FARMOOR WARBLERS AND WAGTAILS

I paid a late afternoon visit to the Reservoir and nature reserves at Farmoor today. A short shower as I arrived quickly cleared away and I enjoyed a couple of hours of pleasant sunshine which also provided four new birds for the year. I saw my first yellow wagtail as I crossed the causeway but  apart from that it was relatively quiet. 

However as I took the footpath down to the Pinkhill reserve and River Thames there was plenty of birdsong to be heard. I managed to find a garden warbler, which I missed last year so was quite pleased about that.  A grasshopper warbler was reeling in some rough ground but was so well camouflaged  I couldn't locate it at all, even though it sounded pretty close by. However, a common whitethroat was much more obliging, singing at the top of a tree in the hedgerow. 

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whitethroat

 the only shot I could get of the garden warbler

 my first yellow wagtail of the year

a group of yellow wagtails were on the shoreline as I returned

SWEET NIGHTINGALE AT CROOKHAM COMMON

 

Some weeks back I was talking to another birder about the Dartford warblers I'd seen at Greenham Common. He mentioned that he'd seen nightingales at Crookham Common which is the other end of the runway and that they could be heard during the day from the Crookham carpark and could often be seen too at this time of year when they have recently aririved in this country for the summer.  

So when I had a short notice invitation to visit my daughter at Burghfield Common I decided to leave extra early and make a detour to look for them myself. I  wasn't completely sure what the  nightingale song sounded like but hoped that I would  recognise it!  I parked at what appeared to be the quieter end of the car park and wound down my windows to listen, but it was hard to distinguish any particular bird with the noise of passing traffic. So I decided to follow a short trail which led from the car park to see if  I had any success there but I only heard blackcaps, chiffchaffs and willow warblers.

A bit disappointed I got back into the car and then thought I'd park at the opposite side  and have a listen from there.. just in case. I was glad I did!  Through the open window came a new and beautiful song ... it must surely be a nightingale!  I was surprised how loud it was and realised the bird must be quite  close by. Getting cautiously out of the car I grabbed my camera and binoculars and walked slowly in the direction  of the song which was coming from down one of the paths. The I saw the nightingale... sitting up on a branch ahead of me and singing for all its worth!!  I was able to take a few shots before it flew across the path and  continued to sing from a tree in front of me.. but sadly out of view!  After a burst of song,it flew off , but left me feeling elated to  have seen  and heard a bird that is often hard to find.

               

A DUKE FOR THE QUEENS BIRTHDAY!

 I got back from Cambridgeshire late morning so after some lunch and unpacking, I thought I may as well make the most of the day's warm sunshine to find some green hairstreaks at Rodborough Common where they have been reported already this year.  

There was a bit of a breeze but I knew that there were some areas where it would be sheltered from the easterly wind, I therefore headed across the plateau  and  downhill to an area of brambles and   hawthorn which  I thought looked a likely place to find some green hairstreaks. Within seconds I had found my first green hairstreak on some bramble, and very quickly another on some hawthorn. After spending some time photographing them I went further downhill to where I could see some gorse bushes in flower  and here again found more  green hairstreaks.  During my visit I saw about a dozen amongst the various hawthorn bushes scattered on the hill side but I am certain there were probably many  more. 

I'd heard that Duke of Burgundy butterflies had already be seen this year in Bucks, so I decided to head to the usual hot spot to see if  there were any here too. As I traversed the slope, I noticed some dingy skippers here and there - first sightings for me this year . I approached the sheltered corner where the butterflies are usually found, where a couple were sitting on the grass and they informed me they'd seen a couple of  'dukes'.  However, the next butterfly I saw was not a duke of burgundy but a small heath, another early sighting. With the sun out, there were frequent  small brown butterflies, all appearing to defend their territories, and eventually I managed to find a duke of burgundy amongst them which settled long enough to identify.  As someone commented, how appropriate to find a first   'Duke' on the HM the Queen's birthday!

I got into conversation with someone also looking for butterflies who told me he'd just retired and was hoping to see all   59 species this year!  It would be interesting too see if he managed it, but I forgot to ask if he was hoping to do a blog! He told me he usually has an anuual competition with his brother to see who can find 50 species first each year! 

green hairstreak

small heath

duke of burgundy

BIRDING IN THE FENS

The weather has been lovely for my few days staying with my sister in Cambridgeshire so we made the most of it by taking a few trips to increase our bird and butterfly sightings for the year. 

We started by visiting Berry Fen, a nearby reserve which has a blue winged teal reported there. Sadly we didn't find it but we did have good views of  a pair of gargeneys which were my sister was pleased to see and I heard and saw my first sedge warbler..

The next morning we were off the Summerleys nature reserve near Wellingborough. I had been reading on the website of a large colony of tree sparrows that were there and I hoped to tick these off my list. We took a nice stroll round the lake and woodland and spent some time in the various hides; providing some more year ticks for my sister. We passed through the area where tree sparrows were meant to be seen but didn't see a single one!  On our return to the car, I popped into the visitor centre and enquired about the sparrows. The assistant looked puzzled and said she hadn't heard of any being reported there!!  I took a paper copy of the reserve leaflet and then released that the short paragraph about tree sparrows had been deleted!   I think someone needs to update the website info!! 

I knew there was a better chance of seeing tree sparrows at Welney WWT so we planned to visit there the next day.    My other target species was a whooper swan which are currently still there.  Thankfully we managed to find both of these birds, also a group of 4 glossy ibis, and my first reed warbler and house martin.  Another  highlight was watching a marsh harrier taking a drink and a bath at the edge of one of the lakes.  Karen was able to add 10 more birds to her list too, and we finished our morning with pasties from the restaurant.  

Summer leys

black headed gull

shoveler

bullfinch

black tailed godwits

marsh harrier

whooper swan

tree sparrow

marsh harrier

A GLOSSY END TO A MORNING AT SLIMBRIDGE

It was a sunny but fairly chilly morning at Slimbridge WWT Centre today. I'd heard that little ringed plovers had started to arrive and could be found at various points around the reserve; also a second glossy ibis had been seen yesterday. 

From the Rushy Hide I soon found the little ringed plover, running to and fro on the gravelled areas where it was well camouflaged. Last year a pair nested here and successfully reared one chick. 

The white fronts seen on my last visit had departed, but there were still a couple of pintails and some wigeon in addition to the usual regular duck species. 

From the Discovery hide I watched a small flock of goldfinches pulling at the seed heads of some plants just in front of the hide as well as avocets and black tailed godwits. 

I saw one of the kingfishers outside its nest hole in the bank from the appropriately names Kingfisher hide,  then as I passed the other hide along the walkway, a Slimbridge guide who was leaving , called me and told me that a glossy ibis could be seen in front of the hide. Very pleased to hear this,  I found a place in front of the window, which was actually letting in quite a chilly northerly breeze and the focussed my camera on the ibis which was some 50 to 100 metres away but nevertheless was easily to identify. Most of the time  the bird preferred to feed amongst the longer grass but occasionally ventured out into the shorter grass where it  gave better views.

In the sheltered walkway, I also found an orange tip butterfly and my first green veined white (7) of the year.

little ringed plover

avocet

goldfinches

glossy ibis

green veined white

orange tip