Lammas Meadow - 28 September 2012

A late afternoon wander for three hours around the the local area;

2 Little Egrets over west; a single adult Hobby over south; 2 Golden Plovers over south-west; c300 Swallows south-west; c120 House Martins south-west with 30 lingering; 8 Goldcrests; 7 Chiffchaffs; 1 Lesser Whitethroat; 4 Blackcaps; c140 Goldfinches, 2 Siskins over SE and 20 Linnets.

Grafham Water 14 September 2012

A blustery morning with a fresh westerly spent three hours on the dam and at the yacht club.

A single Raven which flew south-east near the dam was the highlight of the morning otherwise there were 8 Yellow-legged Gulls; 1 Oystrcatcher; c 20 Yellow Wagtails with 8 over south-east; 14 Meadow Pipits over south-east; initially c 1600 hirundines mostly House Martins with smaller numbers of Swallows (c 300) most of which departed to the south-east in small groups before 09.30 leaving c 350 over the reservoir.

Raven near Grafham Water dam 


Grafham Water - 10 September 2012

A long morning covering the south side of the reservoir and the dam to the Marlow Car Park in fresh ssw winds mostly cloudy with the odd spot of rain....

Larids provided the most interest again with 5+ yellow-legged Gulls and an intriguing yellow-legged presumed argentatus Herring Gull; a single juvenile Mediterranean Gull distantly and an adult Little Gull also seen distantly in Sanctuary Bay late morning; just two Common Terns  an adult and a juvenile. Waders were in very short supply with 11 Lapwings high south; 3 Common Snipe and 5 Green Sandpipers at the lagoons; 3 Common Sandpipers and the Oystercatcher were still on the dam. A departure of passerines was apparent with Yellow Wagtails down to c. 30, just 3 Meadow Pipits and warblers limited to 15 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers and c20 Blackcaps. c 30 Swallows through south, ditto a single Hobby and a lone Crossbill flew over eastwards....

presumed argentatus Herring Gull with yellow legs - the structure
and bluey grey tones are typical arngentatus, note the very pale eye
and lack of prominent orange/red eyering

although the primaries are still growing, the extent of black and
the white tips are typical of argentatus 



in stark contrast to Kodak grey scale obsessions, a Comma on blackberries  

Grafham Water - 8 September 2012


The hot weather continues, covered the dam and adjacent areas for three hours in the early morning relatively quiet...

A very large female second calendar year Peregrine appeared over the dam at 09.25 then flew off strongly west; 7 Yellow-legged Gulls; 2 Common Terns; 1 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpipers; 1 Oystercatcher; c 30 Swallows; 1 Spotted Flycatcher; c 85 Yellow Wagtails of which 70% were adults and all quite typical warm toned flavissimas; 2 Wheatears; a trickle of Meadow Pipits over south with c 20 grounded and an early Rock/Water Pipit over south calling. Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were much in evidence in the areas to the north and south of the dam.
aberrant juvenile Blackcap showing strong buffy brown tones on the
upperparts, wings and underparts.

female presumed second calendar year peregrine with rather finely marked
primaries and secondaries



Lesser Whitethroat

Ouse Washes - 2 September 2012

A long overdue trip as the habitat has been excellent for a few weeks now, was amazed by the sheer numbers of wetland birds in the area and regretfully I could only spend four morning hours between Welches Dam north to the rail suspension bridge in somewhat murky conditions initially. Birds in the area were settled early morning but became increasingly disturbed by a combination of raptors and a quad bike later in the morning.

Some of the more interesting sightings were; 8 juvenile Marsh Harriers; 1 male Peregrine through south; 186 Little Egrets; the Glossy Ibis; masses of Teal; 60 + Garganey; c110 Wigeon including several groups arriving from the north; 3 Ringed Plovers; 17 Dunlin; 2 Turnstone; c116 Ruff; 18 islandica and 3 limosa Black-tailed Godwits; 3 Spotted Redshanks; c. 24 Greenshanks; c 90 Yellow Wagtails; 3 Wheatears; 2 Whinchats and a steady passage of Swallows south during the morning estimated total 350.




Grafham Water 1 September 2012

Sunny with brisk south-westerlies a five hour watch along the dam and southern viewpoints generally quiet and a bit of a slog today...

Just 2 Little Egrets; a family group of 4 Hobbies over the dam early afternoon; 7 Common Buzzards; 1 juvenile Dunlin on the dam; 1 Ostercatcher; 2 Common and 5 Green Sandpipers; c 25 Yellow-legged Gulls late aftrnoon; c. 20 Common Terns; 1 adult Arctic Tern off Dudney Creek; c.40 Swallows south with 20+ lingering; 3 Spotted Flycatchers; 3 Whinchats (1 at the Dam 2 at the Yacht Club); c and 25 Yellow Wagtails
A strikingly handsome  and pale wagtail on the dam with upperpart plumage tones closer to race alba but with a few black mantle feathers coming through, extensive greyish flanks (flank feathers obscuring coverts) and a solid black  lower rump and tail coverts  features broadly indicative of race yarrelli though the rump pattern and upperpart tones were atypical
they do occur in a small percentage of  individuals of this race