Rutland Water

With nothing to do, I made the decision to go to Rutland Water at the weekend, because there were a few potential lifers for me there.  It took about 2 and a half hours by train, then a 3 mile walk to the reserve. After taking a wrong turn, I made it to the reserve and checked the sightings board.

Male and Female Smew

I didn't realise there were so many hides so I can't remember the name of each one I saw the birds in.

The first hide didn't have much in it, just a few common ducks such as Tufted duck and Mallard. 

I entered the second hide and was immediately told that the American Wigeon was showing well in front of the hide! I scanned along and managed to pick it out in the flock of Wigeon, where it showed well in good light. It was interesting to compare it to the Wigeon around it, because they were very similar, with the main difference being the colour - very different on the American Wigeon. This was my first lifer of the day, and a bird on my target list. I watched it for a while until the hide started to get very crowded.

American Wigeon - Not the Best photo!

Also from that hide there was a Pintail, along with a lot of other species of common ducks.

The next few hides weren't as productive, but a few new birds for the day included Shoveler, Teal and Great-crested Grebe. 

I opened the door to one of the hides overlooking a different lagoon. As soon as I walked in, I saw a Drake Smew being videoed through someone's camera! I looked up to see the Smew right in front of the hide! It gave great views for a few seconds, before diving and swimming away. This was my second lifer of the day (also on my target list), and my favourite bird of the day because of the views it gave. There were also a few Goosanders on the water.

The Male Smew 

The rest of the day I went round the other hides, but didn't see much else apart from a Buzzard. The day had definitely been worth the trip up.

Stocker's Lake

Stocker's Lake is a local site and one I visit often, usually seeing at least some birds.

The first good bird of the day was a Kingfisher, sitting on the tree very close. It flew to a further tree as soon as I got my camera out though. 

Kingfisher 

There were a lot of Long-tailed Tits around, and also a lot of Lapwings on the islands. 

Four Red Kites were in the air with one Buzzard, but I soon noticed another bird of prey circling the water. It was quite distant but the shape of the wings and the way it flew meant that it was a Peregrine, a bird I did not expect to see here, and the first I have seen at Stocker's Lake!

Goldeneye

The woodland had even more Long-tailed Tits, with a Treecreeper in the flock, but surprisingly there were no Goldcrests. 

The water had a Pochard, 15 Shoveler, 18 Wigeon, 5 Goldeneye and all the regular birds like Canada Geese and Cormorants. 

The last stop of the day was to check for Little Owls on the farm, but I unfortunately did not find any.

Norfolk Days 4 and 5

The 4th day of Norfolk birding was the first one where I could have a full day out birding with no sleet storms. There were quite a lot of birds on journey through Norfolk, including Kestrel, Red Kite and Buzzard. The first stop was Flitcham, where I did not see much, though there were a lot of Pheasants. A large flock of Chaffinches in one of the fields showed how good the place was for wildlife though. 

Parrot Crossbill - Very Cropped photo

 We then went to Chosely, where there was a Red Kite, but no Corn Buntings, and not even any Yellowhammers. So after a morning without many birds, we headed to Titchwell. The water levels were too high for a lot of waders, but there were a lot of Brent Geese around. There were also Redshanks and Ringed and Grey Plovers. The sea had a lot of birds, including 2 male Common Scoters and a Diver species in the distance, which I didn't manage to identify. It didn't look as pale as a Red-throated diver, but also not as heavy as a Great-northern, making me think it was a Black-throated, but it was too distant to confirm. A flock of Long-tailed Ducks gave good views as they flew in and landed on the sea.

The final stop of the day was at Holme, where I did another seawatch. The sea had hardly any birds that weren't gulls, but I did manage to see a lot of Guillemots passing. A Tawny Owl hooted from the trees, which they apparently do regularly in the afternoon at Holme.

I walked back on the path behind the trees and flushed a Woodcock that was on a slope. The day ended with a deer seen through the trees that was probably a Muntjac. 

Otter

The final day was spent as a travelling day back to London, but we managed to fit in a trip to Thetford Forest on the way. First we stopped at Santon Downham, where a group of people were watching an Otter. I walked over, and saw a group of at least three, including one which was making a lot of noise. A pair of Siskins flew over and a Kingfisher flew down the River. As I got back in the car, I saw a Marsh Tit flying around by the roadside. 

The next stop was St Helen's picnic site near Santon Downham, to look for the Parrot Crossbills that had been around. I wasn't expecting much as they hadn't been reported for a few days, and as I walked through the area where they had been seen, I saw nothing. I was beginning to think the stop was pointless when a flock of about 12 birds flew towards me, calling. I had never heard that call in my life, so it was definitely worth seeing what the birds were! The birds landed in a nearby tree, and I put my scope up to them, and I was amazed to see a flock of Parrot Crossbills! I got good views as they sat in the tree, before flying off. One of the best birds I have seen all year!

Parrot crossbill

I was delighted because I had finally managed to see a flock of Parrot Crossbills, which probably wont be seen in Britain in these numbers for years.

Parrot Crossbill

Norfolk days 1-3

Every year I stay at my aunt's house and go birding in Norfolk, usually for around 5 days. The weather wasn't good, but I still managed to fit in birding between the heavy rain and sleet storms. 

A boat trip was planned for the first day, which was a day of travelling from London to Norfolk. It was going to be at the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, but it was cancelled because of  the heavy rain and sleet. 

So after the rain cleared about an hour before it got dark, we stopped at Burrel Way in Thetford to look for gulls, but I didn't manage to find any Caspian Gulls, which is what I was looking for. The weather, unfortunately, made it impossible to do anything else during the day.

The second day was spend travelling down to Essex again, as the boat trip was rescheduled. My aunt drove there, but we got lost and so couldn't stop at Abberton Reservoir. The only birds on the journey were Kestrels and Buzzards. The boat trip was quite short, but we managed to see Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, Little Grebe, Brent Goose, Shelduck, Great Crested Grebe and Cormorant and a lot of other common species. There were also a lot of waders including Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone, Avocet and Dunlin. 

Grey Plover

The rest of the day was spent travelling back to Norfolk, which didn't take as long as the journey to Essex because we managed not to get lost.

The plan for day 3 was to go to Cley and Salthouse, and any other sites nearby. The weather turned out to be like the weather of the first day though, so all I could do was stay in the Cley centre and visit the three hides. 

After looking through the books, someone came to say that there was a Glaucous Gull that was viewable from the hides! I rushed down to the hides with the scope and managed to get there in time to see the Glaucous Gull, which gave good views, and was my first lifer of the trip. Also around the area were a few common gulls and a flock of Dunlin. 

The weather cleared up a bit later in the day, so I walked along the east bank, seeing all the normal ducks like Wigeon and Teal. I attempted a seawatch on the beach, but the weather decided to turn bad again, so all I saw was a Red-throated Diver flying through and a flock of 5 Fieldfare coming in off the sea. I had planned to search for Snow Buntings at Salthouse, but the weather defeated me.