May 2015- Hudwit!

May 2015

One good  aspect of writing something in hindsight is the fact that it takes somewhat of a greater context. And within the context of the entire year, one of the most stressful birds for me turned out to be the Hudsonian Godwit.  Having turned down a lift on the birds first day (at the end of April), it looked like I had missed my chance when it then disappeared.

I don't usually get annoyed about missing birds, and stress isn't something I usually feel when thinking about them, but with something as striking (and incredibly rare as a Hudsonian Godwit!) something was different about this one.

Fast forward a couple of days.... It was back!!

However with impending university deadlines it would have been stupid for me to 'Just go for it', and another lift was turned down.

It disappears again... Then reappears.. Another lift offer... Again, circumstances stopped the journey south..

But then, with the weekend approaching, and me having pulled metaphorical chunks out of my hair, it was finally time to head down. As we sped south on the early morning of the 2nd, news emerged it was still there! Joy!

However, one of the better things about this bird was the fact of where it was. Present within the Avalon Marshes at the superb Shapwick Heath, you know you are in for some good birding, and that proved incredibly true, with just stepping from the car revealing flypasts of both Great Egret and Bittern. Standard fare here nowadays!

The 'Hudwit' hadn't shown since the original sighting, but a stirring among the Godwit flock below the near bank (out of view) sent the flock into the air, to shouts of 'there it is'.

A second or two later, the flock alighted at the very back of the flash, and among it, the yank Godwit that had caused me so much pain, anguish and stress over the course of the last 7 days. It stayed on view for the remainder of the visit, allowing for close study of this superb looking bird.

However, it was clear that it was all about those underwings, and after tantalising for what seemed like an age, it finally raised its wings, to an audible gasp for the large crowd of onlookers.

A great supporting cast was noted, Great Egrets, Bitterns, Garganey, Hobbys, Marsh Harriers and a singing Grasshopper Warbler. Superb

A rather ambitious plan to twitch a trip of Dotterel fell through while driving back north, so we decided to drop into Slimbridge, where a Little Gull was flitting around the pools and a couple of GCP Cranes were giving stonking views.

Mid month (15th) a plan was hatched to spend the day in Norfolk, always a superb way to spend any time in May, and our usual route was followed. Making our way up from the Brecks up onto the North coast. Our first stop proved good with the expected Stone Curlew and Spotted Flycatcher, but also 3 Firecrests, which gave great views. Not a bird I had seen at this site before so rather unexpected!

The previous year, we stumbled upon a small quarry which held a pair of Turtle Doves, and while driving past again we decided to drop in. And to my amazement, within a few minutes a Turtle Dove started purring! Great, but brief views followed as the birds moved in and out of the gorse. And to think we only stopped to look for Grey Partridge!

Choesley Barns is a regular site for Dotterel in spring, and a large flock had developed and refused to carry on with their migration. With the heat building it made for hard scanning, but with a bit of perseverance, at least 19 were counted in the distance. Certainly not the best views I have had of the species, but a welcomed bird to see at any time.

We had planned to meet up with Gary P, the Biking Birder to have a catch up and we spent the rest of the day birding the site.

Finding the 2 Temminck's Stints were the main priority, and these were located fairly quickly once in the Parrinder hide. Distant, heat haze, not good. 

Luckily, they were showing significantly better later in the day!

Some great birding was had working our way through the masses of expected birds, and it was particularly satisfying to find this ringed Sanderling on the Beach. Apparently ringed in Ghana, Africa!!

A wide array of wader species were present, and a magical encounter with a pair of cooperatively hunting Peregrines culminated in a Redshank using us as a screen to prevent it being caught. The Peregrines weren't too happy and spent a while circling around us at very close range. It was great to watch a variety of Tern species over the sea and the pools, with a number of Littles looking stunning in the sun. Joining them were 4 Little Gulls. The flock of Red-crested Pochard were also giving good views.

Essay hand in date on the 18th and news emerges of a Great Reed Warbler present in Sandwell Valley. A huge shock and another 'I need to get there moment'. Arrived later in the afternoon to hear the bird loudly signing away on the island. I spent a good while trying to get decent views of the bird, with it mostly being fleeting glimpses, however a few rather nice views were had in the end. A 1st for West Midlands county.

The last week of the month 23rd-30th was spent on a family holiday in Pembrokeshire. Little bits of birding here and there revealed a variety of Coastal species, however the highlight of the trip was making it over to Skomer Island again, and admiring the large number of seabirds present, as well as some amazingly confiding Chough!

Back on the mainland, visits were made to Marloes Mere (which was fairly quiet) and the Gann. The tide was at the right stage and a good wader flock was present, with an array of Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Turnstone and Dunlin all giving great views as they fed only a matter of 20ft away.

The last day of month saw me again chasing a Black Tern. Another bird had been found at Upton Warren that morning so, having dipped the last couple, a rush was made to get over there, and very glad we did. A stonking summer plumaged bird giving superb views as it lapped the sailing pool!

MB

The catch up- January 2015

Yes yes, I know. Here we go again, 5 weeks without a post.

 

The usual excuses are again exercised, Uni work, and to busy with actual fieldwork to update here. So here we are, another catch up post!

It's better than nothing!

 

1/01/15

After a night partying into the new year, I found myself stumbling through the city centre early the next afternoon after waking at a friends flat. It was straight down to West Park, where I managed to grab a few 'new year' ticks. Nothing special, but highlighted by the wintering Pochard and Shoveler.

 Throughout January I was visiting West Park with regularity, so I wont be commenting on every visit, as the details from which are very monotonous and 'samey'.

 

3/01/15

 

The next birding adventure was pursuing one of my winter pastimes.

GULLS!

Bartley had an Iceland Gull visiting, so it didn't take much coercing to get my ass over there. With most of the Gulls at the west end, I moved around to view through the fence and here I met all the usual assemblage of Gullers. Nothing interesting had come in yet.

 

With the sailing boats having retreated back to dry land for the night, the gulls started drifting out, and so did most of the birders to the usual viewpoint off Scotland Lane.

A matter of minutes after, and I picked up the regular 2w Caspian Gull nice and close in. Needless to say, a few decent views (gull roost standards) were had, and soon after the guys up on Scotland lane picked it up also.

 

Again not much longer after, a return call came, the Iceland just dropped in!

We rushed around the corner, but the bird had flown. Having already set my tripod up, I chose to run the 100 or so metres to the high ground, and a little bit of scanning and BINGO!

3rd winter Iceland Gull!

Very distant, but shining like a beacon among the throng of white, grey and black.

I even managed a couple of record shots (literally!) showing the bird.



 

Iceland Gull (Red) and Mediterranean Gull (Black)

 

A Med Gull was called from near the bird, but no-one other than the finder managed to see it. That was until I reviewed my photos 2 months later and found the bird in question in a matter of 10 seconds. Ah, how easy is this Gulling lark when you don't have to contend with field conditions and  freezing shanking hands! Needless to say. I'm not counting it, but a great reminder about how birds can so easily go 'under the radar'.

 

4/01/15

Patch birding followed, which boosted the year list significantly, gathering a couple of decent patch birds in the process in the form of a Snipe and a flyover Yellowhammer. The Lapwing flock in the quarry had levelled out to 54.

 

6/01/15

With the Great-Northern Diver still being in residence at Ryders Mere, it would have been wrong to not visit right?

 

So I found myself on a muddy shoreline getting cracking views of the juvenile bird as I made my way to Chasewater for the roost. A really nice supporting cast of birds here also, which shows just how top quality this site is, particularly so being within an urban area!



Moving onto Chasewater, it actually turned into a very productive visit. Highlighted by a 2nd winter GLAUCOUS GULL which arrived quite late in the roost. White wingers have been particularly scarce in this area this winter in comparison to the last few years, so to get both within the first week of the year was good going! Add to this, 2 Caspian Gulls and 2 Yellow-Legged Gulls. A very good if very cold visit!

8/01/15

Following a session in West Park, I moved around to Parkes Hall, where a flock of 15 Goosanders (4 drk) greeted m. The Mute Swan remained (the first site record!) and a good flock of 28 Moorhen remained.

10/01/15

A little bit of dirty twitching, or actually, lets rephrase that...  I dropped into Worcester Cathedral to pay homage to the long staying, and often elusive Black Redstart. It was actually the first time I have visited the Cathedral to look for a 'Black Red', which are present most winters. I have heard tales of peope  dipping this birds regularly, but within 15 minutes, up popped the bird, quivering tail and all, out in the sun above the Stonemasons Garden. Cracking scope views were had as it flicked, flycatched and shimmied along the ledges. Always a real treat!

Having just brought a digiscoping adaptor from the Birders Store down the road, this bird was my first 'subject', and it chose to be very obliging.



(Literally the first photo I took with the new adaptor in 'field conditions;)

 

I spent all the time I possibly could with the bird before the time ran out on the parking meter, during which she preformed admirably!



 

Wanting to try out the apaptor further, we moved around the Upton Warren, where, as luck would have it, a 1st winter drake Pintail had dropped in for the day! Not a bird I see at Upton regularly, so very chuffed with that stroke of luck! A Little Egret was also still around.



 

I tried my luck with birds on the feeders, and this stunning mossy male Greenfinch probably turned out the best.



 

11/01/15

Another day, another visit to the mecca (Upton Warren that is). The first work party of the year, and with the allure of Jack Snipe, who could resist. Prior to work, we undertook the usual Snipe count/flush, which proved very productive, with 15 Jack Snipe, and 40+ Commons!

Now before I get rolling eyes and 'that look', it must be said that these counts are an intrinsic part of our management regime, and without them, we would never know if the habitat management is working. And as anyone can see from these results, it really is!

Birding was limited throughout the work party, but a Great-Black backed Gull flew over, a very scarce yearly visitor to the Warren, so a great tick to get under the belt so early.

The usual after work birding party moved to the Moors to finish the day, where our luck was in! At very last light, a BITTERN clambered its way to the tops of the reeds. Having had a Bittern found dead only a few days before we were very relieved to still have a bird on site. Infact, it was my first at the Warren in almost 2 years! A great way to end what is always an enjoyable, if hard day!

12/01/15

Another visit to West Park called, and I finally connected with the 2 Ring-necked Parakeets that had been hanging around for a while. Somehow they had managed to elude me for two weeks, but eventually nice views were had of them sqwarking on the island.

Moving onto Stubbers Green, it was very uneventful bird wise, so the less I talk the better. Hitching a ride with a friend and his companion, we then moved around to Ryders Mere, where I took a 3rd helping of Great-northern Diver. Still present and accounted for...



 

Having just arrived, we walked to the nearest birder, who informed us that he thought he had a Caspian Gull. Guiding me onto the bird and I was faced by an absolute cracker of an adult bird! A real classic. 'Daz white' head, small beady eye, long parallel edged bill and best of all, a huge dollop of white of p10, with that classic white tip. Stunner!

 

Our main target though had been eluding us, so with only 5 or so minutes of usable light remaining, we rushed around for another viewpoint on the western shoreline.

Plonking the scope down, 3 seconds worth of scanning....

"GLAUC"

Everyone was on the bird, but the reason I had came up again was to get some video. (It had been showing well for a number of days). Unfortunately it wasn't too close, and annoyingly, wherever it had been foraging it had picked up some dirt on one of its right primarys, and given how dark it was, this was only exaggerated. Not the footage I had hoped, but it gives me something to improve on!

 

16/01/15

Visited Chasewater again in the hope of finding the two headlining Gulls for Mike. Unfortunatly the Glauc was a no show, but Mike picked up the adult Caspian from a couple of nights before. After a winter of trying, I also managed to see the 'White winged' Herring Gull, which was pottering about near the powerboat club.

17/01/15

A rather uninspiring afternoon wardening at the Warren. The usual array of birds were present, but this Blue Tit beside the hide was looking stunning.

 

 

18/01/15

What January would be complete without a visit to Slimbridge WWT. With the weather not being particularly cold (despite my hands still telling me it was!) the numbers of birds around the reserve had not reached their usual peaks, with many having short stopped on the continent.

 

Even though not of the usual size, many of the flocks were still of huge size so certainly gave me something to scan through throughout the day! A flock of Little Stints had been hanging around with the Dunlin flock for much of the winter, and I managed to locate one fairly quickly, rather obligingly pottering about in the long grass pretty close to the hide.



 



The Goose and Swan flocks have been particularly low. Only around 100 White-fronted Geese were on site, add to this only 80 Bewick's Swans and you can see what I meant with my earlier statement. A single Pink-footed Goose was found however, lumbering about at the back of one of the pools on site.

 

3 Avocets were the first to return to the site this year, and while watching 2 GCP Common Cranes from the Sloane Tower, a distant Barn Owl started hunting the reedbeds around the Zeiss Hide, rather confusingly, at around 12:30 in the middle of the day!

 

A Kestrel was showing very well from one of the hides, but unfortunately the crowds in the hide meant the floor was shaking like crazy!

 

 

22/01/15

A walk down to West Park was livened up when this stunning Gull decided to drop onto the pool! A stunning Mediterranean Gull. A great bird for such a site, and luckily it hung around well into the winter so all could come and admire it. Funnily enough, just before I scanned the Black-headed Gulls I remember saying "Wouldn't it be funny if there was a Med Gull in that lot".... A matter of 15 seconds later and I was calling out there actually was a Med Gull in there! Amazing!

 

 

23/01/15

Having noticed the Med Gull was ringed as it flew off, I returned the following day in the hope it would visit again, and luckily, on my very first scan, there it was, perched out on ice revealing its leg-ring code to be PNU9.The midlands seen to have a track records with these 'PNU' birds. I have previously seen PNU4, and PNU5 has been seen a number of times, so this bird made the 3rd PNU bird to be seen in the midlands within only a few years. These Polish Med Gulls certainly do like the midlands!

 

 

The bird was seen throughout January, and continued to visit until at least the 17/02.

 

 

 

While trying to find the Med Gull for a friend, we were caught in a heavy snowstorm. This Shoveler looked about as happy as I was to be in such weather. (Grim)

 

31/01/15

The last afternoon of the month was spent at Upton Warren, looking at the Gular pouch angle on Cormorants. Such a glamorous life.

 

This Cormorant however, was looking absolutely fabulous!

 

MB

Pratincole steals the show!

26/07/14

Another day out east I hear you sigh!

Yes! It was time to head east again, and for good reason, with a number of reasonably unusual birds loitering around in Suffolk, and with an offer to visit one of the country's finest RSPB reserves it was hard to say no, so bright and early I met up with Mike, Rachael and Alana as we made our way towards the rising sun!

We first stopped off in the Suffolk breckland, where a family party of Black and white leggy birds had been wading about for the past few days. Only one pit was viewable from the viewpoint location, and the family party of Stilts weren't on it. A single Wood Sandpiper brightened up the visit, and infact was my first of the year! We hung around, but optimism soon faded knowing that the birds were more than content with feeding on the out of view pit, so we moved to a nearby site, where we managed to find 4 Stone Curlew, and a few Redstarts, both making great additions to the days ever increasing list.

Following a walk along a dusty track, we decided to head off again, towards Minsmere RSPB, and I was quite looking forward to it!

It was almost instantaneously we headed for the East hide, overlooking the freshwater scrape where a huge variety of birds were currently residing. A brief look at the Sand Martins, across the north wall and down the beach and soon the hide was in reach (in reality, the last stretch of the journey was a slow, painful trudge across shingle and sand, yuck!).

We had just reached the entrance track towards the hide when a birder coming out told us that the Pratincole was flying about, causing me to look up, and in doing so 3 Spoonbills, necks outstretched, glowing white in the burning East Anglian sun. The two adults and a juvenile circled briefly but there was no sign of any smaller brown and chestnut waders so we headed up to the hide.

Scanning around, we were told the COLLARED PRATINCOLE had again dropped back in, and soon after, really nice scope views were had as it roosted (and honestly, did very little else) on a baked dirt bund across the pool, infact blending in very well!

Despite the distance, the birds yellow throat bordered black could clearly be seen, as could the black and white forked tail. And may I say! What a stunning bird it was!

As I waited for the 'Prat' to fly, I was kept entertained by a plethora of stunning and desirable bird species. Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Gull and Common Tern all being present in really stunning numbers! A pair of Wood Sandpipers added to the wader list, as did virtually every common wader species, with Oystercatcher, Avocet, Little Ringed and Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Sand, Redshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Snipe AND Ruff all making an appearance! 

From that rather bulky list however, I must highlight my two favourites. Of the 13 Spotted Redshank, one continued to sport fully black summer plumage, and looking gorgeous as it waded in the shallow water.It was the first time I have seen this plumage, but perhaps even better than that, a mixed flock of around 40! Yes, 40 Little Gulls! These diminutive gulls being a particular favourite of mine, it was absolutely mind-blowing to see most of them still in summer plumage but showing varying amounts of Primary moult.

The large number of Common Terns often preformed a 'dread' as the whole colony flew up together, and both Sandwich and Little Tern made dashing appearances, and as usual, the Avocets did their very best to make them feel most welcomed... By flushing them.

 A adult and a juvenile Kittiwake dropped in briefly, which surprised me until I learned they breed not far away on an offshore rig! Still! The adult dropped very close infront allowing us to admire its stunning plumage!

A Bittern flew across, which had me adding another yeartick for the day and gave a nice flight view until dropping into the extensive reedbed!

Honestly, that hide was perhaps one of the most 'busy' hides I have been in birdwise, with birds moving in and out constantly, making you feel like anything could drop in!

But no! That was not it! Another selection of winged beauties were to be found, so we headed over to the small pools by the visitor centre and to a clump of Buddleia which, rather glamorously, was positioned behind a toilet block to check out some butterflies and damselflies.

And they didn't take long to find, and soon we were enjoying ridiculous views of both Emerald Damselfly and Greyling butterflies, the latter being prone to landing on you!

Not a bad way to finish the visit!

Oh, and by the way! I did finally manage to see the Collared Pratincole flying, for a matter of a few seconds!

MB

PACIFIC SWIFT!

15/06/13

The group from the last excursion out East had again planned to visit Lakenheath RSPB in search of Golden Orioles, however, some bad fortune had 2 of our group dropping out, leaving just the two of us to head east and scour the Marshes.

Again, a 5am start had us arriving at Lakenheath before 8 am, and we were soon standing adjacent to the Black Poplars in the hope of catching a ear-full of melodious Golden Oriole song. With the strong gusts, it made listening very hard, with the rustle of the leaves constantly drowning out the birdsong. Our optimism wasn't particularly high, the birds had been very elusive for much of the spring and there had been no sign for days! Never a good sign when on the search for Orioles. After slowly walking past all 3 of the Poplar Wood's, and having drawn a blank, we walked towards the Joist Fen viewpoint.

Similarly to the last visit, MARSH HARRIER did seem to be hunting over every section of reeds possible, and at one point, 7 birds were up at once, a stunning sight!

In my mind, Marsh Harrier must surely rate as one of the best Raptors, such graceful flyers, and actually very good looking also. 

We were setting into a regular routine of scanning the reeds once we had reached the viewpoint, dodging the rain by moving to the other side of the wall. In one of these avoiding rain sessions, a female CUCKOO landed on a bush in the middle of the reeds.

Once another rainstorm had passed, i quickly walked to the other side, and had a scan, as i panned two birds 'got up' out of the reeds briefly, small, long tailed, and very quick. Within a second, they were back down. A short wait ensured, and one of the birds flew up again, long tailed, orange bodied and blue headed.

BEARDED TIT!

Quickly we both were onto the birds, and we had sporadic views for the next 30 minuites or so, before strong winds pushed them down into the reedbed.

2 BITTERN got up out of the reeds, one only very briefly, but the other up for a good 15 seconds or so as it flew a fairly long distance across the reedbed. Similarly, a Egyptian Goose also did the same, before dropping into the reedbed.

My companions phone bleeped with a bird news update, and upon opening found it to contain that dreamed for first word.

MEGA!

The thing that really got us going though was the next word, SUFFOLK!

"10:50, MEGA, SUFFOLK, PACIFIC SWIFT HAWKING OVER TRIMLEY MARSHES"

The inevitable look followed, part shock, part fear, and probably part desire, and it was clear what was going through both our minds, and the expected question soon spilled out "We gonna try?"

"Hell yes!"

There is simply no excuse not to try, but the odd's were well and truly stacked against us, been the furthest point from the car park (almost 3 miles), and then we had to find the location in the SatNav, and then drive to the site, the chances didn't look amazing, furthermore, the fact it was a Swift we were twitching seemed almost idiotic, knowing that literally any second the bird could fly, never to be refound.

But off we set, with a fairly brisk walk back to the car, in which time i managed to ask for updates on the bird. Misreading the reply i took in the walk from the carpark to the marshes at Trimley to be 1.5 miles each way, as the text said 3 miles total...

How wrong i was...

With the SatNav set, and reading 1 hour to the carpark on Cordys Lane we went...

The scene upon arrival was fairly manic, with the small carpark and almost half the length of Cordys lane covered in parked cars. Twitchers running past, legs whirring, swearing and sweating.

Rather than choosing the rather steriotypical twitcher type, we took the decision to have a fairly brisk walk to the pools, but not to break out into a sprint, and a good thing too, because that supposed 1.5 mile walk turned out to only the one track, and it was a full 3 miles to the bird! Agghhhh

Even just 'brisk walking' a sweat started to develop on the brow, the humid conditions obviously not helping. The paths just seemed to go on, and on, but the end never seemed to get any nearer. Only once i had reached the gigantic cranes on our left hand side did i finally start to crack, we must be getting closer now? Cant be much further?, maybe just up the tempo a little?.

My upping the tempo pushed my 'brisk walk' to nearly the pace of a slow jog, and finally i started seeing the Marshes, "Up onto the Sea-wall" was uttered to me as i passed the first hide, "Not much further!" and finally, as i rounded the final bend, the typical 'scrum' had developed, but it was still a further few hundred meters, aghhhh!

Soon i found myself clambering up a fairly slippery grass sea-wall before being hammered by a series of directions, "Going left, Now right, low down, Climbing, back against the sky, over the Shelducks, Low down".

Just training my bins on as many Swifts as possible, i briefly glimpsed a white rump.

"PACIFIC SWIFT!"

In my rush, i had left my partner behind a good way, and having had a decent view of the bird signaled him to scrambled here quick!

Ecstatic, elation, relief!

Not long after, we were both enjoying great views of this superb Asiatic Mega as it hawked low across the open water of the small estuary-side marsh. Having looked at Pacific Swift ID following the Spurn Bird i tried to recount plumage feature. White rump, easy, check, larger white throat patch, check, better defined throat patch, check, longer and more forked tail, check. That was all i could remember, but i was soon picking the bird up head on, and i kept doing it. Why?

The reason became apparent after some scrutiny, as it became clear that the bird had a slightly broader head and longer wings that Common Swift, creating a 'thinner' bodied look, while in fact it was just an illusion due to the birds head size and longer tail. 

Wanting a photo of my first true 'MEGA', i grabbed for my scope, to which a few 'You'll be lucky to get one" and "Good luck" comments were made, but i started snapping away. Soon, the birds habits became obvious, and with some help from the birders around me, they often called out when the bird was feeding low over its favored area of open water, allowing me to 'spray and pray' that the bird would be in one of the pictures.

An hour or so later, mixing periods of photo taking and studying, and simply watching, i managed to get a few shots.

Having been watching the bird for about 1 1/2 hours, the bird suddenly shot off at 3pm, seemingly flying towards the docks and disappeared, soon after, an almightly rainstorm hit, drenching everybody, my raincoat suddenly came in handy after moaning about carrying it all that way in boiling heat on the way down. Soon through, it was leaking, and my jacket and jeans became soaked. With the bird having been gone for nearly 30 minuites, we decided to part from the site to escape the rain.

Getting back to the car, soaked to the bone, cold and shivering, could i care less?

Not at all, 

A 7th for Britain, and a practically untwitchable bird in the past, with the last gettable bird been decades ago. This was made even better when just as we approached the car park, a friend who was in the crowd (who arrived after the birds had gone) text to say that the bird was again showing.

Brief scans around the Marshes also revealed a male Marsh Harrier, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 16 Avocet and a fly over Little Egret!

But No! It didn't end there. Stopping in a layby not far away to have some food, i heard a few familiar notes ring out from the scrub beside us. That sounded like a Nightingale....

And then it belted out its distinctive song from right beside the car, a male NIGHTINGALE!

After a little bit, we had brief views of the male, and also a presumed female bird in the verge hawthorns, what a way to end the days birding!

MB

#TheMidlandersAreComing

11/05/13

At the unearthly hour of 5am, a group of 4 dreary eyed Midlanders met on a quiet residential road in the center of Redditch, the objective?

To absolutely thrash the North Norfolk coast in a day of hardcore birding.

In reality, 'Hardcore' is really not the word to describe it, but more of a relaxed 'mop up' of  a variety of superb birds that us as Midlanders are deprived of in our home county of Worcestershire. We reached the county of Suffolk by 7 to be greeted with superb sunshine! At Lakenheath just after 7:30, and walking the path to the New Fen viewpoint soon after. A Cuckoo could be heard calling from near the visitor center, and proved to be one of MANY around the site. At least, i would guess that 5 birds were on site, and we had many views of the birds, including some stunning views!

The View from the New Fen viewpoint was stunning!

And it wasn't long until a personal favorite of mine flew into view, an absolutely stonking male MARSH HARRIER. The bird quartered the reeds at very close range, giving stunning Bins views, before moving a little further away where i took a few photos as it flapped low along the Pythagamites. A female soon joined it, and both hunted the beds.

Eager to move on we moved to the path adjacent to the river, but while doing so heard the deep, quiet booming sound of a male Bittern! Again a species that we had a cumulative total of 5!

Standing on the raised track overlooking the reedbed and the river, a GRASSHOPPER WARBLER could be heard reeling, and managed to get brief views of this elusive Locustella warbler. Infact, one of very few actual 'sightings' I've had, as most are usually deep within a reedbed and refuse to show.

4 HOBBY were picked out perching on the edge of the woodland, one in particular giving great views, all waiting for the day to warm slightly so the insects take wing. There is something just 'not right' about seeing a Hobby perched up, don't get me wrong, it is a stunner of a Falcon, one of the best, but to see Hobbys doing 'what they do', that is, catch, eat and show the immense agility that is part of their trait all 'on the wing' is just magnificent!

Walking up the track further, one of the party picked up a stunning COMMON CRANE as it flew past us, quickly followed by a 2nd bird, and we had decent views as they circled over the reserve. Only on the return flypast did they give truly decent views.

Joist Fen was quieter, a couple of MARSH HARRIER quartering the reeds, and a further flypast of the CRANES, as well as insanely close Common Swift flypasts.

The male at this end of the reserve was even better than the New Fen bird, i mean just look at it!

Our main target however was still refusing to show and, as far as we knew, hadn't been seen. Being very conscious of the time, we decided to walk back to the visitor center, dropping in at New Fen again to ask one of the RSPB staff if anything had been seen. Literally a few minutes before, they had seen our main target for the reserve! We went over to check where it was seen flying to, but we had nothing, although the first flying Hobby of the day was nice to see. Sitting in the visitor center, we took a vote, to Norfolk, or stick around, with an absolute deadline of 1pm. We chose the 2nd, and it chose to be a superb decision. Back at New Fen, we joined the crowd, and after about 10 minutes a 'commotion' stirred at the other end of the crowd, a few muffled 'At the back' or 'behind the bush........ Now' remarks and i got onto the stunning male RED-FOOTED FALCON!!

Even from this distance, it brilliant silvery primary s stood out like a beacon from the many Hobby that it was hunting with, and with the sun, blue hues could be seen from its dark plumage, with occasional glimpses of its Red under tail. We knew the path we had walked along was much closer, and we hot footed it over there, and again, a superb decision, and we had stunning views of this beautiful Falcon as it sped low across the Reeds with at least 7 Hobby. At this range, you really could admire this stunning eastern European Falcons plumage. Almost entirely slate blue/grey body and upperwing, with incredibly pale primary s (at times, almost white), contrasting to an almost black underwing and tail as it jinked its way after one of the many St Marks Fly.

 With the incredible speed of the Falcon, it proved almost impossible to digi-scope, but a few 'lucky' aim and  burst fire shots came good with a couple including the Red-foot!

(RFF on right, Hobby on left)

The Falcon refused to land so i could get some 'proper' shots, but a few Hobbys did, only confirming them as a stunning species!

After a decent time savoring this beauty after out long 4 hours worth of effort, we bode farewell to Lakenheath to move to another Breckland location. Weeting Heath.

Without introduction, you know what our objective was here. Stone Curlew, and we were soon treated to clear, but somewhat distant views of these unusual wading birds as they slowly made their way out of a furrow. Only two could be found however, the late cold spring obviously having had the effect we feared before visiting, as many had been picked up dead around the Brecks. Despite this horrible fact, we enjoyed the views of this enigmatic bird, and one that is exceptionally rare in the Midlands!

We didn't want to hang around too long, already being behind schedule, so we quickly moved off, towards North Norfolk.....

To be Continued....

MB