Must be the wrong kind of water

I'm working close enough to make the trip up the Thames today to Newbridge having heard about the arrival of six White Storks that have stopped there. On the drive there I count over FIFTY  Red Kites now that has to demonstrate the success of the reintroduction across the Chilterns. In Newbridge I find the Maybush Pub and use their car park to pull on the boots in readiness for a boggy walk along the banks of the Thames. This far up the Thames is a countryside river that has burst it's banks in places and flooded the fields around it. Only in Britain could we talk about flood warnings and hose pipe bans in the same breath.

The Maybush pub Newbridge

White Storks Newbridge 30th April 2012

Anyway I'm walking through the water logged field and make it to the second gate to find it totally under water so I'm forced to climb through the barbed wire fence to avoid a good soaking..........



The Thames full of the wrong water!

Half way between gate two and three and I can see the Storks through the trees but to get a better view I need to get the other side of gate three which is much wetter than the prior gate so I manage with some difficulty to creep along the fence line along the gate and over the fence to the side of the gate having been asked not to open the gate as it spooked the Storks earlier in the day...what a mission but worth it as I was rewarded with good clear views of the six birds feeding.

Satisfied with another lifer for 2012 I'm heading home via Lea Valley where I pick up a Garden Warbler and Hobby to bring my year list to 214.

Wet but no wind

Hoping for the wind to be in our favour we headed down to Dungeness. Jimmy wanted to stop off for a Turtle Dove in Northwood Hill so we took the eight mile detour towards High Halstow and found Northwood Hill RSPB. It was grey and wet and after an hours walking with the dampness creeping up the trouser legs and starting to penetrate through the boots into the socks we had to depart minus the Turtle tick. Good place though with Nigthingale, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat (first of the year) and generally good for woodland birds so I may be back when the weathers better. On leaving the car park I spotted two swifts flying over (another first for 2012) but the boys failed to catch a glimpse. We took to the M2 and cut across to the M20 to complete the 90 mile drive with a quick energy boost from the golden arch drive thru and we're standing on the beach looking at Gannets and Grebes...and more Gannets and more Grebes but not a single Skua. Bumped into a nice local who kindly opened the hide. (They keep it locked to keep the fishing fraternity out and the lovely smell you associate with sea fishing which makes sense but maybe they should consider somewhere local to leave birders a key)
Porpoise are playing close in around the bhoy and we get a few swifts and swallows coming in off the sea which please the Jims as they can now tick Swift. Two Kittiwakes and an Auk fly past but we decide not to wait on the wind changing and head off in optomistic mood towards Rye Harbour.
On route we pull over to view ARC pits and find a group of waders and wagtails on the waters edge. Closer inspection reveals Pied, Yellow, White and Channel Wagtails so a decent stop followed by hundreds of Swift flying low over the water and to think we we're happy with the distant glimpse achieved earlier of one or two birds...there could be over a thousand hunting here...We take the short (15 miles) drive from Dungeness to Rye and make our way around to Ternery Hide which gives up good views of Med Gulls, Common and Sandwich Terns but not the expected Little Terns. After an hour or so it's time ot move on and we're walking around the outside of the reserve to find the fields at the far side that have been home to several Whimbrel lately. A long walk with little interest save Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers until I spot a distant Whimbrel feeding followed by another four close to it. These give good scope views and bring the days total to 79.

Church of the Holy Spirit Rye Harbour

Happy with the find we head back and take in the local chippie before heading back to Essex with my year list now standing at 211. Thity Nine to find but I'm well aware that this 39 are going to be harder than the previous 211. Onwards and Upwards and with a week in Wales coming up followed by a few days in Scotland I'm confident that I'll be well on my way by the end of May.

22nd April "Team Work"

Despite not having any birding planned for today I'm up early and walking the dog at 6am....I have this curse of not being very good at staying in my bed once my eyes are open..I'm basically a lousy sleeper!.

Anyway I've just got back with a Staffie that's now knackered and ready to sleep and the text sound goes on the mobile...it's Jim on his local patch at Lea Valley and he has a Greenshank in his scope.
Being ten minutes away I feel the need for speed and head off. On arrival Jimmy has moved on but I take the short walk to the Wake Hide and sure enough there's a nice Greenshank feeding infront of the hide. A cuckoo calls right outside the hide too and before I leave the Greenshank flies onto the pool in the next field calling as it goes....a nice quick local tick taking me to 208 for the year and leaving me some 42 short of the target set of 250 this year.

Satisfied I head home after sending Jim the thank you text and I'm home before 8am with the wife unaware I've even made the trip. Nice text from Jim too to let me know he's bagged eight new ticks for the patch year list....not bad before 8am!....mind you he puts the hours in on that patch so knows when anything new has arrived....He later bagged another two making ten patch ticks on the day....it doesn't get much hotter than that as a patch birder.

A quick visit to the old mans to check he's on the mend and a pit stop at Sainsbury to stock the fridge and wash the car and I'm all set for a day in the garden.

The local Heron has been in my pond so we're keeping a close eye on that and the dog's doing a grand job of guarding it for me. Nice little surprise today when a Speckled Wood, Peacock and then a garden first in the form of the Orange Tip pictured below.

Female Orange Tip Butterfly

A little smasher!

21st April A cold day in Kent

An early start without "the old man" who was laid up for the weekend saw us arrive at Dungeness for 7am. A little sea watching disappointed despite a good crowd all we saw were a few Scoters, Gannets, Grebes, Gulls and Common Terns. Bitterly cold with a southerly wind it was more like January than the end of April. We took to lower ground and headed off for the moat around the bird observatory where we located five male Wheatear. After stopping to watch the Wheatear feed for half an hour we carried on around the moat and soon located a Firecrest. We plotted up on the footpath and watched the bird for a while and soon had a crowd of birders gathering for a glimpse of this little gem. A right little cracker! After stopping to search out the Glauc Gull we headed off to the RSPB reserve.

Good views of Little ringed plover, A nice small copper butterfly, loads of Sedge Warblers singing and good displays from the Marsh Harriers but very little else to report. We took a drive down the back of Denge Marsh hoping for Whinchat but had no joy so headed off home after a quiet and cold mornings birding on the Kent coast....Nothing new to add for the year but some good views of birds already listed and my first Small Copper of 2012

20th April Catching a few locals arrivals

Having stopped of at Chafford Hundred in the week for Sand Martins I found an hour to stop at Fishers Green on the way home today in search of Nightingale. As I stepped out into the car park I could hear my first Cuckoo of 2012 and soon located it in the picnic area. A short walk towards the power station and my first Whitethroat of the year is spotted. Another ten yards and I can hear my first Nightingale singing. As I approach I get a fleeting glimpse of the bird high in the tree but with this bird it's all about the song. A white wagtail shows itself along the path but won't make it on my year list which now stands at 207. 43 more to find to hit the target. A trip to Wales is planned as the wife and I celebrate 30 years together but I'm sure I'll find a couple of days to catch up with a few birds there and then it's onto sunny Scotland on a birding trip which will hopefully help me close the gap. The challenge is certainly taking me to some great places this year...Now where do I go tomorrow?......and what will I see?

17th April .....HOOPOE

                    A better picture of the Horsey bird kindly forwarded last night by Julian Bhalerao

15th April FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH A HOOPOE

2011 Was the year of the "dip" when it came to Hoopoes. We missed no fewer than nine birds. I took a boat trip for one and missed it by a day, got locked out of a reserve while it was there (Rainham again and those ridiculous 5pm closing times) We missed one at Canvey Island by seconds etc etc. so I've been watching the one that's been at Horsey all week....do I go for it? will it stay? or will it leave the day I go?
I've wrestled with it all week and decided to make the trip on Sunday morning. A 5am start and I'm pulling into the car park at Horsey Gap by 7am (126 miles not a bad run in the rain) A short walk up the track and we head for the caravan park where the bird has been reported all week. A couple of locals are sitting in the sand dunes when we arrive and are quick to tell us the bird hasn't yet been seen and that they are there for a Serin that's shown a couple of times this week in the Linnet flocks. We get comfortable and after 2 hours we've seen no Hoopoe and no Serin. A smart male Ring Ouzel did show well though. We get a tip that the Hoopoe has been sighted a mile or so away on the Nelson Head Track so head off with haste. A calf sapping walk along the dunes for what seemed a lot more than a mile and we hit the track only to be told that a dog walker had just flushed the bird......Can our faith in the birding gods be tested any further?....As we start to despair I catch sight of the target in typical "butterfly" flight at first I'm thinking is that it or a woodpecker but in seconds I make the shout and the six birders present are all on it as it flies away to the dunes where we catch up with it and watch it for a while feeding on the track ...WOW we've finally added Hoopoe to our British lists. 4 Ring Ouzel and several Wheatear show in the fields behind and I catch a pair of Cranes flying high over Stubbs Mill. We headed back to the car with a swagger and "The old man" buys the sausage sarnies to celebrate.

On the drive home we hear of an Osprey at Ranworth Broads and make the short detour for it. On arrival we're told to take the boardwalk to the visitor centre and the Osprey can be viewed from there. Sure enough after a ten minute walk we're looking at a distant Osprey sitting perched up on the far bank. Common terns, swallows and martins a plenty, Marsh Harriers, a sprawk and a Buzzard all keep us entertained but the Osprey remains fixed to it's perch. We give it around an hour and then hit the road for the 120 mile drive home. As we approach Thetford I decide to make a pit stop for caffeine and we plot up in the Brecks to scan for Stone Curlew whilst refuelling. I quickly find a bird and Jim gets his scope on it...another tick taking me to 202 for the year now. I feel it'll get a little harder now as I chase the other 48 I need for my target.
Spring arrivals due in the next week will add a couple though I'm sure.....what and where?..time will tell!

 Pictured are Horsey mill, Horsey Gap, The seals on the beach at Horsey gap and a tiny record shot of THE bird.

Horsey is well worth another visit and I don't think it'll be long before we're back.