Trumpeter Swans, Boyton Marshes, Suffolk, 14 Dec 2014

With very little news of anything yesterday it seemed my spare day off today was going to be a flop - that was until news of these little beauties broke and that obviously made my mind up where I was going!

It didn't take me long to drive to Boyton Marshes and luckily I grabbed one of the very limited parking spaces by Banters Barn and hiked out along the seawall. The 2 adult Trumpeter Swans were with a small flock of Mute Swans with the target birds being amongst the closest birds for a change. I wasn't able to see the legs due to the crops they were feeding in but those who have confirm that both birds are unringed. One thing is for certain - the ID is not in question but the birds origins will probably never be known. With no accepted British or WP records it seems unlikely the powers that be will look upon them favourably but I'm a firm believer in 'innocent until proven guilty'. In their favour, they were wary (far more so than the Mutes when walkers passed by on the seawall), the population in the US has been expanding hugely over the last 30 years, there are 2 birds and they are unringed and free-flying. Against them the fact that they are largely a species of the west coast of the US and undertake only medium distance migrations, breeding in Alaska and wintering along the Pacific seabord.

Others items of interest weren't numerous but Stonechat, Little Egret, c80 Curlew, c40Golden Plover, c150 Dunlin, Marsh Harrier, 3 Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawk and then a nice Peregrine on Orford Town Marsh were the pick.

Trumpeter Swans, Boyton Marshes (phone-scoped so excuse the quality!)

  

The Gambia - return to West Africa!

With Thomas Cook deals for a week in the Gambia in January at ridiculously cheap prices we've gone for it and book ourselves a cheap getaway!
Last time we went was 4 years ago and we didn't venture 'upriver' but this time we have 3 days to Tendaba and Georgetown with my guide and buddy Ebrima Barry. He's planning visits to Bama Kuno Forest, Kampanti Ricefields, Kiang West NP, Tendaba, Ngain Sanjal, Kaur Wetland, Njau Wetland, Panchang Wetland and Nyaga Bantang Wetlands so it should be good. 
Belinda is mainly looking forward to Hippos and Chimps!

Looking forward to some easy birding with views like this...

Black-headed Plover

Covehithe, Easton and Benacre Broads, Suffolk, 11 December 2014

6 miles walked up and down this stretch of coast today but I gave the area a thorough flogging and eventually winkled out the goodies!
A walk down to Covehithe Broad initially produced nothing but 2 Goldeneye on the broad but I then inadvetently flushed the 3 Shorelarks from deep in the marrams and they flew high south towards Easton Broad. Cue a long hike which was worth it because I managed to relocate them right at the south end of Easton Broad and take a few snaps before they flew all the way back to Covehithe. This was keeping me fit! Luckily they showed really nicely back at Covehithe but the redhead Smew still eleuded me despite a thorough search. Just a Marsh Harrier, 2 Little Grebes and a couple of Pochard to add to the count.

1 Shorelark...

2 Shorelarks...

3 Shorelarks

After a coffee I then headed north along the clifftop to Benacre Broad where the Great Northern Diver was quickly located and watched nicely. A quick scan of the many Common Gulls revealed 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls loafing in their midst but apart from Little Grebe, a pair of Goldeneye and another Marsh Harrier the broad was pretty quiet. Back in Covehithe village I checked RBA only to find out the Smew had been reported so back to Covehithe Broad I trudged and this time it was the first bird I looked at!

 Great Northern Diver     

Dirty Dutch Twitch, The Netherlands, 29 November 2014

The presence of a Western Palearctic/World tick in the Netherlands plus a couple of other goodies tempted Justin, Andy and I over there on our first Euro twitch for some while.

A 2am channel tunnel crossing and a long drive through France and Belgium into Zuid Holland had us on site on the edge of the town of Alphen aan den Rijn 2 hours before daybreak. A while later we struck off across the flat and muddy polder farmland to the site. To say the site looked unpromising and completely unsuitable for a desert species would be an understatement but to our amazement the African Desert Warbler was indeed still present. The dyke the bird frequented had very limited vegetation (mainly confined to the base of the few concrete bridges) and access wasn't easy as numerous 'too big to jump' side ditches meant a long walk round to get to other areas to check. After jumping one such dyke to get to the spot the bird had settled in we enjoyed some amazing views of the is first record for northern Europe. Having missed this species on 2 trips to Morocco/Western Sahara it was a bogey bird well and truly unblocked! Other birds there were few and far between but 3 Common Buzzards, 2 Golden Plover, 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 Snipe and a Great White Egret were also clocked up.

African Desert Warbler

African Desert Warbler

African Desert Warbler twitch

Next up was a site in an urban area of the nearby town of Leiden. After some tricky navigation to the site we spotted birders watching our target bird before we'd even parked the car. After hastily making our way to the communal garden area bewteen blocks of flats we were watching the White-crowned Black Wheatear within seconds and it went on to show amazingly well as it moved from elevated perches high on the flats to feed at ground level and on nearly garden walls. A couple of small groups of Ring-necked Parakeets were heard flying over before we got brief views of one flying between buildings.

White-crowned Black Wheatear

White-crowned Black Wheatear

Our last main stop of the day was at Europoort, to the south of Den Haag. Making our way to a large area of waste ground behind the beach we began scanning the c12 Common Buzzards and eventually picked out the huge and distinctive Long-legged Buzzard which has returned to the erea for its 2nd winter. It's showed nicely in flight and perched albeit it a litle distantly. While scanning we also picked up a Merlin, Peregrine, c4 Kestrels, a very 'pied' looking Common Buzzard and a really good candidate for Rough-legged Buzzard which unfortunately refused to fly so we could clinch it!

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Our last port of call was a the small harbour by the N57 bridge just SW of Ouddorp. Here we dipped on Black Guillemot but did manage c150 Red-breasted Mergansers (most flying inland to roost), Red-throated Diver, Golden Plover, Oystercatchers, Curlew, Turnstones and another Peregrine near Zierikzee. En-route there were also plenty of Barnacle Geese, White-fronted Geese and Brent Geese plus another Great White Egret.

A long dash back had us back to Calais with just 15 minutes to spare to catch our tunnel crossing meaning we'd really made to most of our available time! 

      

Suffolk coast rares, 21 November 2014

A day out without my camera for a change but despite the lack of photos it was a very pleasant day out at a couple of sites on the Suffolk coast.

First was the Stour Estuary at Stutton Ness which was a new site for me. After a lengthy walk down from the village and a few scans of the water I soon picked up the juvenile Surf Scoter cutting a distinctive profile even at some distance in the main channel between Stutton Ness and Mill with a single Velvet Scoter for company. Other items of interest were c20 Red-breasted Mergansers, c10 Goldeneye, 4 Grey Plover, c30 Golden Plover, 3 Little Egrets plus loads of Great Crested Grebes, Shelduck and Brent Geese. On the walk a solitary Fieldfare, Song Thrush and Bullfinch plus a flock of Chaffinches amongst which I could hear Brambling but just couldn't locate one.

Second was Boyton Marshes where I was extremely fortunate to get a couple of flight views of the Dusky Warbler as it flew one way and then the other across the entrance track c100 yards down from the carpark. Not ideal but better than I'd feared! Also there were 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Shoveler amongst loads of Wigeon and Teal plus 3 Little Egrets, 9 Fieldfares and a Common Buzzard.

Desert Wheatears at the double, 8 November 2014

And so, with the lure of seeing 2 Desert Wheatears in a day (a UK first for me!) it was off to the coast today with Lowestoft being first on the agenda. The 1w male Desert Wheatear was showing amazingly closely to a small group of admirers on the sea wall by the Links Road carpark and 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls loafing about on the carpark were a nice bonus before we moved on...

...to Desert Wheatear number 2, this time a female on the promenade at Gorleston. If it was possible this one showed even better despite it being far more active than the Lowestoft bird.

After a greasy spoon cafe lunch Belinda was keen to see the Grey Seals at Horsey so a yomp along the Nelson's Head track was in order and predictably there were loads of seals! None close enough to bother photographing but 4 pups were noted including a strange ginger-coloured one. 2 Sanderling, 4 Stonechats and a male Marsh Harrier were the only other things of note.

Last stop of the day was at Winterton where c30 Snow Buntings were located on north beach followed by scooping free sausage rolls in the beach cafe!

Desert Wheatear, male

Desert Wheatear, male

Desert Wheatear, female

Desert Wheatear, female

Desert Wheatear, female

Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull

     Snow Bunting

Lowestoft, 19 October 2014

With us both needing a walk and some sea air today we made our way to Lowestoft and parked at Ness Point. Walking north I'd soon caught up with the long-staying juv Red-backed Shrike which showed very nicely indeed in scrub close to the Birds Eye factory fence. A walk around North Denes/Denes Oval produced very little but a fly over Woodlark was a nice addition. Back at Ness Point a look at the turbine yard proved very worthwile with a late Northern Wheatear and 2 Black Redstarts chasing each other about.

 Red-backed Shrike

 Red-backed Shrike

 Northern Wheatear

 Black Redstart 

Cley and Walsey Hills, 18 October 2014

With me needing to escape the house I decided on a Saturday afternoon at Cley.
First up was the 1w Grey Phalarope of the last few days on Eye Pool. It duly obliged but with the fencing now set further back than in the good old days I couldn't get as close as I'm sure it would have allowed. A Common Buzzard flew hight west and the Eye Field was full of Brent Geese and Golden Plover while a Rock Pipit popped in briefly

With not a huge amount of interest further along the coast I then spent a fruitful couple of hours mooching around Walsey Hills with 2 Yellow-browed Warblers and then I jammed in on a Pallas's Warbler found late on in sycamores at the rear of Snipes Marsh. All afternoon Redwings were passing over as well as smaller numbers of Chaffinches.

Grey Phalarope 

 Yellow-browed Warbler

Yellow-browed Warbler

      

Steppe Grey Shrike, Burnham Norton, 14 October 2014

After 10 days in Belgium and then a day of atrocious weather yesterday I finally managed to catch up with the Steppe Grey Shrike on the marshes at Burnham Norton this morning. With the sun out and a showy bird it was a shame I had to dash back to north Suffolk for work much sooner than I wanted to! Another county tick though - yay!
Bearded Tit, Reed Buntings, Stonechat, Brent Geese and Pink-footed Geese completed the brief picture.
The dodgy photo below was phone-scoped.

  

Belgium non-birding trip

Strictly a non-birding trip around Belgium but a few (not very exciting) things seen.

A walk in the woods and hills around La Roche-en-Ardennes yielded 2 bigs flocks of Crossbills (40+ and 20+), Crested Tit, Willow Tits, Short-toed Treecreeper, 2 Grey Wagtails and several Black Redstarts in the town itself.

Another pair of Black Redstarts were at an abandoned coal mine near Liege.

On the way back to Calais a quick stop at Oye Plage added 6 Spoonbills, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Cetti's Warblers, Curlew, Stonechat, Linnets  and a singing Chiffchaff. 

That was it!