Black Stork at Frampton

I was away for a long weekend with my grandson when the Black Stork arrived at Frampton and couldn't believe it was still present on Tuesday when I returned from the family break with zero birding, you heard that right zero birding!

As I've mentioned in previous posts my brother Jim is chasing down his 400th life tick and needed Black Stork for 399 so despite being tired from entertaining my grandson all weekend and the drive home Monday evening I made the call at 10amTuesday having seen the first reports of the bird showing well from the car park and within half an hour we were in the car and on our way. We arrived at 1pm to negative news from the visitor centre but followed the path south to the general area of the last report. As we approached the final bend we picked up the Stork in flight circling quite high and to the south but at least we'd seen it and got the much wanted life tick for the Jims.

Black Stork at Frampton

We walked to the sea wall and located the Stork again in a distant field but as we started to walk closer and again it took flight and this time landed right in the middle of the field by the reservoir at Frampton giving us great scope views before it once again took flight and landed out of view. 

The Pacific Golden Plover didn't show whilst we sat on the bank waiting for an hour but did appear shortly after we'd left and Jim picked up another year tick with a Little Stint. 
We counted seventeen Spoonbill and had a modest total wader count of just fifteen species although we didn't make it all the way around due to arriving late and spending lot's of time on the Stork and PGP.

A decent day out which moved my year list to a miserable Covid restricted 217

Sun flowers at Frampton

return to Oare

I picked up the Jims today and headed for Oare marsh in Kent hoping they could connect with Napolean for another year. A Hoopoe had spent the day at Oare yesterday but looked to have moved on over night.

On the walk down to Uplees to search for the Hoopoe we enjoyed our first Whinchats of the year and watched a young Cuckoo learning to hunt grubs whilst still begging it's host Meadow Pipit without reward. Four Ringed Plover and thirty plus Curlew were seen and a Yellow Wagtail and Sparrowhawk the only other bird of note before we started the walk back to the slipway.

Juvenile Cuckoo at Oare marsh

At the Slipway a guy put the Jims onto the Bonaparte's gull for their year tick and they managed another first for 2021 when a Curlew Sandpiper dropped in very briefly on the rising tide. Also present were a Knot, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Black-tailed Godwits plus a Ruff on the flood. A couple of Whimbrel were feeding out on the mud and a group of twelve flew over too bringing the wader count for the day to eleven.  Black-tailed Godwit numbers remain high as does the water level on east flood.

Black-tailed Godwit

Blackwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Godwit over the Swale

Godwit

Some of the flock of Whimbrel that flew over 

I first saw this returning Bonaparte's Gull at Oare in June 2013 so that's nine years and counting.

Year list now 216

Minsmere for another fix of birding

I managed to get the Jims up for a day out and we headed to Minsmere as our chosen destination. The A12 was closed and we diverted through Colchester adding about twenty minutes to our journey and arriving around 6.15am to find the car park with just two other cars present. We walked out towards the sea picking up very little along the way. We entered the East hide to find two other birders present but they hadn't seen anything too exciting. One guy pointed out a couple of distant small waders and was pleased when I confirmed one was a Dunlin but the other was a White-rumped Sandpiper. We watched it for a while and it showed pretty much all the time and even moved a little closer but never crossed the midway point. As I was watching a small group of Dunlin I picked up a Pectoral Sandpiper amongst them. We knew the bird was present but had heard it was difficult to find or even see so I was very pleased to find it get everybody else on it and surprisingly it remained in the scope for quite a while. 

White-rumped and Pectoral Sandpiper at Minsmere

From East hide we also enjoyed views of Ruff, two Green Sandpipers and four Common Sandpipers, Dunlin, Avocet, Blackwits, Spotted Redshank, Turnstone and Ringed Plovers. As well as the waders the flood held a few feral Geese, large numbers of Common Terns and Black-headed Gulls.

Black-tailed Godwit

Juvenile Common Tern

Common Tern

Common Tern

Ruff

Spotted Redshank

We walked on the the public hide and from here we found another year tick with a juvenile Arctic Tern amongst the large numbers of Common, Little and Sandwich Terns.  Among the Terns were a couple of Little Gulls and we found another Green Sand, a Bar-tailed Godwit and another Spotted Redshank making it three for the day.

A lovely morning adding just three year ticks but really enjoyable to to be out and birding with the nice bonus of having a good chat with the guy that found last years Sooty Tern at Minsmere. I jokingly thanked him for costing me about six hours of my life as I dipped it at Sizewell. We left at lunchtime as the tourists arrived with the hides filling with young enthusiastic (noisy) children and people were actually  waiting for our space in the car park with it now full.

Year list now 215

Cracking day at Oare

I woke early on Sunday and decided I'd make the short run down to Oare hoping to be back by lunchtime to allow me to keep my family commitments for the afternoon.

I hadn't checked the weather and on arrival at 6am it was raining quite heavy and I was the only person on site for a while so I parked up by east flood and scanned the water where I quickly found the returning Bonaparte's Gull in the distance before it flew closer to rest with a group of Black-headed and Med Gulls.

Bonaparete's Gull at Oare marsh 1st August 2021

A Great Egret hunted with Grey Heron and Little Egret and a Barn Owl quarted the fields in the rain. Turtle Dove could be heard but remained distant specks. Ten Avocet, around a hundred Black-tailed Godwit, eight Lapwing, two Redshank and a Ruff made a small wader count in the deeper than usual water with no exposed mud or shingle island putting off the small waders you'd usually find at this time of year. A Green Sandpiper flew over but didn't stop as if to underline the point of the water level. I guess those in charge at KWT have a plan for the reserve but I remember visiting last year when it was dry as a bone and it seems to me they are struggling to find the correct levels. The Black-tailed Godwit numbers did swell during the morning and I'd guess around 400 were present in the roost before I left.

Some of the hundreds of Blackwits present

As the rain stopped another couple of birders arrived and it turned out they were from the states. I helped them locate the American gull and they were happy to also see Med Gull before I moved on to walk the wall to the sea wall hide where I found a reeling Gropper which is a first for me at Oare. Looking at the bird distantly through the scope it looked very scruffy and mono toned and did have me considering Savi's. I pointed the bird out to the other eight visitors for the morning and all seemed to be happy with Gropper but I did leave with that little nagging doubt. At the hide I found my first autumn Wheatear and as I returned to the slipway another birder asked if I'd seen Napolean today and as I was explaining it was resting on the flood when I left it flew over my head and landed on the mud so I was able to get him onto it and I managed to get all the other guys onto it too with some struggling more than others to keep on it. A Greenshank dropped in and Turnstone, Curlew and Oystercatcher took the wader count to just nine for the day. Little Terns fished close in on the early high tide and I noted Sandwich and Common Terns also in a very enjoyable five hours birding.

Wheatear

Year list now 212.

Barn Owl

Black-tailed Godwits

Bonaparte's Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Back in the game

I haven't been birding since my trip to Bempton at the end of June so today I made a solo run to Snettisham. I arrived at 7am with high tide due at 8am but on arrival all the birds had already roosted on the pits but somebody had reported the Western Sandpiper (which was my target) at 6.40am although it hadn't been seen since. I picked up a year tick with my first Sanderlings of the year as I scanned the few Dunlin still on the mud. As birds started to return to the mud around 9.30am I picked out a Little Stint and Garganey whilst searching for the Sandpiper and around 10am as around thirty of us scanned the mud the shout went up "got it!" I moved up to get directions and very quickly was watching my second ever Western Sandpiper following the 2011/12 Cley bird.

Western Sandpiper at Snettisham

Also at Snettisham lots of Little, Common and Sandwich Terns, a couple of Whimbrel, three Turtle Dove plus thousands of Knot. Hundreds of Oystercatchers and Godwits with the odd Turnstone. I picked up a couple of Med Gulls but couldn't find the reported Black or Roseatte Terns.

Following my early success I moved on to Frampton being just 25 miles out of my way and as I parked up I was put straight onto the Pacific Golden Plover but had better views later on as I got to the sea wall where I also had good views of Short-eared Owl, Marsh Harrier and Peregrine. My walk around the reserve gave up Spotted Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpipers, Greenshank, Spoonbills and many other good birds but I failed to find the reported Whinchat which I still need for a year tick.

Pacific Golden Plover

PGP

Year list now 211

BOU list now sits at 626

 With three new additions the BOU list now sits at 626

The additions all from sightings last year are

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (On Barra from 12th to 27th November)

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (a relative crowd pleaser on Tiree from 15th to 23rd September 2020)

White-chinned Petrel (seen by one person walking on a beach in Orkney on 25th May 2020)

Interestingly the much twitched Paddyfield Pipit has as yet not been accepted by BOU as a wild vagrant.

The list now breaks down as such

Category A    608    (RECORDED IN THE WILD SINCE 1950)

Category B        8    (RECORDED IN THE WILD PRIOR TO 1950)

Category C       10   (INTRODUCED SPECIES BUT NOW SELF SUSTAINING)

Follow the below link to the article by BOU

Changes to the British List (30 June 2021) - British Ornithologists' Union (bou.org.uk)

The eight species in Category B are......

Ruddy Shelduck

Red-necked Nightjar

Eskimo Curlew

Great-black-headed Gull

Great Auk

White-faced Storm Petrel

Egyptian Vulture (Which finally looks set to be moved to Cat A after this years Scilly bird)

Spotted Eagle

_____________________________________________________________________

The Ten species sitting in Category C are......

Egyptian Goose

Mandarin

Ruddy Duck

Capercaillie

Red-legged Partridge

Pheasant

Golden Pheasant

Lady Amherst's Pheasant

Little Owl

Ring-necked Parakeet

As for me well I've seen 423 of the 626 (67%)  so I have 203 still to connect with should any turn up again in a twitchable range.

Half time review 2021

Well I've made it the end of June in this second year affected by the global pandemic. I've been vaccinated twice now and although cases continue to rise with the new Delta variant it does feel as though things are slowly returning to normality of sorts. I'm back in the car with the Jims after over a year of not travelling together. The first half of 2021 saw my year listing badly affected for a second year as I missed many of the winter species due to the national lockdown for the first three months of the year. I nearly gave up on year listing after last years struggles but I didn't and have made the best of a bad time with my efforts.

I sit on 206 for the end of June which is my lowest every June total with my best being 264 and my ten year average being 239 and my previous lowest being 219.

I've picked up five life ticks so far in 2021. Firstly I was lucky that the Mockingbird hung around until I could travel for it in April and I picked up the American Herring Gull on the same trip. A White-throated Sparrow was a welcome addition too before this months River Warbler and then there's yesterdays show stopping Albatross. It's fair to say I didn't see any of these ticks coming but they sure lifted my spirits after a very long winter lockdown saved only by the local Shorted-eared Owls and some good socially distanced company.

Mockingbird

Black-browed Albatross

River Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

American Herring Gull

Looking forward to July I can say that it's a tough month for year listers.

My best year tick total for any July is just nine back in 2013 and my worst is just two. The most popular July addition to my year list is Curlew Sandpiper which I tick most years in July as birds head south again.

The best July Tick I've ever had was the White-tailed Plover at Rainham on 7th July 2010.

So I'm not expecting any fireworks for the rest of 2021 but will keep the year list ticking over without chasing it and just see where it ends. I hope to find another lifer or two before the years out and of course I'm trying to help Jim find the three ticks he needs to break the 400 barrier.

I'm still without Whooper and Bewick's Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Great Skua, Hen Harrier, Merlin, Shorelark, Snow Bunting, Whinchat, Dipper, Twite and Red-crested Pochard to name but of few of the common birds I've failed to connect with thus far in 2021. For another winter I missed any chance of chasing the Cornwall Pacific Diver, Black Scoter, Snow Goose and Cackling Goose ticks.

Since lockdown was relaxed in the second quarter of 2021 I've dipped Tawny Pipit and Eastern Subalpine Warbler but my regrets are not going for the Red-necked Stint in Northumberland and Thrush Nightingale at Spurn. Thankfully I don't look too hard at birds missed on the Islands as I've never twitched one to date but should either the Sulphur-bellied Warbler on Lundy or the Egyptian Vulture on Scilly have settled I may have had to break my own travel restrictions for them.

Happy birding for the second half of the year guys and keep well.

And already on the 1st July what looks like a first for Britain with the Soft-plumaged Petrel along the north east coast yesterday....what a year!