The travels continue....
DIARY PAGES
2006
August
This month started with a couple of "Great White's" - a fantastic Great White Egret (complete with summer plumes) @ Chigborough Lakes, Essex and yet another controversial bird, a Great White Pelican @ Bough Beech Reservoir, Kent. It was great to see the pelican feeding amongst Grebes & Canada Geese, but at the time of writing this I think the balance is swinging in the favour of this bird being an escape. Plans to have a quiet day at my local patch on the 12th were soon cancelled when news broke of yet another Stilt Sandpiper, this time @ Brownsea Island, Dorset. (could it be the bird from Conwy? as it too favoured the company of Redshanks) The journey down was stressful due to heavy congestion on the M5 - Bristol. I arrived at Poole just in time to catch one of the last ferries to leave for the Island, one hour later I was coming back. I did see the bird although for most of my visit it was distant & elusive. I finally caught up with one of my most wanted birds on the 18th - a Roller, found @ South Gare, Cleveland. This juvenile bird was extremely mobile but on occasions gave reasonable views. Sadly the bird departed out to sea @ 8.40pm, never to be seen again. On the 27th August I decided to make a very ambitious trip to the Western Isles in the hope of seeing the Snowy Owl that had been present on & off. The Bird hadn't been reported since the 24th so the trip could've ended as a very long and expensive dip. It took 600 miles to finally arrive at the spot where the bird was last seen, and after four hours of looking around the area all I managed to see was a white bucket ! I couldn't believe my luck....., it was too late in the year for Corncrake or Divers so I tried to find Otters & Eagles as consolation. I managed to see was a very distant Golden Eagle. I checked into My B+B and had an early night. The next morning I spotted two Otters in the bay near my B+B, I watched them feed distantly for about an hour before moving on for another attempt at the Snowy. After just ten minutes I spotted the Owl sat in the sand dunes, I then spent the next hour just watching it in this superb location...., panic over !!
July
July started with a cracker, my first Semi-palmated Sandpiper. I drove straight from work to see the bird and although I had great views it was getting late and the light wasn't very good for filming, so I decided to sleep over in the car in hope that the bird was still there in the morning. Thankfully it was and it showed very well. Two days later news, & location details, were released of a Pine Grosbeak in Essex, I went to see it on the 9th but sadly there was no sign. All was not lost as a Lesser Grey Shrike had also been reported less than an hour away from the Grosbeak @ Shingle Street, Suffolk, and like the Semi-palmated Sandpiper it showed superbly. A Stilt Sandpiper was a surprising turn up @ Conwy RSPB, North Wales. I travelled after work and arrived as the light was fading which made filming difficult. Although a little distant the bird showed well. Remarkably the Pine Grosbeak was relocated in the neighbouring county of Hertfordshire where is performed very well for all who went to see it. There is a lot of speculation regarding the origins of this bird and the majority favour an escape. Personally I enjoyed watching it as it's enabled me to learn so much about the species..., call, flight pattern & general behaviour, and the atmosphere on site was great. Another obliging Shrike on the 25th this time a male Red-backed Shrike @ Croxley Common, Hertfordshire, the bird gave great views.
June
Well I'm hoping June will be a better month as I spent most of May dipping on everything I went for. Well the first bird I caught up with was the superb Slavonian Grebe @ Alvecote Pools, Warwickshire. It was difficult to locate at first but eventually gave itself up swimming side by side a Great Crested. I've long awaited better views of a Red-footed Falcon and finally I got them on the 13th with a 1st summer male taking up temporary residence at Rookery Pit, Bedfordshire. It was accompanied by at least six Hobbies which all gave great views as they hawked for insects. I'd just got back from the Falcon when news came on the pager of a Scops Owl, Oxfordshire. I visited the site on the 14th accompanied by a further 300+ birders. I left the site at 12.00 after getting a brief flight view and an excellent view in a tree thanks to help of a very decent bloke holding a lamp. I got lucky during a second early morning visit, on the 20th, when I located the bird roosting in a bush in the orchard. The views weren't brilliant as the bird was very well hidden and blended superbly into it's surroundings (see pic below). A dash to Upton Warren for the Temminck's Stint was good before travelling to Oxford for yet another visit to the Scops.
May
A Woodchat Shrike @ Trent Meadows, Derbyshire was a great way to start my favourite month, as with most Shrikes this 1st summer male put on a great performance. I made the long journey to Cleveland for the Short-toed Lark on the 8th, I did manage to see the bird but it was too flighty to film, however the female Ring-necked Duck, which was round the corner on Coatham Marsh, showed better. It was superb to see the three Black-winged Stilts @ Martin Mere on the 9th, they seemed very settled, and who knows, we maybe seeing a few more if all goes well. It seems like the third member of the Stilt trio has departed and made its way to Worcestershire which is where I caught up with it @ Upton Warren. It gave fantastic views in front of the hide.
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