Great Grey Shrike

Although the title is Great Grey Shrike, this was hopefully to be a bonus bird but would be my first UK bird having seen them in Iraq, Oman, Turkey and Cyprus etc, the target bird for today was Long Eared Owl representing a lifer for me. It's been mentioned as a side note to Great Grey Shrike reports on Therfield Heath that up to 4 Long Eared Owls have been present - oh and Short Eared Owl, Hen Harrier and Merlin, and that's in addition to Kestrel, Buzzard and Red Kite.......!

Anyway, I did some research on 'tinterweb' and established that the best place to start from was Briary Lane - which I did and the first bird I saw perched high in the tallest tree was the Great Grey Shrike - bonus, I took a whole raft of photos but my lack of experience and photography knowledge show as it was difficult shooting up into the grey light of the overcast sky.

Great Grey Shrike

 

I then walked up and then back down the Icknield Way in the company of a solitary Wren which insisted on following me up the path. I spent a while watch a flock of about 40 Linnet, Therfield Heath is apparently a Mecca for them with flocks up to 1000+ noted.  After a while I decided to head over to Grays Farm as the LEO's have often been reported in that region, however what other blogs/posts have failed to mention is that Grays Farm is private property and public access is not permitted, I had to graciously apologise to the farmer who was actually very understanding and obviously very patient as I can only assume this is a daily occurrence.  The farm is managed perfectly for wild birds for which area sightings are testament, the fields all have abundant wild margins for farmland birds.  I managed only my 2nd ever sighting of Grey Partridge, about 8 of them, my first and only sighting until today was way back in 1990 - 23 years ago!!!  My attention was drawn to their calls which was loud and boisterous, they seem very territorial.  There was also a lot of Red Legged Partridge about.  Around the farm there was a lot of feeders attracting a multitude of finches and a few Yellowhammer which were sometimes permitted a look in from the gangs of Reed Buntings..

 

Grey Partridge

 

I didn't managed to connect with a LEO today but it was still a fantastic day anyway with a 1st and 2nd for the UK.  It was also great to see the work that can be achieved by farmers if they are so inclined, I hope that Grays Farm continue the amazing work they do and fingers crossed that one day they will be willing to allow the public access, even if limited.



Farmoor

Was unsure where to go today so decided to head over to Farmoor as it's always been reasonably good to me, even though it is always freezing cold there....

Surprisingly it was quite devoid of wildfowl in comparison to my previous visits, a quick scan of F2 revealed a pair of Goldeneye and the odd Coot so took a walk along the causeway, had a quick scan of the Tufted Duck and notice 4 Scaup (2 pairs); it's taken me years to see my first Scaup, the first occasion being last year, now since then I have seen them on a regular basis at a number of sites as is typical with bird watching.

Scaup with the Tufted Duck

 

Next up was a male Goldeneye who obviously felt king drake in this pond with his hareem of 6 ducks in tow, not sure if the obvious benefits of 6 women outweigh 6 x nagging? (be in for it with the missus now!), also saw this Cormorant with an extremely white head.

 

 Goldeneye

 

Cormorant

 

Since there didn't appear to be too much on the Reservoir I thought I'd take a look in the Pinkhill Reserve but again not much to see as the whole area was flooded, there were however 4 Snipe skulking about, another bird which has seemed extremely abundant this winter.  Luckily I visited the hide as another birder came in and informed me that they'd just been watching a Barn Owl hunting so of course I headed over and got some fantastic views of it hunting in daylight.

 

 

Barn Owl

 

After watching the Barn Owl for about 10 minutes I walked back to the car via the causeway and managed to see, not a Rock or Water Pipit running up and down the water line but of course a Meadow Pipit, typical.. Then just as I was leaving I got to watch a Great Black Backed Gull fly in, still amazes me just how big they are.

 

Meadow Pipit

 







Hyde Park Visit

Working in London today so went down early for a walk around Hyde Park to see if the Bearded Tits which have been reported were still present.  It was freezing cold when I arrived at 07:30 but that didn't stop a few lunatics from swimming in the Serpentine!!

As I arrived at the reedbeds adjacent to the Princess Diana Memorial Garden I noticed movement at the end of the reeds which indeed turned out to be one of the Bearded Tits. In the end two individuals were on show.

 Bearded Tit

Bearded Tit

 

On my walk back I managed some great views of Ring Necked Parakeets courtesy of somebody feeding them by hand!  He also had a Robin and Great Tits feeding from his hand too.

 

The Serpentine contained Gadwall, Shovelar, a single Great Black Backed Gull, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Canada and Greylag Geese and a pair of Egyptian Geese.



Bournemouth Visit

Visiting family in Bournemouth over the weekend but misses allowed me to have Saturday off to go geeking, where to go though with so many great sites to choose from?

The weather wasn't that great but I was determined to make the most of it so I started at Upton CP as a Green Winged Teal had been reported for a few days previous.  Luckily for me somebody with a scope put me on as mine is in dire need of an upgrade.  Other birds present were hundreds of Eurasian Teal and Wigeon, there was about 25 Shelduck, 20 Avocet, plenty of Redshank, a Spotted Redshank, a few Oystercatcher and Curlew.  I then popped over to Holes Bay as 3 x Siberian Chiffchaff had been reported, I managed to find two flitting around with a Goldcrest.

Nuthatch

 

 Avocet

 

 Curlew

 

Little Egret

I then headed over to Radipole Lake to see if I could connect with a Marsh Harrier which I successfully did, photo isn't too great I'm afraid but you can make out this female well enough I think?  Was hoping for Bearded Tit and Cetti's Warbler but only managed to hear a Chetti's Warbler.  5 gull species were present; Great Black Backed, Lesser Black Backed, Herring, Common and Black Headed.

 Female Marsh Harrier

 

 Great Black Backed Gull

 

 Lesser Black Backed & Herring Gulls

 

Robin

The plan was then to pop over to Ferrybridge as plenty of Divers and Grebes had been reported but the day had already come to an end, Dorset definately has a great selection of sites, I'll have to plan a weekend there during migration I think, spend some time around Portland.

Waxwing surprise

10th February 2013 - Photos Added

Just setting off to Bournemouth for the weekend had to quickly pull the car over before I was out of street as I'd seen some birds in a bush which, as I went past came into view as Waxwings. I've taken a few photos which I'll upload upon my return. The misses is letting me out geeking all day tomorrow so need to decide between Arne, Christchurch Harbour or Portland, tough decision...

3 Scaup (2 drake) still on Caldecotte south lake not far from bridge at 11:45, again photos to follow.

Slavonian Grebe

After a tip off from a collegue at work, I headed to Tongwell Lake to see if the Slavonian Grebe (82) was still present.  Fortunately I managed to get straight onto it in the northern corner of the lake as reported.  Unfortunately that was all I got to see as I moved position for a better view but was unable to relocate it, plus the darkness set in rather quickly.  I did get to watch a small flock (300ish) of Starlings doing there evening sky dance before dropping from the sky into the reedbeds.
I'd been informed that a Scaup was also present but never managed to connect, I did however notice a female Tufted Duck with a significant white patch around the bill.

5th Feb - If only........

Saw an amazing variety of species today:

 Obliging Grey Heron

 

 Barnacle Goose

 

 Lesser Scaup

 

 Trio of Mandarin

 

 Pink Footed Goose

 

 Shelduck and Bar Headed Goose

 

Smew



Wood Duck

 



Plus others such as Red Crested Pochard, Chiloe Wigeon, Egyptian Goose, Hooded Merganser etc etc... Unfortunately all in the Regent's Park wildfowl collection. Very nice to be able to see and study such species up close but frustrating as you have to presume all wildfowl are part of the collection!

Managed to see my first Siskin of the year though so that was nice.