Grafham Water - 27 April 2013

A cold northerly wind with prolonged squalls this morning some with hail but also some very bright sunny spells when oddly the air temperature was still low enough for breath to condense. 

A watch from 07.30 - 12.30 covering the shore from Marlow to Savages Creek and west from the Yacht club with a brief visit to the Dam. 

The squalls had grounded some migrants; c 30 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Wheatears were in fields above Sanctuary Bay with 21 Yellow Wagtails elsewhere and 3 Wheatears west of Mander; c 650 Swallows, 200+ House Martins and c. 80 Sand Martins were feeding and resting in the same area during the heaviest of the morning rain after which they left quickly to the east; a total of 4 Whinchats were new in and 8 Lesser Whitethroats were counted. 

1 Arctic Tern was in Sanctuary Bay during one of the squalls and there were c 15 Common Terns around; 4 Common Sandpipers were east of Hill Farm; Whimbrel were moving through with 13 in total (11, 1, 1) flying north through the squalls; 3 Bar-tailed Godwits also flew through north. 

 Hirundines resting during a squall

Lammas Meadow - Little Paxton - 25 April 2013

A murky morning with light rain and a variable SE breeze, a two hour watch from 0545 hrs.

1 Black Tern flew ENE along the Ouse, 16 Common Terns may have been local but also flew north, 2 Common Sandpipers at the Weir, 6 Dunlin flew high NW.
A male Whinchat showed well along the hedge, 9 + Willow Warblers, 11 Chiffchaffs, 4 Whitethroats and 4 Sedge Warblers doubtless included new arrivals. 
9 Yellow Wagtails were on the flash and Meadow Pipits were still moving with 4 over NW. 

Grafham Water - 24 April 2013

Another day of fresh WSW winds, warm and bright.

A couple of hours during the morning covering the south side of the site. Quieter than yesterday with numbers of passerines definitely down.

4 Whimbrel flew north over the dam were the definite highlight, otherwise 9 Common Terns 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, 1 Wheatear on the Dam, c10 Yellow Wagtails and 8 Willow Warblers.

Grafham Water - 23 April 2013

A fresh SW wind with blue skies, a little cloud and rising temperatures made for a quiet morning. A five hour watch from 06.40 covering the Dam, Marlow, Mander, Hill Farm and Lagoons areas.

The day started off very well with two young Otters swimming along the south bank of the Great Ouse viewed from the house.

At Grafham: 6 Goldeneye still, 2 Grey Partridges, 4 Red Kites, 6 Common Buzzards, 1 Hobby through east, 1 Ringed Plover on the Dam, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, 8 Common Terns, 27 Common Gulls north, 1 Swift over the Dam, 16 Yellow Wagtails below the Dam and 8 north, 2 White Wagtails on the Dam, c. 30 Swallows, 2 Sand Martins, 21 Chiffchaffs, 11 Willow Warblers, 9 Whitethroats, 5 Sedge Warblers and a lone Siskin at north end of the Dam.

Male Siskin 

Grey Partridge 

Filey - 21/22 April 2013

A brief trip back home to Yorkshire for the weekend was poorly timed coinciding with a rather quiet spell though still managed to see a few goodies.

A couple of hours along Hoddy Cows Lane, Buckton on Sunday morning produced a Short-eared Owl, a female Redstart, 2 Twite over north and 4 Corn Buntings. 

There was something of a Red Kite bonanza in the area on Sunday with Filey having at least seven. I connected with three in the air together on Sunday afternoon over Reighton. Eight Arctic Terns were in Filey Bay as were 11 Common Scoters and 2 Red-throated Divers, little else though. 

Monday was if anything even quieter and four hours around Carr Naze and Filey Country Park produced little apart from small numbers of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. Good numbers of Sand Martins were along the cliff tops with some basking in the morning sun. A Red Kite flew over south and then finally at the Parish Wood a brief Firecrest sighting brought a pulse of excitement to proceedings.   

Small raft of Razorbills - numbers of auks were visibly low 

Sand Martins clinging to the cliffs 

Lammas Meadow - 20 April 2013

Clear overnight with a frost but becoming warm and sunny with a light S/SW breeze. 
A two hour watch on the meadow from 06.45 then an intermittent skywatch during the afternoon.

Not surprisingly most of yesterdays migrants had gone but a Nightingale singing from the copse was new in otherwise just 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Sedge Warblers and 4 Chiffchaffs. Two large pale looking Redpolls which flew low ENE with a lower toned slower flight call were likely to have been Mealy's.

Skywatching produced a male Peregrine north, 3 Red Kites, 4 Common Buzzards and a trickle of hirundines moving through northwards.

Willow Warbler 

Toseland SF - 19 April 2013

Spurred on by the numbers of migrants new in this morning I decided to have a look around another favorite local haunt from 3-5.30 pm. The wind had veered NE with increasingly frequent light rain showers. 

Again there were good numbers of migrants though of a slightly different species mix, an elusive male Redstart and a probable female nearby headed the bill and were part of a general second wave arrival of this species across southern and central England. 

Even better was a flock of 18 (12 male) Wheatears in the adjacent kale (actually an oil seed rape) field. In a fairly tight group they spent most of the twenty minutes or so that I watched them resting in the shelter of the Kale leaves and did not feed, clearly very tired migrants. I even flushed one from underfoot on a long grassy track -  very coastal....At least 11 of the birds which I managed to view well looked to be of the race leucorhoa and were doubtless brought in by yesterdays low pressure system.  I wonder how many groups like this were in crop fields across the country.

Otherwise: 4 Chiffchaffs, 6 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Willow Warblers, 11 Reed Buntings, 4 Yellowhammers and a steady trickle of Swallows through north, a laggard Redwing also flew north.

Female Wheatear race leucorhoa 

Male Whitethroat 

Lammas Meadow, Little Paxton - 19 April 2013

An overcast morning with a light SW wind.

Spent a couple of hours from 06.30 on the Meadow. An arrival of warblers was very evident, the best being a Grasshopper Warbler which gave a short reel typical of spring migrants and showed briefly in a low tangle. Otherwise 11 Willow Warblers; 16 Chiffchaffs; 4 Whitethroats which were flushed from a marshy area of tussocks then retreated to their usual Hawthorn hedge haunt, 11 Swallows through north.  8 Common terns flew north. 

On the now drying flash 8 Yellow and 1 male Blue-headed Wagtails were quickly put up by canine enthusiast. 4 Wheatears were on the Golf Course and though distant had the  dusky large look of leucorhoa.

Willow Warbler - this one had very cold plumage tones and dark legs,

 the song and call were typical - possibly of the colour type eversmanni and

of the race acredula 

Great Ouse and Grafham - 18 April 2013

A strong SSW blow today with bright blue skies in the morning, increasing cloud from lunchtime and some heavy squalls.

An intermittent Great Ouse watch from home in the morning yielded 4 Sandwich Terns north, 14 Common Terns S/SE and 2 Arctic Terns SE. A male Wheatear dropped into a small area of short cropped lawn next to the house.

Given the weather, Grafham seemed the obvious choice for an early evening outing and I spent 4-7 pm working the south side dodging several promising looking squalls.

The winds had brought in modest numbers of sterna terns with 7 Arctics and 18 Commons mostly at the south-west end of the site, most (c.12) of the latter still lacked the dark primary wedges so typical of the species in late spring and summer with the wings looking quite plain.

Goldeneye numbers were down to 9 all but one females; 3 Common Sandpipers on the Dam; 4 male Wheatears were in fields west of Mander, 14 male Yellow Wagtails were on the Dam with 8 on the Yacht Club grass, a male Blue-headed Wagtail was with the latter group until they all flew off toward the Dam; a male and most probably female 'Channel' Wagtail were on the dam; 8 White Wagtails were on the Dam and a further 4 at the Yacht Club. Hirundines were present in modest numbers though c. 70 Swallows dropped in during one of the squalls. 

Arctic Tern 

Common Tern resting on the boom

Female Channel Wagtail -  superficially looks  like
Blue-headed but the white super, covert and tertial
fringes and lack of sub ocular strip are atypical so very likely
to be a female Channel 

  

Male 'Channel Wagtail' on the Dam

Lammas Meadow Little Paxton - 16 April 2013

Fresh SSW winds and clear skies had encouraged a clear out of migrants, an early evening walk resulted in just 1 Chiffchaff with 16 Swallows and c.30 House Martins lingering, the migrant Reed Buntings had departed leaving just the three breeding pairs. Later in the evening 13 Common Terns and 4 Arctic Terns flew south-east.

Lammas Meadow, Little Paxton - 15 April 2013

With the weather looking ideal for migrants decided on a very early pre-work visit for a couple of hours, a whole morning would have been better...

The highlight was a first-summer male Ring Ouzel which exploded out of the hedge infront of me and flew off towards the Golf Course on the west bank of the Great Ouse.

Otherwise: 3 Little Egrets on the flash, 2 Snipe still, 2 Ruff on the flash then off ENE, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Redwings over ENE, 11 Meadow Pipits over NW, 3 Willow Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs (all standard issue collybita), 4 Blackcaps new in and 2 Sedge Warblers.

Lammas Meadow, Little Paxton - 14 April 2013

The warm southerly airstream brought in a Water Pipit which was on the flash early morning, following a strong excited burst of song it flew off high east. 
The clear skies had encouraged the Redwings to depart and Blackbird numbers are now definitely down to local breeding birds. A single Common Sandpiper flew along the Ouse, 3 Yellow Wagtails flew north, 2 Goldcrests were new in as was a Sedge Warbler along the dyke. 6 Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler were singing from the copse, 6 Swallows flew through north and 8 Redpolls flew north-east. 5 Sparrowhawks which flew north were doubtless migrants.

Water Pipit singing

Immature Female Sparrowhawk heading north 

Lammas Meadow, Little Paxton - 13 April 2013

Freshening southerly winds today after a clear late night, increasing cloud through the morning bringing rain by early afternoon. 

Stayed very local today with intermittent watches from the balcony and a couple of hours in the morning at Lammas Meadow.

2 White Wagtails were on the flash with 2 Yellow Wagtails, a trickle of Swallows were heading north along the Ouse with 28 counted plus 6 House Martins during the morning. 30 Redwings were lingering still, 6 Chiffchaffs and 2 Willow Warblers were singing from the copse. 

A cream crowned Marsh Harrier flew north mid morning brought to my attention by one of the White Wagtails...

 Female White Wagtail  

White Wagtail looking warily though helpfully at an overflying Marsh Harrier

Grafham Water - 12 April 2013

A change in the weather system with combination of a westerly airstream which encouraged summer migrants to move northwards and showers which dropped them in to feed and rest.

Spent four hours from 06.40 covering most of the site except the far west end.

The first-winter male Velvet Scoter was still off the Dam as was a single female Red-breasted Merganser and 14 Wigeon. Good numbers of Goldeneye still with 141 counted including a very flighty flock of 96 off the dam which may well have been migrants stopping off. A pair of Goosander flew high east. 8 Avocets were on the lagoons and 10 Redshank were along the Dam. 3 Yellow-legged Gulls (1 4th calendar year bird, 2 adults); 22 intermedius Lesser Black Backs were off the Dam early morning then headed off high north-east as did a tight migratory flock of c450 Black-headed Gulls. 6 Common Terns flew through north with two lingering off Mander. 

Male Avocet - 8 were on the Lagoons today 

An arrival of Hirundines was evident - c. 30 Swallows off Mander with 8 through north-east, 16 Sand Martins also off Mander with 7 through south-east and 14 House Martins through east. 

Sand Martin resting 

Singing Chiffchaffs were in evidence, 32 were counted and there were 3 singing Willow Warblers. Still c. 35 Redwings were at the north end of the Dam with c. 200 in Diddington Wood though none were seen elsewhere. A single male Yellow Wagtail was below the Dam then flew off south, a White Wagtail was at the Lagoons, 16 Meadow Pipits at the Dam and a single Rock Pipit flew north. 6 Siskins were at the Lagoons. 

Redshank - were unusually confiding on the Dam this morning...

Lammas Meadow - Little Paxton 11 April 2013

A day of showers with easterly winds again required a post work wander around Lammas Meadow.

The rain had brought in 180 Redwings which were excitedly chattering in the mature Poplars at the southern end of the meadow before re-locating to a central hedge, became very silent then all took to the air and headed off east north east gaining height 'seeping' as they went. 
A passage of large gulls mostly Lesser Black Backs with fewer Herrings were heading north-east not the usual flight line taken to the Grafham roost and so were likely to be on the move. 
Otherwise a couple of Teal, 3 Chiffchaffs, 4 Reed Buntings and 2 squealing Water Rails were  about it. 

Redwings - pre-departure gathering

Redwings - heading off to points north-east

Great Ouse Little Paxton - 10 April 2013

Warmer weather from the south combined with an incoming weather front encouraged a wander around the local area and couple of hours river and sky watching from the balcony in the early evening...

An Osprey through low north-east at 19.17 hrs, 3 Common Terns through north-east, 3 Little Egrets, 15 Common Snipe on Lammas Meadow flash, 1 Swallow north, c.20 Redwings,  1 Willow Warbler and 6 Chiffchaffs.

Grafham Water & Paxton Pits 8 April 2013

Freshening easterlies today, after a very cold start  temperatures reached a heady 10 degrees at midday. A wander along Grafham Dam in the early morning was followed up with a lunchtime visit to the northern end of Paxton Pits.

The first-winter drake Velvet Scoter was off the dam still and even closer to the shore, 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull flew over south, c 60 Redwings were around Marlow with many now singing their chattering songs from the treetops seemingly restless for departure, c.65 mostly migrant Blackbirds in the same general area was a very good showing (falls of this species on the east coast yesterday and today apparently) c 30 Linnets and c 40 Meadow Pipits were doubtless also migrants. 

First-winter drake Velvet Scoter 

Paxton Pits at lunchtime delivered a single cream crown Marsh Harrier heading over east at 12.38 , 3 Smew (1 drake), 2 4th calendar year Yellow-Legged Gulls, 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Knot, 2 flighty Rock Pipits and 4 - now singing - Chiffchaffs. 

Did a little birding over the weekend mostly very locally, the most interesting observation was a marked passage of Black-headed and Common Gulls north-east along the Great Ouse valley on Saturday with 8000 Black-heads at least and not following the usual flight line. Otherwise 21 Snipe and a single Jack Snipe on Lammas Meadow on Saturday were rather nice to see on the doorstep... 

Little Ringed Plover - Paxton Pits

Grafham Water - 5 April 2013

No let-up with the cold weather, a fresh north-easterly wind and cold again this morning but at least the bright sunshine was encouraging.

The only summer migrants seen were 6 Chiffchaffs. The first-winter male Velvet Scoter was off the Dam and just within photographic range, the Slavonian Grebe was in Devils Creek, a male Smew and female Red-breasted Merganser were off Hill Farm, still 70 + Goldeneye with the adult males now displaying vigorously. An adult Little Gull out in the middle looked reluctant to take to the air at all and just two Yellow-legged Gulls were seen,a second calendar year and an adult. Winter thrushes were much in evidence with various groups of Redwing totalling  300+ including 40 on the stubble north of the Dam and fewer Fieldfares at c. 50. 

First-winter male Velvet Scoter riding the Grafham swell....

Paxton Pits - 31 March 2013

High pressure still dominating the weather with dour cloud cover and cold easterly winds. Wandered around the north side of Pumphouse Pit  to the Offord Pumping Station. 

3 Smew still (1 drake), 4 Goosander (1 male), 2 Jack Snipe along the north shore of Pumphouse Pit near the bund, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Ringed Plovers, a littoralis Rock Pipit, 4 Chiffchaffs c 30 Lesser Redpolls and a 3rd calendar year Caspian Gull were the highlights. 

Passable flight shots of Jack Snipe