Another List Check.

Little Owl and Turtle Dove now struck off the list! Remaining as follows:

Barn Owl
Brambling
Common Scoter
Dipper
Firecrest
Glossy Ibis
Grasshopper Warbler
Grey Partridge
Hen Harrier
Jack Snipe
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Merlin
Pied Flycatcher
Redpoll
Ring Ouzel
Woodlark
Yellow Wagtail

These are birds that I should see during the course of the year (really should... I have bins, a scope and a car), would feel disappointed if December rolled around and I hadn't seen them... but have yet to encounter.

I mean, honestly, how have I not yet seen a Yellow Wagtail?

Witcombe Monday.

Continuing the hot streak (if indeed, last weeks Common Tern constitutes a hot streak) at Witcombe, this evenings visit saw two Green Woodpeckers flying through, one Green Sandpiper probing the far shore ('Heron side') and most exciting of all two Little Owls. Both calling, approximately 100 yards apart. Only saw one; a decent (if colourless) view through my scope at 40x as it sat on a bare branch in the rapidly fading light. A most unexpected year tick. Number 167.

Farmoor Reservoir.

Friday and Sunday evening were spent at Farmoor Reservoir. In between was a first skiing lesson in Milton Keynes - which was harder than I thought! Fun, though, and although I was nearer the bottom of the class than the top I have hopes of becoming competent enough. Farmoor was a place I'd long earmarked to visit, but just not urgently enough to make a special trip. The 'skiing' allowed me to stop off in both directions. Sweet.

Farmoor Resevoir itself is excellent; the causeway provides splendid views of the Gulls and... gazillions of Pied Wagtails! I'd hoped to spot a wader or two along the causeway, but no joy. Turnstone and Sanderling were seen more than once over the weekend (well, a Turnstone and a Sanderling), but I didn't get them myself. Only had an hour each time (a walk across the causeway, a poke about the Pinkhill and Shrike Meadows, and back), so perhaps that's not surprising. I did see two waders shooting off across Reservoir I on Sunday, but other than white rumps I had nothing else to go on. Will have to check out the possibilities.

The two reserves, Pinkhill and Shrike Meadows, were a bit underwhelming. Locking the hides... how ridiculous.

Anyway, my target bird for Friday's visit was Yellow-legged Gull which... I acquired within ten minutes of arriving. A bird was sat, conveniently, on a blue buoy in Reservoir II, viewed from halfway across the causeway.

I'll be honest, I was 99% sure the bird was a Yellow-legged Gull, but having never seen one in the flesh before I was nervous about the identification. Fortunately, a fellow birder confirmed things for me. Now I know what I'm looking for, I'll have no trouble picking a YLG out. I find this with 'hard to separate species'... once I've seen them for myself they really stand out. Many a time I've studied a Lesser Black-backed Gull and wondered, but now I realise I was kidding myself. When you actually see the rarer bird, you really know it.

More than one picture because this is a lifer (also year tick 166). I took loads and loads, to be honest.





There was a juvenile Mediterranean Gull associating with the Black-headed Gull flock. That'll be my sixth Mediterranean Gull ever - for me who is counting.

Sunday. On the way home. The M40 towards Oxford held five Red Kites (all low flying and beautifully illuminated by the Sun) and what looked a bit like a Short-eared Owl. Far from sure about that, though; I only got a fleeting glimpse.

Back at Farmoor there was an adult Common Tern trying desperately to convince it's youngster to take flight (for the first time, it appeared). The adult was clearly demonstrating to the youngster what to do. The youngster did little but complain!

Photos follow of the youngster, the two together on the artificial jetty and the position the adult took relative to the youngster after each flying show.







I also clocked two Yellow-legged Gulls (one may have been the same bird as Friday as it displayed similar habits). Here's one:



Farmoor is a great site, and one I'll probably visit each time I come through Oxford.

Witcombe Monday.

The plan is - weather and hectic social life permitting - to visit Witcombe Reservoirs every Monday evening to see what's there.

Tonight, a very confiding Common Tern. The first unexpected bird at the site (save the Osprey) since the Common Sandpipers earlier in the year. It spent some time fishing - coming really close - eventually coming to rest on the near gantry allowing me to get within 10 yards. Hence the half-decent photographs.

Turtle Dove.

A late afternoon trip to Ruardean Hill produced one Turtle Dove. I parked the car about a hundred yards down the road from the phone box, and within five minutes heard one purring. A choice sound indeed, and one I don't hear often enough. I located the approximate source - a large tree - and waited it out. After five minutes I spotted the bird perched on an inner branch. A great, full on view. I only had my binoculars to hand, so decided to go back to the car for my scope. Perhaps a photo was possible. I returned to the tree just as it flew out of site. Still, a nice and easy tick. Most welcome.

An hour later - from Nagshead's Lower Hide - about a million Blue Tits, a couple of young Jays and briefly a Redstart. Of course, no Pied Flycatchers (still can't believe my misfortune there). Gonna need a good bird to make up for that lost tick...

Earlier in the day there had been one Common Tern over the Sailing Lake, the two ex-breeding plumage Ruffs on the WWT's South Lake (really only hints of former splendour, but the closest I've got to the full monty thus far), and c.12 Little Ringed Plover from the Holden Tower. It was the first time I've seen their young birds.

165 for the year now. If I could crack 200 I'd be very pleased.

Another List Check.

Just realised that I can chalk Spotted Redshank off the 2010 'to see' list. Still remaining:

Barn Owl
Brambling
Common Scoter
Dipper
Firecrest
Glossy Ibis
Grasshopper Warbler
Grey Partridge
Hen Harrier
Jack Snipe
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Little Owl
Merlin
Pied Flycatcher
Redpoll
Ring Ouzel
Turtle Dove
Woodlark
Yellow Wagtail

Gull-billed Tern.

If at first you don't succeed, try again. Or at least, if you have the opportunity for a free trip back to Devon a week after dipping, try again. So it was that I got my second crack at seeing the long staying Gull-billed Tern. Family were going down to visit other family in Exmouth, so I was dropped off at Exton railway station at c. 9.30am.

A splendid vantage point over the estuary - and it was about. I'd just missed it on arrival; a train had come and gone meaning the scopes that were trained on it had to refind it. Thirty minutes later it was pinned down half way across the estuary feeding on insects. Although distant, the fact that it was feeding made for excellent views as it double back on itself to dive down towards the mud over and over again. Grey rump just visible. Controlled, confident wing beats. Always a pleasure to watch a Tern in action.

For about two hours (trains permitting) the Tern performed... only settling down onto the mud a couple of times. It was far too far away for photos, so I tried anyway. The results made it clear the bird was far too far away for photos - recognisable only as a Tern:



(Never mind. I know what it is!)

I then took the train up to Topsham, and onto Bowling Green Marsh RSPB.



As it was quite near low tide this was not worth the time spent in the hide.

From the viewing platform - in the strengthening wind - things were a little better. Just separate from a group of about 15 Redshank, at the waters edge infront of the viewing platform, was a Spotted Redshank. Hoorah! I was starting to think I'd go the whole year without seeing one! The bird was moulting back to winter plumage from its summer plumage. Legs were still black, and the wings still retained the white speckles set against black, but the breast was mostly white. I would see a couple of other Spotted Redshanks later in the day, but I 'photographed' this one as it was the year tick bird:



I walked back to Topsham railway station via the Goat Walk, and took the train all the way down to Exmouth for my sea front rendezvous with the family. Along the way I checked every large gathering of Gulls for either Yellow-legged or Mediterranean. Alas no luck.

We left Exmouth at about 7.00pm, making one last stop at the Bowling Green Marsh hide / viewing platform. birdguides had reported the Gull-billed Tern on the flashes (from the hide) at 5.00pm, and it seemed foolish to not have a look. After all it was still high tide. There was lots from the hide - Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Green Sandpipers, Black-tailed Godwits - but no target birds. From the viewing platform, and being high tide, the Gulls and waders were peppering the edge of the vegetation.

Nothing new to see though, and so the drive back to Gloucester began.

Not one bird of prey seen today.

White-tailed Plover.

I'd considered going up to Liverpool to see it - and a trip across to Rainham Marshes RSPB didn't seem too ambitious. But when - at about midday - the news came through the bird was at WWT Slimbridge... half an hour away... I took an impromptu half day from work, dropped everything and made tracks.

I arrived at 1330hrs, and to my relief the bird was still present. The Zeiss hide was busy even then, but as the afternoon wore on it became VERY busy indeed. Just getting one's scope positioned correctly was hard enough! I'm glad I made the effort to see it today rather than hoping it stuck around until tomorrow. Not only do I think the chances of a long stay are slim (the bird does seem to be on something of a Magical Mystery Tour), but it will be hell in that hide tomorrow.

Top New Piece. The Plover was feeding on the far side of the water from the Zeiss hide. It was distant, but a zoom of 40x was sufficient to get decent views. The heat haze made getting a steady view difficult but as time passed the Sun spent more time hidden behind clouds and consequently the bird came into much better focus. By 1515hrs I was very pleased indeed. Of course, I would've liked it to come closer to the hide but ultimately this was not necessary for very satisfactory views.

A couple of times it flapped its wings, one preening session, two periods spent sat down in the water, and a heck of a lot of feeding.

What a bloody bird. Number 162 for the year.



I had a half-hearted look around the other hides. More Green Sandpipers than you could shake a stick at, but nothing that stood out. A couple of Stock Doves showed well from the Holden Tower at about 1600hrs.

Heron Family.

A trip to Witcombe Reservoir on a lovely still evening produced nothing remarkable. Lovely close views of Swallows pecking around aside (legs barely long enough to stop their tails and wingtips dragging on the ground), the only highlight was a family of Grey Herons. Two adults, and three youngsters. Zoooooooooooom:

Little Bittern.

After a long spell with no birding to speak of, the lure of the Little Bittern at Ham Wall / Walton Heath proved too much on a decent but windy Sunday morning.

Arrival at the site was later than hoped for, but no later tham 8.00am. A number of others were about too - no doubt prompted by the decent number of recent sightings over Walton Heath.

The only game available was the waiting game, and at 10.15am-ish the bird was spotted very briefly indeed by someone who happened to have their scope pointing in the right direction at the right time. Nobody else caught it. Twenty-five minutes later the same thing happened; the briefest of brief appearances above the reeds. I caught movement in my bins, but nothing more. It was moving so fast. For some reason it hadn't occured to me that this bird would be a sharp-shooter. I thought Heron = slow moving. Of course this is nonsense, a Little Bittern should move quickly.

Technically this glimpse of movement was enough for a tick - but it would've been an empty tick and I wanted more than that... I wanted to see it properly. At 11.00am the bird obliged. Hot off the heels of a Marsh Harrier showing well, it finally rose above the reeds for an extended flight. Everyone got a great view. A spankingly smart male bird flying at away from us at a gentle angle - so only the head was hard to see. A definite result, a great lifer and a hugely satisfying tick. The same bird had eluded me last year, and I'd also spent many an hour at the Porth Hellick hide on Scilly not seeing one.

Job done.

I knew about the Gull-billed Tern at Bowling Green Marsh RSPB. I wasn't going to go for it. However people started talking about it as their next bird for the day... and I couldn't resist. So off to Topsham I went.

At the hide many were gathered after sightings all morning, but come 1.00pm the bird had apparantly flown down river. Drat. There were many Black-tailed Godwits, a few Oystercatchers, Little Egrets, but the Tern was definitely not hidden amongst the throng of Black-headed Gulls. Presently a Crow spooked the Gulls, which triggered an exodus down river towards the estuary (the tide was on it's way out). I - and many others - followed to the estuary viewing platform. Nothing but the same birds transplanted from the Marsh. The only point of interest was one Mediterranean Gull (second winter) separate from the main Gull flock.

The view from the platform:



So... I got the Little Bittern (the bird I originally went for), but dipped on the Tern. Could be worse!