1st January
A traditionally early start with Steve B and Vince H-F
heading down to Dungeness. Essex for a
big day list had been our original plan but with poor visibility and no birds
to speak off we headed south instead. We
were almost there when we found a herd of over 100 Bewick’s Swans [Eds: Those
were the days!] by the roadside including a neck-collared individual.
Hookers Pit was our first main port of call but we were
expecting a wait for the ever erratic Penduline Tits but within a few seconds
all three were on view and performing acrobatically in the Phragmites. Two were very smart and the third a little
duller in the mask. The two brighter
birds were rung but no one has found our where they have come from yet.
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| Penduline Tits |
We gave them a good grilling for half hour and then wandered
off towards the reserve proper but were immediately stopped by a stunning
pastel Mink that popped up out of the water in front and watched us from a
floating plank whilst whiffling its nose.
The pits held a good selection of duck with fifty or so
Scaup, 33 redhead Smew and a good number of Ruddy Duck amongst the regular
species. [Eds: Must not keep saying ‘those were the days’ but…]. Recent works had seen the discovery of the
bones of a Northern Right Whale deep within the shingle where it undoubtedly
got stranded millennia ago and the bones had been laid out near the visitor
centre pond.
A large female Peregrine powered overhead [Eds: still a good
bird back then] before going through the gulls followed by a female Merlin that
spent five minutes quartering the banks of one of the newer pits and she even
perched up for us a couple of times. Back at Hookers the Penduline Tits had
disappeared so we walked back to the car adding Corn Buntings on the wire to
the increasing day list.
The ARC was checked next and held a further seven Smew of
which four were crisp males and the flotilla of Goosanders included pink
flushed males. We parked up and walked into the Long Pits part of the Desert
and we were rewarded with dozens of Goldcrests, six Firecrests and eventually
the Yellow-browed Warbler that gave good views although it did not call often
which aided its elusiveness. There were
several Chiffchaffs and many Redwings and Fieldfares.
A fine winter adult Med Gull was quickly found down at the Greatstone toilets and the sea gave us Red-breasted Mergansers, Gannets,
Kittiwakes and a few waders too. Off to
Scotney next where there were no special grebes but the Scaup flock was
approaching 100.
From here we headed back inland for a short walk in a piece
of managed mixed woodland in Hamstreet and with the light fading we had to work
quickly but soon found both Willow Tits and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We talked about ending with a Barn Owl and
sure enough one was quartering the new intersection of the main road at Ashford
before we rejoined the M20! A fine way to start any year.
6th January
A westward trip that required me collecting Ian W and
driving to Cambridge but Ian was somewhat worse for wear having been to the pub
that night and we left his at 2.30am for a nightmare drive up with me trying to
stay awake and Ian singing incoherently in the passenger seat. I was very glad to be greeted by a cup of
black coffee at Wander’s.
Gloucester was our destination and it was an uneventful
journey until the city itself where Adrian came the wrong way out of a petrol
station and proceeded to drive the wrong way down the duel carriageway and only
his quick reactions saved us from a head on collision with a freezer lorry and
only the back got clipped as we wove past!
Details were exchanged and we were soon back on our way and at the local
landfill gates and a few minutes later we (with Kettle and co behind) were let
onto to start our search for the Franklin’s Gull. Tony had brought little Josh with him and we
all helped manhandle the buggy up onto the overgrown old tip and he only got
grouchy when Tony took the Pager away from him!
Gulls began to stream in and over from the Severn but few
were stopping and the fields we were meant to be scanning were initially quiet
although we did pick up a creamy white Iceland Gull flying around and a short
while later someone picked up the Franklin’s in the field and we got good views
of this smart winter plumaged adult.
Only my second in the UK after the Scorton Tip bird way back in 1990.
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| Franklin’s Gull |
On to Slimbridge for what we hoped would be a quick visit
but the Lesser White-fronted Goose refused to show and we spent the rest of the
day scanning through Greylags, White-fronts, Brents, Barnacles, Pinkfeet,
Canadas and even two smart Taiga Bean Geese.
The site now looks very scruffy and it makes you wonder where the £4.75
entry fee goes [Eds: £18.80 now…] There
was further recompense with several smart Peregrines and Sparrowhawks, a Water
Rail and a redhead Smew. With no time to
get to Portland for the Forster’s Tern we came back to Cambridge where we
stayed the night and dragged Wander back out at 7am for a day along the Norfolk
coast.
7th January
A brief stop at Lynford Arboretum on the way up gave me
Hawfinch, Brambling, Siskin, Crossbill and Willow Tit while the other two
snoozed in the car before we moved on to the Pretty Corner Waxwings which duly
obliged and 28 were counted as they descended to feast on roadside Hawthorns.
It was nice to hear that trilling once again.
There was a Great Spotted Woodpecker and winter thrushes in the same
trees. On quickly to a fallow field near
the railway line in Cromer where a large finch flock had been holding a Serin
and several Arctic Redpolls. A Woodcock
flew over as we were getting our gear out. Within just ten minutes we had seen at least five
Arctic Redpolls and in flight many of the 40 or so Redpolls looked very white
rumped and clean suggesting that more may have been present. There were
certainly Lessers and Mealies amongst them. [Eds: I am not how many were ever
submitted or accepted from here in this record year – not that any one cares
about them anymore!].
The female type Serin was trickier to find but once found
she was quite obvious with a patch of yellow on the upper breast as well as
rump. Chaffinches, Green and Goldfinches comingled and from here we headed west
along the coast being distracted by a Barn Owl at Salthouse and then a brief
stop at Holkham gave us both Egyptian and White-fronted Geese [Eds: There is no
mention of Pinkfeet?].
Titchwell was a next main stop and we fared well with plenty
of ducks and waders on the way down and of course Sammy the resident
Black-winged Stilt. A single
Black-tailed Godwit was notable [Eds: how things change] and three fly through
Goosanders may well have been a county tick for me. The sea was heaving with
duck and amongst the hundreds of Common Scoter we found a pair of Velvets along
with Mergansers, Eider and Goldeneye.
There were a couple of Great Crested and a single Slavonian
Grebe but the only Divers were Red-throateds.
Turnstones were a year list addition as was a Water Pipit on the
freshmarsh on the way back. A much
closer Slav Grebe was on the main lagoon and 80 Twite gleamed smartly and
looked like a Michael Warren painting. A coffee and a Kit-kat at the visitor
centre allowed Bullfinch to complete a very impressive finch list for the day.
On to Kings Lynn docks where a small biscuity juvenile
Glaucous Gull was paddling around and was my first for two years. There was an
adult Yellow-legged Gull too and a few Tufted Ducks and dabblers. We were worn out but still stopped at Roydon
Common but I am not sure how my little car navigated the small ponds and hills
that pass as the entrance road to the heath but it was worth it with a fine
immature male Hen Harrier performed intermittently during our dusk stay and
rounded up the weekend proceedings very nicely.
14th January
A traditional Essex trip out with Peter G got off to the
perfect start with ‘turn up and there it is’ views of the Red-breasted Goose at
Salcott and all of 300m from where I saw one three years ago. Wonderfully rich colours and quite easy to
keep tabs on amongst the Brents. We abandoned Old Hall and headed to Abberton
where I was delighted to discover that the male White-headed Duck had returned
from its excursions to Hanningfield and beyond. He was easily picked up with
his almost orange body, longtail and white head even at range. There were good
numbers of Goosanders and single redhead Smew.
There were some Bewick’s Swans too and the usual assortment of other
wildfowl.
From here we headed to Fingringhoe for lunch and a good walk
round and in good light we watched many Black-tailed Godwits, a Red-throated
Diver and a flock of 152 Avocets that looked glorious in flight in the winter
sunshine. With the sun setting quickly,
we came home.
20th January
A morning pop with Pete to Fishers Green, where, despite the
weather a Bittern performed exceptionally well along with a Kingfisher and
Water Rail. A walk around produced two more Kingfishers, several Goosander and
Goldeneye and three redhead Smew. News
on a Black-throated Thrush near Redditch was at best sketchy and I was quite
glad when nothing more came of it.
However, later on…
21st January
Needless to say by late evening I was on my way up to
Cambridge and after watching the footie and a few hours sleep Wander and I
headed up to Webheath to the south of Birmingham in the most appalling weather
with rain, wind, hail and snow. Only one other car was there before us and when
we ventured outside 45 minutes later I was dressed in my full Arab head gear
with only my eyes visible. It was so
cold. Birders arrived slowly and the snow returned. The Black-throated Thrush had been frequenting
some paddocks between the old and new parts of the village but it took an hour
for someone to find this smart male. The
panic as we all charged down Pumphouse Lane to get our first foggy view was
full on and the adrenaline was pumping.
I chose well and my spot gave me twenty minutes of uninterrupted viewing
as it hopped around with a few Redwings. Perched precariously in a Hawthorn
hedge is never the most comfortable of vantage spots but it was worth it for
this most sought after tick.
The flock spooked and the Black-throated Thrush was the last to leave flashing orangey underwings as it did. The next few hours were pretty much wasted with much tramping round and little birding but in time the thrush reappeared I the same paddock and more excellent views were had. There was some seriously poor behaviour though where a chap was dragged out of the hedge for repeatedly blocking the view of those down below on the road. As the situation on this narrow lane deteriorated we made our long overdue excuses and came home. Grim weather. Great bird.
[Eds: That sadly I did not even draw to add the new bird number
alongside. It already seems from looking
back at the start of 1996 that my writing continued in the same wordy vane but
my desire to sketch what I had seen was already waning. I still find this very sad and keep promising
myself that I will start once again but one of the modern problems with
blogging is the desire to be instant or as near as and this takes the relaxed
element of drawing out of the equation.
The reliance is now on my photos to augment the story where before it
was mostly my art]
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