White-tailed Lapwing, Blacktoft Sands

It's Holiday-less Holiday time again, foreign travel is now allowed with the relaxing of COVID restrictions but with an ever changing maze of paperwork, rules and regulations and all the hassle and stress involved we decided to stay in the UK. We had looked at visiting Cornwall or Devon but the prices were absolutely ridiculous and so we headed off to York instead for a 4 night stay.

I visited York many years ago when I was around 10 years old, we travelled to York by train from Ipswich on a day trip so my Dad could see and travel on the then brand new Intercity 125 trains. It was a long day with most of it spent on the train journey there and back but I have always wanted to return for a proper visit.

We also travelled up to York by train for this visit, an enjoyable and hassle free journey via London. From the train a Great White Egret was seen feeding along a watery ditch somewhere in Somerset and just 3 Red Kites were seen flying overhead (2 near Reading and 1 near Peterborough). 

The weather in York wasn't great with wind and rain and cool temperatures but we managed to get out and about and do all the things we wanted to do.

Our first day was spent wandering around the city and walking the city walls. We visited a small park by the River Ouse where Tansy Beetles have been introduced, a rare beetle only found near York and in The Fens but despite finding some Tansy in flower there was no sign of any Beetles.

Tansy Beetle Mural, York

The next day was spent in the National Railway Museum which was very interesting and enjoyable and it was great to see the steam locomotive Mallard. The weather was foul but at least the museum was all under cover.

Mallard

Friday 1st October and the plan had been to visit nearby RSPB Bempton Cliffs by train to look for the summering Black-browed Albatross but unfortunately it had moved on and so I visited RSPB Blacktoft Sands by train instead where a White-tailed Lapwing has been residing for a while now.

The journey to Goole via Doncaster by train was easy and straight forward but a 50 minute wait in Goole for the bus to Blacktoft Sands was more than enough to enjoy the "delights" of Goole. The bus journey was around 30 minutes and the bus very handily stopped right outside the entrance to the reserve. 

The White-tailed Lapwing (nicknamed Larry) had been seen that morning but on checking out the First Hide where it usually resides there was not a bird to be seen. 

I decided to check out the rest of the reserve and the other 5 hides before returning back to the First Hide for a Larry stake-out and I managed to see a good range of birds on my walkabout. 

A juvenile Gannet was a surprise sighting flying up the River Ouse, heading inland into the strong winds with 3 more already having been seen doing the same earlier in the morning.

Marsh Harrier were regularly seen quartering over the reed beds with a male and at least 2 juveniles seen. 

Marsh Harrier, Blacktoft Sands

Water Rails and Bearded Tits were heard amongst the reeds but I did eventually get good views of a Water Rail feeding along the edge of the reeds with a Bearded Tit feeding alongside it! 

Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Lapwing, a Grey Plover, at least 2 Snipe and 8 Ruff were all seen but were very mobile and flighty around the reserve along with Little Egrets, a Grey Heron, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard and a pair of Shoveler. 

Snipe

Ruff

Chiffchaff and Cettis Warbler were heard and at least 2 Swallows were hawking about overhead. A male Kestrel was seen perched on a fence post out of the wind and Meadow Pipits flew around overhead calling. 

I returned to the First Hide and settled in on the upper floor amongst the assorted birders all hoping for a view of the elusive Lapwing. It had last been seen a while ago and had settled down in the grass in front of the hide but behind a bank where it was hidden from view although I did manage to get a few brief views of its head when it occasionally looked up. 

Eventually it started to feed along the waters edge and gave some great views, a very charismatic looking bird with amazingly long and yellow legs. It was quite wary at times, hunkering down when Marsh Harriers quartered nearby or Teals and Little Egrets flew in or out of the pools of water. 

White-tailed Lapwing 

White-tailed Lapwing

White-tailed Lapwing

White-tailed Lapwing

White-tailed Lapwing

Eventually it was time to leave to catch the bus back to Goole and while waiting at the reserve entrance for the bus to arrive I watched a small flock of around 20 Tree Sparrows feeding in a stubble field while a flock of around 20 Golden Plover flew overhead calling. 

From the top deck of the bus on the journey back to Goole I also saw a group of 6 Whooper Swans out on the River Ouse, I had seen them feeding in the fields on the journey out to Blacktoft Sands and it was a nice end to an interesting birding day out. 

Marsh Harriers

Tuesday 7th September was sunny and hot (25°c+) but very breezy and it felt like being under a hot hair dryer in the strong wind as we headed down to Perranporth in Cornwall for our annual September trip. 

We expected it to be busy again as it was on last years trip but it was ridiculously so in the good weather, and the strong breeze meant a gritty and hazy walk along the beach as it blew fine sand out of the dunes. The Watering Hole kitchen was closed so no cooked breakfast on the beach again and The Dolphin Cafe where we had a cooked breakfast last year was closed too and by the time we had wandered around looking for somewhere to get a breakfast we had missed the cut off times. We did however eventually get a cooked breakfast at The Cove, a cafe on the main street in Perranporth, and very good it was too. 

It was an enjoyable but strange day out again though, just as it had been last year, and again we had to drink our cider on the beach in plastic cups and we didnt have an ice cream but such is life in these COVID times. 

The usual Gannets were flying around offshore and the usual Trout were dashing about in the stream while in the dunes Wheatears were flitting about and Autumn Ladies Tresses were looking wilted in the dry soil while Sand Martins and Swallows were hawking about overhead. 

Wheatear

Along the beach a small flock of waders were being moved around by walkers but I managed some nice views of Sanderlings feeding in the surf with distant flight views of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. 

Sanderling

The highlight though was a juvenile Marsh Harrier picked up flying in off the sea towards the dunes, battling against the very strong wind and being mobbed by the occasional Gull. 

In total contrast the morning of Wednesday 8th September was wet with thunder and lightning and so we headed to IKEA in Exeter for some retail therapy (a rare event these days). By the time we had completed our respects to the God's of shopping it was dry and sunny and so we headed off for a quick walk at the nearby Exminster Marshes. 

I only had a short time but things started off well with 2 Spoonbill found roosting out on the marsh while a Marsh Harrier quartered overhead. 

Marsh Harrier

A Hobby briefly flew over, hawking for dragonflies as it went, and 2 Cattle Egret were chasing insects amongst the cattle. 

Cattle Egret

5 Ruff, a Lapwing and 4 Black-tailed Godwit were feeding around a muddy pool close to the road with viewing difficult into the light but a Comma showed very well as it basked in the sunshine. 

Comma

Comma

With the hot weather I had the moth box out in the back yard, adding a few species to my year list in the process and bringing the back yard list to 115 for 2021.

Marbled Green, Mullein Wave and Four-spotted Footman all put in an appearance along with Treble Bar, Small Square Spot, Common Marbled Carpet, Snout and Mecyna acinalis. 

Treble Bar

Small Square Spot - hidden in plain sight amongst the square Spot Rustics

Common Marbled Carpet

Mecyna acinalis

Thursday 9th September was grey and claggy and wet again but I headed off on the early train to Hayle anyway for the high tide wader roost. By the time I arrived at Hayle the rain had stopped but it remained overcast and the tide was just beginning to drop. 

Small flocks of little waders were flitting about around the Estuary and on scanning the saltmarsh by the road opposite the car wash I found 4 Little Stints feeding together amongst Dunlin and Ringed Plover before they all took off and headed over to the exposed mud on the opposite side of the river. 

I then spent an enjoyable couple of hours scanning through the constantly flighty and mobile waders out on the estuary, finding a grand total of 12 Little Stints amongst the Dunlin and Ringed Plover along with 3 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Knot, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 4 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Common Sandpiper and the usual Curlews, Oystercatchers and Redshanks. 

Black-tailed Godwits

Black-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwit

Dunlin

Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Shelduck, Canada Geese, Little Egrets and a Grey Heron were also seen along with a noisey Sandwich Tern and around 50 variously aged and plumaged Mediterranean Gulls amongst the Herring, Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls. 

A Wheatear was found amongst the rocks of the Carnsew Pool and a juvenile Peregrine dashing low over the estuary in hunting mode was presumably the cause of the continuous movement of the small waders. 

Wheatear

While waiting for the train back to Plymouth I watched a Painted Lady sunning itself on the concrete sleepers at the station along with a Red Admiral, both looking very pristine and presumably getting ready to migrate southwards for the winter.

Painted Lady

Ham Wall Heaven

Monday 24th May was cool, cloudy and showery but we headed out anyway for a quick walk from Sainsburys at Marsh Mills to Saltram House and back. A Swift flying overhead with Swallows was my first one in the Plymouth area this year and a surprise find was the female Red-crested Pochard on the duck pond where a female and 14 male Mandarin and 3 Moorhen chicks were also noted.

Red-crested Pochard

Moorhen

Wednesday 26th May was forecasted to be a warm and sunny day and so it turned out to be despite a fresh and cool wind, perfect for a trip to RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset with my mate Mavis. 

We arrived at the car park at just before 9:30 and it was already quite busy with birders and toggers getting their gear together. We did the same and headed off along the footpath to Shapwick Heath for the first part of our walk.

It was lovely to be out in the sunshine listening to Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cettis Warbler and Garden Warbler and out of the wind it was pleasently warm too.

A large Slow Worm sunning itself on the footpath as we began our walk was a surprise and I carefully placed it in the vegetation by the side of the path to avoid any walker/cyclist accidents.

Slow Worm

Large Red, Blue-tailed and Variable Damselflies were flitting about in sheltered spots along with Banded Demoiselle and Scarce Chasers.

Large Red Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damsefly

Banded Demoiselle

Scarce Chaser

Brimstone, Orange Tip, Large White, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Green Veined White were on the wing too.

Brimstone

We arrived at the first hide along the footpath and met the naturalist Mike Dilger from the TV leading a small tour, his voice being very distinctive and giving his identity away.

The birds began to show at this point and we stood and watched Hobby and Swift dashing about overhead feeding on flies, Marsh Harriers quartering the reed beds, Great White Egrets regularly flying past, a pair of Mute Swan being trailed by 7 small cygnets and a pair of Great Crested Grebe feeding small fish to 3 small humbug-like chicks.

Pochard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Gadwall, Cormorant, Mallard and a singing Whitethroat were also seen with Cuckoo, Bittern and Reed Bunting all heard.

Pochard

Whitethroat

We carried on to the hide overlooking Noahs Lake and added Greylag Goose, Little Egret, Moorhen and Grey Heron to our list while having more excellent views of Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Hobby.

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret

We walked back towards the car park and stopped along the way at the first hide again to have our lunch, seeing our first fly by Bittern of the day here along with a Jay and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Onwards to Ham Wall and more views of Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Hobby were had along with regular sightings of Bitterns in flight. A pair of Shoveler, a House Martin, 3 Little Grebe and 2 Lapwing were also found along with a very showy singing Sedge Warbler.

Marsh Harrier 

A female Roe Deer showed very well but briefly before disappearing into the reeds and another pair of Great Crested Grebe were feeding small fish to 2 much more well developed chicks than the 3 seen earlier at Shapwick Heath.

All too soon the day had gone and it was time to head back to Plymouth but what a place Ham Wall is and what a fantastic day out we had.

Donacia marginata

Ctenophora pectinicornis

And now this Spring is virtually spent and I move away from birds as my main focus and spend the next few months looking downwards at moths, butterflies, insects and plants until the autumn arrives. Its been a funny old Spring (and a funny old year so far) but who knows what the next 7 months will bring?

A Trip to Suffolk via Scotland

After all the excitement of the desert wheatear on Friday 25th November it was off to Edinburgh in Scotland on Saturday 26th with friends Julie and Matt for a few days away. The flight from Exeter was delayed by over an hour due to fog but when we landed in Edinburgh the sun was shining but beginning to set and from the tram to the city centre I managed to see 6 roe deer feeding in fields near the airport.

Edinburgh was interesting but busy, the Christmas market was quite good and we had a  lovely meal at The Dome while enjoying the Christmas decorations. A trip to the Royal Yacht Brittania at Leith provided the best bird sightings of the trip with 2 male and a female red breasted merganser, a female teal, mallard, a grey heron, shag, cormorant and common gull, herring gull, black headed gull and great black backed gull all seen in the harbour from the decks of the boat. I also scanned out across the Firth of Forth from the decks and picked up a distant pair of eider flying low over the water and a distant raft of around 100 common scoter on the water before they split up and flew off in opposite directions.

 Christmas Lights, Edinburgh

 The Dome, Edinburgh

The Dome, Edinburgh

The train journey to Ipswich from Edinburgh via London on November 29th was very enjoyable on a beautiful sunny day and we saw Bass Rock, Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island, The Farne Islands, Dunsterburgh Castle, Coquet Island, The Baltic Centre in Newcastle, Durham Cathedral and York Minster as we whizzed by sipping wine. I managed to see quite a few birds too - stock dove, green woodpecker, sparrowhawk, buzzard, kestrel, fieldfare, redwing, golden plover, lapwing, redshank, great spotted woodpecker, tufted duck and wigeon were all seen but the highlights were goosanders on the river at Berwick, a small raft of eiders close to the shore off the coast of Northumberland, a flock of around 300 pink footed geese in fields near Morpeth with another flock of around 100 seen near York and a red kite overhead near Peterborough. The journey from London to Ipswich was less interesting as it was getting dark but as we left Liverpool Street we did see The Shard and The Gherkin.

My plan during my stay in Ipswich while visiting family pre-Christmas was to visit Minsmere for a walk and a look around but I left my RSPB membership card and free visitor passes in Plymouth and so faced with paying £27 admittance for David, Mum and myself I looked for an alternative place to visit. With Tundra bean geese being reported at the RSPB North Warren reserve near to Minsmere we visited there instead on November 30th on another cold but still and sunny day. I have never visited the reserve before and it was also free to visit, we even managed to get a free parking space too!

We walked along the footpath to Aldeburgh over the shingle beach and I regularly scanned the marsh by the roadside as we wandered along. There was a 100+ flock of (presumed feral) barnacle geese and lots of greylag geese and despite not finding any bean geese (or reported pink footed geese) amongst them I did see 50+ white fronted geese.

 White Fronted Goose with Greylag Geese, North Warren

 White Fronted Goose with Greylag Goose

 White Fronted Goose

Barnacle Geese

A cup of coffee at The Brudenell hotel in Aldeburgh (where my lovely Great Uncle Les treated the family to a lovely Christmas break back in 1986) helped to warm us up on a very chilly day before we headed back to the car. A scan offshore on the walk back gave distant views of flyby red throated divers and great crested grebes but none were close to shore. A further scan of the marsh gave some closer views of the white fronted geese but still no bean geese but a female marsh harrier flying over was a nice bonus as it spooked unseen snipe from the ditches.

Marsh Harrier

We moved on to Snape Maltings for some lunch and while Mum and David looked around the shops I took a walk along the river, seeing a kingfisher, 2 little grebes, a little egret and another female marsh harrier. A very large looking female peregrine flew over on a hunting mission, spooking all the birds on the mudflats before being lost from sight but a short while later it flew over again carrying what looked like a redshank in its talons.

That evening we had a nice meal out at Prezzos in Stowmarket with my nephew Jack and my "Uncle" John (my Dads cousin so technically my second cousin) and the next morning it was bright and sunny and frosty again (although it did cloud over later) and so we headed off to Dunwich to visit Dingle Marshes, another RSPB reserve I haven't visited before and which was free to visit and with free parking.

Dingle Marsh, Dunwich

On arriving at the beach car park I headed up the shingle beach to view the sea and immediately found the wintering flock of sea duck offshore, around 2000+ common scoter, but without my telescope I could only find an immature male eider amongst them (no reported velvet scoter, scaup or long tailed ducks). A few distant red throated divers were seen flying past but a lone female common scoter was resting on the sea quite close to shore.

 Scoter Raft, Dunwich

 Female Common Scoter

Common Scoter

The wind was bitingly cold despite the sunshine and Mum and David had soon had enough and I didn't want to push my luck so despite a very distant view of a great white egret flying over the reed beds we started to head off to nearby Yoxford for lunch at Mums friends cafe and a look around antiques shops for David. However Mum surprisingly suggested I stay at Dunwich and she would pick me up later and so I leapt at her suggestion and was very glad I did as I had an amazing walk around the marsh.

I headed off up the beach, seeing a male sparrowhawk perched on a fence post out of the wind as I began my walk. A small flock of finches flew up from the path in front of me, spooked by a flyover carrion crow, and I dismissed them as linnet. However on getting closer to where they had settled I quickly realised they were in fact twite, a very nice surprise - yellow bills, pink rumps of some of the males in flight and a lovely twittering call all noted but they were active and mobile and flighty and eventually flew off and out of sight.

 Twite

 Twite

Twite

My attentions however were soon taken over by 4 snow buntings feeding amongst the pebbles, I almost stood on them as they were so tame and I had some lovely close views of them feeding on seeds along the beach.

 Snow Buntings

 Snow Bunting - well camouflaged

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

I carried on along the beach, eventually reaching some open pools where I watched shoveler, teal, gadwall, mallard, wigeon, shelduck, redshank, snipe, a curlew, a dunlin, grey heron, little egret and a very smart looking water pipit but best of all was getting some great views of the great white egret feeding around the pool edges looking very large compared to the little egrets and with a lovely all yellow bill and black feet.

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Time was ticking on and I headed back to the car park to meet Mum but unfortunately I was a little late - I hadn't realised how far I had walked and walking along the shingle beach was hard going. I also had various avian distractions along the way - a pair of marsh harriers taking it in turns to be mobbed by carrion crows and lovely views of a flyby bittern along with more views of the 4 snow buntings feeding with linnets and skylarks. Unfortunately I couldn't refind the twite but never mind.

Arriving back at the car park late I found Mum waiting but I had a quick look at the scoter flock again and thought I had a brief flight view of a velvet scoter with some common scoters - a brief flash of what I think were white wing patches before the bird turned and flew directly towards me and then splashed down on the sea and was lost from sight.

We headed back to Yoxford to have tea and cake in the G and T cafe run by Mums friends - I had homemade cauliflower and courgette cake which was very tasty - and we picked up David from the antiques shop where he had bought some silver candle holders before we headed back to Ipswich for dinner at The Beagle with Dad after what had been an amazing days birding.

And so all in all it had been a very pleasant if tiring trip with some good bird sightings along the way and a nice break before the horrors of Christmas fully kick in.