Little Paxton balcony birding 30 May 2012

A three hour skywatch from the balcony this evening produced a modest tally; 1 Red Kite, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Hobby were the pick a large flock of c200 Swifts flying very high after torrential rain was noteworthy and hirundines were around in reasonable numbers

Grafham Water & Balcony birding 28 May 2012

Spent a couple of hours on the dam and an hour at the lagoons pre 9.00 am...
Not surpisingly very quiet given the warm anticyclonic conditions; migrants now settling down to breed with Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat and a Spotted Flycatcher all seen carrying nesting material near the model farm. Otherwise a single Hobby over, a 2nd calendar year Yellow-legged Gull and more significantly a Little Egret in flight at a similar distance to the large Egret sp seen on 23 May was instructive to say the least

Female Bullfinch against an azure sky

After very heavy thunder storms late afternoon did an hour on the balcony; 1 Black Tern flew along the Ouse and 1 Hobby over. Should probably have saved the grafham visit until the evening.....

Balcony Birding (Little Paxton) 27 May 2012

A four hour skywatch this afternoon delivered 7 Common Buzzards; 2 Red Kites; 3 Marsh Harriers (2 males 1 CC) north; 4+ Hobbies and 3 Ringed Plovers north.

Grafham Water 27 May 2012

A couple of hours early morning along the dam produced 4 Red Kites in the sky together; 1 Hobby; 1 4th calendar year Yellow-legged Gull; 11 Migrant Common Terns through north early one with an all dark red bill; 8 Swallows; 14 Yellow Wagtails; 3 Willow Warblers; 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 6 Yellowhammers.

Male Grey Wagtail

Grafham Water 26 May 2012

Common Whitethroat in full song

Took a walk around the lagoon area for a couple of hours from 0700 in lovely sunshine with a fresh easterly breeze.

Nine species of warbler in song this morning in this area; 4 Little Egrets; a single Grey Plover in breeding dress and a couple of Ringed Plovers through north-east were the other notables







Grafham Water dam 23 May 2012

A distant Egret 



Flava wagtail sp

 A lovely warm though predictably quiet evening produced 1 Egret sp flying very high and distantly north-east, the apparent large size, relatively long wings and stouter bill (compared to Little) and lack of  bright yellow feet even through the scope was intriguing with the proviso that distant Egret flight identification can be tricky; 6 Oystercatchers east; 1 Whimbrel high north; 6 Common Terns on their usual feeding commute between Grafham and Paxton Pits; 1 Turtle Dove north; just 18 Swallows; a single Spotted Flycatcher; a pulse of migrant Willow Warblers with 8 noted in the area adjacent to the dam and outnumbering singing Chiffchaffs 8:2; 7 Yellowhammers and a single Corn Bunting at the Model Farm

Another interesting male flava wagtail similar but not the same as the individiual seen on 14 May 2012, having more olive tones on the lower scapulars and a standard covert arrangement so probably within the range of flavissima variability, 6 'normal' Yellow Wagtails also present.

Grafham Water 21 May 2012

On the dam in cold north-westerlies at 0615 visited the lagoons late morning and sloped off home at midday after a long cold morning...

Little Tern at rest

1 Hobby over, a distant ringtail Harrier sp was most likely a Montagu's but views too brief and distant to be certain as it flew over the fields to the north of the dam and over the hill brow;
1 Turnstone, 1 Dunlin race schnizii and 3 Sanderling on the dam, 2 Greenshanks through north and 1 on the lagoons, 5 Arctic Terns through at 09.15, 1 Black tern distantly in the middle late morning, 1 Little Tern in from the south took a 10 minute rest on the dam then flew off north, c300 Swifts, c900 Swallows, c90 House Martins. An influx of Common Whitethroats was noteworthy with 11 singing around the lagoons...

female Yellow Wagtail  the greyish crown and mantle indicative
of strong flava genetic influence

Hawthorn blossom
a timely reminder that it is spring inspite of the temperature today