Hallowet

 Nothing spooky about today's trip over to Rutland Water in the company of my brother this morning but there was plenty of rain to contend with. Indeed it was the threat of rain that caused David to choose Rutland over other sites as the reserve has plenty of hides in which to shelter. Needless to say viewing conditions were at times a little on the tricky side and far from being a treat! Thankfully those pesky clouds did eventually move on and blue skies prevailed.

Shovellers, Wigeon and Teal.

Lagoon one hosted a cream crown Marsh Harrier which spent most of its time sheltering on one of the islands. A trio of Dunlins were keeping company with a flock of Lapwings and we saw the first of what turned out to be many Great White Egrets. Making our squelchy way along to the next lagoon produced fleeting views of a Stonechat braving the gusty conditions and a small selection of ducks. Visits to the other lagoons added a few waders such as Snipe, a Curlew and Golden Plovers to our list while the most attractive of the wildfowl were a brace of drake Pintails. By now the deluge looked as if it might be about to ease a little but not before a squally gust sent rain crashing against the sides of Shoveller Hide with the force of waves breaking on a stormy shore. David took the brunt of this watery assault receiving a bit of a soaking for his troubles but the improving weather and the strong wind at least gave him a chance to dry out afterwards

Pintail and Golden Plovers.

Crake Hide is normally a little on the dull side but today it delivered quite a spectacle to gawp at. Great White Egrets are becoming a feature of winter birding nowadays but the sight of thirteen in one small area was pretty special, I've never seen so many in one spot before. A chat with one of the volunteers revealed that over thirty had been seen from this hide in the recent past and that a total of forty one were present around the reservoir. Hard to believe that sightings of these graceful herons used to attract the attentions of the twitching fraternity, fair to say that those days are long gone! We headed back to the car park with a reasonable total of species, a plan to stop at the dam was foiled by a large flotilla of boats sailing in the area.

Great White and Little Egrets.

We did play a brief visit to Eyebrook on the way home where the rain made an unwelcome though mercifully brief return. Not a huge amount to report other than a Whooper Swan in the bay north of the island. It spent most of the time kipping while we were there though it stuck its head up a couple of times. I managed to grab a couple of record shots from the car and that was the final act of our birding day.

Whooper Swan.

Normal Service Has Been Resumed!

 After yesterday's excitements it was a case of back down to earth when I took a stroll along the River Nene at Oundle this morning. While conditions were good with decent amounts of sunshine interesting wildlife proved to be rather elusive and I had one of my quieter days.

River views.

A scan from the north bridge towards Cotterstock produced a distant view of a male Stonechat which turned out to be my best bird of the day, From here I set off towards Ashton enjoying some nice riverine scenery but not much else. The usual collection of Herons and Cormorants and a Kingfisher were noted and I also saw a couple of Grey Wagtails. Two large flocks of Starlings seemingly following the course of the river may have been migrants and the number of Skylarks passing over suggested that these could have been on the move too. A small number of Redpolls were noted near Ashton Mill and I also saw a quartet of Redwings near the A605.

Grey Heron and Cormorant.

On arriving back at the outskirts of the town I popped into Barnwell CP where plenty of sprogs were enjoying their half term holidays. With all the kiddy clamour filling the air it was no surprise that birds were hard to find and Siskins were the only sighting of note. Although it was still a little on the early side I did manage to find a couple of Common Darters but I didn't hang round for too long before taking a stroll back into the town centre.

Distant Stonechat and closer Common Darter.

Titchwell Triumph

 Another Sunday and another out of county episode, today my brother and I were guests of the RSPB at Titchwell in Norfolk. This excellent reserve often delivers quality birding experiences and today was no exception. With the weather set fair we enjoyed a fantastic selection of birds as well as a few late insects that were active in those spots sheltered from the keen breeze.

Grey Phalarope

The long staying Grey Phalarope that has been here for over a week was good enough to continue its sojourn and treated us to some great views from the footpath. We watched as it fed in typically frenetic fashion constantly pirouetting, it seemed a bundle of limitless energy. We really were quite spoiled by this charismatic little swimmer as it showed equally well on our return walk from the beach. Sharing the marsh with the phalarope were a large number of Golden Plovers and a small selection of other waders which included Avocets.

Guillemot and Purple Sandpiper

Next up on our list of highlights was a Guillemot on the brackish marsh which treated us to some brilliant views. Whether this bird was a wind blown waif recuperating its strength seems likely, we were to see good numbers of Guillemots on the sea. I'm hoping that this one manages to make its way back to more familiar surroundings. A flock of roosting waders sharing the marsh with the gilly included Knot, Greenshank and Turnstone in their numbers. From the nearby beach we had a very good session of birding that began with rather distant views of a Purple Sandpiper. During our stay here the bird gradually came nearer and was seemed totally unfazed by its growing crowd of admirers. Eventually we had excellent views on what was turning out to be a cracking day. Large numbers of Starlings were moving through, I would estimate that thousands passed by. Best passerine for me though was Snow Bunting, a single bird on the ruined structure was later eclipsed by a small flock of eleven which paused briefly on the sand before continuing on their way.

Sanderlings and Dunlin

Sea watching can be a tedious affair but today turned out to be OK as both the light and the relatively calm sea helped us to find a good selection of species. Apart from those Guillemots that I mentioned earlier there was a distant Slavonian Grebe joining the more numerous Great Cresteds. At least half a dozen Red-throated Divers included several fairly close individuals. An immature Gannet showed reasonably well and so too did a group of female Common Scoters, a few distant drakes were also seen. The beach hosted small numbers of Sanderlings which gleamed in the strong sunlight.

Pintails and Willow Emerald.

Returning to the main reserve for a walk along the East Trail added Bearded Tits to our day list for the third week in a row. A minimum of two Marsh Harriers hunted above the reedbeds while several small flocks of Siskins and at least one female Brambling were observed. Plenty of Common Darters were enjoying the Autumn sunshine and in this they were joined by a few Migrant Hawkers and a single Willow Emerald. Two Red Admirals and a Small White completed our list of insects, the latter may well be one of my latest ever sightings. Having had an excellent morning we decided to call it quits and head back to Corby, today is going to take some beating!

More views of today's highlights.

Nothing Too Exciting - Thank Goodness!

 As the title may have hinted it was not one of my most interesting forays out into the wilds today but that turned out to be fine with me. I accidentally deleted all my pictures before I could load them on to the computer so the fact that I didn't lose any photos of decent stuff came as a relief! My wanderings took me from Upper Benefield to Deenethorpe and then to Deene before returning to Weldon via the airfield. It was grey for the most part with just the occasional sunny spell and I was pretty happy to dodge the rain that came later.

My stroll from Benefield was fairly birdy, the local farmer's have been doing assorted tractory type stuff which appears to have attracted good numbers of birds. There were quite a few flocks of seed eaters feeding on the edges of those fields where some stubble remained, most were either Yellowhammers or Chaffinches but there was an occasional Tree Sparrow with them. Skylark numbers seemed high and their calls and song were a feature of my walk. Gulls in particular seemed drawn to the newly tilled fields with Black-headeds providing most of the sightings. Another species putting in a good performance were Lapwings with a flock of a hundred plus being seen.

Deene Lake was a little quiet, a single Shelduck has returned and there were a few Wigeon present but there really wasn't much else to report birdwise. Highlight was a brief view of an Otter swimming near the inflow, at the time I was annoyed that I didn't get a pic but I'm more relaxed about that now! Deenethorpe airfield was fairly quiet too, just a few more Skylarks, some Linnets, a couple of Meadow Pipits and three Redwings to report. All in all one of my more uneventful trips but you can't expect to win all of the time. I've included a few pics from previous trips to make up for my photographic faux pas.

Taking A Punt On Cambridgeshire

 Another out of county experience for my brother and I as we visited our neighbouring county of Cambridgeshire for what turned out to be a fairly decent day though not one without its frustrations. Grey skies and the occasional spot or two of rain were the order of the day for the morning but they did eventually give way to a few afternoon sunny spells.

Bearded Tits.

Our day began at Pymoor where we hoped to catch up with the Cranes that have been visiting this spot over the past week or so. Sadly for us we failed to catch up with these stately stunners and had to be content with some slightly less spectacular fare. Highlight was a distant Great White Egret while both Redwings and Redpolls were also found. Our next goal was an American Wigeon that has been making the new Ouse Fen reserve its home for at least a week.

Glossy Ibis

Our wild duck hunt failed to produce any sightings and that was perhaps due to our failure to find the lake where it has been seen. For an RSPB reserve I have to say that the signage and trail markings are pretty poor though it's to be hoped that this may improve as time passes. Our ducky dip was disappointing but the fen was not without some rewards for my brother and I. Bearded Tits seem to be doing very well here, we saw four near the car park and heard numerous others during our walk. Waders were represented by a large flock of Golden Plovers and a Green Sandpiper while none wader records included Water Rails and Marsh Harrier. Two overflying Bramblings were my first of the Autumn and there were plenty of Cetti's Warblers singing too. In the afternoon the part of the Fen near Needingworth produced sightings of Migrant Hawkers, Common Darters and at least three Willow Emeralds while a single Red Admiral represented the butterflies.

Willow Emerald and Red Admiral.

David and I have suffered several dipressions this year caused by Glossy Ibis no shows but today we were able to put that right. A group of five were seen at Little Fen on the edge of Earith. Though the birds were quite distant we had good views through he scope and I even managed a few record shots. This is the largest number of Glossies that I've seen together in the UK and it certainly made up for our earlier misses. A good number of dabbling ducks were also feeding on the fen and these included a leucistic Wigeon.

Too late for the Countryfile calendar? - Black-necked Grebe.

The day concluded in our fair county as we popped into Thrapston to look for the reported Black-necked Grebe that has been frequenting the town lake for the past few days. A friendly and informative local birder gave us the up to date gen on the bird and we found it after a few minutes of searching. Always distant the bird nonetheless showed well through the scope. My attempts to get a record pic were predictably dire but I'll share one of my efforts here - it might make my other photos look slightly better if nothing else! 

Pinkies Make Me Perky

 Back to local stuff today after yesterday's travels and I pretty much repeated last Monday's walk though without the stop near the STW. Some decent weather made for a pleasant wander and also brought out a few late season insects. The highlight today was a little unexpected but at least it helped to feel like less of an anti climax after yesterday's excitements.

Pink-footed Geese and Stonechat.

I began at Willowbrook Industrial where things kicked off with a small herd of Fallow Deer that moved back into cover before I could raise my camera. Birding was initially a bit of a snore fest, there were plenty of birds about but nothing to remark on. Chiffchaffs remain in the area while Jays made a couple of appearances and a trio of Canada Geese were an unusual record for the area. More feral wildfowl dross in the shape of four Greylag Geese were responsible for today's star find. While looking at the quartet of humdrum honkers I noticed a high flying flock of geese moving in a southeasterly direction. A look through the bins revealed them to be Pink-footed Geese, thirteen in total and only my second record in the county. Still buzzing from my find I almost stumbled into the pair of Stonechats that seem to be settling in well. Neither hung around for long however and I only managed one shot. Not a great deal else to report other than a female Common Darter near the pond.

Comma and Red Admiral.

My stroll along to Weldon took me past the A43 pond where I found little of interest. Ivy flowers near by however were rather more productive as about half a dozen Red Admirals joined a single Comma and a buzzing crowd of bees hoverflies and wasps nectaring on them. A stroll along the stream failed to produce any sightings of Banded Demoiselle and it looks as if their season has finally come to an end. There were still a few damsels to enjoy however as several Willow Emeralds were active around the pond at the Woodland Park. Other odes observed there today were Southern and Migrant Hawkers and more Common Darters.

Willow Emerald, Southern and Migrant Hawkers.

It's Not Always Grim Oop North!

 News that a very rare wader had been found at a site in Yorkshire had my brother and I switch to twitch mode and make the journey up north. Our target bird was a small though perfectly formed Long-toed Stint which was apparently only the third to visit Britain. The RSPB reserve at St Aidan's near Leeds was the mega magnet and I doubt whether it has ever attracted quite so many birders before!

Long-tailed Stint and fan club.

After an early start we arrived just as the gates opened which meant that we actually got parked without too much difficulty, later arrivals probably had more of a struggle. A fairly short walk along the paths of this impressive looking site brought us to a large gathering of birders who were enjoying distant though still decent views of the feathered celebrity. Sadly after a brief period the bird flew off though locals suggested that it had probably not gone too far. During our somewhat leisurely pursuit we searched for any signs of the Black-necked Grebes for which this reserve is apparently known but our efforts were not to be rewarded.

White-tailed Lapwing and Curlew Sandpiper.

The Long-toed Stint had reappeared at the spot where those canny locals had predicted it would and my brother David and I joined a swelling crowd of admirers. Once again distant though good views were had and I managed a couple of duff record pics. Once we had seen enough of the star bird it was time to move on though not before we were treated to good views of a flying Bittern. On the way back to the car we chanced upon a small flock of Bearded Tits feeding at the base of the reeds. All in all it was a very agreeable way to start the day, a new species before lunch and only my third of the year.

Juvenile Ruff and Snipe.

Given our proximity to the Blacktoft Sands reserve it seemed a little churlish not to pop in and pay our respects to the long staying White-tailed Lapwing. Although the hide from which it was showing was somewhat full I squeezed in for a short period of time and had some great views. Other birds noted at the reserve included a Curlew Sandpiper, at least three Marsh Harriers and several skeins of Pink-footed Geese passing over.  Our excellent day was in no way spoiled by a puncture suffered on the A1 whilst travelling back thanks in no small part to the prompt reaction of an AA man who had the correct gear to remove some stubborn wheel nuts - thanks fella!

Pink-footed Geese (Honestly!)