More Hoopoe!

Couldn't resist going back this morning (28/10) to get some more images of the Hoopoe. He didn't disappoint, showing even better than yesterday:

Northants purple patch

The county has had some what of a purple patch over the last few days with some quality stuff finally turning up. Thursday saw the discovery of a Great Grey Shrike at Harrington airfield. As I was in Oxfordshire, I had to wait until first thing Friday (25/10) morning to go and see it. I arrived there in murky, drizzly conditions, however off I trudged along towards the first bunker. Around the first bunker it wasn't long before I noticed a long tailed blob on top of a small tree and a check with the bins confimed it to be the Great Grey Shrike. As typical of the species, it was highly mobile but I did enjoy some good views, however the photo won't be winning any competitions! There were lots of birds about, however the only other things of note were around 200 Golden Plover and several flyover Redpoll sp.

Yesterday morning (27/10) I headed over to Ditchford GPs to have a look at some gulls. At first they were a little thin on the ground, however before long really good numbers began to gather. I was pretty certain I had an adult Caspian Gull however within a second or two of me finding it, it vanished. The best things on show were somewhere between 5 and 10 Yellow Legged Gulls as well as 2 Egyptian Geese flying around. I then got a text swiftly followed by a phonecall to say there was a Hoopoe showing near Eydon, at my end of the bloody county....ahhhhhh!!

I ran back to the car as quickly as I could, which by the way nearly killed me!! I'd rang Sam and arranged to pick him up on the way, while Jon & Kirsty were on their way there. Felt well gutted for Dave however as he had family plans and couldn't get over there (thankfully he got to see it late in the day!)
We zoomed over there as quick as possible. Thankfully it showed immediately at real close quarters, fantasic my 3rd county Hoopoe! There were at least 15 people there, with a beaming Jon & Kirsty and the front of them! The bird was in the small car park area of the Brickhill Farm Fisheries between Eydon and Woodford Halse. We got brilliant views of the bird as he busied around, occasionally throwing up and catching a leather jacket. Was just great to watch him and really had to drag myself away when we left! A big thankyou to Jon for letting me have a go with his camera (the first of the three images below).

A few migrant packed days in Norfolk

On Thursday night I headed up to North Norfolk for a few days birding, kindly put up by Kieran & Leila in Holt.

DAY 1

First thing Friday morning we were at Cley Coastguards with a strong north/northeasterly and rough seas in front of us. However despite the promising conditions, sea watching was rather slow with best being a Little Gull, 2 Bonxies, a possible but very distant Sooty Shearwater, plenty of Gannet, 3 drake Eider, a few Common Scoter, several Red Throated Diver & Brent Geese through. On going back to the car a couple of waders flew past and onto the beach. One was a Dunlin, however the other proved to be a smart Purple Sandpiper. We had good but brief views before it shot off again towards the west. Great to see one as I hadn't had one in years!

After that we decided to give Burnham Ovary Dunes and Holkham Pines a go. We joined another Norfolk birder, Marcus and headed off on the treck into the dunes in frankly rank conditions! A couple of short sharp showers later and the decision to wear jeans appeared to be a bad one, sodden! Anyways we ploughed on and before long we started to see a few things, flushing a Redstart and having a Short Eared Owl cruise in off the sea and land in the dunes. There were excellent numbers of thrushes moving in too, particularly Redwings and Song Thrushes. Birds were about in the dunes but were keeping their head down in the challenging conditions. At the western end of the pines a Brambling appeared, we flushed a Woodcock and had a Lesser Redpoll. 

We took the path along the edge of the pines in the direction of Lady Anne's Drive. A Peregrine went past over the freshmarsh. By the crosstracks, a tit flock contained a Yellow-Browed Warbler. Kieran and I only managed to hear it call but Marcus did managed to see it. The flock were just simply too fast moving through the woods at a right old speed.

We went a little further and were rewarded when Kieran picked up a Black Redstart in scrub just south of the path, showing well for a short time.

After that we headed back to the car. We didn't see too much else appart from having the fright of our life when virtually trading on what was the previously seen Short Eared Owl, as well as finding one more. We went across to Gun Hill however there was little there other than several Robins, Thrushes, Goldcrests and 2-3 Little Gulls flying about.

Kieran & I then went to finish the day at Titchwell. We headed straight for the freshmarsh and before long were enjoying ok views of a Long Eared Owl rather bizarrely sat on the edge of the freshmarsh in vegetation on a spit just to the left of Parrinder hide!

A drake Green-Winged Teal was also in the centre of the freshmarsh along with all the usual stuff. The Grey Phalarope that had been around had since vanished.

A little look at the sea was the plan, however the strong northerly wind made it it impossible. We then got news of a Rustic Bunting at Warham Greens and we shot off down the path to the car! Sadly the bird was only seen by the finders and never reappeared.
On the way home, in the fading light, we were treated to around 13-14 Little Gull on flooding just west of the beach road at Salthouse. They were great to watch, virtually running on the spot, while hanging in the wind just over the water! 

DAY 2

We were rather surprised to wake up to a still morning, with the weather changing rather dramatically over night. So we headed across to Warham Greens to look for migrants with the vain hope that the Rustic Bunting would re-appear. We'd barely been out of the car 5 minutes when a Lapland Bunting went over with Skylarks calling. Great start to the day!

There appeared to lots of birds  along the hedgerows of the Garden Drove track. At the concrete pad there were birds everywhere with tonnes of Robins and Thrushes in particluar, as well as several Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Bramblings and 1-2 Ring Ouzel showing, chacking away (ropey shot of one below).

We carried on down the track checking every bird with amazing numbers of Robins in particular and smaller numbers of Goldcrest, Brambling and Chiffchaffs. Several Redpolls were going over and before long we had two in a hedge by 'the pit'. One of these was a stunning looking Mealy Redpoll, with the other a Lesser Redpoll. The Mealy was a tad illusive and before I could get a photo they both flew off to the west. 
We then walked back to the car, enjoying a smart Snow Bunting which flew down right in front of us and fed there for a good 10 minutes.

Cley had to be next, with a Long Eared Owl apparently showing on the shingle bank close to North hide! We headed along the shingle only to be told that it was flushed by a runner and had re-located to a post closer to the east bank. We weren't to be disappointed however, with the Long Eared Owl showing superbly well. We enjoyed it for a good 25 minutes before moving on. I'd do flipping well to ever get better views!

We were then taken to a private site to gain great views of Jack Snipe; and I mean great views! We opened the flap of the hide and there it was resting no more than 15 feet away, incredible. I had to be patient with it remaining asleep for what seemed like ages, however eventually it woke up a bit allowing me to get some brilliant images! A big thank you to Julian for taking us there.

We suddenly got a call that a Pallas's Warbler was showing well on the eastern side of Warham Greens so we shot there in double quick time. I was so excited as this is a bird I've wanted for see for a hell of a long time! Arriving at the track, there were several birders staring into the hedge and then there it was a tiny little thing with a blindingly yellow arse zooming down the track, the Pallas's Warbler. I had to get better views though. After getting average views of it in what was a rather densely vegetated hedgerow, it kindly relocated to an off-shooting hedge with much less vegetation. After a while it showed incredibly well for a good 10 minutes right out in full view, allowing me to seeing all the features so well. It was such a buzz seeing it. For me, very few birds top seeing one of these, and to think that something so small is able to travel half way across the globe. Below is a great shot of the little stunner, taken by Julian Bhalerao.

  













The day was a hell of an exciting one and it wasn't about to let up as news broke of a Dusky Warbler at West Runton. Off we went again and arrived there in rather grey, drizzly late afternoon condtions. The bird was to prove frustratingly illusive with it just showing in flight a couple of times, however call quite a lot. It eventually melted away into the vegetation and everyone began to head off. While standing there chatting to Kieran, I noticed a pale shape in a willow thicket just the other side of the nearby farm buildings and got it in my bins. "That looks rather like a Great Grey Shrike". I got Kieran onto it and low and behold it was! A nice cheeky self-found Great Grey Shrike (terrible record shot of it below). A brilliant end to a really fabulous days birding! 

DAY 3

My last day in Norfolk was a rather unsuccessful one and anyway would do well to surpass the previous day. Coupled with this, the weather was pants! We started by going for a recently arrived male Parrot Crossbill just west of Stiffkey. It sadly disappeared 5 minutes or so before we got there. We were joined by Robert Smith, with his stupendous balls of steel, managing to wear shorts and a beaming smile at the same time, in what were pretty autumnal conditions! We had a good look around Stiffkey Campsite Wood but despite there being a good 30-40 Robins, several Brambling, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests there was nothing to write home about!

After grabbing some food in Wells, the plan was to have a look around Wells Woods however we instead decided to have a look at Holme, with the draw of a male Bluethroat too tempting. Before we left we did have a look for a reported Pallas's Warbler however failed to track it down. We also had a look at a poor old Tawny Owl, right out in the open. It was surely about to keel over and die, looking decidedly manky with flies buzzing all around it. In the words of Rolf, I don't think it'll make the night!

Soon after our arrival at Holme we had very distant views of a Great Grey Shrike (they were being reported everywhere along the east coast over the last couple of days!). There were also quite a lot of Redpolls about with us managing to pick out a couple of nice Mealy Redpoll amongst the smaller, streakier and browner Lesser Redpoll. The Bluethroat had not been seen, however a slight consolation was the chance to see a Mealy Redpoll in the hand at the obs.

The Bluethroat did reappear. I actually technically did see it, seeing a brown bird flit between bits of vegetation, however I just cannot bring myself to tick what I saw. So I'll have to wait before adding that one to my life list I'm afraid!
It was then sadly time to bring the trip to an end. In hindsight (that wonderful thing!) I don't 'arf wish I'd stayed just one more day with 2 Red-Flanked Bluetails and other bits and bobs turning up as I write this. However I can't complain, having seen some top, top things. A big thanks to Kieran and Leila for having me, was a great laugh and to Kieran for showing me around.

Latest Northants sightings

I've been out & about in the county over the last few days. On Sunday I had an early morning look around Stanwick GPs. Very little about despite it looking very good. The recent clear and mild weather has clearly stifled the number of goodies dropping in. The best I could muster were a immature Peregrine swooping over the layby pit, 1 or 2 Redwing through, (my first of the autumn), a couple of Swallows through, a squealing Water Rail & lots of flyover Meadow Pipits & Skylarks.

Mid-morning I headed on to Ditchford GPs & the area west of Ditchford Lane in the hope of finding some unusual Gulls. Here I found good numbers of gulls however nothing unusual. An adult female Peregrine perched up on one of the pylons and a lone Egyptian Goose was present on Viaduct Pit. The mild sunny day also brought out good numbers of butterflies with the highlight being a fresh looking male Clouded Yellow . Also about were several Small White, Large White, Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Commas, a Brimstone & a tatty Speckled Wood.

On Monday (07/10) I visited Summer Leys in the late afternoon. Here highlights were mainly duck related with 3 Garganey present (1 close to Brayshaw's bund & 2 on scrape), 4-5 Pintail around the reserve and 1 female Goldeneye on Mary's.

On Tuesday (08/10) I went to Pitsford Reservoir on what was a very mild and bright day again. Scanning the Scaldwell Bay I was surprised to find 2 Great White Egret along with at least 5 Little Egret, a very nice self find! Good job they were there as there was very little else about with the best being a Common Sandpiper close to the feeding station, a Ruddy Duck, several Pintail, 3 flyover Snipe & 5 Siskin over.

Garden migrants

Had a rather bizarre visitor to the garden in the shape of a rather late Yellow Wagtail perched up in the hedge for about 10 minutes. It sat there long enough to get the scope out & get some decent shots too!

Also of note was a Chiffchaff, a garden first, feeding by the pond, loosely associating with a small Tit flock. Summer just about holding on!

Barcelona

Just had a great few days in Barcelona (30/09 - 05/10). Not really too much in the way of wildlife about. The place was literally infested with Monk Parakeets & smaller numbers of Ring Necked Parakeets. Best birds were a few Crested Tits, several Sardinian Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, several Sandwich Terns & Yellow-Legged Gulls.

Parc de la Ciutadella in the south of the city held several interesting butterfly species including a typically flighty Clouded Yellow, a Painted Lady and two new ones for me with several
Long-Tailed Blues and a Geranium Bronze. The Geranium Bronze in particular is quite an interesting one having been accidentally introduced into Europe in the late 1980s from South Africa.