An un-ringed White Stork was reported at Amwell, but by the time I got there it was a distant speck over Rye Meads. However, a Cattle Eagle was excellent compensation, though somewhat distant. And another good find was this Adult Mediterranean Gull. And for comparison, here with Common and Black-Headed Gulls. News filtered through of other good birds at Rye Meads so a short drive south gave distant views of 6 Black-Tailed Godwits. And a very brazen Muntjac! And ridiculous close-up of an Egyptian Goose. A female Marsh Harrier was present and gave some good views from the Draper Hide. And to round things off - a couple of Garganey! What a cracking day!
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A Great Grey Shrike has been present just outside of Weeting village in Norfolk for a few weeks now and for various reasons I had not been able to make it up there. However, some slightly better weather heralded an opportunity. Initially, however there was no sign of the bird despite a number of people searching for it. Whilst waiting, a Goshawk and a couple of Woodlark were good consolation. As the light improved slightly and the wind dropped a bit, the Shrike was spotted and I manged to get some distant shots. It would move around the clearing, perching up and watching the ground for prey. I managed to get a couple of shots of it diving down. At one point it came slightly nearer so I was able to get some better quality images, but still heavily cropped. A wonderful bird and my third ever in the UK. On the way home, time to pop into Cavenham Heath and add Linnet, Stonechat and this Meadow Pipit to the day list. But the highlight here was two very distant, early retuning Stone Curlews. Just the one record shot here! A day in the Brecks is always rewarding and we had some fantastic birds today as well as bumping into a few friendly faces from the RSPB SE Herts Group and the Braughing Birders.
Little Gulls tend not to stay long in one place. They are passage birds, wintering in Western Europe and the Med and then heading to Northern Europe to breed. We tend to get smallish numbers passing through in Spring and Autumn. One was reported in the morning in Stevenage, and it lingered still so a quick trip up to see if it was still there. It was, but disappeared after I had been there for just under an hour. A very small, fast and tricky bird to photograph! They are about 2/3 the size of Black-Headed Gulls and they did not take kindly to the visitor! A really beautiful bird in a very unusual location!
A drier, sunny day so a short trip to Amwell to try and get some images of the drake Smew that has been there for a few weeks, together with a female bird. It has quite often been distant, so would today bring it a bit closer? Luckily for me I bumped into Alan Reynolds and used his decades of experience and fieldcraft to full advantage! The Smew was swimming down to the south of the pit so a brisk walk down there saw us ready and in position for some reasonably close shots. It seems to prefer the company of a female Goldeneye rather than the female Smew, so it was good to get some shots of them together. They really are cracking birds and always a treat to see. And to round off an enjoyable couple of hours, a visit from a confiding male Muntjac.
The day started with a local walk with the RSPB SE Herts Group around Lemsford Springs and the grounds of Brocket Hall. The usual suspects were there including Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, Green Sandpipers and Siskin. The highlight however was this pair of Mandarin Ducks. A White Stork had been reported on floodwater near Essendon since Saturday so after the walk we made a short detour to track it down. It is a male bird born in 2022 as part of the Knepp rewilding project. Ringed as GB9U. It had flown from its favoured spot but we tracked it down slightly further west. And a few flight shots. A nice end to the day.
Finally some sun in what has been a very wet February, so time to pop up to Fowlmere and try to get some pictures of the Marsh Harriers. The reserve was initially very quiet with just a few Greylag and Mallard on the Mere. However, a distant Fox appeared and raptors included Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Red Kite and this Common Buzzard. The male Marsh Harrier (now I believe about 5 years old) was quite active and would fly around for a while before heading off to hunt. I only saw the female once when she briefly flew up to greet him after he had been away for a while. All of the shots here are of the male bird. What superb markings! And an unsuccessful hunting attempt over the reedbed. Always a great bird to see and photograph.
A break in the weather and a chance for a couple of very local trips. First stop was at Rye Meads with high water levels at the Draper hide. I'm used to seeing Little Grebes here but a Great Crested Grebe was unusual. A few Pochard around and sad to hear that numbers of this attractive duck are falling. This one came in close for a wash. Teal are our smallest duck and it was nice to see a small flock fly in. It is always entertaining watching Coots and their endless battles! There were quite a few squabbles over mates and territories. But the star bird was this tiny Goldcrest just past the hide. Amwell the following day provided a red head Smew, Red-Crested Pochards, Raven and a female Goosander, but all too far away for meaningful pictures. However, on Widbury Hill six Red Kites were riding the thermals in beautiful light. And finally, by the entrance to James hide, a small flock of Siskin. Great to have such close views!
An outing to the Brecks with a first stop at Cockley Cley in the hope of seeing displaying Goshawks. Lots of Buzzards, Red Kites and Pigs but sadly no Goshawks during our watch. So next stop was Lynford Arboretum. After a coffee it was a case of scanning "the tunnel" where a number of smaller birds were coming down to feed and/or drink. It was rather gloomy so not great for photography. A few Brambling were present and a couple of Yellowhammer, including this one. Another visitor was this Great Spotted Woodpecker. A few Redwings were moving around and it was good to get one come down to drink next to a Song Thrush. But the star of the tunnel area was this Hawfinch who favoured the far end! It is always a good place to walk around and the emerging Snowdrops were a nice bonus. On to the bridge and there were around 9 or 10 Crossbills high up in the trees. Fortunately, one of the males briefly came down lower. It was time to use the "Alan Reynold's mossy log on a bridge" trick and get some images of the birds coming in to feed, starting with Robin, Blackbird and Chaffinch. The above bird was obviously suffering with a diseased foot, possibly papillomatosis. Always good to get five species of Tit in a day (no pictures of Long Tailed, but here are some Blue and Great Tits. The Coal Tits were trickier, flying in and out very quickly. Marsh Tits are tricky to find now in Hertfordshire but thankfully still fairly common at Lynford. A great few hours and as two White Tailed Eagles had been reported nearby in Stowlangtoft we popped by to see if we could spot them. Two male birds, one from the Isle of Wight and one from the Netherlands had been there for a few days. We had a brief distant fly past by one of them and then when it was nearly dark one flew in to attempt to roost literally 50 yards away before flying to one of their favoured trees. What an end to a fabulous day.
A walk with the SE Herts RSPB Group which started off at the Wildlife Discovery Centre, or to me, the Bittern hide! No sign today of the Bittern or the male Smew which had re-located to Bowyer's Water as a lot of the lakes were frozen over. We therefore decided to follow the Flood Relief channel up to Holyfield Weir. The Great Crested Grebes were already starting to display. A good find was a female Goldeneye on the river. Slightly further along, we found the male. You can clearly see where it got its name from! At the weir there were double figure numbers of Goosander, mostly females as pictured here. A few of the group had a brief view of a Peregrine which was later tracked down to one of the pylons. Here is a picture as a record. The Cormorants seemed unfazed by its presence. On the way back we chanced upon a small flock of Siskin in Alders near the Fishermen's car park. Really tricky to get shots due to the poor light. A fly by Little Egret gave some great views! Back at the viewpoint we had all five of the more commoner Gulls and it was good that this included a Great Black-Backed Gull. A great morning with good company!
A very cold, sunny day so an ideal opportunity to visit Rainham. Quite icy, so not great on the wader front, but still some open water for the ducks. As to be expected the House Sparrows were showing well just outside the visitor centre. There were large numbers of Fieldfares moving between the river wall and the reserve, but quite skittish. The Kestrel gave amazing close views just off the river wall. A few Marsh Harriers were present including this female who came in reasonably close. Smaller birds included this Stonechat and Robin. Bearded Tits were heard but not seen! A Little Grebe gave some good close up views. The ducks looked really good in the Winter sunshine and this Shoveler was obviously trying to minimise contact with the ice. Pintail must be one of my favourite ducks, so nice to get a couple of shots of this pair. Finally on the duck section, some Wigeon flight shots. And a lovely sighting at the Butts hide of this Mouse sneaking out and taking advantage of the crumbs left by lunching birders! A great visit even if the reported Short Eared Owls didn't show later in the afternoon.
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