A morning in Lincolnshire

 

For whatever reason - poor research and homework or bad luck meant that today didn't go to plan. My hoped for Short-eared Owls and Barn Owl, didn't appear and the Long-eared Owls at Deeping Lakes were brown blobs obscured by the twiggy mess of the trees in which they were roosting.

However, it still turned out to be a pleasant morning. The drive along Deeping High Bank proved fruitless, and we parked up at the nature reserve. There were a few thrushes around the car park, and on the lakes a few Goldeneye and other ducks and Great Crested Grebe.

I saw a single tree creeper but failed to see any Long-eared Owl. Asking a local birder where the best place was to watch from, I realised I had over-looked them somehow and went back and only then saw the birds when they were pointed out to me by a guy with a scope. They were so well-hidden and I think I can be forgiven for missing them first time round (just). I might go back in the hope of seeing them perched out in the open.

Returning to the car park, the camera was kept busy by a Fieldfare playing peek-a-boo and a very photogenic Blackbird with his red berries.

Goldeneye (drake)

Fieldfare

Blackbird

We had a drive around the lanes in search of a Short-eared Owl, to no avail, but the day was rescued by stunning views of a Common Buzzard along Deeping High Bank and a Kestrel near Deeping St. Nicholas. I might try again for the owls in the New Year and get on site for dawn.

Common Buzzard

Female Kestrel

Highfields Park thrushes - 27-12-20

Having stumbled on a group of Redwings feeding on berries the previous day, I returned this morning with the light bright and crisp. There tree favoured by the birds was somewhat in the open, and it was impossible to avoid flushing the birds. However, I managed to use the cover of another tree and the birds soon returned and gorged on the berries. They were joined by a Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush while I was there. I'm not sure I will ever get a better opportunity to photograph Redwings.

Redwing

Fiedldfare

Mistle Thrush

A little later, needing to go to the shops, I popped into the city centre and was pleased to see a Peregrine perched on the higher ledge of the University on South Sherwood Street.  I hope to get a bird in flight or on one of the lower ledges in the spring.

Peregrine Falcon

Boxing Day Walk - 26-12-20

Boxing Day was cloudy, but it was high white cloud and was therefore quite bright.

I had a Kestrel and a Lesser Black-backed Gull within 200 metres of my house, a nice start, I thought. The Kestrel was perched on a lamp post, but in silhouette. The bird took flight and I managed a record shot in the first proper light of the morning.

Kestrel

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Wollaton Park continued to be fairly useless with very little on the lake, and a sole drake Goosander was too far out to consider photographing. I've not seen the Tawny Owl since early March. A single Little Egret on the marsh saved the site from being a complete waste of time.

Highfields Park proved better, with an approachable adult Common Gull giving me a full mew, and around the park a selection of approachable common species. I particularly like the Iridescence on the Magpie.

Common Gull

Magpie

Black-headed Gull

Common Pochard

As I reached University Boulevard, I spooked a small flock of Redwing. I got a few record shots, but see my next post for some better efforts.

Christmas Day - An ornithological gift!

 

Christmas Day was cold, although the promised frost never appeared. None the less, I sprinkled some extra bird food on the path.  Two Robins and then a male Blackbird welcomed the dried meal worms and crumbled fat balls, and I watched these before making a coffee and turning on my camera in the hope of composing a Christmassy image of a Robin.

Armed with my Sony A9, I looked out of the kitchen to see a female Sparrowhawk staring at me from the Sallow. I rattled off a few shots and then went into the dining room in order to get more of a head on angle.

I had often hoped to get a 'Sprawk' in the garden but I had never dreamed of getting one this well. I'm just pleased that the windows had only been recently cleaned!

Sparrowhawk (female)

A day in Derbyshire

The first sunny day - well not predominantly dull - on a weekend, looked like a good chance to get out to Derbyshire before the Christmas break in the hope of photographing a Dipper. It had rained torrentially in the night and arriving at the spot, the river Dove was a torrent. Undeterred, I set off along the footpath, snapping a Mallard and a Grey Heron along the way.  I had progressed for a good half a mile without seeing a Dipper and this was a stretch that I had been told they were nailed on. 

It occurred to me that all the little stones where Dippers liked to perch were under water. I was pondering on whether to turn back and look upstream when movement caught my eye and with the naked eye I saw a flash of white, blinking against the rushing water. I looked through the bins and sure enough a Dipper was bobbing on a moss-covered log on the other side of the river. 

I edged towards the edge of the water, but couldn't get in a perfect position and struggled a little with the exposure, the bird in full sun. But I guess that's nit-picking.

Grey Heron

Mallard

Dipper

I needed to get back to Nottingham for noon, so we popped into Cromford in the late morning. I had hoped for some winter thrushes, but nothing was doing. However, a shot walk along the river produced a very approachable Little Grebe, the bird apparently accustomed to people feeding bread to the ducks. A super close image!

Little Grebe

Local Birding in November - fog, cloud, drizzle and a bit of sunshine

 

The shorter days of autumn after the clocks went back were characterized by dull and often damp weekends, with most of the sunshine confined to the week, when frustratingly I was in the office at home.

The 7th November began with dense fog, and I walked through Wollaton Park without seeing a bird. The forecast promised clear skies by 11am, but this unsurprisingly was not the case and continuing through the university, I decided to head for Attenborough Nature reserve, taking a taxi from Beeston. It was still foggy when I arrived at the reserve, so continued to the visitor centre for a coffee.

The fog cleared at 1pm, not gradually, but it just lifted as though a veil had been drawn away from the air.

A drake Eurasian Teal was swimming at close quarters on Church Pond and Lapwing were putting on a show in what was now lovely light.

Eurasian Teal

                                       

                                      

                                                                  Lapwing

Hearing of a pair of Stonechat that had been showing well on the Derbyshire border near the railway line, I had a five minute walk to the little corner of the marina, where the lake has an overgrown area of teasle and other seed-bearing plants in a marshy bit. I immediately located the Stonechats. Both the male and female performed remarkably well, the male approaching to within a few metres.

                             

Stonechats

I walked back to the village via Church pond and snapped a Goldcrest on the way. The bird played hide and seek for a while but eventually perched out in a nice pose in the last flush of afternoon light.

Goldcrest

Having a medical commitment with my Mother after lunch on 10th November, I was left with the remainder of the afternoon to myself, and opted to check out Highfields Lake as it was about the time that the first Goosanders should be turning up. I was right on cue, and sitting by the lake side managed to get a male close to the bank and also captured him mid flap. I really like that image.

Goosander

Friday 13th November turned out to be reasonably lucky. I had tried umpteen times to get decent views of a Great White Egret at Attenborough. As I was chatting to Simon Roberts, two birds flew over from the south and circled the reedbed on Church pond, before settling out of site. However, one bird then got up and proceeded to give us a close fly past. Great stuff!  A walk along Tween Pond produced an approachable Common Gull.

Great White Egret

Common Gull

Snatching what little sunshine there was became quite tricky, and this paid off with a walk to my local pond in Wollaton where some Goosanders briefly took up residence, occasionally coming ridiculously close. Word has it, that there were up to 11 birds over a few days but the one time I saw a drake, it was at the back of the pond in atrocious light.

Goosander (female)

A few parties of Common Crossbills had been noted on Budby South Forest in the middle of November, so I set off on the 21st and tried my luck. It was very dull, with just a little watery sunshine leaking through. However, after a bit of a run around I got some passable shots. There's something very absorbing and rewarding about crossbills - I rank them among my favourite birds. I'll get a shot of one at a puddle one day.

We dropped in at Rufford Park on the way back, which was like Skegness, with the World and his wife there. A few Goosanders were playing hard to get but I did manage a nice fly-by of a redhead.

Goosander

Autumn Birding - Part 2 Cornwall and isles of Scilly 13th - 17th October

 

Following my short break in Shetland, I spent a couple of nights at home, checking on my Mum and was off again, this time to the Isles of Scilly. 

Leaving Nottingham at the crack of dawn I changed in London, and took a train from London Paddington at 10am, with a night planned in Penzance. With a few hours of light available in Cornwall, I pondered on what would be a good plan to see some decent birds. It occurred to me that Red-billed Chough were now around the Cornish Coast, and after consulting my friend, Simon Roberts, I decided to try Porthgwarra. 

I checked in at my hotel and took a taxi from Penzance. A couple of birders on site had seen a Yellow-browed Warbler by the car park and had seen a Chough distantly. Hearing that they were even about was encouraging, so I set off up the hill and around the headland, past the coastguard lookout and round to Gwennap Head. Seeing a couple of black birds flying around a grassy area, I raised my bins to see two Red-billed Chough. I walked steadily closer, and stopped occasionally as there was no cover to hide behind. The sky had gone almost charcoal grey and as I got as close as I dare, it started to rain. I managed a few shots before the heavens opened and I put my camera away. 

I managed to shelter behind a small bluff on the edge of the cliff, as it absolutely tipped it down. However, it was short-lived and to my relief, when I emerged from my hiding place, the birds were still there and with the sun out, I got quite close to one of the birds for some nice close ups.

Red-billed Chough

I spent a while watching these iconic birds, which returned to the county in 2001.

The next morning, after a hearty cooked breakfast I boarded the Scillonian, bound for the Isles of Scilly for the second time this year. 

With nothing enticing enough to get me on an off island, I walked to Porth Hellick Down in pursuit of a Little Bunting that had been found a couple of days earlier. The bird was initially elusive but then popped up on the edge of the path just two metres away but in deep shade and then - nightmare!  I had inadvertently ranked up the F-stop to F22, meaning I was shooting at some ridiculous ISO. By the time I had figured out how to turn the F-stop down to F6.3 the bird had flown and I was left with useless over-noisy images.  After a few fleeting sightings, during which I was told to 'Get out of the f*cking way!' I don't know why the guy couldn't stand somewhere else, the bird settled down in the open, and close enough for some passable record shots.

Little Bunting

It was a while since I had seen a Little Bunting, so it was nice to see one so well.

I doubled back and then walked along the board walk through Higher Moors, pausing by the Sussex Hide, where a Jack Snipe was feeding in the open. There was just enough of a gap betwixt hide and bushes for me to get off a clear shot. Very nice and such delightfully cryptic plumage as the bird rocked back and forth.

Jack Snipe

I crossed the road and worked my way through Holy Vale, recording three Yellow-browed Warblers on the way. Continuing to Longstones, I paused for refreshments, sampling the Banoffee Cake with a pot of tea. This was an inspired break, as a Common Crossbill, Peregrine Falcon, Greylag and Pink-footed Geese flew over in my 20 minutes there.

Continuing through Carreg Dhu, and across the fields to Carn Friars Lane, dropped down to Old Town and I checked in at Lower Moors,  where a Water Rail gave tantalising glimpses through the reeds.

I ate at the Atlantic, which is okay for pub grub but isn't particularly inspiring. My first choice had been the Mermaid, but they were alas, fully booked.

The next day, I was up straight after breakfast and walked to Penninis Head in search of a Snow Bunting, which had been reported as showing well the previous evening.

I was joined by Tony Collinson, and after a brief search Tony located the bird near the lighthouse and we proceeded to have excellent views.

Snow Bunting

I dropped down by the coast path via Old Town, and noted several Redwings at Nowhere in the garden, before retuning to Hugh Town. I had enrolled on a round islands trip aboard the Sapphire with Joe Pender. Rather then a full on pelagic, we went a mile or two out and checked out some of the small uninhabited islands and islets. Highlights were an Atlantic Puffin, close-in Gannets, a Lapwing, Little Egret and four Spoonbills. The light was good and apart from the Puffin, which was hard to lock on to as it disappeared in the troughs, I got some decent shots.

Gannet

 

Atlantic Puffin

Spoonbill

Little Egret

After disembarking at the harbour, I joined Richard Stonier at Porthloo Beach in the hope of getting some money shots of Sanderling, which had been noted as especially confiding there. We settled in position on the beach, initially at a respectful distance and waited for the birds to come to us, which they did. I think the results are pretty satisfactory, to say the least.

Sanderling

I left Richard with the Sanderlings and walked up to telegraph and then down the hill to Carreg Dhu and thence to Longstones. I spent quite some time here, as there was a decent vantage point from which to look over Higher Moors and the Airport, as a ringtail Hen Harrier had been patrolling the island all day and this seemed to be a good place from where to see it. 

As it transpired, the bird appeared briefly from the direction of Maypole and it seemed it would fly over my head but it went down, out of view and I never saw it again.  I remained in the area for another two hours, during which time a Red-backed Shrike put in an appearance in failing light, and 70 Fieldfares alighted in a tree before moving off. 

Red-backed Shrike

I ate at Juliet's, arriving there at dusk. The starter of Mackerel mousse was superb, and I looked forwards to my main of duck on a warm salad with excitement. While the salad was nice, the duck was as tough as boot leather. The sticky toffee pudding with ice cream was lovely and almost rescued the meal. 

Emerging from the restaurant, I soon realised walking from there to Hugh Town, with no moon was going to be interesting. I managed with the aid of the torch on my phone, to negotiate the route, via Porthloo Lane and Rocky Hill. It's no wonder the Victorians were fond of their Lunar Societies.

On Day 3 I took a boat to St. Agnes, in a hope of seeing the Buff-bellied Pipit at Horse Point. I arrived in the company of Richard Stonier and Rob Lambert and the bird was located quickly, loosely associating with a group of Meadow Pipits, although the bird soon settled down in one area alone and gave the assembled admirers some stunning views.

Buff-bellied Pipit

As I left the site, a Merlin flew over. Typically nifty, I somehow scrambled my camera, and got a record shot. I had hopelessly wrong settings for the moment - but it did at least capture the moment, albeit imperfectly.

Merlin

I returned via Barnaby Lane and down to the legendary Parsonage. Here I had two Yellow-browed Warblers and one remained still for long enough for me to get a photo. It had been a phenomenal October for the species on Scilly with at least 100 estimated on the islands on 12th.

Continuing down the hill to the cricket pitch, I turned the corner and headed up to the church, which sits adjacent to a small boat yard and a beach. I saw a Black Redstart here, and news on WhatsApp indicated that there had been a general arrival on the islands. The bird performed in between the showers.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Black Redstart

I wandered back to the quay via the Turk's Head, where I ordered the sticky toffee pudding. This was sticky toffee pudding par excellence!  It was so indulgent, with the dark tones of the treacle merging with a creamy back taste, all melting into a puddle of vanilla ice cream and general gooiness. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Back at Hugh Town, I peered over the wall at Mermaid Corner, where an adult Mediterranean Gull was tolerably close. I think these are among the most photogenic species we have!  

I convinced Richard to look for the Nightingale, which had taken up residence on the seaward side of Little Porth. After a brief wait the bird popped out and gave us ridiculously good views. Certainly the best views of the species I have had in the UK.

Mediterranean Gull

Nightingale

I left the Nightingale and decided to have a walk to the airport to see what might be around the windsock. Apart from a few Mippits, it was quiet, and I passed Giant's Castle, when the 'Quip Quip of the Quail that is my WhatsApp notification alerted me to an Olive-backed Pipit, which had been found at Carn Friar's Farm. I walked more quickly, via Porth Hellick beach and through the gate at the end and up the hill to the farm. The bird was in a small orchard and viewing was hampered via brambles (Rubi sp.), so with mask in place, I got some nice views as the bird worked its way through the grass.

Olive-backed Pipit

It was about 6pm, when a local appeared in a golf buggy, entered the field and drove down the particular avenue where the bird was feeding, flushing it. As far as I could tell, this was with the sole aim of disturbing the bird. I don't know for certain, but it seemed a bit of a co-incidence, after a fellow local had come to look at the bird minutes earlier.

With the best of the light gone, I got a taxi back to town, as I had a table booked at Kavorna. They had wanted to take a deposit when I booked, but I had convinced them that this was unnecessary, citing Scillonian referees in the process.

I had the starter of baked Mackerel, followed by fillets of hake in lobster sauce. It was spot on! I can also recommend the Cornish Pasties, which Kavorna does a roaring trade in, at lunch time.

On my last day, I headed for St. Martin's where a Pallas's Leaf Warbler had been showing behind the Seven Stones Pub at Lower Town. It quickly transpired that none of the birders on the boat had any idea where the bird was, beyond what I have already stated and after a few phone calls, one guy got more details. The precise spot was a sunny migrant trap, and it wasn't long before the warbler came out, in the company of a Pied Flycatcher,

I was still getting used to my new camera, and I messed up the shot on the warbler.  

Pied Flycatcher

Pallas's Leaf Warbler

I had a coffee at the pub and did a bit of a walk, around Lower Town, where a few Fieldfares were eating apples at the bottom of a garden, and I snapped one as it flew over. I took a snap of the beautiful view of Teän from the slipway. The island being the only place to my knowledge in the UK with an umlaut in the name.

Teän viewed from St. Martin's

Fieldfare

I got back to St. Mary's with just enough time to get a taxi to Harry's Walls, where a Short-eared Owl was perched up in the open.  It was a great way to round off my trip. 

Short-eared Owl

All being well, Covid-19 permitting, I'll be back in August 2021 for more pelagics.

Andy Hall

November 2020.