Some new arrivals

12th October - a lovely sunny day, although the NE breeze was a bit cutting.  I was very happy with the two year ticks that arrived on patch today.  The first of these was a flock of three Pintail that flew in from the west whilst I was watching from the southern bank.  They pitched down on the east side of  the lake and then made their way to the mouth of the works bay where they began up ending with a few Canada Geese.  I always find it a bit odd when different duck turn up and seemingly ignore the numbers of other duck present, especially Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler at the moment, and go and do their own thing.  I managed a distant record shot shortly after they had pitched down:

Pintail are about annual, with the odd bird or two turning up from autumn and through the winter.  However, we have been a bit spoilt in recent winters, as the wet conditions have made the patch more to their liking and flocks into double figures have stayed around for some time - not last winter though - these three being the first of the year.

The next year tick was one that I alluded to recently and thought might bypass me this year.  Well it wasn't to be, as I found a nice Stonechat fly catching in the sun along the path by the athletics track.  In fact, it was within a few yards of where the gropper was last month.  It had found a hawthorn to its liking and kept coming back to the same perch.

Front view

 

Back view

 

A bit further along this path, there are always Green Woodpeckers clinging to the wooden fence posts of a fence that runs into a weedy field.  Today I decided to snap a record of a female bird.

 



Grey Ghost!

October 6th - the lack of recent updates reflects the lack of decent birds.  I have been trying to get the enthusiasm up to write a blog post on the mediocrity of the patch, but now I have a great excuse.....

I spent this morning tramping around and looking yet again for something worth while.  It wasn't as wet as yesterday, but there were some pretty heavy showers to try and evade.  I was seeing the usual crowd - the regular adult Yellow-legged Gull, three Common Gulls, a few fly over Siskins, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, a slight increase in wildfowl, with 33 Wigeon, 30 Shoveler and about 40 Teal, a handful of Snipe, but that was about it.  Ever the optimist, I keep listening out for the distinctive call of Yellow-browed Warbler, but all I've had so far are numerous Goldcrests and dwindling numbers of Chiffchaff - a Coal Tit on the west bank last week was slightly more unusual for here.

I returned home and decided that after lunch I would try Pump Lane, Emmett's fields and then the west side of Marlow GPs in the hope of turning up a Stonechat - another species that I thought I would have had by now, but could well become a blank year for it.  At least the weather had dried up by the afternoon.  Pump Lane had a small flock of Meadow Pipits and a few very pale grey female Pied Wags trying to look like Whites.  I arrived at Emmett's and decided that I would leave my scope in the boot and just take bins - my expectations were falling fast.  However, things were about to change..........

I had only walked a few hundred yards when a bird of prey lifted off from beyond the game cover about 50 yards ahead of me.  I could see immediately that this was going to be a harrier, however when I lifted my bins up I was amazed to see an adult male Hen Harrier flapping gracefully over the field.  It held a small dark shape in its talons that was indeterminable, presumably either a small bird or a small mammal and also presumably just caught.  I watched it fly low over the field to the west and then it disappeared below the ridge of the field, though it did look like it was coming down again.

I then planned my next move.  I needed to get news out, as a Hen Harrier is a good local bird, an adult male is an extremely good local bird.  I decided to post the record on the county website, as this would inform many people and the record would also be picked up by the bird information services and sent out.  I then had to return to the car to collect my scope.  I intended to walk via the permissive path to the ridge that the bird had disappeared behind and hope that it was still visible.  The walk took some minutes and once at the ridge I could see more fields stretched out between me and the A404 bypass - this is not an area I had looked at before.  I scanned with my bins and almost immediately picked up the harrier again.  This must have been about 20 minutes after my initial sighting, so it looked to be sticking for a bit.  It was flying over a short grass field several hundred yards to the west.  I got it in the scope just to make sure that I wasn't messing up a Pallid or Northern, but no, a beautiful adult male Hen.  After a short while, it descended and landed in the field and remained there for some time - maybe it had devoured its prey item and wanted a rest.  I took some very distant record shots.  It then took off, flew a fair bit closer and then landed in another field.  I took some more record shots.  Flight shots would have been better to show it in its full glory, but I can't do those with my set up unless it is very close.  A couple of magpies landed next to it and scared it into flight, but it just returned to its original field and landed again.

I noticed Pete S and another guy nearby scanning in the wrong direction.  Assuming they were looking for the harrier, I waved my arms to attract their attention and then beckoned them to come up the hill.  Within a few minutes, they had the bird on the deck in their scopes and I had to leave for school pick up.  What a fantastic afternoon that turned out to be!

Edit: it transpires that what must have been the same bird was seen earlier in the day at Staines Moor, where it was watched hunting for 90 minutes before flying off NW at 12:30pm.

Initial view in field digiscoped at about 50x

Luckily it came a bit closer, but still hundreds of yards away

Same shot but cropped

Some other photos that I've taken over the past few weeks but not had a blog post to use them on:

The regular adult YLG

An over exposed 1w YLG

And again...

Quite enjoyed watching a small flock of goldfinches feeding on teazels

Noticed in the photo that this bird is ringed

Juv male Sprawk trying to dry out on the spit after this morning's showers

I've seen a couple of Red Underwings on patch this September. Not an uncommon moth, but one that I don't see too often. This one was digiscoped from 50 yds away on a telegraph pole, so hasn't come out too badly.

Missing out

Last Friday 11th, Dave C found a Black Tern hawking over the east side of the lake - unfortunately I was at work.  Its continued presence was broadcast through the afternoon, so I was hopeful of picking it up on my way home.  Alan S was still watching it at 6:30pm, until he departed.  I rolled up at 7pm and you've guessed it, no bird!  A very frustrating dip of a bird that has been ridiculously scarce in the county this year, this being the first and only record this year,  Ah well, it's difficult to see everything!

Roll on three days to Monday 14th.  I was on patch by 9am and checking out the usual haunts.  I was concentrating on the south bank, as this gives a good view of the lake and spit and is also where a lot of the passerine migrants tend to be.  At 10:45am I receive a text from Alan S saying that Neil W has been out running along the Thames and about 30 minutes earlier had seen an Osprey flying over.  It was also following the Thames and was flying west having apparently come from the direction of Little Marlow just a hop skip and a jump away.  How annoying is that!!  It certainly didn't fly over the pit, as I had been watching that all morning.  Two possibilities are that it flew along the Thames behind me and obscured by the railway hedge or that it flew in from the north but further west than the pit and only started following the Thames when it encountered it.  Either way, another one that feels like it has been missed!

Spotted Flycatchers have been having a good year on passage here, hopefully a sign of a good breeding season.  Up to 4 birds have been seen over the past week, mainly on the south bank.  On the 14th, I found 3 birds in the cottage garden staying faithful to a large cherry tree.  This morning there were 2 in the railway hedge.

Siskins have started returning to the region in numbers and I had yet another fly over this morning.  Also, slightly less expected, was a noisy flock of 12 Redpolls flying over north on the 14th and this morning another 2 flew over low west along the railway.  Having missed both of these species in the winter, Siskin in particular being non existent everywhere, it is nice to catch up with both again.

On the gull front, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was new in on the 11th and seen again on the 14th.  It had typically moulted most of its scapulars.  I always like the pale pink legs on birds of this age.

Whinchat hunt brings a Whinchat!

9th September - well it had to happen eventually I suppose and better late than never.  A quick lunchtime check of the paddocks failed again, though 5 Yellow Wagtails were fairly close in feeding around cattle.  One digibinned below:

I then checked the same weedy fields as yesterday and finally success as a single Whinchat was feeding from the fence line next to the athletics track.  Coincidentally, this is the exact same spot as one I had last year and on exactly the same date.  I took one lousy record shot and then my camera battery died, which is a shame, still you can see what it is.

Whinchat hunt brings a gropper

8th September - it has been an odd year for some species, birds that I would normally expect to see on migration have either been very few or non-existent.  Whinchat is a bird that I often see in Spring and have always in previous years had several Autumn records.  This year, my main site for these at the paddocks and vineyards has failed to produce any as yet and Wheatear, another bird seen frequently here, has been well down.

Today, after failing yet again to find a Whinchat at Pump Lane, I decided to broaden my search and check the weedy fields to the west of the main pit.  These always look promising and I had one near the athletics track last year, but it is an area that I do not check that regularly.  I had just climbed and then descended a bank after checking one of the last fields and drawn a blank when a small sandy coloured bird flew up from the long grass next to the path, flew a few yards right past me and dived into the base of a rose bush.  From my brief view, it looked like a warbler - I was intrigued.  I walked the few paces back to the bush, but could see no sign of any bird or any movement.  I was thinking, what species of warbler would behave like this?  Grasshopper Warbler jumped to mind.  After waiting about 10 minutes and seeing no sign of anything, I tried pishing - this had no success either.  A few more minutes went by and then I glimpsed a bird with distinctly dark centred tertials dropping down from low vegetation back into the grass just beyond the rose bush.  I was now pretty sure that this was a gropper.  More time elapsed and I was getting no further views, so I decided to try playing some gropper reeling on my phone.  Almost immediately, I saw movement, as something appeared to walk towards me on the ground underneath overhanging brambles.  It was within a few feet, but I couldn't see what it was.  I stopped the playback and watched for another 10 minutes, but got nothing further.  I thought perhaps I was too close to the bird, so I walked a few yards up the path and tried the playback again.  Again, immediately a bird climbed through the grass just a few feet from me.  I could now clearly see that this was a gropper - get in! A very rare bird in this area.  Jim R told me that he has only seen one before and that was about 30 years ago!  I stopped the playback and the bird sat out in the open looking at me for a while and then turned around and disappeared back into the undergrowth.  I don't normally like using playback, but in this instance, I don't think that I would have had any views of the bird - it was incredibly skulky and if I hadn't chanced upon the first flight view, I would have been oblivious to the bird's presence.  It was silent throughout and my playback times were minimal.  The bird's short spell in the open enabled me to take a few record shots on my phone, a couple of which I have cropped and shown below:

Earlier in the day, I had seen 4 Yellow Wagtails fly over the lake and had had my first Siskin of the year with a single fly over.  There were large numbers of hirundines flying over and above the lake and also settling in lakeside trees.  The bulk of these were Swallows at around 400, there were about 100 House Martins and just a handful of Sand Martins.  I found a bare branch that they kept settling on so took a few photos - it was nice to see good numbers of juveniles:

Sand Martin, Swallow and House Martin at the back

Sand Martin

Juv House Martin

At one point the birds rose into a tell tale ball, so I looked around for a raptor,  Sure enough a Hobby appeared and almost immediately went into a stoop.  It had singled out a Swallow low over the lake.  It missed its prey, but then rose higher and dropped again.  This time, the impact was an audible thump, as the Swallow was held in the Hobby's talons and it flew off to devour its catch.  Not something I've seen too often.

The Cettis' Warbler has started to sing in brief bursts and looks to have taken up territory in the NW corner of the lake.  It seems to be most vocal in the mornings.  Other warblers seen were yet another Lesser Whitethroat in the railway hedge, 3 Reed Warblers, 2 Willow Warblers, at least 20 Chiffchaffs, mainly in the railway hedge and getting on for 10 Blackcaps.

A common Sand was the only wader seen today.

A few highlights from earlier in the week:

Pump Lane had a flock of 10 Yellow Wagtails feeding on the short grass around horses on the 6th.  On the same day, a late Swift was over the lake and 2 Common Sands had arrived, still there on the 7th.  A single Wheatear on the 7th at Pump Lane is surprisingly my first of the Autumn.

Digibinned



Digiscoped

Bits and pieces

Following my fly over Ruff last weekend, Alan S found a juvenile actually on the deck on Wednesday and it was still there on Thursday, so I popped in after work and took a record shot.  Nice to actually get one on the ground for once!

This bank holiday weekend, I have been out each morning from around 7am for a couple of hours, but with little to show for it.  Highlights have been a repeat sighting of the Cetti's Warbler on the 30th.  This must be the bird I saw on the 16th, as it was only yards away from that sighting.  It was calling frequently, which gave it away, as it was otherwise very skulking and hard to see.  It obviously likes the habitat, so will hopefully stay - and maybe start to sing.  On the 29th, a tight flock of 15 terns flew over and departed to the west.  Unfortunately any hope of a scarce species was soon dashed, as they were all Commons - mainly adults but with at least two juveniles.  A further two terns this morning that arrived at 9am during a break in the rain were also adult Commons.  A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull amongst the many juvenile LBBG and Herrings on the 29th was my best gull.

The railway hedge continues to hold a lot of warblers.  Chiffchaffs predominate, with several now singing again.  There are usually at least 20-30 in this small stretch.  On the 29th, there was also a good passage of Willows - I counted 9 moving through and yesterday one of these was in song.  Plenty of Blackcaps tacking away and yesterday also a juvenile Whitethroat.

Teal numbers are increasing day by day - 13 yesterday had risen to at least 16 this morning along with 4 Shoveler, 3 Pochard, a few Gadwall and into the 10s of Mallard and Tufties.

This morning's rain had brought down a lot of hirundines, predominantly Swallows (c150), but also reasonable numbers of House (c50) and Sand Martins (c30).  I won't be surprised if something good turns up later, as birds are on the move all the time.  A good example was my lack of any waders on the morning of the 29th, but a Greenshank was seen roosting at midday and seven Black-tailed Godwits flew in during the evening.  So it's always worth taking a look - must be a Black Tern around soon!

A trio of Spooners

With the school holidays upon us, my patch birding has been rather restricted of late, so I took the opportunity this weekend to make a couple of early(ish) visits while everyone was still in bed.

The best bird from my Saturday visit was undoubtedly a Ruff.  A tricky bird on patch, though just about annual and this one along with my past two records was a fly through.  I picked it up whilst walking down the west side of the lake and doing periodic scans.  It flew in from the north, did a couple of circuits of the lake and then descended as if to land on the spit, though I lost it behind vegetation at this point.  Further searches failed to find it on deck, so I presume that it just flew on through.

Not much else of interest, though ducks are arriving and moving through in dribs and drabs - 8 Teal and 2 male Pochard around this morning.  A single adult Common Tern was probably one of the four adults I had seen the previous evening on a quick stop off after work - all probably migrant birds rather than left over breeders.

On the Sunday morning, two new arrivals were a couple of Green Sandpipers that were quite vocal and being chased quite a bit by the Lapwings.  These didn't last too long and had gone by the afternoon.  A fly over Yellow Wagtail, calling as it went and a single Swift were also interesting.

2 Shoveler and 3 Gadwall were the new ducks of the morning, whilst at about 8am, what seems to be a regular event was the arrival of large numbers of geese.  They fly in from the north and make a real racket - I counted 252 Greylags and 46 Canadas and amongst these was the regular Bar-headed Goose.  This bird spends the summer along the Jubilee River a few miles away and returned here about a week ago - he or she must be getting on a bit now.  The adult Common Tern was still flying around, but flew off west later on.

My parents were coming over for lunch later, so I headed home and shortly afterwards, the rain started falling.  Around tea time, I noticed a report of 3 Spoonbills on patch - what!  I looked at my phone and saw a text I hadn't seen from Jim R - he had found the birds after the rain had subsided.  My parents were still visiting and I began to get quite twitchy, especially as I had missed the Spring bird by about 20 minutes - how long would these bird stay?  I needn't have worried, because after my parents had left and I raced down to the lake at about 5:30pm, I found all three birds still present with their heads and bills tucked in their backs, obviously not going anywhere.

The birds were an adult and two juveniles and I thought very possibly a family group and interestingly, the adult was colour ringed.  A check of the ringing schemes later on found that this was a Dutch ringed bird - a source of many of the UK birds - it had dark green over a yellow flag over dark green on the left leg and dark blue over metal over pale lime green on the right leg.  Jim R is following this record up with the scheme, but the administrator is away for a fortnight.  It is amazing to think that Spoonbill was a new bird to the site in May 2014 and we had three records that year - possibly the same bird, followed by another adult this May and now three more birds - I guess a sign of the times.

My record shots are just that, but pleased to get this one back this year.



CR adult in centre



One juvenile showing its bill



The other juvenile wakes up momentarily

After more rain over night, I half expected the birds to still be there the next morning, but it was a bit surprising to hear that the adult had stayed and the juveniles had departed.