Thirty Years Ago - August 1995

5^th August

Dragonflies and Butterflies were on the menu today and we began in Maldon with a first stake out for a Camberwell Beauty. Initial searches of local buddleias revealed Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Whites and Painted Ladies and it was not until we were invited into a young birder’s garden [Eds: Simon Patient if memory serves!] that we were shown exactly where it had been seen for the preceding three days.  We spent half hour nattering away, checking the butterflies and slurping coffee when the Beauty cruised in and I yelled ‘there it is!’ Fortunately this fast flyer stopped on a drainpipe for ten minutes before disappearing, never to be seen again. Almost as mythical a butterfly as Red-flanked Bluetail was a bird.

Camberwell Beauty

Next stop Abberton Reservoir where the male White-headed Duck was promptly found dozing with the raft of Ruddys.  The young Hobbies were still on their pylon nest and one of the adults was seen chasing a Herring Gull while out on the island the adult Greater Flamingo was to be found making it three counties that I have seen it in this year.  There were Common and Ruddy Darters, Brown Hawkers and a few Damselflies and Skippers around the visitors centre [Eds: must have been the old centre?].

North and onto Caister cemetery where despite searching we could not find any Darters of any kind let alone rare ones so it was back to Great Yarmouth Cemetery as they had been seen here too. However, we almost never got there as the accelerator cable on his car snapped about a mile away but amazingly  the AA arrived within 15 minutes and had fixed it within 20!

It did not take long to find the Yellow Winged Darters with quite a few males and females being seen and another hanging female was brought closer by pulling down the branch it was on albeit by Peter Pyke sitting on my shoulders.  The experts on site keenly pronounced that this was indeed a female Vagrant Darter as at close range the ovipositor could be seen pointing directly down at right angles to the abdomen from the third segment while on Common it protrudes at an angle out to the side from either side of a segment.  The black facial lines around the eyes were also noted an appeared like a slightly slimmer (but not pinched) Common Darter.

We kept looking and found 20 Yellow Winged, a male Black Darter and both Common and Ruddy Darters along with Migrant Hawkers while Small Copper was added to the Butterfly list.

With all the Dragons safely collected we made our way to Cantley Beet Factory where three juvenile Marsh Sandpipers had been seen.  Only one was apparently left as we checked in and walked down but we very quickly found two and a Wood Sandpiper and then the third Marsh appeared with a second Wood Sand.  Tringatastic!  The previous four Marsh Sands I had seen had all been adults in various stages of moult so seeing these three on a evaporation lagoon where strange mineral towers had formed was a real joy.  Snipe, Common and Green Sandpipers were also noted around the margins of the pit and a few Black-headed Gulls paddled around too.  A cream capped juvenile Marsh Harrier quartered and a male was seen as we drove back out.

 Marsh Sandpipers

One final stop; a field near Little Bromley to the east of Colchester where some Quail had been singing and even showing.  Despite the field being partly cut they refused to show even though they responded well to the tape [Eds: Don’t judge please…]  A Little Owl called from the top of a Copper Beech and a small flock of Tree Sparrows rounded of a superb day creature watching!

6^th August

With little sleep I headed up to Tony’s and then with Kettle back to Little Bromley in the hope that we could entice out the Quail but the early morning mist meant that the farmer was not going to cut the rest of the field that morning and so our chances were as slim as the previous attempt.

At about 9am the lads went home leaving me with the Papps family and the local property owner (not the farmer).  The Quails were very vocal with at least four but they stayed stubbornly deep within the wheat field but at 0950 one started calling from the grass right next to the path.  We got within two feet of it and had it synchronised with the tape [Eds: yes, a tape player about the size of a brick with big clunky buttons – not even one of those dictating ones!] but we still could not see it but eventually it flew out and gave us all an amazingly close view where every detail could be observed.

It whirred off like a long winged little grouse.  I was over the moon.  At this point Tony and Kettle came back but a further hour wait was in vain.  Definitely worth another sleepless night.

12^th August

I chickened out on going with the crew for the Pacific Golden Plover in Cleveland as the thought of a ten hour wait if we missed it in the morning did not appeal.  As it was they got it at 5.40am and were heading south soon after on the news of the [Eastern] Olivaceous Warbler at Benacre.  I on the other hand never found out about it till 4pm and so it was a bit late to the party and arrived with James and Ian at 6.30pm.  We almost ran down the beach to Beech Farm and once at the chosen hedge it took 20 agonising Minutes to refind it!

The big listers twitched the spring one on Fair Isle but I was happy to have this one much closer to home.  This one cost me a whole fiver!  As we were about to leave a shout in a deep Yorkshire accent went up and to all the assembled ears sounded for the world like ‘three Hornbills overhead!’ when in fact it was three Spoonbills heading slowly south down the Suffolk coast. A wonderful sight.

19^th August

A farcical dash to St Margarets-at-Cliff for Britain’s first Middle Spotted Woodpecker.  We stood no chance in the heavily wooded valley and had to make do with Green and great Spots before retiring to the pub for a pint and dinner. [Eds: and no, it did not get accepted]

21^st August

My lunchtime walk gave me 12 Sandwich Terns off Lyle Park.

22^nd-24^th August

A weekend with Emma in Wales around Dolgellau with Chough and Red Kites scrambling their way onto my year list.

28^th August

An afternoon potter out to Hertford for a very smart Cattle Egret was successful although it turned out to be of the Eastern race – coromundus and therefore and escape despite the lack of rings. The orange buff on the head extended down onto the cheeks and well down the neck and onto the front.  A Western bird should be all white by this time of year.  Nevertheless a very smart bird that fed unconcerned by our presence with a small herd of cows.