The harbingers of Spring

Well what a truly crazy and surreal world we're living in at the moment, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The last few days in particular have been like something out of a movie, with life as we know it being turned completely on it's head. I'm no longer in the office and will now be working from home for the foreseeable - which feels mega weird, having probably only worked at home three or four times before, due to snow!

One thing though that for now won't waver, is my and many other's love of birds and wildlife, providing a welcome sense of escapism during these strange times. I've tried my best to get a walk in, pre and post work, at nearby Grimsbury Res this week, allowing me to get a snippet of exercise, enjoy some welcome fresh air and maybe, just maybe see some decent birds too!

Thankfully, this has coincided with a flurry of fresh-in migrants with my first 2020 LRP of the year on 14th (2 days later than last year) a cracking male Wheatear on 18th and my first two local Sand Martins on 19th. More of the same please!

Great Crested Grebes

A recent highlight for me, was a trip over to Boddington Reservoir on Sunday 15/03. There was nothing scarce to really shout about but you what, it's not just the rare stuff that can be enjoyable.

I was more than content to sit and enjoy the stunning local Great Crested Grebes going about their business, in some lovely late afternoon light. They really are super stunning creatures!

There was plenty of courtship on show, coupled with plenty of aggression towards rivals - I love how they dive under water and ambush a rival, popping up right underneath them - proper sneaky! 



And look at those mad-looking, lobed toes! not something you often get to appreciate too often.

Gorgeous Garg

Em and I, over the course of the year, usually pay a few visits to the National Trust's Stowe Landscape Gardens, being just 15-20 minutes away from our home in Brackley - in fact just 6 miles as the crow flies!

It's particularly nice in early Spring, for a walk amongst the display of spring flowers. So a visit was due, however on this occasion there was an added incentive! News of a very obliging male Garganey on the Octagon Lake, in the heart of the grounds had certainly caught my eye!

Garganeys are right up there with the most beautiful ducks and one of my particular favourites. The thought of getting really good views of a male was mouth watering!

Em always likes a walk at Stowe and needed no second invitation to go. So off we popped there on Sunday 08/03 for a bit of lunch, before ambling down to the lakes for a circuit or two. A full circuit of the Octagon Lake, where the bird had been reported as 'showing well' some 30 minutes earlier, drew a frustrating and surprising blank. A female Red-Crested Pochard was a bonus, a Siskin flew over and several Gadwall and Tufties were generally about. But no Garganey. Hmmmm!





We had more of a wander about, before deciding on one more circuit of the Octagon Lake - the Garg had to be here somewhere!

I approached a reedy section of shore on the south side of the lake, that looked like one of the more likely spots for a skulky Garganey. Luckily for me, as I approached a weird noise came from the reeds, which I would liken to pulling the corrugated bit of a bended plastic straw. He soon inched out of the reeds and into view - there you are!





I was keen not to flush the bird, however I had no need to worry, as it swam out of the reeds, again letting several more calls and slowly swimming right past me, no more than 10 feet away! I couldn't believe it, how good is this!









His plumage was nearly there, with just a few brown flecks in the eye stripes and small brownish patches on each flank. But regardless of these 'imperfections', he was an absolute stunner!

He proceeded to potter about in this general area, calling frequently and having a good old feed, as the sun emerged for a short while. After some time spent enjoying this rare opportunity to see a Garganey so damn well, it slowly began to drift off across the lake, which seemed like an appropriate to depart.

A hint of spring in the west

A trip down to the west country, to join forces with Gareth and Dan again was well overdue and so we were finally all free to meet up on Saturday 07/03 for a birding catch-up.

The first half of the day was spent looking for both Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Goshawk. No luck with the Lesser Peckers, but the Goshawks performed beautifully, with some prolonged views of several birds. 

Much of the rest of the day was spent ambling around Ham Wall RSPB reserve, which proved to be decent. No sooner had we left the car park, Dan picked up 2 Sand Martins distantly over the southern side of the reserve which we soaked up for a few minutes - my earliest ones ever by a couple of days. Several Great White Egret headed over shortly afterwards - a standard sight in these parts. We easily saw double figures by the end of our visit.





A little further on, we caught sight of 2 Chiffchaff flicking about in brambles and trees the other side of the channel that runs parallel with the path. There was also a third, very grey looking bird that, despite not heard to call, seemed to tick all the boxes for a Tristis. A nice surprise!







A wander beyond view point 2 and back, produced 3 booming Bittern, a few brief Bearded Tit calls, a pair of Pintail, several Marsh Harrier and calling Water Rail, plenty of wildfowl and several more Chiffys, including a couple in song. We were also treated to the full Great Crested Grebe display repertoire - weed and everything! If that isn't a sign of spring, I don't know what is!







We finished with a scan across the south side of the reserve, to see if any Cattle Egrets would come into roost. We were luck, with at least 75 birds coming in, in one big lump. Quite a sight!! The end to an ace catch up!

A county tick!

It's always nice to get a new Northants county tick and to be honest they are far from frequent. So when the surprising and exciting news of a Black-Bellied Dipper turning up at Sywell Country Park on the afternoon of Saturday 29/02, I was very keen to see it! This continental Black-Bellied (cinclus) race is a rare but annual visitor to the UK and was one I was yet to see.

I couldn't really make it until the following morning, but knowing they tend to stick around, I was hopeful it would hang on.

Sunday 01/03 was a really nice, sunny day, a rare occasion so far this year! I purposefully made my way over to Sywell, on the way noticing the news pop up on my phone, that the bird was indeed still present - good news.

I arrived just after 07:30am and was quickly reassured by a passing birder coming the other way, that the Dipper was showing well, along the stream cascade down from the dam. Indeed it was, immediately pointed out to me sat on one of the cascade steps.







I spent a good 45 minutes enjoying it going about it's business. It spent a lot of time sitting around slightly bobbing away on the concrete edging - quite honestly not doing very much! But every now and then, it would drop down in the water after food. It was lovely to enjoy a great bird, with the sun shining on my back and seeing a few familiar Northants birding faces too!





The poor thing had a tough time of it after I left, miraculously surviving a Sparrowhawk attack and after a couple more days, disappeared - hopefully back towards the continent and not in the belly of the local Sprawk!

Eastern Yellow Wag 2-0 John

I've had a couple of slightly frustrating visits to Norfolk within the last few weeks. Both were motivated by the possibility of seeing the smart, long-staying 1w male Eastern (Alaskan) Yellow Wagtail on farmland close to the village of Sedgeford in west Norfolk.

The first visit on Sunday 02/02 began well, with great views of loads of Whooper Swans and a handful of Bewick's, seen from the A47 near Guyhirn.









Just 15-20 minutes from Sedgeford, my phone pinged to say the Wagtail was still there. Should be easy I thought! The next 3+ hours said otherwise and I, along with many others fruitlessly scanned the idyllic dung heaps and surrounding fields to no avail!

I spent the last part of the day at Thornham, briefly getting obscured views of the wintering Twite flock, hiding away feeding on weeds by the car park.

I walked down to the beach / W end of Holme to have a look at the sea and see a few waders. There was nothing spectacular but the walk until dusk produced a hunting Peregrine, a Barn Owl, a pair of Pintail, Goldeneye and Red Breasted Merganser on the sea, plus all the usual beach waders at this time of year - Barwits, Grey Plover, Knot, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher & Curlew.









The second visit to Norfolk, on Friday 28/02 was a complete and utter washout! Gareth and I had the day off and thought we'd have a day along the coast as well as hopefully pinning down the wagtail this time. We wavered as to whether it would be worth going because of the poor weather forecast but in the end decided to go for it.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera which was not a good start, although as it turned out, there were zero opportunities to use it!

First up, we clocked a few Whooper Swans on the way, near Guyhirn under grey skies, but as yet, no rain. The wagtail's favoured dung piles had been removed in the week (of course they bloody had!) and you guessed it...we dipped! This was a bird I was obviously, just not meant to see, so never mind! My first Brambling of the year, feeding with a load of Chaffinches, did at least cushion the blow a bit!

By mid-morning the heavens had truly opened and that's how it stayed for the rest of the day. For once the forecast was spot on! A scan of Holkham Freshmarsh produced quite a bit, with 6 Spoonbill, 6 Cattle Egret, some distant White Fronts and Barnacle Geese, lots of Egyptian Geese and quite a few Marsh Harrier.

We sucked up the courage to head out onto Holkham beach and inevitably got soaked. c50 Snow Bunting showed briefly in the roped-off area and then out on the beach, while offshore were a Long-Tailed Duck, 2 Common Scoter and a few Red-Breasted Mergansers. Scant consolation really for the soaking we got!!

Finished the day off at Titchwell which was largely birdless to be honest, as the freshmarsh very full of water. We did well then, to see the wintering Water Pipit on what few islands were left, as well as a lovely adult Med Gull and a handful of Avocet. The cold and the wet had, by then taken their toll and off home we went, with the car heater on full blast!

A wander around Otmoor

Otmoor RSPB reserve is somewhere I tend to wander around more in the spring, however it can be a rewarding, if rather windswept place to visit in winter.

I fancied giving it a go on the afternoon of Saturday 18/01, in search of Hen Harrier and Bittern, as well as to enjoy the impressive numbers of Golden Plovers and wildfowl.

No HH or Bitterns but it was a pleasant walk in the sun and as hoped for, the Golden Plovers were mighty impressive - also holding a mad looking leucistic bird.







Other slightly notable things included a Dunlin amongst the masses of plovers, 3 Marsh Harriers, Cetti's Warbler and a very obliging pair of Stonechat.