Jack Snipe, Lemsford Springs

Dad and I made a very brief visit to Lemsford Springs in Hertfordshire this morning. 

When the temperature drops below freezing, this site can be a good place to see Jack Snipe. The main attraction is the old watercress beds, which in the cold winter months do not freeze over. Access is normally by key, but when the warden expects more visitors, he sometimes leaves the gate open as keys are in short supply.

As we entered the hide, a Jack Snipe could be seen feeding behind one of the railway sleepers. There were a total of five Jack Snipes on site. There were also five Green Sandpipers, six Common Snipe, two Little Egrets, and two Grey Wagtails seen.

View from the hide

Jack Snipe

Green Sandpiper

Yellow-browed Warbler: St Albans, Hertfordshire

As we wanted to stay close to home again this morning, we headed for St Albans in Hertfordshire. It's only 22 miles from home. We parked at the bottom of Abbey Mill Lane, which is located right next to Verulamium Lake. Our main target this morning was the Yellow-browed Warbler. It had been reported in the south-east corner yesterday, and we soon found it flitting about in the scrub near the water's edge. It was very mobile foraging up and down the scrub along the River Ver. Before leaving, I managed to add Grey Wagtail, Goldcrest, and Redwing to the year list, but couldn't find the reported Med Gull among the Black-headed Gulls out on the frozen lake.

Yellow-browed Warbler

The area the warbler was found in

On the way home, we stopped at the Watercress NR. It's situated on old watercress beds and allotments. It's a lovely little reserve bounded by the River Ver, the Alban Way footpath, and the houses of Riverside Road. I added Redpoll, Siskin, Bullfinch, and Greenfinch to my year list. 

New year birding starts at Abberton Reservoir

Brian hadn't been feeling 100% recently, so we delayed our start of the new birding year until today. A trip to Abberton Reservoir was our choice, as it was relatively close to home.

We arrived at Layer Breton causeway around 8am, and were soon watching three drake Smew, quickly followed by several Goldeneye and Goosander. We walked south and scanned the nearby field to find the three Tundra Bean Geese among a sizeable flock of Greylag Geese. 

In a field opposite Billets Farm, we found the White-fronted Geese, before parking along Layer de la Haye causeway to scan the main reservoir. Two Little Stints, several Black-tailed Godwits, and a single Green sandpiper were seen feeding at the southern end. Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes were also seen. Having crossed the road, we found a Rock Pipit feeding along the water's edge and a Kingfisher perched among the overhanging branches. From here, we parked up at the start of Lodge Lane and walked out to view the reservoir, where I managed to locate the Lesser Scaup among the raft of Tufted Ducks and Greater Scaup.

On the way home, we made a brief stop at Ardleigh Reservoir and quickly found the reported Red-necked Grebe.

I finished the day having seen fifty species, and after adding the fifteen species seen from the garden the previous day, my year list stands at 75. 

Drake Smew

Scops Owl: Dunvant park, Glamorgan

The Eurasian Scops owl is tiny, measuring 18-20cm, smaller in size than a Little owl. The plumage is greyish-brown. It has small ear tufts, bright yellow eyes and a grey bill. It's primarily nocturnal and usually spends the day tucked away among dense tree foliage. Breeding grounds are typically open habitats, cultivated areas with groups of trees, parks or gardens with mature trees. It's insectivorous, preying on moths, grasshoppers and beetles. It will also eat spiders, earthworms and frogs as well as small birds.

Eight years ago, in September 2017, a Eurasian Scops Owl was reported in Durham. It was found roosting in an Elder tree in an area between Ryhope Village and Ryhope Beach. It was found on the 27th September, and last seen on the 5th October. However, during the bird's eleven-day stay, it was only seen on five of these days. Various commitments and obligations prevented us from making the trip. However, on the 6th of October, we were all free and decided to make the 270-mile trip north. Upon arrival, we asked a local birder, "Any news?" and received the reply, "No sign this morning." We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon searching the surrounding areas, but eventually had to admit defeat and head home. Scops Owl is a bird I have always wanted to see, and among the birds I've twitched and failed to see, this has always remained the one that hurt the most.

Last year, we had just returned home from seeing the Yellow warbler at New Hythe when news broke of a Scops owl at Broadstairs in Kent! Although reported on several days from the first sighting up until the 9th of January, the reports were very erratic. It would be seen one day, then go missing for two days, then reappear briefly, only to go missing again. The round trip from home to Broadstairs is 180 miles and would have taken 4 hours. In the end, we decided not to go for it.

On Saturday the 6th, I was at home when news of another Scops Owl was reported, this time in a park in Glamorgan in south Wales. Today was our first opportunity to visit, and we left shortly after 9am. We had a 220-mile journey ahead of us, made more difficult by having to navigate the M25. We arrived shortly after 1pm, and as it was too early to look for the owl, we decided to walk some of the coastline of the Gower Peninsula at Pennard. As we left the car park, a single Chough flew overhead. We walked out to an area called Pobbles Bay and watched another four Chough fly along the cliffs. On the return walk, we saw four Shag sitting on rocks for another late addition to my meagre year list total. 

Gower Peninsula at Pennard

We had planned to arrive at Dunvant Park around 5pm; however, we were now only five miles away and were parked up along Dunvant Road shortly after 4pm.

We didn't have a thermal camera, but Yorkshire birder Nick, who was parked up in front of us, did, so we followed him into the park. Around 5pm, local birder Mark Hipkin arrived and suggested a quick briefing on the birds' movements over the previous evenings, and then suggested we stand a sensible distance from the birds' favoured feeding area and let the guys with thermals try to locate the owl.  Mark had suggested that some guidelines for the use of torches should be used, when and if the bird was found. These being that a torch would be used for no more than 30 seconds and would not be shone directly at the bird if it was looking directly towards us.

The owl had failed to appear by 6.15pm, so the guys with thermals split up to search different areas of the park. We followed Nick to search the western corner, and as we turned the corner, a guy with a thermal said he could see the owl feeding on the grass in front of us! All I could see in front of me was darkness! He then said it had flown to a nearby tree. By now, many of the group had joined us, including Mark. A torch was shone on an area just below the bird, and there it was, my first view of a Scops owl! A stunning little ball of feathers perched on a tree branch no more than 8-10 feet above the ground. Highlighted by the torch for no more than the agreed 30 seconds, and then the torch was extinguished to allow the bird to feed. The birders with thermals kept the bird in view, and after 15 minutes had elapsed, we all got more views of the bird, this time perched on a log below the original tree. Following these directives, I managed several more sightings of the bird as it moved north along the hedgeline. One time sat on the top of a pole within a garden, silhouetted by street lights, no need for the thermal camera this time.

The guidelines were followed perfectly, and there was no hint of anyone encroaching on areas that would disturb the bird while we were on site. 

Dunvant Park at 4pm

Scops Owl (B Anderson)

All we had now was the four-hour journey home ahead of us, happy that we had finally managed to connect with this species and put the disappointment of dipping the Durham bird to bed once and for all.

A special thanks to Mark for all his efforts on the night. He said from the beginning he didn't want it to come across as policing, but as a few simple guidelines to best help locate the bird.

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