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