overhead. Second helpings of the juv Hen Harrier as it hammered a Mipit on the saltmarsh proved decent entertainment however!
Moving on, we made for Cley - passing a couple more Buzzards as we passed through Blakeney. Migrant searching around Cley was a quiet affair with the best birds on offer being a couple of drake Scaup on Arnold's Marsh and five juvenile Curlew Sands. Otherwise it was down to the odd Marsh Harrier, another Buzzard, adult Hobby, eight Ruff, ten Spot Reds, five Greenshanks, a Green Sand, two adult Yellow-legged Gulls, a singing Cetti's Warbler and 20+ Bearded Tits to maintain interest. Highlight of the day occurred as we were sea-watching and I noticed 'something' moving slowly close inshore. Further inspection and we were all somewhat shocked to see an awesome OCEAN SUNFISH slowly drifting east attended by a couple of large gulls. A first for me, and a crazy thing to see in the North sea - the event was somewhat marred by the arrival of a fishing boat that 'plucked' it from the surface and headed off with their prize - what can you say!!!
With little else happening we headed to Stiffkey Fen for a look at the juvenile Red-necked Phalarope that was spinning around the pool, and notched up a few other common migrants including Hobby, ten Ruff, five Greenshanks and a Green Sand. Feeling that the coast had offered us all it could, we headed back inland to Sutton Gault where we waited until nearly dusk before the seven Glossy Ibis did a captivating flypast and display as they spent ten minutes or so circling and checking out the roost site, before dropping in. Their hesitance no doubt caused by the antics of a couple of duck shooters in the area! A hunting Barn Owl and a calling Little Owl finished off a reasonable September day.
5th September - Having done good by staying local this morning and getting a few things done at home, I idly decided to go to Norfolk for the afternoon. The lure for this jaunt was without doubt the Ortolan on the East Bank at Cley - a 'scarce' passage migrant in the UK, I can think of a lot of rares that are much commoner(!) and with the species being difficult in recent years and the fact that I hadn't seen a UK bird for some 12 years (!), a confiding bird was too much to resist.
A longer than normal journey to the coast (sunny Saturday afternoons grockles), but I managed a slice of luck by skidding straight into the only available space in the East Bank car park. Up on the bank, I could clearly see a throng of birders in the distance intently grilling something on the deck ahead of them. Making a beeline for the mob, I was distracted by two "birders" who beckoned me over rather hastily. They were in a euphoric state and very enthusiastically told me there was a Lapland Bunting on the path ahead of them. Unfortunate for them it was a Reed Bunting, not that they wanted to acknowledge that fact, and they quickly wandered off 'high' on their find and the fantastic sea-watch they had that morning full of Long-tails, Poms and the works. Norfolk... it's all about the rare, even when it's not there! Anyway, digression aside, the Ortolan was a spanking first-winter and was showing remarkably well as it crept along the edge of the footpath.
Whilst the Ortolan was a gorgeous thing, the jostling crowd didn't really do much for me, so I was soon wandering off to look at other things. Fortunately Arnold's Marsh had other things to look at, not least a trio of Curlew Sandpipers - undoubtedly one of my favourite birds, especially the gorgeous peachy washed juveniles.
At least four Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank, a Green Sand and a couple of Knots were also present, whilst good numbers of Teal and Snipe appeared to be arriving overhead. A Wheatear fed along the edge of the Serpentine. Deciding to try a sea-watch for an hour or so, I didn't allow the wrong winds (strong westerlies) to deter me, which proved fortuitous. Although there was nothing startling to be seen, I was especially pleased to notch up a single very distant Sooty Shearwater, and a nice and close Manxie. At least 21 Bonxies flew east, as did 19 Arctic Skuas, a gorgeous first-winter Arctic Tern, juvenile Med Gull, several hundred Gannets, two Red-throated Divers, a couple of large auk sp and seven Common Scoters. Not a classic sea-watch by any means, but enough to keep me entertained. Heading back to the car-park, I had another decent look at the Ortolan whilst watching a female Marsh Harrier and numerous Beardies, before heading for a quick scan of Simmond's Scrape. Not much was to be found here in the failing evening light, but another couple of juvenile Curlew Sandpipers were present with the small Dunlin flock, a Whimbrel flew over and three Yellow-legged Gulls were in the roost.
2nd September - With the ABT from the weekend kicking the autumn off, it was nice to begin September in style with the need to cash in my early finish midweek courtesy of Landguard once again throwing an ace card. Fortunately Landguard is little over an hour's drive from work, and I was on site just after half three to join Colin, Keith and a small crowd of others in a bid for views of the Arctic Warbler found the previous evening. This species was a bit of a tart for me, but was one of the handful of 'commoner' rares that I refused to travel any great distance for, knowing that another one would pitch up in East Anglia eventually! With the wind batting the birds chosen feeding location on the seaward side of the ringing compound, getting views of this bird were far from easy and for the first couple of hours a few brief untickable views of a chunky bright phyllosc were not really adequate. However remembering the sage words of the old guard about phylloscs showing in the evening when confronted with my first Radde's Warbler at the same site a few years ago, I stuck it out till dusk, and remarkably despite the strengthening wind, the bird did the decent thing and performed admirably for twenty minutes. Sticking in a sheltered gulley, it fed actively around a couple of stunted tamarisks and in an elder clump calling occasionally, and even subsinging! A quality phyllosc, and it was good to reacquaint myself with the very distinctive jizz of this species from observing birds in Singapore a few years ago. Let's hope it's not the only eastern vagrant to pitch up in East Anglia this autumn....
29th August - Busy in the morning and with a few things to do, I finally managed to make a break for Farmoor late afternoon, and after collecting Dave S, we made good time to Oxford and were watching the juvenile American Black Tern on F2 as it fed alongside a cracking juvenile White-winged Black Tern and a juvenile Black Tern - a pretty unique flock!!! The bird was generally distant, but was surprisingly obvious, particularly when the smudgey grey flanks and dark tail could be compared against the much cleaner and whiter juvenile Black. Also noted were three Common Sands, an adult Little Gull, adult Yellow-legged Gull, Hobby and a few Yellow Wags, whilst 7+ Red Kites had been seen from the M40 en route.
12th August - Attempting to keep a closer eye on some of the local patch comings and goings this autumn (and trying to put a bit more effort in than of late in the process!), I am keeping tabs of things on my daily local patch blog - check it out at http://www.freewebs.com/randombirding2008/apps/blog/ or from the tabs above.
9th August - The highlight of the day was a superb adult Caspian Gull in amongst a flock of 470 Lesser Black-backs at Coploe Road, a series of hideously awful record shots are below!
2nd August - The year has continued much in the same way that it began, with me largely 'out of the game'. Deciding that with autumn just around the corner, I should make at least a token effort, I decided to head up to Norfolk as it was due to be a nice day. A nice clear A11 meant that I was standing with the small crowd on the North Wall at Breydon shortly after 6:30am and the spanking summer-plumaged Pacific Golden Plover was instantly visible as it loafed on the saltings. This was only my second UK PGP following a first-summer bird at Rye Harbour back in April 2003. The east end at Breydon also revealed three Little Egrets, a flock of 400 Avocets, 100 Golden Plovers, Knot, five Whimbrel, five Greenshanks, Spotted Redshank, three Common Sandpipers and nine Mediterranean Gulls (including a couple of crisp juveniles).
With the morning progressing I decided to make the short trip up to the North Coast, via a flyover Hobby and a couple of Egyptian Geese at Potter Heigham en route. Heading straight for Kelling, I took a brisk walk past the Water Meadows and onto the RAF camp at Weybourne where a modest ground gave away the presence of the mobile Great Spotted Cuckoo as it clambered around a large bramble clump and munched it's way through a swarm of caterpillars. Unlike my previous Great Spotted Cuckoo in the UK (that awesome golf-course stomping bird at Lancing in April 2005), this bird was quite worn and looked slightly ragged! But an awesome bird nonetheless! For added value, a juvenile Cuckoo was in the same area, whilst 32 Common Scoters were offshore and a Whimbrel passed overhead. Perhaps even more notable than the GSC was the mass plague of 7-spot Ladybirds that were arriving in-off the sea in their thousands. The beach was stained red by ladybirds and it was impossible to stand still for more than a few minutes without getting covered in them! Quite staggering.
With the intention of working around the coast, I headed for Cley where three male Ruff and three adult Yellow-legged Gulls were noted. Unfortunately the only thing matching the ladybirds in terms of numbers were the grockles, and with no intention of snail-pacing along the coast road, I decided to ditch that idea and headed for home, with an hour-and-a-half pit stop taken at Swanton Novers. Much scanning finally produced a distant Honey Buzzard as reward, but other than half a dozen Buzzards it was rather quiet!
10th July - The doldrums continue... an update on the SAL score from Mr Wills mean't that I was free from that chore for the afternoon, so I took a leisurely wander up to Fen Drayton for early evening. The summer-plumaged White-winged Black Tern found this morning was still present and showing well at times over Ferry Lagoon. My seventh White-winged Black in the UK, this was probably the closest to summer-plumage that I have seen one - with the bird showing just a few signs of moult around the head and mantle.
21st June - With the summer doldrums in full swing, news of a singing Marsh Warbler at Amwell seemed too good an opportunity to miss. A casual wander down there, and after a bit of a wait, the boy was in the bag. With patience it gave good views, but as usual with Marsh Warblers, just listening to it in full song was probably worth more than any views of the actual bird!
3rd June -Sat at work, news of a Pratincole at Dungeness immediately had my interest. Having not thought too much about the bird present at Pagham last week due to it seemingly firmed up as a Collared - I had cringed on Friday night when I finally saw photos of the bird. The online sceptics were right, and the bird did indeed appear to be an Oriental! Lo and behold, it had done a bunk come Saturday morning, and that appeared to be the end of that story. As the clock ticked away news came through that the Dunge bird had been identified, it was an Oriental Pratincole and it was still showing at 1:30pm. I ran through all the scenarios in my head, and decided that I needed just to go straight away - so making my excuses, I took my early finish two days early and blasted down to Dungeness. A quick walk up to Hookers and the Dengemarsh end and I joined a small group not seeing very much! The Pratincole had dropped down somewhere out on Dengemarsh a while before, and had yet to resurface. About forty minutes passed before suddenly the Pratincole was in the air and hawking over the pools in front of the hide; fortunately it dropped down onto one of the pools and spent the rest of the evening loafing on the small muddy islands. Generally rather inactive (as typical of Pratincoles), it occasionally took to the air and hawked back and forth in front of it's fawning audience. Taking my fill of the bird, I stayed until just before 7pm before heading off home. Several Marsh Harriers and a Hobby also entertained whilst the Pratincole displayed, whilst the drive home produced an adult Med Gull over the M20 and three Ring-necked Parakeets north of the Dartford Tunnel.
25th May - Visting relatives in Cambridge, I was conveniently close enough to Wicken Fen to call in for a look at the first-summer Squacco Heron on Baker's Fen. The bird was proving rather elusive as it frequently an area of ditches and juncus, but after about forty minutes, it finally emerged into view. Unfortunately despite being at no real distance, it proved rather difficult to get clear views of as it sat motionless hunkered in the vegetation.
This was my third Squacco Heron in as many years, though probably the least obliging of the three! Below is the way that Squacco's should behave, illustarted by the superb adult that was at Crossness in May/June 2007.
17th May - Having missed out on most of the 'fall' action (or what action there was!) of the last week, the weekend seemed pretty much mundane with not too much to get excited about! A night on the town in Ipswich meant that I was in a prime position on Sunday to pop down to Landguard where a small crowd was watching a singing male Melodious Warbler. Having only ever seen one Melody previously, and with this species being pretty rocking horse on the East Coast (to put this in context, Norfolk has only ever had three records of this species!) this bird was not to be sniffed at. Rather typically for a Hippo, it was pretty inactive, as it sat in a hawthorn bush. Less typically, it was sat motionless - but in view for it's fawning crowd for some 15-20 minutes! I left as the bird decided it had enough of it's temporary residence on the Icky (not today!) ridge and disappeared toward's the Customs House.
Putting the shoddy back in shoddy shots...
14th May - I spent the midweek checking local sites trying to cash in on some of the action that other inland sites were experiencing. All in all, it wasn't too bad! A Hawfinch in Hatfield Forest was unexpected, but not quite as much as the Black Tern over the car-park at work on Thursday morning. Most appreciated were the party of ten Avocets that pitched up at SAL on Wednesday evening. Probably one of the more predictable species missing from my local area list, so a good catch up bird, being the fourth record for the species at the Lagoons.
10th May - A quick afternoon dash down to Reculver Towers with Dave S to look for the Black-winged Pratincole present there. We eventually managed some very brief and somewhat distant views of the bird in flight, but not particularly fantastic! A male Marsh Harrier, calling Whimbrel, Little Gull and lots of Yellow Wagtails were also noted.
9th May - The annual May bird race with Mike was very good once again with 150 species on the score card! For the full report see: http://www.freewebs.com/randombirding2008/2009birdrace.htm.
1st May - My second suited and booted twitch of the week as I left work at half two and immediately headed southwards. Despite having to spend an extra hour in the car park that is the southbound M25, I eventually rolled up at the lighthouse at Dungeness at just after 5pm, where a small crowd on the roadside indicated I was in the right spot! Joining up with Colin Wills and a few others, it was only a few moments before our quarry jumped up and flew overhead - a Crested Lark! Ok not the most glamorous of birds it has to be said, but exceptionally rare in UK terms, with the only twitchable birds previous to this involving one at Dungeness in 1977 and one for three hours at Landguard in 1996. The bird had been reportedly extremely elusive and mobile over the previous two days, but it showed well on the deck on three occasions during the hour and a half I spent at the site, and was also seen in flight numerous times. Not quite in Collared Fly league, but good all the same!
29th April - Since the Steppe Grey Shrike last November, my twitching urges have been somewhat subdued - the recent Two-barred Crossbill in Yorkshire, and even the first truly twitchable UK Glacous-winged Gull both not stirring me into action. The recent White-throated Sparrow in Hampshire was too close to not warrant a jaunt, but it didn't really do all that much for me! Sometimes though, sometimes, something occurs where you just know you have to see the bird! It's rare, but it does happen and it happened today as I frantically left work and manically drove southwards on news that the male Collared Flycatcher was still present on Portland. Collared Flycatcher is a bird I have long wanted to see anywhere in the world, but especially in the UK. The fact that there has not been a properly twitchable bird on the English Mainland since the mid-1980's (those who saw the well attended Margate Cemetery bird might like to know that bird was present a couple of months before I was born!), and the annoying tendency for the species to only ever appear on Shetland, meant that the 200mile trip was not even given a second thought. Screaming into Weymouth just under three hours after leaving the Airport, I made my way onto Portland and to the village of Southwell where a throng of birders at the roadside gave away the location of the bird. Dumping the car at the roadside, I joined the throng and after what seemed like an eternity (well about ten minutes), my eyes focused on a flash of black and white betraying the presence of the bird as it flitted into the middle of a small apple bush. A serious tart of a bird, but simply stunning all the same! The bird had an obvious small feeding territory marked out and for the next couple of hours it gave exceptionally good views on and off. Quite simply UK bird of the century for me!
24th April - A late afternoon visit to Abberton. A few migrants were found between the causeways, most notably an Arctic Tern, two flyover Whimbrel, a party of eight Greenshanks, a Green Sandpiper and a few Yellow Wagtails.
20th April - A wander around after work with Dave S produced a Red Kite over Tednambury and three singing male Grasshopper Warblers on Thorley Wash.
13th April -Having been out of action for the whole Easter Weekend, I managed to somehow get myself down the M11/M25/M3 for dawn on Easter Monday, and arrived at Old Winchester Hill just prior to 07:30am. After a few seconds, the first-summer male White-throated Sparrow had shown well in the bushes by the car-park, and proceeded to show very well on and off over the next two hours. My first twitch of the year, and my first success. Let's hope it's not another four months until the next!
18th March - 5th April - COSTA RICA!!! More to follow.
13th March - A gloomy Friday afternoon at Abberton for another test of my new camera. Not much doing on the birding front, with a near-full summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebe from the Layer-de-la-Haye causeway the highlight. The usual array of wintering wildfowl were still present and the hybrid Red-crested Pochard x Mallard was still causing a trap for the unwary off the LDLH.
07th March - With my Costa Rica trip looming ever closer and the fact that I had not been birding for practically two months, I decided that I needed to get out for the day to make sure I wasn't too out of practice!
The plan for the day was to be in the Fens as dawn broke to look for Owls and other such delights, but my need for sleep saw that I wan't leaving home till it was already light! Heading up towards Ely, I stopped first at Pymoor for the obligatory Great White Egret dip. Onwards to the Washes and a scan from the railway bridge clocked 30 Bewick's Swans, 150 Whooper Swans and a female Goldeneye. Further on, another 300 Whoopers were noted near the suspension bridge along with two Little Egrets. The fields around the centre produced eight Grey Partridges, at least four Barn Owls (no sign of the dark-breasted bird!) and 20 Corn Buntings, whilst a couple of Tundra Bean Geese trailed along behind a flock of Greylags, and bizarre bird of the moment was a somewhat out of place-looking Brent Goose sat nonchalently on it's lonesome!
Heading up towards Kings Lynn, another Barn Owl was clocked near Gayton, before I headed for a quick scan of Roydon Common. No sign of the wintering Shrike, but a couple of Common Buzzards were noted, with Woodlarks singing and displaying all over the show.
Onwards to Dersingham, which was bound to be site of the day. The wintering Great Grey Shrike was immediately located and showing very well by the board-walk, seen catching and devouring a number of Newts! Several Woodlarks were singing, along with a pair of Stonechats and a singing *****. The whole site seemed to be sinking under the weight of Crossbills, as at least 40 birds were in view constantly. Scanning from the cliff-top with the rest of Norfolk produced no RLB, but at least six Common Buzzards, three Marsh Harriers and a couple of diaplaying Sparrowhawks were noted, along with my sixth Barn Owl of the day! Nearby, a singing male Firecrest proved good value.
Bored of waiting around for raptors, I decided to go and bore myself by staring at the sea off Hunstanton for a while. A Red-necked Grebe and a Slavonian Grebe in near complete summer-plumage justified the journey, but little else was noted with just a couple of Eider and a handful of Mergs on the calm sea.
After contemplating a drive along the coast, I decided instead to head back to the Dersingham area for a second stab at the Rough-legs. Seeing the car-park at Dersingham overflowing, and deciding I couldn't be doing with the horders, I drove further and parked up along the road at the western edge of the scissor roads. My position soon proved worthwhile as a ringtail Hen Harrier crossed through my 'scope view. Recollecting that the last RLB I had seen had been accompanied by a ringtail Hen, I pondered momentarily if this was some sort of positive omen. Scanning further to the left and that thought was instantly justified as a gorgeous juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard danced into view. Rough-legs have to be one of the best UK raptors, and this one was as good as they come - an absolutely stunning bird, and by far the palest one I have ever seen. Further watching and the second Rough-legged Buzzard was eventually located at greater distance over the sea-wall, with a second ringtail Hen Harrier and a female Marsh Harrier accompanying it. Closer to the road, a Peregrine buzzed overhead and a flock of 35 Brambling showed nicely.
With time moving on, I decided to head for home - opting to finish the day with a quick bash at Lakenheath. The wintering Great Grey Shrike was showing there on my arrival, before I headed out to the Wash to check the bathing gulls. A fourth-year Caspian Gull proved the highlight, although a couple of Yellow-legs were also observed. A fitting end to the day was provided by a flypast by the resident pair of Cranes, whilst a Water Rail squealed from cover.
04th January - A freezing cold morning and I headed for Abberton for dawn. A couple of Bitterns were proving unusually confiding as they fed out on the ice by the Layer Breton Causeway, whilst the Layer-de-la-haye came up trumps with a Slavonian Grebe, three Red-crested Pochards, drake Scaup and five extremely confiding Smew. A bonus Cattle Egret in the sheep fields near the Visitor Centre, and then off for a flock of 11 Waxwings near the Copdock Interchange. All in all, not a bad first proper outing in 2009!
Au revoir to 2008! It wasn't a bad year, despite my somewhat streamlined birding activities. Picking an overall highlight is always an impossible thing to do, though each of the ten new birds I saw during the year probably deserve a shot at the claim. The White-crowned Sparrow in January was a stunner, though the crowds were not overly enjoyable! Black Duck in March - good supporting cast! The top-notch male Little Crake in Devon in April, followed by the manic drive to Winterton later in the month for the Black Lark. Both simply mega! Spring finished with a singing bramble bush transforming into a River Warbler on Beachy Head in late May, and the next week everyone who wasn't a Tosser was at Dunwich enjoying the megaphone Sprosser. As the summer gave way to autumn, a fine grip-back of an Audouin's Gull had the pulse racing, whilst the autumn kicked off properly with the Flamborough Brown Shrike. Mega after mega in October eventually saw one that was obtainable - a confiding Green Heron in Kent, and finally the year kicked out with that somewhat obliging Steppe Grey Shrike in Lincolnshire. Maybe not a classic year but instantly memorable all the same!!!