Summer birding

As May, turns to June, spring migration comes to an end and birding interest in our part of the world at least, slows down somewhat!

But that's not to say June doesn't still throw up the odd surprise. It is also probably the best month to encounter a singing Quail. Despite my efforts every year, I've thus far failed to find my own one locally, however luckily for me, a singing Quail was discovered some 10 minutes from my work in Bicester, near Marsh Gibbon (Bucks). A short wait on 14/06 after work paid dividens, with several bursts of song in the lovely meadows, adjacent to the road. Been a good number of years since my last so a worthy diversion!

A lot of my focus has been at Ardley ERF lagoon near Bicester, roughly 15 mins from home. Despite the wet spring we've had, the lagoon water levels for some unknown reason have remained consistently low and crying out for some waders - just a shame it has conincided with the period slap bang between spring and autumn!

Still, the site has provided some interest and as autumn passage gets underway, who knows what may turn up!

Not a wader, but probably the star bird was the unseasonal one-off of a Short-eared Owl on the evening of 26/06. A new bird here for all the regulars, but not the time of year we expected!

Pleasingly, a few waders have dribbled through and hopefully they're a pre-cursor to more as autumn progresses. As well as up to nearly 30 Lapwing, adults of both Greenshank and Redshank have appeared as well as a couple of the expected Green Sandpipers and 2-3 Little Ringed Plover.

Other notables have included a moulting drake Red-Crested Pochard, a one-off Corn Bunting, a Hobby and a good breeding record of Gadwall too! All in all a very good string of records for June!

The weather has been cool, cloudy or wet during what is the best period locally for butterflies - typical! So all a bit disappointing with no real opportunities to look for Purple Emperors during their peak and equally very little chance to search for Dark-Green Fritillaries too. At least I've managed to enjoy the dependable Marbled Whites, in decent numbers, if not quite the heights of 2023.

It seems to have been a strong year for orchids, particularly Bee & Pyramidal. Many road verges were alive with them and a relatively small area at Ardley ERF had at least 80 Bee spikes.

Spring meets summer

After what had been a cold, damp spring, it was welcome relief that temperatures finally began to rise towards the end of May and I could finally begin to enjoy some butterflies, as spring and birding interest subsided.

Even then, sunny spells were at a premium, however thankfully I managed to catch up with Wood White in Bucknell Wood on 19/05, along with the encouraging sight of several returning Spotted Flycatchers.

I was chuffed to catch up with my first ever Green Hairstreak at Ardley ERF, near Bicester on 20/05, following Gareth Casburn's discovery of them there this year. Good to have another site on hand for these not too far from home! The site is very good for insects along the main track, providing nice photo opportunities of Butterflies, Dragonflies and Damselflies.

I only had one fruiful visit to my local Grizzled Skipper site near Croughton, Northants this year on 02/06, producing just a single, brief sighting. Hopefully they're still doing ok there, though each year, the scrub encroaches still further and so sadly there will come a point when it will no longer be suitable I suspect.

I do love a Hairstreak and luckily managed to squeeze in a visit to Hewins Wood, near Calvert, after work on 07/06 in search of Black Hairstreaks. Luckily for me, the sun played ball for 25 mins and I managed to enjoy some good views, just a few metres from the car!

Canvasback musings

On evening of 04/06 - a drizzly, gloomy one, local birder Gareth Casburn Whatsapped me some pics of an odd looking Pochard-type at Ardley ERF lagoon, near Bicester. Being a regular at Ardley along with Gareth and having nothing better to do that evening, I popped over for a closer look as the light faded.

If it was a Pochard then great, a decent bird for the site, but with a bill like that, there was certainly a good resemblance to Canvasback and so it certainly deserved further scrutiny!

On arrival in the drizzle and poor light, I soon picked the bird out, relatively close dabbling in the muddy shallows amongst several Mallard. Presumably a female, to me it straight away appeared different to Pochard, most notably the obviously long, dark bill; all one colour, long neck and dark lores, in fact the whole head was one colour. All pro Canvasback features.

To me, the head shape seemed a bit off, seemingly quite flat-crowned, rather than the more prominant rounded head shape of Canvasback - I think this could perhaps be the result of it feeding in the muddy shallows, coupled with the wet weather.

From the views I had, the bird gave the overall impression of having a relatively dark base colour, however as can be seen from Gareth's earlier views in a brief window of sun, the bird was in reality considerably paler (see video below). Again having flicked through a lot of Canvasback images online, the paler colouration is certainly a better fit.

The bird was tentaively put out as a possible Canvasback to the Oxon Whatsapp group and I threw it on Twitter for comment. Surprisingly, the news services didn't latch on, even as a probable, however overall consensus seemed to suggest it appeared to be one. Frustratingly the bird departed overnight and so there was no further opportunity for others to give it a further grilling, curtailing any further interest sadly!

So if it was indeed a Canvasback, what of it's provenance? Well in reality, we just can't be sure. I observed it flapping a couple of times, showing it to be fully winged, while Gareth's footage appers to show it to be un-ringed. But while these add some level of credibility, it still doesn't rule out an escape. 

Intruigingly that very same week, a 2cy drake Canvasback also appeared in the Netherlands, as did a handful of American Golden Plovers in the UK, while Irelands Yellow-Crowned Night Heron was discovered just over a week previously too. So maybe, just maybe - but in reality can't to a heck of a lot with it, as agonising as that is!

Bank Holiday Shrikes

For a while, myself, Gareth B & Dan W had planned to gather for a long weekend towards the end of May - hoping the weather would play ball and deliver something, wherever we decided to go! 

Dan could longer make it, after which Gareth and I agreed we'd give it til earlier in the week, then hatch a plan and hopefully sort some last-minute accommodation. With easterlies and rain due, the east coast was beckoning and accommodation was swiftly sorted near Downham Market, providing easy journeys to the north Norfolk coast or Lincolnshire.

We set off after work on Friday 24/05. Having grabbed a McDs on route we had enough time for a shortish stoppage on route. We settled on Fen Drayton GPs, east of Huntingdon, with a recent Red-Footed Falcon a possibility. It was a lovely warm, still evening and while the Redfoot didn't appear, it was really pleasant enjoying the sounds of booming Bittern, several Cuckoo (including a Hepatic female) and brilliant views of c5 Hobby hunting beyond dusk.

The next day's forecast was decidedly damp, however it did have the potential for rares and with any luck, the rain would take the form of drizzle, rather than heavy rain! Given the time of year, Blakeney Point was the standout choice, where we would meet up with birding pal Kieran N, for a yomp up that shingle nemisis! 

We set off from Cley Coastguards in light drizzle and were soon encountering a number of fly-by Little Terns, Sandwich Terns, Avocets, Oystercatchers, 1 Spoonbill, 1 Greenshank, 1 Brent Goose and a flock of c15 Ringed Plover.

At this end of spring, it will usually be quality over quantity, although having checked most of the key areas, it appeared that it certainly hadn't kicked off yet, with the usual resident Meadow Pipits, a Whitethroat and a Stonechat all to show for our efforts. However with the plantation and surroundings still to check, there was always hope!

Approaching this area, we got the news that a male Red-backed Shrike was just ahead of us at the loopins, by the old lifeboat station  - great news, but a shame we didn't get there first!

Before going over for a look, we checked the plantation, picking out a Chiffchaff and a brief, possible Spotted Flycatcher. A couple of Wheatear were also nearby. I wandered over to the shrike area and after a 15 minute or so wait, it popped up on some brambles, allowing the chance to enjoy my first male Red-backed Shrike for a good 7 years and actually, my first UK male!

By this point, the rain had really set in and was becoming pretty bloody horrible to be honest! The shrike went for a short wander about and actually popped up in the plantation for a bit, where 2 Spot Flys were confirmed, showing nicely.

We took a wander over the ridge, finding nothing new, before deciding to get some restbite in the toilet block for a while, optimistically hoping the rain would at least ease a bit. Having watched a chunk of the FA Cup final on my phone, we decided we just had to accept the conditions weren't going to improve and so we began the trudge back to Cley coastguards!

We still kept up our efforts to find more birds, knowing full well we were still in with a chance of something. Thankfully, we were rewarded with another male Red-backed Shrike three quarters of the way back to the car. It was a very tired, begraggled bird, which struggled it's way around the sueda and shingle, where we soon left it to feed up and recover from it's arduous journey. Other birds noted on the way back were singles of both Lesser Whitethroat and Golden Plover. 

We were insanely wet through, but luckily my camera was all good. As often the case with visits to the point, a lot of effort for not very much, however it was a good crack and the shrikes were super cool, along with some lovely views of the Little Terns. The shower and dry clothes on our return to the Air Bnb, was welcome to say the least, as was the tandori mixed grill at the local curryhouse - particularly for Gareth who'd left his lunch in the car that morning! 

Before heading home on Sunday 26/05, Gareth and I intended to get stuck in to a bit more birding. With not a lot going on in Norfolk, we decided to give Frampton Marsh a go with a few bits a bobs about. 

With the threat of rain showers ever present, we took a walk out towards the Marsh Farm reservoir end, to see if we could find the Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-winged Stilt which had both been around for sometime. It didn't take too long to find the Black-winged Stilt which showed nicely on the fen area. A Med Gull was up high fly-catching, while the fen held a small group of Black-Tailed Godwits, plus local breeders Redshank, Lapwing and Avocet.  

We moved back to the visitor centre and onto the two nearest hides. Here along with a couple of Spoonbills, we enjoyed some brilliant views of x12 2cy Little Gulls from the Reedbed hide, feeding hyperactively over the water, absolutely relentlessly! 

Bearded Tits were on show here, both a male going backwards and forwards in front of the hide, plus some confiding juveniles in the reeds closeby.

The main focus from the 360 hide was the raucous cacophony of the Black-headed Gull colony, however did also provide views of a summering Whooper Swan, the odd adult Med Gull flypast and more breeding Avocets.

It was nearly time to head for home, however not before taking in views of the two feeding Spoonbills at fairly close quarters.

We had another scan for the Yellowlegs but no luck. Having somehow dodged the rain, but with a big storm looming on the horizon we decided to head home. The weather was shite, but some enjoyable birding was had!