A morning at Minsmere

The plan was to arrive early and have a walk around Dunwich Heath before spending the rest of the morning at Minsmere. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we found out there was no access to the heath car park without prior booking the previous day. 

Westleton Heath is only two miles from Dunwich so we decide to stop there and have a leisurely stroll hoping to connect with Dartford Warbler. There's plenty of Stonechats perched up on gorse bushes and several Woodlark are also seen and heard. Dartford Warblers were proving much more elusive. Eventually, we managed to find a single bird.

Signage at the car park

On route to Minsmere, we stopped close to Saunders Hill just a short distance from the entrance track to the reserve. The target bird was an Iberian Chiffchaff, which had been present since the 18th May. As soon as we stepped out of the car the bird was heard singing close by. Could this be the same bird that was at Dunwich Heath last year? 

At the reserve itself, there was plenty of evidence of the coronavirus impact, from keeping plenty of space between cars when parking, a one-way system in place for the toilets and the shop, cafe, and hides all remaining closed. The only hide open was the public hide overlooking the South scrape and we headed towards it stopping several times to scan the east scrape from the dunes. A scan of south scrape added two more year ticks with numerous Sandwich Terns and a single Little Gull present.

Minsmere beach, looking south towards Sizewell in the distance

View across south scrape from the public hide

Having struggled to find Dartford Warblers earlier this morning we enjoyed excellent views of at least three birds among the gorse and dunes outside the public hide.

Red-footed Falcon: Fen Drayton Lakes

The RSPB reserve at Fen Drayton Lakes in Cambridgeshire had been home to a Red-footed Falcon the previous two days. This morning we made the sixty-mile trip hoping it had decided to stay for at least another day. We were twenty miles from the reserve when positive news broke of the bird's continued presence.

Having parked a short distance from the Busway terminal, we turned right and ended up half a mile away in the wrong direction! A quick phone call to Brian and we are heading in the right direction. Eventually, we reach a small group of birders. We join them on the grass bank ( observing the 2m distancing rules) and begin scanning the sheep field and fence line. There's no sign at first but within a few minutes, the bird appears. It flies low across the distant field and then drops onto the grass behind the fence posts. 

Red-footed Falcon

It was very distant!

The falcon hunted the field twice and returned to the same area each time. Then suddenly it took off high and flew over the Busway lines and started feeding very high among the numerous gulls. The last view we had of the bird was watching it heading towards the main car park.

Willow warbler was added to the year list when numerous birds were seen and heard singing from nearby trees. A Hobby perched in a tree, two Kestrel hunting, a Cuckoo calling, and a Turtle Dove "Purring" made for a very enjoyable few hours.

Information Board and shelter

Busway waiting terminal

Garganey, Oare Marshes

An early morning trip today, leaving home at 5am heading for Oare Marshes in Kent. As we pulled up alongside the East Flood we had two main targets in mind. Garganey and Bonaparte's Gull. Water levels were high, therefore, leaving very few shingle islands for roosting birds. A small flock of Black-tailed Godwits along with single numbers of Lapwing and Avocet were the only waders present. A Water rail emerged from the reeds and Bearded Tits were "pinging" either side of the track.

A short walk out towards the west Hide produced a singing Turtle Dove in distant trees and a Barn Owl flew up from nearby waste ground and began hunting within a few feet of us. 

We returned to the road and took the main path towards East Hide, scanning the flood as we went for any sign of the Garganey. Having had no luck locating it we continued on past the East Hide and began walking the sea wall. Scanning one of the grass islands I managed to locate the drake Garganey asleep among the Mallards. It did eventually wake and I managed a couple of shots with the phone handheld to the scope.

Grass Island where garganey was roosting

The Bonaparte's Gull however could not be found! Several scans through the gulls present on the mudflats either side of the slipway failed to locate it.

On the way home, we stopped at one of the local cemeteries and quickly located several Spotted Flycatchers. They were using the surrounding trees and regularly dropping down onto the gravestones.

Marsh Warbler: Ware, Hertfordshire

Little did I know that a trip to Rye Meads on the 10th March would be my last birding trip for the foreseeable future. Lockdown measures were implemented some days later and birding and normal life as we knew it disappeared overnight. Having been restricted to garden birding for several weeks, it was a relief when the government announced that travel restrictions were being lifted. A couple of cautious trips to my local patch followed, making sure social distancing rules were strictly followed.

On the 6th June, a Marsh Warbler was reported in Ware, Hertfordshire. Not knowing the area the bird had been found in and thinking there may be a crowd I resisted the temptation to go and although it was reported throughout the following day I decided not to visit and waited to see if it would still be present today. At 7am the news services reported the bird was still present and I decided to make the trip. Matt M kindly replied to my tweet and provided directions to the site. A call to Brian telling him I was going was all that was left to do before leaving.

Eighteen miles later and having parked up in Myddleton Road it was just a short walk along the  River to find Brian already present. Soon we were enjoying several bursts of song followed by a brief view of the bird low among the branches. Eventually, the bird perched out in full view at the top of the bush. 

Social distancing was not a problem as only a handful of birders were present. 

Marsh Warbler

Below is a short clip that was taken by handholding my phone to the scope.

Marsh Warbler favoured this area

Jack Snipe, Rye Meads Nature Reserve

A relatively local trip this afternoon saw us visit Rye Meads Nature Reserve in Hertfordshire. Upon arrival, we headed for Gadwall hide hoping to find the Jack Snipe that had been reported yesterday. As we entered the hide a local birder had the snipe in his scope and after some helpful directions so did we. It was tucked right down among the short reeds on a narrow spit and only the back of the bird was visible. Thankfully it did become more active during our visit.

View from Gadwall Hide (Jack Snipe was on the small spit to right of shot)

I tried to grab a shot with the phone handheld to the scope.

Jack Snipe (right of centre)

An added bonus was two Green Sandpipers that flew in and landed on one of the islands, giving myself a dad another welcome year tick. The reserve itself was relatively quiet, perhaps due to the work being carried out on the new Kingfisher hide further along the track.

Great Grey Shrike: Fincham, Norfolk

Having dipped the Great Grey Shrike last Sunday I was keen to visit the site again this morning. We arrived on site around 6.30am and began scanning the telegraph wires, hedges and surrounding fields for any sign of the Shrike, but after several scans and drives up and down Black Drove we had failed to connect. The surrounding fields were full of Hares and a sizable herd of Roe Deer was also present. Several Grey Partridge were busy feeding on the short-cropped grass and Yellowhammers were flying to and from the roadside hedges. We returned to the entrance track of Raven's Farm and while watching a Blackbird on the telegraph post the Shrike suddenly appeared close by on the wires.

Sunrise at Fincham

Great Grey Shrike

With my day's main target already seen, we headed to Thornham Harbour and quickly located a Greenshank for another addition to the year list. Spotted Redshank, Grey plover, Rock Pipit and Twite were also seen here.

View of Thornham Harbour from the car park

The RSPB reserve at Titchwell is only two miles from Thornham and shortly after arriving we finally connected with the Woodcock! it had proved very elusive on previous visits, but Brian managed to spot it among the tangled branches. 

Woodcock

The regular Water Rail was spotted on the walkout along with several newly arrived Chiffchaffs. Twenty plus Med Gulls within the fenced area on Freshwater Marsh gave me another year tick and among them was a Black-headed Gull with a really deep pink flush that really stood out among the gulls. A Water Pipit was also seen at close range along the water's edge. Reports of two Cranes heading our way from Holme saw us join a small group of birders along the West Bank and sure enough, they appeared overhead shortly afterward. 

We stopped at Lynford and connected with Brambling, Yellowhammer, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and a distant Hawfinch before moving on to Cockley Cley. It was getting late in the day but we managed distant views of a single Goshawk along with several Buzzards.

A very brief stop at Lackford Lakes before closing time, saw us add Lesser Redpoll to our year lists. Thanks to the reserve staff member who provided some helpful information 

A very productive and enjoyable day produced 102 species and five new additions to the year list.

Ferruginous Duck, Abberton Reservoir

The plan this morning was to visit Abberton Reservoir at first light and hopefully find the reported Fudge Duck early and then return home before the predicted heavy rains and winds arrived.

Of course, it didn't go exactly to plan. Upon arrival, we began scanning the body of water between the two causeways, scanning through two large flocks of Pochard failed to deliver the target and after several lengthy scans, we only managed to find a Great White Egret a single drake Goldeneye and a Kingfisher of any note. We switched our attention to the main reservoir and added several Goosander and Goldeneye, a pair of Scaup two distant Long-tailed Ducks and a female Tufted Duck that had a hideous looking nasal ring.

There was still no sign of the Fudge Duck so we drove round to Layer Breton causeway and began the search again. We added two Whooper Swans two redhead Smew and two more Great White Egret to the days total but still couldn't find the main target.

We had been searching for four hours and decided to return to Layer De La Haye causeway and give it a final scan. After scanning through the small flocks of teal and Mallards that were emerging from the thick tangles of waterside branches the Fudge Duck suddenly appeared out in the open! There was just enough time to get decent scope views before the bird took flight and headed towards the large rafts of Pochard and Tufted Duck near Layer Breton causeway. We drove back around and managed brief views of the bird before it again disappeared out of view.