Birding and other distractions

I arrived at Flamborough at 9:45, driving through wet weather with flooded roads in that part of Yorkshire. The walk to where the Red-Headed Bunting was being seen was very muddy and I was glad to have Wellingtons. Together with 40 other birders I waited in light rain for nearly an hour before the bunting appeared. It was then in view for about 10 minutes in the favoured strip of bramble, along with Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. The bird is in heavy moult and has been identified as a first-winter male. There was a big flock of Pink-footed Geese in the field behind. Walking back, then driving round to the lighthouse the rain had stopped and it was becoming brighter. By good fortune the Two-barred Warbler was seen soon after arrival, the bird frequenting a hedgerow alongside a narrow crop field. It was watched for about half an hour, at one point disappearing behind the hedge for a while. My second following the Two-barred Greenish on St. Agnes (Gugh) in 1987, when it was sti...

The main quarry today was Solitary Sandpiper, one of which had been giving birders the run-around for 2 weeks. I arrived at the Reed Bed Hide shortly after eight to find it already quite full with birders, though there had been no sign of the bird by that early hour. I wasn't able to get a seat, and by 10:30 was losing patience so wandered back to the car for a snack and toilet break. Then came news that the sandpiper had flown in, so rushed back to the hide, only to find birders already leaving, having had good views of the bird which had now flown off. Fortunately, a short time later I heard that it had been seen from the Lampen Wall, so headed that way. It was on a small pool, partially obscured by reeds much of the time, though I managed decent views over a ten minute period. Only my second Solitary Sandpiper, the previous bird being at Seaton, Devon in 2010. Other birds seen at Stodmarsh included Great White Egret and Water Pipit. Great White Egret  Water Pipit As above  ...

Rain today cleared up at 3 p.m. with sunny conditions to follow. The opportunity was therefore taken to visit Cliffe. The Grey Phalarope found several days earlier was seen from the lookout point on Radar, though was actually present in the north-east corner of Hidden Pool. Despite the distance good views were obtained thanks to the new 'scope and the good light. It was high tide and all the pools had high numbers of waders. Difficult to estimate though probably several thousand Dunlin, up to 300 Grey Plover, and a similar number of Avocet. The Grey Plover is the white bird on the far bank!

My first visit to Bough Beech for several years. Very sunny to start with though cloud then building up with showers by midday. Approx 20 Mandarin were on the banks of the reservoir and at the far end a solitary Ruddy Shelduck together with Canada Geese. The shelduck was quite aggressive to the geese. The sunny weather proved good for raptors, with up to four Red Kite, two Sparrowhawk and three Buzzards. A couple of Ravens were also seen. At Sevenoaks a Kingfisher flew over, though didn't land in view. However, a bizarre sight was of three Fulvous Whistling Duck in flight from the Tyler Hide. Red Kite Migrant Hawker (female) Fly Agaric

 I stayed overnight in Pembroke hoping to get a boat to Ramsey in the morning to try for Bay-breasted Warbler.  However, I found out via Birdguides that all the boats were full so wasn't sure where to go in the morning.  My mind was soon made up when news came through shortly after 9 a.m. that a Canada Warbler had been seen at St. Govan's Head by the same birder who found the Magnolia. Arriving at the site there were already about 100 birders present though the bird hadn't been seen for 25 minutes.  About half an hour later someone found it at the back of the sallows so we all stood inside the tree line to view the area.  The bird showed fleetingly in the next hour but I finally managed a reasonable view in a more open sallow where it was present in the upper branches. I stayed there until 2:30 and in that time had glimpses of the bird on three occasions and another more satisfactory view low down in a thicket. The journey home was a bit of a nightmare, arriving...

Having left home at 9:15 I didn't arrive at St. Govan's Head until seven hours later. Concerned that I'd only have a couple of hours in which to see the Magnolia Warbler I needn't have worried as luckily managed to see it within 10 minutes. It probably helped that there weren't so many birders there by that time so less disturbance. In the next two hours I saw the warbler another five times, the last two sightings being more prolonged views to enjoy the stunning little bird. On occasions it gave a distinctive call, helping to locate the bird which generally showed at close range though was constantly active. Picture by Nick Bristow

Driving back from Spurn today I headed to Thanet where an American Cliff Swallow had been found yesterday at Joss Bay. As I travelled down there were reports of it being seen well along the cliffs and nearby cabbage field.  Arriving at 3 p.m. there had been no sign of the bird for one and a half hours although House Martins and Sand Martins were present.   The swallow then flew briefly over the cabbage field before heading towards the golf course, so it was a relief to know it was still in the area. The bird returned at 4 p.m. and flew over the field for about five minutes giving reasonably good views. That proved to be the last acceptable sighting of the day, and rain set in within an hour. My only previous experience of Cliff Swallow in UK was 40 years ago on St.Mary's in October '83.