Mellow yellow

 On Xmas Eve the birding world let out a collective scream. A very rare American yellow warbler had been seen in Kent just as everyone was settling down to a few days of family fun! Many tried to alter plans, delay lunch or just ignore it. Some brave souls went out on the 25th and 26th to see it but it was pretty elusive especially with bad weather. The timing combined with my car being poorly meant I couldn't even think about going for it. Stories started to appear of people spending hours for a few seconds of views or dipping it altogether. After the awful weather yesterday I finally had a window of opportunity to go for it. I got to the car park just after dawn. It was in an industrial estate next to the sewage works where the warbler spent a lot of time. I got chatting to 3 birders from Somerset and we agreed it was looking good - still, and a weak sun starting to poke through. A 10 minute walk along the river got us to the back of the sewage works where a dozen or so birders were already camped out.

The trees are its favourite area or more accurately the noelbit where you could it as in poor weather it stayed within the compound. I was getting set for a long wait and had coffee and sandwiches prepared. Within a couple of minutes though my new friend from Somerset heard it calling but didn't either see it or get in which direction it flew. Logically we spread out and covered 50 yards of river bank. I was in the middle and very quickly to my left the call went out of "its showing". We gathered up our gear and quickly located it preening in the hedge.

Everyone got onto it easily as the yellow plumage stood out amazingly against there monochrome hedge.

After the awful weather of yesterday it was clearly enjoying the sun and having a good go at getting its feathers into good order.

To be picky it was always slightly behind a brand h but hey, no one was complaining. For I guess 5 minutes or so we filled our boots with stunning views of it, and as good I suspect as anyone had had over the previous week.

It then decided it was getting a bit peckish so it flew off into the sewage works. A lot of us decided that it was a as good as it would get so we headed back to the cars just as the crowd was starting swell. It carried on showing throughout the day.

I headed off about an hour away to Abberton reservoir to do some year listing. I got a lot of new birds but mostly a long way off. The only ones with photos even remotely good enough to hare were a smart male goosander

a small family group of Bewick's swans

and a confiding kestrel.

A cracking start to the year taking me to 417 BOU libelist (having lost there redpolls) and a decent 67 on the yearlist with loads of easy ones missing. 

A sign of the tides

 There are some wildlife spectacles which cross over from being for hardcore nature lovers into those which attract people from far and wide. One of these is the wader roost at Snettisham. This is on the edge of the Wash where large groups of waders gather on the vast expanses of mud at low tide. As the sea rushes back in they get forced closer to the shore until eventually there is no more land and they fly inland to roost whilst waiting for the tide to turn. The delight of it is that it is very predictable. Combine a very high tide with increasing numbers of waders through Autumn and into Winter and you can find tens of thousands of birds flying right over your head as they head into the small lagoons. July is not normally a great time to go as the numbers of birds are only starting to build up. A combination of a date with a high tide at a decent time and a number of rarer birds on site as well tempted into an early morning start towards Norfolk. 

By 7.30 I was pulling onto a car park which was already around half full. After a quick coffee and bun I gathered my gear and set off for the 20 minute walk to the point. The tide was miles out but you could see large numbers of waders on the exposed wash.

With the tide out it was a hard job trying to find any one bird. There was a large group of us on the seawall scanning the mud trying to find three specific birds - white-rumped, semi-palmated and pectoral sandpiper. 

It was pretty much impossible with so many birds to go through but after an hour of trying we managed to locate the pectoral sandpiper along with a little stint and a few curlew sandpipers. More excitingly we were constantly being serenaded by a turtle dove in the bushes behind us. They breed here and it is one of the most reliable locations for them now.

By now the tide was really starting to come in and the waders were on the move. A very large group were getting pushed closer and closer to us

 and smaller groups were already coming over us

including a very vocal whimbrel.

The main event then started to get going as larger and larger groups took to the air to retreat ahead of the advancing tide. If you've never been, the tide here comes in faster than you could walk across the very flat mudflats so the birds are kept in constant movement. The  number of people watching had grown as well, with a combination  of hard-core birders as well as families all enjoying the sights and sounds.

Two main flocks were being driven closer to us - the knot and dunlin from out in the wash and oystercatchers and gulls from closer in. Small groups were constantly flying over our position, the noise of their wings often heralding their approach.

The bottom photo of the oystercatchers is interesting as it looks like a lot of dust on the lens but its actually one of the large flocks flying behind them.

As the available mud decreased in size the birds were pushed into smaller and smaller areas.

Finally as the water took over the land the mass flocks took off and came right over our heads to roost on the islands behind us.

At times the sky was full of birds with people looking up in wonder at the sight. Almost as suddenly as it began the sky emptied as the birds settle down into the roost. This was my sign to head off to the hide and have a look at them on the ground.

The hide is quite new and well set up for one reason - the wader roost!

The birds all crowd onto the islands wilt they wait for the tide to recede and they can go out back out to feed. The flock takes a bit to settle down but there is alway movement amongst the birds, mainly knot, dunlin and godwits.

With the birds a lot closer we stood more chance of finding the slightly rarer birds. After a few minutes of scanning we were lucky that the white-rumped sandpiper found itself on the edge of the flock and most of us managed to get onto it (not easy!). 

Its the bird in the middle - same size as the dunlin but without the dark belly. Its feathers are more definitely marked and occasionally it flapped its wings and showed its white-rump! We also found the pectoral sandpiper but that was in the middle of the flock and none of my photos show it well!!!

It would be another hour or so before they left so I wished them well and pottered off. Walking back along there seawall I came across more waders and a nice flock of little terns.

I headed off for one more stop at Titchwell. Comparatively it was quiet on the bird, if not the people, front though I did find both little

and Temmincks stint on the fresh marsh after a lot of looking.

Both very smart bird and nice to get on the yearlist. A good day all round, and one I need to repeat later when the wader flocks at Snettisham have increased.