lifer at the warren

16/05/09

the hirudine flock from yesterday over my nans was very much gone,just a few swifts and house martins to keep me company.at earlswood we had 5 goldcrest (m+f+3 juvs) indicating local breeding in one of the conifers and judging by the restlesness of the female a second brood might be on the way so watch out matt and reg.little else again but i spent most of the time trying to get a pic of the goldcrests(didnt happen though).

upton warren will surly raise my spirit though.

well it did after a txt informing me of a turnstone,2 sanderling+a pair of gargany i was there as soon as i could(which turned out to be after the gardening job).well to the moors.1st bird i notice while there masses of swifts,and i mean loads.i said to my dad it looked good for hobbys.i moved towaards the info board where there is a gap in the headge.from here i saw 2 common terns,then a car started coming down the road.as the driver drove past i recognised the driver as terry hinnet and his wife(i think its his wife)i have met him a few times before eg my waxie twitch,yay, and the beautiful blue headed wagtail that he found.he stopped the car and we had a quick chat.we talked about local raretys where breden's hardwick turned up a lot(and i wonder why theres been a spoonbill there recently and a little stint now,shame i cant get down there)we then switched to what he saw at the warren.he said the sanderlings and the garganyswere still there(the latter giving views in front of the hide).with a massive black cloud coming in i decided to get to the hide quick.we got there just in time as it started raining a bit when we got in.again noticed the massive amount of swifts and it wasent long before i shouted hobby as one flew over the other side of the lake(from lapwing hide priviously known a east hide)i saw the sitting oystercatcher but couldent find the sanderling or the gargany a worryingly long time in fact.after 20 mins in the hide i finally clocked onto the sanderlings not where i was looking for them but on the front of the islands.one i spring plumage and the other in winter,and they do run as fast as some people say.my videos arnt the same quality as blurred birders pics of one at chasewater but there exeptible:

it wasent long after the garganys came out but at some distance.(hence the crap quality,no comments about how there always crap).

fter getting this life tick(sanderling) and year tick (gargany)highlights here were

1 shelduck

3 gadwall

2 gargany(year tick)

1 hobby

2 oystercatcher

2 sanderling(lifer)

6 common tern

150c swift(came down it heavy rain,so bad rain came in through the gaps under the windows)

1 whitethroat

2 sedge warbler

5 cettis warbler

15c reed warbler

1 coal tit

2 reed buntings

now to the flashes to try to repeat last weeks sucsess.on the sailing pool got a few photos of hirudines on the wires:

got onto the female avocet which has young to the right of the hide.they came out and gave cute views in the ditch in front of the hide:

this video shows all 3 babies,soooooooooooo cute.i love the way they have learned their feeding technique so quickly.another year tick in the form of 7 dunlin(also my first for the warren)just the regulars were here.the highlights are:

3 greylag geese(7 young)all together

2 shelduck

2 gadwall

1 hobby

3 oystercatcher

10 avocet(3 young)

8 LRP

7 dunlin(year tick)

2 redshank

5 common terns (4 on sailing)

2 stock doves)

again 150c swift in heavy rain

1 lesser whitethroat

3 sedge warbler

2 cettis warbler

5c reed warbler

2 bullfinch

2 reed buntings

soz for the wierd format today somethins gone spaz,itll be fixed by next post

MB