Long-tailed Shrike, A return visit

Brian offered to take Dad to Eastleach Martin this morning and give him the chance to add the shrike to his life list, as he was unable to go on Sunday due to family commitments.

We left at 5am and were on site by 6.30am. Dad, keen to see the bird, walked on ahead, while we sorted out the parking and gear. As we joined him, he had already seen the shrike. Now we could relax and enjoy the bird at leisure. Brian joined a small group of birders along the public bridleway, while Dad and I stayed on the roadside. The bird showed much better for us this morning than it did on Sunday. It spent its time either perched up in the nearest Hawthorn, on the fence posts, or on the wire, where it would fly down onto the grass and catch Grasshoppers or bees and return to the wire.

Until this month, there had only been one record for Britain: a first-winter bird at Howbeg and Howmore on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Seen on the 3rd and 4th of November 2000.

However, this first-for-Britain record is also infamous for a group of twitchers who chartered a small fishing boat. The boat's engine failed in the rough waters, causing them to drift dangerously towards the cliffs. The Mayday call and rescue included the lifeboat, the coastguard helicopter, and a Swedish oil tanker!

The second record was found on the 5th of this month, some twenty-six years after the Uist record, in Crail, Fife, and was last reported on the 8th.

The long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach erythronotous) breeds in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, southern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and northeast Iran and parts of northern India.

Long-tailed Shrike: Eastleach Martin, Gloucestershire

The news services reported belatedly that a 1st-summer Long-tailed Shrike was present at Macaroni Farm from the 8th-16th July, but there has been no sign since. Then it was seen in the hedge along a minor road, but again "no sign since".

After an early-morning search today failed to find the bird, it was subsequently refound in the hedge at 11.21am.

A phone call from Brian early this afternoon saw us heading towards Eastleach Martin in Gloucestershire, where the Long-tailed Shrike had been refound. After a delay on the M25, we reached the farmer's field that had been opened up for parking, paid the £5 donation and set off along the minor track. I grabbed a quick look at the shrike through another birder's scope, which proved to be the closest view I had of the bird the entire time spent on site. It was constantly on show, but remained distant, preferring to spend most of its time at the end of the hedgeline farthest from the road. Brian, in his haste to get on the road, had forgotten to put his memory card back in his camera before leaving home, but it wasn't a day for photographs while we were there anyway.

Hudsonian Godwit: Manningtree, Essex

This morning, I was planning a leisurely day at home, but that changed when Brian phoned to ask if I wanted to go to Manningtree to try for the Hudsonian Godwit.  

I have only ever seen one in the UK, a male at Burton Mere in Cheshire, and the chance to see one in my home county of Essex was all I needed to agree to the trip. 

We parked alongside the CO-OP supermarket and took the riverside path. A returning birder told us the target bird was feeding along the shoreline, only 100 metres along the path. We could see a group of godwits ahead of us, but as we approached, it was clear that the bird was not among them. We were told it had flown downriver 10 minutes earlier. We carried on along the path, under the railway bridge, crossed the A137, and continued along the path, hoping to find the godwit along this stretch of the river. Ahead of us was a small group of birders, all looking intently at a single godwit on the far bank. It was the Hudsonian Godwit. It made a couple of short flights, showing the diagnostic black axillaries and underwing coverts. Suddenly, it headed upriver and landed below a grass bank among a flock of Black-headed Gulls. It remained out of view for a short time until a tractor came along and the gulls and godwit took flight. It returned to the water's edge and began feeding again. 

Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is the smallest of the godwits; it breeds on grassy tundra in Canada and Alaska and winters in southern South America.

Hudsonian Godwit

Previous records of Hudsonian Godwit in the UK.

1981- 1983 An adult bird at Blacktoft Sands, Yorkshire, before wintering at Countess Wear in Devon. The same individual was presumed to have returned to Blacktoft Sands in the spring of 1983

1988 A one-day individual at Slains Pools, Collieston, Aberdeen

2015 Two separate birds arrived; one at Meare Heath (Somerset) in April-May, and a male later in the summer/autumn in Inishdawros, Ballyconneely, County Galway/Inishmore, County Galway (not included in the UK records)

2020 A juvenile on the Eden Estuary in Fife from November to December

2023 A summer male at Grutness Pool on Shetland from July to August

2024 A male at Burton Mere Wetlands in Cheshire and then in Flint, Flintshire, North-east Wales, Aug/Sept

2025 A female at Titchfield Haven in Hampshire, April/May

2026 A one-day male at Minsmere, Suffolk, in July, now present between Cattawade, Suffolk, and Manningtree, Essex

Black-winged Kite; Hempstead, Norfolk

In 2023, Brian and I made a return trip to Norfolk to connect with the Black-winged Kite. We had dipped the bird the previous day, and Dad was unable to join us on the return trip.

Brian was free today and offered to drive him to Sea Palling, and hopefully, give him another chance to see the bird.  We met Brian at 5.30am, and arrived at 7.30am. The news services said to park in the Sea Palling car park and walk along "The Marrams" to the metal gates. We had just finished feeding the parking meter when Dad asked a local couple walking their dog for directions, and was told we could have parked much closer along the road for free.

The couple was walking back towards the area we needed to walk, so we left the car in the car park and followed them. It was about a mile before we reached the "Double metal field gates". I set up the scope and had a quick scan of the surrounding area, and Brian had a quick scan with his bins. I was just about to have another scan when Brian said he thought he had the bird, but needed the scope to confirm it. A quick look through the scope, and there was the Kite perched on the telegraph wires. We watched the bird for a couple of hours, during which it made short flights, hovered, caught prey items, and returned to the same bare tree to eat its meals. But it always remained distant and never came close enough for any photos.

The metal gates we viewed the bird from

Next stop was a walk up the steps and onto the beach. Dad and I walked along the shoreline and stopped when we started seeing the Little Terns fishing in the bay. Brian decided to walk further on and get closer views, albeit at a safe distance from the roped-off area.

Little Tern

As we returned to the steps, I noticed a dark shape on the water. A closer look through the scope revealed a drake Common Scoter.

Common Scoter

Before heading home, we stopped at Weeting Heath, hoping to get Dad another year tick. As we opened the hide window, a pair of Stone curlews were spotted immediately. We also enjoyed nice views of three Spotted Flycatchers.

Stone Curlew

Western Reef Heron, Foryd Bay, Caernarfon

On Saturday, 6th June, news broke of a Western Reef Heron in Caernarfon, North Wales. A first record for Britain! 

There are two distinct morphs: dark, which is dark grey with a white chin and throat; and a white morph, which can easily be confused with a Little Egret. Best separated by bill colour and structure. Western Reef Heron is common across large parts of coastal West Africa, including parts of southwest Asia and Madagascar.

Unfortunately, we weren't in a position to just drop everything and go. In fact, there was very little chance of an opening until Friday; we briefly considered making the trip Tuesday afternoon, but I had to be home Wednesday morning, so it wouldn't allow for a stopover if we were unsuccessful in connecting with the bird. We kept checking the news services throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and when the bird was still present Thursday evening, we made plans for an early morning start this morning. We set off at 2am with 282 miles ahead of us. 

After a brief stop for coffee, we arrived at the small pull-in by the hide overlooking Foryd Bay shortly before 7am, and luckily there was room to park. There's a small group of birders already present, and most are Essex and Herts birders! They had already seen the heron before we arrived, but it had since disappeared with the incoming tide and hadn't been seen since.

I scanned the bay and found the heron in the eastern corner almost immediately. After letting the others know, we walked back along the road and managed to get much closer views of the bird. 

The eastern corner where the heron was found 

Western Reef Heron

We watched the bird for two hours, until it flew out onto the marshland among the oystercatchers and Curlews. This was our cue to head further northwest and visit South Stack. As we left the car, we could hear Choughs calling overhead. One unfortunately had a broken leg. The cliffs around the lighthouse had thousands of Guillemots and hundreds of Razorbills, but Puffins were proving much more of a challenge. Eventually, after an extensive search, we found two birds. Brian picked out several Manx shearwaters, and I managed to add a single Shag that was drifting on the water among the Guillemots. Ravens were also present and very vocal as they flew overhead.

Chough

South Stack Lighthouse

Heading east, we stopped at Holyhead Fish Quay, and quickly added Black Guillemot to the day total and year list.

The National Trust site at Cemlyn was our next destination, which holds the largest Sandwich Tern colony in Wales. Among the masses of Sandwich Terns were Large numbers of Common Terns and smaller numbers of Arctic Terns. Further scans revealed single figures of Mediterranean Gulls.

Cemlyn Bay

One of the two tern islands

Common and Arctic Terns

Sandwich Tern

I ended the day with a new addition to my life list and added nine new birds for the year.

Minsmere

Brian and I made an early morning visit to Minsmere this morning, having added Stone Curlew to the year list before arriving at the car park. 

The plan was to just have a casual stroll around the reserve, with no targets in mind. A Nightingale and a Woodlark were both heard before we headed towards the beach. Having not had many opportunities to visit the coast this year, I still needed Sandwich Tern and Kittiwake for my year list. Both of which I added soon after entering the East Hide. Wader species were well down on previous years, with only seven species noted during the visit. At the Public Hide, Brian picked out two Roseate Terns among the numerous Black-headed Gulls, Common and Sandwich Terns. 

A Bittern was seen in flight, with another one heard booming. The walk down to the Island Mere Hide added a day-calling Tawny Owl. 

The reserve was relatively quiet, both in terms of birds and people, but we managed a total of 83 species.

The Public and East Hides

Roseate Tern with Common Terns and Black-headed Gulls

Roseate Tern

The Island Hide area, viewed from Whin Hill

Thursley Common, Surrey

Brian, Dad, and I headed into Surrey this morning, with an early morning visit to Thursley Common. We arrived shortly after 6am and walked past the Moat Pond out onto the common.  

Tree Pipits and Woodlarks were singing as we reached the start of the trail, and a distant Cuckoo was heard. As we walked south, Woodlarks and Linnets were dropping down onto the sandy path in front of us. Then two Dartford Warblers appeared from thick cover to feed close to the path.

We had three targets in mind as we left the car park, and we had found two of them within minutes of entering the common. The third target was Redstart, which proved to be much harder to locate. Eventually, we had good views of a single female bird perched right at the top of a lone pine tree. Unfortunately, I only had my phone with me today, and Brian had forgotten his camera battery, so no bird photos.

We walked the shorter circuit and, after two hours, headed back to the car. We made a fifteen-mile journey further south, hoping to see Honey Buzzards. It was still early when we arrived, but there were plenty of birders already on site. As we set up the scopes, we could hear Tree Pipits, Woodlarks, and Yellowhammers singing. Common Buzzards and red Kites were showing well, and eventually we enjoyed good, if somewhat distant, views of two Honey Buzzards. A Goshawk was also seen, which was an unexpected but very pleasant surprise.