What a Pile of Shi...

I fell in with hardened twitchers today as a car load of that singularly determined breed set out in search of an eastern goody. Our quarry was an Eastern Yellow Wagtail which had been frequenting some dung heaps near Ringstead in Norfolk. Leaving bright and early (well one out of two aint bad) Ken, Phil, Paul and I arrived to find quite a crowd of admirers.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail.

Happily for us the bird proved to be obliging and we were able to watch it for rather a long period. In all honesty it looked quite a bit like a normal Yellow Wagtail but I'm reliably formed that the call perfectly matched this recently split species. I was able to take a couple of record shots of what was my only new bird lifer of the year. a trio of hunting Marsh harriers were the only other birds of note here.

Curlew and Rough-legged Buzzard.

Our next stop was at Thornham to search for the reported Twites. Once again fortune favoured us as we were lucky enough to see nine birds split into two groups of five and four. Views were brief but half decent and while I couldn't get any pics it was good to see this declining species again.

Pink-footed and Brent Geese.

Whilst making our way along the coast road to Wells we stopped briefly near Burnham Overy to look at a large flock of Pink-footed Geese, despite searching we couldn't find anything else amongst them. At Wells the reported Rough-legged Buzzard showed well if distantly and it was seen on and off for perhaps as long as an hour. Other wildlife in the general area included Muntjac and Golden Plover.

Snow Buntings and Muntjac.

Holkham was our final stop and it turned out to be time well spent. Half a dozen Shore Larks were seen though the long grass in which they were feeding obscured them for much of the time. Slightly more obliging were the fifty or so Snow Buntings which although a bit on the flighty side showed well. With the sun setting we decided that enough was enough and headed home.

Norfolk sunset

A Look Back at 2019

Although I did manage a brief walk this morning the weather was poor and the results disappointing. A Muntjac and a few Teal were noted near the sewage treatment works while double figure counts of Gadwall and Tufted Ducks were seen on the pond near the A43. Every cloud however does have  a silver lining and my blank today gives me a chance to have a peek back at the wildlife highlights of 2019.  I'll start with the birdy best bits before moving on to the dragonflies and butterflies.

Smews and Shore Lark.

January saw me doing a lot of local birding which brought sightings of Great Grey Shrike and Corn Bunting near Hanging Houghton and Ring-necked Duck and Great Northern Diver at Pitsford. Eyebrook held good numbers of Smew while a nearby spot held several Short-eared Owls. A trip to Norfolk in February produced a good selection of winter birds including Shore Larks and Twites while March saw the arrival of the first Summer visitors. A first county Ring Ouzel for quite a few years in April was matched by my first ever county Cattle Egret at Stanwick.

Snow Buntings and Ring Ouzel.

Early May saw me over in Spain where I was treated to a very good range of birds of which a Collared Pratincole was my favourite. Norfolk weighed in with a first Wryneck in the UK since 1989 as well as a flock of Dotterels. Seabirds were the main focus in June, a visit to Bempton Cliffs was as dramatic as usual. The usual lull followed until August when another visit to Norfolk kicked things off again, a fine Purple Sandpiper being the highlight.

Collared Pratincole, Gannet and Dotterel.

The latter part of the year didn't produce too many memorable moments though seeing a Long-eared Owl again was much appreciated as was a large flock of Cranes and several Short-eared Owls at the Nene Washes. One of the last outings of the year to Rutland  delivered a quartet of Scaup and a Common Scoter.

Purple Sandpiper and Long-eared Owl.

2019 was not a vintage year for butterflies, in truth I probably neglected them a little bit but there were still a few good moments. The main feature of the year was the influx of Painted Ladies which saw records persisting into October, another migratory species, Clouded Yellow, was seen at two sites. My favourite sighting was an aberrant Purple Emperor in July at Fermyn while seeing Black Hairstreaks at two different spots in Harry's Park almost matched it. Elsewhere both Marbled White and Silver-washed Fritillary continued to do well locally. I didn't manage to find any Dark Green Fritillary in the county in 2019 despite an increase in records but perhaps next year will change all that.

Painted Lady, Purple Emperor and Black Hairstreak.

Things went better with my dragonfly watching as I was lucky enough to see two new species. A Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly in the New Forest was a stunning creature but it was more than overshadowed by a  Black Darter at Breney Common in Cornwall. I've looked for this species for several years and it was good to finally catch up with one.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and Black Darter.

Locally it was Variable Damselflies that stole the limelight as following on from the discovery of the Weldon population last year I was lucky enough to find them at two other sites in Northants. The first of these was at Wicksteed Park where a small breeding colony was present, the other site at Barnwell CP only held a few males but could yet prove to have another colony. The other species showing an increase in numbers was Willow Emerald, I saw them at six places in the county while others were seen elsewhere. The addition of this attractive damsel to the Autumn group of regulars is a very welcome result of their continuing colonisation. Banded Demoiselles enjoyed a long flight season lasting from April until October while there were late records of both Scarce Chaser and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Variable Damselflies and Willow Emerald.

A final very enjoyable feature of 2019 was the continuing presence of Otters at Barnwell. Although absent during the Summer I had some great views of them, hopefully they will be as obliging next year too.

Otter.

Scaups and a Scoter.

Alan Shorrock and I decided to leave the county today for a spot of birding over the border into Rutland. We began at Eyebrook reservoir before moving on to Rutland Water. Once the early spell off rain had moved on it turned out to rather a nice and mild winter's day.

Pintails and Kestrel.

Eyebrook was a little on the quiet side though there seemed to be a very high number of Teal around, I checked for Green-winged but didn't find any. Perhaps as many as half a dozen Pintail were seen and they turned out to be the highlight here. Snipe was the only other noteworthy species, a wisp of about ten showed briefly near the island.

Goosanders.

Deciding that we had seen all that we were going to we moved on to the dam at Rutland Water. Good numbers of Goldeneye were noted and I picked out the first of  at least nine Goosanders here. Alan outdid me by finding a female Common Scoter and then some Scaup. As we wanted better views of all of them a trek along the dam was called for and luckily for us the conditions were milder than usual - it gets pretty nippy here usually!. Although we did get closer to the Scaups in particular I only managed a few record shots but it was good to see them, an immature drake and three females being the final tally.

Goldeneyes and Common Scoter.

Having left the dam we moved on to the north arm where we were lucky enough to see two Black-necked Grebes. While always distant the light was good enough to ensure some clear views. Two additional Goosanders and Pintails were noted and also four Redshanks. There was also at least one Great White Egret here, another was noted from Old Hall. Our brief visit to the south arm failed to produce any sightings of the reported Red-necked Grebe and apart from the aforementioned egret the only birds of note were a pair of Ravens. With the light beginning to fail we packed our gear and headed home.

Immature drake and female Scaup.

Double Dipping

Back to the usual routine with a return to Barnwell CP where there have been a few recent reports of otters showing. Sadly they chose to take a day off or at least they didn't show while I was there and nor did the Kingfishers either. One plus point was that there was barely a whiff of weed in the Kingfisher Hide, on my last couple of visits there's been a very pungent taint to the air.

River view, Nuthatch and Marsh Tit.

From this hide there was the usual selection of birds coming down to the offered food. Also benefitting from this seedy bounty was at least one Bank Vole and the usual squirrels. A similar picture from Lowlands Hide with no surprises but lots of good views. Elsewhere around the park a few small groups of Siskins were seen and so too were a pair of Bullfinches.

Wren, Dunnock and Wood Pigeon.

Plenty of floodwater attracting lots of Black-headed Gulls and a few Grey Herons but not much else. I headed into town to check the church for Peregrines and arrived just in time to catch a view of one heading out towards the Nene floods, bad news for something I'm sure.

Blue Tit and Bank Vole.

Peregrines.

Just a local wander today as far as Brookfield Plantation where the usual selection of passerines were on offer. Highlight was a vocal Raven, these early nesters might already be looking to re-establish territories. At the smaller end of the scale several small flocks of Siskins and good numbers of Goldcrests were noted. Not too much else of note within the wood though a nearby site provided additional interest.

Brookfield Plantation.

There were at least two Peregrines at one of their favoured spots, one in particular being very noisy. With quite a stiff wind blowing they chose to shelter out of the breeze where one seemed to be enjoying quite a large meal. Other species present in the same area included Grey Wagtail, Red Kite and Buzzard.

Who's a Pretty Boy Then?

A blue Monday today though mercifully it was down to the sky and not my mood as the county enjoyed another fine and sunny winter day. Opting not to go to Barnwell I chose instead to brave the bus trip over to Kettering for a walk around Wicksteed Park.

Sunrise and Tufted Ducks.

Large numbers of Black-headed Gulls were around the park though only one Common, I think the floods around the county may have enticed them away as they seem to love wet fields. On the main lake a double figure count of Pochard mingled with a slightly larger number of Tufties feeding with Coots. Initially it looked as if few dabblers were present but I found good numbers of both Teal and Shoveller hiding out of the strong breeze on the lee shore of the island. A Little Egret was stalking the shallows while several Cormorants added to the fishy woes.

Grey Heron and Gadwall.

More Pochards, at least fifteen, were found on the fishing lake though there were not too many other birds on here. There was a pair of Gadwall to add on to the day list while a Grey Heron posed very obligingly. My rumbling belly was suggesting that it might be time to hunt down some breakfast so I decided to make my excuses. Thoughts of brekkie however were postponed by the arrival of a colourful and perhaps unlikely visitor. A Ring-necked Parakeet flew from trees next to the River Ise and landed in trees on the island. Constantly buffeted by the wind and subject to attention from some curious Jackdaws it never settled in one spot for too long but I did manage a couple of ropey record shots. This is my first away from the local centre of population in Northampton and it could of course be a recent escapee rather than a feral bird.

Great Crested Grebe and Black-headed Gulls.

On my way to breakfast I checked the church for any Peregrines that might be present but couldn't find any.

Ring-necked Parakeet.