3rd April
My first visit to Dagenham Chase for ages and the first
lunch break visit from my new job at Corals nearby. It was quite a productive hour with a Little Ringed
Plover, four Snipe and Lapwings as well as a fly over Curlew. Three Sand Martins flew through and there
were two Yellow Wagtails and two Whites amongst 11 Pieds as well as four singing
Willow Warblers and three Chiffchaffs.
5th April
Scotland:
I awoke at a little after 5am in the dark at some unknown
locality at the back of Loch Garten to be told ‘Hurry up and grab your bins or we
leave without you!’ We were attempting
to walk into Grantown before the Capercaillies arose and perhaps even find a
lek but despite creeping along in complete silence all we had were two crashing
out of the trees. Long-eared and Tawny
owls called while Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatchers and Lapwings could be
heard. Our second Grantown site adjoined
the first and a female Caper was seen briefly and down on the river Dippers were
singing and there were loads of Grey and Pied Wagtails
Lazily flapping Buzzards spooked Rabbits and Brown Hares and
Meadow Pipits were singing all around along with a single Tree Pipit in the
Birchy area. Our return walk gave us
both Goosander and Goldeneye on the river along with closer views of the
Dipper.
At Forest Lodge the Killer Cap [Eds: I think he was called
Willie??!] once again refused to play ball but we did hear him popping and
wheezing a way off but we did not go off piste to track him down. He assaulted Rob Wilson and his crew the
following day!
Excellent views of Crested Tit were had and two Crossbills
flew over [Eds: back then it was pretty much Scottish all the way]. Roe Deer
were seen and one buck scared the wotsits out of me as it hurtled up behind me
before bounding off into the heather and trees.
Mooremor carpark on the shores of Loch Morlich was next on
our tight itinerary and proved invaluable stop and as we had a look at the
Ospreys on the nest out in the boggy heather they got up to mob a magnificent almost
full adult Golden Eagle that was under a hundred foot up!
In the woods we soon picked up a couple more Crested Tits
and a very obliging female Scottish Crossbill. It was right at the heavy edge
of the range and down south would probably have been called a Parrot and even
the call was deep enough. [Eds: I now
wonder if this was actually a female Parrot – even my drawing looks like one!]
With no sign of any Divers on the loch we moved onto Forres
where there were no Black Grouse but a fine female Hen Harrier. Lunch beckoned
and we ended up back in Grantown for various things ‘n’ chips. The weather was glorious and we spent another
couple of hours in the woods where Cresties and both male and female Capercaillie
were found. The male was huge! Roe Deer, Red squirrels, Buzzards, Siskins
and singing Crossbills made it all the more enjoyable. With no need to do the Findhorn having got
Golden Eagle we headed across country towards the Ythan, finding five dapper
Waxwings in Aviemore high street on the way.
The journey only gave us a few Pinkfeet and a single Hooded Crow.
It did not seem to take too long but that was probably because
I was asleep for most of the journey. We
did not even have to get out of the car for the King Eider as he was paddling around
just off the main car park with a small group of Common Eiders. He was half-heartedly
displaying to the female Commons. Eiders
done we once more came back inland and it was dark by the time we reached
Braemar where a Tawny Owl greeted us. It
was my birthday-eve so we headed for what passed as the only public bar in the
village for a celebratory pint.
Everywhere else was a bit posh and we were in our lived in clothes…
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| King & Common Eider |
We opted to spend the night on Glenshee – the highest main
road in the UK. Mountain Hares in dappled coats scampered across the road in
the headlights and once stopped and with the lights out the full panorama of
billions of stars in the shimmering Milky Way illuminated the sky and the vast
tail of Comet Hyakutake blazed from north to south with a pinprick of the
brightest light at its head. [Eds: It is
one of those vistas that is permanently in my head.] We slept well despite the intense cold.
6th April
I awoke at 5.15am snug in my sleepingbag. The thermometer in the car said -5c. Ice had
formed on the insides of the windows and Adrian W’s pillow had stuck to the
glass and thankfully not his face! I was
treated to an interesting version of Happy Birthday before we ventured out into
the cold. Red Grouse were everywhere and they were so engrossed in chasing
mates and seeing off rivals that they came incredibly close to us. Meadow Pipits and Wheatears were the only
other birds around.
Ptarmigan were our main objective but the task seemed to ask
much of our luck but as the sun worked its way down the slopes I picked up a
mostly white bird as it scuttled across the snow from one snow field to
another. Kettle quickly reloacted it in
the scope as she sat motionless amongst the rocks. I was well chuffed!
With that we packed up and left trying not to run over any
of the Red Grouse on the way down. The road down to the Spittle of Glenshee was
incredibly steep and impressive. Skewbald Mountain Hares were incredibly
obvious and a pair of roadside Ring Ouzels on the heather were a excellent
bonus.
Once down at a lower elevation the Hares swapped to Brown,
and Greylag Geese frequented the fields with Oystercatchers and Lapwings. From here we made our way back to the coast
and Ruddens Point passing a Sparrowhawk on the way. We drove out onto the headland that over
looked the bay and it was full of birds on a crystal flat sea.
It took no time at all to find four drake and a female Surf
Scoter along with both Common and Velvet Scoters, Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks
and Eider. We also found Red-throated,
Black-throated and two Great Northern Divers along with two Red-necked and five
Slavonian Grebes. There were a few Razorbills, Gannets and gulls moping around
but there were no Purple Sandpipers with the Dunlin, Turnstones and Redshanks
on the rocks below. Two Sandwich Terns ‘errickked’
their way north.
On again and good doze later I awoke in scenic Tyne &
Wear searching for somewhere to view the River Blyth and its moulting adult
White-billed Diver. It was easily found
and we watched our second this year from the grounds of a new housing estate being
warily watched by security guards. All the flight feathers were moulted so it
was not going anywhere! There were Eider and Goldeneye and a Black Swan with
the Mutes.
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| White-billed Diver |
South a bit more to Silksworth in Sunderland where the 1w
Laughing Gull had reappeared after a five day absence. Tony found the bird on the lake almost
immediately and we were not even out of the car! It was already attaining the
blood red tip to the bill and was very adept at catching bread. After this troke of luck we called it a day
and hit the A1 homewards after a superb birthday weekend away.
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| Laughing Gull |
8th April
An early morning excursion with Kettle, Tony and Jon Clifton
to look for Lady Amhurst’s Pheasants in Beds and although we heard quite a few only
Tony was lucky enough to see one. A
Tawny Owl was heard and there were Muntjac, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers
and a couple of Sparrowhawks.
We were not too far away from the Rickmansworth drake Lesser
Scaup and our arrival was time with the mist lifting and this fine adult was
quickly found as it actively fed with a small flock of Tufted Ducks. Sand Martins flickered across the pit and
LRPs and Redshanks fed on a small scrape.
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| Lesser Scaup |
I was almost being dropped off back at my car at the
Brentwood Little Chef when a female Ring-necked Duck at Bowyers Water came on
so I said my farewells and headed that way and soon had this smart rusty bird
in the scope. Only my second female and
coincidentally I saw that on the same day as my first Lesser Scaup. An excellent end to the day.
9th April
My first real day out in the countryside with Andrea and
Thomas and the day was a great success with a couple of nice walks and a few
bonuses including 50 Waxwings in Tattingstone on the way up!
Covehithe was our first stop and a stroll up towards Benacre
provided us with nice Wheatears, Pied Wagtails, female Black Redstart, hundreds
of Redwings and Fieldfares and a variety of waders and wildfowl on the broad
that included a female Eider, Goldeneye, Little Grebes, a Shag and a Knot with
some Ringed Plover and Dunlin.
A lone Fulmar headed south and Swallows began to trickle
through. Lunch was taken at Southwold
followed by a walk around the shops before going onto Minsmere where Thomas was
a quiet a s mouse in the hides. There
were Avocets and a few more duck but it was the Marsh Harriers that stole the
show.
A nice male Stonechat brightened up things as the weather
really never got better than overcast while we were there.
South again and a quick roadside stop in Woodbridge gave us
13 more Waxwings. I took the scenic
route home via the reservoirs. Alton Water had
all three hirundines while at Abberton where there were still Goldeneye and 30
stunningly bright Yellow Wagtails.
On towards Heybridge where the Little Owls were surprisingly
in their usual tree and did not even fly off when I stopped! We ended up at the
pub at Heybridge Basin – somewhere they knew but I did not and we sat by the
lock and watched the lights slowly drain from the sky while Black-tailed
Godwit, Curlew and Redshank wandered by below while Oystercatchers roosted on
the small boats. A Greenshank flew over
calling and despite the late hour the Sedge Warblers were still singing and
rounded up a quality day.
10th April
My lunchtime stroll at the Chase produced five Willow
Warblers, three Chiffchaffs and three Swallows.
14th April
A spur of the moment trip to Bradwell for the male
White-spotted Bluethroat that had not even been found before I left home. It was found twenty minutes after we arrived
and amazingly showed very well alongside a hedge in a ditch in the middle of a
seemingly random field! There were Corn
Buntings, Linnets and Chaffinches but no other migrants on a cold day so we
retired to a pub in one of the Hanningfields followed by a walk around the
reservoir nature trail. There were lots
of new birds for Andrea. A summer plumaged Red-throated Diver was the star find
and Sand Martins abounded along with LRPs, a variety of duck and of course some
Yellow Wagtails.
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| White-spotted Bluethroat |
16th April
Another good Dag Chase visit with a nice Green Sandpiper and
the first Cuckoo and Whitethroat of the year. Snipe and Shelduck still shared
the Slack with two LRPs.
17th April
News broke too late of an American Coot at Stodmarsh the day
before and so I managed to leave work at 4pm and meet up with Steve B to head
down there. We avoided traffic and were
soon on site and thankfully it was immediately on view. In fact it swan right past us before we
realised it was there! The red knob was very deep in colour and only visible
colour wise, in certain lights. At other
time it appeared like a black gemstone set into its head.
It was continuously harassed by the Coots and when he
eventually got chased around a bend and out of view, we packed up and walked
back passing Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Common Terns on the way. A swift pint in the Red Lion and then onto
Sheppey for the Crane but it was too dark really and we had to be happy with
Marsh Harriers and a Little Owl.
18th April
At the Chase two Redshank had joined the now three LRPs with
18 Teal, 16 Shoveler and two Shelduck.
Reed and Sedge Warblers were in and Phyllosc numbers had gone up.
21st April
Oliver’s near Colchester Zoo was where our day started with
a pleasant walk in the spring woods while up above a male Goshawk and a couple
of Sparrowhawks were seen. There were
many new migrants with Whitethroats, Cuckoos, Turtle Doves, Blackcaps, Garden
Warblers and House Martin in along with Green Woodpeckers and Jays.
There was masses of Wood Sorrel, Wood Anemone, Primroses,
Violets and Lesser Celandine and a Grass Snake slithered through the blooms.
Fingringhoe beckoned for lunch and birds. Nightingales not only sung their hearts out
but showed incredibly well too. The only
new migrant was a Lesser Whitethroat and three Whimbrel flew over calling before
we headed back to Abberton where I found Common Terns and five Scaup along with
yet more wonderful Yellow Wagtails.
22nd April
A pre-work visit to the Chase just after a rain shower was as good as I had hoped with
70 House Martins and a few Sand Martins and six Swifts.
23rd April
At the Chase today there were only two Swifts but there were
higher numbers of all three hirundines which included a Swallow with rich rusty
red underparts. Two Common Terns dropped
in but did not linger and 14 Yellow Wagtails on the Slack was the most I had
ever had here. All the Shoveler had
moved on.
25th April
Hirundine numbers were well down at The Chase but three were
a lot of Wood Pigeons and a pair of Stock Doves drinking on the Slack. Single Yellow and Grey Wagtails flew over and
the Cuckoo was still singing.
26th April
A walk down to the Chase Allotments gave me three each of
Blackcap and Whitethroats along with a single Garden Warbler and several pairs
of Greenfinch.
27th April
Dungeness was disappointing with no interesting terns and
only a few passage divers, gannets and scoter.
Black Redstart and Wheatear sang from the power station compound but
there were not really many warblers around except Whitethroats. Marsh Frogs
croaked from the Long Pits. On to
Pegwell Bay and its Osprey which after a little patience showed very well and
even caught a fish without us noticing.
The group of Dotterel at Sandwich had not been seen so we
headed for Stodmarsh and a much more relaxed look was had of the American
Coot. Beardies pinged and a couple of
Hobbies whizzed around. We ended the day
at Church Wood Blean where over the sound of countless Wood Ants going abut
their business a Nightingale sung and of the three Woodpeckers we found only
Lesser Spotted was seen. A male Redstart
singing high in the canopy rounded up a pleasant but slightly underwhelming day
in Kent.
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