East Midlands Birding

Black-throated Diver

Albert Lake

Plenty of birds on the tip

Black Swan

Salamon Course

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Mistle Thrush

Long-tailed Duck 

A very different local for birding

The reported Spotted Sandpiper in Nottinghamshire has been calling me since it first landed as my previous sightings of the species had been very average. After doing the patch on Thursday I thought I'd excuse myself a trip up the M42 to see this north american wader.

After reaching the turning for Twycross I made a last minute decision of heading for Albert Village lake as I thought it was fairly close to motorway. The gamble proved spot on as I found a car park close by and walked down to this well known gulling hotspot. I found a first winter Caspian Gull it was the juvenile Black-throated Diver that I wanted to see. Whilst the views were the better than the ones I'd experienced off the east coast of Norfolk the light was still poor only allowing for poor record shots. Also present were good numbers of Great Crested Grebes and two Oystercatcher.

Holme Pierpoint, the national waterspout centre, was another forty five minutes away however some good parking tips enabled me to park in the perfect spot. The first bird to greet me was a Black Swan a bird I rarely come across so after a quick photo it was off to the Salmon Course to find the Spotted Sandpiper. The course was very busy with river rafters but no bird and no birders, perhaps this wasn't the right place. When reaching the bottom of the course I saw a tog walking round so I knew I was close but still no bird. I then bumped into two brothers I'd met in Scilly who hand't seen the bird either and then suddenly I heard a call and the bird flew in from our right to land on the grass banking. About six of us enjoyed some fantastic views of this little wader. It was interesting to note the wing bar difference to our Common Sandpiper when in flight.

To round off a super morning I walked down the rowing pit to see the reported Long-tailed Duck which was very confiding. I sat down and watched the bird diving for food at close quarters. The bird did appear to have some very thin type of fishing line from the left side of it's mouth. Let's hope it doesn't impede this super looking first winter drake. 

The journey home went very smoothly listening to the Saints clinch a  FA Cup Quarter Final spot after beating the Albion for the third time this season.

Scilly Season Day 8 – Day of the sea duck

Spoonbill

They love a Canada Goose on Scily

Surf Scoter

Close views of the Scoter

Shags

Common Scoter

Buzzard on St Martins

Drake Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck

Two birders enjoying the view over St Marys

Beach outside our digs

Stick insect sighting

Sun setting

Just a super place for Autumn break

Team photo taken in The Atlantic

Our last full days options were either to twitch the missing Grey-cheeked Thrush on St Martins, try Bryher & perhaps see the Bluethroat and walk St Mary’s to death or try the Joe Pender Saphire special on the hope to see the reported Surf Scoter & Long-tailed Duck.

I opted for the later, as thought it was a unique experience that would be difficult to repeat if successful.

A 9.30am departure took us out of St Mary heading directly towards Samsom where 2 Spoonbills were on rocks allowing excellent views. Close by I recorded my first 5 Shelduck on the islands whilst 7 Canada Geese were on the beach.

Next stop was the Surf Scoter that was just amazing to see, a couple of times the bird got within 6 feet of us.  From memory this is my third Surfie of the year.

As we headed towards St martins additional sightings included a faboulos Merlin, 30 Curlew, Great Northern Diver and a Buzzard, quite a rare sighting in the Scillies.

It was looking ever hopeful for another target bird but just as we were admiring a flock of six Common Scoters a shout came from the back of the boat the Long-tailed Duck was on our left. This stunning drake looked brilliant and whilst not as confiding as the Surfie it was a super sighting. I did try and take a few record shots but the light wasn’t ideal.

After a quick recharge I was back out marching around St Marys. Two new Black Redstarts were on  houses in Old Town & 12 Brambling were with a huge flock of Siskin & Chaffinch.

The final sighting of the day was Red-breasted Flycatcher in Lower Moors, a real sign of Autumn. The bird was viewed from the 1^st bridge after the gate.

Thanks to a tip off we re-located a Sticky Stick insect at Porthmellon on the way home where I took advantage of the weather & wrote up my blog to save time when returning home.

Norfolk winter birding

 Twite

 Twite

 Thornham Harbour

 Squire on patrol

 Thornham Harbour

 Little Egret

 Grey Plover

 Long-tailed Ducks

 Curlew

 Turnstone

 Marsh Harriers

 Dunlin

Water Rail

Snow Bunting

On Saturday I spent a fantastic day in Norfolk after being invited to make up the numbers for a December outing organised by the Alcester Squire. The four of us departed from Warwickshire at 6am and made good progress to land at Thornham Harbour by 8.45am. 

The winter light made the harbour look stunning, Redhanks & Curlews called as we all wrapped up warm from the dropping temperatures. The Squire's friends from Alcester had not been to Norfolk before so we were keen to find them as many species as possible. It didn't take long to find our first target as we picked up 25 Twite calling high from the tallest tree in the marsh, they then flew down to the salt marsh where we got some great views of the birds feeding. 

Titchwell was a must for our Norfolk virgins and we were delighted to find it fairly quiet for a Saturday. The Squire picked up a Brambling above us just before the visitor centre before heading down to the beach. 

The water levels were very high but this didn't stop us all enjoying the great selection of birds on show including Snipe, Teal, Wigeon, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Marsh Harrier, Brent Geese and Avocets. Two Stonechats were also showing well at the start of the boardwalk to the beach.

As we set our scopes up Turnstones were busy very close in front of us. Scanning the calm sea, calmest I'd ever seen it, were a large flock of Common Scoter and with them 12 Velvet Scoters really standing out. As we continued to scan there was no less than 36 Long-tailed Ducks (my 249th species of year) offering amazing views. The male were just breath taking to watch in such a fabulous place. Other species recorded on the sea watch included two Scaup, eight Eider, six Goldeneye, Red-throated Divers, Great-crested Grebes, a very busy Slavonian Grebe whilst the shoreline Sanderling are always great entertainment. The last addition to the day list at Titchwell was a Water Rail in the channel by the visitor centre.

We asked the chaps what they fancied seeing next and both fancied the Snow Buntings and we duly found a flock of around twenty at Salthouse. Views were not as close as we hoped as the local hunt were shooting causing mayhem to every thing including a huge flock of Pink-footed Geese that were feeding locally.

Our final stop was Holme where I always have some good sightings of Owls. Once again Holme delivered with us having some great views of a Short-eared Owl & a Barn Owl. The Shortie actually gave the Barn Owl a good chase at one stage, generally I've always found they ignore them.

A safe journey home, sadly listening to the Saints losing 3-0 at Crystal Palace, was made the better when a Tawny Owl flew straight through my headlights as I past the edge of Salford Priors landing safely on a kill. A top days winter birding, good company and plenty of laughs.