Summer Holidays

It isn't the best time of year for birds, but there is usually some stuff around during the summer holidays. As well as the trip to Norfolk at the end of July, I have tried to fit as much birding in as possible at other places, though I am usually confined to London.

I visited the Thames at Hammersmith at the end of July to look for Gulls. I am still far from an expert at identifying gulls, and a lot of the them were distant. However, one gull close to me turned out to be a Juvenile Yellow-Legged Gull, probably my first real sighting, not including all the ones I counted when I was younger which were probably Herring Gulls.

Yellow-Legged Gull

A couple of visits to my patch at Stocker's Lake didn't produce much except Hobby, Kingfisher, Oystercatcher, Linnet and a patch first Yellow Wagtail.

At the beginning of August I travelled to the Oare Marshes for a day, where I immediately saw the Red-Necked Phalarope that had been present. A few people kindly let me look through their scopes at it, and as I was scanning along I noticed an adult Curlew Sandpiper.

Walking, around the reserve, I heard many bubbling calls which alerted me to a flock of Whimbrel flying over. I was amazed to see that there were over 50 in the flock; more than I had ever seen in my life. 

Without a scope, I struggled to pick out the Bonaparte's Gull so I headed on to an area where Turtle Dove is often seen.

Whimbrels

I did end up seeing a Turtle Dove, but the views were terrible and very brief, so nothing compared to the views I had the previous week. There was also a Small Heath butterfly, a Migrant Hawker and a Blue-Tailed Damselfy.

Blue-Tailed Damselfly 

Small Heath

A Marsh Harrier flew over the reeds and a couple of Yellow Wagtails flew over, including one that dropped down on the mud.

I tried searching for the Bonaparte's Gull again and managed to find it, as it had come closer and was easily identifiable with binoculars.

Bonaparte's Gull

Also on the East Flood were Golden and Little Ringed Plovers, Black-Tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Redshank and Snipe.

In mid August I met up with other young London birders - Samuel, Arjun, Calum, Kabir and another young birder I didn't know called Ben.

We saw many good birds including Bearded Tits, a green -tagged Marsh Harrier from Norfolk, Greenshank, Whimbrels and Yellow-Legged Gulls as well  other wildlife such as Willow Emerald Damselfly, Marsh Frog, Ruddy and Common Darter and Blood-Vein moth.

Ruddy Darter

Willow Emerald

Then it was Birdfair 2018, where I travelled up by train for the day. There were many interesting stands where I picked up all the holiday brochures I could. I also bought pin badges and DVDs, and met lots of people, some who I had met before and some who I hadn't.

Some of the stands featured moths caught the previous night, and it was interesting to look at species I had never seen before including Spectacle, Brimstone Moth, Gold Spot, Swallow Prominent, and Poplar Hawkmoth.

Brimstone Moth

Poplar Hawkmoth

Gold Spot

Swallow Prominent

Spectacle

At the end of the day, many of the young birders, including myself, met for what was apparently an annual photo. I met many people I had never met before, although I didn't talk much.

Next week I am heading to Spurn Bird Observatory, before travelling back for the Migfest the week after, so there is still a chance of more good birds soon.

Norfolk/Suffolk Days 3-4

I headed out to Westleton Heath in the morning, which was where I would be starting the day. I arrived at the main entrance and began to walk up and down the many tracks, taking a different route to the one I had taken months earlier.

Near the entrance, I heard a very distant Stone Curlew, unfortunately very hard to hear with the wind and traffic masking the sound.

It was quiet at first, but as I got deeper in the heath I saw many Graylings landing on the paths, showing how well they can camouflage. There were also Small Coppers and a couple of Brown Argus. 

Grayling

However, there were few birds, with the best a Dartford Warbler. Once again no Turtle Dove, and I couldn't find anywhere where the habitat looked promising. 

Next to Minsmere, where there were even more waders! Birding started when a Hobby flew past the visitor centre, and many Sand Martins flew around near the sandy cliff. 

I visited the East Hide, where there were 6 Little Ringed Plovers and lots of Common Sandpipers, including one right in front of the hide. A Green Sandpiper showed itself briefly, while Common Snipe showed well in the open. There were many Common Terns including a nest with 2 chicks.

The next hide was exciting because there was a Wood Sandpiper walking around directly in front of the hide, giving prolonged and close views, which were better than I had ever had of this species.

Walking round to the other side of the same pool, I saw a Greenshank and numerous Spotted Redshanks, which were seemingly everywhere I looked! Some were in their smart summer plumage, some were in winter plumage and some had a plumage that was sort of in between.

Greenshank

 Amongst the Dunlin there were at least two summer plumage Curlew Sandpipers, another wader for the already huge number for the day. An Oystercatcher, Turnstones and two Golden Plovers also showed from the hide. Sandwich Terns called loudly, and juvenile Mediterranean Gulls sat on the grassy strips between the scrape. 

In this hide, we met John Grant, one of the experts who was running the gull watching evening later, and he pointed out a Little Gull flying past, although it didn't stay for long. Others Gulls from the hide included some Kittiwakes, which would call loudly whenever they were disturbed by something.

I returned to the visitor centre, where I was amazed to see a Hummingbird Hawkmoth on a Buddleia plant. On the same plant there was also a Painted Lady butterfly, which stayed only briefly. 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

It was then on to the main event...the gull staring. We joined the hide with various gull experts including John Grant who found another Little Gull, this time one in the water that I got to view for a longer time. Lesser Black-Backed Gulls started to fly in, although apparently not in the numbers they had been in the previous few weeks. It wasn't long before John spotted a 3cy Yellow-Legged Gull within the flock, which was a plumage I had never seen. 

Yellow-Legged Gull

The six Little Ringed Plovers showed well, along with a female Gadwall and a few Common Sandpipers. Someone in the hide noticed a limosa Black-Tailed Godwit, which, apparently, has plainer feathers, although this was difficult to see because of distance. 

A juvenile Yellow-Legged Gull was picked up, an interesting bird that I would have put down as a juvenile Lesser Black-Backed if I were alone, so it was lucky I was with experts who could correctly identify it. 

Yellow-Legged Gull - Juvenile 

The last bird of the day was a Green Woodpecker as I headed back to the car.

So although gull numbers weren't as high as in previous weeks, it was still a good evening watching Yellow-Legged Gulls, and an amazing variety of waders.

The final day of the short holiday was only a half day, but there was still time to get a lot done. I had received advice the previous day on where to look for Turtle dove near Westleton, so I tried there first.

The first stop proved unsuccessful, but there were many Chiffchaffs, more distant calling Stone Curlews that remained out of sight and a surprise Bullfinch. There were dozens of Graylings along the path, including one that landed on my hand.

Next I headed to Westleton Common where I walked around the heath and scanned the wires. The dead trees held nothing expect a couple of Wood Pigeons, and the path I took didn't produce anything at all.

Eventually, after scanning the wires numerous times, I decided that the doves were probably skulking in the bushes, and was already making a plan for Turtle Doves next year when I noticed a small Dove on a post. I rushed to get the scope on it and to my delight I saw that it was a Turtle Dove!

Turtle Dove

It showed well for about 5 minutes until it flew away, where it was not seen again.

Next we headed to Sizewell, where I had been told to check the Gulls out. I picked a good spot to watch the numerous birds feeding offshore including Kittiwakes, Common Terns, and a few other species of Gull, but no Little Gulls. With nothing else out at sea, I turned the scope to the power station, where Black Redstarts breed. The power station was huge with a lot of dense vegetation around it, so I wasn't expecting anything.

To my surprise, however, the first bird I saw was a Robin sized bird that was black all over except for the red tail and white forehead...a male Black Redstart!

The views were distant and brief, so I rushed closer to the power station. Unfortunately, when I reached the area it was, there was no sign of it. But after about 5 minutes, a bird flew up to land on the railings - the male Black Redstart again. I got amazing views of it dropping down to feed on the grass, flying up to land on the concrete floor then watched it land on the railing again until it disappeared. 

Black Redstart

Another 5 minutes passed with no sign until another bird dropped down on the grass again. This time it was the female, although she didn't stay for long. I spent the next half hour standing on the dunes, watching both the male and female Black Redstarts return about every 5 minutes, but never together, and got great views of both of them. Another definite highlight of the holiday.

Black Redstart

After scanning a few pig fields with Gulls in them, I headed home after a holiday that had seen three lifers and loads of other awesome birds, especially waders!

Norfolk and Suffolk Days 1-2

This trip wasn't really planned much in advance, but after hearing that there was a Gull watching event at Minsmere, I was interested to see what it would be like, as well as doing some other birding around the area. 

I drove up to Norfolk on Sunday morning with my aunt. We decided to head to Titchwell. However, on the way, I heard news of a Semipalmated Sandpiper at Snettisham, a reserve that we were passing by anyway, so we decided to drop in for a short time. After taking the path to the very windy beach, I met some other birders who helpfully told me where the Sandpiper was. 

It wasn't long before I was enjoying good views of it as it fed behind flocks of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. This bird was a lifer, and a bird I definitely didn't expect to see on the trip. 

Semipalmated Sandpiper

On the way back there, were many more birds, including Common Tern, Meadow Pipit, Linnet and a Yellow Wagtail amongst the numerous Pied Wagtails.

Next to Titchwell, which had recently been very good for waders. I was soon watching many species, including Black-Tailed and Bar-Tailed Godwit, Ruff and Avocet. I moved on to the second hide where there were even more waders, and quite a large flock of Spoonbill (one of which appeared to be colour ringed). 

Bar-Tailed Godwits

The waders included a flock of smart-looking summer plumage Curlew Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover in front of the hide, as well as some more Ruff. 

Curlew Sandpipers

The next marsh held Curlew, but not much else, so we headed back, looking for birds along the way. A smart juvenile Mediterranean Gull flew in and landed on the freshmarsh, and a wader flew towards me, which turned out to be a winter plumage Spotted Redshank. It gave great views as it stayed where it was, allowing me to get the scope on it. 

We then headed back to Norwich, where I would be staying, hopeful that the next few days would be as successful as the first.

The next day was reserved for work experience, so I didn't expect any birding at all. However, later that day, we went out locally to Buckingham Marshes for an hour. 

This proved to be a great success, because it took just half an hour to see Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and many Snipe; all on the same marsh! An excellent inland site for waders, and one I wouldn't have associated with birding in late July. 

The Little Stint was in its bright red summer plumage, which was exciting because I have only seen dull looking ones in Britain. I didn't spend too much time taking photos, so they might not win any awards, but it was a great bird to watch.

Little Stint

A Common Gull also circled the river as I headed back to the car, after a surprisingly successful day.