Red Necked Phalaropes, Abberton Reservoir

My dear "Uncle" John passed away at the end of July and so August 28th saw us driving up to Ipswich for his funeral on the 29th. Unfortunately I had to work a night shift on Sunday 27th which I couldn't get out of and so after a 45 minute doze on my break at work and 2 hours sleep on getting home in the morning we set off on a sunny and very hot August Bank Holiday Monday (28°c, the hottest day of August this year!). The journey wasn't too bad though except for the A303 around Stonehenge, and the M25 was pretty quiet with the lack of lorries being very noticeable but I was glad to get to my Mums house in Ipswich where I crashed and burned.

The next morning was hot and sunny too as we headed off to the funeral where a female speckled bush cricket and hawker dragonflies in the garden of remembrance were a distraction from the sadness of the day. After the wake we drove to Flatford Mill for a walk, seeing a stoat running across the road on the drive there, but the weather was turning and it soon clouded over and began to rain and so we headed back home.

The next day was to be a Minsmere day but it was cold and wet and grey.I decided to go anyway and Mum and David dropped me off at the visitors centre for a couple of hours while they went looking around antiques shops in Yoxford and Snape Maltings. I headed off straight away to the east hide where it turned out all the action was and annoyingly the rain actually stopped as I entered the hide. There were plenty of waders around but sadly no curlew sandpipers or little stints but I did see 15+ spotted redshanks, 3+ ruff, a juvenile sanderling, a green sandpiper, 2+ common sandpipers, ringed plovers, dunlins, avocets including a juvenile, black tailed godwits and redshanks. A flock of 19+ adults and 1 juvenile little gull flew in to bath and preen, the most I have ever seen in one group but unfortunately they were distant and mostly obscured by vegetation.

Avocets

Spotted Redshank and Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

The counts and sightings were difficult due to the constant attentions of 2 hobby which regularly buzzed the scrape putting all the smaller birds up - I saw 1 of the hobbys crash into a small bird in a puff of feathers but the small bird, probably a linnet, escaped although it was most likely mortally wounded. Later I watched one catch a small bird, also probably a linnet, before it flew off to devour its kill.

I was very pleased to see 3+ yellow wagtails around the scrape, a smart male bird and at least 2 juveniles. They were a delight to watch as usual, they are such beautiful and charismatic birds and quite feisty too, regularly having a go at any pied wagtails or linnets nearby and even attacking sand martins flying overhead.

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtails

Onwards to the south and west hides and much the same birds were on view along with 4 snipe and a lapwing to add to the days wader list, and it was good to see a common sandpiper and a green sandpiper side by side where the commons smaller size was quite noticeable. Bearded tits were heard pinging and water rails heard squealing in the reeds but they kept well out of sight in the murky conditions and a Cettis warbler was heard singing too.

Mum and David duly arrived to pick me up but I had enjoyed my birding time despite the weather as we headed off to Framlingham for lunch and a look around before heading back home to Ipswich.

The following day was bright and sunny again, just in time for our drive back to Plymouth, although the temperatures were a good 10 degrees lower than they had been on the journey up. And with 2 juvenile red necked phalaropes having being reported for a few days at Abberton reservoir near Colchester we stopped off there for a look on the drive home. I have only ever visited the reservoir once before and many years ago but I managed to navigate our way to the viewing screen at St Andrews church where the phalaropes were being seen. On arrival at the screen some friendly birders quickly pointed out the phalaropes feeding out on the water with 2 mallards, circling around the ducks and delicately picking at the waters surface. They were distant and the harsh light wasn't helpful but when the sun disappeared behind the clouds for brief periods the phalaropes white heads and necks with black caps and eye stripes were quite noticeable. They were quite flighty and at one point flew off to a small lagoon further away before returning to their original feeding area but at times were out of sight due to the overgrown vegetation in front of the screen.

Red Necked Phalaropes (Photo courtesy of Birdguides)

Viewing Screen View

Viewing Screen View

Red Necked Phalaropes with Black Tailed Godwits

Red Necked Phalaropes

I would have liked to have stayed longer and to have explored the reservoir more but it was time to head onwards back to Plymouth and with the views of the phalaropes not going to be any better than I had had it was time to leave although 2 female marsh harriers and 2 greenshanks were nice finds before we left. The drive to Plymouth was uneventful although again the traffic was horrendous on the A303 around Stonehenge and the lorries were back on the M25 but it had been a nice trip home despite the sad circumstances.