Winter surprise at Upton Warren

Distant Goldeneye

Kingfisher

Curlew

Curlew

Secret hiding spot

Little Egret

Kingfisher

Upton Warren had a surprise visitor last week in the form of a male Goldeneye. I can't ever remember seeing one at Upton before, strange as you would have thought the Moors pool would be ideal in terms of depth, perhaps it's not wide enough. Bartley & Draycote are always the best local places to see them. 

Over 27,000 Goldeneyes winter in the UK however there is only 140 breeding pairs. It is encouraging to read that this number is increasing as the ducks are using nest boxes as excavated holes in trees are less available. It is thought less birds now travel to the UK each winter due to mixed winter in Europe.

I had to be content with a distant shot due to the suns position. In front of the hide a Kingfisher was looking for a late breakfast. It was great to see the bird move round the area trying his luck from different positions. It's a bird I never tire of seeing.

Other highlights included 8 Curlews taking advantage of the great work the work party has completed, a Little Egret, 105 Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Green Woodpecker, Grey & Pied Wagtail, 12 Pochard, 6 Shoveler and 80 Teal. 

South west birding (Part 5) - Return to Steart

Wheatear

Little Egret

Grey Plover

Distant Little Stint

Spot the Kingfisher

Stonechat

The lads were heading into Taunton to take on a high ropes courses so I opted for a return to Steart. I almost didn't make it as I luckily avoided a head on smash on the lanes when a Volvo flew round a corner at speed before slamming it's breaks on to avoid me by millimetres. Nutter ! 

The waders were quite distant when I reached the view point however I worked my way through the marsh trying to find and observe what ever possible. The best find were two Little Stints shuffling through the mud with a flock of Ringed Plovers. Plenty of Dunlin & Redshank on show with two Greenshank & a distant Kingfisher landed on the marsh gate. 

A local female birder joined me from Taunton who appeared informed on local sightings however there were a genuine lack of birders around the reserve considering it was just after high tide. 

A Wheatear popped up just in front of me which gave me the chance to take some reasonable images before heading across the reserve to watch the wildfowl containing Teal, Shelduck & Pintail. On the way back to the car I noted a Stonechat & a Whinchat. A very relaxed morning. 

Upton Warren Kingfishers

 

I couldn’t comprehend watching the Tony Pullis managed Albion on Sky on Sunday afternoon (wise choice as it was 0-0) so I headed off for a chilled session at Upton Warren hoping I might fluke a passage Tern. 

Whilst I didn’t see any Terns I get some amazing views of a juvenile Kingfisher and a adult bird from the Water Rail hide on the west side. Even with my simple bridge camera I managed to get very pleasing photographs and video. Upton Warren is great place to see this attractive species, I even had one pass over my head when stood on the causeway once.

Autumn birding at Upton Warren

Upton Warren

Little Egret 

Snipe

With a big week ahead I took advantage of the good forecast and had a couple of hours at the Upton Warren Moors on Sunday. Leaving the car park I observed Meadow Pipits flying south whilst there was a selection of Long Tailed Tits, Dunnock, Blackcap and Robin.

Sitting in the east hide it was good to see three Little Egret still on the reserve. Two of them seemed to be happy with each other whilst the other needed to stay on his toes as his presence was not appreciated, this could be said for a new pairs of Swans that were trying to settle much to the disgust of the established pair.

Two adult Kingfishers and a juvenile could be seen at regular intervals whilst other notable sighting were a Pintail, 7 Wigeon, 4 Pochard, 2 Grey Herons, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, 10+ Snipe, 3 Cetis Warblers, 30+ Shovellor, Chiffchaff, Long Tailed Tit and 60+ Lapwing in the A38 field. 

There was a work party on a Flashes but with going away to Scotland I didn't want to risk a strain getting in the way. By the look of the forum photos they had done some great work clearing the silt close to the hide. 

Time to pack those bags ready for the Highlands.

Cricket 1 Birding 0

        Blue-winged Teal or Blue-winged Teal x Northern Shoveler ??

 

 Slimbridge Ruff

 Green and Common Sandpipers at Slimbridge

 Evening at Morton Bagot

 Swallows at Frampton

 Slimbridge

Frampton

August brings the peak of the cricket season so opportunities to get out and about are very limited. I'm afraid my family is number 1 ! Locally it was business as usual and no sitings to get the heart racing. 

When I did get a free day the weather was appalling so much so I never ventured out until late Sunday evening when Brian Stretch had located a Blue-winged Teal on his patch at Grimley. With the weather subsiding a little I headed over to see duck. The bird was easily located but it was hardly a stunner as it was in Eclipse plumage. I returned home happy that a new bird had been seen only to see the bird was then accused of being a hybrid. With no DNA possible we will have to let the various committees decide. A great find by Brian either way !

I had a mid-week evening at the delightful Morton Bagot where I was more than happy to find 2 Green Sandpipers, Yellowhammers, Teal, Lapwings, Buzzard, Tawny Owl, Grey Heron and a large flock of 120 Greylag. 

Unfortunately when a Marsh Sandpiper had been found in Frampton in Gloucestershire I was tied up on cricket duties and as expected it duly departed by the time I could head down on the Sunday morning. It was nice to see 15 Ruff and 5 Greenshanks taking advantage of the nice flash riverside. There were plenty of Swallows, House and Sand Martins and they put on a real show feeding above the canal. A Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher also kept the disappointed twitchers happy.

It would have been rude not to call in a Slimbridge and a slow walk around the reserve produced Black-Tailed Godwits, Redshank, Shelduck, Lapwing, Ruff among the highlights. To be honest it was very quiet. No doubt next time I return the wildfowl would be returned in bigger number and the first of the Bewick Swans could well have arrived. 

Summer stop at RSPB Lakenheath

  

It was destination Suffolk for our family holiday so it would be rather rude not to stop in at RSPB Lakenheath. Despite it being the middle of August with little wader movement we all had an enjoyable walk around the reserve. 

The first notable sighting was a Kingfisher who took flight by the new Mere Hide.I managed to hear Bearded Tits but did not see any of these masked beauties. We got lucky from the furthest viewpoint as a Bittern took flight as we arrived. Over head Common Terns and Marsh Harriers could be seen without forgetting the F15 fighters from the local American Airforce base.

On the walk back along the river there was a stunning Great White Egret and 2 Little Egrets. 

Taiga Bean & Hooded Crow star in Slimbridge Twitch

 Black-tailed Godwits

 Mandarins

 Taiga Bean Geese

 Hooded Crow

 Hooded Crow

Kingfisher

Despite a full day in Cambridgeshire the day before and a bad forecast the draw of super birds at Slimbridge made it another early start. On the way to picking up @midlandbirder in Stourport I stopped in Shenstone to locate a couple of Corn Bunting. As I approached Stourport, Craig text me to drive through to the field gate as two of the local Mandarin were sitting up on a tree by the river.

Once arriving at Slimbridge we headed straight to the Holden Tower to locate the two Taiga Bean Geese. A seriously rare bird in these parts. They are normally only ever seen in small numbers in Norfolk. The birds were close enough to enable us to get some excellent views. Other notable sightings were 5 Little Egret, 14+6 Golden Plover, 2 Peregrines, Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Pintail and Skylark. 

It was then down to the Kingfisher & Ziess Hide to locate the Hooded Crow. After about 30 minutes I saw the Crow land in the field. I'd never seen one of these birds before and I  was struck with how striking he was. Whilst in the Kingfisher hide we observed a pair of Kingfisher sat outside the nest they were excavating. It was brilliant to watch the Kingfisher at close quarters, normally I only see these birds flying fast. Upon leaving the hide a Swallow past over head - a sure sign that summers round the corner.