Grey Phalarope, King George V Reservoir

I spent a couple of hours over at the King George V Reservoir with Brian on Wednesday. We walked the east side past the sailing club hut. A scan from the causeway eventually located a Slavonian Grebe among the large raft of Coots. Brian was scoping the North basin and found the Reported Red-breasted Merganser drifting along in the middle of the basin. Three Goosander and several Goldeneye were the only other birds of note.

Red-breasted Merganser

This morning, while at home eating breakfast, Brian rings to say there's a Grey Phalarope at the Reservoir. He's already on his way, so I agree to meet him over there. It had been reported in the southeast corner of the south basin, which is the closest area to the car park. However,  Harry informs us that the bird had flown to the southwest corner. We get halfway along the edge of the basin, and the phalarope flies straight past us and lands close by.

This is the third Grey phalarope I've seen at the KGV.

Grey phalarope

Brown Shrike: Upper Hollesley, Suffolk

While watching the Black-faced Bunting in East Yorkshire on Wednesday, news broke of a Brown Shrike at Upper Hollesley in Suffolk. This is a bird I had failed to connect with on two previous occasions. The first was in 2013 at Hook-with Warsash in Hampshire, and the second in 2019 at Great Cowden in East Yorkshire. Could this be the opportunity to finally see one? Understandably, Brian didn't want to divert from the drive home, and the weather forecast for the following day was dreadful, with high winds and rain expected for most of the day, definitely not ideal weather for shrikes. Unsurprisingly, the shrike was not reported all day. Just after 9 a.m. this morning, I received the news I had hoped for: the shrike was still present! Brian had an M.O.T. on his car and was waiting in the garage when I phoned him. "The shrike is still there, do you fancy going"? The car passed, and Brian agreed to the trip. We met at 10.15 am and arrived shortly before midday. 

Birders were spread out in different areas around what would turn out to be the birds' favoured feeding area of the common. Having joined the main group, we were told that it was mobile but showed regularly. We didn't have to wait very long before the shrike appeared low down in a bramble bush, and I had finally seen a Brown Shrike.

Surprisingly, it's also a first record for Suffolk 

Brown Shrike

The Brown Shrike (Lanius Cristatus) breeds from eastern Siberia to Northwestern Mongolia. It winters in Southeast Asia and South Asia, including India, Myanmar, and the Malay Peninsula.

Black-faced Bunting at Spurn YWT

A possible sighting of a Black-faced Bunting at Spurn at 10.54am on the 20th was quickly confirmed fifteen minutes later. Brian was eager to go but had commitments the following day, so the first opportunity would be today. Brian persuaded me to join him, and we left for Spurn at 3am, knowing that with a forecast of clear skies the previous evening, the bird could easily have moved on. We arrived at Spurn around 7am and began the walk out along the beach towards Spurn Point. We headed up the slope and joined five other birders who had already been scanning for the Bunting. There had been no sign of the bird; this is not what any birder wants to hear!

Some of the guys had seen the bird the previous day and knew its favoured feeding area. I set up the scope and trained it on the road where the bird had been feeding. An hour later, the bird hadn't been seen, so we decided to edge along the road in case the bird was feeding elsewhere. By now, several more birders had joined us, and thoughts began that the bird had indeed moved on overnight. Then, a call from another group of birders saw us head back towards them. They had seen the bird, but it had gone into thicker cover as we reached them. Some birders could see the bird from their position, but it remained hidden from mine. After some good directions, "It's close to a single bent over bramble branch and a patch of small yellow flowers." I spotted the bird! Eventually, it emerged from cover and began feeding on the road. We watched it for twenty minutes before a work truck came along and flushed the bird up and over the bank.

Its breeding range extends from southern Siberia across to northern China, and it winters in northeast India, south China, and the northern parts of southeast Asia

There have been nine previous accepted records of Black-faced Bunting in the UK, the first in 1994 in Manchester. Of the nine records, five have been on the mainland, with the other four all on Shetland.

After the truck flushed the bird, we decided to walk out towards the point, adding another 3 miles to the walk. Something we regretted on the long walk back to the car. Eider and Rock Pipit were added to the dismal year list, though.

Road to the Lighthouse

High Tide Hut

Black Stork and Zitting Cisticola in Suffolk

It's been over a month since I've had a decent day out birding. The only trip I've made in that time was a failed attempt to see a Black-crowned Night Heron at Rye Meads in Hertfordshire.

Yesterday evening, Brian texted to ask if I fancied a trip into Suffolk to try to see the Zitting Cisticola at Walberswick. I was keen but a little apprehensive, as my last trip out birding besides the short trip into Hertfordshire was when I dipped this very species in Kent at the beginning of July.

We made plans to leave at 3am and stop at Boyton Marshes on the way up, hoping the Black Stork had remained on site. Then travel on if there was positive news on the Warbler. We arrived at the small parking area at 5am, and walked 2 miles along the sea wall, thankfully to find the juvenile Black Stork still happily feeding in the dyke. This was only the second Black Stork I had seen in the UK; the other sighting was another juvenile bird at Frampton Marsh in 2021. While watching the Stork, a Tawny Owl was heard calling from a small copse in the distance.

On the walk back to the car, news came through that the Warbler was still present at Walberswick. Now we just had another mile walk and twenty-five miles drive ahead of us before we reached Walberswick! As we left the car park, Brian spotted a Little Owl perched on a fence.

Sunrise over the River Alde at Boyton Marshes

 Black Stork (Juvenile)

In our favour, the Warbler was in an area where it couldn't be disturbed by people or dogs, which was very much not the case with the same species we dipped in Kent only last month. We walked out along the shingle beach until we joined a group of birders already present. Before I had reached them, I had already heard the bird calling, but I hadn't managed to see the bird. Soon it was calling again, and this time I picked it out among the grey clouds before it dropped back down into the thick vegetation. It would follow the same pattern throughout our visit. It would fly up out of the scrub, calling "zip-zip-zip" bouncing among the clouds, then drop back down into thick cover or flit across the reed tops, very occasionally sitting up for brief moments. 

The Zitting Cisticola is a mere 3½"- 4½" in size, with brown upperparts heavily streaked with black, whitish underparts, a short, rounded tail tipped with white, and a relatively long decurved bill. Its distribution covers much of southern Europe, where it breeds in open flat country in tall grass or fields.

Could this be the same bird that was at Foreness Point in Kent at the beginning of July?

This individual is also a first record for Suffolk.

 Area where the Zitting Cisticola was seen 

Song Sparrow dipped at Thornwick Bay

When Brian phoned and said he was thinking of going to Yorkshire for the Song Sparrow, I should have just said yes. But it was mid-morning, and I was already busy with jobs around the house and reluctant to leave them, so we made plans to go early the next morning. We left home at 4am, knowing it had been a clear night in Yorkshire and chances of the bird moving on overnight were quite possible. Unfortunately, we arrived to negative news. 

Hearing this news, we decided to spend the morning at Bempton Cliffs, and if the bird was refound, we would be only a short drive back down the coast to it. Sadly, the Song Sparrow would not be found again throughout the day.

Disappointed, we still enjoyed a lovely morning at Bempton, watching the comings and goings of thousands of seabirds. Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes were present in huge numbers, with smaller numbers of Fulmars and Puffins. Tree Sparrows were seen in bushes around the reserve centre and along the seafront.

We left Bempton at lunchtime and stopped at Welbeck Raptor Watchpoint. We didn't see any Honey Buzzards but did connect with a Quail while we were there.

Before heading home, we made a small diversion to Rutland Water, where we enjoyed views of a pair of Osprey at the nest with two young. 

White-winged Black Tern: Fen Drayton Lakes, Cambridgeshire

Brian had a few hours free today and decided to head to Fen Drayton Lakes in Cambridgeshire, where a White-winged Black Tern had been present since the 4th. The reports on the way up had said it was present on Drayton Lagoon, so upon arrival, we headed to that lagoon, only to be told that the tern had disappeared after a heavy rain shower. After a quick scan of the lagoon, we headed back towards the car park to scan Ferry Lagoon, the other area where the tern had previously been seen. 

As we approached the area, another birder told us that the tern had been present on Ferry Lagoon, but it had now flown back towards Drayton Lagoon! Thankfully, the tern was seen flying over the Lagoon on our return. It was a case of walking along the grass bank and viewing the Lagoon from any available breaks in the trees.

One of the views of the Lagoon through the trees

White-winged Black Tern

Spotted Sandpiper: Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire

An unexpected phone call from Brian this morning asking if I wanted to go to Cambridge and try for the Spotted Sandpiper. 

By the time we set off, the bird had already been reported on the news services; however, as we were heading up the A1, the sandpiper was reported again, only this time it said "No further sign." So we changed our plans and headed twenty miles east to the RSPB reserve at Ouse Fen. Dad was busy when Brian and I saw the Great Reed Warbler on our previous visit, so this was a good opportunity to see it today. There had been no reports all morning, but it soon began singing as we approached Crane's fen, and it was quickly spotted at the back of the reeds. Dad added another year tick when a single Crane flew low across the reeds and dropped down among the reeds behind a line of bushes. Seven Hobbies were seen over the distant trees, and we picked out a female Red-footed Falcon hawking among them. Giving us all another addition to the year list.

A glance at the news services revealed that the Spotted Sandpiper had been refound. We headed west to Grafham Water and parked in Plummer Park car park. From here, it was a short walk north along the grass path. The Spotted Sandpiper was busily feeding along the shoreline. 

It was a very smart-looking bird and the first Spotted Sandpiper I have seen that actually had spots! The two previous Spotted Sandpipers I have seen were both 1st winter birds. It fed along the same area of shoreline until flushed by a Carrion Crow. However, it would return to the same shoreline after a few minutes.

Spotted Sandpiper

Shoreline, the sandpiper was feeding along