Owling Mad

 Today I spent another day in the company of Alan Shorrock as we journeyed to both the Nene and Ouse Washes on our travels. First off we headed towards Welney where the possibility of seeing Cattle Egrets and Bewick's Swans was the draw. It was a mild though grey sort of day where thankfully the birding made up from the drab and dreary conditions.

Whooper and Bewick's Swans

A roadside stop between Chatteris and Manea produced sightings of plenty of Whooper and one small party of Bewick's, Welney added further sightings of both species. Also showing at Welney were two Cattle Egrets which showed well if rather distantly. Amongst the wildfowl plenty of Pintails were the highlight while well over a hundred Black-tailed Godwits were noted. Pick of the passerines were a small number of Tree Sparrows and we also heard a Chiffchaff.

Cattle Egret and Tree Sparrows

Eldernell turned out to be excellent with owls in particular to the fore. First up was a Short-eared roosting in a hawthorn hedge, it was one of four about today. Nearby at least two Long-eareds upped the ante though they were well concealed and difficult to photograph. A short walk along the drain took us to a spot where a roosting Tawny Owl was showing well if rather distantly. Away from the owl action a male Hen Harrier showed fairly well as it quartered the marsh, I saw it on two occasions. Our owl spotting activities had not quite ended for the day however as at least four Barn Owls were out hunting before we set off.

Owl quartet

East Meets West

 Alan Shorrock and I made a return trip to Ecton this morning for another look at the Siberian Chiffchaffs. It was certainly a lot milder than it was on our previous visit which resulted in there being less birds on view but with just the occasional sunny spell the light quality was more helpful for trying to separate Sibe Chiffies from their commoner cousins, we managed to find one in amongst about twenty of its relatives. This week's individual was a grey looking, dark legged bird with some green on its folded flight feathers and on its tail. The bird was not very vocal but close observation suggests that Sibes don't pump their tails as frequently as Common Chiffchaffs do.

Siberian Chiffchaff

Away from the Chiffies there was once again an obliging Cetti's Warbler which showed very well on occasion. A Kingfisher paid only a brief visit and a Water Rail was heard calling while there was also a Green Sandpiper present. We were watching the Chiffs when a Raven passed by treating  us to a display of aerobatics, this is their time of the year for displaying. Several Grey Wagtails were also noted but there were no repeat viewings of Jack Snipe sadly.

Cetti's Warbler.

From Ecton we called in at Ravensthorpe Reservoir to have a look for the female Ring-necked Duck that's been here for a day or two. With the help of another birder we managed to find her and enjoyed some fairly distant though good views. After about three quarters of an hour we decided to call it quits and packed up for the day.

Ring-necked Duck

Not One To Remember

 New shift patterns at work mean that I have to work the occasional Saturday, not great but the compensation for this comes in the shape of a day off in the week. Today I teamed up once again with Alan Shorrock for a trip to the dam at Rutland Water. Foggy interludes, some drizzle and a cold wind made for some fairly challenging conditions, I'd like to say that the birding made up for this but I'm afraid to say that it didn't!

Goosanders

There was no sign of either of the Great Northern Divers that have been frequenting the area recently and not much else in all honesty. I can't remember there being so few birds in this area before and I'm not sure why. What is for sure is that this was my worst visit to Rutland ever. A pair of Goosanders were the pick of a small bunch, I'm hoping that my next excursion supplies a little more interest, it shouldn't be difficult!

Rutland selection

Returning briefly to those Ecton Chiffies and I'm happy that I saw and photographed at least two tristis types but there's one bird that I photographed that I'm struggling with. Initially I thought it was a Sibe Chiffy but there are a couple of features that rule this out. With pale pinkish legs, a pale bill and an obvious supercilium I'd pass it off as a Willow Warbler had it been either spring or summer but winter records of these are rarer than Sibe Chiffies. It's a shame that the photo doesn't show the primary projection well enough but you can't always pin a name on a bird and I'll have to put this down to experience or lack thereof!

What is it?

UPDATE Just learnt that not all Sibe Chiffs have black legs and that in some individuals they can appear paler. This combined with the bright sunshine exaggerating this feature in the photos makes me a little happier with the original ID.

Ecton Chiffies Revisited

 Eagle eyed Alan Shorrock has inspected some of his and my shots of the Ecton Chiffchaffs and has noticed that all show birds with pale legs which appear to be pinkish or orangey. Given that Chiffchaffs are supposed to have dark coloured legs this poses something of a question. There's no doubt that the birds we were watching were either ordinary Chiffies or tristis type Siberian Chiffchaffs so why would the legs appear to be pale? I'm wondering if the bright sunshine was responsible or could it be that some of the paler looking birds may be as Alan suggested leucistic? I believe the light's responsible for the illusion but it's certainly an interesting observation. Here's a few more pics including some Common Chiffchaffs.

Three images of tristis types and one ordinary Chiffchaff

Winter Walk

 After yesterday's haul of goodies today's pickings were always going to struggle to compete and they were slim in comparison. It was a beautiful day, cold but sunny and I enjoyed a stroll around the Northamptonshire countryside in the Deene and Deenethorpe area. Taking advantage once again of the cheaper bus fares I travelled as far as Upper Benefield and walked back from there.

Fieldfare and Yellowhammer

The countryside between Benefield and Deenethorpe did not hold too many birds, there was a selection of buntings and finches and a few winter thrushes but not much else. A Brown hare, the first of two today, stood out against a frosty grass field as it nibbled on grass. Near the barns at Burnt Coppice a male Stonechat was a welcome find. it was my first in the county this year. I continued my stroll towards Deene without adding too much more to my list.

Brown Hare and Stonechat

White-cheeked Pintail and Fallow Deer

The main lake at Deene was frozen though there was some open water near the inflow. At least fourteen Shelduck were present and there were a few Shovellers and a Pochard feeding with the more regular ducks. Also putting in an appearance was presumably the returning White-cheeked Pintail from last year. other wildfowl of dubious origin were four Black Swans. A flock of forty or so Lapwings were noted in flight over Deenethorpe village and a Snipe was flushed between the village and the airfield. Not much else was noted apart from a Fallow Deer grazing on the edge of Weldon Park Wood.

Starling and Wren

Ecton Excels

 A report of a Siberian Chiffchaff at Ecton STW persuaded Alan Shorrock that a road trip might be in order and I was more than happy to tag along with him. With the use of one of the local birding maps from the Northamptonshire Birding blog we managed to find the site but had to wait for a thick mist to lift. Once the viewing conditions had cleared up we were treated to a good selection of local birds.

The mist soon lifted to reveal some goodies

Arriving at bridge K121 we saw two Little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper was also glimpsed as it flew off up the outflow stream. Soon afterwards a Kingfisher repeated this disappearing trick though it did return a little later and treat us to some decent views. Several Common Chiffchaffs were flitting around the bridge and numbers built up as the morning progressed. We managed to find first one and then a second tristis type Chiffy and one or the other showed reasonably well during our stay. Neither called while we were there but I'm reasonably happy that both were Siberians. Showing well at times was a Cetti's Warbler which gave my best ever county views of this often elusive species.

Distant Jack Snipe and closer Cetti's Warbler

Several Green Sandpipers had returned to the outflow stream but these were overshadowed by a Jack Snipe which gave us prolonged though fairly distant views of this often difficult to see species. A Common Snipe later joined its smaller relative for a while providing a good comparison. Grey Wagtails also found the banks of the stream attractive and at least two were seen while Water Rails crossed the channel on a couple of occasions. Alan picked out a flyby Great White Egret which was another good bird to add to the list. Having eventually left the site several celebratory pints were downed in the Saxon Tavern in nearby Earls Barton, a good end to a good day!

Three views of tristis type Chiffchaffs

Wakey Wakey

 My brother David, John Barn and I spent the day wandering around two sites in Leics and Rutland on the hunt for interesting birds. Although it stayed dry for much of the time there was a cold wind blowing which made for a sometimes cold and unpleasant experience. Despite the biting wind we were treated to a selection of interesting wildlife.

Smew

We began at Eyebrook where Smew continue to be present in good numbers, fourteen were reported by others though we managed a more modest total of about six drakes. Attempts to locate any of the reported Scaup failed though many of the diving ducks were tight up against the opposite shore. Three Pintail were the most interesting of the other wildfowl on site. A trio of Great White Egrets were seen at various points around the res and there was a flock of about ten Siskins at the bridge.

Kittiwake

Satisfied that we had seen everything that Eyebrook had to offer we left and made the short journey to the dam at Rutland Water. There was no luck with either of the two reported Great Northern Divers but luckily that was our only failure here. Another birder alerted us to the presence of an adult Kittiwake flying along the dam, it continued to patrol the area throughout the length of our visit. The same birder then found the reported Slavonian Grebe close to the opposite shore, I had clear if distant views. After this we didn't manage to find any other birds of note though our day was not quite finished yet. An Otter swimming fairly close in treated us to some sustained views as it fed energetically. After ten miutes or so we left the Otter to carry on with its fishing and headed back towards Corby. One plus point for me was that I'd actually managed to visit Rutland without getting rained on - long may that trend continue! I didn't take many photos today, distance was one factor but the main one was that my replacement battery ran out of charge after only a couple of pictures.