Close up encounters at Salthouse

Turnstones

Romance on the beach

A Turnstone in front of wife's right knee

Pink-feet skies

Turnstone 

Snow Bunting

Caught in the field

With a kind offer from the parents to look after the lads last weekend the wife and I set off for a bit of winter fresh air and luxury on the north Norfolk coast.

As we edged towards Cley and Salthouse skeins of Pink-footed Geese passed over us welcoming us with their distinctive call. First stop was the Cley visitor centre for a cheeky cake and coffee before heading down to Salthouse passing a pair of Egyptian Geese.

The old car park is now just full of shingle from last years storm much to the liking of a couple of Turnstones. We walked down the coast along the shingle beach and observed around nine Twite on the side of marsh which took off and flew directly over us.

After about 10/15 minute walk we located a flock of around 30 Snow Buntings on the main bank before coming down to the edge of the marsh. After a nice session watching the Buntings we walked by the sea where a small flock of Turnstones landed in front of us. 

I will post the rest of my Norfolk blog in coming days.

Warwickshire November Sightings

I've taken on compiling the Warwickshire sightings for Bird Watching following a suggestion from Jon Bowley  as he's tied up with his time at the moment. My first efforts are published in the January edition which is out now.If you do have any sightings please drop me a note on email or via Twitter.

Highlights: Great White Egrets were seen at Salford Priors GP (1^st) and Corley (15^th). A Lapland Bunting flew over Burton Dassett Hills (5^th) and a Woodlark over Brailes Hill (6^th).

Brandon Marsh:  Sightings included two Stonechat, four Goldeneye, a Little Egret (6^th), two Mandarin (20^th), a Woodcock, two Dunlin, two Water Rail, 42 Wigeon and a flock of 50+ Lesser Redpoll.

Dassett Hills District: Sightings included at least two Merlins and two Peregines in the area, up to 500 Golden Plover at Northend and 350 at Fenny Compton, a late White Wagtail at Fenny Compton (to 17^th) and a Snow Bunting there (25^th). A Cetti’s Warbler was at Wormleighton Res and a Corn Bunting at Farnborough. Winter thrushes included 2000 Redwing at Wormleighton Res and 1500 at Fenny Compton, with 1000 Fieldfare at both, but few Brambling seen. 

Draycote: Sightings included four Red-crested Pochard, two Scaup, a Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, four Knot, a Common Sandpiper, a Caspian and eight Yellow-legged Gulls, Short-eared Owl, Rock Pipit and late House Martin.

Salford Priors GP:  Records included 31 Little Grebe, 19 Wigeon, 23 Gadwall, 160 Teal, 270 Mallard, Pintail, 22 Shoveler, 16 Pochard, a Scaup (from 28^th), 94 Tufted Duck, two Goldeneye, Peregrine, 12 Water Rails, Ringed Plover (2^nd), 125 Golden Plover, Jack snipe, 70 Common Snipe, four Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpiper, two Yellow-legged Gulls, 120 Skylarks, 140 Meadow Pipits, Cetti’s Warbler (2^nd), two Chiffchaffs and a Willow Tit.

Tame Valley: Ladywalk NR hosted a Shag, Merlin, three Peregrines, 16 Water Rails, Woodcock and Siberian Chiffchaff. Two Whooper Swans flew over Middleton and four Little Egrets were in the area. Two Scaup and a Pintail were at Coton, with single Scaup at Fisher’s Mill, Kingsbury and Shustoke. A Bittern was at Fisher’s Mill, while Shustoke also held a Shag, five Red-crested Pochard and a Common Sandpiper. Nearby Wishaw had a Merlin and 14 Grey Partridge.

Other sites: Two long-staying Ospreys remained at Clifton Lakes Fishery. Morton Bagot hosted two Green Sandpipers, a Dunlin and several Stonechats. Nearby Spernall recorded a Ringed Ouzel twice. Earlswood Lakes recorded Mandarin Duck, Red Kite and Mediterranean Gull. Jack Snipe were at Lighthorne Quarry (two) and Alvecote. A flock of 700 Stock Doves was notable at Grandborough.

Coffee and cake birding at Gravel Pits

Canada Geese and Greylags take off on main pit

Redwings and Fieldfare were everywhere

Captured by the wife

A good finish to the day

Female Scaup

Just a short post with sightings from Sunday's visit to the Gravel Pits. I was joined by my wife for this visit and she picked up the site Peregrine hunting for a Red-legged Partridge.

Two Raven were being harassed by a group of Carrions up above the hedgerows that had big numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares fielding on the abundance of berries.

The main meadow contained a good number of Snipe and a single Jack Snipe.

A female Scaup was on the main pit which I'm 100% sure is a different bird from the week before. Sadly I didn't have an image from last week to compare. I did sent the image to Jon for an opinion and he thought the same.

Other sightings on the main pit included 5 Shoveler, 12 Black-headed Gulls, 30 Canada Geese, 2 Cormorants, 6 Gadwell, 3 Grey Heron, 40 Lapwing (over), 14 Little Grebe, 16 Greylag, 6 Mute Swans, 8 Pochard, 20 Teal, 30 Tufted Duck. 

After a good session of birding we headed up to Hilliers for a tasty slice of Dundee cake and coffee. 

Return to Hawling

Digiscoped images

Photographers waiting for show time

I couldn't resist a return to Hawling in Gloucestershire on Saturday. A nice day with no wind was the deciding factor before making the hour long journey into the heart of the Cotswolds. Arriving just after 1pm there were plenty of spectators all hoping for a good showing from the Owls.  

I set up my tripod next to Birmingham based photographer Pete Walkden who I hadn't seen for quite some time so we had a good rattle. There was a nice selection of birds to watch whilst we waited which included 2 Red Kites, Buzzard, Raven, Kestrel, 30 Golden Plover, 50 Lapwing and large flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares.

There was no early show from the Short-eared Owls the first one didn't show until gone 3.15pm appearing sat on top of the field wall before starting to hunt. He was quickly joined by another Owl which then increased to a maximum 5 Owls all hunting at the same time. A brilliant session of birding. One of the Owls perched up to enable the photographers to get some great shots. 

As the final rays of light faded I headed off down the lane. As I reached the cross roads and turned right a Barn Owl took flight and flew along the road before crossing in front of me into the farm. Another top afternoon. 

Many thanks to Pete who kindly forwarded the above images he took. 

Scaup lands at Salford Priors

We had a local mega on Sunday when there was a female Scaup on the main pit at Salford Priors. On the downside I'd put the wrong memory card in my camera so I was unable to get a digiscoped image. I did take a few landscape phone photos. The diving duck was showing nicely in the top corner and it was great to see a new bird. Birding there takes a good deal of walking as its so soft under foot and the only other addition lately was a Yellow-legged Gull.

8 Wigeon had returned to make up for a single Shoveller which took a great deal of finding of which the same could be said for the Common and Green Sandpipers. Other sightings on the main pit included 3 Pochard, 25 Greylag, 17 Gadwell, 8 Mute Swans, 15 Little Grebe. I must admit I didn't count Tufties or Teal.

The Little Owl was keeping his head down as we passed his tree and then a Peregrine put everything up and he tried to snatch a Red-legged Partridge for an early breakfast only to miss out he then sat perched at the top of oak looking for his next target. 

There were increased numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare but there were no Tit flocks across the site. Elsewhere sightings included a Water Rail, Buzzard, 11 Cormorant, Linnetts, 6 Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Rooks, Siskin and Goldcrests.

Raining Black Redstarts

This late Autumn has seen a serious influx of Black Redstarts around the county. I've gone from chasing them around to country to seeing them in three separate locations within two weeks.

The latest was a nice male at St. Johns Church, Worcester right next door to the Birders Store. Very handy for Brian Stretch as I'm sure every optic tested would have looked good with a Black Redstart in view. The bird was found by Brian on the 26th and was present up to early this morning.

My digiscoped images don't really do justice to the bird.

Other birds reported over the last few days include :- Male at Hereford Cathedral, Male and Female at Brean Down, Ayr, Cornwall x2, Suffolk, Northumberland, Pembrokeshire, Norfolk and Isle of Scilly. Never a better time to go out and find one !

Short-eared Owls steal show at Hawling

After the Rosy Starling in Bristol and a good session at Slimbridge I was already happy I'd had a great day but I decided to stop at Hawling on my way home to see if I could pick up a wintering Short-eared Owl. I'd never been to this location before but the habitat stood out so finding it was no trouble at all. There were three photographers set up and this number increased to around 18 as the light faded. 

Patience was the order of the day as for the first two of hours I had to be content watching two Stonechats perform along the wall. A Kestrel hunted the Owl fields whilst there was an occasional fly over by Raven, Redwing and Fieldfare.

A Red Kite came into view on the other side of the road and was quickly joined by another 3 Kites and a Buzzard before they went off to roost.

By this time the crowd had reduced to just 5 people of which non were photographers. Our patience was rewarded when 4 Short-eared Owls hunting at the top of field and then edging closer towards the viewing area. I just love watching these birds and it was a case of them passing a glance at us whilst they carried on their daily business. An amazing sight, it must be said. If I lived locally I'd be up there every night without a doubt.To top the day off I found another Shortie hunting a few miles north of the location.  

Thanks to Pete Walkden for file image.