3rd November:
A day out in Sussex with Peter G that started very well near
Arundel at the very pretty Swanbourne Lake where an immature drake Blue-winged
Teal lurked at the back with a small group of Gadwall and a lone Ruddy Duck. It
was fully winged and unringed and apparently not from Arundel WWT just up the
road. It was shy and wary and a welcome year tick although I suspect many
people will not even bother going for it.
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| Blue-winged Teal |
On now to Church Norton where the weather conditions deteriorated
to squally, very windy and cold. Waders and ducks were everywhere and there was
a good mix of Mergansers, Goldeneye, Great Crested and two Slavonian Grebes. It was too windy for small birds and so after
lunch and coffee we headed north to Staines Reservoir where quite a lot had
been present. When we got there the temperature dropped and rain was imminent
although when it arrived it fell as whopping great hail stones which stung
painfully. However a small cluster of birders were on the causeway and soon we
too were watching a cracking female Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye,
Goosander and Slavonian Grebe along with a creeping Purple Sandpiper [Eds: The
only other LNHS one I have seen was on the Concrete Barges at Rainham] and a dashing Merlin. A good
end to a wintery day.
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| Velvet Scoter |
6th November:
Jon Clifton phoned early on in the day and asked if I
fancied going for the Desert Warbler near Whitstable and a supressed [Western] Bonelli’s Warbler nearby at Shuart Farm at Reculver. The trip down was enlivened by my very first
crossing of the newly opened QEII Bridge between Thurrock and Dartford. What a
view! [Eds: oddly, after the last twenty years of commuting over it most days I
still enjoy the view!] The Desert Warbler had gone but two Swallows were first
in November and there were many Brent Geese and we estimated that 70% were
juveniles.
We soon moved on and snuck down to the farm and it took half an hour to
find this silvery little Bonelli's Warbler flitting amongst the Willows and Sycamores. It regularly called – a vaguely Chiffchaff
like poo-eet. About eight Chiffchaffs
were also present along with a few Tree Sparrows and a couple of
Brambling. There were over a 1000
Fieldfare and 600 Redwing in the fields.
The warbler had been present for about a week I believe. A subsequent seawatch from Reculver produced
lots of waders and a Little Auk.
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| [Western] Bonelli’s Warbler |
10th November:
After the disappointment of netting getting a lift up for
the St Andrews Chimney Swift [Eds: still need it…] I was quite pleased with the
results of a day out in Norfolk with Peter G.
He did not tell me that we were going Goose hunting and amazingly we
pulled up at Stanhoe and I immediately refound the adult Lesser White-fronted
Goose with the Pink-feet.
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| Lesser White-fronted Goose |
The flock soon departed and so we headed for Burnham Norton
to look for Lapland Buntings. The flock
was found but only one was seen well.
Lots of Linnets, Skylarks and Twite fed in the damp pastures while Rock
and Meadow Pipits were numerous. Amongst the Brent Geese was a coffee coloured
leucistic bird that I first saw in 1987 and once again there were plenty of young
birds. A Ruff was found with the vast flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plovers and
Wigeon grazed all around us. We bumped into a couple of Essex birders – Adrian Kettle
and Tony Wells and they had just re-found a seldom reported Richard’s
Pipit. It was a very grey individual with
well marked uppers and clean peachy underparts.
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| Richard’s Pipit |
Back on the road and just before Burnham Overy Staithe a
fine Rough-legged Buzzard glided across the road and was first in Norfolk since
my life tick one way back on that most memorable of October half terms in
October 1985.
Cley was the next stop and after some beans on toast down at
the beach café [Eds: those were the days…] we ambled along the bank picking up
a Little Auk and some Scoter while a second Little Auk was paddling up and down
the North Dyke. Hundreds of Wigeon, Teal and spectacular Pintail were outside
the hide and two Black-tailed Godwits made a brief stop. The Golden Plover flock on the Eye Field was
as good as ever while a nice winter plumaged Water Pipit on the shingle was a
good November bird. Having found Stu we
decided to follow him to a phone box to call Birdline but he did not see
the beautiful Short-eared Owl that
glided over his car with wonderful golden eyes. News of four Rough-legged
Buzzards at Massingham Heath sent us scurrying homewards but only one was seen
distantly and briefly along with three Sparrowhawks. [Eds: remember that there
were no Common Buzzards or Red Kites to worry about back then!]
11th November:
Being stuck in the traffic as usual on my way to Middlesex
Uni proved beneficial especially as I was between the William Girling and KGV
reservoirs when a male Peregrine perched up on a post at the top of the
bank!
Peregrine
13th November:
A day trip up north. Peter G and I met up with Jon Clifton
at Great Bentley at 5.45am on a cold crisp day for our journey to Scorton Tip
near Catterick on North Yorkshire. The weather held until we got there when the
heavens opened. Our quarry was a Franklin’s
Gull and thankfully it only took ten minutes to relocate it with the handful of
other birders present. It certainly made
up for my previous dips. It still had a
lot of black on the had and put on a good show.
After this we headed north just a 25 more miles to look for
the Black Grouse at Langdon Beck. A
couple of inches of fresh crisp snow lay on the ground but the Grouse were proving
tricky until we eventually found a single of each sex someway apart. It was my
first good look at a female and she reminded me more of small female
Capercaille. After a look at the mighty High Force waterfall we headed for home
with a Merlin over the A1 the only highlight of the long journey home.
17th November:
A day in the Home Counties with Jon and Ad Clifton and Peter
Pyke that started in the Lady Amhurst Pheasant woods but it was very foggy and
a couple were heard and two briefly seen as they dropped out of the trees. All
six Tit species were present and some cute Muntjac. Our main quarry for the day was an American
Golden Plover near Milton Keynes and after some chasing around superb views
were had of this first-winter bird with the Golden Plover and Lapwing
flock. A lone Dunlin was with the flock
and a Sparrowhawk cruised over.
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| American Golden Plover |
On again and back southish to Uxbridge where the adult Ring-billed Gull had returned to Rockingham Rec. There were footie games going on but we soon found him loafing around the edges. He still had a full white head with not one speckle.
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| Ring-billed Gull |
On to Wrasbury for Ring-necked Parakeets where a local resident kindly let us into his garden to get better views with at least 20 seen.
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
The Velvet Scoter was still present at Staines but there was not much else
on this occasion bar an adult Yellow-legged Gull so we soon moved on again
stopping at Papacourt GP near Ripley in Surrey where another female Velvet
Scoter and a Black-throated Diver were quickly despatched. There was a big flock of Siskins and a few
Brambling were with some Chaffinches.
Only the lack of Great Grey Shrike at South Norwood dampened an
otherwise great day.
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| Black-throated Diver |
Later that evening news broke of a Mugimaki Flycatcher up
north. I had never even heard of this
far eastern species and after a few frantic calls I had myself a lift and
headed for my bed…
18th November:
A dip… What a day. Seven hundred miserable birders at Stone
Creek on the banks on the Humber in the
pissing rain and several inches on squishy mud.
I was not too disappointed and enjoyed a good natter with friends. [Eds:
I can remember LGRE that day being particularly animated…] By 3pm it was
getting dark and the bird hade already become known at the ‘F@£&£”% Shitty
Flycatcher’. The trip home in continuous
rain was made more bareble by using a Drive Thru McDonalds for the first time.
Says it all really…
20th November:
I headed over to Dagenham Chase in the hope of finding the
Long-eared Owls and was pleased two sitting full out in the open. Nice to see
them back again. Later on I took Mum
over so that she could see them too and added a male Sparrowhawk perched up in
the next bush.
22nd November:
Back to The Chase but no LEOs today but there were more
thrushes and the Sparrowhawk again. Six
Shoveler, two Wigeon and 60 Teal were on the Slack and I found six Reed
Buntings and three flocks of Long-tailed Tits.
A fly through female Goosander was new bird for the site for me.
24th November:
A slightly misty day out in Essex with Peter G which started
well at Shop Lane on East Mersea where 16 Lapland Buntings, 300 Skylarks, 25
Corn Buntings, 15 Yellowhammer, 15 Reed Bunting, 30 Twite and a few Meadow
Pipits were encountered in the fields along with about 800 Golden Plover, Brent
Geese and a few other waders. The Colne was fairly quiet although there were
two Mergansers and 11 Eider.
We moved onto Fingringhoe Wick for lunch and in a couple of hours we did very well for raptors with three ringtail and an adult male Hen Harrier, Kestrels, Sparrowhawks and two Merlins and a Rough-legged Buzzard. [Eds: note that we did not see a Marsh Harrier or Common Buzzard and even Peregrine was still a very scarce bird back then].
A flock of 600 Fieldfare fed
in the Hawthorns before we headed to Abberton Reservoir where 2000 Golden
Plovers, Goosander, eight Whooper Swans and 44 Bewick’s Swans were noted. A Little Owl was seen on a roadside tree at
Birch on the way home.
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| Rough-legged Buzzard |
25th November:
I tried to get onto the KGV Reservoir for the Great Northern
Diver but all my usual gaps had been filled in so I had to be content with a
walk around Connaught Water. The duck
count was pretty good and included 32 Gadwall, five Wigeon but just two
Mandarin while a Kingfisher was my first in a long time.
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