24th
I managed somehow to get back to Stansted just after 9am (how
I hate the south-east traffic now) and collected Bonnie and Galen for our first
day out and before too long we were at Abberton Reservoir. It was good to have a no expectations or a
hit list for our two days out so it really was about giving this lovely couple
their first (if somewhat brief) taste of the English countryside on their first
ever visit.
The Mallorca trip had given us a good birding platform to
work with but an autumn day in Essex would give us a whole new suite of
birds. The Layer Breton Causeway got us
off to a blinding start with some familiar dabbling ducks but with the elegant
addition of Pintail and Tufted Ducks to add to better views of Pochard. There
were Great Crested Grebes and Egyptian Geese and almost everything was
new. Nine Spoonbills flew in and Great and
Little Egrets were dotted around the edge while Stock Doves, Common Buzzard,
Hobby, Rooks, Carrion Crows and Jackdaws were quickly added. A Jay even stopped in a willow to be scoped!
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| Spoonbills |
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| Lapwings |
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| Egyptian Goose |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
I actually like this type of birding where even the most
familiar species are new to the guests and I imagine that tour guides in some
of the more distant places I now visit must feel the same – or perhaps I am
just odd! Pied Wagtails and Chaffinches
were on the causeway and I found Black-tailed Godwits, punky Lapwings and a
Common Sandpiper. They laughed at the
two Canada Geese but they were actually the only ones that I found!
We moved around to the Wigborough Bay screen where 24
Spoonbills dropped in and loosely joined a big flock of dabblers that were mostly
Pintail and a few gingery Wigeon. There were
waders here too with four Curlew Sandpipers, some Ruff, four Ringed Plover and
about 100 Black-tailed Godwits.
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| Spoonbills |
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| Great Egret |
A flock of Starlings swirled around and Rooks were probing the
reservoir edges where there were more Egrets and Mute Swans and a huge raft of
Coot were way off towards the church.
Down at the Layer-de-le-Haye Causeway we added Common Terns,
Green Sandpiper and some more Great Crested Grebes before heading o the
visitors centre. ‘Ah, some small birds’
thought Howard. It was so
frustrating! I could hear Robins,
Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Wrens but seeing anything was
proving very difficult although Blue Tits and a party of Long-tailed Tits did
eventually give themselves up. The former were on the centre feeders with the
Goldfinches and a family of Moorhens were feeding underneath it.
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| Kestrel |
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| Sloe |
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| Phyllonorycter
corylifoliella |
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| Dogwood |
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| A stunningly pale juvenile Buzzard |
Time for lunch and then onto Fingringhoe Wick (well it was
going to be Mersea but the Strood causeway was overtopped by the very high tide).
It was indeed a big tide and nearly all of Geedon and Langenhoe was covered. We had a pleasant walk round where Robins
sung, ticked and flicked but refused to do their usual posing but we did see
some flocks of Avocets heading up river along with some very black-bellied Grey
Plovers with the roosting Black-tailed Godwits.
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| Avocets |
A bank of Ivy was buzzing with Ivy Bees, Hoverflies, Wasps
and a couple of hungry Hornets while Common Darters, Migrant Hawkers and
Emerald Damselflies were noted as we ambled back in the late afternoon sunshine. Galen saw the back end of a Green Woodpecker
as it flew away.
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| Ivy Bee |
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| Tachina fera |
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| Hornet |
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| Phytomyza ilicis |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Robin's Pin Cushion |
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| Emerald Damselfly |
We were all flagging from the previous days travelling and
decided to head back across county to Stansted.
I dropped them off and headed to my friends in Sawbridgeworth where I
had blagged a bed for the night and even fish and chips!
25th
After a zillion hours sleep and a shorter drive I collected
equally refreshed Americans (who had discovered bangers and mash last night)
and made our way through the lanes to the Brecks and then a slight blip west to
Lakenheath (stopping for a red phonebox pic on the way) where I hoped to pick
up some marshy birds before heading back to the woods and heaths. It was crisp and autumnal and Robins by the
dozen tormented us from almost every bush.
How could I not find one to show them??!
Jets screamed overhead and spooked the duck off the Hockwold Washes but
the Whooper Swans had long departed giving us a few dabblers to check.
There were Little Egrets and a single Great Egret and six
Cattle Egrets were with the small herd of Belted Galloways which Galen joyfully
called Oreo Cows. I let him have that
one! It was quite good for raptors with
Buzzard, Kestrels, Sparrowhawk and a juvenile Hobby which showed better that
the whizzer yesterday.
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| Kestrel |
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| Great Egret |
Cetti’s Warblers sung but were the only real reedbed lurkers
other than a couple of Reed Buntings. Meadow
Pipits flew over and onto the list but there were no Skylarks. Chiffchaffs were singing and a party of
Long-tailed Tits bimbled past us before looping back to the willows. I think Bonnie was particularly fond of
these.
Our route back gave us a very chestnut Muntjac and some
sunbathing Dragons before a Marsh Tit started to scold a Chiffchaff in the
railway side Hawthorns. After a catch up
with Dave Rogers in the centre while Bonnie bought up the shop we planned our
next stop while the Robins continued to taunt us.
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| Muntjac |
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| Long-winged Conehead |
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| Migrant Hawker |
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| Ruddy Darter |
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Common Darter
|
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| Common Toadflax |
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| Growing Giant Puffball |
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| Ex VERY Giant Puffball |
The field of pre-migration Stone-curlews was distinctly
lacking in all 76 birds continuing the recent run of avoiding this species so I
had a look at the nearby Cockley Cley on the off chance of something in the
fields or over the trees. There were no
small birds but amazingly a young male Goshawk booted the Wood Pigeons out of
the pine belt behind us!
Lunch at Lynford Arboretum was enlivened by a Robin singing
invisibly just above us but I admit to being distracted by Galen showing me
pictures of their amazing house and his collection of antique Ford spanners, shoe
irons and printed paper flour bags!
We had a lovely walk around although it was disturbingly
quiet with almost no small birds once again. I did eventually find a Robin that
briefly sat up and sung for Bonnie but it was otherwise difficult although a
pair of Coal Tits did put on show unlike the Goldcrests, Treecreepers, Great
Spotted Woodpeckers, Siskins and Nuthatches all of which I could hear but not
get close to!
A monster ice-cream was required before the final small
circuit out onto the heathy area.
Dunnocks peeped and amazingly nine Crossbill flew over which was a
surprise given how rare they have been in the region this year. More exploding
Wood Pigeons and ridiculously our second male Goshawk of the day casually flew
along the tree line. Goshawk 2 – Robin 1
There were a few flowers still in bloom and a Small Copper
on the Yarrow and Ivy Bees were digging their little burrows on the sandy path
where there appeared to be Ant-Lion pits although I was not aware of them being
this far west in the county.
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| Phyllonorycter joannisi |
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| Willow Emeralds |
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| Musk Mallow |
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| Small Scabious |
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| Small Scabious |
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| Small Copper |
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| Perforate St John's Wort |
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| Ivy Bee |
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| Ant-Lion pit |
We came back through the now pay and display car park where
Goldcrests called too high in the canopy but Bonnie and Galen were happy so we
once again wound our way through the lanes towards their Stansted Air B&B
after a fruitful two days before their long journey home via Iceland of all
places!
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