Lockdown Two day two

 Another walk over Gunpowder Park brought the lockdown two list to 41 species in the two days.

Additions included Meadow Pipit, Jay, Pheasant, Song Thrush, Little Egret and Lesser black-backed Gull. Highlight of the walk was a very late Short-eared Owl which appeared for no more than a couple of minutes just before I left and in very low light so I didn't lift the camera today.

It's good to get out of the house and take some exercise and of course it's always nice to see people especially those like minded individuals that are just out hoping to see a good bird or two and it can't be underestimated how important these trips are for mind and soul as well as the obvious benefit of taking some exercise.

Gunpowder Park at dusk

Gunpowder Park

A Common Nighthawk was seen in north Kent yesterday so I have one eye on that and should it appear to establish a routine anywhere I'd have to wrestle with my moral obligations under lockdown rules for sure and likewise the Greater Yellowlegs in Suffolk could see me stretch my reasonable distance measuring stick a little.

Year list still 268

Lockdown Listing part Two

So we started another national lockdown yesterday and with that comes isolation. No visits to or from our grandson although technically I can still meet him in a park with my son and with my wife being disabled I could technically take her to meet him in the park but it's cold and my wife won't tolerate too much time in the outdoors at this time of year. My mother in law in the care home is also isolated and can have no visitors which my wife is and will continue to find difficult. (this rule was brought in as we moved to Tier two and as yet remains) My father in law is in isolation following surgery and I've been visiting my parents and staying in the garden but it's now too cold for that and under new lockdown rules its no longer allowed anyway but I could meet with one of them in a park.

That's the family impact but now as for birding in lockdown two the rules allow for a little more flexibility this time around with driving a reasonable distance to get your exercise now permitted where as before we were asked to walk from home and only allowed an hour a day.  I will be able to add some variety to my walks without breaking the spirit of lockdown and as such I started yesterday three miles from home at Gunpowder Park where a couple of Short-eared Owls have been seen over the last week or so. I arrived at 2pm and had a good walk around the area picking up a few decent birds for the area on route. A female Yellowhammer, a pair of Stonechats, a flock of Long-tailed Tits and eventually at around 3.30pm the two Short-eared Owls got up and hunted until dusk. The local Corvid roost was both large and vocal as were the constant groups of Parakeets as they flew over to roost. 

Short-eared Owl at Dusk

Shortie

I also had a Greater-spotted Woodpecker on the feeders at home and for the first time ever the Parakeets have dropped onto the feeders and I'm not sure how I feel about that but a nice start to Lockdown two where my day one list is 35 species.

Year list still 268

Lesser Yellowlegs at Cley prior to Lockdown part two

Yesterday was the last day before Lockdown Two so I headed up to Norfolk for a day on the coast with the hope that the confiding Lesser Yellowlegs  would still be there and as I arrived at 8am it was showing very well in the flooded fields just east of the road to the coastguards hut. I walked out and papped away for a couple of hours with a small socially distanced group. Occasionally somebody would get a little too close giving me reason to move away but generally it was very safe and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the bird. Obviously being at Cley there was lot's of other action especially from the Pinkies the Beardies and the Brents.

Lesser Yellowlegs

I had a brief look at the sea which was quite calm and gave up a Red-throated Diver, several Gannets mostly juveniles and a few Auks before driving down to Holme via Brancaster and Thornham.

At Holme I found the Dusky Warbler in among the Willows before I got to the trapping area. There was a couple of guys in the area that gave me a good indication of which bush to focus on and that helped as the bird was very shy and elusive staying in the lowest darkest areas of the bushes but could be picked out quite well with binoculars.

Redshank at Brancaster

A great day out as always when I visit Norfolk but traffic heading home was bad and accidents on both the M11 and M25 didn't help but I navigated around it well and my delay was reasonably small thankfully.

Year list as we enter lockdown two is 268

With the new terms of lockdown allowing travel to exercise I may find this one easier to deal with than the last but as I have done all year I'll stay relatively local if I am tempted out further than my local ditch which was home to my Lockdown one patch and where the highlight was a Kingfisher.

Now did somebody say there's a Short-eared Owl two miles from home???

I took 400 images and most are keepers and that makes it hard to pic a few for the blog so apologies for the overload again on this bird. 

The challenge of year listing in 2020

As we approach the end of October I find myself looking at the year list again and have to say it's hit a bit of a wall. I sit on 267 and the years total looks likely to be a poor one. November and December historically are quiet months with an average of nine ticks in total over the two months since 2010.

My best November is just eight and my best December is just seven so fifteen would probably be a very optimistic outcome for the rest of this year and that would deliver a years total of just 282 but I have to remind myself that we are in a Pandemic and I was locked down from early March until June and since then travel has been difficult and I've been going solo without the Jims to save compromising them on long car journeys with me. It looks like I have missed the chance to visit Scotland and that's cost me around ten ticks. I had as previously mentioned also hoped to visit Shetland or Scilly this autumn but put that plan on ice due to the virus.

I suppose when bearing the above in mind then the current total is quite respectable and yes I know year listing isn't for everybody and in some quarters it's the subject of derision and there will always be a debate about the impact on the environment driven usually by all those lucky enough to live by the coast and particular birding hotspots meaning that they no longer need to travel to see or find good birds so until such time that I'm lucky enough to be one of them I'll continue travelling to good areas to see good birds and when I am able to call a coastal site home I'll be front of the list of people moaning about everybody else travelling I'm sure. 

Now as winter comes I usually look forward to spending some time closer to home watching some of our wintering raptors too with Short-eared Owl, Hen Harrier and Merlin all obvious favourites and provided we don't get locked in again anytime soon I see no reason why I can't stand in a freezing cold field on my own watching these fabulous birds again this winter.

Little Auk top of my want to see again list for this Autumn

Historically November has delivered a few good vagrants too with the following a sample of the quality on offer at the cost of quantity. 

King Eider, American Wigeon, Little Auk, Long-eared Owl, Surf Scoter, Isabelline Wheatear, Little Bittern, Hume's Warbler, Pallid Swift, Dusky Warbler, Forster's Tern, Cliff Swallow, Pied Wheatear, Crag Martin and Penduline Tit.

Isabelline Wheatear. I'd quite like another before the years out

(Above all birds not seen thus far in 2020 but seen in November between 2010 and 2019)

And then of course there is always the chance of a new bird or two dropping in within reach and allowing me to travel within safe Covid regulations which look set to get worse in the next months not better with Nottingham now out of bounds from tomorrow as well as Wales, large parts of Scotland and most of the north of England. In Essex we sit in Tier two and only time will tell if we move up or down a tier but my gut says we'll be moving to Tier three before too long.

Anyway bring on November which will also see me quietly celebrate another birthday which as readers of my ramblings will know is always a special milestone given my previous trials.

Onwards and upwards.

Stay Safe!

Red-backed Shrike and Shore Lark at St Mary's Bay in Kent

 A nice trip down to Kent yesterday to spend the some time with the birds in St Mary's Bay. The Shrike showed well from the car park by the houses whilst I had to walk down the sea wall to locate the Shore Lark. The weather was a bit overcast and drizzly but I made the most of the time and managed a few acceptable images too. Two of my favourite birds for sure but then I say that about a good few.

Juvenile Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Shrike

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Shore Lark

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

sorry its very picture heavy post but I couldn't decide which ones to include.

Masked Shrike at Shuart in Kent

Whilst in Norfolk yesterday I had one eye on the Masked Shrike found down in Kent and hoped it would stay long enough for me to connect with it. I was lucky enough to see one before in Yorkshire a few years ago but there has only been three records until this year when one was found in Cleveland before this bird became Britains fifth record once accepted officially.

The Jims needed the Shrike for a tick so I called and arranged to meet them at Shuart this morning. We travelled in seperate cars as is our legal obligation in Essex now but to be fair we have not shared a car since March to limit the chances of Dad contracting the virus. Once parked up I walked down the lane and the Jims soon joined me along with a dozen or so others which was a nice change from the carnage of yesterdays twitch for the Rufous Robin. The Shrike was sat out in the open and gave great scope views for a while before it started to feed on wasps and beetles along the hedgerow. It always sat on the far side of the hedge but on a couple of occasions it allowed a brief view long enough to grab a couple of images. 

Masked Shrike

Masked Shrike

Masked Shrike 

I watched Buzzard and Kestrel drift past before spotting a Short-eared Owl high up in the clouds being mobbed by a crow. Of the birds calling overhead I had several Redpoll a Brambling and lots of Redwing. The bushes lining the footpath were alive with Goldcrests and Rich B had a Dusky Warbler which I tried to help him refind but failed to locate it after an hour looking. At the farm I had a flock of Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tits but couldn't find anything else with them. Later I watched a larger flock of Goldcrest with a single Yellow-browed Warbler. 

I must have seen at least a hundred Goldcrest today which is always a joy and so many familiar faces too.

My cracking weekend ended with the following additions to my year and life lists....

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Masked Shrike, Pallas's Warbler and Red-flanked Bluetail  

Much easier to keep some distance today with the smaller crowd

Year list 267

Rufous tailed Scrub Robin at Stiffkey

I set off this morning with a plan to visit Stiffkey and Holme for some migrant hunting. It rained most of the way up and was still raining when I got to Holme at 8am to find a group of ten birders present in the field beyond the car park and one person reported seeing two Bluetails at first light. Another birder reported Pallas's Warbler on the golf course side of the trees so with no sign of the Bluetails I set off to look for the Pallas's  joined by a couple of other birders. We couldn't find the warbler but did find a cracking Red-flanked Bluetail. I fired off a couple of distant record shots through the dank mist but the bird was spooked by more birders coming from the car park. 

Red-flanked Bluetail so called because it has red flanks and a blue tail

Red flanked Bluetail about to be spooked

Among the new birders was John P and Barry W. and they mentioned the report of Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin at Stiffkey. I had planned not to look at my phone intent on just enjoying a good days birding at both Holme and Stiffkey and this had spoiled that plan. I left for Stiffkey much sooner than planned and managed to park in the Greenways Carpark. I could see a few birders out on the saltmarsh and walked out to join them wearing my face covering and keeping my "social distance". The bird popped up and I managed a record shot and good scope views but as more people arrived it was less comfortable so I left within ten minutes of getting there and decided to go looking for Pallas's Warbler in the campsite woods which was my original plan. Ten Goldcrest came through with some Long-tailed Tits but surprisingly there was no Pallas's with them. A bit further down a couple of guys had cameras pointing to the skies and I knew they had the Pallas's  and sure enough they had. I watched it do a few circuits and managed a couple of pics before I walked back to the car seeing Woodcock flushed from the marsh on the way. The crowd had really built up at the Robin now but I couldn't help try to have one more look which was a mistake as when I got back out it proved very difficult to keep distance especially when the bird showed and everybody wanted to get a view so again I left having seen it fly just the once. When the masses moved I kept away which was difficult as they clearly had views of the bird which I didn't but in the panic to see it some just gave up on the 2m rule which I didn't want to give up after all the hard work I've done since March.

Stiffkey marsh when I arrived

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

When I left

The police arrived soon after and demanded that the crowd followed distancing better and looking back from the car park it looked as if most had taken the advise. I've managed my birding since March really well, I've stopped taking my Dad and brother in the car which hurts and I've avoided hot spots, I've tried to stay within a couple of hours from home most of the time and I postponed my plans to bird Shetland or Scilly and coming away from this twitch today I couldn't help feel a bit grubby about the experience which is a shame as under normal circumstances this would be a great gathering for a great bird. 

Pallas's Warbler at Stiffkey

Year list now 266

Life list now 418