Skip to main content

There goes the fear

Osprey at Eyebrook

WW Black at Grafham

Essex Skipper at Happisburgh

Before heading off to the British Birdfair at Rutland Water, I headed to the east coast for a bit of bush shaking. Conditions looked good for some early migrants, Wryneck and RB Shrike my own personal targets for the morning. Perhaps I should have set my sights a little lower, since a good few Lesser Whitethroats were as good as it got on the avian front. I did enjoy some success with some Butterflies: 2 Wall Brown in dunes at Waxham, an Essex Skipper on the clifftops at Happisburgh and best of all, a new moth for me: The Drinker! This thing looks like an X-file, what a beast. Stupidly the camera was in the car at this point.
On route to 'The birdwatcher's Glastonbury' (Yeah, right. If that was the Glastonbury crowd, you can count me out in the future) Debs and I stopped off at Grafham Water. Here we enjoyed excellent views of Both Black and White-Winged Black Tern. A useful exercise in Tern ID with Common also fishing the reservoir. Debs watching Terns= happy for the weekend.
The fair itself was a good one this year, punctuated by some interesting lectures and a brief meet and chat with Jimmi from Doves! He is involved with a project known as 'Ghosts of Gone Birds', which highlights extinction past and present. Also involved is my friend and mentor from my Nottingham days, Dr. Rob Lambert. He nailed his specialist subject of 'The History of British Seabirds' during the celebrity wildlife brain of Britain, but went on to be frankly embarrassed by Mike Dilger (Oooooooonnnnneee) in the general knowledge round. Rob, if you are reading, I was mouthing the words 'Lulworth Skipper' to you.
Best lecture was given by Martin Garner and James Lees, who spoke about finding and documenting rarities. Just the boost I needed after my abject failure to find anything decent on the coast, but they did point strongly at the use of digiscoping in order to get records accepted, something I do not do....as yet.
On the Sunday, we left early in order to do the circuit of Eyebrook Reservoir. I quickly picked up the hunched-over Cattle Egret that had kindly turned up over the weekend, and intervened when I noticed a group of birders happily watching a Little Egret and believing it to be Cattle. Think of it as community service, lads. We also enjoyed crippling views of an Osprey, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. A Ruff was with the Lapwing flock, and distantly a probable Black Tern hawked over the water. Bullfinch called from scrub, and a Yellowhammer landed and called within feet. What a great set of birds, and for a brief blasphemous moment, I wished Eyebrook were my local patch. Surlingham- you know I don't mean it, and will appease with the finding of a Whinchat later this week. Or a Woodchat Shrike.

Comments

  1. shaky22 August 2011 at 11:17

    It's a great place Rutland and birdfair was pukka! Good luck with the woodchat shrike at surlingham mate, just remember I expect a digi scope pic for proof! Ha ha
    Shaky

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grey Phalarope- a new patch bird

The 7th of April was another bitterly cold Spring day, hats and gloves in prime position on pegs and in bags ready to be deployed. A few brave Garganey have been reported north of the river, but it was a bird from the north itself that had me rushing for the thermals and the telescope late in the day.  I was thankful for the local Whatsapp group who were quick to report that a Grey Phalarope had been seen on Rockland Broad. This tiny Wader would have come in on the northerlies over the last few days, although to grace one of the broads is a real surprise, since most stick pretty close to the coast before moving on. Indeed, my experience of the birds has usually been on a sea watch in the Autumn, waves crashing and foam flying, my eyes straining to pick them out as they fly low just above the surf. They are fantastic birds, and now one was here on the patch. I had a brief panic when I realised my scope was in my car at the garage (thankfully I do have a much older spare) but once the ho
Post a Comment
Read more

A change is as good as a rest

Casting my mind back to February 14th, survival rather than love was in the air for the birds of the Yare Valley. Tramping across the Surlingham corner of the patch, I recorded 8 Woodcock within 2 hours. These Cryptic Waders had been forced out of hiding, and even amongst the woodland floor they were easier than usual to spot against a backdrop of snow. The small pine wood opposite the church and adjacent to the parking area held at least 2 birds, creeping around and huddled up low to the ground. A further investigation of likely habitat around Church Marsh and I was presented with 6 more, a record count for me in a single day. I hope they made it through the trial sent from the north in the form of ice and snow. A Great Egret exploring a dyke at Postwick must've been thinking twice about the whole range expansion thing. However, a small Squadron of Bewick's Swan and a single Goosander over Claxton fitted the mise en scene nicely during this period.  That image and that day fee
Post a Comment
Read more

Claxton-on-sea!

 Although it was not quite the Christmas we wanted here in the valley, the rain has bought its own gift. A grim vision of the future, perhaps. But right now, the patch is peaking and is alive with birds, and for that I am thankful. On Christmas eve, it was a job to navigate away from the village due to standing water that had left abandoned cars and undelivered presents in its wake. The rain had been persistent and unforgiving, the ground, saturated. Over on the marsh, where there had once been a muddy puddle amongst the pasture, a city had sprung from the leak, with a plethora of new occupants noisily laying claim to a patch of sodden marsh. Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls in their thousands now wheeled and whistled over and amongst the newly formed pools, accompanied by smaller numbers of Teal and Shoveler. A flock of two hundred-strong Lapwing enjoyed feeding on the less damp spots where green grass was still exposed, and thrown in for good measure have been a couple of Ruff, the firs
4 comments
Read more