Worth another go

Winter has really set in now from the point of view of birding. No new birds to go for locally and I wasn't in the mood for a long drive just to get a year-tick. A half decent weather forecast and the promise of raptors had me heading down to Sussex though.
Target number one was hen harriers -which would be a year-tick for me, albeit a really late one! The location was the Burgh near Burpham. This is part of the Norfolk estate. It is also an area which is known very well to Wendy and Michael, two of our relations, who live nearby and have got some stunning photos of the wildlife there. The estate is managed in a very wildlife-friendly way despite  being a pheasant shooting estate. There are lots of large fields margins over-planted with wild-flowers. These in turn bring in lots of small birds and rodents which of course then bring in things which eat them. Hence it is a bit of a hotspot for raptors especially in the Winter. I met up with Wendy just after breakfast and we headed out to Canada Barn on the edge of the estate and walked out across the downs.
It was generally pretty quiet on the first part of the walk, till we got to the dewpond area. This is where two or more hen harriers have been reported over the last couple of weeks. A few kites were circling around and buzzards drifted on the few thermals available in the cold wind. The fields are very good for wildlife but not so good for viewing it as we quickly found out. At the bottom of the slope we saw a dark shape quartering the field to our left. The only problem was that you can only see it though the thick hedges which form the field margin. We found a gap and by peering through saw the distinctive white-rump of a female hen harrier.

Males are gorgeous white, grey and black specimens. Females (and juveniles) are duller brown but have that distinctive white rump once their monica of "ring-tails". In the low winter sun the colours really stood out but unfortunately we never got close enough to it to get good photos.

It, or rather they, were quartering low over the fields hunting for small prey. It had to be at least two birds as one had a distinctive hole in its wing where some primaries were missing. We picked up a possible third bird on the way back but can't say for certain it wasn't this one ranging into the next valley. It certainly covered a lot of ground and from where we stood by the dewpond it circled round us, at half a mile of more distance often. We could see it at great distance moving along the hedge lines and field margins, often dropping down presumably onto prey. 

It was raptor central round there, and from one place as well as the hen harriers we saw buzzards, kites, merlins and kestrels.

Otherwise it was mainly small birds feeding on the seeds and a distant hare.

After this, and with the light starting to fail, we moved to Pulborough Brooks for the short-eared owls. Wendy and Michael had seen 2 or 3 hunting recently so with the clock moving past 3 we were at the ideal time for them. The light had got really poor though with heavy cloud cover. Almost as soon as we got to the field a brown shape drifted up from the grass. SEO's will roost during the day in open fields, hunkered down in the grass. They come up to feed in the late afternoon and are the easiest owls to see during daylight.

We watched them for 40 minutes until it was almost dark. There were at least 2 and possibly 3 birds hunting over the field.  

The photos do not do them justice. For the technically-minded I was on ISO 5000 or more for most of them, trying to solve that insoluble problem of low light and a moving subject. They weren't worried by us hiding in a hedge and flew pretty close at times, seeing to eyeball as us strangers objects in their landscape.

Generally they seemed to ignore each other but occasionally they entered the same airspace and flew  up together before drifting apart again.

Another good day albeit one that left me with the desire for a bit more. I think I know where to go to get better views of the harriers and with a sunlit evening the owls will definitely be worth another visit. Never satisfied I suppose!!

Shy and rarely seen

Go back to the 1970's and one of the totemic birds for bird conservationists was the bittern. Almost lost to the UK they clung on in a few RSPB reserves. I remember Birds, the RSPB magazine, quoting the number of booming males at the few reserves they had them and it being in low single figures. Since then because of sympathetic habitat management and no hunting their numbers have grown and they are present in many large reedbeds in the south of the country. They are however notorious for being tricky to see. They lurk in dense reed beds and are cryptically camouflaged. Even at places where you know they are doing well, such as Lakenheath Fen, a normal view is of one flying over the reeds to drop down and go out of sight.
Minsmere on the Suffolk coast was one of the original reserves where they started to return in numbers and is now becoming a real hotspot for them. I had seen on the interweb that some had been showing "well" from the Island Mere hide. With a break in the dull weather and the promise of a bit of decent light I headed off very early doors. I arrived just after dawn and there was only one other car in the carpark. It was only a short walk to the hide and the misty start to the day was starting to lift. The hide is right on the edge, or virtually in, the main reed bed and should be ideal territory for the bitterns. Seeing them of course would require a lot of luck and no doubt a modicum of patience so I took my lunch with me expecting a long stay.
One other order was already in the hides and all the windows were open.

The hide is next to the mere with its associated ducks and geese and to the side was this area of flattened and burnt reeds. This looked ideal. After a brief chat with the other birder I got my camera set up pointing to the flattened area and poured myself a coffee.
Now the phrase "showing well" can mean many things in the birding world. It can mean "on view but a really long way away" or "really brief views but quite close when it shows". Sometimes it really does mean that it is showing well and today almost immediately turned into one of those days. Checking the time-stamp on my camera I waited 9 minutes for the first bittern to show!

 It climbed into the reeds on the channel opposite us, probably 50 yard away and crossed to the other side of the reed bed. A brief view but I'd classify it as good, especially for a bittern.

For the next 30 minutes we had only brief flight views on it, or another bird, flying over the reeds - much more typical - but the first hour still had 4 separate views. Then it all started to get slightly surreal. The hide was pretty much empty still, only 4 of us by now, and one new arrival commented that he had come because he had never seen a bittern before. He waited about 2 minutes.

Firstly we saw a dark shape in the reeds trying to catch a fish. Again, a very typical view of a bittern and so far only the frequency of views was unusual. Then it decided the fishing wasn't any good so it might as well have a walk.

Right into the open area of reeds finishing barely 20 yards from us before it strolled out of view. A shy, retiring bittern just having a morning stroll around its domain.
Over the next 5 hours that I was in the hide this was pretty much the pattern. We certainly had 4 of them in the reeds near us, probably more and others flying around.

They showed absolutely no fear or nervousness about the hide of people - peaking at I guess 30 people around 10.30am. The windows were all open, cameras were pointing out, motor drives going mad and people getting pretty excited with ooh's and aah's. The bitterns just carried on and ignored us.

Talking to the RSPB volunteers they think there are 40 birds on the reserve and 12 nests this year. A really healthy population. There are 4 or 5 who have become used to the people in the hide and put on this display most days.

The only down side was that whilst I was there they had no success in catching any fish, despite trying hard and stalking around the margins of the reeds and the pools. The light was pretty good though and really showed off the finery of their plumage.

After lunch the hide thinned out of people but the birds kept up their appearances. I dragged myself away about 2 but I know I'll be back. I still want to see them catch something and there are also otters around. All for another day though. Rare, shy, hard to see? I don't think so!!!!!

Pallid in the mist

November is turning into a really good month. After a dash down to Weymouth of Wednesday for the Franklins gull, another lifer turned up there yesterday. There has been an influx of Pallid swifts into the country over the last few weeks. These are continental cousins of our common swift. The warm southerly winds have encouraged around 70 or more to cross the channel. Most have been on the East coast or Kent and haven't been gettable for me. This one was seen late afternoon over Portland and spent a couple of hours hawking for insects near Chesil cove. It seemed unclear whether it moved off or roosted but as I needed to drop in to see my mother-in-law in Weymouth the decision was an easy one. An early night and 5am start got me to Chesil cove just before 8.
The good and bad news was that it was very misty. This meant viewing conditions were poor but it also meant it was less likely that IF the swift had roosted that it had moved on. Birds tend to move on clear nights much more than on overcast ones. I parked up and after a quick reviving coffee set off on the short walk along the seawall to the beach huts. The mist was only just over the top of the cliffs and there wasn't much moving on a very still day. I got to the end of the prom and started to scan the skies. Luck was with me and within no more than a minute I got onto a bird circling low over the huts. The pallid swift HAD roosted and was now having a good breakfast!

It seemed to be favouring the area over a scree slope where whatever insects there were must still have been flying. I presume the rocks must have retained some heat and that was the reason it was going back and forth over them. Making sure I had not made a mistake on the ID I quickly got the news out as I was the only birder there.

I spent over an hour standing in the rocks watching as it flew around. Often it was right over my head no more than 30 feet up. The light and mist made for horrible viewing and photographic conditions bit it was still a stunning display.

 You could just about make out the key details on it. It was clearly a swift with very sickle-shaped wings and a light throat patch. It is more of a brownish than black coloration with light scallops on its breast. To be honest you had to have a bit of imagination to make them out though. Fortunately it was the only swift around and there are no common swifts anywhere in the country so I was happy this was a second lifer of the week and the 11th or 12th (if you count American back tern) of the year. Big cold front coming next week with easterlies attached to it so rehash a nice Sibe thrush next???

Quite Franklin my dear...

Three years ago I probably got a life tick at Blashford Lakes, but I don't count it. A rare American larid, Franklins gull, was appearing in the evening roost. I got there in good time and sat in the hide as it both got dark and filled up with literally hundreds of gulls. The gulls were right at the far side of the lake and even though I stayed till dark and other people claimed to have seen it I couldn't make it out. Not even half a tick. Since then I haven't had a chance to get a grip back on that one. Two days ago one dropped into Radipole lake car park in Dorset just before dark. Initially it was identified as another Yank, a laughing gull. This is equally as rare but is one I have already seen. Quick though it changed into a Franklins gull as photos were studied. No sign the following morning but it dropped in again in the evening. So, today had me barrelling down the M3 to Weymouth.
I got there way too early, just after midday. The car park at Radipole lake is a magnet for gulls. The lake offers food and washing facilities for them and they come onto the car park to dry off and loaf around. There were already over 50 gulls and 6 birders on site.

The previous two nights the Franklins hadn't arrived till 3 so we agreed it would a long wait. We had a good chance to study the other gulls though which were mainly black-headed

and Mediterranean gulls.

There were a couple of common gulls mixed in as well

but the larger gulls were not really coming in apart from a few herring gulls.

As the clock moved on towards three more gulls and birders started to arrive and the flock topped out at well over 100 birds and 25 birders. They were constantly moving, often flying off when disturbed by walkers or cyclists but always returning. At 2.45, the flock took off again and flew around us. The bloke next to me called out "its there" before they started to settle. I quickly got onto a much darker bird as it landed - the Franklins had joined the flock much earlier than normal.

We had been discussing the finer points of its identification in case it arrived - the dark legs, the dark bill. In practice it stood out really well. It has a mantle closer in colour to a lesser black-backed gull and was totally different to the other small gulls.

 This gives a good comparison shot. The size to a black-headed gull is similar but you can clearly see the differences in leg, bill and mantle colour as well as the black semi-hood. Look at that eye make-up as well.
It spent only about 5 minutes on the deck having a good preen.

Suddenly the flock got spooked and they all lifted off taking the Franklins with them. It rose up and headed off towards the bay where it roosts.

We all waited for 10 or 15 minutes but it showed no sign of returning so I gathered up my gear and headed off before the traffic got too bad. Another lifer and a good one to grip back after the dip at Blashford. Still a few weeks to go this year, wonder what else might drop in???