Birding and other distractions

A cold day, temperatures no more than -1, and still much snow underfoot. However, plentiful sunshine to lift the spirits. Starting at RDE I was hoping to find a Woodcock in the area beyond the trees where they've been seen before. No luck with that though very good numbers of Redwing, probably in the region of 200 birds.  Two Cetti's Warbler showed well, also a smart male Greenfinch. In the nearby reedbed a pale Buzzard sat atop a low bush in full sun. At Berengrave my thoughts always turn to finding Firecrest at this time of year. After nearly an hour I was successful this afternoon, an individual approaching quite close though very difficult  to photograph as usual. Two Goldcrest were also present, plus one Chiffchaff and approx. four Blackcap. Berengrave NR Firecrest

Today the weather was gloomy with a cold NE wind though thankfully dry. We decided to forego a seawatch at Dunge due to the wind chill factor and started at the ARC with plenty of Lapwing, Teal and Cormorant though nothing unusual. Next, at the RSPB reserve there was no sign of the Green-winged Teal though gulls proved of interest with an adult Caspian and at least one Yellow-legged Gull, albeit both very distant at the north end of Burrowes Pit. Whilst there news came through of a Dotterel amongst a large flock of Golden Plover in fields near Lydd airport. Leaving the reserve a Great White Egret was seen on Cooks Pool on route to Lydd. I managed to see the Dotterel though views were somewhat brief before the whole flock of plover flew off. The bird had a very obvious supercilium though weak breast band. In the same field were several Ruff and three Cattle Egret. Near the end of the day at Scotney Pits it was a pleasure to see a dozen Little Gull, mainly adults though one first winter ...

Following yesterday's wet day the sun returned today. Another visit to Cliffe was made, this time to the Timber Lake and Alpha Pool. At the start a Mistle Thrush was near West Court Farm. On the Timber Lake a small wader was present on the sand spit together with Lapwing and ducks such as Teal. The bird then moved closer, a first-winter Little Stint. A Raven flew over whilst watching the stint, and a pair of Stonechat were close by. On the Alpha Pool numbers of duck were on the low side. A view of a redhead merganser on the far side was very brief, the bird promptly diving and not being seen again. Little Grebe were typically numerous at this site, and Great-Crested Grebe also found in good numbers. Three Kingfisher were seen and others heard. Timber Lake Little Stint

Rain stopped by mid morning so we headed to Cliffe to make the most of the sunshine.  Even though it was low tide it was surprising just how many birds were on the pools, especially dabbling duck such as Teal and Wigeon. F rom the viewpoint overlooking Radar Pool three Goldeneye were found, one of which was a drake. Three Spoonbill could also be seen distantly on Flamingo, though unfortunately they flew off after a short while.  Walking along the track to the creek a close group of waders was just about visible over the tops of the bushes, being a Spotted Redshank together with five Greenshank plus Common Redshank. At the back of Ski Pool a huge number of Lapwing took to the skies having been put up by a male Peregrine. Numbers were difficult to estimate though possibly approaching 2000 birds a small percentage of which were Golden Plover. After Cliffe we went to Northward Hill for the last hour of daylight. The second Peregrine of the day was seen on the marsh, this one proba...

We waited for news of the Alpine Accentor, then I set off at 8:30 when the bird's presence had been confirmed for its second day at Slaughden.   Arriving at the site near Aldeburgh there had been no sign of the accentor for an hour. However, it then showed on the seawall, giving reasonably good views whilst feeding in grass alongside the path. After about an hour the bird then flew a short distance onto the rocks below the seawall. A Purple Sandpiper was also nice to see on the beach. Alpine Accentor  Purple Sandpiper 

The last full day on Scilly though weather was not so good, windy and getting rougher as the day wore on. In the morning we checked out the Garrison which proved very quiet. A walk to Porth Hellick Pool in the afternoon was hopefully to see Wilson's Snipe present there on/off for a number of days. The snipe was seen though in the far corner of the site. A Common Snipe and Jack Snipe were in the same spot. The Wilson's was noticeably greyer than Common Snipe though the distinctive underwing pattern was not seen. It would be a new species though I will reserve judgement until further info is available about the bird. Back at the B&B late in the afternoon I found out rather too late that a Booted Warbler was being watched in the moat at Star Castle. Despite hot-footing it there the bird had flown from the moat to the bracken-covered slope and relatively poor views were obtained in the fading light. Wilson's Snipe Wilson's Snipe (left) with Common Snipe (right)

We visited St.Agnes today in lovely sunny weather. Many Speckled Wood were on the wing, by far the most common butterfly on Scilly during our stay. On the main route to Middle Town a lone pine tree was alive with feeding Chiffchaffs, at least eight in total. Further on, at the Parsonage, were more Chiffchaff but surprisingly nothing much else. After that we saw a number of Greenfinch, and on the beach a showy Grey Wagtail together with several Rock Pipit. Later in the afternoon the small island of Gugh was briefly visited via the tidal sand bar from Agnes. The last time I crossed to Gugh was in 1987 when the Two-barred Greenish was present, at that time still only a sub-species of Greenish Warbler.  Whilst waiting at the Turks Head for the return boat an extraordinary tame Song Thrush scrounged a few scraps from our table. Greenfinch  Grey Wagtail Rock Pipit Speckled Wood Sand bar to Gugh Very tame Song Thrush